Five Years After My Death, the Mad Emperor Still Summons My Spirit

Ming Lingyi explained her ideas to Zhang Qi, who immediately understood what she meant.

However, Zhang Qi kindly reminded her, "Boss Ming, almost no one in the restaurant business uses taller stools and tables like you’re planning. Are you sure you want to do this?"

Ming Lingyi muttered to herself, ’That’s because no one has ever tried it. They don’t know that sitting higher is far more comfortable than sitting lower.’

She herself preferred eating at the stone table in the backyard. Wasn’t it because that stone table was much taller than the low ones inside the restaurant?

She could eat two extra bowls of rice just by sitting on a high stool!

"Yes, let’s go with this for now. I think it will be good," Ming Lingyi said. "If customers really can’t get used to them, I’ll switch them back."

Hearing her say this, Zhang Qi didn’t try to persuade her any further. After all, it was Ming Lingyi’s shop, so everything should be arranged according to her ideas.

The renovations would take several more days, so Ming Lingyi posted a notice outside the restaurant.

Closing down completely was, of course, out of the question.

The Qingming Festival was the perfect time for spring outings. Groups of restless young men and women would arrange to meet near Qujiang to visit places like Leyou Garden.

And since they were out for fun, how could they go without eating?

Ming Lingyi planned to take Xiao Chun and Shi Mingyue to set up a stall.

At a time like this, the purses of those young men and women would be bulging. They certainly wouldn’t be short on silver to spend.

Besides, she had ordered a large number of chicken and duck eggs from farmers last month, and all the duck eggs had been made into salted duck eggs.

Now was the perfect time to make salted egg yolk and red bean paste green balls.

Making the green balls was simple. Ming Lingyi first baked the salted egg yolks in the oven, then stir-fried a pot of sweet red bean paste. The paste was smooth, with a slight stretchiness from the added maltose. While it was still warm, Xiao Chun, who was standing nearby, snuck two large mouthfuls.

"Isn’t it too rich?" Ming Lingyi asked with a smile.

Xiao Chun shook her head like a rattle drum. "Everything you make is delicious, milady! This red bean paste tastes completely different from the filling in the steamed cakes they sell outside."

Ming Lingyi smiled. She had also tried the steamed cakes sold outside and figured that most people didn’t bother putting much effort into the filling; as long as it was made from ground red beans, it was considered good enough. But Ming Lingyi was exceptionally meticulous when it came to her cooking.

After steaming the red beans, she had Xiao Chun grind them with a stone mill three times before she was satisfied.

Grinding them multiple times made the red bean paste exceptionally smooth. After it was stir-fried with maltose, its texture was naturally leagues apart from what was sold outside.

Even Shi Mingyue, who usually wasn’t one for indulging her appetite, looked at Ming Lingyi in pleasant surprise. She felt it was the most delicious red bean paste she had ever tasted.

When Ming Lingyi had first bought her, she never imagined her new mistress ran a restaurant and was such a skilled cook. She had assumed that being sold into servitude meant a life of hardship. Who could have known that she would end up eating even better than she had before?

It was simply because Ming Lingyi’s cooking was too good; she couldn’t help but take a few extra bites at every meal.

Shi Mingyue felt that she had put on quite a bit of weight since coming to Ming’s Restaurant.

Besides the filling, the dough for the green balls was also very important.

Although the dough was made from ground glutinous rice flour, it took a special technique to achieve the right elasticity and chewiness.

To get that chewy, stretchy texture in the green ball dough, it had to be pounded repeatedly, much like making sticky rice cakes.

Fortunately, in Ming Lingyi’s shop, both Xiao Chun and Shi Mingyue had plenty of arm strength.

She left the task of pounding the dough to the two of them while she divided the red bean paste into small portions, wrapping each one around a salted egg yolk.

Once Xiao Chun and Shi Mingyue finished pounding the glutinous rice dough, which had been colored with mugwort juice, Ming Lingyi divided it into small portions. She then wrapped the red bean paste and salted egg yolk filling inside and placed the balls into a steamer.

In addition to this savory version, Ming Lingyi also made many traditional sweet green balls, placing them in the steamer in batches.

Since there was food, they also needed drinks.

During the Qingming season, the weather wasn’t hot yet, so cold drinks weren’t necessary. Hot or room-temperature drinks in a few different flavors should do the trick.

Ming Lingyi made two different kinds of drinks.

One was milk-based. Ever since the weather had warmed up, she had taken to steeping green tea in milk, which gave it a more refreshing flavor. Besides green tea, Ming Lingyi had experimented with adding many other things to milk. Recently, she discovered that adding mint leaves also produced a wonderful taste.

So, this time, Ming Lingyi also brought along the restaurant’s newly developed drink—mint milk.

The other drink was a lotus seed soup.

This was also sold widely on the streets, but Ming Lingyi’s version was a little different. Much like her milk and egg with fermented rice, her lotus seed soup could be served with many toppings. Things like hawthorn, sesame seeds, crushed peanuts, and all sorts of preserved fruits were arranged in small bowls, and the presentation alone was enough to whet one’s appetite.

In addition to the food, Ming Lingyi also bought a new banner and wrote the words "Ming’s Restaurant" on it herself.

Because she was writing on a banner, her calligraphy was more unrestrained. It looked far more elegant and sharp than the menu she had previously written on the wooden sign.

And so, Ming Lingyi, along with Xiao Chun and Shi Mingyue, pushed a small cart and headed toward Leyou Garden.

It had already rained twice before this year’s Qingming Festival. But on the day itself, the spring breeze was mild, and the sunlight felt gentle.

Ming Lingyi set up her stall at the entrance of a temple in Leyou Garden.

The spot she chose was excellent, right under a huge pear tree.

It was the peak of the pear blossom season, but the rain and spring winds from the past two days had already blanketed the ground with a layer of snow-white petals.

Ming Lingyi’s stall was not only in a scenic spot, but the old pear tree above—which looked to be several decades old—also provided welcome shade from the sun.

Xiao Chun and Shi Mingyue were both quick and nimble. Before Ming Lingyi could even lift a finger, the two of them had already set up the stall.

The two different drinks were also set out.

Ming Lingyi had also placed some simple, lightweight folding tables and chairs under the cart. She had asked Zhang Qi to make them, and they were very convenient for her stall.

Today, Li Yan was finally allowed to leave the palace.

’He didn’t know why his imperial father had lifted his confinement, but the reason wasn’t important; the result was. He hadn’t seen his mother for days. He wondered how she was doing and whether his father had given her a hard time.’

At this thought, the Little Crown Prince hastily left the palace.

Cheng Yi had also been released. Now that the Crown Prince was leaving the palace, he was no longer being shunned, so he quickly followed.

In his study, when Li Yun heard the news that Li Yan had left the palace, he stared at the memorial in his hands for a long time without reading a single word.

’Of course, he hadn’t wanted to lift Li Yan’s confinement. But Ming Lingyi’s words on the road that day had forced him to release the boy.’

’He could disregard Li Yan’s feelings and keep the boy confined to his studies in the Eastern Palace. But he couldn’t disregard Ming Lingyi’s feelings and keep her from her child.’