When Old Duchess Zheng saw that her husband had finally woken up, the tears that she had been holding back dripped down from her eyes. She cried out mournfully, “My Duke, you’ve finally recovered your appetite!” Without waiting for the servants to move, she rushed over to the old duke’s side and personally helped him up to lean against the headboard.
Chu Lian was clever enough to recover quickly from her instant of surprise. She moved the small table before Old Duke Zheng.
Old Duke Zheng had been bedridden for quite a period of time. The struggle just now seemed to have used up all his remaining strength. He couldn’t even lift his hand up at this time, so he could only stare right at that plate of stuffed orange with crab meat with his eyes.
Old Duchess Zheng quickly took up one of the oranges and fed him personally.
Once the soup entered his mouth, Old Duke Zheng’s eyes shone even brighter. His heart was moved, his eyes were lit up, his nose was flared and his mouth was in the midst of enjoying bliss.
After swallowing a mouthful of heaven, Old Duke Zheng had completely tossed his idea of fasting to the back of his head. If not for Old Duchess Zheng holding him back and not letting him eat too much at once, he would probably have gulped down an entire stuffed orange in two or three bites.
Since Old Duke Zheng had woken up and had already broken his fast, it wasn’t appropriate if strangers continued staying in the inner room. Leaving Old Duchess Zheng inside, the younger Duchess Zheng invited the guests, including the imperial physician, to the outer room.
After Duchess Zheng invited Matriarch He to take a seat, she curtseyed to Chu Lian in gratitude. “This was all thanks to Honoured Lady Jinyi’s efforts today. Please, accept this bow from me.”
Chu Lian quickly helped the younger Duchess Zheng up, “Madam, please don’t stand on ceremony with me. It was just a small matter.”
Duchess Zheng shook her head. “Honoured Lady Jinyi, you don’t have to be so humble. Even the imperial cooks couldn’t have made such an amazing dish. Honoured Lady really has some marvellous ideas. It’s awe-inspiring to me.”
The back of Chu Lian’s ears felt a little hot. How were these ‘marvellous ideas’? She was merely a gourmet who had collected knowledge from the centuries of cooks before her… Duchess Zheng had really evaluated her too highly.
When Matriarch He saw that her granddaughter-in-law was seemingly embarrassed, she chuckled. “Sanlang’s wife, have you made more of those stuffed oranges? If there’s more, bring some up for us to taste as well. My appetite has been awoken by your descriptions just now.”
Chu Lian nodded, “I have!”
After saying so, she retrieved a larger box of food from Mingyan’s hands. The servants had sent over quite a number of oranges to the kitchen just now, and it didn’t take much to prepare them. Thus, Chu Lian had made a few more portions, thinking to let everyone have a taste of something new. It was just the right time to bring out the extra portions now.
Each person had one orange, even the imperial physician who had come to check on Old Duke Zheng had one.
The people present here weren’t as picky as Old Duke Zheng. Thus, the impact of the gourmet food was even more stronger on them.
The imperial physician held on to the empty orange, feeling unsatisfied. He stared at the empty shell in his hands, finally having a shred of sympathy for Old Duke Zheng’s predicament.
After tasting something so carefully prepared and so delicious, having to return to normal fare was like going from heaven to hell. It was extremely painful.
Old Duke Zheng had just woken up, so no matter how tasty the food was, Old Duchess Zheng didn’t dare to give him much of it. She could only try her best to persuade him and finally managed to convince the old duke.
After finishing his meal, Old Duke Zheng had used up all the energy he had. He closed his eyes and returned to bed. The imperial physician took this chance to enter the inner room again and check the old duke’s pulse. When he came out, Old Duchess Zheng anxiously asked about the old duke’s health.
The physician smiled and reported that the duke would be fine.
Actually, Old Duke Zheng had a healthy body and sharp mind despite his age, he was just a little more picky about his food. This time, he had become bedridden due to fasting. So now that he was willingly to eat again, and since Chu Lian had prepared a nourishing meal, his body would recover just fine after some time. In the days ahead, he just had to drink some nourishing decoctions and eat normally.
