SFS Chapter 244 The Envoy
Chapter 244 The Envoy
Fifteen minutes later, the jam finally began to thicken.
"The jam is starting to thicken. When you can lift it with a spoon and it stays still for a while, it's basically ready."
Song Jiaojiao picked up the spoon, and the jam didn't immediately slide down, which meant it was ready.
After bottling, Song Jiaojiao mixed the freshly made jam with a pot of water and poured it for the two of them to taste.
Xu Yan nodded repeatedly. It was sweet and sour, without the strong sourness of eating it alone. The current taste was just right, and children and women would probably like it.
"This is really good to drink. It's not unpalatable and it's quite appetizing." As Xu Yan spoke, he felt a little hungry.
Just then, Song Jiaojiao had some steamed buns and pastries delivered.
"Spreading jam on steamed buns also gives them a different texture!"
Song Jiaojiao held a pastry and ate it with bayberry juice, feeling quite content.
Upon hearing Song Jiaojiao's words, Shi Chu immediately tried it out. After taking a bite, he found it to be quite good, much better than eating a steamed bun alone.
"This is really good. If we were on the road, having jam with our dry rations would at least make it easier to eat."
It's possible, but most men don't like sweets. Instead, things like Song Jiaojiao's, which are soaked in water and served with desserts, are more popular with the women in the backyard.
Xu Yan thought to himself, "You know, from ancient times to the present, it's always been women and children whose money is the easiest to earn."
Song Jiaojiao stayed in Xinhui Town for three days before returning home. As for how Xinhui Town will develop afterward, that depends on Xu Yan and Shi Chu's actions.
Song Jiaojiao herself did not expect that Xinhui Town would eventually become the most profitable pedestrian street in Tongan County.
A bottle of bayberry wine attracted many tourists. With Xu Yan's hype, the effects of bayberry wine were exaggerated. They even used the claim that drinking it could make women's complexions more radiant and fair.
In addition, Xinhui Town has many springs, especially a village called Shuangsheng Village, which, as the name suggests, is mostly inhabited by twins.
It is said that there are two springs in the village, only half a meter apart, called the Twin Springs, and the village has enclosed them to provide drinking water for the villagers.
Those who drank from this spring were almost all born twins. Over time, it became known that the spring water was the reason why every household in Twin Village had twins.
Upon hearing this, Xu Yan worked through the night to develop the product and also recruited many people to promote it.
This caused quite a stir. You see, in ancient times, people valued the continuation of the family line, and many traveled thousands of miles to Xinhui Town just to drink a sip of water from Shuangquan Spring.
That's a story for another time. After Song Jiaojiao returned, the pedestrian street in Tongan County gradually opened. At first, no one came. Later, Song Jiaojiao gave Xu Yan an idea.
He distributed a lot of advertisements. For the first three days, you could get a free snack at any stall by showing the advertisement. Each advertisement could only be used at one stall, and the offer was limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Everyone has the desire to get a bargain, and since it's free, why not take it? In an instant, the pedestrian street was packed with people.
Many people like the pedestrian street model because there are no vehicles or horses, making it very safe. Plus, there are benches and chairs everywhere, so you can rest whenever you get tired.
Most importantly, there are public restrooms at both ends of the street, so you no longer have to worry about not being able to find a place to relieve yourself after eating or drinking too much.
The public toilets are not traditional squat toilets, but rather ramps made of smooth stone slabs. After use, they can be flushed down with water, and the smell is very faint, almost undetectable.
There are also handwashing stations outside, so you can wash your hands after using the toilet.
This design was created after Xu Yan specifically consulted Song Jiaojiao.
Summer quietly arrived, and Song Jiaojiao also received a letter from Mu Qing. She and Wang Ziyi had already gone to the Arctic Kingdom.
There are towering snow-capped mountains over there. Even in the summer, it's not hot there. You even need a thin blanket to fall asleep at night.
In this letter home, Mu Qing sent Song Jiaojiao a lot of Tianshan snow lotus. Song Jiaojiao found it amusing. In her spatial dimension, these things grew in the soil like cabbages, and Song Jiaojiao was too lazy to collect them.
The space is currently at level nine, and I don't know how to upgrade it to the maximum level. Song Jiaojiao has already searched for all the plants that can be found in the Great Jin Kingdom.
The space had almost become a small world, except that there were no animals.
On the tenth day of the seventh month, Song Jiaojiao received an imperial decree that all the surrounding countries had sent envoys to sue for peace, demanding that all officials of the third rank and above who were stationed outside the capital return to the capital (except for military officers).
Song Jiaojiao was a second-rank lady, so she was naturally within the scope of the imperial decree.
"Thank you for making this trip, sir. Please have some tea."
Xu Fang handed a large purse to Eunuch Gao, who had come to read the imperial edict. The eunuch weighed it in his hand and put it into his pocket.
With a broad smile on his face, he had thought that the trip would be in vain since he had known that Lady Huide was a country woman. He never expected to have such a great harvest, which was even more generous than that of the concubines in the palace.
Thinking of this, Eunuch Gao kindly reminded her, "I heard that one of the envoys coming this time is a prince from Goryeo. Lady Huide, you'd better hurry up and get ready. This banquet is scheduled for the Lantern Festival, so the time is very tight."
The Lower Yuan Festival, which is the Mid-Autumn Festival on the 15th of the eighth lunar month in the previous era, does seem to be a very tight schedule.
"Thank you for the reminder, Father-in-law. I will go prepare it right away. Please have some tea and wait a moment."
Song Jiaojiao knew that Eunuch Gao was reminding her that a prince from Goryeo was coming. Could it be that he was coming for a marriage alliance?
As a vassal state of the Jin Dynasty, Goryeo had to pay tribute every year. In recent years, the Jin Dynasty had enjoyed favorable weather and abundant military strength, so no country dared to attack it.
However, the border region has been somewhat turbulent in the past two years, with troops from other countries occasionally coming to probe the border.
With so many countries coming together this time, things might change!
Song Jiaojiao found Madam Song and said, "Mother, His Majesty has decreed that I must return to the capital. Do you want to go back?"
During this time, Song Jiaojiao saw that the Song family was really good to her, so she changed her tune. Since they weren't going to the capital, there was no need to hide anything.
"It's time to go back. We've left your father alone in the capital for so long. If we don't go back soon, he might resign and come here!"
Song chuckled and said, "I must say, Song understands Song Yi best. He did intend to resign, but a messenger suddenly came to visit, so he had to postpone it."
"Okay, get ready, we're about to leave."
This trip to the capital was a quick one, and with little rain in the summer, we arrived in the capital in just half a month.
It was already late July when we arrived in the capital, and the palace banquet was still half a month away.
Upon entering the city gate, it was immediately noticeable that there were more guards on the streets and many people standing on the city walls.
These are the ones that are in the open; who knows how many more are hidden away.
The palace, in particular, is now off-limits to ordinary people; even ministers must dismount their carriages and walk to get there.
It's no wonder everyone is so nervous. In the past, when envoys are around, there are always many things to do and many troubles. It's inevitable that there will be areas that are not taken care of, which allows thieves to take advantage of the situation and assassinate the emperor.