The little lady in the dining room

Chapter 27
There was silence in Zichen Palace.

Xu Shishui stood with his head down, couldn't help looking at his master's expression again and again, and occasionally he boldly glanced at the emperor.

Outsiders may not be able to hear the difference in the emperor's order just now, but to those who are close to them... it is a bit strange.

About the little maid in the Shangshi Bureau, they, who are proud of the imperial court, probably know about five or six points.

It seems that His Majesty deliberately concealed her identity, and almost everything was done in the name of Lord Wei, including going back to Gong Zhengsi to save people.

But just now, His Majesty summoned a few imperial guards, copied a large stack of recipes in the girl's handwriting, and the last words left were: "Go to inspect and send it to her, saying that it was left by the commander. "

"Commander"...

His Majesty specifically mentioned this identity, Xu Shishui tasted it for a long time, and found it really intriguing.

——These words, coupled with that tepid look, seemed a bit puffed up?Does Your Majesty feel that the previous benefits are all on Lord Wei's head by the little maid, and that he is at a disadvantage?
Xu Shishui held back his smile, thinking about it carefully, and then the more he tried to hold back, the more he wanted to laugh: Your Majesty, is this delicious?
In Shangshi Bureau, Sydney took the commander's words seriously.

Staring at that note and reading it over and over again, I thought over and over again about everything related to getting the golden hairpin, and I really came up with some details that I hadn't thought of before.

But most of the time, she was not sure, so she took a piece of paper, thought of one thing and wrote down one thing, and planned to take it together when she was free and ask the conductor if she was right.

——I've been really busy recently, and the six bureaus are very busy.

On the tenth day of the twelfth lunar month, the palace suddenly received a letter saying that the empress dowager was going back to the palace for the New Year.

The news was a bit overwhelming.

Ever since the emperor ascended the throne, the Empress Dowager went to the palace of Mount Ying to cultivate herself. The maids with less seniority in the palace had never seen her, but they only heard from word of mouth that the Empress Dowager was very particular about food and clothing, and she was very strict about etiquette.

This kind of word of mouth was enough to make the palace people feel awe of her, and when they first heard that she was coming back for the New Year, they were all very nervous.

The Shangshi Bureau regards knowing the Empress Dowager's dietary preferences as a top priority. Every day, the recitation is heard loudly, and there is also a link of spot checking each other to find mistakes. If you don't listen carefully, you will think this is an academy.

"Steamed shrimp with tofu, cut tofu slices half an inch thick, cut them into round trays, took the fresh shrimps with long index fingers, steamed them in coils, removed the heads and peeled off the shells, put tofu on a tray, sprinkled with [-] salt grains, steamed them and poured the soup ..."

It’s unbelievable how Sydney memorized it—someone would ask for such precision?Adding salt is not counted by "how much", but by "grain"?

She thinks she likes to eat and knows how to eat, but if she is given more than ten or twenty grains of salt on a steamed shrimp with tofu, she will not be able to taste much difference.

In addition, there are many more fruits in the palace than usual.

Because the queen mother has to eat seven kinds of fruits every day, there can be no repetition within three days.It is severe winter now, and there are not as many kinds of fruits as when the weather is still warm. The palace people in charge of purchasing almost prepared all kinds of fruits that can be found in Luo'an, and even rushed a lot of fruits from thousands of miles away.

I don't know how the Shangshi Bureau of the Yingshan Palace goes on weekdays...

Leaving aside the Six Shang Bureaus who are stepping up their duties, the harem is not idle either.

The person who was originally given to the Seven Kings after that year will come with the Queen Mother this time. Concubine Hui arranges matters such as accommodation, and Concubine Shu starts matters such as family banquets.The seven kings have no concubines, and the emperor has no queens, so they are considered sister-in-laws, so they all do the work for them.

At noon on the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, the Empress Dowager drove into the palace.

The Shangshi Bureau was full of fire, and all the ingredients that needed to be prepared in advance were prepared early, so that even if the queen mother ordered some rare dishes, they could make them and present them immediately.

I would rather not waste the ingredients than waste them, and I dare not touch this bad luck.

Sydney's job is to stare at the pots of Cordyceps and duck soup in front of him.The recipes of these pots of old duck soup are the same, but the cooking time differs by two hours.

This preparation is because the Queen Mother likes to drink duck soup very much. It is not certain when you want to drink it, but it can't be done if it is not hot enough, or it can't be overcooked.Cordyceps must be free from wear, breakage, deflation, death, and confusion. The ducks selected are specially bred for this purpose, and the meat is tender and not greasy.

It is said that the palace is prepared all night like this, and no one knows how many ducks and high-quality caterpillar fungus will be destroyed in a year.

Sydney has never seen such an extravagant way of living. In comparison, I feel that the emperor only orders three or five times a month, and occasionally wants to eat hot pot on a whim... It can be called thrifty!
Everyone was waiting in full force from noon, but at lunch and dinner, the palace servants just came and passed on the meals that had been prepared according to the regulations, and there was no additional order.Just as I was wondering, a girl about thirteen or fourteen years old, with a white jacket and a blue bust-length skirt, finally arrived.

The palace maid who was a little sleepy at the door immediately woke up, she greeted her with a smile, gave a shallow salute, and asked politely: "Miss is..."

The girl cleared her throat and was not polite at all: "The small kitchen in Zhengze Palace is busy, my wife is hungry, she wants me to order something."

Seeing the mention of "Zhengzheng Palace", the women in the room knew it well: this is not the person next to the queen mother, but the handmaiden next to the person bestowed to the Seven Kings.

Then I heard her go on with her request: "I want two taels of thin noodles. Take fresh winter bamboo shoots, cut them into half-length filaments, and cook them in pork bone soup. Serve with the leg meat of a four-month-old calf, sliced, and thinner. Crack an egg again, the egg white should be cooked, and the yolk should be able to flow out. No coriander or green onion, put two slices of raw tomatoes, the color looks good.”

ho...

The court lady who was listening to the request at the door was sighing inwardly, but the girl turned and left, her skirt twirled at her feet, which looked very pretty.

Didn't even leave a token reward? !
No one in the imperial court would do this!

Zhong Sishan, who was on duty, had a strong personality. As soon as the girl disappeared, she sneered: "How about welcoming an old ancestor back, and co-authoring a young ancestor?"

After complaining, he had to prepare it as usual, Zhong Sishan went to make this noodle by himself, and told the maids to watch and prepare something else.

She can order a single bowl of noodles, but they cannot order a single bowl of noodles.

After weighing it over, Cui Wan felt that she wanted the noodles to be light, so she prepared a salad of radishes with more sweet and sour sauce and less salt. It was refreshing and would go well with the noodles.

Of course, knowing that people don't like coriander, there is no coriander in this radish.

Then she asked the maid under her hand to think of a vegetarian stir-fry.

The group of ministers and envoys in Sydney, who had just been promoted, got together and thought for a long time, and told Cui Wan to make leek eggs—Zou Shangshi said that after a bumpy journey, he might especially want to eat something home-cooked.Eggs with leeks are definitely a home-cooked dish!

Elderly than them, Changshi Changshi also thought of a dish, which was also very homely, stir-fried tofu with cabbage.

Cui Wan chose the fried tofu dish with Chinese cabbage, and Sydney and the others were particularly disappointed.

"Chives have a special taste. I don't know if I like it or not." Cui Wan explained the reason in this way. The little girls said it three times in their hearts and remembered it silently, and then went to wash the cabbage and cut the tofu.

In less than a moment, everything that should be prepared is ready.

Zhong Sishan prepared the noodles, Cui Wan had a cold dish and two vegetarian dishes, and Xue Nvshi had prepared two meat dishes: one was sweet and sour chicken wings, and the other was white-cut beef.

In addition, a female Shi He prepared two desserts: pumpkin cold cake and moiwowo.

There are hot, cold, sweet, salty, meat and vegetables, and they will be delivered to them after they are packed in food boxes.Yue Tingxian, who was the closest, wanted to run the errands smoothly, but was stopped by Zhong Sishan.

Zhong Sishan chuckled: "Just ask a little maid to go."

When other people order meals, they always ask the people who come to call the meal palace to wait, and when they are ready, they just take them back.Where does this one bestowed on the Seven Kings have such a big face?At this moment, the position has not been given yet!What kind of tricks are you playing at Shangshi Bureau!

As a result, after a while, the young master Qingqian who had gone to deliver the food came back crying.

Palace ladies are not allowed to cry casually, they cry occasionally in Shangshi Bureau, ladies officials can turn a blind eye, but seeing her cry all the way back...

Everyone was a little panicked at that time.

But since she came back safe and sound, Xue Qin quickly pulled her aside to ask questions because she was not picked on.

what's up?What are you crying for?Get slapped by the regular palace?
Qingqian was sobbing and choked, and it took her a long time to get her anger back: "I met Mr. Chen half-way, and Mr. Chen said that he would not let me go. The slave explained that it was called by Zheng Zhenggong, and Mr. Chen gave me a good reprimand..."

Xue Qin asked again: "What about the food box?"

Qingqian said that she was detained by Mr. Chen.

She cried even harder after she finished speaking, and looked very frightened.Xue Qin called a waiter over to coax her, and found a dish of candy for her to eat.

This meant that she had only been in the palace for a few months, and she had never encountered such a thing before, so she was terrified.The older ladies, even the maids like Sydney, knew that there was no need to be nervous after hearing this.

Who is Master Chen and Chen Jijiang?The great eunuch next to the emperor!
There are dignified people in the palace, and so many people are fawning on him, he can't afford to cut this off.

Unless it is the emperor's intention.

Since it was the emperor's intention, then they don't have to worry about it, just wait and see what happens.

As for why the emperor did this—whether it was to make the Seven Kings unhappy or to oppose the Queen Mother, that was not their concern.

Sydney relievedly put some pork bone soup in a small pot, and made two or two noodles for herself, with pork cartilage boiled in sauce.

After the noodles were served, she counted them and ate them one by one. While eating, she was very leisurely and curious to wait for what would happen next.

When eating two pieces, a young eunuch who was not a few years older than her walked in with a smile, and shared what he had just heard with the maids of schadenfreude: "The one who asked for food just now is Give it to His Royal Highness Yi. His Majesty asked the imperial dining room to make another bowl of noodles for her, which is the same as the one we made here just now, and the other dishes are also the same. I also prepared a few suitable bowls for His Royal Highness, and sent them together. Go to the main hall of the Zhengzheng Palace and tell them to use it together."

The follow-up can be imagined.As Yi's identity, she is not qualified to dine with His Highness the Seventh Highness, and someone serves her when eating in her own room, but if she is put together with His Highness the Seventh Highness, she has to be the one serving the meal next to him.

A little surprised that the emperor had the leisure to care about this irrelevant person, Xueli stuck out her tongue secretly, and then sighed again that the emperor really can't be messed with!
If he doesn't want to take care of these little big things, he can make the other party want to cry without having to show up.

"Hey, I'm afraid Ting Xian is dead." The elderly regular attendant next to him laughed in a low voice, and said to his companion as if he was watching a good show, "You are so smart at such a young age, sharpening your head and wanting to eat in the imperial banquet." Fang, I have been walking around Zhengzheng Palace for a long time, thinking that His Royal Highness Seventh Prince is His Majesty's younger brother..."

The attendant's words stopped here, and he swallowed back the words "I don't know that the two brothers are getting more and more estranged".

Xueli didn't pay attention to these gossips for a while, but she was still thinking about the matter of Yi's call for food over and over again, and subconsciously felt that there seemed to be something similar to the matter of the golden hairpin.

(End of this chapter)