Palace Full of Delicacies

The plush red carpet was spread from the front of the hall to the bottom of the jade steps. There was heavy snow in the air, and the setting sun lost its brilliance because of the gray clouds.Slowly opening the curtain to drive the car, revealing a corner of the snow-colored robe, the white silk is actually whiter than snow.

The rare national teacher stepped out of the chariot, and the surrounding wind and snow seemed to have eyes, and consciously avoided the handsome man who was like a banished fairy. The people who came out to greet them felt that the national teacher seemed to be emitting a faint light, becoming The only bright spot under this gray sky.

"Welcome to the national teacher!" The clan members knelt down to salute, not daring to raise their heads, and quietly waited for the national teacher to pass by.

While everyone was bowing their heads, Eunuch Wang hurried forward and put a white mink fur cloak on the national teacher. This thin mullet was waterproof and fireproof but not cold!

His Majesty the Emperor stood with his hands behind his back in front of the gate of the main hall, standing on the high jade steps and watching the Imperial Teacher come up step by step.He had just finished offering sacrifices to the sky during the day, and he was still wearing a grand gown. The bright yellow gown was embroidered with nine golden dragons, and the twelve east pearl glazed crown was very imposing.

The number of times the national teacher leaves the tower in a year can be counted on one hand, so every time he appears, the emperor must greet him to show respect.

After the national teacher reached the summit, the emperor stepped forward, "Uncle Emperor."

The national teacher took off his cloak, nodded slightly to the young emperor, and signaled him to go first.

The two entered the hall one after the other, the emperor's seat was at the highest point, the state teacher's seat was next to it, the rest of the princes were halfway up, and the clan members were on the flat ground, lined up in order by title.

Originally, Su Yu was not at the top in terms of title, but because he is still a member of the royal family and a favorite concubine, his seat was arranged after King Zhao, which was half a step up.

The clan members looked at the vacant seat on the high place and whispered.

"Which prince is that?" Looking around, King Su, King Ling, King Jing, and King Zhao are all there, and even King Li from the South China Sea has rushed back to sit upright on it, who else is missing?

"You don't know? That's the position of Concubine Xian." Another person said.

"How can a concubine sit on half a step?" Some clan relatives objected.

"You still don't understand this, this is a sign that the emperor intends to make him a queen!"

When everyone heard the words, they immediately shut up.If it's a male concubine who is about to become a concubine, although it's a little presumptuous to sit on the half-step, it's not wrong in terms of etiquette. After all, a concubine can't sit with distant relatives like you.

In fact, His Majesty the Emperor just didn't want the stupid slave to be too far away from him. He stared at the Thirteenth Uncle who was closest to him for a while, but His Royal Highness Su Wang was still unmoved, so he could only snort and said loudly: Get up opening words.

The women's side is more lively than this side, the women will inevitably gossip when they get together, the Queen Mother has always been kind and let them talk.The annual palace banquet is not just for these clan wives to eat, there are many things to do to build relationships, draw red lines, and compare each other.

"Keep your voice down. Although the queen mother looks kind and gentle, she actually doesn't want to be with you very much," the older clan wife reminded those new daughter-in-laws who were too excited to see the palace banquet for the first time. When the drums are playing."

Su Yu looked at the menu and felt that there was nothing missing, so he raised his hand to let the palace servants start serving the dishes.

As a state banquet, it is natural not to fool around casually. In order not to embarrass His Majesty the Emperor, Su Yu carefully studied the recipes for several days, discussing back and forth with the head of the imperial dining room. Every cold dish was carefully selected.

The clansmen are all ordinary people, so seafood can't be the main dish, most of the dishes are handed over to the Imperial Dining Room, Su Yu only takes care of the main dishes, and some side dishes are also handled.

For example, the Braised Duck Tongue served on the table did not have chili in the first place. Da’an’s method is to marinate it with sauce, Chinese prickly ash, and dogwood. Su Yu suggested that the chef should replace the cornel with chili and add some sugar. .Without the bitterness of cornel, there is only a pure spicy taste, coupled with the fresh sweetness of sugar, which makes people want to eat another one after eating one.

His Majesty the Emperor looked at the ugly duck tongue with distaste, saw that there were chili seeds on it, and knew that it was Su Yu's dish, so he picked one up and tasted it.The taste is unexpectedly delicious!

Because there are so many dishes in the palace banquet, this kind of small cold dish will naturally not be served too much. There are five duck tongues pitifully placed in the delicate small plates in front of everyone, and they are gone after eating.His Royal Highness King Zhao looked around, and saw that his uncle and brothers had already finished eating, and there were still two on the national teacher's plate, but no one dared to snatch it, and could only watch helplessly as the national teacher ate in small bites duck tongue.

The weather was cold, so Su Yu boiled a large pot of mackerel bone soup, boiled it into a milky white fish soup, sprinkled with fine salt and chopped green onion, and served it on the table without adding anything.The original fresh fragrance from ancient times almost brought tears to the eyes of the clansmen who have never tasted this soup, it is so delicious!

After drinking a small bowl of soup, cold dishes were still served one by one. His Majesty the Emperor got up and changed his clothes. He changed out of the dress and crown that got in the way, and put on a comfortable gown, so that he could eat with his arms loose.

In the hot dishes, Su Yu only made boiled fish and stir-fried shrimp with sauce. Considering that it is not elegant to eat crabs on the palace banquet, the clan members might not want to eat them, so they did not serve crabs, and shellfish are scarce in winter. , I was reluctant to take it out for a banquet, and I wanted to leave it for His Majesty the Emperor, so I didn't make it.

As soon as the spicy and delicious boiled fish was brought into the palace, it attracted everyone's attention.His Highness King Ling was shocked, and stretched his neck to wait for his share.As soon as it was on the table, I quickly picked up a chopstick and threw it into my mouth, and I was so hot that I couldn't breathe.

King Su felt ashamed, so he raised his hand and slapped him.

In the hot dishes, the dishes of the princes are different from those of the clansmen, but they are sitting in a high place and others cannot see it.The meat dishes of the clan include these two fish and shrimp dishes, as well as mutton, chicken, squab, etc., while the princes are all seafood.Salt-baked crab legs, scallops with vermicelli, squirrel mandarin fish, the soup in the cup is not the pigeon soup of the ancestors, but the shark fin soup of Yingyu.

On the female side, Su Yu also prepared different dishes.

Women seem to like spicy food more than men. In the past, there was no chili, and people in Da'an used cornel. Su Yu specially added a few Sichuan dishes to the women's side.A stewed side dish similar to Malatang was unexpectedly popular. Su Yu cooked bean curd, fish balls, tofu, and seaweed with the spicy soup base, and the female relatives forgot to talk to each other after eating it.

"Look, what I said, the small door and the small household must be incomprehensible, and there is no singing and dancing. After a while, the scene is cold during the serving time, and some people will watch it." De Zhaoyi sneered, and waited After a long while, Shu Zhaoyi who was beside her didn't respond, and when she turned her head to look, she saw several concubines, just like those clan wives, eating without raising their heads.

It's been cold recently, and the charcoal fires in the palaces have been tense, eating some spicy food to dispel the cold, I immediately feel comfortable all over my body.

As soon as His Majesty sat down, a huge grilled lobster was brought to the table, and the chef Su Yu also came over.

For the convenience of cooking, Su Yu wore a cotton robe with narrow sleeves today, he looked like a cook, no one paid attention when he walked in, and the princes all stared at the huge grilled lobster.The lobster was three feet long with its whiskers added, it looked quite spectacular, and it was still steaming just out of the oven.

"Why did you come here?" His Majesty the Emperor looked at Su Yu, who was still sweating on his forehead, and then looked at the people below who were eating without raising their heads. He was immediately unhappy. Why should my stupid slave cook for these people? eat!

Knowing what Uncle Mao was upset about, Su Yu smiled, bowed and saluted, "Please ask the emperor to cut the main course."

Only then did the clan members raise their heads and look at the stage.

"Huh? Has the Imperial Dining Room changed hands?"

"Shut up, that's Concubine Xian!" The clan members who had participated in the selection of concubines hurriedly said.

"Ah!" Everyone was amazed, they heard that this palace banquet was hosted by Concubine Xian, but no one expected that he would actually cook the food himself.

"It's outrageous for a gentleman to stay away from the kitchen!" said You Old Stubborn.

"You don't think it's shameful, don't eat it." The person next to him said, snatching the duck tongue from the old stubborn.

Su Yu didn't hear the discussion in the audience, so in order not to damage the freshness of the shrimp meat, he took a sharp jade knife, broke the hard shell of the shrimp, and peeled it off in two or three times, revealing the white and tender shrimp meat.The fragrance locked in the shell exploded instantly, and His Majesty the Emperor couldn't sit still.

He took out a jade fork, took out a large piece of shrimp meat, put it on a plate, and presented it to the emperor first.The shreds of fresh and tender shrimp meat like hibiscus petals are distinct. Pick up a piece and dip it in the sauce prepared by Su Yu. The slightly hot shrimp meat touches the tip of the tongue. The delicious taste is indescribable.

The national teacher looked at the shrimp meat presented by Su Yu, and thoughtfully handed over a plate of garlic sauce, with a slight smile in his cold eyes, "A virtuous concubine is a worthy mission of the country."

Dishes were served on the ground one by one, no matter whether it was the children of the clan or the female relatives, there was no time to chat. When they finally put down the chopsticks, they found that they were too full to talk.

At the end of a palace banquet, the concubines failed to see Su Yu as a joke, but got a bolt from the blue, and the state teacher's assertion quickly spread throughout the harem.

You must know that after the establishment of Da'an, the national teacher has the final say. To say that a concubine is worthy of a heavy responsibility, doesn't that mean that he has both ability and political integrity, enough to be a mother to the world?

Now there is no noble son born in the palace, and the only prince noble son is still raised by Su Yu's side, which made the concubines panic.

"We can't go on like this, we have to think of a way!" De Zhaoyi walked back and forth in the palace where there was not enough charcoal fire.

Shu Zhaoyi, who dared to come in, asked people to add more charcoal to the fumigation cage. This is De Zhaoyi's bedroom, so it doesn't hurt to burn more, "The emperor is not interested in women, what can I do?"

"To prove that he can't be a queen, people have to know that he is not suitable to raise a prince as a big man." De Zhaoyi's eyes were cold, as long as something happened to the prince, he didn't believe that the emperor would not blame the concubine Xian.

"You're crazy!" Shu Zhaoyi frowned, "Your son is so precious in Da'an, if people find out, it will destroy the Nine Clans."

"Don't worry, nothing will happen." Concubine De took out a small packet of medicinal powder from her sleeve. It was left to her by Concubine Lu Gui who had left the palace. It used to be used to punish those seductive concubines. To the meal of the eldest son of the emperor's nanny...

When Shu Zhaoyi saw the powder, she immediately understood.Cold and cool things will make the milk stagnant, but this medicine is a kind of heat poison, which can't be noticed for a while, but the baby will burst into blisters after eating this kind of milk!

The author has something to say: Little Theater:

Queen Mother: Da Mao, come to eat

The eldest son of the emperor: Mi?

Empress Dowager: Eat fish and meat paste today

The eldest son of the emperor: Meow!

De Zhaoyi: I have been taking medicine for several days, why is there no movement?