How could she possibly have the chance to taste the delicacies of these noble families?

The four maids each picked up a piece and carefully placed it in their mouths. They looked like they were reluctant to eat it all in one bite, so they took small bites at a time.

Ming Yan and Jing Yan even had expressions of enjoyment on their faces.

Chu Lian looked at their expressions curiously. If she hadn't tasted the pumpkin pastry, she would have suspected that there was something wrong with her taste buds.

"How is it?" Chu Lian asked in a small voice, not wanting to disturb their enjoyment.

Ming Yan nodded repeatedly. She licked the leftover frosting on her fingers. "Third Young Mistress, it's delicious!" Her eyes glanced at the two small plates left on the table, clearly wanting more.

Chu Lian was speechless.

When the four of them confirmed that the pumpkin pastry was delicious, Chu Lian began to despair …

No way!

Just this sweet pumpkin sugar pastry was delicious?

These maids used to be servants of the British Duke's Estate. Even if they didn't eat as delicately as the young masters and misses, they could still compare to the average rich family.

Could it be that this was the standard of the average rich family's food in this damned Great Wu Dynasty?

This was too low!

Xiyan saw her master's face fall and furrowed brows. She thought that Chu Lian was unhappy and hurriedly said, "Third Young Mistress, do you think we've embarrassed you?"

It was just a small plate of desserts from a noble family, but it had already seduced them like this. Now that she recalled their unsteady behavior, Xiyan also felt that she shouldn't have done so.

Chu Lian shook her head. This Xiyan was good at everything. She was also sincere, but she was too scheming and liked to overthink things.

"How could that be!

I'm just taking care of myself. In your hearts, is your family's miss such a stingy person? "

The geese shook their heads anxiously, afraid that Chu Lian would misunderstand.

"Then it's settled. Why do you all look so bitter? If you like it, bring these desserts down and share them with everyone." Chu Lian smiled.

Jing Yan's eyes widened. She had a pair of small canine teeth and looked especially cute when she smiled. "Third Young Mistress, you've given it all to us. What … what are you eating?"

Xiyan went to the kitchen to get these exquisite desserts for Chu Lian to fill her stomach. Third Young Madam was a mistress, and she couldn't let her go hungry.

Chu Lian held her chin with her slender hands and said "worriedly", "I don't like to eat these. I don't think they suit my taste."

"But you used to like sweets the most, didn't you?" Fuyan asked curiously.

Chu Lian's face froze for a moment. Ma Dan had forgotten that Xiyan and Fuyan were the female lead's personal maids. They were the people who understood the female lead the most.

"It's not that I don't like sweet food. I just feel that these dishes of pastries are not delicious." Chu Lian had to tell the truth.

Fuyan secretly sneered in her heart, but she didn't show anything on her face.

As the personal maidservant of the Sixth Young Mistress, she knew very well what kind of life the Sixth Young Mistress had led in the Duke of England's Public House. It was already good enough to have specially made desserts in the kitchen every day. How could she have the chance to be so picky?

Now that she married into a noble family and became the Third Madam, she immediately became picky?

Who was he doing this for?

Xiyan and the other two geese widened their eyes in shock, not quite believing what Chu Lian had just said.

Oh my god!

Their young mistress must have become muddle-headed after getting married. The pastries at Duke Jing 'an's Estate were not delicious?

Even the empress wouldn't be able to say something like that.

After all, the chef at Duke Jing 'an's Estate who made pastries was famous in the noble circles of Sheng Capital. During the New Year, the noble families who had dealings with Duke Jing' an's Estate would be proud to receive a gift box of assorted pastries from Duke Jing 'an's Estate. Normally, Duke Jing' an's Estate wouldn't give pastries as gifts. If they wanted to eat them, they could only do so when they were guests at Duke Jing 'an's Estate.

Of course, Chu Lian didn't know any of this. Although this was the world described in the novel, the novel had limited space and couldn't possibly write everything. The famous chef at Duke Jing 'an's Estate didn't even mention a word about it in the novel.

"Third Madam, you're not joking, are you?" Ming Yan asked quietly.

Chu Lian shook her head helplessly and stood up. She glanced around the room and saw that there were golden oranges on the table. She walked over and pinched one in her hand. She had an idea.

"Xiyan's here."

Xiyan jogged over to Chu Lian's side.

Chu Lian waved a little kumquat in front of Xiyan. "Do you see this kumquat?"

Xiyan didn't know what Third Madam meant, so she just nodded.

"Wash them clean, then rub them with salt for a while before rinsing them. Use a small knife to cut four holes in the kumquat and pull out the seeds. Then, boil the seeded kumquat in water mixed with rock sugar until it's transparent. Fish it out and marinate it with honey for two hours."

As Chu Lian spoke, she used her index finger to gesture at the little kumquat, teaching Xiyan how to remove the seeds.

The geese were dumbfounded when they heard this. They only came back to their senses after Chu Lian finished speaking. However, in the next moment, Xiyan didn't immediately take the little kumquat to make honeyed kumquats. Instead, she knelt down with a thud.

Chu Lian jumped in fright. "What's wrong? Why are you kneeling down for no reason?"

After all, she was a good young woman from the modern era. She really couldn't get used to the Great Wu Dynasty's custom of kneeling at the drop of a hat.

When the other three geese looked at Xiyan, their eyes were full of envy.

Xiyan raised her head, her eyes slightly red. "Xiyan thanks Third Madam for teaching me the secret recipe. I will definitely keep it safe in the future!

I will never reveal it! "

Chu Lian was speechless.

Chu Lian didn't know what to say. She just wanted to eat honeyed kumquats, but she couldn't do it herself, so she taught Xiyan to make it. The recipe for honeyed kumquats was so simple that anyone could learn it after seeing it once. However, these geese treated it as a secret recipe. It really made her blush with shame.

If this was the modern era, this kind of dessert recipe could be picked on Google and you'd be dazzled. The only thing they were afraid of was that you were too lazy to make it.

Chu Lian still didn't understand. In the Great Wu Dynasty, the meaning of 'Chiming Bells and Eating Cauldrons' was that when rich and noble families ate, they would strike the bell and use the cauldron to serve all kinds of precious food. This represented a way of life for nobles.

Food was valued for its quality rather than quantity, and the secret recipe was indispensable to a large and noble family. This was a reaction to the prosperity of a family.

Even the mistress of a noble family would know one or two secret recipes. Noble madams who had been on good terms with each other for generations would exchange secret recipes. This was the highest form of interaction.

From this, it could be seen how important secret recipes were to the people of the Great Wu Dynasty. It was precisely because of this that noble families in Shenjing would be proud to receive a gift box of desserts from Duke Jing 'an's estate during the New Year. Although the desserts made by Duke Jing' an's kitchen maids had been sent to many noble families over the years, these desserts hadn't become widespread. They were still only produced by Duke Jing 'an's estate.

However, the recipe that Chu Lian had casually mentioned was obviously regarded as a secret recipe.

Sixth Miss Chu's mother had died young, and the geese had all grown up in the Duke of Ying's estate. They had more or less heard of the Duke of Ying's Third Madam.

Third Madam was second master Chu's first wife and had been born into a scholarly family. Unfortunately, Chu Lian's maternal grandfather, the Lou family, had been implicated by General Cheng Ping's rebellion, and the family had declined.

When Third Madam was pregnant with Chu Lian, she had suffered a blow due to her family's decline. Her pregnancy had been unstable, and she had a difficult labor. When Chu Lian was just a little over a year old, Third Madam had passed away.

Although she had passed away, it was said that she had left a lot of things for the Sixth Miss, Chu Lian.

Thus, when Chu Lian casually mentioned the recipe for honeyed kumquats, the geese didn't suspect anything at all. They simply regarded it as a secret recipe that Third Madam had left for Chu Lian.

Duke Jing 'an's estate's famous pastry chef had made such a name for Duke Jing' an's estate with just a few pastries. One could imagine how much importance the geese placed on the secret recipe that Chu Lian had taught Xiyan.

Of course, Chu Lian still didn't know much about these things. Once she did, she would probably laugh out loud.

'I accidentally stumbled into this damned book. It's not that I don't have anything, it's just that I have a lot of worthless secret recipes in my head!'

Chu Lian couldn't understand why Xiyan would be so grateful for a simple honeyed kumquat recipe. She didn't want to waste her brain thinking too much about it. She had just arrived here, so it was best not to show too much curiosity.

She waved her hand at Xiyan. "Alright, it's not a big deal. Hurry up and make me some honeyed kumquats."

Xiyan wiped her tears with a handkerchief and sniffled. She happily said, "Alright, Third Young Mistress, please sit down and wait. This servant will go right away."

Fuyan watched as Xiyan hurriedly left. She was extremely jealous. She rolled her eyes and hurriedly came back to serve Chu Lian.

She even indirectly said, "Third Young Mistress, you're so good to Xiyan!

This kind of secret recipe can be taught to her just like that. "

Chu Lian, who was slowly drinking a cup of warm water, raised an eyebrow and looked at Fuyan. "What? Does Fuyan want to learn how to make pastries too?"

Fuyan's eyes lit up, but she hurriedly suppressed the desire in her heart. She said in a reserved manner, "This servant doesn't dare to think about that."

Chu Lian didn't say anything else, but she clearly saw a hint of disappointment flash past Fuyan's eyes.

Chu Lian didn't want to directly judge the character of these servant girls based on the plot of the novel. Sometimes, there was no boundary between good and bad people. Sometimes, a bad person could become a good person just by making the right choice. Thus, Chu Lian didn't want to make a judgment so quickly. At the very least, she had to give these servant girls a good direction before making a decision.

Xiyan's movements were very fast. Before noon, the honeyed kumquats were already ready.

This was a simple thing to do.

Xiyan's face was red as she placed a plate of honeyed kumquats in a snow-white porcelain bowl in front of Chu Lian. With a bit of shyness and excitement, she said to Chu Lian, "Third Young Mistress, please try it first. This is this servant's first time making it, so I'm afraid I won't do it well."

The originally golden kumquats had been boiled and soaked in honey, giving them a fresh and attractive transparent orange color. Because the kumquats had four small openings to remove the seeds, they were slightly flattened after being cooked. The openings separated the kumquats into four pieces. The entire honeyed kumquats were set off by the snow-white porcelain. They looked like flower buds waiting to bloom. As soon as they were brought to the table, they emitted a faint, sweet scent of kumquats and honey.