Jiu Zhang Ji: The Daily Life of the Reborn Daughter

Chapter 152: Mixed up words

"But, but Your Majesty, the Salesian Home did not prepare a separate banquet today. Our original plan was to experience the Salesian Home's daily meals with the children." Qiao Lili said stutteringly.

If Aunt Yun wants to stay, then she can stay. But if her future emperor father stays, it would be a bit of an eyesore. No, it would be a bit troublesome. No, it would be much easier if she just goes back to the palace.

Emperor Yong'an didn't necessarily have to take away the children's food, but he had no food to eat when he returned to the palace.

"What the Imperial Concubine can eat, I can eat too." Emperor Yong'an took Imperial Concubine Yun's hand, turned around and entered the orphanage again. He had just been to the dining hall, so he went to the dining hall without anyone leading the way.

Qiao Lili...Okay, eat. As long as you're full, that's enough.

When the group of people walked into the dining room, the meal had already been served.

Including the children who arrived today, there were more than forty people in total. These forty people occupied one side of the dining hall. The old women who served meals took the older children who arrived early, served the meals on large coarse porcelain plates, and placed the plates in front of the children.

Children who are too young to eat by themselves are fed by special people in other courtyards and do not eat in the dining hall. The children who eat here are basically over three years old. After a few days of teaching, they can sit in their seats and eat by themselves.

On the other side, Mrs. Song brought Zhao Luxi, Qiao Zhen and other elementary school students to prepare the meals for the guests and arranged them neatly on the table.

When the emperor arrived, he and Concubine Yun sat in the first seat, and Concubine Yun pulled Princess Zhenbei to sit next to her.

The table was a long table and the stools were long stools. After these three people sat down, the rest of the people who dared to sit on the same level as the Emperor and Empress could only stand aside.

Emperor Yong'an glanced at the large coarse porcelain plate in front of him. The staple food was multi-grain rice and multi-grain steamed buns. The side dishes were pork with tofu, fried cucumber, one meat and one vegetable, a boiled egg, and a bowl of vegetable egg drop soup.

The meals were ordinary, based on the principle of eating well and nutritiously without being extravagant or wasteful. Emperor Yong'an saw it and agreed with it.

He picked up the chopsticks and was about to eat, but Eunuch Li beside him stopped him and said, "Your Majesty, the poison has not been tested yet."

"Not today, you can find a place to sit and eat." With Fei'er by her side, she couldn't poison herself. Besides, it was a spur-of-the-moment thing, who would have thought that he would stay at the Salesian Home for dinner and rush over to poison her. After the emperor finished speaking, he picked up his chopsticks and was about to eat, but found that everyone was still standing.

"Why don't you sit down and eat? Are you not used to it?" Emperor Yong'an asked doubtfully. The food looked okay to him. Could it be that the living standards of these people were much higher?

Everyone, is there a possibility that we don’t dare to sit down?

"Today I am just an ordinary guest like you, here to try the lunch at the orphanage. Lili, please let everyone sit down. I am hungry and it is time to eat." Emperor Yong'an restrained his imperial majesty and tried his best to put on the loving smile of an elder.

Qiao Lili quickly asked everyone to sit down, had three more servings of rice served, and arranged for Eunuch Li to sit down and eat as well.

After everyone was seated and had plates in front of them, no one dared to sit firmly, so everyone just rested their butts on the edge of a stool. Emperor Yongan picked up his chopsticks and said, "May everyone in Dayan have enough food and clothing, and everyone can eat such a meal."

After saying that, he picked up a large piece of mixed grain rice and put it into his mouth. He was really hungry.

The multi-grain rice is cooked very soft and glutinous, and it is very chewy in the mouth. It tastes better than expected. The multi-grain steamed buns are also very soft and full of wheat flavor. The pork and tofu are very tasty. The pork is stewed to the right degree and melts in the mouth. It is fragrant and not greasy. The tofu is tender and refreshing, and it absorbs the broth of the meat. It tastes better than the meat. The fried cucumber is crispy and tender and goes well with rice. Although it is a big pot dish, it tastes really good.

Seeing that the emperor did not mind the simple and rough food at all, but ate it with great relish, everyone picked up their chopsticks and started eating.

The children on the other side of the dining hall ate very quickly. Two maids, one carrying a rice bucket and the other holding a rice spoon, asked who was not full. Each person was given an egg, and there were only so many dishes, but rice could be added.

Almost all the children had more rice, and the multi-grain steamed buns on Emperor Yong'an's plate were eaten up, and the multi-grain rice was also finished.

He said to the maid who was serving rice, "Give me some more rice, too."

The old woman was trembling and didn't dare to come over, so Qiao Peng stood up, brought the rice bucket over, and served another spoonful of rice to Emperor Yong'an.

Mrs. Song ate her meal while watching her little daughter eat. At first, she was sweating all over and was so nervous that she couldn't even pick up the food. But when she saw the emperor holding a coarse porcelain plate and eating heartily, asking for more rice, all her nervousness disappeared.

It turns out that the emperor also eats the mundane things of the world. His appetite is about the same as that of his brother who practices martial arts.

"Give me the eggs if you don't eat them. I like them." A child's shouting came from the other side of the dining room.

"No, no, I want to eat it." The other child's voice was very small and sounded very timid.

"If you eat it, then why do you put it in your pocket?" the first child yelled again.

The second child didn't say anything. The first child became anxious and stood up to grab the egg from the second child's pocket. The second child guarded it tightly.

The maid who was in charge of them hurried over to persuade them, and they stopped eating in just a few words. At that moment, both sides finished their meals, and Emperor Yong'an even drank up all his soup.

After clearing the tableware and serving tea, Qiao Lili called the maid over and asked her what had happened.

"The older boy who wanted eggs is called Tiezhu. He just arrived last night. He has been wandering alone for several years and has a lot of bad habits that he needs to change slowly." Qiao Lili nodded. If it weren't for these bad habits, the child probably wouldn't be alive today. Don't worry, everything will get better slowly.

"The child who hid the eggs was one of Zhou Chengye's family members who came this morning. He said he would save the eggs to give to his mother, who had worked hard raising her little sister." Qiao Lili felt tears welling up in her eyes after hearing this. Her mother was not her biological mother, and her sister was not her biological sister, but their relationship was pure and unadulterated.

"Tell him to come over and show him to me." Emperor Yong'an learned about the family's situation from Concubine Yun and sighed, wanting to meet this sensible child.

Eunuch Li was afraid of scaring the child. Everyone would have some pity on a filial child. The child looked only five or six years old. Eunuch Li went to the other side of the dining hall himself and brought the child over.

Before the meal, the children were told by the maid that there was a distinguished person dining here, so they should keep quiet and not make noise, etc. The child was also well educated in the Zhou family. When Eunuch Li brought him over, although he was still a little timid, he also bowed obediently: "Hello, distinguished master."

"What's your name? How old are you?" Emperor Yong'an looked at the child, who was fair-skinned and spoke politely, and was very happy, so he deliberately lowered his voice.

"My name is Zhou Mu, and I'm five years old." Zhou Mu answered honestly, looking at the nobleman who asked the question with his big round eyes.

"Can you read?"

"Daddy taught me and my brothers to read. My brothers can write, but I can only recognize a few and cannot write." He lowered his head a little embarrassedly, his two little hands tugging at the edge of his clothes.

He raised a group of unrelated children, spent all his family wealth on their medical treatment, and still did not forget to educate his five-year-old child. Zhou Chengye is a really good person.

"Reward." Emperor Yong'an said to Eunuch Li, "Go to the storehouse and find some cloth suitable for the children to wear, give Zhou Mu's mother some jewelry, give her some books suitable for the children to read, and pick out some pens, inkstones, and paper."

Qiao Lili looked at the kid named Zhou Mu and smiled. I made such a big fuss today, but I only got the word "Emperor" written on my name. You are really good, you even got something from the emperor. It's not easy.

"I obey your order." Eunuch Li touched Zhou Mu's head and said, "Good boy, thank you quickly."

Zhou Mu knelt down and kowtowed: "Thank you for the reward, sir, but my father said that we have a family now and he is supporting us, so we can't ask for things given by others."

Perhaps this was a child who had once begged for food. After being adopted by Zhou Chengye, he was told that he could no longer ask for charity from others. He only remembered his father's teachings and did not know that the emperor's rewards were different.

Qiao Lili gave Zhou Chengye another high score in her heart.

Emperor Yong'an had never had a minister refuse his rewards, and they all wanted to take all his gifts home. But today, this child who was reluctant to eat even an egg refused his rewards.

"Your name is Zhou Mu. I will give you another name." Emperor Yong'an looked up and thought about which name would be best.

Concubine Yun turned her head away and didn't look at him. She didn't know who this man was.

Qiao Lili, haha, she finally made it to the list.