The little lady in the dining room

Chapter 45 Cold Noodles
As soon as the news of her arrived, the imperial dining room became tense.Some people who originally avoided her because of what happened a few days ago didn't bother to hide anymore, and they all came to ask what was going on, and then thought hard about what to do this meal.

After all, compared to offending Sydney, the "sacred face and wrath" in front of him is much more terrifying.

The "snacks" to be presented in the morning are different from those in the afternoon. In the afternoon, there are usually three or two pastries, but in the morning it is different. The dishes are more varied and closer to the "dinner".

The main reason is that the emperor had breakfast too early, mostly at Yin time, before the early court.In this way, the interval between lunch and lunch is too long, and the extra meal in the middle should be more particular.

Dianji presented the original menu, which included five dishes: baked pumpkin with salted egg yolk, fried eggplant box, sweet and sour pork tenderloin, preserved deer with orchid flavor, plus a vegetable tofu soup.

Cui Wan shook her head after taking it, dipped her pen in the ink and drew three, leaving only sweet and sour pork tenderloin and vegetable tofu soup.

Baked pumpkin with salted egg yolk tastes good but tastes greasy, and it makes you feel more bored when you are bored; fried eggplant box has a lot of oil, so it may not be comfortable to eat when you are bored; Fire, presenting it now is called adding fuel to the fire.

But it can't just be sweet and sour pork and green vegetable tofu soup.Cui Wanti dropped the pen, dropped it and picked it up again, but didn't write a word for a long time, which was very embarrassing.

She has never had such an experience.When encountering similar incidents in the Shangshi Bureau before, it was Zou Shangshi who came to make up his mind.

Xueli stood by and watched, helping her think together.With her forehead resting on her elbows and her chin in her hand, she thought about what she should be thinking for a long time, but she still couldn't figure it out. Finally, she gritted her teeth, tugged at her sleeves, and boldly said, "Sister, why don't you present cold noodles to Your Majesty?" ?”

"Cold noodles?" Cui Wan didn't quite understand, and asked her why.

Sydney can only explain that the cold noodles are light and can be made into a sweet and sour taste, which is comfortable to eat.

In fact, she remembered that for a while when she first came to the imperial dining room, His Majesty frequently called hot pot, barbecue and spring pancakes, all of which had to be done by herself. At one time, she thought it was because he was in a bad mood. The idea is to relieve myself in this way.

Although I have never been sure whether this guess is right or not, the cold noodles that can also be "hands-on" are indeed light and refreshing. Sydney thinks that even if the reason is wrong, the taste can still suit the mood, right?
Cui Wan hesitated for a moment, then thought about it again, it seems that there is no better idea than this.Then he nodded and ordered to prepare cold noodles.

"Prepare a few more seasonings, not greasy ones. The side dishes should be light."

After she said that, everyone agreed with a "promise", and Dian Ji immediately turned around to make a list of side dishes.

Sweet and sour lotus root slices, cucumbers, sweet and sour radishes, three sweet and sour cold dishes; for hot dishes, I chose the same sweet and sour minced pork capers, and added a char siew chicken roll. After thinking about it, I added another Light loofah egg soup.

The dining room became lively in an instant, and the sound of cutting vegetables quickly became one, and the sound was quite rhythmic.The older maid chopped the ingredients of three cold dishes and handed them to Xue Li for seasoning. Xue Li seasoned them carefully. Sometimes they felt too sour and sometimes too sweet. After tossing for a long time, they felt that it was almost the same. Look at the soup in front of them, which was almost overflowing. Pat the cucumber... silently turn around and pour out half of the seasoning.

These few things are all ready-made things, and when they are all ready, it is a full quarter earlier than usual.In this way, I waited for a while before putting the noodles into the pot. When they were cooked, someone came to pick up the meal, and the noodles were taken out and rinsed with cold water.

Cold dishes and hot dishes are put into one food box, loofah egg soup and noodles are put into another food box, and more than [-] kinds of seasonings are placed in a large tray and served directly.Xueli went back together "according to the order", and was happy to help her carry it together, but the eunuch who came to carry the food did not dare to let her carry anything.

After arriving at the Zichen Palace, you have to go to the tea room next to it to take out the things in the food box, change them into the tray and put them in.Chen Jijiang had been waiting here for a long time. When he opened the food box and saw the cold noodles, he was startled, thinking that Cui Wan would not know how to do things.

His Majesty was worrying, he didn't look up for a long time while he was writing something under his hands, his brows were so frowned that he didn't dare to take a breath when he was beside him.He felt that the best things presented at this moment were the ones that could be taken and eaten without raising the head and stretching out the hand, eating with one hand while continuing to do business with the other.

The result turned out to be cold noodles?Tell him to stop what he is doing and eat cold noodles first?

But it was too late to order a redo.Chen Jijiang took a deep breath, and sent back one of the four maids who came to prepare the meal, handed the tray with half of the seasonings to Xue Li, and said to her: "You will be the first to go in later. Where, Xu Shishui will help you."

Sydney's face turned green when she heard it!
She especially wanted to say, my lord, can you change someone?I can watch from the side first and study hard.

Chen Jijiang knew that with her temperament, she would definitely want to shrink back, so she turned around and left without giving her a chance to speak.

Xueli's face turned pale and froze in place for a while, looking at the dozen or so seasonings in her hand, she was too nervous to say a word, and went to the inner hall with her head depressed.

The other three looked at each other: then follow her...

In the inner hall, what the emperor had at hand had been rewritten three times.

Abolishing and rewriting over and over again is for one reason, and I feel that the scolding is not enough!
In the early dynasty, Yu Guangxi, Minister of the Ministry of War, bluntly stated that the imperial guards acted domineeringly, which caused a lot of dissatisfaction in the court.Xie Zhao was about to sneer in his heart at that time, under the banner of "causing a lot of dissatisfaction in the court", didn't he just want to say that he gave too much money and power to the imperial guards, endangering the power of the Yu family?
He didn't want to reprimand him in public.There are too many words in Yu Guangxi's words that arouse public anger, and publicly reprimanding them will only make Yulingwei more dissatisfied, but he can't help but do something to suppress this self-esteemed Yu family!
The hairpin tassels have only been worn for dozens of years, but because the first emperor valued them, they have become more and more arrogant. From the initial extravagance to the tribute cut off two years ago, if they don't suppress it again, I'm afraid they will almost forget what the world's surname is.

All kinds of big and small things are written on the tip of the pen, and Xie Zhao inevitably gets more and more angry when he thinks back, which makes all the palace officials feel anxious all morning.

He crumpled another piece of paper in his hand, crumpled it into a ball and threw it out with all his strength. Seeing that the paper ball hit the toe of a shoe and slid back half a foot, the emperor was about to get angry, but when he looked up, he couldn't help swallowing his anger.

As soon as Xue Li walked halfway, she saw the emperor throwing paper balls with a livid face, and stopped immediately in shock.He looked helplessly at him and then at Xu Shishui next to him, not knowing what to do.

——The three maids in the back have already knelt down in unison, but she is not as capable as them. It is fine if she holds a dish in her hand, but there are more than a dozen dishes of sauce on the tray, she can't do it so steadily, Maybe it bumped, spilled, and fell.

Xie Zhaoping calmed down and asked her, "What is it?"

Xue Li blurted out the answer to what she was holding: "Seasoning."

"..." He could only ask again, "What seasoning?"

"Cold noodles." She answered with her head down, paused, and added, "Do you want to use some first, Your Majesty? Otherwise, the noodles will be lumpy..."

She thought, the lumpy noodles don't look good or taste good, His Majesty is already angry, and he will definitely be even more angry when the time comes!

Xu Shishui was almost frightened to death, guessing that His Majesty didn't intend to use it, so he hurriedly said to her: "Go down first, and let the imperial dining room prepare noodles at any time."

How can there be any reason to urge His Majesty to eat quickly if you are afraid of lumpy noodles!
Xie Zhao looked at her and let out a short breath.

This face is tense.Forget it, it's the first time she presents food to the palace, so it's better not to frighten her.

"Let's go to the east side hall, I'll be back later." After he said this, the three people behind Xueli got up quickly, and retreated in response.

He looked at it indifferently, and the comparison between the four of them made her retreat obviously hastily, and he really didn't know how to hide his emotions at all.

After a moment of silence, the emperor simply dropped the brush.He was interrupted by her just now, and the thought of reprimanding Yu Guangxi was messed up during the question and answer, so he put it away first.

He left his seat and headed towards the east side hall, and Chen Jijiang hurriedly followed.When I entered the east side hall, it was just set up there, and the eunuch who served the meal was also waiting.

A bowl of noodles is placed in the middle, surrounded by those side dishes, and next to it are various small ingredients, which are arranged in a large piece in a colorful manner.

He seldom ate cold noodles in the past, but after being "inspired" by Sydney, he also ordered it three or two times, but no matter how he looked at it, he felt that today's was different.

After looking carefully for a while, I saw the clues, and found that today's side dishes are obviously sweet and sour.

Frowning, he continued to walk in, and when he walked past Xueli, he tapped her on the forehead: "Come here."

Xue Li felt a lump in her throat, and followed with her head sullen.After he sat down, he saw that she was not daring to catch her breath beside her.

Seeing a table of sour and sweet food, Xie Zhao thought about it and asked her, "Did you cook it according to your own taste because you knew you could eat it too?"

"Ah?" Xue Li was stunned and shook her head, "No..."

Then she looked at the sweet and sour table and understood, she lost her bewilderment, and said sincerely: "I heard that His Majesty is in a bad mood, so I prepared some refreshing ones!"

This time Chen Jijiang's knees softened: She sold him out!

Hurry to see the emperor's expression.

Xie Zhao was so innocent by her face that she didn't have the time to think about anything else, so she said "thank you" with a smile, and then asked the eunuch who served the meal to present white noodles, then took the bowl over, and picked out the one that fit her eyes. Seasoning mix.

After the previous few times, it is not surprising that the people in front of the imperial court are used to him doing things by himself.Xueli couldn't help but peeked beside him, wanting to see if he was satisfied with his meal?Are you in a better mood?Will you still feed people to lions?
Xie Zhao couldn't eat anymore because of her watching, so he put down his chopsticks: "Speak up if you have something to say."

"..." In fact, she had nothing to say.But when he asked, she seemed to have to say something.

After thinking about it, Sydney persuaded him: "Your Majesty, don't be angry."

It was the first time that the people in the Imperial Palace heard such words, and at most they said "Your Majesty calm down" in trepidation.

Xie Zhao is used to her like this, so he smiled easily, propped his head on his left hand, picked up the round sweet and sour radish in the bowl with his right hand, threw it into his mouth, and chewed it to himself: "Don't be angry, don't be nervous."

Don't be nervous, don't be nervous!

Xueli let herself relax, Xie Zhao suppressed a smile and stopped looking at her.He lowered his head and ate the noodles. He ate four small bowls of noodles in three or five mouthfuls, took a bite of each dish, and drank a small bowl of loofah egg soup.

After eating, he walked two steps towards the inner hall and stopped, but he still didn't want to deal with Yu Guangxi's matter for the time being!

He turned his head to look, because he stopped, and the palace people also stopped, Xue Li was obviously tied up, still looking at a loss.Noticing his gaze, he didn't dare to raise his head anymore, he lowered his head firmly, looking as if he had made a big mistake.

"Sydney." Xie Zhao called out.

"Yes!" Xueli shuddered, and immediately responded without looking up.

He thought for a while and said: "Go to the imperial dining room to send a message, bring some snacks, make them sweeter."

Xueli hurriedly responded to the "no", bowed her knees, then stepped back with her head bowed, and turned around after stepping over the threshold.

At the beginning of March, the still slightly cool breeze blew gently, unknowingly my body was lightly shaken, and my hands and feet went limp.

(End of this chapter)