Hearing about delicious food, Li Xia was even more eager to go. She held Li Xin's hand, "Sister, let's go shopping."
Under their eager gazes, Li Xin found it hard to refuse. The three ladies decided to go shopping on Yongchang Street and eat the Eight Treasure Banquet at the Qingxiang Building.
Cao Fugui and Li Hui naturally followed along. On the way, Cao Fugui instructed someone to inform the manager of the Qingxiang Building to prepare a table for the Eight Treasure Banquet. The Qingxiang Building was a dowry industry run by the Luo family, so naturally they would have what the master wanted.
It was the holiday period, and many people were out strolling and wandering. Yongchang Street was crowded everywhere. The group followed the flow of people to the Barbarian Clothing House. A foreigner beckoned them in with broken Mandarin, "Honored guests, please come in."
"We want to order some riding outfits," said Cao Fugui, looking like money was no object. The foreigner eagerly led them to a private room and handed them a catalogue, "Respected guests, these are the new riding outfits we offer."
The catalogue depicted exquisitely designed riding outfits in various styles. Li Xia immediately took a liking to a green one, "I want to order this one."
"Sister Li Xia really likes green," An'an remarked. That pure green color was rarely seen on riding outfits.
"This color is beautiful, so lush and vibrant," said Li Xia. Her favorite colors were green and then blue. It was a pity there were no blue riding outfits, otherwise she would have ordered two.
Li Xin knew better than to comment on Li Xia's taste, and the clever An'an didn't say much either. The two women selected their own preferred riding outfits, while Cao Fugui and Li Hui each chose a men's riding outfit.
After leaving the Barbarian Clothing House, they went to the Southeast Asian Shops, where there were many new and interesting items and even more people. Seeing the shops packed, they decided to eat first and come back later when it was less crowded.
Cao Fugui led the group to the Qingxiang Building, where the manager had prepared as instructed. He personally escorted them to a private room upstairs, and the Eight Treasure Banquet was soon served. The so-called Eight Treasure Banquet consisted of dishes made with eight delicacies: bear's paw, bird's nest, deer tendon, yellow croaker, red bream, monkey head mushroom, black fungus, and bamboo shoots. The staple was the Eight Treasure rice.
The colorful and fragrant dishes had everyone picking up their chopsticks and savoring the flavors. True to its reputation as the top restaurant in the Capital City, there was no time for talking as they silently enjoyed the delicacies.
After finishing the meal and resting a while, they went to the Southeast Asian Hall, which was less crowded by then. Inside, they saw many objects unlike those in their home country displayed on shelves. Li Xia picked up a kaleidoscope and found it quite interesting.
"This is interesting," Li Xia said, passing it to Li Xin. Li Xin took it and immediately liked it.
"What's interesting?" An'an came over and asked. Li Xia handed her a new kaleidoscope, and she loved it too.
The group bought some kaleidoscopes, crystal accessories, and gem rings. Though they didn't buy many items, they still spent quite a bit of silver. After making their purchases and seeing that it was getting late, Cao Fugui left with An'an while Li Hui and the other two returned to Osmanthus Alley.
Back at the mansion, Li Xia went straight to Cook Lady Bai without resting and described the Eight Treasure Banquet dishes and flavors. With an eager expression, she asked, "Can you make them?"
"The Eight Treasure rice is easy, and we have ingredients like bird's nest, black fungus, and bamboo shoots in stock to try out. But the other items would be very difficult," Cook Lady Bai explained. The Eight Treasure Banquet was famous not only for the Qingxiang Building's exclusive recipe, but also for the challenging ingredients.
"Then just try making the ones you can," Li Xia said, not disappointed. In her mind, as long as she could have the Eight Treasure rice, anything else would be a bonus.
Cook Lady Bai gathered the ingredients and, while inquiring about the flavors from Li Xia, attempted to recreate the dishes. For dinner, Li Xin and Li Hui had Cook Lady Bai's version of the Eight Treasure rice along with bird's nest, black fungus, and bamboo shoots. While not quite the same as the Qingxiang Building's, it was still quite good.
No guessing was needed to know that Li Xia had pestered Cook Lady Bai into making it.
As they enjoyed the decent Eight Treasure Banquet, realizing Li Xia had spent most of her silver, Li Xin spoke up, "Tomorrow I'll allocate some silver for the kitchen to stock up on more ingredients, so they can try making more dishes."
Before Li Xia could thank her, Auntie Mei interjected, "Young Lady, don't indulge Xia. This girl can't go into the kitchen." Auntie Mei didn't know how to address Li Xia's obsession with food.
Li Xia was displeased. "Auntie, I didn't actually go into the kitchen," she protested. She had only used her mouth.
Li Xia's words reminded Li Hui and Li Xin of the incident last year when she had ruined a pot, and they both laughed.
The jovial atmosphere at the table made it hard for Auntie Mei to say anything more. She simply used her chopsticks to add some bamboo shoots to Li Xia's bowl.
As expected, everyone ate until they were stuffed that night. Unable to sleep, Li Xia decided to visit the Lu Mansion to confirm something. In Fourth Miss Lu's room, she found her manuscript, confirming her suspicion that the kaleidoscope was indeed Fourth Miss Lu's creation. The person she had seen at the store earlier was Fourth Miss Lu herself.
This Fourth Miss Lu had first written fiction, then partnered with others to make pastries, and now she was collaborating with foreigners and Southeast Asians to make money. Without doing the math, Li Xia knew the profits were substantial.
Was Fourth Miss Lu doing all this herself, or was she working with someone? If she was doing it alone, Li Xia would be very impressed. But if she had a partner, who was it? Why were they helping Fourth Miss Lu, and were they a friend or foe to the Lu family? Would this affect the Li family?
It was quite troublesome, Li Xia thought as she put the items back. She decided to keep an eye on Fourth Miss Lu from time to time, keeping watch over her. As long as it didn't affect the Li family, she didn't care what Fourth Miss Lu did. But if it did impact them, then she shouldn't be blamed for taking ruthless action.
After much consideration, Li Xin decided not to go out and appreciate the lanterns on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.
Although they would be celebrating the Lantern Festival in the Capital City this year, with the Emperor and Empress going out to enjoy the festivities with the people, security would certainly be tight.
But the incident during last year's Lantern Festival in Liuzhou still gave Li Xin chills whenever she thought about it.
Hearing Li Xin's decision, Auntie Mei also didn't want Li Xia going out, worrying about what might happen. "Let's just celebrate inside Osmanthus Alley."
"How would we celebrate?" Li Xia asked Auntie Mei.
"Buy materials, make our own lanterns, guess lantern riddles, and prepare some snacks. It'll be just as lively," Auntie Mei suggested after some thought.
"Great, let's make lanterns!" Li Xia loved the idea. She wasn't too keen on going out and getting crushed by crowds anyway.
Auntie Mei instructed people to buy materials, and they organized a lantern-making effort with everyone in the mansion, masters and servants alike, pitching in.
Li Xia had never made lanterns before and didn't know how to go about it. Qiu Shui taught Li Xia step-by-step how to make lanterns. After learning, Li Xia made lanterns herself. But she was not satisfied with making ordinary white lanterns.
At night, she went to the lantern makers in the city and observed their craftsmanship. She learned secretly the various sophisticated, intricate, and complex but very beautiful lantern-making methods. Based on what she had learned surreptitiously, she led the dexterous servants in the mansion to make palace lanterns, with eight-sided, six-sided, and four-sided ones. On them, Li Xin painted auspicious patterns like dragons and phoenixes, longevity and prosperity, and good luck and harmony.
