In Ye Xiao Palace, Su Yu was inspecting the ingredients sent by the Imperial Kitchen.
"The appearance of this yuanbei is really good." Su Yu picked up a fresh yuanbei and looked at it. It was the size of a palm, round and plump, and the meat was juicy. Even the shell was very neat.
"It's naturally the best for niangniang," the person in the Imperial Kitchen said with a smile.
Su Yu nodded his head in satisfaction. Chefs all liked high-quality ingredients. After all, the better the ingredients, the more delicious the food would be. He then looked at the live fish in the other bowl. There was no problem, so he indicated that he would accept it.
"Five taels of silver, take it." Yang Gonggong took out the silver and handed it to the taijian who delivered the fish.
"Wait," Su Yu, who was fishing, suddenly straightened and stopped the people who were preparing to leave, "Why do these things cost five taels of silver?"
Seeing the Emperor's appetite yesterday, he decided to prepare more food today, so he bought two ingredients. They were just ordinary yuanbei and a carp. Even if yuanbei was more expensive, it shouldn't cost as much as five taels of silver, right? It had to be known that five taels of silver was enough for a normal family to spend for a month! This was robbing money!
"Niangniang buys it every day. I specially calculated it to be cheaper for you." The little taijian clearly misunderstood Su Yu's words and thought that he was surprised at the low price, so he quickly said a few good words.
So expensive even if it was cheaper! Looking at everyone's expressions, Su Yu took a deep breath and waved her hand for the people in the Imperial Kitchen to leave. She turned to ask Yang Gonggong, "Is the price in the palace always like this?"
"Niangniang, it is indeed so." Yang Gonggong's face was also full of pain. He had already spent a lot of silver to have the Imperial Kitchen send fresh ingredients for every meal.
Every month, the concubines had a quota for their food and clothing. Anything other than the quota had to be bought with silver. Everything was provided by the Imperial Household Department. It was like the only small shop in the boarding school. Naturally, the prices were ridiculously high. What's more, the things in the imperial palace were all of high quality, and their prices were not low. The imperial concubines would not be like Su Yu and buy things outside of their daily quota every day.
No matter how high his salary was, it couldn't be compared to the skyrocketing prices. Su Yu counted with his fingers, and his face suddenly turned bitter. If this continued, he would soon become a pauper again.
Of the thirty yuanbei, two were left for the sauce to make snacks tomorrow. The rest were steamed with minced garlic and vermicelli. Su Yu watched as His Majesty the Emperor happily ate the yuanbei one bite at a time. He only felt that the handsome Emperor had turned into a golden and dazzling pixiu, swallowing a large piece of his silver in one bite.
"Why aren't you eating?" An Hong-chul glanced at Su Yu, who was eating vegetables in a daze. He frowned slightly and put the yuanbei, meat and vermicelli that he had just picked up, into Su Yu's bowl.
Su Yu was flattered as he looked at the shellfish meat in his bowl. He didn't expect the Emperor to pick up food for someone else.
"Zhen rewarded you. Why aren't you eating it clean?" An Hong-chul saw that Su Yu wasn't eating and couldn't help but be a little angry. It was already very rare for him to be willing to share such delicious food with others. This stupid slave actually didn't appreciate it!
Seeing that the Emperor was showing signs of getting angry, Su Yu quickly ate the shellfish meat in his bowl, "Thank you, Emperor."
An Hong-chul glared at him. He became more and more dissatisfied in his heart. This stupid slave, ever since he entered the palace, he didn't know how to talk to him properly.
Su Yu didn't understand. He looked at the Emperor, who was still unhappy. Could it be that the Emperor was waiting for him to return the favor? He tentatively picked up a piece of sweet and sour fish with his chopsticks and put it into the Emperor's bowl.
Wang Gonggong, who was standing on the side, couldn't stop it in time. He watched as the piece of fish dripping with sauce fell into the Emperor's jade bowl. He was immediately scared out of his wits. The Emperor never ate the food that others picked up for him. If anyone dared to touch his food, he would definitely fly into a rage. Just as he was about to step forward to persuade him, he saw the Emperor's chopsticks pick up the white and tender piece of fish and slowly put it into his mouth.
"Too sweet." The Emperor licked away the bit of sauce on his thin lips. His tone was still bad, but his expression eased a lot.
"Then put less sugar next time." Su Yu slightly smiled. He suddenly found that this guy was not as difficult to get along with as he imagined.
An Hong-chul snorted and didn't say anything else. He picked up a yuanbei and continued to eat.
Wang Gonggong silently took back his eyes that were about to fall out. He turned around to deal with the plate flipping. There was no need for him to serve here.
After dinner, Su Yu brought out a normal crab stick to make snacks for the Emperor.
"Why did you go to Anguo Tower today?" The Emperor leaned on the soft couch and used two slender fingers to pick up a crab stick to play with.
Su Yu was sitting on the soft couch looking at the dowry list that Yang Gonggong had just sorted out. Hearing this, he raised his head and said: "The Empress Dowager ordered this official to pay respects to the National Tutor every day."
"Nonsense." An Hong-chul sneered and put the crab stick in his mouth.
The long crab stick was held by the Emperor's lips. It looked like he was holding a cigarette in his mouth. It was very handsome. But thinking that this was a crab stick, Su Yu couldn't help but purse his lips and smile.
His eyebrows and eyes were originally gentle. When he smiled like this, it was quite pleasing to the eye.
His Majesty the Emperor frowned. This stupid slave, smiling so seductively. Did he want to get closer to me? But it wasn't time for bed yet. In front of so many eunuchs and palace maids in the hall, how improper!
"The National Tutor doesn't seem to like this official going to pay respects." The atmosphere between the two was much more relaxed than before. Thinking that the two were already married, they should discuss things. Su Yu put down the account book in his hand and planned to ask the Emperor's opinion.
Not to mention that he was full of curiosity about the existence of the National Tutor, but the task given by the Empress Dowager required him to pay respects every day. If he didn't go, it would be inappropriate. But if he went and was kicked out, it would be very awkward.
"Imperial Uncle is the most intolerant of complicated formalities. You said you would go pay respects, but he definitely won't like you." An Hong-chul thought for a bit and put a slender leg on Su Yu's leg. Oh, he knew to ask me when he was in trouble, so I should reward him. Since he wants to get closer to me, I'll satisfy him.
Su Yu was startled by the leg that suddenly stretched over. Seeing the Emperor's natural expression, he helplessly sighed and good-naturedly massaged his leg.
Damn it, I knew it. As soon as he had the chance, he would touch me all over! His Majesty the Emperor turned his head and covered his ears that were quietly turning red. He chewed the crab in his mouth until there was nothing left.
The next day, Yang Gonggong told Su Yu that he didn't have to go pay respects to the Empress Dowager. Going once every three days was enough as long as he went to pay respects to the National Tutor.
Su Yu was naturally happy to be idle. But without Su Yu present, Ci 'an Palace was still not peaceful.
"Did the Emperor turn the tablet?" The Empress Dowager slightly frowned.
"He did," Lin Gugu said with a smile, "The Emperor has always been respectful and filial. If the Empress Dowager wants him to turn the tablet, he will turn it."
"Good, it's good that he did." The Empress Dowager nodded with satisfaction.
"But the Emperor still went to Ye Xiao Palace last night." Imperial Consort Lu said with a face full of grievances. The other concubines were also indignant.
"Maybe he happened to turn the tablet to Xian fei." The Empress Dowager said without much care.
"… …" Imperial Consort Lu was about to say how was that possible. She opened her mouth and forcefully swallowed her words. She, as a concubine, had no right to know the Emperor's daily life. Even if she knew whose tablet the Emperor turned, she couldn't say it. But others didn't know, but she knew that the tablet didn't have Xian fei's name. How could it turn the tablet to Xian fei?
Imperial Consort Lu tore the handkerchief in her hand and inwardly gritted her teeth. This time it could be said to be a coincidence, but she didn't believe that the Empress Dowager wouldn't care tomorrow.
Because he didn't need to pay respects, he escaped the bloody storm of the harem. Su Yu, who had nothing to do, wanted to find some sauce to play with. In the end, he couldn't find it.
"He was in the North Pole Palace just now. I don't know where he went now," Wang Gonggong didn't even blink as he spouted nonsense, "When he comes back, this old servant will send it to niangniang."
Without a cat, Su Yu could only return to Ye Xiao Palace to study the recipes.
The contents of the first chapter of Su's Cookbook were very easy to understand. With Su Yu's experience, he could roughly guess the ingredients. But when it came to the second chapter, it was a bit difficult to understand.
"Mackerel, internal energy to remove the blood, boiling water to remove the hair … …" Remove the hair? Su Yu was confused. How could killing a fish require removing the hair? What was this mackerel? Looking at the picture on the left, Su Family's ancestor first drew a strangely shaped fish. There were messy things that looked like scales and thorns growing on it.
In the first chapter, he learned about his ancestor's terrible drawing skills. Su Yu didn't expect to see anything from the picture, but the Su Family's ancestor emphasized the delicious taste of this mackerel. He said that it was as fragrant and tender as roasted suckling pig, making people unable to stop eating. He especially reminded that internal energy must be used to remove the blood, otherwise it would be impossible to make such a delicious dish.
Internal energy? Su Yu remembered the silver chopsticks that the Emperor threw out. Could it be that internal energy was needed to kill this kind of fish? That was too ridiculous!
Su Yu, who couldn't stand it anymore, threw the cookbook to the side. He got up and went to the kitchen to make snacks. At the same time, he thought about how to complete the mission of paying respects in the afternoon.
The Emperor said that the National Tutor couldn't stand the red tape. Then, he couldn't say that he was going to pay respects. Could he just say that he was going to have afternoon tea?
Su Yu scratched his head. It wasn't good to go empty-handed, so he should bring some snacks. Unfortunately, he wasn't good at cooked wheaten food. At most, he could make some seafood snacks. Thinking about the immortal-like National Tutor eating crab bones, Su Yu couldn't help but tremble. The National Tutor would definitely sentence him to death for "disrespecting the gods".
After racking his brains for a long time, Su Yu cut off the head of the fresh shrimp and used the shrimp's tentacles to tie the shrimp together. Then, he fried it in a pot and made a plate of beautiful "Golden Butterfly Shrimp". He also had Yang Gonggong find a white jade tray shaped like a snow lotus to hold it. Although it was still a fried snack that couldn't be displayed on the table, at least … … he wouldn't be beaten to death.
Clapping his hands in satisfaction, Su Yu turned around to change his clothes. He had just taken two steps when he heard the sound of chewing coming from behind him. He hurriedly turned around and saw the golden kitten sitting beside the white jade plate, chewing the butterfly prawns with relish.
When the Emperor came back from court, he heard that Wang Gonggong said that this stupid slave missed him. As a diligent Emperor, it wasn't good for him to run to the imperial concubines' chambers. So, he turned into a cat and came to see what he was doing. Seeing that he was obediently preparing food for him, the Emperor was very pleased.
"Sauce!" Su Yu quickly picked up the kitten and pulled the shrimp in its paws, "Little rascal, you're not allowed to eat. I made this for the National Tutor."
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
