Consort Zhuang doesn't want palace intrigue; she just wants to raise her child and live a caref

Chapter 312 Making Liangpi (cold skin noodles)

Su Nuannuan arrived outside the Hall of Diligent Governance, and her appearance attracted the attention of many concubines. These concubines had been anxiously waiting there, and upon seeing Su Nuannuan, they all bowed in greeting.

Su Nuannuan looked around and said to everyone with a serious expression, "Her Majesty the Empress has decreed that from today onwards, all of you sisters will take turns serving the Emperor in order of your respective ranks. Today, Her Majesty the Empress will personally be here to wait on him. Tomorrow morning, it will be my turn to take over for Her Majesty the Empress. The day after tomorrow morning, it will be Consort Li who will take over for me, and so on, until the Emperor awakens."

As soon as she finished speaking, all the concubines bowed in unison and replied, "Your Majesty, we will obey your decree." Their voices were uniform and echoed outside the Hall of Diligent Governance.

However, amidst the unified voices, a small group remained somewhat silent. These were the lowest-ranking concubines. They secretly pondered that, given this order, it seemed they had no chance of being chosen to attend to the sick.

Su Nuannuan seemed to sense the thoughts of the ladies-in-waiting, but said nothing. Her gaze swept over everyone, finally settling on Consort Li. She walked up to Consort Li and said softly, "Sister Li, let's go!"

Consort Li nodded and turned to leave with Su Nuannuan. Watching Consort Zhuang and Consort Li's figures gradually disappear into the distance, the other concubines also dispersed and returned to their respective palaces.

The next morning, Su Nuannuan arrived at the Hall of Diligent Governance on time and began her day and night of attending to the Emperor. During this time, she took care of the Emperor wholeheartedly and dared not slacken in the slightest.

Finally, on the third day, Su Nuannuan completed her mission and dragged her exhausted body back to Cuiwei Palace. As soon as she entered her room, she collapsed into bed like a deflated balloon, as if all her strength had been drained away in that instant.

Su Nuannuan slept until the afternoon before getting up feeling refreshed.

Since they had missed lunch, Su Nuannuan didn't want Zhixiang to be busy anymore, so she told Zhixiang to just make a simple bowl of cold noodles.

In the sweltering summer, nothing brings more pleasure than a bowl of refreshing cold noodles.

However, just as Su Nuannuan was eating cold noodles, she suddenly paused, and a thought flashed through her mind: cold skin noodles seemed to be a good choice as well.

Thinking of this, Su Nuannuan had an idea and decided to add liangpi (cold skin noodles) to her food list.

She quickly finished her bowl of cold noodles, then picked it up and headed towards the small kitchen. Jinse hurriedly followed behind her. Along the way, Jinse tried to take the bowl of noodles from Su Nuannuan more than once, but Su Nuannuan skillfully dodged her each time.

Jinse couldn't help but wonder, was this something Su Nuannuan did intentionally, or was it just a coincidence?

When Su Nuannuan arrived at the small kitchen, Zhixiang immediately noticed the bowl of noodles in her hand. She quickly went to greet her, took the bowl, and asked with concern, "Your Highness, would you like to eat something else?"

Su Nuan glanced at Zhi Xiang with a sour look and replied, "I suddenly have a craving for cold noodles."

Upon hearing this, Zhixiang looked puzzled, clearly unfamiliar with "liangpi" (cold skin noodles). She asked curiously, "Liangpi? What kind of food is that?"

"It's made from wheat flour, and the process is super simple," Su Nuannuan said casually, as if it were something that couldn't be easier.

However, Zhi Xiang doubted her words, showing an expression of "I don't believe it" on her face, staring straight at Su Nuannuan, as if waiting for her to continue explaining.

Seeing this, Su Nuannuan quickly described the steps for making liangpi (cold skin noodles) in detail: "It's really super simple."

First, knead the flour into a dough, like this. She demonstrated with her hands as she spoke.

"Then, put this dough in water and wash it like this." Su Nuannuan put the dough into a basin of water and began to gently knead it. "Keep kneading and kneading until the dough is gone, and it will turn into gluten."

Next, Su Nuannuan poured the water from washing the dough into another basin and let it settle for two hours. "When the time is up, pour off the clear water on top, and what's left is the batter for making cold noodles."

Finally, Su Nuannuan pointed to the washed gluten and said, "As for this gluten, just spread it out on a plate and steam it until cooked. After steaming, cut it into small pieces and mix it with the cold noodles."

As Su Nuannuan gestured, she patiently explained each step, hoping to convince Zhixiang that the method for making liangpi (cold skin noodles) was really simple.

Meanwhile, Zhixiang couldn't wait to start kneading the dough. She clearly preferred to try it herself rather than just listen to Su Nuannuan's empty talk.

Su Nuannuan looked at Zhixiang, who was so enthusiastic, and a satisfied smile appeared on her face.

Time passed slowly, and after about two hours, the batter for making liangpi (cold skin noodles) finally settled. Su Nuannuan carefully poured off the wastewater on top, revealing a layer of fine batter underneath, which was the key ingredient for making liangpi.

She picked up a spoon and gently stirred the batter until it was fully mixed. Then, Su Nuannuan scooped up a spoonful of batter and slowly poured it into a small, oiled iron plate that had been prepared beforehand. She then gently placed the small iron plate over boiling water to ensure even heating.

In just two breaths, the cold noodles were cooked through in the steaming heat. Su Nuannuan quickly removed the small iron plate from the boiling water and set it aside to cool slightly.

After demonstrating the process, Su Nuannuan handed the spoon to Zhixiang, encouraging her to try it herself. Zhixiang nervously took the spoon and, following Su Nuannuan's steps, slowly poured the batter into the small metal pan.

However, the first attempt did not go smoothly. Zhixiang was probably too nervous and poured in too much batter, resulting in thick cold noodles. In addition, she did not judge the steaming time accurately, and the cold noodles were not fully cooked.

Faced with these problems, Zhixiang was not discouraged. Instead, she carefully considered each step and constantly adjusted her operating methods. As time went by, she gradually mastered the skills, and the thickness and doneness of the cold noodles became more and more just right.

After many attempts, Zhixiang finally succeeded in making a perfect sheet of liangpi (cold skin noodles).