Chapter 56: Hard to Find a Good Husband

  Returning to the mansion, Qing Sang didn't rest and immediately went to see Cao Xiang, Chang An, Qiao Lu and Shui Li.

  The grass fragrance body is still very weak, but can get up and move around. Chang An's physical foundation is good, and he can also get out of bed in two days, and his complexion is not bad either.

  Qiao Lu slowly came to, but she didn't want to talk to anyone and just cried. Qing Sang tried to comfort her with a few words, but there was no response. Qing Sang knew that Qiao Lu had been too frightened and feared that her spirit might not recover for the time being. He let out a long sigh and looked at Shui Li again.

  The water caltrop's face no longer flowed with yellow water, and the blisters had shrunk, no longer as eye-catching as they were yesterday. However, Qing Sang asked Chu Lianyu and learned that this appearance was probably ruined.

  "Don't stop me, I want to see Chu Lianyu." A loud and clear 'female' voice rang out, followed by the appearance of a young girl dressed in somewhat strange attire.

  "I reported to the princess, I've already told Lajin Manba to wait for her, and I'll report back to the princess... but..." A male slave knelt on the ground in fear, saying that he was supposed to report back, but couldn't stop Lajin.

  "It's all right, you can go down now." Qing Sang said gently.

  The male slave got up with a start and saw that the princess did not blame him, feeling lucky, he quickly retreated.

  "Saving a life is urgent, so I couldn't wait for him to report and came in. Princess, where is the person?" La Zhen said with a big smile, without any fear.

  Qing Sang looked at her with some curiosity and asked: "Are you La Zhēn Mǎnbā? Who are you here to rescue?"

  "Haha, you're so funny! My name is Lajen, not Lajen Manba." Lajen laughed with a hearty "heh heh", her earrings swaying back and forth on her earlobes, adding an extra touch of pure beauty to her appearance.

  Qingsang looked at Maxi with curiosity.

  The princess hastily explained: "This Mamba is what the doctor means. Lajen's full name is Gulnar Lajen."

  Qing Sang found it amusing after realizing her own misunderstanding and asked: "Is the Grand Consort a relative of yours?"

  Lazhen fanned her long eyelashes and said, "The Empress Dowager's mother and my great-grandmother were sisters."

  Qing Sang circled around in her mind and laughed: "In that case, you just need to say that the Grand Consort is your aunt, right?"

  La Zhen also smiled and said: "Hmm, you're really impressive, I'm called Empress Dowager's sister."

  "Haha!" Qing Sang couldn't help but burst out laughing. La Zhen was still a doctor, after all, and the whole little "muddle" was quite confusing.

  "Is that why the Empress Dowager sent you?" Since she was the Empress Dowager's niece, it must have been the Empress Dowager who had her come to treat the water boil.

  "Uh-huh, yeah! Auntie said you have four patients and only one nurse, so I came to help out." La Zhen finished speaking and saw Chu Lianyu standing not far away. She excitedly ran over, grabbed Chu Lianyu's hand and shook it, saying loudly: "Chu Lianyu, I'm here to help! Are you happy?"

  Chu Lianyu was so embarrassed that she desperately wanted to pull her hand out, saying: "Lazhen, men and women do not give or receive things directly."

  "What's wrong with holding hands? I'm already holding your hand, aren't I?" After saying that, La Zhen seemed to have thought of something and kissed Chu Lianyu's hand.

  Chu Lianyu's face turned bright red with shame, while Qing Sang was stunned. Maxi's expression remained calm and composed, without a hint of surprise. Even Cao Xiang, who had just come out to get some fresh air, was startled by the scene.

  "Are you saying it's that intimate?" Lu Zhen raised one of her hands and extended it to Chu Lianyu, saying, "I've kissed you, now you have to kiss me back."

  Chu Lianyu felt ashamed and wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

  Qing Sang saw Chu Lianyu's hands and feet in a flurry, looking embarrassed and unable to move. She couldn't help but laugh as she walked forward, pulled over La Zhen, and held her hand to Chu Lianyu's lips. Laughing, she said: "Doctor Chu has been taking care of the patient for several days, really tired, even this 'intimate' energy is gone. La Zhen Manba should hurry up and help treat the patient."

  Lajen heard this and also believed it. She shouted "Where is the patient?" while rushing towards Chu Lianyu, saying: "You go rest, I'll take care of them today."

  As she spoke, she ran to Chang An and Cao Xiang's side, feeling them all over, asking "Where are you hurt? Let me see."

  The two of them hastily said it was nothing and hid into the room.

  "Lazhen is actually a doctor?" To be honest, Qing Sang saw her silly appearance and really didn't believe she would be a doctor.

  However, there is one thing that Qing Sang has understood. The situation in this mansion was probably already clear to King Rong and the Grand Empress Dowager. Even if she had never mentioned it to anyone before, yesterday's tragic event still had survivors, including a palace maid named Cao Xiang who was injured beforehand. Thinking about it again, with people coming and going these past two days, and someone helping to carry the wounded, naturally there would be someone reporting back to the Grand Empress Dowager and King Rong. In fact, this is not surprising at all.

  "Princess, the prince is back." The male slave who had just stopped La Zhen came in and knelt down to report.

  "Hmm, where is the prince? I'll go right away." said Qing Sang.

  "Your Highness, the prince returned and went straight to the kitchen, saying he was looking for something delicious to make for you." The male slave said.

  "What? He's going down to the kitchen?" Qing Sang Qi said.

  "Yes. That's what the prince said." The male slave replied.

  "Really? Get up. Mahi, let's go take a look!" Qing Sang was somewhat curious and even more excited, what delicious food had Xiu Xi found for him?

  Maji hastily agreed and followed the princess.

  "By the way, what's your name?" Qing Sang suddenly turned her head and asked the male slave who had just stood up.

  "Reporting back to Your Highness, I am Guan Zhou." The male slave knelt down and replied.

  "Alright, Guan Chou, remember this, you don't have to kneel when speaking from now on." Having said that, Qing Sang took Ma Xi and headed towards the kitchen, leaving behind a bewildered Guan Chou.

  As soon as I arrived outside the kitchen, I smelled a tempting aroma coming from the kitchen.

  Qing Sang walked into the kitchen and saw Xiu Xi wielding a large knife, chopping bones. Next to the stove, a male slave was starting a fire and boiling water, while a female slave was killing a chicken by the back door of the kitchen, her hand rising and falling with the knife, and the chicken no longer made a sound.

  Qing Sang walked closer and took a look, seeing that what was actually on the chopping board was 'meat', but Qing Sang standing behind Xuan Xi saw him wielding his knife with force, thinking he was chopping bones.

  "Fu...... groom, are you cutting 'meat'?" Qing Sang asked softly.

  Fu Xi turned his head and saw it was Qing Sang, he smiled foolishly: "Yes, I see that you haven't been feeling well, vomiting for the past two days. I figured you weren't adapting to the food here. So early this morning, I rode a horse to Duosai City, where merchants gather and there are many types of goods. There should be dishes you like to eat."

  Qing Sang was stunned, she didn't expect that Fu Xi had gone out early to find vegetables for her, and asked with emotion: "How did you know what I like to eat?"

  "I went to see Dr. Chu Tai and asked about Cao Xiang," said Fu Xi, then he lowered his head and continued cutting the meat.

  Qing Sang's heart was surging with emotion, and she couldn't speak a word. She had always thought that Fu Xi was straightforward and generous, but she never expected him to be so meticulous.

  "It's better to buy and give it to the people below, why do you need to do it yourself." Qing Sang saw Xiu Xi cutting the meat and knew he had never been in a kitchen or cooked before.

  "As soon as I got back, I asked them, but none of them knew how to make a decent dish. No choice, I had to take matters into my own hands." Fu Xi said, wiping the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.

  Qing Sang saw that he was sweating profusely and must have rushed back without stopping to rest, and immediately started busy in the kitchen.

  She took out a handkerchief and gently wiped away his sweat, her gentle appearance causing Fu Xi to lose his mind. Qing Sang said softly, "Then you will do it?"

  Fu Xi smiled awkwardly and said, "I've never done it before, but I haven't eaten pork either, have you ever seen a pig run? Don't worry, I'll catch on quickly." As he spoke, he lowered his head again to fiddle with the meat on the chopping board.

  "I'll do it." Qing Sang stretched out his hand and snatched the kitchen knife from Xiang Xi's hand, and started chopping without saying a word.

  Watching Qing Sang cutting vegetables with skill and precision, Fu Xi Qi said: "You actually know how!"

  Qing Sang smiled and said, "In order to please the Emperor, I secretly learned how to cook from a young age. If the Emperor comes to the Empress's palace, I will personally cook for him." Qing Sang casually made up an excuse to dispel Ma Xi's doubts. In fact, knowing how to cook was something from her past life. In this life, she had never had to worry about food and clothing, except for that one time when she went to Tai Chu Guan to find the Crown Prince, when she made a egg yolk pastry. This time, although her hands were not skilled, she still knew the techniques. So, the dishes turned out to be quite impressive.

  Fu Xi understood her meaning, guessing that she had learned it in the Pu Mansion and couldn't say it directly, so she made up this reason. So he didn't ask any more questions and started standing beside Qing Sang, talking endlessly about buying vegetables in Duosai City this morning.

  "Cao Xiang told me that when you were in the palace, you loved to eat Gongbao chicken nuggets, carrot stir-fried meat slices, braised chicken wings, braised pork, and dry-braised green peppers... and many, many more dishes. I went to the eastern market of Duosi, found vendors selling pork, chicken, and tofu, but somehow couldn't find anyone selling carrots. Finally, I ran to the western market, and amazingly, I actually found some." Xiang Xi said as he pulled out a carrot from a cloth bag in the corner of the wall, "Look, isn't it great? It's still very fresh."

  Qingsang's tears fell drop by drop onto the chopping board.

  Fu Xi continued to speak, unaware that Qing Sang had been moved to tears. He went on: "After buying these, I was thinking about how the braised 'meat' and carrot stir-fried 'meat' slices were still simple, but how did they make this Kung Pao 'chicken' ding? So, I went to ask those vegetable sellers, who knew that everyone had different methods. Some said to use chili peppers, some said to use potatoes, and others said to use cucumbers. In the end, there was no way out, do you know who I asked?"

  Qing Sang swallowed hard and replied in a normal voice: "Who did you ask?"

  Fu Xi said: "I was confused by these people, and suddenly I had an idea. How to make this dish, the owner of the restaurant should be the clearest. So, I ran to the restaurant to ask, and only then did I know that this dish needs to use stir-fried 'flower' shallots, diced cucumber, red bell pepper, salt, 'flower' pepper, ginger, scallions, cooking wine, soy sauce, and sesame oil. As soon as I heard it, I was stunned. It turned out that so many ingredients were needed. The owner was kind-hearted and saw that I didn't understand, so he helped me prepare all the ingredients, except for the cucumber, which was difficult to transport here. Just make do with what we have and eat later."

  After finishing, Fu Xi took out a small box from the cloth bag and opened it. The inside emitted a pungent smell of ginger, garlic, and scallions. "I originally wanted to let the boss make this dish and bring it back, but thinking about riding horses and bumping along, and some distance, bringing it back would be cold, so I'd rather make it fresh..." Fu Xi hadn't finished speaking when Qing Sang couldn't help but dry heave under the stimulation of the ginger and garlic smell. Fu Xi and Ma Xi were flustered, patting her back and offering water.

  After Qing Sang finished vomiting, she lifted her head. Fu Xi saw that her face was full of tears and his heart ached. He regretfully said: "It's all my fault for making you smell these things. You don't like this smell, do you? I'll throw them away right now."

  Qing Sang took a sip of water and his breathing gradually stabilized. He stopped Fu Xi, who was about to throw something away, and said, "Don't throw it away, we still need to cook."

  Fu Xi said: "But look at you, your tears are welling up."

  Qing Sang heard this and couldn't help but sob: "Why are you so silly? Why are you so good to me?"