The Manchu and Han Banquets in Qing Dynasty

, his eyes were indifferent, as if he was a stranger at all.

"Back to the emperor, the concubine just wants to teach him a lesson. This dog slave wants to persecute the concubine. The meals he cooks for the concubine are either too salty or too astringent, so they can't be eaten at all." Xueshan complained, staring dissatisfiedly. Zhuo Zixiu.

Kangxi said: "Why didn't I know when he was the one who made the queen's meals? Besides, it's the job of the eunuchs in the palaces to deliver the meals. How can the imperial chef come and deliver them?"

Xueshan hesitated for a while, and said: "My cousin made the meal, but my cousin would never make such a meal. The little eunuch who delivered the meal today asked for leave, so he sent it..." said Later, her voice became weaker and weaker. There were too many flaws in her words, and she knew that Kangxi would never believe it.

Sure enough, Kangxi snorted coldly and said, "Is the queen trying to deceive the king?"

Xueshan trembled, and hurriedly kowtowed for mercy, saying that she was only dissatisfied with Zixiu because she couldn't stand the draw with Xuesong Doucai.She cleverly concealed her true thoughts, not wanting the emperor to know that she was actually jealous of a little royal chef.

Kangxi frowned, and said: "As a queen, you are so narrow-minded, how can you command the harem? How can you mother the world?"

"The concubine knows that she is wrong, I beg the emperor to forgive me this time." Xueshan kowtowed non-stop, and gradually there were blood stains on the ground.Kangxi couldn't bear it, and said: "Get up, let me shut up and contemplate for a month. During this period, you must think about your mistakes carefully, and you must not make them again."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, this concubine must reflect on herself." Xueshan thought she was unlucky, but she didn't expect to punish the cook and cause disasters instead. She clenched her lower lip, thinking she couldn't just let it go.

"Lin Zixiu, come with me." Kangxi said after dealing with the queen.

"Cha." Zixiu stood up and followed Kangxi away. He didn't dare to look at the queen's expression, he knew that the queen must hate him even more.

He thought he was quite innocent, but he thought that there must be a reason why a person hates him so much, but he doesn't know it yet.Thinking wildly, he had already entered Kangxi's bedroom.

He knelt down to salute politely, but he didn't hear Kangxi ask him to get up, so he could only continue to kneel.After a while, a little eunuch came over with a suit of clothes, which was a royal kitchen outfit, Zixiu thought, it might be for him.

Sure enough, I only heard Kangxi say: "Go and change your clothes first."

When Zixiu took Xie En, he felt that his body was dirty and smelled like oil.After following the little eunuch to change clothes, he felt better.

After he came back, he continued to kneel properly, and Kangxi just sat aside and drank tea, ignoring him.After kneeling for a long time, Zixiu felt pain in his knees, but he didn't dare to move. He couldn't figure out Kangxi's mind now, and wondered if this person would suddenly get angry again.

It seemed that half an hour had passed before Zixiu heard Kangxi say, "How long do you want to kneel?"

Zixiu was depressed and wanted to say, didn't you let me get up?But he didn't dare to say that, so he said: "Thank you, Your Majesty." Then he stood up tremblingly, his legs were already numb, and he couldn't use any strength at all.

"Go back if you have nothing to do. From now on, you will still be in charge of Concubine Hui's meals. Don't worry about other things. If someone asks you to do something, let him ask me first."

Zixiu's heart warmed up, and he said: "The slave obeys the order." After thinking for a while, he said again: "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Kangxi casually "hmm" without looking at him, Zixiu knew he heard, so he bowed and retreated.The feeling of depression a few days ago had completely disappeared, and he knew that Kangxi still cared about him.

After Zixiu left, Kangxi heaved a long sigh. He felt that he was too concerned about face, and ended up getting nothing.He obviously cared about that man, and when he heard that he was embarrassed by the queen, he rushed over. Seeing that he was almost chopped off, he raised his palms, wishing to behead those little eunuchs.

But as soon as he saw Zixiu's eyes, his heart quickly cooled down again. He didn't know how Zixiu thought of him. He wanted to talk to Zixiu alone, so he called Zixiu into his palace.However, seeing Zixiu kneeling there without saying a word, he suddenly felt strange between them.

He didn't know how to speak, the emperor's dignity did not allow him to apologize to others, let alone bow his head to others, so he could only wait.He missed the days of chatting with Zixiu, the cakes made by Zixiu, and Zixiu's neither humble nor overbearing towards him.But now, all this is gone.

He wondered if he had done something wrong.

Zixiu didn't know Kangxi's thoughts, he just thought that Kangxi was really good.He doesn't like to hold grudges. If someone treats him well, he will repay him twice. If someone treats him badly, he will bear it if he can bear it. If he can't bear it, he will record it first and return it when he has the opportunity.

For him, Kangxi's kindness to him is definitely greater than hatred, so he is grateful to Kangxi.As for the queen, he can hide as much as he can, because he can't afford to provoke her at all.

Although Kangxi didn't say anything else today, he knew that Kangxi was no longer angry. Thinking of this, he walked a lot more briskly.

The days returned to the way they were before, the only difference was that Kangxi didn't ask him to send pastries over at night.Zixiu was not discouraged, he did what he should do, and occasionally discussed new dishes with Cheng Li, and learned a lot.

During this time, Rong Ruo often came to see him, but the two of them just chatted for a few words and didn't go out to play again.That incident seemed to have left a shadow on Rong Ruo, and Zixiu found that his smile was less than before.

"Zixiu, tomorrow is the Qiqiao Festival." Rong Ruo said something seemingly unintentionally while eating the sweet brocade made by Zixiu.

Zixiu was taken aback, not knowing what Rong Ruo wanted to say.

"Let's live together." Rong Ruo whispered.

"Okay." Zixiu replied, anyway, except for Rong Ruo, it is impossible for anyone to celebrate the festival with him.Although I think it's a bit strange to spend Valentine's Day with Rong Ruo, but it's better to spend a boring holiday alone.

Rong Ruo was very surprised to hear his straightforward answer. He stared at Zixiu for a long while to make sure that he didn't look back just after talking casually.He thought that Zixiu probably still didn't understand what he meant. In Zixiu's eyes, Qiqiao Festival is probably no different from Qingming Festival and Spring Festival.

"Then how do we live?" Zixiu asked.

"Well, I'll tell you tomorrow." Rong Ruo smiled mysteriously. It doesn't matter if Zixiu knows, anyway, it's fine for him to know.

Kangxi naturally wanted to celebrate the Qiqiao Festival, but the concubines and ministers who accompanied him celebrated the festival, and even the empress made an exception to lift the ban for one day.

There are many lakes in the summer resort, so Kangxi came up with a good idea: everyone went boating on the lake together.

It is not accurate to say that it is a boat. In fact, it should be called a boat. Kangxi’s boat is as high as three floors, and there are all kinds of places for chatting and drinking tea in the kitchen and bedroom.Only himself and his three concubines were sitting on this boat, and the ministers and their families were all sitting on the boat next to him.

At sunset, everyone boarded the boat together. Kangxi's boat was in the middle, and there were four smaller boats beside it. Everyone drank and had fun and celebrated the festival together.

Zixiu is not qualified to board the ship, but he doesn't care because he has already made an appointment to spend time with Rong Ruo.Rong Ruo told Ming Zhu on leave, saying that he was not feeling well, so he did not board the ship.

After seeing Mingzhu leave, Rong Ruo hurried out the door. The moment he saw Zixiu, a strange thought came to his mind. He always felt...they seemed to be having an affair.

Rong Ruo coughed uncomfortably, and drove out the thoughts in his mind, what kind of cheating, they are just friends with similar temperaments.

"Zixiu, I know there is a kind of dessert called mandarin duck rolls, do you know how to make them?" Rong Ruo asked in a good mood.With his hands behind his back, he seemed to be hiding something.

"Yes, do you want to eat this?" Zixiu looked at him and said.

"Well, you can teach me how to do it, can we do it well together?" Rong Ruo took out the thing on his back, and Zixiu found that it was a jug of wine.Rong Ruo explained: "We won't swim in the lake tonight, don't worry, nothing will happen."

Zixiu nodded, thinking that Rong Ruo's temperament had changed again, he said, "Then don't drink too much tonight, it will be bad if someone finds out."

"Well, don't worry, the emperor will play until late tonight, as long as I go back before then, I will be fine if I don't get discovered by Ama."

"Then let's cook quickly, don't touch those foods, and wash your hands first." Zixiu looked helplessly at the frizzy Rong Ruo, but was very happy in his heart.If he can't come here tonight, he will just stay bored all night by himself.

Although I have long been used to celebrating the festival alone, it seems good to have someone to accompany me.

Rong Ruo obediently went to wash his hands, and Zixiu went to prepare the ingredients. Making mandarin duck rolls is not troublesome, and the imperial dining room has all the ingredients needed, so it will be ready soon.

"Zixiu, what should I do?" Rong Ruo looked very excited after washing his hands, and followed Zixiu around.

Zixiu handed the mortar filled with peanuts and cashews to Rong Ruo, and said, "Crush this, it will be useful later."

"Okay." Rong Ruo took the mortar obediently, put it on the table and began to grind it.Zixiu began to prepare the ingredients. He chopped the leek and carrot into pieces, then mixed them together, and sprinkled shrimp and salt.After making the mixture, he added water to the cornstarch and glutinous rice flour and stirred it into a thin paste. He kept stirring until even, and then divided it into two portions.

Here, Rong Ruo was almost done, Zixiu looked at the broken peanuts, and nodded approvingly.

"And then what?" Rong Ruo asked.

"Light the fire."

"Burn... a fire?" Rong Ruo asked uncertainly.

"That's right, you...can't burn?" Zixiu suddenly thought of a possibility and asked