Eunuch's professionalism

If you want to say what the emperor valued most, I am afraid that "eating" can be ranked first.No matter how many layers of screening the people in the dining room have passed, the emperor is still worried, so the position of "serving meals" was born, sometimes called appreciating meals and tasting meals.The dining room, also known as the imperial dining room, is divided into the imperial outer room and the imperial inner room. It is specially designed for the emperor's personal and large-scale celebrations. In addition, there is also a dining room for the empress dowager, also known as the longevity dining room. The queen's Changning Palace also has its own inner dining room. , the other is some small kitchens, the specific functions will not be repeated one by one.

Before going to Changning Palace, Li Xiangying brought Fu Chen to Liu Zong, the general manager, and received a brief lecture with other eunuchs, roughly meaning not to whisper, not to look directly at Long Yan, not to speak out without permission, etc.

The eunuch serving food that Fu Chen has to go to now has been changing all the time, and the quota for the rest of the staff is quite strict. There are fixed eunuchs from washing vegetables to serving dishes to serving dishes.The system in the palace is quite detailed, today Fu Chen has done three jobs, not only doubling the reward, but also can choose to take half a day off a day.The detailed and strict system is also beneficial. For example, no one spoke from the dining room to the Changning Palace. Everyone was orderly and did not make a single sound. The closer to the center of the dynasty, the more solemn the atmosphere was. People are awe-inspiring, this is the influence brought by imperial power.

Liu Zong waited outside with a group of eunuchs and maids. Before Fu Chen could enter, he smelled the fragrance of Buddha. He heard that the queen has a heart of Bodhisattva and worships Buddha all the year round. She can be called the most benevolent master in the palace.After a while, I heard the melodious voice of the empress inside, "Let's pass on the meal."

The eunuchs walked into the hall one by one. They held red lacquer boxes full of dishes in their hands. The people who served the dishes were also professionally trained. No matter how heavy they were, they were quite safe in their hands. Open, arrange the dishes that are still steaming a little in order of priority, a total of hundreds of dishes.This is the most common Baiyan meal in the palace during the Qianping period. Fu Chen once estimated that the price of each meal was at least 150 taels. Many families did not have a tael of income a year, which was quite extravagant.

All bowls and dishes are made of gold, and ivory, ceramics, silver, etc. are commonly used.The emperors of every dynasty almost like to use gold to show their nobility. Emperor Cheng of Jin was more persistent about nobility, and he would be angry if he changed the utensils at will, so when hundreds of dishes were placed on the table, his eyes were full of gold.

The people from the palace entered together with Fu Chen, and there were four other eunuchs, two court ladies, two waiters, two servants, and two assistants.

The sound of intermittent conversations from the empress came from the inner room.

"The concubine also sees this child as pitiful, so naturally she will take care of her a bit more..."

"Hua Chi is stupid now, and I can only rest assured if I let you here."

"What did the emperor say? This is what a concubine should do."

……

"Are you really going to send the Seventh Prince as a proton?"

"It's just stupid, so what..."

……

"Draft... the emperor is interested..."

"The matter of the harem is left to you..."

……

Fu Chen couldn't hear the following conversation clearly, but from these few words, it can be heard that the emperor is quite satisfied with the empress.Proton, Shao Huachi is going to be sent out?

Everything seems to make sense. Why does the emperor who has been indifferent to Shao Huachi suddenly want to see the seventh prince? Why does the queen dress up Shao Huachi and come out to meet the emperor, but if a foolish prince is sent out, which country will Accept such a dishonest "gift".

Until Liu Zong said "Food Qi", the emperor and empress came out together, and behind them was the seventh prince Shao Huachi, who was no stranger to Fu Chen.

Shao Huachi was supported by an eunuch and walked quietly.There is a world of difference from an hour ago. Her hair is combed properly, and she wears a delicate silver mask on her face. The exposed half of her face is like pearls and jade. The whole person seems to be carved out, exquisite and gorgeous.

When his blank eyes swept over Fu Chen who was hanging his head and waiting for orders, he moved slightly, and a flash of excitement flashed across him, like a child meeting a familiar parent.

Soon he restrained himself again, as if thinking of what Fu Chen had ordered, not to let others know that they knew each other outside.

Seeing Shao Huachi's ignorant look of wanting to go forward but hesitating for a long time, Fu Chen faintly suppressed the corners of his lips that were almost curved, and continued to stand with a straight face.

"Serve the meal." Liu Zong called out.

Fu Chen took a step forward and stood beside the dining table, Liu Zong ordered the two young eunuchs to put some of each dish into a bowl and hand it to Fu Chen.

Because the empress could not delay the meal, Fu Chen had to use up these dishes in a short time, that is, stuff them directly into his mouth regardless of whether the taste was hot or not.

This is the queen's palace, and if something happens to the emperor, she cannot escape responsibility, so the queen will never use the dining room in Changning Palace, and she is definitely more careful and careful about the emperor's food than anyone else.Although serving meals is risky, most of the time it is very safe, otherwise the emperor would not dare to eat.

Fu Chen had a long mind. When he got the golden bowl, he took out a silver earring from his sleeve and put it in the meal. He bought it from Aunt Mei. The content of pure silver is higher than that of silver. He remembered No less than [-] emperors died of food poisoning in history. It is described in "Zi Zhi Tong Jian" that Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty was "poisoned by eating cakes".To a certain extent, serving meals can indeed guarantee the safety of the throne.

Snapped!

With a bang, the golden bowl fell to the ground, and the food was spilled all over the floor.

At some point, Shao Huachi ran up to him, dancing around, knocking down the golden bowl with a flick of his hand, as if insane.The whole hall was in chaos, the originally orderly eunuchs were disrupted, even Liu Zong, who was good at handling accidents, couldn't control the situation.

While preventing Shao Huachi from having an epileptic seizure, the eunuchs faced the emperor's wrath.

Everything happened too fast, Fu Chen glanced at the panicked face of the queen, and knelt down together with other eunuchs.

He glanced at the bowl of rice, and a black earring wrapped in the rice fell out.

Most drugs in ancient times contained a substance called sulfide in modern science. When sulfide meets silver, a series of chemical reactions occur, and finally silver sulfide is formed, and the surface is black.

While silver sulfide itself is non-toxic, it means that food may... be toxic.

This is Fu Chen's worst guess, and also the worst possibility.Most modern people know that human excrement contains sulfur, and even sweat contains sulfur and sulfide components. Therefore, silver jewelry often appears to turn black, which is caused by the interaction of sulfur and silver in sweat.Many foods, such as eggs, kiwi fruit, leeks, etc., contain sulfur and sulfides, which can easily cause silverware to turn black. Of course, these sulfur that exists in nature are harmless to the human body.

It is too arbitrary to conclude whether the imperial meal is poisonous or not simply because the silverware has turned black. These are just Fu Chen's guesses. He carefully identified the food in the bowl and saw eggs, but it is still unknown whether it is poisonous or not. .The top priority is that he must take back the earrings. As for telling the emperor, Fu Chen never thought about it. Emperor Jin Cheng is not a good-tempered and tolerant emperor. In a fit of anger, his group of related personnel would rather kill him by mistake than let him go. All the mistakes have been dealt with, the most important thing in the palace is people, and it doesn't matter if there are few.

Above, the farce caused by Shao Huachi was completely suppressed.

"Drag the Seventh Prince to me, and don't leave the Chonghua Palace without my order!"

That roar caused Fu Chen to take a hasty look, and he suddenly noticed the slightest sadness in the emperor's eyes.

The good son suddenly became stupid, how could he not feel uncomfortable.

Perhaps the emperor was not completely ruthless, he had too little love, and too many people who needed to be divided.Today, the imperial meal was destroyed and someone else had already had an attack, but only the Seventh Prince was grounded.Concubine Li has been investigating privately and secretly.The emperor only believed seven points, and the three points, more or less felt that something was a little strange.So the punishment for Concubine Li and the Seventh Prince was not too severe.It was because of these slight doubts that the queen agreed to transfer Shao Huachi to the queen after the queen raised it.No matter who the throne will be in a hundred years, a prince raised under the queen's name, who is also a fool, will not be feared, it can be regarded as saving Shao Huachi's life.

Perhaps Emperor Cheng of Jin was not a good emperor, nor a good father, but Tiger Poison is still not pretentious, and he still cares about his children a little bit.

A group of people dragged Shao Huachi, and he looked at Fu Chen who was always looking down at the ground, as if he wanted to say something.Gradually, his eyes dimmed more and more, but Fu Chen didn't look up at him until he was completely out of Changning Palace, and he could no longer see Shao Huachi's figure.

"Huh? What is this?" Fu Chen was slowly moving over, but he didn't want to quickly pick up the blackened earring with one hand.

It's Liu Zong, the chief eunuch who doesn't know how to look at the people above.He is more upright and upright, which is why he is not as pleasing as the other chief executives, who have been working in the Ministry of Internal Affairs.Regarding today's matter, if An Zhonghai had changed, he might find an excuse to remove all the meals, and then serve all new ones. After checking the results in private, he would tell the emperor, so that the emperor would not be angry, and he had paid too much in this palace. You can get the eye, how to be a talent is the most important thing.

Seeing Liu Zong's movements, Fu Chen's eyes froze, he stopped all body movements, and knelt on the ground with lowered eyebrows.

The emperor was still comforting the queen, but when he saw the blackened earrings that Liu Zong handed over, he suddenly stood up.

"What's going on!" The emperor's voice was resounding, even kneeling on the ground, he could feel the wrath of the superior. Those terrifying eyes swept across the empress, the chief eunuch, and then at the eunuch and maid who was kneeling on the ground, " Is there poison in the imperial meal?"

The queen's face was pale, and she knelt down, wanting to cry: "Your Majesty, this concubine doesn't know about it, I beg the emperor to find out the truth and return my concubine's innocence."

Emperor Jin Cheng's eyes stayed on the queen for a long time before he forced a smile, he didn't know whether to believe it or not, "How could I blame you, this imperial meal came from the dining room, what does it have to do with you, get up quickly. Dog slaves, those who have been exposed to food today, take them all down for interrogation, and find out who is the master behind the scenes for me, even dare to touch my imperial food!"

If you dare to touch the imperial meal today, you will dare to assassinate him tomorrow! ?

The emperor is more afraid of death than anyone else, and it is precisely because he has climbed to the top that he cherishes everything he has gained.

Fu Chen glanced at Liu Zong, who kowtowed like a pest, and didn't know whether to thank him for his loyalty or to be annoyed at his frequent troubles.

Seeing that the guards were about to drag people, a drop of sweat dripped from Fu Chen's forehead. Sometimes death is not terrible, but life is better than death.The interrogation in the palace is the place where he knows the best way to live than die. He lowered his head and prostrated himself on the ground with a steady voice, "The emperor calms down, there is no poison in the imperial meal." No matter whether there was poison in the end, he would never recognize it right now.

The emperor was still angry, and glanced at the little eunuch who spoke without asking questions. This was disrespect in the palace.

The master didn't ask questions, and the servants have no right to intervene casually, unless they meet a kind master, it's not a big deal, but this is the emperor.

The emperor was about to step up, when he suddenly felt that the person who was speaking looked familiar, and his expression could not tell the difference between emotion and anger, "Raise your head."

Fu Chen raised his head, revealing the slightly immature face of a young man who was never too old.Because of the smoothness of the face all the year round, it seems that there are no edges and corners. It is said that the state of mind can affect the appearance and temperament. The facial features have not fully developed at a young age, but it is certain to make people look pleasing to the eye and comfortable.

The first time can only be regarded as a bit of an impression, but the second time the other party's service was comforting, and it was just seen at noon, Fu Chen's familiar face, which has been brushed twice, still played a buffer role at this critical moment, The emperor stopped kicking in anger.

The emperor also led troops to fight when he was young, and he was a good horseman and shooter. Although he has regressed a bit in his later years, his skills are still there.

"You are that little eunuch, I remember you. If you have anything to say, I will give you a chance."