Imperial Chef Rookie

Chapter 18

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The little eunuch took me to the imperial study, and found that the emperor was sitting and drinking tea inside, with a very contented expression, so I respectfully went up to pay my respects:

"Slave Song Xiran, please greet the emperor!"

After the emperor said he was dead, I stood quietly and waited for him to speak.

"Song Aiqing really lived up to my entrustment. I am very satisfied with this matter. From now on, I will appoint you as the Minister of Imperial Dining Room Management and reward you with one hundred taels of silver. Song Aiqing, I appreciate you very much. I entrust you with the affairs of the imperial dining room, and there is no room for any mistakes in the management of the imperial dining room, do you understand?"

While the emperor was speaking, the joyful look on his face just now disappeared suddenly, and he changed back to his usual solemn and serious look, and he gave me an incomprehensible and meaningful look.

"Thank you for the reward from the emperor. I will definitely live up to your majesty's expectations, and I will try my best to manage the imperial dining room well."

I don't know what kind of medicine is sold in the emperor's gourd, but his words must not be simple. Could it be that he knows my identity? The master said that Crown Prince Dayan had some changes recently, could it be that he suspects me...

I didn't dare to speculate too much, but just received the order respectfully.

After that, the emperor said something to me again, and when I walked out of the imperial study, it was completely dark, and a bright moon was hanging in the sky.

Looking at the full moon, I suddenly remembered the words I had entrusted to the princess before I left, so I rushed back to Yihua Palace as quickly as possible.

"I was summoned by the emperor for such a long time. The princess must have waited impatiently for me. Could it be that she is already asleep?"

I was very anxious, as if I was stepping on the wind, I went back to the palace, but I didn't see the shadow of the princess, not even Yuan'er, so I went to the bedroom and found that she wasn't there either.

"It's so late, where is the princess? You won't go out in a fit of anger because you have waited for me for so long???"

Where can she go? I began to think about where she might go, and searched around the entire Yihua Palace.

Until I walked into the garden at the back of the palace, I found the princess was lying on the stone table, sleeping soundly, and there were moon cakes and some tea I had just made on the table.

And Yuan'er was standing aside, saw me coming, and when I was about to wake up the sleeping princess, I made a shush gesture to her, telling her not to wake up the princess.

Yuan'er is the most reliable personal servant girl of the princess. The princess and I have been interacting intentionally or unintentionally these days. She has seen it and knows it well, so she retreated knowingly with just one look from me.

I quietly walked up to the princess, took off my robe, covered her gently, and said to her softly:

"It's getting cold, why don't you go back to the bedroom if you want to sleep, Yuan'er is the same, why don't you cover yourself with something? Sleeping like this will make you sick."

The princess covered her with a blanket when she heard someone talking to her, thinking it was Yuan'er, but she slowly opened her eyes and found it was me.

"Xiran, when did you come back... am I asleep?"

She rubbed her eyes and looked at me sleepily.

"Zhen'er, I'm sorry, the emperor ordered me to go to the imperial study, so I wasted some time and kept you waiting, are you sleepy?"

I sat next to her, gently stroked her face with my hands, and smoothed the messy hair on her forehead.

"Xi Ran, what's the matter with Father asking you to go?"

"The emperor is for this state banquet. The emperor is very satisfied. He even appointed me as the Minister of the Imperial Dining Room Management Affairs, and asked me to take good charge of the Imperial Dining Room!"

I have to say, I am very happy in my heart, I feel that my talent has been affirmed by the emperor, and I finally have a place to use my skills.

But after I said it, she showed a worried look, as if she had something on her mind, and fell into deep thought.

"Zhen'er, Zhen'er~" I shook her slightly before she could react.

"Aren't you happy for me?" I pouted and asked her with a sad face.

"Your dream has finally officially come true. How could I not be happy for you? It's just that... This palace is too complicated. Now you should be more careful."

Since entering the palace, she has always told me to be careful about the people and things in the palace. Although I don't understand why, I know she won't harm me.

"My dearest and dearest princess, I know you are the best and care about me the most, I will definitely listen to you obediently~"

"Xi Ran, actually I..." She seemed to have something to say to me, but she hesitated.

I tilted my head and looked at her in doubt. What is she thinking about in this tangled look

"What’s wrong with you?"

"I... I'm hungry, let's eat quickly, you actually made me wait for so long, Yuan'er, bring the hot pot quickly."

She didn't answer my question, but selectively changed the subject. I vaguely felt that she was hiding something from me, but she didn't want to continue talking, and it was inconvenient for me to ask further. Since it was what she wanted to say, she would naturally say it when the time came.

"Princess, look at the moon tonight is round and bright. It would be great if I could look at the moon like this with you every year."

I took a bite of the mooncake while I was talking, and it was really the best when I made it~

After hearing my words, she was taken aback for a moment, then stared into my eyes, and asked:

"Xi Ran, do you trust me?"

I nodded with certainty, and she smiled at me, took a small bite of the mooncake, and then leaned gently in my arms.

I looked at the full moon in the sky, it was beautiful and bright, but I always felt that something was missing, by the way, it was a sky lantern!

I said to the person in my arms:

"Princess, it seems like we haven't set off the sky lanterns together yet. People in the folk have to put sky lanterns on the Mid-Autumn Festival. All the lights are brightly lit, and the sky lanterns with good wishes fly into the sky together, like stars all over the sky. But it’s very spectacular. Also, I heard they said that the higher and farther the sky lanterns fly, the more likely the wish will come true.”

"Is this really the case? Then let's put one together."

After finishing speaking, she called Yuan'er and told her to fetch a sky lantern.

We lighted the sky lanterns together, and made a wish in our hearts while the sky lanterns were flying. Such a tacit understanding, did not let the other party say what the wish is, because we all know that these wishes are always good.

On such a quiet night, we leaned together and watched the slowly flying sky lanterns. What more can we ask for when we can be with the people we like in peaceful days

Zhen'er, if the world is full of troubles, how dare I break your heart. The answer is: You and I have nothing to do with each other in this life, only one word "faith".

Three days later, according to the appointed time, I sent the steak that I had just prepared from the imperial dining room to Ziyan Palace.

But as soon as I entered the Ziyan Palace, the maid told me that the Empress Li was enjoying the autumn scenery in the imperial garden at this time, and the empress asked me to go and find her.

I carried the basket and walked to the imperial garden, and saw her swinging on the swing under the plane tree.

It's autumn, and the leaves of sycamore are golden, accompanied by leaves falling like butterflies. She is dressed in a blue-purple gauze, swaying gently on the swing like a coquettish blue enchantress, under the golden sycamore leaves Against the background, it is more dazzling and beautiful.

"Are you here?" She knew it was me without turning her head.

"How did your mother know it was me?" I was curious how she knew.

"Because... I smell the aroma of beef~"

After that, she turned around and showed a coquettish and beautiful smile, got off the swing, and slowly walked towards me.

At this time, I only dared to lower my head, not daring to look at her, for fear that I would lose my composure in front of her.

After she came over, she lightly took the basket in my hand, and then waved a hand in front of me.

"Master Song, why are you so nervous, I won't eat you." Then she let out a series of playful laughter like silver bells, turned and walked towards the pavilion over there.

Seeing her go, I quickly followed her.

When I arrived at the pavilion, I saw her eagerly opening the food box. She looked like a little bit of her usual empress.

"Smells so good, hey, this is it?"

She pointed to a white glaze pot and a goblet inside the food box and asked me.

"Back to your mother, this is the high-quality wine from the Western Regions that I presented together to thank you. The name of the cup next to it is: Bordeaux wine glass. Some people call it a goblet because of its shape. There are many wines to drink. exquisite."

"Oh~ goblet? Interesting name, how do you drink this wine?"

Seeing her curious look, I took out a goblet and poured some wine into it. The wine was as crystal clear as a purple gemstone under the sun, and the wine taste was mellow and full-bodied mixed with fruity aroma.

Immediately, I began to say slowly: "You have to taste the square to feel the beauty of wine. To taste wine, there are five steps in total: sobering up, observing the color, shaking, smelling, and finally tasting~"

"It turns out that this wine is not so easy to drink, so tell me how to wake up, observe, shake, smell, and taste?" She rested her chin on her hand and looked at me intently.

"The so-called sobering up means that after the wine is opened, there should be a resting time of 15 minutes to 3 hours. During this time, the aroma and taste of the wine will undergo different changes. Appreciate the color. When drinking red wine, first observe its color change. Ruby-like crystal clear wine is the best grade. Appreciate its color change through light. Too deep or too dark is not the best grade, especially if it cannot penetrate any impurities.

And this shaking is also called "accelerated sobering up", the purpose is to accelerate the oxygen into the wine, and release the fragrance of the sleeping red wine. Smell the aroma, that is, after the air enters the red wine and produces aroma with the alcohol, you can smell the aroma, and the aroma will change with time.

The last thing is to taste. After drinking wine, you should use your taste buds to feel the taste at the first sip, let the taste fill your mouth and swallow slowly. At this time, you will feel four wonderful tastes: sweet, sour, astringent, aftertaste. After tasting, the aftertaste is good or bad, and the taste of good wine will last for a long time~”

The long paragraph I said in one breath is completely learned and sold. I just learned it from foreign envoys who paid tribute to wine. I didn't expect that it would be useful to strike while the iron is hot.

"I didn't expect you to know how to taste wine. You are worthy of being the Minister of Management of the Imperial Dining Room."

She smiled lightly, then picked up the goblet I just poured out of, learned the wine tasting method I taught her, and slowly poured some wine into her mouth.

"Sure enough, it's fine wine. After drinking it, you can still feel the fragrance on your lips and teeth, and there is still a faint fruity aroma in your mouth. Mr. Song is so knowledgeable and can cook well. This woman who will marry Mr. Song in the future, What a blessing~”

After finishing speaking, she slowly took another piece of steak into her mouth, chewing it with enjoyment.

"Your Majesty is joking. I am just a small cook in charge of the imperial dining room. In terms of luck, no one can compare to Your Majesty. The Emperor loves Your Majesty in all ways."

After hearing what I said, she suddenly had a trace of sadness in her eyes.

"Is it true that he is loved by all kinds of people? Since he is a king, he only has his country and country in his heart. If he can't get his heart, what if he can get his people?"

I saw that she must have had some resentment towards the emperor when she said these words, so I comforted her and said:

"Your Majesty, there is no need to worry. Your Majesty is the king of a country. Naturally, there are many important affairs that need to be dealt with by the country. On weekdays, the Emperor's love for your Majesty and his love for your Majesty are all in the eyes of the ministers. of."

"Master Song, do you believe in promises and a lifetime?"

I don't know why she suddenly asked this question, but I replied firmly:

"I believe."

She casually picked up a fallen leaf that floated in, stared at the leaf and said slowly:

"I believe it too, I just hope he doesn't let me down."

After she finished speaking, she slowly stood up from her seat, as if she was about to leave.

"Master Song, please go back quickly, don't make the princess wait any longer, the conversation with Master Song today was very pleasant, then I will go back to Ziyan Palace first~" After saying that, she smiled charmingly at me and left .

How could this person be so strange, one second he was still looking dejected, and the next second he showed such a smile.

Why is she asking me these weird questions

However, it's the end of the day, it's time to go back to Yihua Palace, I don't know if the princess can't see me, will she be angry again

While thinking about the conversation I had with Concubine Li just now, I walked slowly towards the Yihua Palace.

The author has something to say:

I’m a little busy because I’m currently taking exams, but I’ll try my best to keep updating. If it’s a bit late, please forgive me~ I love you~