The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

Chapter 83 Birthday

“A good rain knows when to fall, and it comes in spring.”

Emperor Yongchang walked on the stone path with his hands behind his back.

Dai Quan bent his body slightly and followed him carefully.

After a night of spring rain, the imperial garden was full of vitality, with red flowers and green willows, and overflowing with fragrance.

Emperor Yongchang was walking when he suddenly stopped, looked at the sea of ​​flowers in the distance and murmured: "My green collar, my heart is filled with longing."

Dai Quan could hear from Emperor Yongchang's tone the melancholy and thirst for talent.

As expected, Emperor Yongchang sighed: "It is hard to meet a national genius, and it is hard to find a talented person!"

Dai Quan: "After the Spring Examination, we should be able to discover a group of talented people."

Emperor Yongchang shook his head and said, "I want people who can do practical things and who are of the same mind and character as me. There are too few people who can be used and useful now."

Dai Quan's face darkened.

Emperor Yongchang paced back and forth again, and asked as he walked, "Do you think Jia She has set his sights on my grandson?"

Dai Quan: “No way.”

With a snort, Emperor Yongchang said: "This old fellow is a gambler and a daredevil!"

After a pause, he said, "What a ruthless move!"

Dai Quan smiled secretly, it seemed that the emperor still remembered the beating.

Emperor Yongchang suddenly laughed.

Dai Quan looked at him in confusion.

After laughing, Emperor Yongchang continued, "He looked down on me back then, and now he sends his own son to work for my son. Don't you think it's ridiculous?"

This is called a man who knows the current situation is a hero. But Dai Quan did not dare to open his mouth and could only smile.

Emperor Yongchang: "Let someone watch Jia Lian. If he is a man of talent, train him and make him a role model for the nobles."

Dai Quan: “Yes.”

At this time, a gust of wind blew, and petals fluttered down on the heads and bodies of the two people.

Emperor Yongchang stopped again and looked towards the south.

Dai Quan stepped forward, dusted off the petals on the emperor's head and body, and then dusted himself off, saying softly, "Your Majesty, the wind is blowing, go back."

"Could the matter of the Jinling Armory be related to Shui Rong?" Emperor Yongchang suddenly asked.

Dai Quan was secretly shocked. Li Hu's words actually made the emperor connect this matter with Shui Rong.

Emperor Yongchang's eyes flashed with a faint light: "Perhaps the children of the Zhen family are also involved, which is why Zhen Yingjia is afraid to investigate further!"

Dai Quan didn't dare to say anything and could only look at the emperor.

Emperor Yongchang: "Send the people from the Imperial Household Department. Put on casual clothes and go to the Zhen family for me, especially to the son of Zhen Yingjia."

Dai Quan: "I understand."

Emperor Yongchang: "As for the issue of military supplies and fodder, you should personally monitor it and ask the Ministry of Revenue to make preparations as soon as possible. The war in the north may break out at any time." After saying this, he turned and walked out of the Imperial Garden.

The wind started to blow, and the maids let down the hanging curtains and brought a brazier, making the pavilion warm.

Li Hu and Lin Daiyu sat around the round table.

There were cups and plates scattered all over the round table, and a delicate crystal bottle with a little red wine left.

During the Western Han Dynasty, Zhang Qian brought back wine from the Western Regions. Since then, people have started to grow grapes and make wine, but wine was only available to the nobility and ordinary people had no chance to taste it.

During the Tang and Yuan dynasties, grape cultivation and wine brewing reached their peak, and wine spread from the palace to the common people.

During the Ming Dynasty, due to reasons such as wine taxes, wine entered a low period.

After the establishment of the Dashun Kingdom, the variety of grapes gradually increased, and with the more mature winemaking technology, wine production began to develop. In addition, merchants would also bring back wine from other overseas countries.

This bottle of wine was shipped from the Western Regions by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

I don’t know if it was because the temperature in the pavilion was too high or because she drank too much, but Lin Daiyu’s little face was flushed, so adorable!

Drinking wine naturally requires a luminous cup. Li Hu has a complete set of dozens of them, including large, medium and small goblets, flat-bottomed cups, and jade covered bowls, all of which are carefully carved from the finest Hetian jade. He spent a "big price" to buy them from wine merchants.

Seeing Lin Daiyu's eyes glancing at the crystal bottle, Li Hu smiled, picked up the crystal bottle, pulled out the crystal cork, and poured wine into the luminous cup in front of her, just enough.

Lin Daiyu smiled, then picked up Li Hu's luminous cup, evenly drank half of it, and said, "After drinking this cup, it's time to eat longevity noodles."

"Ding!"

The two touched each other and then did it together.

Amber came over with a double-layer food box and took out two bowls of longevity noodles. She placed one bowl in front of Lin Daiyu and handed the other to Li Hu. Lin Daiyu picked up the steaming bowl of longevity noodles and a fragrant aroma came to her nose: "What a nice smell!" She quickly took a sip and said, "Hmm, it tastes good." Then she started to eat.

Li Hu looked at her with a smile.

Lin Daiyu stopped eating with her chopsticks: ". Doesn't this taste like something made in the kitchen?"

Amber smiled and said, "It was done by the Second Master."

When Lin Daiyu heard this, all kinds of feelings came to her heart.

She put down the bowl and whispered, "To be honest, no one has ever been as nice to me as you are in my entire life. Although my parents are good, there is always a layer of etiquette and rules between us. You are like a god dropped from the sky, you understand me and tolerate me everywhere. You even cook longevity noodles for me." As she spoke, her eyes turned red.

Li Hu saw that the situation was not good, and hurriedly said: "I spent a lot of money to prepare that bowl of medicinal food this morning. Your crying is a waste. You can cry tomorrow."

"you!"

"More than ten taels of silver."

"I'll give it to you!"

"I want that bowl of medicinal food."

Lin Daiyu was amused: "I've never seen you like this."

Li Hu smiled and said, "You can't eat swan meat if you have dignity."

Lin Daiyu burst out laughing and raised her hand to hit Li Hu: "Hateful."

Amber, Zijuan, Xueyan and Qingwen, who were working silently nearby, couldn't help laughing and covered their mouths.

Li Hu grabbed her hand and said, "In fact, to me, you also fell from the sky." At this point, he coughed and whispered, "Lin Daiyu fell from the sky, like a light cloud just emerging from a mountain."

Lin Daiyu was embarrassed and interrupted Li Hu quickly: "What nonsense! Eat noodles!" Then she picked up the bowl and started eating again.

Li Hu smiled. Actually, he only knew these two sentences.

Eating longevity noodles is for good luck, not to fill your stomach, just a few chopsticks are enough.

Li Hu opened the bottom layer of the food box himself and took out a birthday cake from it. It was actually a large egg cake that came from Zunyi, Guizhou. It had a soft and delicate texture, was sweet and delicious, and melted in the mouth. Many people in the palace liked to eat it.

This was custom-made by Li Hu in the imperial kitchen. There was no cream, and the words "Happy Birthday" were written on it with maltose.

"what is this?"

“Birthday cake.”

"Nonsense again! This is clearly a larger egg cake."

"Uh, it'll be called birthday cake from now on."

Li Hu didn't care at all. He put in a specially made small candle, lit it, and clapped his hands. "Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Come on, make a wish, and then blow out the candle."

Lin Daiyu looked at him as if he were a fool, but she couldn't resist, so she could only silently make a wish and blow out the candle.

A few years later, ordinary people had an additional procedure to celebrate their birthdays.

Li Hu could never have imagined that several years later, a military conflict would break out between the East and the West because of this incident, resulting in the Pharaoh becoming a cotton plantation.

Li Hu cut two pieces of egg cake and said, "Come and try it."

Lin Daiyu took a bite and nodded, saying, "The snacks in the imperial kitchen are really good. But I still want to eat the rouge rice." As she spoke, she looked at Zijuan.

Zijuan opened the lid of the food box beside her, took out a pot of rouge rice from it, and placed it on the table.

Li Hu shook his head. He had put so much thought into it, but she didn't like it.

Zijuan picked up the empty bowl in front of Li Hu and was about to fill it with rice.

Lin Daiyu swallowed the egg cake in her mouth and said, "Let me do it." She served a bowl to Li Hu, and then served a bowl for herself.

"Since you don't like it, give it to them."

"Who said I won't eat?"

"Can you eat it?"

"Can't I save it for dinner?"

"Okay, as long as you're happy."

"Hee. It's your birthday on the 18th, let's make it a big one."

"No. As the old saying goes, 'Don't hit someone who smiles at you, and don't scold someone who gives you a gift.' What should we do if those people with bad intentions come to our house?"

".Okay, I'll do as you say."

(End of this chapter)