Ye Qingcheng prepared a congratulatory gift and went to the Grand Princess's mansion. She looked at the plaque: Grand Princess and驸马's Mansion.
Ye Qingcheng smiled. As expected, the駙马 and the Grand Princess were truly in love! Even the plaque was made so uniquely.
After informing the servant of her intention, the servant returned a while later: "Wangfei, the Grand Princess invites you in."
Ye Qingcheng smiled demurely.
Her first visit to the Grand Princess's mansion was indeed quite magnificent.
The Grand Princess and Yu Chang'an were seated together in the main hall. Seeing Yu Chang'an's bruised, panda-like eyes, Ye Qingcheng felt so awkward she could dig a hole with her little finger.
She instantly lost the desire to stay and quickly offered an apology: "Greetings, Grand Princess, Young Master Yu. Er... this is a small token of my apology. As I was drunk yesterday, I accidentally offended Young Master Yu. I hope you will forgive me."
As she spoke, she had Bi Xi present the gifts.
Yu Chang'an puckered his lips uncomfortably. The movement of his mouth pulled at his wound, causing him to wince.
The Grand Princess observed all of this. Although her son had been beaten, regardless of right or wrong, she felt displeased. However, given that they were not in the right in this matter, she could not openly express her anger. If she did not express it, she could only sulk in silence. It would have ended there, but what she hadn't expected was that the Wangfei would come to apologize.
The Grand Princess said nothing, only chuckled: "It is but a minor matter, and besides, An'er was in the wrong."
Ye Qingcheng quickly waved her hands: "No, no, no. The fault lies entirely with my lack of decorum while drunk. That is why I struck the young master. I beg the Grand Princess to accept the gifts as my penance."
The Grand Princess said nothing more and accepted the gifts. Suddenly remembering something, she smiled: "It is getting late. Why don't you stay for a simple meal before you leave, Wangfei!"
Seeing that the Grand Princess had accepted her gifts, Ye Qingcheng understood that she was no longer holding a grudge. However, staying for a meal? She dared not!
So, she quickly declined: "Um... what a coincidence. There are many things to attend to at the mansion, so it would be inconvenient to trouble the Grand Princess. Since my apologies have been delivered, I shall take my leave now. No need to see me off, Grand Princess."
Since she had put it that way, the Grand Princess could not insist further and asked the steward to escort her out.
After Ye Qingcheng left, Yu Chang'an was very confused: "Mother, why did you ask her to stay for dinner?"
The Grand Princess smiled demurely: "Silly child, have you forgotten that yesterday she called Miss Sheng 'third sister'? They even became sworn sisters. We can also learn about Miss Sheng's current situation from her!"
Yu Chang'an pouted: "If I want to know her situation, why don't I just ask Yiran? Why should I ask her!"
The Grand Princess shook her head. Her son was good in all aspects, but he didn't understand girls' minds: "You're always buried in your books and never think about how to understand a girl's little thoughts and emotions. Would she tell you? She would only hide some things from you because she doesn't want you to worry too much. After all, she can't let an outsider like you know too much about her private matters, so she either swallows them herself or confides in her close friends. And since they are now close friends, they will naturally share their thoughts."
Yu Chang'an suddenly understood.
"So that's how it is!"
On the way back, Ye Qingcheng felt relieved.
"Great, this matter is finally resolved."
At the Grand Princess's mansion just now, she felt like she was sitting on pins and needles, unable to stay a moment longer.
Everyone said the Grand Princess appeared amiable and approachable to the world, but the aura of dominance emanating from her made Ye Qingcheng afraid to speak carelessly.
This matter was soon put to rest, and the month passed peacefully. Soon, autumn arrived, and it was Ye Qingcheng's birthday, but she had been so busy with the restaurant that she had forgotten.
The restaurant had recently launched a new dish called... braised pork... a very signature specialty.
Ye Qingcheng thought of letting the chefs prepare the recipe.
Bi Xi soon brought back a piece of meat. Bi Xi had worked on a farm at home and was very skilled at choosing meat.
"Wangfei, look, this is the meat I picked from my Wang butcher. No matter what you make, it will be good meat."
Ye Qingcheng looked at the glistening meat. It was clean and white, with tender flesh. It was indeed good.
However, seeing the pig bristles on the skin, Ye Qingcheng was extremely disgusted.
She quickly told the chef to roast the skin to remove the tough bristles.
Bi Xi then took out the star anise she had bought from the pharmacy: "Wangfei, here is the star anise, Angelica dahurica, bay leaf, and cinnamon you wanted. I just don't know what you're going to make! These are medicinal ingredients!"
Ye Qingcheng smiled: "These are essentials for braised pork."
After the chef processed the pig hair, Ye Qingcheng had him cut the pork into chunks.
"The chunks for braised pork must be large, so it's more satisfying to eat!"
And then she prepared the medicinal ingredients.
Ye Qingcheng was very generous and poured a large amount of lard into the pot.
The head chef watched with a pang of heartache.
Ye Qingcheng melted the lard, coating the entire bottom of the pot.
Ye Qingcheng explained: "This pot must be greased first, so the meat won't stick when stir-fried."
The head chef nodded thoughtfully.
"After greasing, pour out the oil, leaving only a little."
The head chef nodded and did as instructed.
Then Ye Qingcheng brought the sugar and put it directly into the pot.
She told the fire tender: "Make sure to maintain a medium heat." Then she told the head chef: "Melt the white sugar and stir-fry it to a caramel color."
Ye Qingcheng stared intently at the caramelizing sugar in the pot, wanting it to be lightly caramelized, not too old, just enough to color.
Seeing that the caramel was just right, she quickly had the head chef add the meat: "Quick, quick, stir-fry it! Be sure to stir-fry quickly, coating the meat with the caramel color." She also reminded the fire tender: "Keep the heat on low, not too high."
The head chef nodded.
Seeing that it was almost stir-fried, she quickly added the medicinal ingredients to the pot: "It's best to stir-fry the meat until it renders its fat."
Everyone around watched nervously.
The aroma gradually emerged, and Ye Qingcheng's eyes lit up: "It's fragrant now."
The head chef stirred with effort, his sweat growing heavier.
But he was also excited in his heart. Every chef enjoys the thrill of creating new dishes.
Once the caramel color completely coated the surface of the meat, resulting in a beautiful color, she quickly poured in the cooking wine and soy sauce, followed by a pot of boiling water.
After it boiled, the fat gradually surfaced. Ye Qingcheng had the head chef skim off the fat.
The head chef was confused: "Wangfei, this is fat! It's very precious."
The fat at this time was not like olive oil or corn oil. It was rendered pork fat, and rendering pork fat required a lot of pork. Therefore, fat was very precious in this era.
Ye Qingcheng explained: "This floating fat is actually useless. It doesn't taste good, and removing it will not affect the meat's flavor."
Despite his reluctance, the head chef skimmed it out.