In a blink of an eye, it was September 15th. The emperor would return to the palace on September 20th. There were still five days left, so the things that had been thought of before had to be brought up. The Shangshi Bureau really called the little palace maids under it and asked each of them to make a dessert, sweet or salty, with no limit to the variety. As long as it could be done, it was good.
Xie Wangzhi was also confused at first, but after going back and thinking about it, he understood.
In terms of craftsmanship, the things made by the female officials above are definitely more exquisite, but they have been in the palace for a long time, and their ideas are easily boxed in and they can't come up with anything new. It's better to let the young palace maids who have not been in the palace for a long time think about it, maybe they can come up with new ideas. As for the taste, at worst, they can just use their ideas, and the female officials will still do it themselves.
They had said before that they could ask each other, Yao Yupan and Lou Hanyue were not reliable, Shi Manqing said that she did not find out anything, and Xie Wangzhi did not hide it, and told the people in the same room about the flower glutinous rice cake. She herself did not plan to make flower glutinous rice cake, and adding three parts of sugar was too sweet, and she could not even swallow it. She thought it would be difficult to satisfy Dian Shen and the others.
Lou Hanyue put in a lot of effort and conducted repeated experiments in the small kitchen. On September 18th, she presented her work to Xie Wangzhi. When she was waiting for the result with Xie Wangzhi, her palms were full of sweat.
To show fairness, the eight female officials, including the chef and the cook, tasted the food together in the room, and no one was allowed to have any selfish thoughts. After tasting the food once, the female officials discussed the results and went outside to call out the names.
It doesn't matter if there are more or less cakes. In the end, eight kinds were selected. Zhang Dianshan listed them one by one. When he got to the fifth one, he paused and said, "Shi Manqing, Haitang flower glutinous rice cake."
Hearing this, Xie Wangzhi and Lou Hanyue looked at each other and saw looks of surprise on each other's faces.
There is nothing wrong with the Touhuaci, but the problem is the Begonia. The Begonia is the imperial concubine among flowers. When Xie Wangzhi just said that Concubine Xiao liked Touhuaci, Yao Yupan suggested making Touhuaci into the shape of Begonia. But Shi Manqing said no, because the Begonia sauce was gone.
All edible flowers can be used to make stews, but crabapple flowers have no fragrance or taste, and their only beauty is their color. What’s more, there are crabapple fruits that are edible. The palace makes crabapple stew every year as a token of its own, so it’s normal that it’s gone now.
The things presented had to be tried and made by myself repeatedly. Without the crabapple sauce to adjust the color, the idea of crabapple flower cake was obviously not feasible. Yao Yupan immediately wilted and said nothing. Xie Wangzhi said that Concubine Xiao was superstitious about crabapples, and comforted Yao Yupan with a few words, and it was over.
However, what Shi Manqing handed in was crabapple flower glutinous rice cake. September was not the crabapple blossom season, and the stew could not be made immediately. Obviously, Shi Manqing thought Yao Yupan's idea was good, and deliberately said that the crabapple stew was gone, betting that the people in the same room would believe her and would not go to see it again.
It was normal to want to climb up, but it was a bit disgusting to do this. Xie Wangzhi frowned and just happened to hear Zhang Dianshan mention her: "Xie Wangzhi, Sakura Sweet Cake."
"This time, we will select the eight items mentioned above. Those who are selected can go back and prepare, practice, and wait for the meal on September 20th." Zhang Dianshan folded the copied meal list in half, "Those who are not selected should not be discouraged, think carefully, there are plenty of opportunities."
There were more than 60 young palace maids in total, and eight were selected. Those who were not selected were more or less depressed. The braver ones came to the side of the selected palace maids, some to congratulate them, and some to ask how to make pastries. Lou Hanyue and Yao Yupan were not selected. Yao Yupan couldn't stand it, her eyes turned red on the spot, and she turned around and ran without talking to anyone.
Lou Hanyue was generous and patted Xie Wangzhi on the shoulder: "It seems that you have done a good job. It is possible that Concubine Xiao will take a fancy to you and let you work in the small kitchen of Hanxiang Palace."
"Noble Concubine Xiao is so favored, how could she ask for someone just for a random dish?" Xie Wangzhi thought clearly, "Besides, the cherry blossom cake tastes like red bean paste. I guess Dianshan and the others chose it because they think the color looks good."
"You are capable of mixing that color with flower juice. It's better than..." Lou Hanyue glanced at Shi Manqing who was surrounded by three or five young palace maids in the distance. "It's better than that."
As soon as she said that, Xie Wangzhi remembered Haitang's story. She believed Changsheng's words, and she would be punished no matter how small the taboo was, and Shi Manqing's father who was far away in the Secretariat could not save her. Shi Manqing had selfish motives, and she lied to them, but after all, they lived in the same room, and Xie Wangzhi could not just watch her hit the wall.
Xie Wangzhi walked over: "Manqing, I have something to tell you."
Shi Manqing was just happy to be praised by the maids next to her. But when she saw Xie Wangzhi, she immediately felt uncomfortable and the smile on her face faded: "What's the matter?"
"It's hard to talk about this here." Xie Wangzhi said, "It's just a private matter."
Shi Manqing glanced at Xie Wangzhi twice, her eyes wandering, and she walked out first. The little palace maid beside her knew how to read his expression and didn't stick with him. Lou Hanyue was familiar with the two of them, so she followed them openly.
After finding a secluded place outside, Shi Manqing licked her lips and said, "Tell me, what's the matter? You're so mysterious."
"It's the dessert you chose. The flower glutinous rice cake cannot be made into the shape of a crabapple. I only told you half of it at the time. The eunuch came back to remind me of the second half, saying that crabapples violate Concubine Xiao's taboo." Xie Wangzhi thought for a while, "Zhang Dianshan should be easy to talk to. Go and tell her that it's not too late to change it to a flower stew. It won't affect the taste."
Shi Manqing was startled and stunned for a moment, looking up and down at Xie Wangzhi several times: "Why should I believe you?"
Xie Wangzhi was puzzled: "You made the flower glutinous rice cake because you believed the information I got, didn't you?"
"Who told you that?" Shi Manqing sneered, "You are not the only one who can make the flower-shaped glutinous rice cake. I can think of it myself. The flower-shaped glutinous rice cake I made was selected, and you came to me and told me that the crabapple cake was taboo and insisted that I change it. Who knows if you were jealous of me and deliberately made me offend the female official?"
"Wangzhi was also selected." Lou Hanyue couldn't bear to listen anymore.
Shi Manqing glanced at Lou Hanyue and said, "That's because you're jealous."
"... You!" Lou Hanyue really didn't know how to defend herself, and after a while, she said, "You said you didn't have any crabapple sauce, but you ended up using crabapple yourself. Where did you get the crabapple sauce? Did you spit it out yourself?"
"I mean we don't have it here, I didn't say it's gone in the Shangshi Bureau."
Lou Hanyue was so angry: "We didn't make crabapple stew this year!"
"Why are you yelling at me? You won't get elected even if you yell at me. If you have the time, you might as well figure out what to do next time." Shi Manqing rolled her eyes at Lou Hanyue, walked to the side, and said, "I'm too lazy to talk to you."
The more Lou Hanyue thought about it, the angrier she became. She almost chased after her and hit her, but Xie Wangzhi grabbed her.
"Why did you arrest me?" Lou Hanyue was about to explode, "How could this person be like this? She secretly tricked us. Apart from anything else, is she worthy of you and Yu Pan?"
"I'm not angry." Xie Wangzhi touched Lou Hanyue's back soothingly, "Haitang originally violated Concubine Xiao's taboo, and Yu Pan didn't do it. Although she didn't get selected this time, it can be regarded as a hedge."
Just now, she was angry and lost her mind. Now that Lou Hanyue has calmed down, she feels that something is wrong: "So... are you really going to let her make Haitang Touhua Ci?"
"I've warned her, but she insisted on doing this. What can I do?" Even a clay figure has some earthiness. Besides, Xie Wangzhi was born in an aristocratic family. He was usually easy to talk to and didn't fight or argue. But when he got really angry, he could also have a bit of a temper. She frowned, "If someone wants to die, no one can stop him."
**
After such a quarrel, it’s not that he hates Shi Manqing; but if he wants to be friends with her, Xie Wangzhi doesn’t have the courage to put his life on the line. Now he can deceive them for a small chance to show his face, but there will be greater benefits in the future. Who can predict what Shi Manqing will do
But at least they were still living in the same room, and going back would just be awkward. Lou Hanyue went to think about new dishes, while Xie Wangzhi got some water and wiped his face. The small kitchen happened to be empty, so he decided to go and practice.
Sakura cake tastes like red bean paste no matter how you make it. Xie Wangzhi steamed a basket of it and found it boring. He kneaded the flour in his hands and for some reason made an extra basket of salty cakes.
Just as she put the freshly steamed flower cake on the plate, the little palace maid beside her suddenly exclaimed, "Ah! Where did this cat come from?"
Xie Wangzhi was stunned. She looked over and saw a nimble black cat on the windowsill. Its long tail was dragging in front of its body, and its amber eyes were staring at her steadily.
“… Coal briquettes?” Xie Wangzhi was not sure.
Meiqiu seemed to understand that the voice was calling it, and it meowed and jumped out of the window. But it didn't run away, squatting at the door, licking its paws and washing its face, as if it was waiting for Xie Wangzhi.
Xie Wangzhi had no idea what Meiqiu was thinking, so he casually dragged a small lunch box. Since he had no meat to use, he simply put some salty pastries in it and went out with the lunch box.
As soon as she left, Meiqiu immediately jumped up and ran to the remote flower garden behind the food bureau. Xie Wangzhi chased her for a while, but she was not fast and she was carrying a food box, so she ran until her nose was sweating. In the end, he still couldn't catch up with her. Meiqiu was still a few steps away, looking at her calmly.
Xie Wangzhi always felt that he was tricked by the black cat, but he was unwilling to accept it, so he tried to move forward and squat beside it. This time, Meiqiu didn't run away. When Xie Wangzhi took out the cakes from the food box, he even went over to sniff it twice.
The cake was salty, with eggs added to the dough. Coal Ball's nose was pressed close to the dough, twitching slightly, his beard trembling, and all that was reflected in his eyes was the small piece of cake.
It seemed to be interested, but it was reluctant to open its mouth. Xie Wangzhi was puzzled. Suddenly, a slightly hoarse voice came from behind: "It can't eat this."
Xie Wang was startled, turned around and saw Changsheng, the subtle emotions from before surged up, and a surprised smile quickly broke out on his face: "Why are you here?"
“… catch the cat.”
Early in the morning, Coal Ball kept scratching him and then ran away. Changsheng didn't intend to pay attention to the cat at first, thinking that its claws were itchy. However, Coal Ball never stopped, jumping to his legs and scratching him every once in a while, which annoyed him so much that he wanted to catch it and beat it. When he really got up to chase it, the cat ran away very fast and brought him all the way to the Shangshi Bureau.
… It’s quite impressive that he knew to look for Xie Wangzhi.
Changsheng coughed, squatted down, grabbed Meiqiu's neck, and hit the cat's head twice, "Cats can only eat meat, otherwise their stomachs will be uncomfortable. It's going to torment me again."