"The color of the Dragon Cream Wine is so deep. It must be because of this kind of grape. Maybe the grape is actually the main ingredient of the wine, and the so - called 'dragon cream' is just a garnish or a gimmick," Li Wanming thought to herself.
She had a plan in mind.
Once the main ingredient was known, the rest would be easy!
Although the Shanli Kingdom had long been buried under the yellow sand and the Black Jade Seed grapes were nowhere to be found... However, the capital city gathered products from all over the world. Maybe they could find another kind of dark - colored grape.
Sure enough, just a few days later, Liu Yiyi brought back some exciting news.
A few years ago, when the Liu family's caravan passed by Fengshan in the east, they had seen a kind of grape there.
The grapes were big and plump, with a sweet taste and a strong rose aroma. Most importantly, they were a deep, heavy black - purple color and were called Black Beauties.
Li Wanming was delighted. "This is it! Anyway, all we need now is the color. Maybe we can make the wine with these Black Beauties!"
Then she frowned with worry. "But it's already December. I'm afraid we won't be able to buy any fresh grapes..."
Liu Yiyi laughed. "You don't understand. The Black Beauties are so sweet and fragrant that they are perfect for making various pastries after being dried into raisins. So the local fruit farmers will always keep a batch of raisins to sell around the Spring Festival!"
After saying that, she immediately sent a message by carrier pigeon to the Liu family's caravan that was about to reach the capital. She asked them to stop by Fengshan on the way and buy a cartload of raisins.
Fengshan was not too far from the capital, about a two - day journey.
Two days later, the Liu family's caravan arrived and brought Li Wanming two whole boxes of raisins.
Li Wanming tasted one. It was sweet and mellow, with a strong rose aroma.
Most importantly, the raisins were extremely dark in color, almost purple - black...
They were indeed the top - grade materials for making a fake Dragon Cream Wine!
She had thought it through in the past few days. She didn't actually want to make the real Dragon Cream Wine - the brewing method and the origin of its ingredients had been buried under the yellow sand, and no one could make it. Instead, she wanted to use a similar method to restore this rare wine variety in history as much as possible.
With such grapes, it shouldn't be difficult to imitate that color.
However, there was still a small but troublesome problem.
Traditional wine was usually brewed from grape juice, but all she had now were raisins, from which she couldn't extract any juice...
After much thought, Li Wanming decided to try the soaking method.
She began to repeatedly adjust the ratio of various ingredients, grinding, distilling, soaking, and then fermenting... After working day and night for almost half a month, finally, on the 22nd day of December, she brewed a kind of wine with a color as deep as ink.
Actually, on closer inspection, the wine was not pure black, but more like a deep, calm blue of a lake at its deepest.
"This color is even more beautiful..." Xiao Jingnan murmured in admiration.
He ordered someone to bring a white jade lotus - shaped wine cup and pour the wine into it.
The wine was deep and crystal - clear, like black jade.
In the small white jade lotus - shaped cup, it seemed as if there was a small piece of the dazzling night sky.
"Great! This is exactly what we want!"
Xiao Jingnan made a prompt decision and ordered someone to fill a jar of the wine and send it to the palace for Zhao Yanke.
"Hey, I haven't adjusted the taste yet..." Li Wanming exclaimed in a hurry.
To be honest, the taste of the wine was not very good.
It was spicy, slightly sour, and had a fishy smell like meat and a cloying sweetness of grapes.
Well, it was really hard to drink...
This was a low - grade wine she made by sacrificing the taste in pursuit of the color. If it was sold on the market, it would definitely be a poor - quality product that no one would like.
"It doesn't matter," Xiao Jingnan said. "All the ancient books and poems only describe the color of this wine, and none of them mention its taste. It shows that it wasn't very good - tasting in the first place."
"Moreover, His Majesty just wants this wine for novelty. As long as the color is right, he won't care about the taste. Besides, the Spring Festival is coming soon. I'm afraid you don't have time to adjust the taste anymore."
"Let's send it in first to meet His Majesty's needs."
The main reason Zhao Yanke wanted this wine was to show off at the Spring Festival palace banquet.
Although there was no requirement in the contract for Li Wanming to successfully brew the wine within a certain time, the most suitable time for the emperor to show off in a year was undoubtedly the Spring Festival palace banquet.
If this wine couldn't be presented at the Spring Festival palace banquet, it would surely disappoint the emperor.
Li Wanming knew that Xiao Jingnan was right.
The taste of the wine was not important at all. What mattered was that the color should be consistent with what was recorded in the ancient books, with a feeling of being as black as ink and as dazzling as the starry sky.
In this way, Zhao Yanke could show off in front of many princes and nobles at the Spring Festival palace banquet!
She had no choice but to nod helplessly and asked someone to seal the wine and put it in a delicate small box. Then it was sent to General Feng's mansion, and Feng Xiao was asked to personally deliver it to the palace.
Before leaving, Li Wanming specially instructed, "Make sure General Feng tells His Majesty that this jar is just a trial product, not the final one. I will adjust it later."
Xiao Jingnan smiled and pulled her. "Don't worry, Your Majesty will be satisfied."
Xiao Jingnan's prediction was right. An hour later, Feng Xiao came with a commendation personally written by the emperor.
Feng Xiao grinned. "When His Majesty first saw this wine, he was overjoyed. He immediately filled a bowl with a white jade lotus - shaped cup. After drinking it, he said, 'This is the taste!'"
Li Wanming couldn't help but complain. "He has never drunk the Dragon Cream Wine. How does he know..."
Xiao Jingnan stopped her. "My dear, His Majesty's words are final. Can he be wrong? When he said that, it was his recognition of you."
"That's right!" Feng Xiao said. "His Majesty said that Lady Cheng could reproduce an ancient famous wine in just one month. She is really erudite and talented. Congratulations..."
As soon as Li Wanming heard the word "reproduce", she was so scared that she waved her hands again and again. "No, no, no. I didn't reproduce the Dragon Cream Wine. I just brewed it according to my own thoughts. Besides, the Dragon Cream Wine is not an ancient famous wine..."
She couldn't bear the charge of deceiving the emperor.
So it was just an imitation, not a reproduction.
Also, wasn't it said that the history of this wine was only a little over a hundred years? Where did the "ancient" come from?
Feng Xiao sighed. "If His Majesty says so, it is so. Why are you arguing with him, Lady Cheng!"
Xiao Jingnan took the commendation from his hand and stuffed it into Li Wanming's hand. "Anyway, as long as His Majesty is satisfied. This is His Majesty's reward for you. It's an honor, no matter how small. You should keep it well."
Even though she got the commendation personally written by the emperor, Li Wanming was not very happy.
Because when she unfolded the commendation, there was only one word on it: "Great".
"Great my ass..."
Li Wanming cursed in her heart, but still took this precious commendation and went back to her room to keep it well - after all, it was written by the emperor, and she couldn't be disrespectful...