Thinking about Master Wen’s morning meals, the day seemed to pass quickly. Go to bed thinking you can eat tomorrow’s morning meals and close your eyes.

Many people thought this way, including but not limited to Ah Bing, Tang Yuan, prisoners in the prison, guards, Zhao You, Ji Caimai, etc.

Wen Mingtang, who was missed by others, went to bed early as usual and got up when the dawn was just dawn and the dawn drum had not yet sounded.

After washing up and rushing to the public kitchen, she saw Ah Bing and Tangyuan who had been waiting there for a long time.

Yesterday, after listening to Master Wen’s talk about making zīfàn tuán, the two of them have been thinking about the dish called zīfàn tuán for a long time.

The method of making zīfàn tuán was similar to that of fàn tuán, mainly because of the stuffing inside.

Most of the rice balls that Wen Mingtang ate in the imperial dining room in the palace were leftovers made into a ball. It was a way to solve the problems of leftovers, whether they tasted good or not depended entirely on luck.

However, since was going to make zīfàn tuán for the morning meal, the stuffing cannot be sloppy.

The deep-fried dough sticks taught two days ago were directly made by Ah Bing.

Wen Mingtang demonstrated again, handed the chopsticks to Ah Bing, and began to prepare other ingredients.

The eggs were broken up and spread into thin omelets and cut into shreds. The jar of sour cowpea was also taken out and put into a bowl, together with the meat floss made yesterday and the deep-fried dough sticks fried by Ah Bing, all these were going to be the stuffing for zīfàn tuán.

On the other side, Tangyuan had pounded crushed black sesame seeds with a stone mortar. Wen Mingtang poured the crushed sesame seeds into the sugar, stirred them, and put them aside.

When Ah Bing’s fried dough sticks were finished, the glutinous rice was also steamed.

When everything was ready, she started making zīfàn tuán.

Pointing to the side dishes on the counter, Wen Mingtang asked Ah Bing and Tangyuan: “Is there anything you don’t want? Are there any taboos?”

The two looked at the side dishes on the counter and shook their heads in unison: “There are no taboos. We can eat anything!”

Wen Mingtang shook her head with a smile, spread out a piece of wet cloth on the table, scooped out a spoonful of glutinous rice with a spoon, spread it evenly and compacted it, and then began to spread the material. Put meat floss, egg shreds, and sour cowpea on the fried dough sticks, and then use a damp cloth to roll up the whole rice ball and twist it, and a zīfàn tuán was ready.

Wen Mingtang spread out the wet cloth, revealing the rolled zīfàn tuán. From the outside, the zīfàn tuán was nothing special, except that it was bigger than ordinary fàn tuán.

She took a knife and cut it in the middle with the knife. When the cut surface of the zīfàn tuán was exposed, Ah Bing and the Tangyuan let out an exclamation.

The outermost circle was milky white glutinous rice, which covered the inner layers, from glutinous rice to meat floss, egg shreds, and sour cowpea to the deep-fried dough sticks in the middle. Under the layers of indentation and wrapping, it was extremely rich.

Wen Mingtang put the zīfàn tuán cut in half on the plates of the two of them respectively and made another one. But unlike the layer-by-layer wrapping just now, this zīfàn tuán only had a spoonful of sugar mixed with sesame seeds inside. Then it was rolled and twisted and cut from the middle.

The sweet cross-section, although not as rich as the previously layered filling, showcased a blend of black sesame mixed with milky-white glutinous rice. It was interspersed with tiny sugar granules that resembled crystals. A single glance was enough to evoke the taste of traditional Dragon Boat Festival glutinous rice dumplings sweetened with a sugary flavor. The only difference was the absence of the aromatic rice fragrance that came with sugar-coated white dumplings, replaced by the aroma of black sesame.

Looking at the zīfàn tuáns that were half sweet and half salty, Ah Bing and Tangyuan were very happy.

When they saw the zīfàn tuán, they were worried that thezīfàn tuáns made of rice would be heavy. How could they eat anything else after eating one? But if you only taste the sweet one or only the salty one, it was always a pity not to taste the other one.

Right now, Master Wen saved everyone from choosing and simply let them have both.

The two of them enjoyed their meal and felt as if they were once again caught in the dilemma of which was better, like that sweet or salty soy milk. What was the contention? Of course, both flavors are required.

Equally torn between deciding which one was tastier were the prison guards in the jail. The breakfast they had been eagerly anticipating all night didn’t disappoint them in the least.

This time, this thing called zīfàn tuán was also eye-catching. It looked like fàn tuán, but it is not the same as ordinary fàn tuán.

The jailer ate with a full face. Seeing Wen Mingtang and the others took out the zīfàn tuán and were about to deliver the morning food to the prisoners in the prison, the jailer who was busy eating quickly called out “Wait”.

Wen Mingtang and the others were puzzled.

The jailer said while eating: “Lin Shaoqing said that we will do the job of delivering court food in the future so that Master Wen will not be injured when she meets a prisoner who refuses to obey the discipline.”

There was only one person, and it was self-evident who Lin Fei was referring to.

With less trouble and no need to deal with the young master with the servant, Wen Mingtang naturally had no objection, greeted the jailer, and left.

After Wen Mingtang and her party left, the guards who had finished eating zīfàn tuán began to deliver court food from cell to cell.

Although they were a little curious about why the jailer himself sent the food today, most of the prisoners were just curious and didn’t ask more questions.

The jailer didn’t put down the zīfàn tuán until it was delivered to the last room, and the boy’s voice came out: “Why are you here to deliver the food today? What about the cook?”

The guards looked at each other and replied: “Lin Shaoqing ordered, and I will deliver the court food in the future…”

Before he finished speaking, he heard the sound of throwing plates: “What does this person surnamed Lin mean? Protect the cook.”

“Could it be that the cook is really his person? Tell Lin Fei, to let the cook come and bring me the food, otherwise, I will not eat it!”

The temper of this xiǎo jùnwáng was really… the jailer felt a headache and said: “I dare not neglect Lin Shaoqing’s instructions. If xiǎo jùnwáng has this idea, why don’t you wait to see Lin Shaoqing next time and talk to him yourself?”

If you compare offending the xiǎo jùnwáng with offending Young Master Lin, it was still better to offend the xiǎo jùnwáng!

The young man was cursing and scolding in the cell: “Go and call Lin Fei now, I want to ask him what this means. Go! Otherwise, I will go on a hunger strike!”

Here we go again! The jailer had no choice but to say: “I’ll wait and see if Lin Shaoqing is here.”

The Dali Temple officials didn’t come to the yamen to be on duty so early, it was just to take a trip so that they could have something to appease the lxiǎo jùnwáng who was in prison. But they hadn’t anticipated that Lin Fei would arrive early today.

Hearing the jailer’s words, Lin Fei only replied three words “Got it”, then called Zhao You, pointed to the food box beside him, and said, “Go to the public kitchen to get the court food.”

Zhao You, who had been waiting for a long time, immediately said excitedly: “Sure! Just wait! I don’t know what morning food Master Wen made today?”

The jailer said: “It is a morning food called zīfàn tuán. It has a salty taste and a sweet taste. It is very delicious.”

With these few words were enough to make Zhao You turn around and rush away.

As he reached the entrance of the public kitchen, he coincidentally ran into Liu Yuan, who seemed to have had a restless night, and Ji Caimai, who was peeking around. Meeting familiar faces while collecting breakfast! Zhao You immediately went over and patted both of their shoulders, saying, “You guys are here for Master Wen’s breakfast too!”

Liu Yuan was shocked by the voice, and his sleepiness disappeared. He turned his head and glared at him, saying, “Master Wen’s food is delicious, why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

He wasted several days’ worth of food money.

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