Since it was the Seventh Prince of Qingsi Palace who asked, the Accounting Department of the Ministry of Finance of course complied with the request. The charcoal they used was the best silver-thread charcoal, which didn't produce much smoke when kept in the furnace, and had a faint fruity wood fragrance when burning, which was more like incense. However, the charcoal they gave was not much, so Lou Hanyue mixed the silver-thread charcoal with the charcoal that the Ministry of Finance had previously distributed according to the rules, and finally they were able to keep warm for a few days.
By the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, the silver charcoal was almost used up, and the three of them were a little worried. At this time, the charcoal was delivered by the supply department. The treasurer who had previously made things difficult for them also came and said that "I was anxious when winter came and miscalculated the quota, so I will make up for it this time." He also brought some small gifts, and there was no trace of his previous bossy look.
The three girls looked at each other. Xie Wangzhi guessed that the Seventh Prince had said something that made Dian Gong rush over. She said that just to give her a way out, and both sides could just go down the slope and it would be over. Xie Wangzhi didn't want to make an enemy of Dian Gong, so he spoke to her in a nice tone and gave her a bracelet of decent quality when he sent her out.
The offerings were easy to deal with, a jade bracelet would be enough, but they didn't know what to do with Qingsi Palace. Lou Hanyue was always open-minded, thinking that the prince was just too idle and kind-hearted, and they had little interaction anyway, so he didn't need anything; Yao Yupan, on the other hand, didn't know what was wrong, and became silent when Qingsi Palace was mentioned, and he kept fixing things for himself without saying a word.
Xie Wangzhi had no choice, she couldn't pry words out of the two people who shared the room. She really didn't have anything to give to the Seventh Prince, so after thinking it over, she rolled up her sleeves and went into the small kitchen.
The next day, Lou Hanyue and Yao Yupan were called into the palace by Chu Fangyi to make snacks. Xie Wangzhi was not asked, so she took this opportunity to do something.
The small kitchen was where the palace servants cooked for themselves. There were not many ingredients that could be used. Xie Wangzhi looked around and decided to use the remaining ingredients to make eight-treasure porridge. The Seventh Prince could taste the cherry blossom cake. Although she didn't say it, I think she likes sweet food. She specially added a little more sugar when cooking porridge.
The porridge was ready to cook, and while Xie Wangzhi was bored, she decided to fry some crispy snacks for herself. She loved meat, so she quickly found the remaining chicken and sliced it into thin slices. Before she put the seasoning in, a dark cat head suddenly popped out from the stove.
Xie Wang was stunned. The black cat's ears twitched twice, and it scratched with its front paws and jumped onto the chopping board. It put its head close to the bowl and sniffed twice, its whiskers trembling.
The seasoning hasn’t been added yet, so it’s okay to give Coal Ball a few slices. Xie Wangzhi picked up a piece of chicken with chopsticks and put it close to its nose: “Eat it.”
Just now, he came close to smell it, and he was so eager, but when the chicken really came to his mouth, he sniffed it twice and lost interest. This chicken was saved from last night, and it didn't go bad because of the cold weather, but it usually eats live food that it catches, or freshly sliced fish sashimi. Coal Ball looked at it with disdain, turned around and jumped off.
Before Xie Wangzhi could react, the kitchen door opened and a tall young man came in: "Don't worry about it, it will grab something to eat when it's hungry, feeding it will only make you angry."
"...Is that so." Xie Wangzhi felt that he had been tricked by Coal Ball. He poured the seasoning into the bowl and mixed it with chopsticks. "Why are you here at this time?"
"I was running errands nearby and came to see you." After meeting so many times, Changsheng didn't have to think twice before telling lies. He looked over at Meiqiu and asked, "What are you doing?"
"Nothing special, just sliced meat. After marinating, coat it in egg liquid and flour, and fry it in a pan." Xie Wangzhi was very familiar with this method. "Wait a moment, I'll fry it and we can share it."
Changsheng didn't like eating this kind of oily food, but he didn't mind. He felt in his sleeves and took out something and put it in his palm: "Here."
"... This?" Xie Wangzhi was stunned for a moment when he saw the purse. Then he remembered how this thing came into Changsheng's hands. He quickly took it and said, "Oh, I was in a hurry to leave last time and forgot about this... Thank you for returning it to me."
Originally, he meant to return the purse, but after hearing her say that, Changsheng deliberately teased her: "Why, you only give me the dried dates, can't you give me the purse?"
Xie Wangzhi also felt that it was not fair to come back, but she really couldn't give the purse to him. She held the purse and hesitated for a moment: "This purse was embroidered by Hanyue for my birthday. I really can't give it to you."
It looked like it was valuable. No wonder he would chase into the abandoned palace just for a purse. Changsheng was about to say it was okay when he heard Xie Wangzhi's low voice: "... How about this, I'll embroider one for you?"
He was startled, and happened to meet a pair of beautiful eyes. The girl's eyes were clear and bright, looking at him steadily, and she found a solution, feeling a little happy, but also a little nervous, and waited for his answer awkwardly.
"…Okay." Changsheng suddenly laughed, leaned over and grabbed Meiqiu by the scruff of his neck, "Just embroider it."
The coal briquettes actually look pretty, but they are pitch black. At first glance, they look like a pair of amber eyes on a black plate. Xie Wangzhi thought this one was easy to embroider, and hung the purse in his hand under his waist: "Okay, then this one. It's almost marinated, I'll heat up the pot."
Changsheng threw away the coal and stepped aside to make room for Xie Wangzhi to heat the pot. The big pot was stewing porridge, while Xie Wangzhi used a small pot, scooped a few spoonfuls of cold oil, mixed the egg liquid, and sandwiched the chicken in the egg liquid and flour.
Seeing her perform the whole set with such skillful movements, Changsheng felt that he was a little redundant. He looked at the oil in the pot smoking and guessed, "Is this enough?"
Xie Wangzhi took a look, poked the chopsticks into the oil, looked at the bubbles coming out, and nodded: "Well, put it in..."
Changsheng acted faster than she said and put the whole plate of chicken into the wok. The frying pan immediately made a series of popping and crackling sounds, and even oil splashed out, scaring Coal Ball so much that it jumped up on the spot, with its tail standing straight up in fear.
Xie Wangzhi quickly jumped to the side to avoid the splashing oil, and finished the second half of the sentence blankly: "… put it one piece at a time."
“… I’m sorry.” Changsheng looked at the chicken slices that were mushy in the pot, “I haven’t learned this.”
Xie Wangzhi didn't even need to guess, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "It's okay, just stir it with chopsticks, it has to be fried a second time anyway."
"Okay." Changsheng nodded, picked up the coal ball, shrank to the corner of the stove, and dared not move anymore.
He didn't mess around, and the coal balls were tightly held. Xie Wangzhi was much more relaxed. He cut the half-stuck meat slices apart, took them out of the pan to cool, and then fried them again. When a plate of fried meat came out of the pan, Xie Wangzhi cleaned up the stove in an orderly manner, sprinkled pepper and salt on it: "You can eat it."
The fried food was particularly fragrant, with golden brown on the surface and fine flour grains sticking to the meat. Just looking at it, you can imagine how crispy it is when you eat it. Changsheng thought of the burnt pork he had eaten before, took the chopsticks handed to him by Xie Wangzhi, and tried to pick up a piece. He took a bite, the outer layer was crispy and had a spicy and salty taste, but the meat inside was tender, and the gravy would come out when chewed, and the taste was a little sweet.
He swallowed it: "It seems a little sweet inside?"
"I added sugar when marinating the meat, which made it more delicious." Xie Wangzhi smiled, "Is it delicious?"
"tasty."
"Eat more." Xie Wangzhi turned around, opened the big pot, and took a bowl. "Would you like some porridge?"
The porridge in the pot was extremely thick, the rice grains bursting, the color was the red stewed red beans and dates, the lotus seeds were covered with a thick layer of sweet paste, and the sweet fragrance of the porridge was overwhelming. Changsheng watched Xie Wangzhi pour the porridge into the bowl: "You are already twenty-four, why do you want to make this?"
"Well, there's not much left. I think this is the only thing I can do. It's pretty good."
This didn't sound right, so Changsheng asked, "Can you show it off?"
"This is for the Seventh Prince of Qingsi Palace. I don't know many tricks, and I guess he wouldn't like it, so I'll just make porridge. It's sweet and hot, perfect for winter." Xie Wangzhi scooped a small spoonful from his bowl and found the sweetness just right. "Do you want it?"
"Why do it for... him?" Changsheng asked.
"This is a long story. Didn't I tell you about the charcoal before? Last time at Princess Changning's banquet, Yupan went in to serve dishes. Somehow, she got a reward from His Highness the Seventh Prince. Yupan asked for the charcoal, and then Dian Gong made up for the charcoal that was withheld." Xie Wangzhi directly filled another bowl and pushed it to Changsheng, "I think I should thank His Highness the Seventh Prince. Ever since the incident with the cherry blossom cake, I think he is a good person."
Changsheng took the bowl of porridge, looked at the lotus seeds inside, and thought about the fried meat Xie Wangzhi had just given him. He felt a little sour, and even spoke with a bit of grievance: "Then what about me?"
"Of course you are." Xie Wangzhi didn't understand what Changsheng was asking, "But I'm just a palace maid, I don't know if I can deliver the gift so rashly... By the way, I remember you passed on a message from Qingsi Palace, can you enter the palace?"
Changsheng felt so wronged: "You want me to serve you porridge?"
"Yes!" Xie Wangzhi nodded, found the most beautiful white jar, filled it to eight-tenths, sealed it carefully, put it in the food box, and handed it to Changsheng, "Can you help?"
Changsheng didn't say anything, just stared at the girl in front of him.
"What's wrong?" Xie Wangzhi had a feeling that something was wrong, but she couldn't figure out what was wrong, so she looked back blankly.
Changsheng put down the bowl of porridge in his hand, took the food box, but did not leave. He stood there, still staring at Xie Wangzhi, waiting for her to have a change of heart.
However, Xie Wangzhi was unaware of this. Seeing him take the food box, he was actually a little happy: "You took it. Can you really go to Qingsi Palace to deliver porridge?"
Changsheng was so angry that he was about to die. He looked at Xie Wangzhi for the last time, said nothing, picked up the food box and walked out without even saying goodbye.
No matter how dumb Xie Wangzhi was, she knew that the situation was not normal, but she really didn't know what she said wrong to offend Changsheng. She looked down blankly at the coal briquettes still in the kitchen and asked blankly, "What's wrong with him?"
Meiqiu didn’t understand and couldn’t speak human language. He looked up at Xie Wangzhi, meowed twice, and raised his front paws to wash his face.