Qiao Yi

It is August [-]th of the year again, Mid-Autumn Festival.

On this day in previous years, the palace would hold a mid-autumn banquet, but due to the floods in the south and the drought in the north this year, there are disasters everywhere, and there are still refugees living outside the city gate. At this time, it is naturally not easy to hold a feast in the palace .So the emperor sent a message, and this year's Mid-Autumn Festival was cancelled.

Ask Qiao Yi to say that it is true that there are disasters in various places. I heard that this year, the food taxes in various places cannot be collected, forcing so many people to flee with their families. Otherwise, the number of refugees outside the city will not increase day by day.Fortunately, the emperor hadn't lost his head and didn't increase taxes at this time, otherwise it would really be worse for the common people.

Therefore, the household department had no money, and could not give so much money to the emperor, so the banquet in the palace was cancelled.

However, the Ministry of Households has no money. If things go on like this, it is hard to guarantee that the imperial court will not put their ideas on the common people. After all, the wool still comes from the sheep. At that time, taxes may still be increased, and this burden will be placed on the common people.If the government increases taxes at this time, it will be tantamount to forcing the people to revolt.

There were no banquets in the palace, so Qiao Yi naturally wished for it.

The prince of their family has not returned from Beijing, if the banquet is held in the palace, it is impossible for him, Princess Ming, not to attend.Now that the banquet is cancelled, they can spend it at their own home, and he doesn't have to go to the palace.

There was no morning court this day, and the emperor rarely slept until dawn before waking up.

The serving father-in-law heard the voice from inside and whispered through the curtain, "Your Majesty, you are awake, but I want the servant to go in and take off your clothes."

"Well, come in." The emperor sat up from the dragon bed, feeling refreshed, with no headache or dizziness.

The maids and eunuchs filed in, and the two maids pulled back the curtain.

Only when the light came in did Hongdi realize that it was already so bright, "How long have you been sleeping?"

"Your majesty, you slept very well yesterday, and you slept until dawn." The father-in-law who served in front of the emperor replied.

"Oh, but instead of the incense that Princess Ming opened for me?" Emperor Hong smelled the faint fragrance in the room. This smell was not the incense he usually used. The smell was very light, but it smelled very comfortable.

No wonder he fell asleep shortly after he lay down on the dragon couch yesterday, and he didn't wake up last night, sleeping until dawn.

"Back to the emperor, it is the incense sent by Princess Ming." A court lady replied.

"So, I will use this kind of incense in my house from now on." Since it is good, I will continue to use it. Emperor Hong can't remember the last time he had such a good night's sleep.

"Here." The maid answered.

"I remember there was a pair of South Sea Night Pearls as a tribute?" Emperor Hong remembered that there were quite a few things in his Treasure Pavilion, but because there were so many things, he couldn't even remember some of them.

"Yes, Your Majesty." The old eunuch knew better than the emperor what was in the Treasure Pavilion. He had just checked the Treasure Pavilion a while ago, and he had seen a pair of night pearls in a box.

Everything in the palace is registered and registered, and everything is clearly recorded. If there is one thing missing, these servants will be punished.Therefore, even if he was in charge of the things inside, the old eunuch would not dare to touch the things inside, otherwise, he didn't know if his head could be properly placed on his neck.

"Take that pair of night pearls and pick a few more things and send them to Prince Ming's mansion together, and say they are rewarded by me." Under the service of two maids, the emperor put on the dragon robe and hair crown, and ordered The eunuch in front of him is the main pipeline.

"Cha, I'll do it now, slave." The old eunuch replied.

"Go." The emperor waved his hand and walked out, followed by a string of court ladies and eunuchs.

books

Today is the holiday, although their prince is not at home, but this festival is still going to be celebrated.

Waking up early in the morning, Qiao Yi ordered the kitchen to stew the meat. The number of people in their family was reduced by half today, but there were 30 to [-] people who had dinner. There are also many dishes.

This year, Jiwei Building made mooncakes, so they didn't make other mooncakes, they just sent them over there, but they still had to prepare the dishes themselves.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated only once a year, and this festival naturally wants everyone to be happy.

The medical center was on holiday for half a day, and the staff and two apprentices in the shop went home for the festival, leaving Qiu Mingyi and Feng Cheng brothers there.Qiao Yi told Qiu Mingyi to close the door after noon, and brought the two little ones to the palace for dinner.

Originally, Qiu Mingyi still thought it was too troublesome, mainly because he felt that the Ming Palace was not a place for ordinary people like them to go, but he couldn't resist Qiao Yi calling him repeatedly, so he finally complied.

The meat was being stewed in the kitchen, and the whole palace could smell the aroma.

"Yeah, that's the smell." As soon as Qiao Yi smelled it, he went to the kitchen. There was no such thing as a gentleman staying away from the chef.Without waiting for his order, the people below handed him a small bowl and a pair of chopsticks.

"Master, how about this meat from today." The fat chef lifted the lid, scooped a piece of meat into their master's bowl with a spoon, and smiled until his eyes narrowed into lines.

In just half a year, Fat Chef's figure has rounded up again.

"p^z_"

The meat just picked up from the pot was still very hot, but the taste was so delicious, Qiao Yi blew on the meat twice, and took a bite, the pain made him grin his teeth, and the piece of meat rolled around in his mouth Go, but refuse to spit it out, "The meat is tender and fragrant, and it will be just right after stewing for half an hour."

"Yes, the small ones will be stewed for another half an hour." The fat chef naturally likes to stay in the kitchen. There is food in the kitchen, and he will never starve to death.His father was a cook, and he followed his father in the kitchen as long as he could remember, and learned cooking skills from his father when he grew up.

Their family used to open a small restaurant in the capital. Their business was so good that they were envied and framed by their peers, which resulted in the tragic death of his parents. Moreover, their restaurant was sealed up by the government and he was kicked out. homeless.

It was at that time that he met the big housekeeper, who helped him to vindicate his parents' case and gave their family justice.But his parents are dead, and there are no relatives in the family, so he worked as a little cook in this palace, which is good

year.

Except for the chief steward of their palace and a few people at that time who knew about the affairs of his own family, Chef Fat never mentioned it to anyone else in the mansion.

Until their prince returned to Beijing and married the princess. Although the princess was a man, she was very kind to these servants and gave him a lot of recipes. His cooking skills gradually improved.Fat Chef is very happy when people like to eat the things he makes, he just likes others to be satisfied with the food he made.

"Master, there are people coming from the palace." Zi Zhu hurriedly came to the kitchen, and she really saw their master here.

"Another person came to the palace? Did you say what it is?" The emperor only called him into the palace yesterday, so he might be looking for him again today, right?Qiao Yi handed the bowl and chopsticks to the person next to him.

Wang Dahu took the bowl and chopsticks and put them on the table.

"It is said that the emperor rewarded things." Zizhu replied.

"Oh, let's go and have a look." Qiao Yi raised his eyebrows, and the emperor sent someone to send something again.Could it be that the tranquilizing incense he prescribed yesterday had an effect?After searching in my mind, this is probably the only possibility.

The father-in-law who came to deliver things is an old acquaintance.

As soon as Qiao Yi came, he saw Eunuch Cai standing here, followed by a string of little eunuchs, each holding a tray in their hands covered with a red cloth, he smiled and shouted, "Eunuch Cai, it's been a long time I don't see you."

"The servant has seen the princess." Eunuch Cai saluted.

"Eunuch Cai, please." Qiao Yi said, "I don't know that Eunuch Cai is coming, do you?"

"Go back to the princess, the emperor asked the servants to bring something to the princess." Eunuch Cai took out a list and began to report the things on it, "The emperor has a reward, a pair of Nanhai night pearls, a jade handle, and a blue and white porcelain vase A couple..."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, long live your Majesty, long live your Majesty."

"Princess, please be flat."

Qiao Yi got up, asked someone to take down the things that the emperor had rewarded, and said, "Eunuch Cai, please go inside and have a cup of tea."

"The slave has to go back to the palace to return to order, so I won't bother the concubine or empress." Eunuch Cai said with a smile.

"If that's the case, I won't keep Eunuch Cai anymore." Qiao Yi asked someone to bring over a few boxes of mooncakes, and Jiwei Building sent a lot of mooncakes over. Apart from keeping for myself to eat, there are also gifts for others "It's the holiday today, and I happened to have a lot of mooncakes at home. Eunuch Cai helped me send two boxes to the emperor."

"There are also two boxes here, which are for Eunuch Cai to eat when he goes home."

The boxes of the two copies are different, and the gift box given to the emperor is obviously more high-end. This is the hardcover version made by their Jiweilou, and it is specially prepared for some local tyrants.The mooncake gift box given to Eunuch Cai is the normal version, but the materials and taste of the mooncakes are exactly the same, but the appearance is not as delicate and beautiful as the hardcover version.

"Okay." Eunuch Cai accepted it with a smile, and after thanking him, he led a group of people out of Ming Palace and went back to the palace.

When Eunuch Cai came back from Ming Palace, he brought several boxes with him.

Seeing the things that Eunuch Cai had just returned, Emperor Hong was still a little surprised, and said, "I have rewarded so many people's things, and this is the first time I have received a gift in return. What is in this box? Open it up and let me have a look." .”

Obviously, the emperor was still in a pretty good mood about the fact that someone gave him something.

"Back to the emperor, the things in this box are called moon cakes. A restaurant in the capital sells very hot pancakes. I saw that many people lined up at the door and couldn't buy them." Eunuch Cai opened the box with his own hands, and there were twelve moon cakes in the box. Huayin has different mooncakes, each one is bigger than an egg, and it is just right for two or three bites.

"There is something else that I have never heard of. This is a moon cake?" The emperor reached out and took one up, put it under his nose and smelled it. He smelled a fragrance and couldn't help but took a bite.

Seeing this, the eunuch at the side wanted to speak out to stop it, but it was too late.

They had to taste the food that the emperor usually ate, and tested it with silver needles to be non-toxic before allowing the emperor to eat it.In case something happens to the emperor, ten thousand heads of these servants are not enough to cut off.

"It's okay, I'll just have a taste." The emperor raised his hand, took a sip, and found that the taste was really good. The minced meat inside had a flowery scent, and he didn't know what it was made of. It was fragrant but not greasy.

After taking a bite, the emperor couldn't help but took another bite. He finished all the moon cakes in his hand, and reached out to eat the second one.As soon as the second one was bitten open, the stuffing inside was different from the previous one. The emperor couldn't help being surprised, and asked, "Hey, what's the stuffing here?"

"Returning to the emperor, I heard that there are meat fillings, bean paste, sweet-scented osmanthus and roses, and fruit fillings in the mooncakes. There are twelve mooncakes in this box, and the twelve mooncakes are all different flavors." Apparently Eunuch Cai was returning. He did his homework on the way, and when the emperor asked about the mooncakes, he could answer them fluently.

"So that's the case, this idea is really ingenious." The emperor had eaten many delicacies from mountains and seas in his life, but it was the first time to eat such a strange pancake, which was very suitable for his appetite.Seeing that there were still several boxes of mooncakes left, the emperor ordered: "Send one box to Ziyuan Palace, and send the other box to Xianglianyuan."

"Cha! This servant is going now." Eunuch Cai responded, and went to deliver things for the emperor.

Ziyuan Hall is naturally where Concubine Xiao lives, and Xianglian Court is where Concubine Gu lives.

If you want to say that in this palace, who is qualified to sit with Concubine Xiao, only this Concubine Gu is the only one.

Concubine Gu is now one of the four concubines, and the emperor has often stayed at Concubine Gu's Fragrant Lotus Garden for the past six months, so Concubine Gu has faintly overpowered Concubine Xiao.However, Concubine Xiao's concubine position is second only to the empress in this palace, and she is currently the highest-ranking concubine in this palace. She still holds the Phoenix seal in her hand, and is the person in charge of the harem.

However, Eunuch Cai still went to the Ziyuan Hall first, and then to the Xianglian Garden.

If they went to Concubine Gu's place first, and then went back to Concubine Xiao Gui's side, they would have to be punished.But when I went to Concubine Xiao, and then to Concubine Gu, Concubine Gu had a good personality and would never vent her anger on these servants like them.This is also the way of survival in the palace, even if you give something, you must know the order of priority.

"Today, the servant went out of the palace to deliver something to the Emperor Ming Palace. The concubine asked the servant to bring a few boxes of mooncakes back to the palace, and the emperor asked the servant to bring a box for the empress to taste." When Concubine Gu asked, Eunuch Cai was truthful. Answered, and also introduced that the box contained moon cakes.

"Trouble Eunuch Cai." Concubine Gu casually rewarded Eunuch Cai with a purse, and asked the serving maid to send him out.

Looking back at the box on the table, she opened the lid and saw twelve cakes with different patterns inside, small and cute

"Your Majesty, these pancakes are so beautifully made." The maid who followed the waiter couldn't help admiring when she saw the mooncakes in the box.

"Hmm." Yes, it's very nice.

The corner of Gu Yuru's mouth twitched into a faint smile, thinking of Dr. Qiao in a white robe, she smiled and shook her head.She stretched out her hand to pinch a pancake, took a sip, her lips and teeth were filled with a light floral scent, she couldn't help but narrow her eyes, savoring it carefully.