Rebirth of the Excellent Daughter of the Marquis Household (REDMH) - Chapter 66

Gu Yu Qi was happily beating eggs in the room. The chickens, ducks, and geese she raised were very competitive and they lay several large nests of eggs. Happily, she thought of trying to bake a cake with the chicken eggs.

Besides, it was rainy outside and she was about to get mouldy just sitting inside the house. She ran to the kitchen on a whim and had Dai Mei help her.

She remembered that before she had time travelled, she saw a post on Weibo introducing how to bake cakes in a pan instead of an oven. She was a foodie back then and though the heavens and earth were vast, the world of food was largest. So she followed a lot of gourmets on Weibo. There was a Weibo that released a recipe almost every few days. Gu Yu Qi would always take a look, then find someone to make it for her to eat, or learn to do it herself.

Cakes were so common in modern times. There were beautifully decorated cakes in shops all over the street so she did not need to make it herself. It was just that when she saw the Weibo post, she thought it was crazy to make cakes without an oven, so she had taken a second glance and remembered it then.

She brought out fresh eggs and separated the yolks from the whites. She beat the egg yolks and added some honey, white sugar, a little salt to balance it out, and also added a little soybean oil. There was no butter in this era, so she could only use soybean oil instead. Then she added flour. It was a pity that there was no low-gluten flour in this era, so she could only use plain flour… Gu Yu Qi deeply felt the helplessness of the ancient times.

She added a little white vinegar to the egg whites, then she started to turn her arms and beat the egg whites. As there was no mixer, she could only act as a human mixer. Fortunately, she had practised martial arts for many years, so beating egg whites was trivial to her. The egg whites were beaten until they were foamy, then she added the first portion of the sugar before continuing to beat it. When it became thick, she added the second portion of sugar, repeating until the third portion of sugar was added. The egg whites were beaten until they formed a thick paste. She dipped a chopstick in the surface of the egg and drew a clear figure eight. Then when the bowl was flipped upside down, the mixture did not fall. The meringue was ready.

Humming a little tune, Gu Yu Qi combined the two mixtures together. Then she asked Dai Mei to help her heat a pot on low heat. Dai Mei was skillful and her cooking skills were top-notch. She controlled the heat very well, which was why Gu Yu Qi needed her help. Although she could cook, she was blind when dealing with this kind of earthen stove from ancient times.

She put some clean oil paper on the bottom of the pot and poured in the batter she just mixed, carefully smoothing it out with a spatula. It was a pity that there were no pans in ancient times. However, if this kind of large round pot was well controlled, it would be alright too.

Now, it would depend on Dai Mei’s ability. With Gu Yu Qi handing it over to her, Dai Mei concentrated on the fire in the stove. The light of the fire flushed her face red.

Compared to Dai Mei’s concentration, Gu Yu Qi looked very relaxed now. She leaned against the hearth, humming and singing a song. It did not need mentioning how leisurely she was.

Not long after, there was an aroma of cake coming from the pan. Gu Yu Qi quickly lifted the lid of the pot. She covered it with oil paper and turned the cakes in the pot over one by ne

Dai Mei’s control of the fire was perfect. Although it was a round bottomed pot, the cake was baked very evenly and golden yellow. It looked extremely delicious…

The aroma of the cake attracted Bai Fu. Bai Fu called Run Ying and Chun Xing over. Like this, they called each other one after another. Before the cake came out of the pan, the kitchen was surrounded by maids watching the liveliness. In the end, even Liang Huai Yu was lured over.

“Mother came right on time.” Gu Yu Qi saw Liang Huai Yu coming and said with a smile, “Look how lucky you are, there’s something to eat as soon as you come.” After speaking, she lifted the lid of the pot. A huge round cake, golden yellow, appeared in front of everyone’s eyes, emitting waves of a tempting aroma.

“What’s this?” Liang Huai Yu asked with a smile. She was already used to her daughter’s strange and whimsical thinking, so she was not surprised.

“This is called a cake.” Gu Yu Qi smiled proudly. She asked everyone to help remove the cake from the pan, then served it on a large clean plate.

Not bad, not bad. Although it was made of plain flour, it rose fairly well. Of course it was not as fluffy as if it was made of low-gluten flour, but in such poor conditions where materials were scarce in ancient times, it was already good to have it turn out like this.

Gu Yu Qi cut a bit with a knife and tasted it. She was so moved that tears almost flowed down. It was this taste. After so many years, she had time travelled and was born again. It was only after three lifetimes that she had tasted something she was familiar with again.

“Surely it’s not so bad that you want to cry…” Liang Huai Yu saw her own daughter take a small bite then become dazed. She could not help but joke seeing her look like she was about to cry. She also broke a piece with her hands then put it in her mouth. With just a bite, her eyes brightened, “It’s delicious! Why did you make such a bitter face?” She could not help but ask. The cake had a rich aroma of eggs and honey. It melted in the mouth and it was really as delicious as one wanted it to be. This made Liang Huai Yu, who liked eating sweets, unable to help breaking another piece and putting it into her mouth.

“How could it be so bad that I want to cry, it’s just so delicious that I cried!” Gu Yu Qi hurriedly wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and quickly glossed over it.

When she said this, it made everyone in the kitchen laugh. The maids were also eager to taste the delicious food their masters were eating. However, without the two masters’ word, they did not dare to take any.

“Come, try it.” Liang Huai Yu saw the maids staring and her and her daughter eagerly, so she spoke with a smile.

“Thank you Eldest Young Miss!” Everyone cheered. They cut the cake with a knife. Sure enough, all of their faces changed to merry expressions. It could be called vividly colourful. How could it be so delicious, where did Young Miss learn it from?!

While everyone was applauding, Zhang Lan ran into the kitchen with an umbrella.

“Look, they say cats have sharp noses. Zhang Lan’s nose must be sharper than a cat’s, to be able to smell this from the front yard,” Run Ying said jokingly.

“Run Ying, stop talking nonsense.” Zhang Lan was not in the mood to accept Run Ying’s words. He put away the umbrella and walked in with a solemn face, “Eldest Young Miss, Young Miss, a troop of people and horses are outside. They said the person who came to call at the door is the governor of Jiangxia City. He requests the master of this place to go out and greet him, saying there are distinguished guests from the capital.”

As soon as Zhang Lan finished speaking, Gu Yu Qi’s heart sank. She subconsciously felt that the honoured guest from the capital the governor spoke of was probably the haunting Yun Ke who would not go away.

Gu Yu Qi was not the only one whose heart sank. The faces of all the people present darkened.

“Eldest Young Miss, Young Miss, let’s…” Chun Xing was the first to speak.

Before she finished speaking, Liang Huai Yu raised her hand to stop her, “Wait for me to go outside and have a look. You all stay behind and get ready,” She did not say anything explicitly, but these maids have followed the mother and daughter for so long that their minds were naturally on the same wavelength.

What Liang Huai Yu meant by getting ready was naturally to be ready to leave at any time.

It was just that outside was heavily windy and rainy, and they had refugees. Even if they left, where could they go?

Many of the maids felt despondent, but on the contrary, Gu Yu Qi was relatively calm.

She knew from long ago that she would not be able to hide from Yun Ke. When the heavy rains left her stranded in Jiangxia City, she was mentally prepared that Yun Ke would come sooner or later. However, the plague had not broken out yet. Yun Ke had come a little early.

“Mother, be careful,” She just gave Liang Huai Yu a word of advice.

“Mhmm, don’t worry,” Liang Huai Yu patted Gu Yu Qi’s hand and smiled. Only then did Zhang Lan accompany her to the front yard with an umbrella.

No one was in the mood to eat cake anymore. They all went to their rooms and started packing things quickly.

They had all lived in this yard for a while and the hearts of the maids were really heavy. They had managed to find this place in the current situation with great difficulty and had not expected to leave so soon. Yet, no one complained. Each of them knew that their own rise and fall of honour were inseparable from Liang Huai Yu and Gu Yu Qi.

Liang Huai Yu passed through several doors and came to the front yard. The door was wide open and in the hall sat two handsome young men. One was in white, pale and sickly looking, and the other was in a wet suit of armour. Although he was all wet, it did not dampen his heroic temperament in the slightest.

“This madam greets the distinguished nobles.” Liang Huai Yu immediately recognised the man in white. The man in white with the sickly expression was Prince An, Yun Ke. She was shocked, however, she still stepped forward calmly to greet them.

When the governor saw Liang Huai Yu, he was dumbfounded and could only stare.

When did this beautiful woman with such a temperament arrive in Jiangxia City?

She was wearing a light blue dress with a slightly darker blue shawl. Her long and soft black hair was not pulled into any complicated hair arrangements, but instead, she had simply tied it into two buns behind her head. An ebony hairpin was pinned in the side of her hair with a silver drop that hung from the lower end of the hairpin. She also wore a pair of pearl earrings, round and bright. Under the lamplight, the soft white light reflected onto her earlobes, making them look soft and tender. Her eyebrows were graceful and elegant, and her eyes shone like they were filled with stars.

Her voice sounded like a yellow canary from the valley. Her bearing was even more elegant and extraordinary. Although her outfit was not flamboyant at all, people could tell from a glance that she was a young lady from a large and wealthy family.

What surprised the governor even more was that he could not tell how old she was.

“Madam, what is your name?” Seeing that she wore the outfit of a madam, the governor could not help but ask before the two princes spoke.

Seeing the governor staring at her, Liang Huai Yu felt unhappy inwardly, but she said politely, “The lord can call this madam Liang-shi.”

“Greetings, Liang-shi.” the governor smiled. “This humble servant is the governor of Jiangxia City. This is His Highness Prince Ding who is stationed at Jiangbei Camp, and this is His Highness Prince An who came from the capital to provide disaster relief. His Highness Prince An will stay here for several days and heard that Madam’s Weili Courtyard is one of the four famous courtyards in our Jiangxia City, so would like to temporarily borrow Madam’s precious land to live her. I wonder what Madam thinks?”

He had originally wanted to wait for the owner to appear then drive him out of the courtyard and let His Highness Prince An live here. However, seeing Liang Huai Yu’s appearance, he changed his tone instantly.

Liang Huai Yu could not help but frown, but there was nothing she could do. How could she want Yun Ke to live here? He was the reason she and Gu Yu Qi had fled the capital, alright? Who knew that they would be able to hide from him once, but not forever, actually meeting him here.

How could there be such a coincidence in the world? His Highness Prince An acted as the imperial envoy to provide disaster relief, but when he arrived in Jiangxia City, he did not stay in the governor’s residence. Instead, he just had to go and live in a private house. Was it really just because this was one of the four famous courtyards in Jiangxia City? She was afraid His Highness Prince An was insisting on living here because of Gu Yu Qi.