Ji Lingxue and Xiao Yichen looked at each other, and Xiao Yichen asked the driver, "What happened outside?"
The driver said, "General Ding has returned to the capital, and the people in the city have blocked the road to watch the ceremony."
Ji Lingxue raised her eyebrows. She didn't expect that Ding Sifang would come back soon after suppressing the rebellion in the northwest border.
Xiao Yichen said, "General Ding's sister was named Zhaoyi by the emperor a few days ago. She suddenly fell ill two days ago and became seriously ill. The emperor ordered General Ding to be recalled to the capital."
Ji Lingxue said "oh", thinking of the scheming queen she met in the morning. Life in the palace must be difficult. No wonder Yiyun would rather be a concubine in the prince's mansion than enter the palace. After all, there are not many mistresses as easy to talk to as her.
Ji Lingxue lifted the carriage curtain and got out. The sun was shining brightly. She stood half a body taller than the others on the shaft, with a wide view. She happened to see Ding Sifang riding a horse passing by her. Ding Sifang on the horse had a solemn expression, probably because he was worried about his only sister.
Perhaps it was because Ji Lingxue's gaze was too hot, Ding Sifang turned his head and looked in her direction.
Ding Sifang frowned. He felt that Ji Lingxue looked familiar, as if he had seen her somewhere before, but he couldn't remember where for a while. So he smiled in her direction as a greeting.
Glancing at the carriage of Prince Chen's Palace behind Ji Lingxue, he frowned. Could it be a maid from Prince Chen's Palace
Xiao Yichen did not get out of the carriage due to his status, but he could hear the noise outside. The sound of horse hooves gradually faded away, and the onlookers dispersed. Xiao Yichen said, "Everyone has gone far away, Princess, why don't you come in?"
Ji Lingxue returned to the carriage, and the car continued to move forward, returning to the gate of Prince Chen's Mansion in silence.
Xiao Yichen said: "Princess, I'm very busy these days. If you have nothing to do, don't go out. It's safer to stay at home in the palace." He was just worried that the king's uncle's people would not resign themselves to this and would look for an opportunity to seek revenge on Ji Lingxue, because Ji Lingxue was his weak spot now.
Ji Lingxue nodded, indicating that she would not run around until An Ge’s injury was healed.
After returning to the palace, Ji Lingxue asked the housekeeper to bring several cooks from the kitchen to see her.
There are three chefs in the palace, each with his own strengths. Some are good at making pastries, some are good at cooking, and some are good at making soups.
The old butler stood in front of Ji Lingxue respectfully and asked, "Princess, are you dissatisfied with the food in the palace?" Otherwise, why would you summon the chefs in the palace for no reason
Ji Lingxue smiled and shook her head, "Butler, it's not what you think. I just had some questions to ask them, not that I was dissatisfied."
The old housekeeper nodded, thought for a moment and said, "A cook came this morning. The prince asked me to check his cooking skills. He thought his cooking skills were pretty good, so he took the initiative to keep him. I wonder if the princess will summon him as well."
Ji Lingxue nodded, "Okay." Unexpectedly, the scholar and the cook were in the palace in the morning.
Soon, four chefs stood in front of Ji Lingxue and saluted respectfully. Ji Lingxue waved her hand and said, "No need to be polite. I invited you here today to let you taste a dish that my maid has just developed. You are all experts. You can taste it and see if there are any shortcomings, so that she can make more improvements."
The four cooks looked at each other and nodded. Ji Lingxue's eyes fell on the last scholar in blue clothes, and he was indeed an acquaintance.
The scholar in green shirt also looked up at Ji Lingxue and was quite surprised when he saw her. It turned out to be the girl who had eaten at the same table with him yesterday. It turned out that she was the Princess of Chen. He was so lucky. His ancestors were so happy.
Ji Lingxue smiled, and Mo Xiang brought a dish and asked them to take turns tasting it and comment on the shortcomings of the dish.
The first dish served by the most experienced chef in the palace was Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, which was made of abalone, sea cucumber, tripe and more than a dozen other ingredients, simmered over a slow fire with a carefully prepared unique soup. The finished dish was soft and tender, with a rich meaty aroma, but not greasy, and full of flavor.
The chef nodded after tasting it, "The soup is oily but not greasy. When eating, the aroma of wine mixes with various aromas, and the fragrance spreads all around. It is rotten but not rotten, and the taste is endless and delicious."
Ji Lingxue shook her head. What she wanted to hear was not praise but criticism. After that, the two cooks also praised him. Soon it was the turn of the scholar in green shirt. He picked up the chopsticks to pick up a piece of sea cucumber, ate a piece of pig's trotter, and then picked up the spoon to drink a mouthful of soup.
Just when everyone thought he was going to finish the whole pot of Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, he put down his chopsticks, bowed to Ji Lingxue and said, "Buddha Jumps Over the Wall stews dozens of ingredients in one pot. It has a common meaty taste while maintaining its own characteristics. However, the ingredients are put into the pot in a certain order, so the concentration and taste of the soup are different. I think that although Buddha Jumps Over the Wall is good, it takes too much effort to gather all the ingredients. It may be difficult to stand out from the cooking competition with this."
Ji Lingxue smiled when she heard that, raised her hand and asked: "Why do you say that?" He actually guessed her intention, what a wonderful person, it seems that nerds are not necessarily stupid.
The scholar in green shirts continued, "This cooking competition has gathered chefs from all over the world, and the local specialties will be more authentic. This Buddha Jumps Over the Wall is a specialty of Fujian, right?"
Ji Lingxue nodded, her analysis was correct, "Then what good suggestions do you have? Why don't you tell me?"
The scholar in green shirt bowed and said, "As the saying goes, 'every inch has its own strengths and weaknesses'. All living things have their own advantages for survival, but they also have their own relative weaknesses. Only by using your own strengths to attack others' weaknesses can you achieve success."
The other three chefs looked at the scholar in green with strange eyes. They thought that the princess's Buddha Jumps Over the Wall was very good and could be entered into the competition for free. But this scholar kept finding fault with it and gave a lot of big sermons.
A scholar is a scholar. He has read so much that he has become stupid. You are not afraid that the princess will be angry and drive you out of the palace if you speak like this.
After hearing this, Ji Lingxue was not angry at all. Instead, she kept the scholar in green shirt and asked him some questions alone, and then asked him to cook a dish.
A quarter of an hour later, a plate of poached eggs was placed in front of Ji Lingxue. They were crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, emitting a light fragrance.
Ji Lingxue looked up at the scholar, "What's your specialty?"
It turned out that the butler didn't keep him in the palace because of his good cooking skills, but just out of pity for him. His explanation just now seemed like he knew a lot about cooking, but it turned out to be just talk.
The scholar smiled and said, "Although fried eggs are the simplest dish, they require a good heat. If the heat is too high, the eggs will burn."
Ji Lingxue said: "Your specialty surprised this princess!"
The scholar smiled and said, "Princess, please forgive me for making fun of you. Although my cooking skills are not as good as the chefs in the palace, my honesty is the most important thing."
Ji Lingxue waved her hand, "You are planning to participate in the spring exam after the New Year, and this year's rare cooking competition, you have nowhere to go, so you choose to work as a cook in the palace to solve the problem of food and clothing."
The scholar bowed and said, "The princess is smart."
At night, Mo Xiang said to Ji Lingxue, who was sitting by the window with her chin in her hand and looking at the moon, "Princess, I think about what the scholar said. Actually, the Buddha Jumps Over the Wall that you made is quite delicious. Are you sure you don't want to take it to the competition?"
Ji Lingxue looked up at the moon and said, "Although the prince did not tell me the details of the competition, I guess we got too many ingredients for cooking at the competition site. It takes too much ingredients and time to make Buddha Jumps Over the Wall. Forget it, let everything go with the flow."
Mo Xiang: “…”
In a blink of an eye, it was the day of the cooking competition. The training ground outside the city was surrounded by a large cloth, and at the outermost edge were independent small stalls selling all kinds of snacks, teas, pots and pans, and there were people selling seats at the entrance of the training ground for a high price.
In another place, there was a notice board with a list of contestants on it, which was used for betting. The highest bets were naturally on Deqing Tower owned by the prince-in-law and Wangshan Tower owned by Xiao Yichen. Some old customers of Qingfeng Yashe bet on Qingfeng Yashe.
Others laughed at him, "Someone is betting on Qingfeng Yashe. Are you stupid? It's been closed for a long time. How can they still participate in the competition? Is it possible?"
The people laughed for a while, then started chatting about other topics while waiting for the contestants to enter.
Soon, the king's uncle entered the parade ground with his chef from Deqinglou. Their impressive carriage attracted the curious gazes of the people.
"The uncle of the king is here. The chef of Deqinglou was hired from Jiangnan at a high price by the uncle of the king. After the princess of Chen destroyed Deqinglou last time, the uncle of the king of the king renovated it and it is more magnificent than before."
"Why did Princess Chen smash the Prince's uncle's Deqing Building?"
"You don't even know this, you're from out of town, isn't it just that Deqinglou's business is so good..."
"That's not the case. I heard that Princess Chen went to Deqinglou for dinner and found a fly in the dish. She was unhappy and smashed the Deqinglou..."
At this time, the sound of horse hooves was heard, and the people who were talking happily just now immediately shut up and looked up, only to see the Prince of Chen riding a horse with a handsome young man coming to the parade ground.
Ji Mingyang sat on his horse and looked around at the people standing outside the training ground, talking to each other, and exclaimed, "Wow, there are so many people. There is no place inside, so they have to stand outside to watch the results of the game. Hey, where are the bets? Tsk tsk... Your Majesty, why didn't my sister come to watch? Doesn't she love cooking the most?"
Xiao Yichen said: "Xue'er said she has a headache, so she won't come today. If you miss your sister, you can go to the palace to see her."
Xiao Yichen turned his head to look to his side. Ji Mingyang had already jumped off the horse and ran into the gambling scene in front of him which was surrounded by people.
After looking at Ji Mingyang, who was not very stable and loved to join in the fun, Xiao Yichen shook his head and jumped off the horse. He handed the horse to the servant beside him and continued walking forward. He met Ding Sifang at the entrance of the parade ground.
Ding Sifang took off his armor today and wore a loose dark green robe, with his hair standing upright, looking very righteous.
Xiao Yichen smiled and said, "General Ding, how are you?"
Ding Sifang smiled and said, "I haven't seen you for a while, Prince Chen. You are still as charming as ever. Everyone in the capital praises you for loving your wife and solving cases like a god. You have relieved the emperor of many worries."
Xiao Yichen smiled and said, "These are all my responsibilities and not worth mentioning. General Ding, please come in..." He then made a gesture of invitation.
Ding Sifang nodded and glanced behind Xiao Yichen, "Why didn't the prince bring a maid with him when he went out today?"
Xiao Yichen was stunned, not quite understanding what Ding Sifang meant. When did he ever bring a maid with him when he went out
(End of this chapter)