After speaking, Concubine Li looked at Concubine Shu again: "Concubine Shu, do you think I am right?"
Now Concubine Shu is in charge of the imperial dining room, and all the people in the imperial dining room are the emperor's people. It is not easy to find out some information, lest it spread to the emperor's ears and the emperor suspects that she is restless.
So she asked people to pay attention to the eunuchs and palace maids who were shopping on the street, and they learned that most of the ingredients prepared for this palace banquet were vegetarian dishes. Those delicacies from mountains and seas, birds and animals, and other meat dishes that could be put on the table were rarely prepared.
Nearly two hundred people came to attend the palace banquet, including the royal family members, civil and military officials, and the wives and noble ladies.
According to Princess Hui'an's menu, the meat dishes prepared in the imperial dining room are only enough for fifty people!
Although the emperor is frugal, he also loves to save face.
One day she went to deliver ginseng soup to the emperor and saw the emperor trying the dishes for the palace banquet. The dishes on the table were obviously mostly meat dishes, but this time when purchasing ingredients, she actually bought a lot of vegetables and fruits, and very few meat dishes.
Oh, now... isn't this a double act
At that time, all the dishes that will be served will be vegetarian for everyone to eat, haha...
It’s such a big country, but there is no meat in the palace banquet. This is a shame!
Those who don’t know better think that the Nalan Kingdom is so poor that it is about to die!
Concubine Shu smiled gently: "That's what the Imperial Concubine said. The dishes at this year's palace banquet are indeed different from the past. They are all fresh dishes."
Li Wanwan pretended to be curious and said: "The dishes prepared by the imperial concubine for the palace banquet include rich bear paws, auspicious two-headed abalone, deep-sea lobster, pot-roasted sea cucumbers, grilled bird's nests, fried shrimp roe, crab roe..., hump , fried deer tail, fried bird tongue..."
Li Wanwan reported a list of dishes with delicacies from the mountains and seas, which made everyone's mouth water.
After she finished, she said with a smile: "But everyone is tired of eating this! We all want to eat something fresh!"
Everyone was curious after hearing this: "What new dishes are there? It sounds exciting!"
"The dishes at the palace banquet every year are an eye-opener for my wife. The dishes at our palace banquet in Nalan Kingdom are really nothing to say. Every dish is a delicacy. Flying in the sky? Running on the ground? In the water. There’s everything you need for a swim! It’s full of color, flavor, and food, and it’ll make you want to eat!”
"The emperor's grace is so great. The dishes for the palace banquet every year are prepared with some precious food that we can't eat on weekdays! At the end of the year, I am looking forward to enjoying the palace banquet!"
"No, what I miss most is the cup of golden blood swallow dessert? The bird's nest stewed in the imperial dining room is particularly fragrant! Pure! That taste? It's really unforgettable."
"What is the share of bear paws that my wife is most concerned about?..."
"My favorite thing is the big lobster..."
"What is the dish of fish meat and bird's tongue that my wife can't forget? And..."
... ...
Everyone was talking about the dishes at the palace banquets in the past.
Concubine Li smiled: "Concubine Shu has listened to Princess Hui'an's opinion for this palace banquet. The dishes have been changed! I looked at the list. The ingredients for this palace banquet are not delicacies. Many of them are vegetarian dishes. . But we have eaten too much delicacies from the mountains and seas, and we are tired of them. We might as well try something lighter."
Concubine Shu heard this and glanced at Concubine Li. It was not clear on the menu whether there were more meat or vegetarian dishes in the ingredients.
As soon as Concubine Li said this, the expressions of the ladies froze.
Palace banquet!
The palace banquet on New Year’s Eve!
Vegetarian? What kind of joke is this
Even in the homes of ordinary people, there is always fish and meat in the family reunion dinner on New Year's Eve!
Unless the family is too poor to open the pot on weekdays? Otherwise, if you don’t eat it yourself, you also need to worship your ancestors!
Concubine Li was very satisfied with the instant change in everyone's expressions. She continued: "Let's have a good taste when the time comes and give us some suggestions? Because the dishes at the palace banquet tonight are prepared for the Wanshou Festival state banquet. The dishes will also be based on tonight’s dishes.”
Will the dishes at the Wanshou Festival state banquet also refer to such dishes
That’s almost a completely vegetarian dish, right
Isn't this embarrassing
Their Nalan country is one of the largest countries in this continent!
When these dishes are brought to the table, you can foresee how they will be ridiculed by the messengers!
Mrs. Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry thought of something and asked with a smile: "My dear concubine, is it health-preserving vegetables? Is this palace banquet mainly based on health-preserving vegetables?"
If it’s a lettuce dish, that’s great!
You must know that although health-preserving vegetables are vegetarian, they are extremely delicious and can really strengthen the body. She once had aphthous sores in her mouth. She was lucky that day and bought a health-preserving vegetable heart at the auction house. The blisters disappeared the next day after eating it, and everything was fine!
In the past, every time I had a canker sore, the pain lasted for a week.
I really want to eat healthy vegetables every day, but it’s hard to find just one!
Healthy dishes at Yangshengtang are also available in limited quantities every day, while supplies last.
There are so many people queuing up every day, it’s so hard to get a meal!
Everyone's eyes lit up when they heard it was a vegetable: "It turns out to be a vegetable! This is good!"
"Yes, healthy vegetables are more effective than meat dishes! It's better to eat more vegetarian vegetables!"
"No, Princess Hui'an and Concubine Shu are really very thoughtful!"
"Your Majesty's grace is so great! These health-preserving vegetables are hard to find! It's winter now, and there are even fewer health-preserving vegetables. I ate them once three months ago, but I still haven't bought them yet."
... ...
Everyone praised him.
Concubine Li naturally knows that nourishing vegetables are good things! In this palace, only the emperor, the queen mother, and the eighth princess can eat every day!
It's a pity that those vegetables are not healthy vegetables.
She glanced at Concubine Shu: "Sister Concubine Shu, are those ingredients all healthy vegetables? Then we are really blessed."
Concubine Shu smiled: "No, it's just an ordinary dish."
All those health-preserving ingredients were left by the emperor to eat slowly!
He said that Princess Hui'an could just pay some tribute to the palace every day.
This palace banquet is a warm-up for the state banquet. When the time comes, the emperor will be reluctant to serve those ambitious and well-meaning envoys with lettuce!
Therefore, the emperor and Princess Hui'an said that all the food should be replaced with ordinary ingredients. Don't waste the health-preserving vegetables, just send them to the small kitchen of Zichen Palace.
Everyone felt disappointed when they heard this. Some people are really looking forward to going to the palace to have a delicious meal. Although it has been chilled, which affects the taste, those expensive ingredients are not something that can be bought easily. It would be great to eat them all in one go at the palace banquet. ah!
Li Wanwan was invited by Concubine Li. Although Prime Minister Li had already retired from office, she had the concubine's aunt in the palace, so it was much easier for her to enter the palace than for others.
So she came this time, and she whispered to Huang Hengxi in a voice that only two people could hear: "Vegetarian dishes for the palace banquet? The menu provided by Princess Hui'an is indeed a peasant girl who doesn't know the basics!"
Huang Hengxi replied in a low voice: "This is something sponsored by Concubine Shu and Hui'an County. One is a palace maid, and the other is a peasant girl. If these two people start big things together, they are not just petty!"