The Empress Dowager was very happy to see Princess Danyang, "Rong Xin." Princess Danyang wanted to pay her respects, so she immediately called her name and waved for her to come over.
Princess Danyang stood up and came before the Empress Dowager.
The Queen Mother held her hand, looked her up and down, and said, "You seem a little haggard. It's probably because of Fengming's marriage. He doesn't like Princess Huining, so let him be."
Princess Danyang's face became uglier and uglier. "Princess Huining, that was four years ago. No wonder she said she looked haggard. She looked four years older, but in her eyes, it was only a day, not haggard."
"Mother." Princess Danyang wanted to say that Princess Huining was already married and her child was two years old. But when she saw the concerned look in the eyes of the empress dowager, she swallowed the rest of her words and just nodded.
The Empress Dowager was a little surprised to see her like this. Didn’t she force Fengming to marry Princess Huining yesterday? How come she has figured it out
"It's good that you've figured it out." The Queen Mother said with relief, "In fact, I've always felt sorry for you for letting you marry into the Shen family. Fengming is a man of his own ideas, and it's useless to force him. It will only make you and your son drift further and further apart.
When the time comes, you will regret it like I did, then…” The Queen Mother could not continue, because she saw Princess Danyang covering her nose with her hands, tears flashing in her eyes.
The Queen Mother held her in her arms. Princess Danyang was not young anymore, but in her eyes, she was still the little girl who revolved around her, her daughter.
She felt guilty about her daughter.
Princess Danyang wanted to cry. She was really unhappy after marrying into the Shen family for so many years. Moreover, the Queen Mother seemed to be right. For so many years, she had been forcing her son to marry like a demon, but he became increasingly cold and even said nothing to her except greeting her.
Why? For the sake of her son, and in fact, to prove that her choice was right. Marrying into the Shen family brought supreme power to her brother, mother, and herself.
There were so many thoughts and feelings in her heart, but in the end Princess Danyang still didn't cry. She wiped her eyes with a handkerchief, broke free from the Empress Dowager's arms, and said with a smile, "Mother, I brought you a portion of Taibai duck, would you like to try it?"
"Oh? Taibai duck, but it's made by Chef Feng? If he makes it, I won't eat it." said the Empress Dowager.
Chef Feng was the imperial chef in the palace four years ago.
"No, you will know if you try it." said Princess Danyang.
Madam Chang immediately opened the food box and saw a white porcelain jar inside, covered with tissue paper. The tissue paper was tightly attached to the mouth of the jar, without a single gap.
Nanny Chang carefully opened the lid, and immediately, a smell of wine mixed with the aroma of duck meat rushed out of the jar.
"It's Song Guang. Is his illness cured?" The Queen Mother asked in surprise after smelling the fragrance.
Princess Danyang smiled bitterly. Song Guang had died five years ago, so where could she find him
At this time, a palace maid brought bowls and chopsticks and served the Empress Dowager her meal.
The Empress Dowager took a bite of the duck in the bowl, which was soft, glutinous, fragrant and smooth. She scooped a spoonful of the soup with a spoon and found it fresh and mellow, which seemed to have whetted her appetite.
As she ate, she praised, "Song Guang's cooking skills have improved again. I'll reward him with more silver later."
"Yes." Princess Danyang agreed. Seeing that she was eating happily, she finished the bowl of soup with duck meat in a short while, so she personally served her another bowl.
"You can eat it too. This Taibai duck is the best made by him." The Queen Mother said with a smile.
"The Empress Dowager hasn't been this happy in a long time." Aunt Qi, who was serving the Empress Dowager, said happily.
Princess Danyang was also happy, but she really couldn't eat the Taibai duck. She had eaten too much at Jiang Yunzhu's restaurant today, and she hadn't digested it yet.
This was what happened in the palace. Outside the palace, Jiang Yunzhu wrote a letter to Wu Yixian and asked Shen Fengming to help deliver it to him.
That night, Princess Danyang lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. She wondered if her son had any relationship with Jiang Yunzhu, and then wondered if there was a relationship, what kind of relationship, and did her son finally like the girl
It doesn't feel like it.
"What are you doing?" asked Mr. Shen, who couldn't sleep because of her.
Princess Danyang wanted to discuss something with him, but when she saw his serious face, she didn't want to talk to him anymore.
She turned over, with her back to Scholar Shen, and thought for herself.
At 9:00 p.m. the next day, Shiguang Restaurant was packed up and ready to open for business.
Just then, two fast horses came from the other end of the street.
Jin Jiaoyue saw this and frowned. These two horses...something seemed to be going to happen.
At this time, the two horses had arrived in front of the restaurant. The people on the horses were dressed in tight clothes, exactly like the royal guards.
"But are you from Shiguang Private Restaurant?" the man asked.
"I'm the owner of the store." Jin Jiaoyue said.
The man took out a token and said, "The emperor has ordered the chef of the restaurant to come to the palace."
Jin Jiaoyue's heart sank, "But what's the matter?"
The man was a little anxious and urged, "Where is the chef in your store? Come with me to the palace quickly."
Jin Jiaoyue had no choice but to go in and tell Jiang Yunzhu about this, but she also secretly signaled to Zhan Changchuan and others that if the situation went wrong, they would immediately protect Jiang Yunzhu and escape.
Zhan Changchuan and the others understood, and while secretly staring at the two men, they held their weapons.
The two imperial guards felt inexplicably cold. But it was summer! Why were they cold
When Jiang Yunzhu heard that the emperor was going to summon her to the palace, she panicked. What happened? Did something go wrong with the duck yesterday? No, if something went wrong, she should have been arrested yesterday.
"Boss, why don't you go out through the back door and go find Governor Shen." Jin Jiaoyue said.
She believed that Governor Shen would protect Jiang Yunzhu.
Jiang Yunzhu shook her head. She didn't know what was going to happen. If she ran away first, she would no longer be right.
She thought carefully about recent events and found nothing wrong. If that was the case, she didn't need to worry so much.
Thinking of this, she walked out.
"Boss." Jin Jiaoyue said anxiously.
Soon, Jiang Yunzhu came to the door.
The two imperial guards were a little surprised to see her, "Are you the chef of this restaurant?"
"Yes." Jiang Yunzhu replied, her voice as clear as spring water.
Seeing that she was a beautiful girl, the two imperial guards softened their voices and said, "The emperor has summoned you to the palace." Then they added, "The empress dowager has not wanted to eat since this morning."
Was he calling her to the palace to cook? Jiang Yunzhu understood what he meant and felt relieved.
"Young lady, please come in." The man said anxiously, the emperor is still waiting!
Jiang Yunzhu bought a carriage some time ago, and now it came in handy. Zhan Changchuan drove the carriage, and Sixteen followed Jiang Yunzhu to the palace.
The journey was smooth and soon the carriage entered the palace and stopped. The two imperial guards also dismounted and took Jiang Yunzhu to the Empress Dowager's bedroom.
On this side, Jin Jiaoyue hurried to deliver a letter to Shen Fengming.
At this time, the Emperor, the Empress Dowager, and Princess Danyang were all in the Empress Dowager's bedroom.
What happened? This morning, the palace servants served the Empress Dowager breakfast as usual, but the Empress Dowager didn't want to eat the meal.
The Empress Dowager didn’t want to have breakfast, which was too much. This matter soon alarmed the Emperor.
There was nothing the emperor could do, so it was Madam Qi who later guessed whether the empress dowager wanted to eat the duck from yesterday. According to her recollection, the empress dowager ate the Taibai duck brought by Princess Danyang last night and liked it very much. She ate two bowls in a row and even muttered something before going to bed at night.
Of course, no one cared. What happened today would generally be forgotten by the time the Empress Dowager woke up tomorrow.
But this time... she was just guessing.
It was enough to have a guess. Emperor Qinglong immediately asked someone to find Princess Danyang and told her about the matter.
Princess Danyang was very surprised and asked the Queen Mother, "Mother, do you want to eat Taibai duck?"
"Taibai Duck? Isn't Song Guang sick?" said the Queen Mother.
Princess Danyang was not sure either.
Emperor Qinglong did not miss any possibility and immediately sent someone to call the chef who cooked the duck yesterday, which led to the previous incident.
Jiang Yunzhu stepped into the hall and saluted the emperor, the empress dowager, and Princess Danyang.
She behaved with moderation, her expression respectful but not flustered, and bowed gracefully, like a willow swaying in the wind.
She lowered her head, and Princess Danyang could not see her expression, but she was so calm and composed, and Princess Danyang liked it.
Emperor Qinglong was also looking at Jiang Yunzhu. He didn't expect that the chef was such a beautiful woman. He was looking down from above and could see half of Jiang Yunzhu's face. He felt that she was very gentle and charming.
Princess Danyang was not sure about the relationship between Shen Fengming and Jiang Yunzhu, but she was sure to help Jiang Yunzhu, so she immediately said, "The Queen Mother has no appetite, but she really likes the Taibai duck you made yesterday. Are you willing to help the Queen Mother make it again?"
She said this softly.
"Yes." Jiang Yunzhu said. It's just cooking.
"Then go ahead." said Princess Danyang.
Jiang Yunzhu went down.
Only Emperor Qinglong and Princess Danyang were left in the palace.
Emperor Qinglong frowned slightly, feeling that Princess Danyang had special feelings for this chef.
"She was suddenly summoned into the palace because of me. As a girl, she must have been quite frightened." Princess Danyang explained.
Emperor Qinglong nodded.
Jiang Yunzhu went to the imperial kitchen. At this time, the imperial kitchen was preparing lunch, busy but well organized.
Jiang Yunzhu had been to the imperial kitchen in her dream, and had learned and exchanged ideas with an imperial chef named Dong, from whom she benefited greatly.
Now that she was here again, she looked around to see if the chef Dong was there.
There were so many people that she didn't see them at a glance.
"Miss, just tell me if you need anything." Nanny Qi said to Jiang Yunzhu.
On the way here, Jiang Yunzhu had already thought about what to cook. Taibai duck was going to be cooked, but the empress dowager seemed to have not eaten breakfast. For an old woman, eating Taibai duck on an empty stomach was a bit greasy.
"I need..." She didn't hesitate to say what she needed.
Nanny Qi immediately asked someone to prepare everything, and soon everything was ready.
Jiang Yunzhu washed her hands and started cooking.
At this time, Shen Fengming also received the news of her entering the palace, and immediately stood up and rode into the palace.