latelenovela Chapter 371 Preparing the Ice Sculpture Feast
Chapter 371 Preparing the Ice Sculpture Feast
The gift Su Nuannuan prepared for the young prince was sent back to the capital along with the New Year's gifts.
Just a few days after the letter from the Duchess of Zhenguo arrived, the Empress Dowager also sent a letter to Su Nuannuan. In the letter, she informed Su Nuannuan that the Empress had successfully given birth to the Crown Prince. At the same time, the Empress Dowager expressed her heartfelt gratitude to Su Nuannuan for everything she had done for the Emperor and for her contributions to the Canglan Kingdom.
There were four New Year's gifts this year. One was for the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, one was for the Marquis of Ding'an's mansion, one was for her third brother, and the last and most generous one was for the Empress Dowager. Of course, there were also gifts for the Empress and the Emperor.
Along with these New Year's gifts, four letters and a detailed list of New Year's gifts were also sent.
After everything was arranged, Su Nuannuan began preparing the items needed for the New Year.
"Your Majesty, should we slaughter the New Year's pig?" Jinse asked as she watched her mistress fiddling with the embroidery thread.
"Go and ask Li Desheng. He's currently in charge of all the affairs of the manor," Su Nuannuan replied casually without even looking up.
However, as soon as she finished speaking, Su Nuannuan seemed to remember something and suddenly looked up to add, "But, they should slaughter a pig for the New Year, right?"
Jinse asked this question because a pig had been slaughtered for the New Year at a manor near the imperial tombs.
“Then this servant should go and ask Eunuch Li! If we don’t slaughter a pig for the New Year, our household will have to buy more pork.” Jinse said after thinking for a moment. “Also, Your Highness, shouldn’t you prepare a banquet? After all, the end of the year is approaching, and those ladies have sent quite a few invitations.”
Su Nuannuan nodded slightly in agreement, "Yes, in that case, we should indeed prepare a banquet."
She recalled that Jianping had sent several pots of peonies a couple of days ago, which were now placed in the greenhouse. An idea came to her: "I remember Jianping sent several pots of peonies to the greenhouse a couple of days ago, so let's hold a flower-viewing banquet!"
However, Jinse looked troubled. "Your Highness, the flowers the princess sent are not just peonies, and these flowers are not for appreciation, but for medicinal use."
Upon hearing this, Su Nuannuan smiled nonchalantly, "It doesn't matter. Whether it's flowers for enjoyment or flowers for medicinal use, I just need an excuse to hold a banquet."
She paused, then continued, "I can't possibly host a snow-viewing banquet! This snow scene can be enjoyed in one's own courtyard, so why go to all the trouble of coming here to see it?"
No sooner had she finished speaking than Su Nuannuan suddenly had a flash of inspiration and came up with a brilliant idea—an ice sculpture banquet!
"Jinse, let's skip the flower viewing banquet and have an ice sculpture banquet instead," Su Nuannuan suddenly said, her tone revealing a hint of excitement.
Upon hearing this, Jinse looked at Su Nuannuan with a face full of suspicion and asked in confusion, "Ice Sculpture Banquet? What is that?"
Su Nuannuan smiled slightly and explained, "Do you remember the ice lanterns we made at the Imperial Mausoleum Estate?"
Jinse pondered for a moment, and the scene immediately came to mind. She suddenly realized, "Oh, I remember now! The prince and princess were still young at that time. They were clamoring to play with lanterns during the New Year. But at that time, we were in our second year guarding the imperial tombs, and there was no way there would be red lanterns in the manor."
Furthermore, white lanterns couldn't be given to the prince and princess; that was considered very unlucky. So, the empress had a brilliant idea: she froze several blocks of ice in a wooden bucket, then painstakingly sculpted the desired shapes from the ice by hand, finally placing candles inside. And just like that, a beautiful ice lantern was created!
Jinse nodded repeatedly as she recalled, a smile spreading across her face. She continued, "The prince and princess absolutely loved that ice lantern; they played with it for days!"
Su Nuannuan nodded with a smile, and then said, "That's right! So, I was thinking, since it's winter and there's ice, why can't we hold an ice sculpture banquet?"
"Is Your Highness planning to make ice lanterns?" Jinse asked with a curious look.
Su Nuannuan smiled slightly, gently shook her head, and explained, "It's not about making ice lanterns, but ice sculptures. However, the ice used for ice sculptures needs to be specially treated."
"Oh?" Jinse's interest was piqued, and she quickly asked, "Then how should we handle it?"
Su Nuannuan smiled slightly and patiently explained, "As you know, ice itself is colorless and transparent. No matter how exquisitely it is carved, it is difficult to see the details and features. Therefore, we need to add some color to the ice."
Jinse suddenly understood and nodded repeatedly, smiling as she said, "This servant understands, Your Highness is truly thoughtful!"
Su Nuannuan smiled and nodded, then continued, "In the winter of Huiyang City, water freezes instantly. It would probably take about two days to get a large block of ice."
She rested her chin on her right hand and rhythmically tapped the table with her left, as if deep in thought. With each tap, the embroidery thread on the table seemed to come alive, pulsating incessantly.
Suddenly, as if she had thought of something, Su Nuannuan sat up straight and ordered, "Jinse, quickly prepare the brush, ink, paper and inkstone. I'm going to start drawing the blueprints for the ice sculpture."
Upon hearing Su Nuannuan's words, Jinse dared not delay for a moment. She hurriedly went to the small study and quickly fetched the writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. She carefully placed these items on the table, then meticulously laid out the paper and arranged the writing brush and inkstone for Su Nuannuan, everything appearing orderly and well-organized.
"And paint," Su Nuannuan said softly, picking up the ink stick.
Jinse nodded quickly, then turned and ran back to the small study. She searched rapidly for paints in the study and soon found the ones she needed. Clutching the paint box tightly, she hurried back to Su Nuannuan's side.
"Your Highness, let me help you grind the ink!" Jinse said, watching Su Nuannuan diligently grinding the ink. She reached out and gently grasped the ink stick that Su Nuannuan was grinding.
Seeing this, Su Nuannuan smiled slightly, obediently released the ink stick, and said, "Okay, then I'll have to trouble you."
Jinse took the ink stick and began to grind the ink with focused concentration. Her movements were gentle and skillful, and the ink gradually became thicker under her hands.
Meanwhile, Su Nuannuan began to arrange the Xuan paper. She laid it flat again, using an ebony paperweight to hold down the four corners, ensuring the paper wouldn't move. Once everything was ready, she took a deep breath and prepared to begin drawing the ice sculpture pattern.