Chapter 31 Chinese Herbal Foot Bath
Mengxi supported Hongzhu, followed by several maids carrying food, and came to the main hall. Xiao Jun was much better, so Mengxi ordered someone to put dinner in the hall. After the maids had put it in place, Mengxi came to the bedroom door, took a deep breath, and silently repeated three times in her heart:
"Xiao Jun is my boss. I am just an employee responsible for his food, clothing, housing and transportation. I have to rely on him to support myself. When getting along with my boss, I must be kind."
After reciting silently, she straightened her body and walked into the bedroom calmly and calmly. She was really tired of seeing that dark and cold face. He didn't feel tired with a stern face every day, but she felt tired just looking at it. In the past two days, before facing Xiao Jun every day, she had to prepare herself mentally, so as not to be unable to resist the urge to flatten that icy face that day.
When I entered the room, I saw the Second Master lying on the bed, and Hongyu was sitting on a rusty stool massaging his legs. Mengxi walked up to him and said softly:
"Second Master, the meal is ready, please get up and eat first."
Xiao Jun didn't look at Mengxi, but waved to Hongyu to stop, and got up. Mengxi acted as if nothing had happened, and helped him put on his clothes and shoes with Hongyu. The maid had already brought water for washing his face, and Hongyu helped the Second Master wash up, and then she helped him walk to the hall. Xiao Jun slapped Hongyu's hand away and said:
"I'm feeling much better now, no need to help me anymore"
Hongyu responded and followed behind.
Xiao Jun was sitting at the table, staring at the food on the table in a daze. Meng Xi saw this, walked over, took the porridge that the maid had served, and gently placed it in front of Xiao Jun and said:
"I specially made plum blossom porridge for Second Master tonight. This porridge is made with polished rice and plum blossoms. First, cook the polished rice into porridge, then add the white plum blossoms and boil it again. The plum blossoms are mild in nature and can soothe the liver, regulate qi, and stimulate appetite. I made it specially because Second Master eats very little at noon. Second Master, please try it. I also specially made a few more colored pastries to go with the porridge tonight. Drinking porridge every day will eventually make your body unable to keep up. These colored pastries are very soft and easy to digest, and are very suitable for Second Master to eat now."
After introducing them one by one, Mengxi stopped talking and just served him carefully. Xiao Jun had a good appetite tonight and tried all kinds of cakes. After finishing the meal, his expression relaxed a lot.
A lot of things had piled up after being bedridden for more than two months. Although the major matters had been taken over by the eldest master, there were still many trivial matters. As soon as Xiao Jun was able to move, he called his personal servant Xiao Xia to deal with the affairs in a hurry.
What a workaholic. He can be considered a good man in modern times. Unfortunately, there are too many women in the backyard. He will die sooner or later. Under the flowers, Mengxi thought viciously as she watched the second master walk into the study.
Xiao Jun came back from the study very late. As soon as he entered the room, he saw a small wooden barrel prepared in the bedroom. It was half filled with water and smelled of Chinese medicine. His brows were knitted into a knot. He looked at Meng Xi in confusion and asked:
"What are you doing?"
"Second Master, your limbs are still a little numb and your senses are slow these two days. I specially prepared these Chinese herbal soups for Second Master to soak his feet. I put safflower, angelica, astragalus, rhubarb, zedoaria, raw rehmannia, Sichuan pepper, kudzu root, shenjincao, asarum, jujube seed, scutellaria, sophora flavescens, and Sichuan military medicine in this water. Soaking feet in this soup can dredge the meridians and activate the collaterals, balance yin and yang, invigorate qi and nourish blood, harmonize the spleen and stomach, nourish the liver and kidneys, nourish the heart and calm the mind, " said Mengxi as she helped Xiao Jun take off his coat.
Xiao Jun hesitated and opened his mouth to refuse, but suddenly he remembered how comfortable Mengxi had massaged his feet last night. He swallowed the words of refusal back into his stomach and sat on the edge of the bed without comment.
Hongyu stepped forward and squatted on the ground to take off the shoes and socks for the Second Master, rolled up her trouser legs, put her two feet in the water, rolled up her sleeves, and started to wash the Second Master.
"Let me do it." Mengxi had taken off her outer clothes and sat on a small embroidery cushion that had been prepared long ago, saying as she rolled up her underwear sleeves.
Xiao Jun, Hongyu and Hongzhu were all shocked. Washing feet was something that maids did, so how could the Second Madam do it herself?
"Second Madam, you can't do that," Hongyu said anxiously, her face flushed red, her hands not moving away.
"Go get a pillow for me to lean on, it will make me more comfortable."
While Mengxi was giving the order, she had already reached her hand into the water, grabbed Xiao Jun's left foot, and started pressing it.
Hongyu looked at the Second Madam and then at the Second Master in embarrassment, and seeing that the Second Madam had already stretched out her hand, the Second Master stood up without saying a word. Hongzhu had already taken out two pillows, and the two of them found a comfortable position and let him lean on it.
Xiao Jun had never enjoyed such a high-end Chinese medicine foot massage. He leaned there comfortably, watching Meng Xi's eyes gradually deepen. He enjoyed this warm service and wanted to keep it by his side. But when he thought of her actions today and her reputation in the market, he felt uneasy. He, Xiao Jun, wanted to dominate the world, so how could he keep a woman who was so unruly and willful and made his backyard restless by his side? For a moment, he didn't know what to do with her.
"Second Master, I cleaned up the east wing today and wanted to make it into a small study room so that I can go there to read books and write when I have nothing to do."
Seeing Xiao Jun lying there comfortably, his expression became much gentler, Mengxi took the opportunity to bring up the matter of the east wing.
"Okay, I got it." After a long time, Xiao Jun's voice seemed to come from the clouds.
…
When Mengxi woke up in the morning, Xiao Jun was still sleeping soundly. Thinking that the Chinese medicine foot bath and massage last night had taken effect, Mengxi quietly got out of bed, opened the door and walked out of the bedroom. Hongyu and Hongzhu hurried forward to serve her. Mengxi put her hand to her mouth to indicate that the Second Master was still sleeping soundly. She went to the outer room and Hongzhu helped her wash up. She asked Hongyu to wait outside the door for the Second Master to get up, and then she helped Hongzhu to the small kitchen.
Seeing the newly bought bamboo shoots and bamboo shoots from the kitchen, these are plants from the south. In ancient times, transportation was inconvenient, and it was rare to eat these in the north. Only aristocratic families like the Xiao family could eat them occasionally. These were rare in Pingyang City. Seeing the chef holding them, thinking for a long time without knowing how to start, Mengxi felt itchy and started to direct the cooking.
First, ask the chef to cut the tofu into large slices and fry them in 70% hot oil until golden brown. Then, remove the impurities from the soaked shiitake mushrooms, clean them, and cut them in half. Also cut the fresh mushrooms in half. Put the shiitake mushrooms, mushrooms, and bamboo shoots into a boiling water pot, blanch them thoroughly, then remove them and set them aside.
Then use a wok to stir-fry the scallion and ginger until fragrant, then add soy sauce, cooking wine, sugar, shiitake mushrooms, mushrooms, and bamboo shoots, then add the tofu cubes, bring to a boil then simmer over low heat until the flavors are absorbed, thicken with wet starch, add a little MSG, drizzle with sesame oil and mix well, and a delicious and fragrant three-fresh tofu is ready.
With the cooperation of the chef, Mengxi used Polygonatum to make Polygonatum stewed meat, Polygonum multiflorum chicken, and mushroom and radish soup.
After the dishes were ready, Hongzhu and the chef tasted them first. Not to mention that the chef's eyes turned green after tasting the dishes cooked by Mengxi, Hongzhu was not only amazed at the second wife's cooking skills, but also said that she had never eaten such delicious dishes. She cursed the previous chefs for coming to the Xiao Mansion to eat for free and not cooking at all. It was not until Hongzhu saw the murderous eyes of the two chefs on the side that she remembered that she had cursed them as well, and quickly shut her mouth.
Mengxi was in a good mood when she saw their expressions. She thought about it and decided that since she had made a lot of food, she might as well divide it into two portions. She put one portion in a lunch box and added some prepared plum blossom porridge and some colorful cakes to it, and had someone deliver it to the old lady while it was still hot.
