The little lady in the dining room

Chapter 34 Perch
As night fell, the Zichen Palace was brightly lit, and candlesticks were added to the emperor's desk, and the lights flickered, illuminating the rice paper spread out in front of him.

Chen Jijiang entered the hall, made a gesture to signal the court ladies and eunuchs nearby to retreat, and when the hall became quiet, he bowed: "Your Majesty."

The emperor put down his pen and asked him, "How is it?"

"It's all good." Chen Jijiang replied with a smile, paused for a while, and then continued in detail, "I watched it outside for a while, and Miss Ruan was getting familiar with the dining room. I bought two carrots and a pumpkin, and it's all right."

The emperor was a little relieved, and continued to copy the "Historical Records" in silence, but he still couldn't calm down, thinking that he might need to copy another Buddhist scripture.

After writing two more lines, he simply stopped, resting the pen on the edge of the inkstone, resting his hands on his hands, thinking about the past few days.

He still wanted to call Seventh Brother over and scold him!
The emperor got angry at the embarrassment when he wanted to break through, and subconsciously touched a piece of preserved fruit from the plate next to him and ate it.After eating it, she came back to her senses, her face became even more gloomy: let her bring out something wrong!

Sydney said that eating sweets would make him feel better, so he tried it a few times.Whether it will work or not is uncertain, but he seems to have acquired a habit of touching something to eat when he is unhappy.

The emperor sighed, turned his head away from the preserved fruit, and concentrated on thinking about things.

Xue Li was really terrified that day, she cried quietly all the way and didn't say anything, and when she arrived in Zichen Palace, she was so scared that she didn't even dare to say a word.

When he told her to let her go to the imperial dining room, although he explained that it was because the queen mother would ask the crime later, he tried to soften his tone as much as possible, but he knew from the way she finally agreed that she was actually terribly scared. Put it here, she might turn around and run away!

Thinking about this, the emperor felt bored. They didn't just meet each other, they just changed their identities. Can he eat her?

After calming down and thinking about it like this, he regretted letting her come directly to the imperial dining room.

At that time, maybe he was in a daze to make such a decision hastily, selfishness prevailed, he felt that he was always in a good mood when he saw her, but for a moment he ignored that it was actually because she herself always smiled His eyebrows are curved.

But when she arrived at Zichen Palace that day, she never laughed at all...

Xie Zhao let out a long sigh, feeling more and more unable to avoid the truth in his heart.Wuzi shook his head and told Chen Jijiang: "There is no need to go to the imperial dining room to keep an eye on it."

"Your Majesty?" Chen Jijiang was taken aback.

"You don't need to tell others to go, don't inquire about anything, let her take it easy." He said calmly.Although thinking back on the previous incident, I really want to call her here to eat spring pancakes and snacks, otherwise it would be interesting to hear her talk about her "big truth", but forget it, he is really afraid that she will be frightened and frightened. She hides further and further away.

She is eight years younger than him, at the age when she should be happy and carefree.

After three days, Sydney really likes the Imperial Dining Room.

Su Zixian transferred with her, and the two of them became less fearful when they were together. Besides Zixian, they also knew Shi Cuiwan and Yue Tingxian who were of the same age.

——For example, the "Wang Sishan" here is actually an eunuch instead of a female official. It is very awkward for them to be called "Sister Shan" in the Shangshi Bureau for at least three years!

The highest rank in the Imperial Dining Room is this Si Shan, who is considered to be half a rank lower than Shang Shi, but actually lives a more nourishing life than Shang Shi, and the lives of the palace people below are also more nourishing than the palace people of Shang Shi Bureau .

Only then did Xueli know why the emperor never had much left over from every hundred dishes. She had guessed wildly that the eunuchs with connections would resell the untouched delicacies outside the palace. It is distributed to the palace people up and down the imperial front, including the imperial dining room.

It's only been three days, and she feels that she will grow from a "Sydney" to a "melon" if she continues like this.

This is under the premise that only the more common dishes are left when it is the turn of the imperial dining room after the division by the imperial court!
For lunch this day, there is hydrangea perch, which Sydney saw the female officials doing at Shangshi Bureau.There were eight beautiful meatballs on a plate, and there were only three left when they were transferred to the imperial dining room.Cui Wan picked up a chopstick and tasted it, said "Fang Sishan's craftsmanship" and handed it to Zixian, asking each of the three to respect each other.

They naturally understood what it meant, and while savoring and memorizing the taste, they looked at how wide and narrow the various shredded vegetables were cut inside, wondering which one to put first and which one to put next.After lunch, the three of them went to fetch fish together.

All kinds of ingredients are in charge of special personnel, and you must explain the use and record clearly before taking them.Yue Tingxian stepped forward and made it clear that he was doing hydrangea perch to practice his hands. The eunuch nodded and went into the room to yell, and the three cleaned fresh perch that came out after a while were fat and tender.

"...My lord." Xue Li didn't dare to answer, and had to repeat, "We practiced it ourselves."

Don't many practice hands use half-sized fish that can't be presented upwards?This one weighs more than two catties!
The eunuch smiled when he heard the words: "Hey, girl, you are just here. The fish in the imperial dining room are all so big. I know you are using them to practice your hands. You have already picked the smallest one. No matter how small it is, there will be no more."

The three little girls looked at the three fish in shock.

Instead, she blushed and felt that she had never seen the world!
Returning to the dining room with the fish in their hands, the three of them did their own work in an orderly manner.

The imperial dining room is really leisurely, three meals and supper are all prepared by Shangshi Bureau, and the emperor seldom orders extra meals, they have not done anything serious since they have been here for three days.It’s just that I prepare refreshments occasionally, so I have a lot of time to practice by myself!
Recall that when I was in Shangshi Bureau, unless I arranged time to teach them to learn new dishes, I had to squeeze time, sleep less, and skip meals to practice. Those with better qualifications can be in place once or twice, and they are a little dull. Yes, I don't know how long I can sleep in a day.

Remove the head and tail of the sea bass, cut it from the back, and the fish bones can be removed in pieces.The fish meat is cut into the length and width of the index finger. It is so tender and smooth that it is already fresh and fishy. After mixing with salt, cooking wine, pepper and sesame oil, Sydney feels that it is delicious to be steamed directly in the pot now!

Pour in the water with the juice from the onion and ginger strips to remove the fishy smell, then add the egg white and mix well.After the dry starch was also mixed in, Xueli and Zixian were cracking eggs to prepare the egg skins. Looking up, Tingxian had already scalded shredded shiitake mushrooms, carrots, and celery in water.

She remembered that for this dish, the three kinds of blanched vegetable shreds and shredded egg skins were mixed with fish sticks, and then rolled into balls and steamed in a pan.

"Ting Xian." Xue Li reminded, "You forgot the egg skin."

Ting Xian didn't stop, he fished out Sansi to drain the water and mixed it into the fish sticks, while answering her: "Your Majesty doesn't like eggs."

They have been practicing cooking according to His Majesty's preferences recently, but... Doesn't Your Majesty like eggs?
Xueli and Zixian looked at each other, and they both felt that they had never heard the ladies say it before.Thinking about it carefully, she brought spring pancakes for him back then, and he seemed to like the shrimp and smoothie eggs quite a bit.

Thinking back on what happened at that time, I was a little dazed without realizing it.

Xueli blinked fiercely, and mixed the fish sticks herself. After cleaning her hands again, she began to rub out one-inch-sized balls.

The balls can be taken out after steaming for a while.All kinds of shredded and stripped things are easy to cook. If you steam them for too long, the fish will not be fresh and the taste will not be good.

The lid of the pot is lifted, and the white, tender and yellowish fish sticks are mixed with orange, green and golden yellow filaments, and the smell of shiitake mushrooms is lightly draped, like a hydrangea with excellent color and fragrance.Thicken the broth with light soy sauce and sugar and pour it into a light brown sauce, and you're done.

All three wiped the sweat from their foreheads.

Hmm... One plate of fish per person, and the fish bones that were just removed can still make a fish soup. It is probably very difficult to destroy the things I made for dinner.

Xue Li was seriously thinking about how to finish it, and Su Zixian touched her arm beside her.

Looking up, Yue Tingxian put the hydrangea perch he just made into the food box.

Both of them were a bit puzzled, and after a little hesitation, Su Zixian asked directly, "Who are you going to give it to?"

"Give it to the emperor." Yue Tingxian paused every word, "It is said that it is difficult to do things in Zichen Palace. We have just arrived, and there is no harm in getting acquainted with the higher authorities."

As she spoke, she looked around carefully, and seeing no one around, she continued: "I heard that even if you make a mistake, you will not escape punishment, but the severity of the punishment is inseparable from the secret relationship!"

When she said that, both of them were dumb.

"I'm going." Yue Tingxian covered the food box and went out with it.The small courtyard of the imperial dining room is behind the Zichen Hall, and the Imperial Palace people are in the hall, so I don't know if she can send it in.

"When did you become so sophisticated..." Su Zixian muttered, lowered her eyes, took a chopsticks of meatballs from Sydney's plate, and tasted her own, and thought they were all delicious.

Xueli also took a sip of each, and thought they were all delicious, so they put one out for Cui Wan to taste, and put the rest back into the pot to warm.

Entering the dining room where Cui Wan was preparing refreshments, Wang Sishan was also there.

"Master Si Shan." The two stepped forward to congratulate each other, and after saluting, they saw Cui Wan's brows furrowed tightly.She didn't even bother to pay attention to them. After a moment of silence, she hesitated and said, "My lord, this is... really against the rules, isn't it?"

Wang Sishan waved his hand: "It's nothing against the rules, it can be regarded as following orders. Besides, it's just two snacks, nothing can go wrong."

"But..." Cui Wan still shook her head after thinking about it, "What should I do if I ask the question earlier? I heard that Master Chen has always been strict in rules."

Wang Sishan had a cold face, with an impatient look: "You talk a lot. This is how the imperial dining room always handles things. You have to give the favor you should give. If you don't give it, no one can say anything. If something goes wrong, I still have to worry about it, so what do you want to worry about?"

Xueli and Zixian were bewildered.After Wang Sishan finished saying this, Cui Wan fell silent, bowed slightly, and turned sideways as if in response to what Wang Sishan had just said, and then came to taste the meatballs they made.

After simply complimenting the two of them, Cui Wan sighed lightly, pointing to the two freshly made desserts next to her: "Take it and eat it, this one won't be presented forward."

(End of this chapter)