Yan Qiu said hurriedly: "The clothes that the imperial concubine is wearing are newly cut autumn clothes. They are very beautiful! Wasn't the imperial concubine very satisfied with her in the morning? Don't worry, the imperial concubine! She is already very beautiful now! Besides, it's time to eat. , don’t keep the emperor waiting too long!”
"Yes, yes, yes, we can't keep the emperor waiting for too long! Come quickly and bring the phoenix-tailed golden walking wave that the emperor rewarded! The emperor said that the golden walking wave looks good on me!"
"Yes!" The palace maid hurriedly took the golden penis and inserted it into Concubine Li. Concubine Li glanced at herself in the mirror and felt that the golden penis did not go well with today's clothes, so she took it off again and changed it. On the other hand, after struggling like this several times, he was satisfied, and then hurried to Zichen Palace.
Zichen Palace, the emperor is tired of waiting!
Just when he was about to get angry, Concubine Li came.
Concubine Li saluted happily: "I am here to see you, Your Majesty!"
The emperor calmed down his temper and said: "My beloved concubine is exempt from the gift, come and have a meal quickly! Otherwise the food will be cold!"
Concubine Li's heart skipped a beat, and she quickly responded. Then she walked to sit down next to the emperor and said sweetly: "I will prepare food for the emperor."
The emperor said calmly: "No need, my beloved concubine, please eat with me!"
The emperor also gave Concubine Li a piece of crystal chicken.
Concubine Li was flattered: "Thank you, Your Majesty."
The table is filled with more than 20 dishes and 4 kinds of staple food.
The emperor's food was stipulated by the ancestral system.
Although every day is different, the chef also racks his brains to arrange the dishes in different ways, which looks exquisite!
But in fact, it’s more about how good it looks and whether it tastes good or not!
In order to maintain health and prevent the emperor from overeating, those dishes are made with less salt, less oil and less sugar, which means they have some flavor but seem to be tasteless.
The emperor has been eating for so many years and has completely lost his appetite.
Fortunately, Princess Hui'an came to the palace and brought him some snacks. He would have snacks later.
The emperor picked out a few things that he liked, took a few bites, and then stopped eating.
He just kept picking up food for Concubine Li: "Eat more, my dear concubine! Thank you for taking care of all the affairs in the palace!"
Let the imperial chef make the dishes so exquisite, even if they don’t taste good, it’s hard for her!
Concubine Li was very happy, but she didn't have a big appetite, and these dishes weren't very appetizing, so she was full very quickly.
"Your Majesty, you don't need to hold it for me, you can eat it too!"
The emperor continued to add vegetables to her bowl: "I am already full. A porridge and a meal are hard-earned. What's more, these are delicacies from the mountains and seas. Food cannot be wasted. My beloved, eat more and finish them all!"
Concubine Li: "......"
Eat it
How can you finish eating so much
Even if her stomach is full, she can’t hold it!
Seeing that she didn't move her chopsticks, the emperor raised his eyebrows: "Why don't you eat, my dear concubine?"
Concubine Li could only lower her head and continue eating.
Until half of the dishes on the table were eaten, and there was still half left. She felt terrified and couldn't eat anymore!
Then he looked at the emperor pitifully: "Your Majesty, I am full and I really can't eat anymore!"
The emperor then said kindly: "If you can't eat it, then don't eat it! But dear concubine, there are still so many dishes that have not been finished, don't you think it's a waste?"
"You can give rewards to the palace maids and eunuchs!" Concubine Li blurted out!
Of course!
The emperor glanced at her lightly.
Should the palace maid and the eunuch eat the master's leftover food
Are they beasts
Concubine Li: "......"
Why does the emperor look at her like this
The emperor said calmly: "I think the palace master's food is too extravagant and wasteful. My beloved, you have been in charge of the palace's internal affairs for so long and you haven't noticed it? And I found that since you took charge of Feng Yin, the palace's expenses have increased every month. There are hundreds of thousands more taels! It’s all a waste!
You see, my table of food can’t be finished by two people, but how many people in Nalan Kingdom can’t even eat enough
From now on, the portion size of all dishes in each palace will be reduced to a quarter! Don't waste it, and don't give your leftovers to the palace maids and eunuchs! Whoever wastes a meal will have to pay for his own food in the future! "
Concubine Li felt bitter in her heart: The food in this palace was made by ancestors, and it was like this when Queen Guo was in charge!
She just picked a better one and wanted to serve the emperor well!
Why didn't the emperor say it was wasteful before, but now he thinks it's wasteful
But now she didn't dare to say anything. She knew very well that the emperor cared about the money, so she could only agree: "I didn't think well. I will definitely tell the palaces not to waste food in the future."
Seeing that she had a good attitude, the emperor looked better. He continued: "The Mid-Autumn Palace Banquet is coming soon. You should be careful about the food at the palace banquet and don't be arrogant and wasteful! I don't want to see the palace banquet, like before, The food on the table is almost untouched!”
Concubine Li felt bitter in her heart. If the ministers and concubines refused to eat, she couldn't force them to eat, right
When the queen was in charge of the harem, why didn't the emperor pick on these things
But she still responded with a smile: "The emperor said yes! I asked the imperial chef to improve the dishes for this palace banquet!"
The emperor nodded, his face becoming more and more satisfied: "Delicacies from mountains and seas are indispensable. You can try to make them as delicate and small as possible, taking into account everyone's appetite!"
"Yes! Your Majesty is wise!"
"Also, there are too many people entering the palace for the palace banquet every year. It is too chaotic and difficult to manage. Tomorrow you will pass the order. From now on, each minister can only bring two family members into the palace to attend the palace banquet."
Concubine Li's eyes widened: Is she here to issue this palace order? Doesn't this offend people
Who wouldn't want to bring a girl of the right age into the palace and show her face in front of others
"Is there a problem?"
"No!" Concubine Li said hurriedly.
She knew that the emperor was trying to save some money.
After all, the outer city needs to be expanded, and the treasury has more places to spend money. What does the expansion of the outer city have to do with her
Why did the emperor cause so many troubles when it was her turn to take charge of Feng Yin!
Reducing the meals for the masters in the palace and not allowing the ministers' family members to enter the palace to attend palace banquets. How is this not offensive
Next, the emperor dropped a bombshell: "I think the budget for the flowers for the Mid-Autumn Palace Banquet is too high. When the court is using money, I have found a flower farm. She said that one hundred thousand taels can be used for it." The flowers for the Mid-Autumn Palace Banquet and the New Year’s Eve Palace Banquet are all included! My beloved, you don’t have to worry about this!"
Rumble, a bolt from the blue!
Concubine Li could not believe what she heard!
Whatever the emperor said before, it did not harm her interests after all, but the flowers for the palace banquet were provided by her mother's family!
Concubine Li immediately said: "Your Majesty, the flowers for this palace banquet have always been from the royal flower garden. If you use flowers from other flower gardens rashly, you don't know the quality of those flowers! Besides, the flowers for the palace banquet are worth 100,000 liang or two." , will this flower be good? If it doesn’t bloom well, wouldn’t it be detrimental to the dignity of the royal family by displaying it?”
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
seven