"Niangniang, this Xian fei doesn't put you in her eyes," Consort Shu felt her teeth hurt when she saw the cat paw print, "How could she dare to show this to the Empress Dowager!"
Imperial Consort Lu sneered: "He's not afraid, ben gong has nothing to be afraid of. Since Xian fei has the heart to show filial piety to the Empress Dowager, ben gong will take care of it."
After finishing the painting, other than Su Yu who had to rush back to prepare lunch for the Emperor, the other concubines all went to Ci An Palace. The long painting scroll slowly unfurled in front of the Empress Dowager. The complicated and gorgeous patterns dazzled the eyes.
"Aijia's eyes are getting worse. You can make the decision." The Empress Dowager didn't have the patience to look at it and smiled as she spoke to Imperial Consort Lu.
"The sisters' craftsmanship is too good. Pinqie can't make a decision," Imperial Consort Lu pretended to look at the scroll and pointed at a few places, "For example, this' Luan Feng Brings Prosperity 'is very exquisite. The pattern is something pinqie has never seen before. It will definitely look good when embroidered. And this' Hundred Butterflies Piercing Flowers' is very lifelike. If it was embroidered with golden thread, it would be even better … …"
The Empress Dowager's interest waned as she looked at Imperial Consort Lu's hand that was full of ornaments. Suddenly, she saw the "plum blossom" next to the "Hundred Butterflies Piercing Flowers". Curious, she had a palace maid bring the scroll over for a closer look.
Imperial Consort Lu coldly hooked her lips. She deliberately pointed at that place, afraid that the Empress Dowager couldn't see the cat paw print. Even if the Emperor favored Xian fei, he wouldn't let her off easily for fooling the Empress Dowager like this.
"Isn't this the paw print of the sacred cat?" The Empress Dowager looked at it for a moment and was instantly amused, "Aiya, I haven't seen it for a few days. This little paw has grown a bit." Saying this, she lovingly rubbed the paw print for a moment.
Why didn't he think of using these paw prints to make a blanket? Thinking about how the snow-white blanket was covered with black paw prints, just like how the little golden furball had stepped on it from head to toe, it was very interesting.
"The Empress Dowager is wise. That is indeed the paw print of the holy cat." Imperial Consort Lu replied with a stiff face. She pinched her chest and waited for the Empress Dowager to get angry and ask who did this so that she could covertly reveal Su Yu. But looking at the Empress Dowager's expression, it didn't seem like she was angry at all.
"Aijia thinks this is very good." The Empress Dowager's face was full of smiles. "Whose idea is this? Aijia will reward him well."
The concubines and concubines looked at each other. Imperial Consort Lu's face was as black as the bottom of a pot.
The unsociable Su Yu naturally did not know about the various punishments and rewards that he had missed. He had offended Mr. Cat, so he wanted to make some delicious food as an apology. She threw the absurd dream from the morning to the back of her mind and went to deliver the meal to the Emperor.
At noon, Su Yu arrived at the imperial study. He looked left and right for a long time, but he didn't see any trace of the sauce.
"What are you looking for?" The Emperor slightly frowned and glared at Su Yu with dissatisfaction.
"How come I don't see the holy cat?" Su Yu wasn't afraid of the Emperor now and asked him with a grin.
"Humph." An Hong-chul snorted. This stupid slave, zhen is right here. What is he looking for? Is zhen not as good looking as a silly cat?
Su Yu looked at the Emperor's expression and didn't understand why this person was being difficult. He blinked and picked up a piece of fish to put into the jade bowl. "Try this squirrel mandarin fish."
His Majesty's expression turned even uglier. Squirrel mandarin fish had a sweet and sour flavor, and he had never liked this kind of food. He looked at Su Yu's expectant eyes and pursed his thin lips. In the end, he still picked up his chopsticks and put the golden fish meat dripping with sauce into his mouth.
The mandarin fish was fat and boneless. When fried, it was golden brown and crispy. The fish was separated from each other like a blooming chrysanthemum. It was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. It was delicious in the mouth. But this time, the sauce didn't have the sweetness that An Hong-chul usually hated. Instead, it had the salty taste that he liked.
"I didn't put much sugar this time." Su Yu saw a flash of surprise in those beautiful eyes and couldn't help but curve his lips. In the past, he felt that cooking for the Emperor was a job. Although he was cautious and conscientious, it was still just a job. But after yesterday's date, his mentality was different. He wanted to change his style to make delicious food for the Emperor. Seeing him eat happily, he also felt happy.
"It's barely passable." The Emperor said with a straight face, but the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curve slightly. This stupid slave, he actually remembered that he didn't like to eat sweet things and deliberately changed the ingredients for the dish.
"Reporting to the Emperor, Prince Su and Prince Ling request an audience." Wang Gonggong came to report with a troubled expression. It was reasonable to not disturb the Emperor when he was eating, but the two princes said that there was an urgent matter. In addition, the palace was under martial law last night. The two princes, one outside the palace and the other inside the palace, were busy all night. Their faces were full of hardships, so it was hard to bear looking at them.
"What's the urgent matter now?" An Hong-chul's lips that had just curved suddenly became a straight line.
Su Yu frowned. Stopping to talk about business in the middle of the meal was easy to have indigestion. He wanted to persuade the Emperor to finish eating first, but the important matters of the country couldn't be delayed for even a second. If something important was delayed because of his words, it would be troublesome. "The Emperor has something important to do. This subject will leave first."
Seeing Su Yu put down his bowl and was about to get up, the Emperor stopped him and said to Wang Gonggong: "Let them in."
"Greetings to the Emperor. Long live the Emperor." The two princes respectfully kneeled on the ground and saluted. Su Yu quickly got up to avoid them. When the Emperor told him to get up, he saluted the two princes.
"Consort Xian is also here." Prince Su expressionlessly greeted Su Yu.
"I told you, I could smell the aroma from outside …" Prince Ling stared at the table full of dishes. Before he could finish speaking, he was elbowed by his older brother beside him.
"Is there something the matter, Imperial Uncles? If there's nothing urgent, let zhen eat lunch first. " The Emperor seemed to not see the hungry eyes of his two Imperial Uncles. He picked up a piece of fried shrimp and threw it into his mouth.
Because Su Yu had received the Emperor's share, the Emperor's lunch became several times more sumptuous. Originally, there were only two hot dishes and two cold dishes. Now, there were six main dishes, two side dishes, one soup, and one dessert.
The squirrel mandarin fish was golden and crispy, juicy, and fatty. The fried shrimp was cooked with Su Yu's special seafood soy sauce. The color was bright and fragrant. The twenty oysters from last night were directly taken by Su Yu and roasted with garlic. They were thin and tender.
The dessert was a seafood tofu cake. Originally, they wanted to make a seafood tofu cake with kimchi, but they didn't have kimchi. They didn't have time to marinate it, so they used tofu to pick up the shrimp and crab meat. They brushed it with two layers of sauce and pasted a layer of glutinous rice on the front and back. They were fried on both sides. The Emperor ate one bite at a time and was very happy.
"Emperor, this subject has been busy all night and didn't even have time to eat breakfast," Prince Ling rubbed his hands. He knew that his nephew was the most ruthless. If he didn't say it directly, he would be rejected without hesitation, "Emperor, please give us lunch."
"Seventeenth Brother's words are reasonable." His Highness Su King agreed with a righteous expression.
Su Yu looked at the two Princes in surprise. Using such a precious and serious tone to ask for a meal, it sounded like a secret code.
"Tell the Imperial Kitchen to add a few more dishes." The Emperor picked up a piece of seafood tofu cake and took a bite.
Although the Emperor's share was given to Consort Xian, the Emperor's share wasn't specified. The Imperial Kitchen would still prepare the Emperor's three meals on time in case Consort Xian didn't cook for the Emperor when she was unhappy. Thus, the dishes were served very quickly.
This subject was given a meal with the Emperor. They had to eat at separate tables, so the two Imperial Uncles set up another table next to them. Since it was a feast, the Emperor had to symbolically reward one or two of the dishes in front of him to this subject to show his kindness.
The exquisite dishes were brought to the table one by one. Prince Ling kept sneaking glances at the food on the Emperor's table. An Hong-chul glanced at the useless Imperial Uncles with disdain. He had Su Yu bring a plate and picked two shrimp, two fish, two oysters, two tofu cakes … … In short, there were only two of each. They lay alone on the large plate and were brought over to the two Imperial Uncles. The two didn't think it was too little and ate.
Su Yu blinked and found that the words the two Princes had said before really weren't a secret code.
After lunch, the two Princes really did have business to discuss with the Emperor. Prince Su pulled the Emperor back to the Imperial Study. Su Yu tactfully asked to leave.
"Hey, Jintang," Prince Ling, who was walking at the back, suddenly called out to Su Yu, "That thing called chili, do you still need it?"
Su Yu froze for a second before he reacted. Prince Ling was calling him, "Of course I do."
"My fu still has a lot of chili. I'll have someone send some to the palace for you another day." Prince Ling left behind these words with deep meaning. He turned around and quickly followed the footsteps of Prince Su and the Emperor.
Su Yu slightly frowned. He felt that Prince Ling's words had a hidden meaning.
In the afternoon, he went to visit the National Tutor. The National Tutor was elegant and leisurely as usual. He only told him to seriously study the 《Fish Killing Scripture》. Tomorrow, he would be tested on his homework.
Su Yu couldn't help but make a bitter face. He really didn't understand this 《Fish Killing Scripture》. What acupuncture points? What internal energy? As a cook, he didn't know anything.
"If you don't understand, you can ask the Emperor," The National Tutor picked up a piece of seafood tofu cake, "Add some dogwood juice to the oil. The glutinous rice will be delicious when fried."
The juice of dogwood was spicy. Using spicy oil to fry tofu cake? Su Yu thought for a bit, "The dogwood juice is a bit bitter. It'll be better if you change it to chili." He had never used the ancient spicy condiment of dogwood before because he didn't like the bitter taste. In the end, it was different from chili.
The National Tutor nodded, "Chili is a good thing. I'll have Prince Ling send some to you another day."
"Boom!" Just as they were talking, there was a loud noise from upstairs. It sounded like something was breaking.
Su Yu looked up. There were no more stairs on the second floor of Anguo Tower. There was only an empty hole leading to the top floor. In the middle of the hole, there was an elegant silk cloth with small bells. When the wind blew, it would make the ethereal sound of the bells.
The National Tutor slightly frowned, "You go back first. I'll go up and take a look." After saying that, he ate the last piece of tofu cake and stepped onto the black gold stairs. When he reached the third floor, he wrapped the soft silk cloth around his wrist. Then, he tapped his toes and floated up to the fourth floor like a white swallow-tailed butterfly. Su Yu couldn't see any further up.
It turned out that the members of the imperial family were all experts. They could float up and down the stairs … Su Yu looked up for a long time. Then, he looked at the "Fish Killing Mental Cultivation Method" in his hand. Thinking about the "test" that would come tomorrow, he decided to ask the Emperor.
But at night, the Emperor said that he wouldn't come to Ye Xiao Palace tonight. He also didn't summon Su Yu to the North Pole Palace. He also didn't send the cat that hadn't forgiven him yet.
Su Yu was suddenly in a dilemma.
"The Emperor can't come every day. Don't worry." Xiao Shun looked at Concubine Xian who was frowning and didn't know how to comfort her.
"No, I have to go find him." Su Yu suddenly stood up and went to the North Pole Palace with the food box.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
