Shen Xingqi, who was fighting hard in the crowd, became more and more courageous as he fought, and his dark eyes became brighter and brighter.
This was her first actual combat. After the initial discomfort, she found the feeling of fighting against others on weekdays, and she suddenly felt very refreshed.
Cheng Xi, who was watching the battle from the side, occasionally stopped the men in black who wanted to attack, relieving her worries.
As a result, the originally fierce fight was forced to be divided into two completely different styles. Qu Shaojing and the guards fought desperately, while the three Shen family members were leisurely and leisurely, a little more casual.
Because of their participation, the one-sided scene was reversed in a short time, and the man in black who had the upper hand suddenly became struggling.
The leader saw that he couldn't defeat him and quickly sent a wink to his subordinates.
Want to leave?
Cheng Xi narrowed her eyes slightly, "Wang Shu, keep them!"
What if he runs away and misses her little girl?
Cheng Xi didn't want to be targeted by some dignitary in the capital.
"yes!"
Wangshu's martial arts was not weak, so it was not difficult to leave a few injured assassins behind. Soon there were a group of men in black lying on the ground, most of whom had their acupoints tapped and could not move.
Qu Shaojing had already recovered from the initial shock and breathed a sigh of relief while covering his injured arm.
"Thank you, Mrs. Shen, and...Miss Shen."
His surprised gaze fell on Shen Xingqi, and he shuddered suddenly when he met those shining eyes.
This little girl is too cruel.
Why did he always think she was a delicate and soft lady when they first met?
It's all an illusion!
"You're welcome. If you see any injustice on the road, please help me with your sword."
Shen Xingqi waved her hands to show that she didn't care, and stood beside Cheng Xi and returned to her previous well-behaved state. Her little face was red from the fight just now, and she looked very harmless.
Everyone: "..."
That familiar feeling is back!
Five minutes later, the newly purchased Zhuangzi by the Shen family welcomed not only its owner but also several guests.
The guards of the Hou Mansion were more or less injured, and their faces became much better after being simply bandaged. One of them rode towards the capital to find someone to clean up the mess, while the rest stayed behind to guard the group of assassins.
The two female guests calmed down from their panic and sat quietly in the living room holding a cup of tea.
Cheng Xi looked at the white cloth on Qu Shaojing's arm that was stained with red blood and marveled, "I really don't understand what these assassins are thinking. Why don't they smear the blood-sealing poison on their swords? I really don't have the money to smear some poison on them." The medicine is also effective."
Then this sword has completely completed the mission. As for the target mission, is it still alive and kicking?
Several guests were shocked when they heard this and looked at her with fear, as if wondering where this monster came from.
"Is there something wrong with what I said? I've even done such a despicable thing as an assassination. Isn't it unnecessary to care about the morality of the world?"
"..." Actually there is some truth?
No, that's not right, that's wrong.
The killer organization also wants to be famous, right?
Qu Shaojing smiled bitterly, "Mrs. Shen, please stop teasing me. If that's the case, then I have to thank them for their mercy."
Chen Xingluo next to him took a sip of tea, "So you are going to Zhuangzi to enjoy the flowers, and you met an assassin on the way?"
"Yes, Zhuangzi from Wu'anhou Mansion is nearby."
Qu Shaojing covered his bandaged arm and nodded, his expression a bit ugly, "These people are so arrogant, they dare to intercept and kill them in the suburbs of Beijing in broad daylight!"
"With all due respect, the last time we did it was in broad daylight and in a Beijing alley."
"..."
The person involved's expression froze and he sighed helplessly, "Brother Shen, can you give me some face?"
There is also his charming fiancée here, how can this eight-foot man like him be embarrassed?
Qu Shaojing finally managed to get his sister to make an appointment with his fiancée to go to Zhuangzi to enjoy the flowers. He never expected that he would be so unlucky that he would meet an assassin.
This time it was better, the flowers were not rewarded, but instead, my sister and fiancée were frightened.
It's all those assassins' fault!
Perhaps Qu Shaojing's depressed expression was too substantive, but Nvjuan was amused by his reaction, and the atmosphere in the living room suddenly relaxed a bit.
"I wonder if the young marquis has any clues about the two assassinations?"
"It's embarrassing to say that these assassins just took money to do things and never met the people behind the scenes. The ones we brought back last time didn't find out anything."
The assassins who came to assassinate him this time all had the same martial arts skills. Even if they were taken back for interrogation, it would probably be in vain.
"Has the Marquis Wu'an Mansion had any conflict with anyone recently?"
"My father is stationed at the military camp on the outskirts of Beijing all year round. He must have never offended anyone."
The Marquis of Wu'an was a first-class Duke of the Yan Dynasty with outstanding military achievements. Not to mention offending others, the princes had to fawn over him. How could anyone attack the young Marquis of the Marquis of Wu'an Mansion?
Qu Shaojing was puzzled.
Although he was a little quiet on weekdays, he had never done anything outrageous. As for being hunted?
Strange, so strange.
"Brother Shen suspects that the people behind the scenes want to eradicate the Wu'an Hou Mansion? It shouldn't be the case. Although it is difficult for assassins to enter the military camp, my father's daily journey back to Beijing is very smooth and he has never encountered any assassins."
In other words, you are the only one who was assassinated?
Oh no, maybe I have to add one more today.
Chen Xingluo and Cheng Xi looked at each other and had a more or less reliable guess in their minds.
"I wonder if the young marquis has noticed that although the assassin just now was trying to kill you, there are also many people in black on Miss Jiang's side."
The little girl sat next to Cheng Xi and nodded, "Yes, those assassins want to kill Sister Jiang, and they will use every move to kill her."
"This...did they admit the wrong person?"
Qu Shaoya and Jiang Yuyao were in the same carriage. They were both noble ladies from the capital who did not go out often. It was normal for the man in black to admit his mistake.
"What if I didn't admit my mistake?"
"What's the meaning?"
"I remember that Mr. Marquis and Miss Jiang just got engaged last month?"
"That's right."
Qu Shaojing glanced at Jiang Yuyao, his eyes a little panicked.
"The assassination started recently, and today the man in black tried to attack Miss Jiang again. Maybe the person behind the scenes simply wants your life, or does he not want the Marquis Wu'an Mansion to marry the Jiang family?"
"......"is that so?
The Marquis of Wu'an is loyal to the emperor and protects the country, controls 100,000 troops, and has never been involved in the party or government. The Jiang family's scholarly family is equally neutral. Who on earth doesn't want the two families to marry and is willing to kill him?
Seeing that he was deep in thought, Chen Xingluo picked up his teacup and ordered it.
Wu'an Hou Mansion quickly sent someone over, and Qu Shaoya and Jiang Yuyao left because they were frightened.
In the evening, Su Zhan just walked in carrying a basket of hawthorns.
"Sir, madam, this is the red fruit behind the mountain."
"Do all those mountains belong to us?"
"Yes, the red fruits nearby all belong to Zhuangzi. These red fruit trees are quite old."
Cheng Xi picked up a few and took a closer look. The hawthorn fruit is oblate and spherical, with a purple-red appearance and very eye-catching red dots. When you break it open, the flesh appears pink, and the flesh is dense and hard.
She took a tentative bite and was immediately struck by the sour taste in her mouth.
"It's so sour, my teeth are about to fall out!"
Shen Xingqi's little face wrinkled up, her expression depressed, "Sister-in-law, you really can't eat this red fruit."
"Who said you can't eat it?"
"ha?"
How to eat it so sour?
Shen Xingqi was stunned, "Sister-in-law, does she have some idea?"
"This is the Big Venus Hawthorn, one of the varieties of red fruit. Very few people like it if it is made into candied haws, but that doesn't mean it can't be made into other foods."
Most of the big gold stars are used to make preserved fruits, and a few can be made into hawthorn cakes. If there is enough sugar, they can also be made into drinks.
"It does take a lot of time to make pastries, but I can make a simple drink. Is the kitchen fully stocked?"
"Go back to Madam, all the kitchen utensils are ready, and I also bought some vegetables."
"That's fine. The red fruits in this small bamboo basket are enough."
Cheng Xi carried the bamboo basket to the kitchen and handed over the cooking tasks to Shen Xingqi and Wang Shu. She picked out the larger hawthorns from the small bamboo house one by one for later use.
The hawthorn acid is not a problem, and it is just as delicious as a drink or pastry made with more sugar.
"It's a pity, this thing just can't be made into candied haws."
The thin layer of sugar coating on the outside of the candied haws cannot neutralize the sour taste of the Big Star Hawthorn, but it seems that the sugar-frosted sugar balls can be tried?
Cheng Xi poured the mountain plant into a large basin filled with clean water and cleaned it. Then she took a knife and cut a circle across the middle of the fruit, removing the mountain plant core and base for simple processing. This step was too simple for her. Soon the small basin next to it will be full.
There are only a few of them in Zhuangzi, and it is not advisable to drink too much hawthorn juice, so they cannot use too much hawthorn.
While Shen Xingqi next to her was picking and washing vegetables, she put the processed hawthorns in a steamer and heated them. The hawthorns in the steamer were already cooked in about 20 minutes.
Cheng Xi poured an appropriate amount of cold water and sugar into the bowl, stirred it evenly, and put it together with the cooled steamed hawthorn to squeeze the juice.
Because the tools used to extract juice in ancient times were too slow, the hawthorn juice was mixed with a lot of residue, so she filtered it twice with gauze until it tasted soft and delicate.
A bowl of freshly made hawthorn juice.
"Try it and see how sweet it is?"
Shen Xingqi looked at the glass of hawthorn juice in front of her in surprise, "The color is quite nice?"
But...thinking of the sour taste just now, she suddenly didn't dare to try it.
The little girl took a small sip under the encouraging eyes of her sister-in-law. She was fully prepared, but the sweet, sour and silky taste of hawthorn juice came into her mouth.
"Huh?"
Delicious.
Although it is sour, it is more sweet!
"Doesn't it taste good?"
"It's very good. Sister-in-law really has a lot of ideas."
"If it feels sour, you can add some water and sugar, filter it and the taste will be better than now."
It's just that the amount of sugar is more than a cup of milk tea.
Cheng Xi used the different proportions of sugar and water to make three types of hawthorn juice with different levels of sourness and sweetness, and finally selected one of them after several members of the Shen family tried one after another.
On the second day, Star Breakfast welcomed a new drink.
Hawthorn juice.
