Chapter 57: Jade Belt Soup
The tea house broker quoted the price of pepper: the top grade had always been four qian per jin, while the lower grade was three qian and five fen.
The day before yesterday, it changed to four qian silver per jin regardless of quality.
When asked yesterday, some wanted four qian, others four qian and five fen.
Today, it actually jumped to six qian!
Autumn Abundance rushed in, her little face flushed, grabbing Pear Moon with wide-eyed urgency.
“The sundry goods shop is even more expensive, selling at eight qian silver per jin! Should we sell ours to the sundry goods shop?”
She truly understood nothing about this. Pear Moon quickly pulled her to sit down and handed her a cup of warm tea.
“If we’re hoarding pepper to make money, we need to know the prices for both buyers and sellers. The price from the sundry goods shop is the retail price. The price written on the tea house’s signboard is the bulk purchase price, equivalent to the sundry goods shop’s wholesale cost. If we sell our fifty jin, at most we can get six qian.”
“Six qian is fine too! Fifty jin would be thirty taels of silver!”
Autumn Abundance gulped down the tea excitedly and urged Pear Moon to go sell the pepper.
The price had indeed risen, and it was a sharp jump. At a time like this, one must stay calm.
Pear Moon dragged a stool over and sat down, smoothing the mugwort leaves as she continued wrapping zongzi, her mind troubled with thoughts.
She wondered how many official merchants besides Uncle Qin’s family had come from the northern pass and how many jin of pepper they intended to purchase.
Based on past situations, if one official merchant bought ten or twenty thousand jin, doubling the price would be the least of it.
“Tomorrow, I’ll go with you to check. If it rises to one tael of silver per jin, we’ll decide whether to sell!”
Pear Moon made up her mind, sending Autumn Abundance off to eat a sweet zongzi and watch over the tea room while she went to the kitchen to prepare soup.
Shen Shi had specifically requested Jade Belt Soup for tonight, and Granny Fan had been watching closely, afraid she might not make it.
Water shield and bamboo shoots cooked together are called Jade Belt Soup—a delicate and finicky dish.
Water shield is an aquatic plant; only the tender buds beneath the water’s surface can be picked in late spring and early summer, as those that grow above the surface become tough.
The procurement staff of Phoenix Ripple Courtyard had searched through countless shops and markets to find just a few liang.
This vegetable is plump and soft, shaped like small rolled-up lotus leaves, with a faint, fresh fragrance.
The appeal of eating it lies in its crisp and refreshing texture, best enjoyed in soups or thick broths.
Pear Moon had seen Aunt Cao cook it with perch slices, adding a bit of salted fermented beans for seasoning, calling it Perch and Water Shield Soup.
But Shen Shi disliked its heavy, salty flavor, which masked the fresh fragrance of the water shield.
She insisted on cooking water shield with bamboo shoots, demanding a light and refreshing taste, not ruined by the greasiness of meat.
Jade Belt Soup is a scholar’s dish, served at the Shen family banquet the year Grand Secretary Shen became Chief Grand Councilor.
The guests all praised Grand Secretary Shen’s integrity, comparing it to the simplicity of water shield and the uprightness of bamboo shoots.
Upon hearing that Shen Shi wanted to eat this, Granny Fan was utterly distressed.
“Water shield and bamboo shoots cooked in soup—wouldn’t that taste like dishwater?”
Pear Moon smiled faintly, tied an apron around her waist, and went to slice spring bamboo shoots into fine strips.
This kind of pretentious, overly refined dish is all about the artistic conception and subtle charm.
Artistic conception comes first, followed by appearance, then content, and lastly, flavor.
Aunt Cao had explained some of these principles before, but Pear Moon hadn’t fully understood them then and still only grasped them vaguely.
However, she knew well that Shen Shi was so particular that if the flavor wasn’t good, she would surely smash bowls and overturn the table.
“It’s all vegetarian, and we can’t add any meaty flavor or use fermented bean sauce. How do we make the soup?”
While Granny Fan was still muttering, Pear Moon had already lit the stove and heated the pot.
She added old hen, ham, dried scallops, dried conpoy, mushrooms, and meatballs to clear water, poured in a large bowl of yellow wine, dried ginger, and scallion sections, and boiled the soup over high heat.
“Adding so many ingredients?” Granny Fan was astonished.
Once the soup boiled and the foam was skimmed off, Pear Moon took two pieces of chicken breast and began chopping them into a fine paste.
“Granny Fan, why does the mistress suddenly want to eat Jade Belt Soup?”
“Who knows how it happened! I just heard from the maid Xiafu that it’s probably about the Dragon Boat Festival gifts. Somehow she got into another argument with Granny Zhao. After scolding the maids in her room, she randomly demanded to have Jade Belt Soup. Truly my nemesis—since I started working in the kitchen, I’ve never seen anyone eat this for no reason!”
Granny Fan stomped her feet with a worried frown; she was hearing the name of this soup for the first time.
Pear Moon’s knife chopped the cutting board crisply and neatly as she asked with a smile:
“This afternoon when I went to the Main Chamber to deliver the clever zongzi, Granny Zhao and Sister Zhi Qing were packing the gift boxes, and the mistress was watching from the side. I didn’t see them arguing or getting upset.”
Granny Fan clapped her hands and frowned. “That mistress’s temper is good one moment and bad the next—who knows which words might have upset her? I heard it was said that all the families’ Dragon Boat Festival gifts were ordinary, except for the Tan family’s, which were the most extravagant. A box of sweet and savory zongzi is still fairly common. But along with the zongzi, they sent pearl hundred-strand cords, pure gold nugget five-colored knots, gold-wire-wrapped cat’s eye emerald fans, and ten bolts of Hangzhou gauze—all valuable and expensive items. The accompanying note was also written very politely.”
“Seeing the Tan family’s generous gifts, Granny Zhao also wanted the mistress to send some good gifts in return, to match our family’s status. At the very least, a pair of jade-handled Suzhou embroidered round fans, two pairs of pure gold hairpins, and four bolts of embroidered satin. She also suggested that at the Dragon Boat Festival banquet, the mistress personally say a few words to Madam Tan as a gesture of goodwill between the two families.”
“Who would have thought the mistress would be displeased? She scolded General Tan for not being a proper person—not only did his family side with the Eunuch Faction, but they also engaged in commerce to make money, and their gifts reeked of the stench of copper coins. She also complained about the way the Tan family addressed her in the gift note, writing ‘Lady Shen of Ningguo Mansion’ instead of ‘Lady of the Ningguo Duke,’ and refused to open the Storehouse to take out satin for the return gifts. Granny Zhao was so angry she couldn’t stand it, but with Zhi Qing mediating, they finally took two bolts of satin as gifts.”
“Granny Zhao said the Tan family’s generous gifts were well-intentioned and urged the mistress not to be petty. The mistress got angry, saying she didn’t care for such lavish gifts and even less for the Tan family’s attempts to curry favor. As she spoke, she brought up our Shen family’s integrity and ordered the maids to tell me to make this blasted Jade Belt Soup!”
While she rambled on, Pear Moon swiftly chopped the meat, turning the chicken breast into a paste. She casually turned down the stove fire, letting the soup simmer gently over low heat.
Pearl hundred-strand cords and gold nugget knots were considered ordinary items among the wealthy families in the capital.
Gold-wrapped cat’s eye was an extremely rare treasure, and to make a pair of gold and emerald fans from it would be incredibly valuable.
A few days ago, Miss Tan had just sent several high-quality ginseng roots.
Now, for the Dragon Boat Festival, they sent such expensive gifts again—the Tan family was truly wealthy!
Pear Moon was lost in thought as she pulled the bellows when she heard Granny Fan say enviously:
“After all, they’re a military family—who knows if they’re embezzling army pay or draining soldiers’ blood? They’re so rich and prosperous. Our Shen family is a scholarly household, living off the daughter-in-law’s dowry, raising such a stingy mistress!”
She spoke without thinking and, frightened, glanced back twice. Seeing no one behind her, she patted her chest in relief.
After spending more time together these days, Granny Fan knew that although Pear Moon was young, she was indeed steady and tight-lipped.
Whenever she had something she couldn’t hold back, she was willing to confide in her.
“I heard that General Tan’s uncle is a well-known merchant-official in the Northern Pass, handling all the trade coming and going there. On a single trip to the capital, just from buying pepper alone, he purchased over thirty thousand catties!”
Hearing this, Pear Moon couldn’t help but look up and ask, “Who said that? And with such vivid details.”
Seeing her disbelief, Granny Fan lowered her voice and pointed outside, saying, “The person in charge of procurement said so. As soon as this news came out, the price of pepper in the market rose—now you can’t even buy a catty for eight qian of silver!”
Thirty thousand catties of pepper!
Pear Moon’s eyes were lit up by the flames.