Onmyoji, a nobleman in Heian-kyo

Page 1091

Erika: "Because I'm not sure if Maki is happy. Even though everyone says that Kyosuke-sama is a good person, Maki's happiness is the most important thing to me."

Kashiwagi Nagisa: "Yes, the most important thing is that Maki is doing well."

Ji Kelian, however, inexplicably excitedly placed her hand on Hui Lixiang's shoulder.

"That's great! So Erika, you're not a good-for-nothing after all!"

"...Hey, don't do anything that goes against the mood in such a touching atmosphere."

"It seems that you are still quite normal, Zhenfei."

Ji Kelian also showed the same concerned expression as Hui Lixiang.

Voila.

The current Empress Zhenfei is still as sarcastic as ever.

Although I'm not as honest in my words and actions as before, that's not necessarily a bad thing.

"By the way, now that Maki is married, has she made miso soup for Lord Kyosuke?"

"In the place where I live, it is another concubine of Lord Kyosuke who prepares the dishes, and I have no say in it."

Maki waved her hand at the curious Erika, indicating that she was powerless to help.

She really wanted to cook for Kyosuke Kousaka.

The problem is that there are quite a few people who want to cook for Kousaka Kyosuke, so Maki chose to give up in order to avoid further escalating the "war".

She's very open-minded.

As long as you get along well with your husband and other partners, that's fine.

Don't worry too much about anything else.

"Eri-ka, Princess Mako always wears long skirts, it's hard to imagine her cooking."

Ji Kelian continued to remind Hui Lixiang.

She knew it very well.

The clothes worn by Consort Zhen, who held a higher status, weighed several kilograms, making it difficult for her to move around.

Unlike them.

As long as one temporarily sheds some of the shackles of identity, wearing lighter clothing will not be criticized by anyone.

Moreover, she has now become the personal maid of Consort Zhen.

"I was just wearing a simple undershirt and an outer coat over it."

"How licentious!" ×3

Ji Kelian, Hui Lixiang, and Bai Muzhu all said in unison.

Zhenfei's cheeks flushed red, and she said angrily, "Where is this licentiousness? Wearing two layers of clothing is enough. Wearing too much is useless. The people around me are like that too."

Even the most disciplined Fujishikibu didn't usually wear many clothes.

How come she's considered promiscuous?

"Mahime, is it the same for everyone else?" Kashiwagi Nagisa immediately came to her senses.

"Yes, the same. Wearing so many clothes is already heavy, but Kyosuke-sama doesn't have many requirements in this regard, he probably..."

Empress Zhenfei suddenly coughed and stopped talking.

How could she possibly say that her husband was just like any other man, only interested in his inner qualities and not much in his outward appearance?

"estimate?"

Erika pressed her face close, her curiosity evident.

Maki said without changing her expression, "Lord Kyosuke is probably not a person who likes romance and poetry, so he has no interest in those combinations of clothing colors."

"..."

Ji Kelian stared silently at the perfectly matched outfit on Zhenfei, speechless.

"Lord Kyosuke, you can't be too wicked with Maki... She's clearly a good child, so why is she able to so calmly utter lies now?"

Ji Kelian did not intend to criticize Kousaka Kyosuke.

I just hope that Kyosuke Kousaka can do his best not to pollute the pure and beautiful things in Maki, leaving nothing behind.

Ultimately, in Ji's pitiful memory...

Princess Zhenfei is a good girl who doesn't like to lie and blushes when she does.

But what has it become now?

"I really want to make miso..."

Hui Lixiang started muttering to herself again, as if she were having a hysterical episode.

Everyone has long been accustomed to it.

Maki said, "Making miso requires a lot of salt, so I think you should be more careful with it."

The climate here is similar to that of modern Japan, generally mild in winter and cool in summer.

Salt production requires strong sunlight and extremely high temperatures.

They do not meet either of these conditions.

Therefore, even though the whole country is by the sea, it lacks salt.

Even in modern times, Japan still needs to import large quantities of salt, let alone in this era of low productivity.

"Yes, we can only make miso sparingly."

Hui Lixiang looked sad.

Kashiwagi Nagisa said softly, "Couldn't you have put in less?"

As soon as she finished speaking, both Maki and Erika looked at Kashiwagi Nagisa with surprised expressions.

Startled, Kashiwagi Nagisa asked, "...Did I say something wrong?"

“Well, it’s not exactly wrong, just not quite right,” Maki said, smoothing her hair. “Adding salt when pickling food is not only for flavoring, but also for sterilization and preventing spoilage. If not enough salt is added, bacteria cannot be completely inhibited during pickling, and the nitrates in the food can easily be converted into harmful nitrites.”

This is something taught in chemistry.

Normally, teachers just give the formulas and don't talk about anything related to pickled vegetables.

“That’s right, just like Maki said. Salt is absolutely essential, and I absolutely cannot let miso become poisonous miso!”

Hui Lixiang said with a determined look.

Her dream is to make a super variety of delicious miso.

We can't just give up on such a simple problem!

"The key is still salt..."

Consort Zhen instantly thought of her husband, but quickly dismissed the thought.

It's not appropriate to trouble your husband with this kind of thing.

Then I thought of other people.

For example, Shizuko and Chitanda——

Maki is currently not far from where Shizuko and Chitanda are researching crops; it's less than a few dozen steps away. Maki chooses to walk there alone.

Upon entering the independent estate, Princess Maki immediately noticed a variety of crops planted in containers and fields.

Naturally, rice is the most abundant crop.

"Lady Zhenfei, is there something you need?" Shizuko, who had received reports from others, was not surprised by Zhenfei's arrival and directly asked the question that Zhenfei had come to inquire about.

The saying goes, "No one visits the temple without a reason."

Shizuko chose to ask directly.

Maki, who was already used to this situation, explained simply: "My friend likes to make savory sauce, but there isn't enough salt. Do you have any ideas on how to solve this?"

“This… is a bit difficult. Almost all the salt we consume comes from the sea, and there’s no place near the sea here. So, transporting seawater requires a certain amount of manpower, and you certainly don’t want to use that power, right? But that’s precisely the problem that’s hard to solve.”

"Oh? Can't we just use an array to conjure salt directly? Or is there some other convenient method?"

"Lady Maki, please let Lord Kyosuke fulfill this wish."

Jingzi smiled bitterly.

When did she become an omnipotent being?

It's just that they created a few tools similar to modern electrical appliances using knowledge of array formations.

"You could try asking the demon girl for help," Chitanda suddenly said.

Shizuko was taken aback: "Yes, there was an evil spirit with a very greedy mouth who wanted to buy expensive and delicious food every day, so he carried two buckets of seawater from a forest called 'Blue Forest' to exchange for money."

Chitanda gave a soft "hmm".

"The seawater that Xiao Hong brought over seemed to have a much higher salt content than normal seawater. One bucket contained about half a bowl of salt, so it was valuable, and everyone was willing to trade with him for it."

"So, if your friend can persuade Xiao Hong to make some delicious food for him, he might be willing to give some salt water to your friend."