SFS Chapter 276 How to Make Tea
Chapter 276 How to Make Tea
The prince saw Yue Jinghao holding the teacup, so he said, "I know you like tea, so I specially ordered someone to prepare this thousand-year-old snow top! Do you like it?"
Fan Huarong held the teacup tightly in her hand. "Thousand-year-old snow-capped roof." She had heard the Second Prince talk about it many times when they were together!
The so-called Millennium Snow Top is the tender leaves of a thousand-year-old tea tree in the northernmost part of the country. This tea tree grows in a hot place where no grass grows, but this tea tree can stand for a thousand years! There is only one such tea tree in the world. Due to the harsh geographical conditions, this tea tree can only produce five taels of tea each time, so every time the tea is produced, it will attract emperors from various countries to fight for it. This year, Weiguo only got half a tael!
The water for making tea is taken from a thousand-year-old iceberg in the far south. The iceberg is a thousand feet high! If you just want to make ordinary tea, you can take the crushed ice at the bottom of the mountain, but if you want to make tea with the thousand-year-old tea tree, you can only take the ice at the top of the mountain! Then people carry it down piece by piece, put it in a special container, and send it to the palace at full speed. The journey is too long, and after deducting the melted ice on the way, only 30% can be used. After sending it to the palace, the tea artist will use a sandalwood hammer to slowly knock the selected ice into small ice balls. Because the mountain is extremely high, the ice does not have any impurities, and it is not easy to get, so just a knocked ice ball can be compared with gold...
Although Fan Huarong has an aunt who is a royal concubine and a cousin who is a prince, she has never tasted this legendary thousand-year-old snow top. Today, the prince ordered people to make this tea because Yue Jinghao was so beautiful. How could she not hate him! ?
But Yue Jinghao was not surprised by the prince's words. She said as if she was drinking ordinary tea: "Thank you, prince!"
The prince didn't care. He just stared at the beauty in front of him drinking tea as if he was appreciating a beautiful painting.
But Fan Huarong couldn't bear it anymore. Such precious tea couldn't even get a single compliment from Yue Jinghao. It was such a waste of the prince's kindness!
"Princess Jing'an may not know the origin of this thousand-year-old snow-capped mountain, right? Otherwise... she wouldn't be so indifferent."
"Shut up!" the prince shouted. "Stay away!"
"It's okay!" Yue Jinghao smiled slightly, "Aunt Fan misunderstood. I didn't praise it because although this tea is good, the tea brewer's skills are a bit..."
"..."
The prince looked at the tea maker who was serving beside him, and the tea maker immediately knelt on the ground and trembled.
"Your Highness, I cooked it strictly according to the instructions. There is not a single mistake. Please understand!"
"Princess Jing'an!" Fan Huarong said, "This tea artist is an old man who serves the emperor. Even the emperor and the empress praised the tea he brewed...Princess Jing'an should taste it carefully~"
Yue Jinghao raised her eyebrows slightly, looked at the tea maker, and said, "You put thirty ice balls in the tea first, and then put twenty tea leaves in it after the ice balls melted into water and boiled it for half an incense stick. In order to enhance the fragrance, you also put a little honey! Am I right?"
The tea maker was slightly surprised, this method was his family's secret recipe, but Yue Jinghao could tell the secret after just a few sips! ?
When the prince saw that the tea maker did not answer, he asked sternly, "Is what Princess Jing'an said true?"
"Princess...what the princess said...is absolutely correct!" The tea maker lowered his head and answered tremblingly.
Fan Huarong cursed in his heart, "Useless thing", and said, "Since Princess Jing'an said that his cooking method is wrong, Princess Jing'an, could you please tell me your method so that the prince can taste it and see the difference!"
Yue Jinghao was quite generous and said, "The tea leaves are in the north and the ice is in the south. One is extremely hot and the other is extremely cold, so the two must be blended in advance!"
The tea maker's eyes lit up, and he asked hurriedly, "Please teach me, Princess!"
"To make this tea, you need 16 leaves and 16 ice balls. Cut a three-inch high and five-inch bamboo trunk to make a bamboo tube. Put four leaves on the bottom of the tube, put four ice balls on top, and then put four leaves on the ice balls... Finally, cover them with a thin layer of bamboo leaves and place them in a cool place to melt. Never boil them directly with fire! After the ice balls are completely melted, pour the tea into a crystal teapot that is being used for the first time, and then simmer it over a low fire with bamboo charcoal. Stop the fire immediately after it boils slightly. The teacup should also be a crystal teacup that is being used for the first time! The tea brewed in this way is the real thousand-year-old snow top!"
Yue Jinghao's method was unheard of by everyone, even the Crown Prince had heard of it for the first time. Only the tea maker was enlightened, and was secretly pondering in his heart.
"Tsk, Princess Jing'an makes it sound so light. I am also a noble lady from the capital. This method... may be wrong, right?" Fan Huarong said disdainfully.
"Whether it is wrong or not, Aunt Fan, please don't jump to conclusions first! It is better to ask the tea maker to make a pot of tea according to this method, and then make your evaluation after His Royal Highness the Crown Prince tastes it himself!" Facing Fan Huarong's impoliteness, Yue Jinghao remained calm and not anxious, and even her smile never changed!
Such a sensible woman deserves the title of Crown Princess!