Rumor Has It That I'm Pregnant with His Highness' Child

222 Texas Chicken

In order to comfort Dang Gui, Yu Niaoniao specially cooked Texas Chicken for her.

This dish was very troublesome to make. First, she plucked the old hen’s feathers and removed its internal organs. Then, she boiled it in cold water and removed the blood foam. She added green onion and ginger wine to remove the fishy smell and then changed the heat to simmer.

When the chicken soup was ready, she filtered it with gauze.

She chopped some chicken into minced meat and soaked it in the spring onion ginger wine for a moment.

Then, she poured the marinated chicken meat into the chicken soup and simmered it. This was a process that required a lot of patience.

The ingredients were stewed until they were absorbed by the meatballs before being scooped out.

The chicken soup that had been carefully stewed twice was called double-boiled soup. Its taste was even more delicious and fragrant than ordinary chicken soup.

Yu Niaoniao smeared the entire chicken with malt and placed the hot oil into the pot. She fried it until it was dark red and scooped it out to control the oil.

She untied the casserole and placed in the pre-prepared seasoning bag. She poured in the double-boiled soup, added the spring onion ginger wine soy sauce and mushrooms, stirred them evenly, and put in the fried whole chicken. She covered it.

First, she heated it up and removed the froth. Then, she switched it to a small fire and slowly stewed it.

At this moment, Dang Gui had completely forgotten to cry. She stared longingly at the casserole, gulping at the rich aroma.

Yu Niaoniao smiled and said, “I quite like to eat Texas chicken, but because it’s too troublesome to cook, I rarely cook this dish. You’re lucky today.”

Dang Gui asked curiously.

“Why is this dish called Texas Chicken? Texas sounds like the name of a place, but I’ve never heard of this place.”

Yu Niaoniao began to spout nonsense in all seriousness, “Texas is actually a person’s name. He was the one who invented this dish. In memory of him, later generations named it Texas Chicken.”

Dang Gui was enlightened. “I see.”

Then she asked, “Did he invent other dishes?”

Yu Niaoniao shook her head. “That’s all.”

Dang Gui looked disappointed. “That’s a pity. If only he could cook a few more dishes.”

Yu Niaoniao reached out and gently flicked her forehead. “That’s easy for you to say. Inventing new dishes is not like growing cabbage in the fields. It’s not as simple as you think.”

Dang Gui covered her forehead. “Okay.”

Yu Niaoniao nudged her. “Go and see if Duke Lang is back.”

“Yes!”

Dang Gui ran out of the kitchen. After a while, she returned. “Miss, His Highness has just returned. He’s in the guest room upstairs.”

Yu Niaoniao lifted the lid and looked. The chicken skin was smooth and red. The fragrance assaulted her nose.

The dish was already done.

She smiled. “Get the dishes. Dinner is ready.”

Dang Gui was excited. “That’s great!”

Yu Niaoniao gave some chicken and chicken soup to Dang Gui.

The chicken was stewed until it was very soft and mushy. Without much force, one could easily remove the chicken from the bones with chopsticks.

Dang Gui could not wait to taste it. The meat was fresh, fat, and tender. It was even more delicious than she had expected!

Yu Niaoniao carried the tray upstairs.

At the same time, two uninvited guests arrived at the station. Walking in front was a handsome man in a blue robe. Behind him was a little servant.

The young clerk took out the document and the silk seal that identified him and showed them to the official at the station.

After the official finished reading, he hurriedly returned the document and the silk seal with both hands and bowed respectfully.

“So it’s Young Master Lu from the County Governor’s Mansion. Please forgive me for not welcoming you.”

The little boy put away the document and the silk seal and said, “My young master passed by here and wanted to stay at the station for the night.”

The official hurriedly said, “It’s our pleasure, but the guest rooms on the second floor are already full. Only the room in the southwest corner of the backyard is still empty. I wonder if Young Master Lu is willing to accommodate?”

When Lu Yao first entered the station, he noticed the Eagle Guards guarding the door. He had heard that the emperor had sent the Eagle Guards to escort Prince Min and his son to Liaodong County. He guessed that the people living on the top floor of the station should be Prince Min and his son.

Although he was the son of the county governor, he was still incomparable to Prince Min and his son. Therefore, he tactfully agreed.

“It doesn’t matter. It’s only for one night.”

The official said, “Please follow me.”

The three of them walked out of the central room through the side door and through the cloister to the backyard.

Lu Yao sniffed. “What’s that smell? Why does it smell so good?”

The official explained with a smile, “Someone must be cooking in the kitchen.”

With that, he pointed in the direction of the kitchen.

Lu Yao had been traveling the entire day and had only eaten two pancakes at noon. He was hungry now, so he said to the little attendant.

“Why don’t you go into the room and put the luggage down? I’ll see if there’s anything edible in the kitchen?”

With that, he eagerly walked towards the kitchen.

In the kitchen, Dang Gui was chewing on a drumstick with relish.

She could not bear to eat such a delicious drumstick too quickly. She ate every bite especially carefully.

She suddenly heard a voice.

“What are you eating?”

Dang Gui stopped chewing on the drumstick. She looked up and saw the handsome man standing at the door.

...

This man was wearing a long blue robe. Because he had been traveling for days, his clothes were stained with a lot of dust, and he looked a little tired.

He had a pair of amorous peach blossom eyes, a high nose bridge, deep facial features, and a tall and straight body.

He was the kind of man who could easily gain a woman’s favor.

If it were an ordinary woman, she would definitely put down the drumstick immediately after being stared at by such a handsome man. Then, she would quickly wipe her lips and tidy up her appearance so as not to ruin his first impression of her.

But Dang Gui only replied with two words.

“Texas Chicken.”

Then she lowered her head and continued to eat the drumstick seriously. How could a handsome man be better than a chicken drumstick?!

Seeing her cold attitude, Lu Yao became interested in her.

Due to his status and appearance, he had been very favored by women since he was young. Be it old seniors or young juniors, they would favor him as long as they were women.

However, the woman in front of him did not seem to be interested in him at all.

Lu Yao found it interesting.

...

He walked over, lifted the hem of his shirt, and sat down coolly opposite Dang Gui.

After getting close, the fragrance of the dishes immediately became even stronger.

Lu Yao could not help but look at the dishes on the table. He endured his hunger and asked in a curious and expectant tone.

“I’ve never had Texas Chicken. How does it taste? Is it good?”

He thought the hint in his words should be obvious. After receiving his meaning, the other party should politely ask if he wanted to eat with her. At that time, he could freeload.

Lu Yao’s plan was very good. Unfortunately, the girl opposite him did not play according to plan.

Dang Gui answered without looking back.

“Delicious.”

And that was it.

Lu Yao looked at her in disbelief. She was eating with relish and refused to even look at him.

What a lovely face.

What a heartless girl!