Food starts with Mapo Tofu

Chapter 353
Li Zhao kept reminiscing about the two lines of the poem that Chen Nian said just now.

There were many people who could do things in the Great Xia Dynasty, but there were not many people who could do good things.

Thinking of this, he became even more curious about Chen Nian's identity.

But it suddenly occurred to him that it seemed that Fu Xin had said that he was able to be admitted to the No. [-] Scholar thanks to a noble person.

And Fu Xin had been in Yangzhou all the time before, and he heard Chen Nian speak with some Sichuan accents, which also mixed with some Jiangnan accents and a little northern accent.

"Is it him?"

This guess began to get out of hand since it sprouted, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that Chen Nian might be the noble person Fu Xin mentioned.

If so, it's fun.

Back in the palace, it was time for dinner just now, Li Zhao got off the carriage and headed for the imperial study, the emperor should be reviewing the memorial at this time.

Just thinking about this kind of thing gives me a headache.

Although Li Zhao now has a lot of official duties every day, they will be gone after they are done, and many things can be left to the staff and subordinates to do.

But being an emperor is different.

It's the world's business to manage.

He carried the snacks to the outside of the courtyard wall where the imperial study room was located, and let the eunuch at the door go in to let the eunuch pass. After a while, the eunuch came out to let Li Zhao in.

He has been to this place countless times.

"Li Zhao walked into the study and said with a smile, Your Majesty, look what I brought you."

And the Emperor Daxia who was sitting behind the dragon table raised his head to see Li Zhao, and asked with a smile on his face, "What did you bring?"

The voice was melodious and mellow, but there was still some arrogance mixed with it and the aura of someone who had been in the upper class for a long time.

she!He is the emperor of the Great Xia Dynasty today!

Li Xu!

But more accurately, it should be Empress Daxia!

She is the eldest daughter of the previous Great Xia Emperor.

When she was first born, no one would have thought that she would become the Great Xia Emperor later.

May increase with age.Li Xu showed his talents far surpassing all his brothers and sisters.

No matter how many sons Emperor Xia gave birth to later, he couldn't help but bow his head in front of Li Xu. No matter in terms of his understanding of state governance or his views on government affairs, Li Xu's views will always be much better than those of Li Zhao and his children. !
Even some veteran officials in the court are often convinced by Li Xu's views.

Since then, these veterans have often lamented why Li Xu gave birth to a daughter?
If this is a man, then he must be the future emperor of Daxia!

And under her leadership, Great Xia will definitely be more prosperous on the current basis.

But the most important thing for those people to think this way is that Li Xu is a daughter.

As the other princes gradually grew up, some princes also began to reveal their ambitions, because their biggest threat, the elder sister Li Xu, was a woman.

In addition, although their second elder brother, who is now Li Zhao, is also very talented, Li Zhao has no covetous desire for the throne and has no intention of taking the position of the Great Xia Emperor.

So they began to compete with each other again to form a party.

But just when the first emperor was about to drive the crane fairy away, he called all the heirs and all the important ministers to his dragon couch, and read out the last spoken word.

"Since the day I died, Li Xu has been the Emperor of Great Xia!"

Everyone was astonished when they heard this. None of them thought that the emperor would finally announce Li Xu as the next emperor.

But only Li Zhao, the second prince at that time, was not surprised at all, because the emperor had already looked for him before that.

"Li Zhao, I want to make you the crown prince of Daxia. After a hundred years, you will take charge of the Daxia foundation for me."

After hearing this, Li Zhao turned pale with shock: "Father, why did you say such a thing? Under the rule of Father, Great Xia has been ruled by culture and martial arts, and the country is prosperous and the people are peaceful. Why would you say such unlucky words? My son hopes that Father will live a long life." Years old, although my son has a loose personality, he is also willing to share the worries of the father!"

The emperor looked at Li Zhao with a look of relief on his face. It seemed that this son was still very filial, and what he said were all the truth.

He knows best what his own body is like.

"Zhao'er, I know that you are a filial child and have no ambition to fight for the throne, but in fact your talent is much stronger than that of your other younger brothers, whether it is in terms of heart or character, You are the most suitable to be the prince."

Hearing what his father said, Li Zhao still resisted from the bottom of his heart.

"Father forgive me, but my son still doesn't want to be the prince."

After hearing this, the emperor's face was sullen: "Why? Besides you, who do you think is more suitable to be the emperor among the other sons of the widow?"

"Emperor Sister!" Li Zhao said suddenly seriously, "Emperor Sister is much more talented than my son. I have worked hard to catch up since I was a child, but now it is difficult to see the last of the Emperor's sister. If the Emperor can inherit the rule, it will be a big deal for me. It is the best for the people of the world.”

"Zhaoer, the widow also had this idea, but your imperial sister is a daughter. If the Great Xia Foundation in the future..."

"Father!" Li Zhao couldn't help interrupting when he heard this.

"Father, what do you want to see the most? Is it that the people live and work in peace and prosperity? Or is it because the imperial sister is a daughter, so the throne is passed on to your other useless sons?"

"Even if Miss Huang is a daughter, so what?"

It's not that the emperor didn't think about Li Xu before, because he knew from the bottom of his heart that Li Xu was actually the most suitable among his children to be emperor.

She is ambitious, capable, capable and filial, with a firm heart!
But what he was most worried about was Li Xu's identity as a woman.

If Li Xu gave birth to another heir in the future, would the Great Xia Dynasty still have the surname Li?

"Father, my son understands Father's worry, but why don't you call Huangjie and ask her how to solve Father's worry?"

In the end, the emperor still found Li Xu.

Then he cut straight to the point and said, "Xu'er, I wanted to make your younger brother Li Zhao the crown prince, but he refused and recommended you. Although I also had this intention, I still have doubts in my heart."

Li Xu didn't have any special expression on his face when he heard this: "If you become Emperor Xia, you will never marry for life. After your sons and ministers are unable to do what they want, you will choose the best from the second brother's heirs to be the prince. If those younger generations are unbearable With great use, the son-in-law will also pass the throne to the second brother."

The voice is firm.

It was at this moment that the emperor also made up his mind.

Now his second son is not willing to take the throne. If he passes the throne to other children, it is a gamble, and if it is passed to Li Xu, it is a gamble. In contrast, he is more willing to bet on Li Xu. The odds are much better.

So Li Xu became the Queen of Daxia.

Later, after Li Xu ascended the throne, the third, fourth, seventh, and ninth princes united to force the palace and force Li Xu to abdicate. The prince forced back.

In the end, the four princes were assigned directly to the four most remote places in the southeast, northwest, and self-reliance.

……

Back to the point.

Li Zhao can be said to be a loyal fan of Li Xu, Queen of Great Xia, so whenever he has something delicious, he will bring it back for the Queen to taste as soon as possible, and today is no exception.

He ate the new marmalade cake at Fu Xin's house, and then went to Chen Nian to buy some, but who would have thought that Chen Nian would pack up the rest and give it to him.

So he returned to the palace with the pastry in this way.

"Your Majesty, I ate a very delicious pastry outside today. I also thought that Your Majesty has lost his appetite recently, so I brought it into the palace and sent it over."

"Cakes that can make Prince Jing feel delicious must be good." Li Xu nodded, and looked at the package in Li Zhao's hand with some curiosity.

Seeing this, Li Zhao quickly took two steps forward, put the cake on the table and opened it.

"What kind of pastry is this?" Li Xu couldn't help asking when he saw that the pastry had a novel color and a fresh smell, like a fruit.

"This pastry is called..." Li Zhaogang wanted to answer, but suddenly thought it was bad!
When he went to buy it, he planned to ask what the name of the pastry was, but he actually forgot about it when he was told by Chen Nian, and he was too busy admiring the poems on the way, so he completely forgot about it.

"This...my brother forgot to ask, but Miss Huang can taste it first, it tastes very good."

"Yeah." Li Xu nodded, then picked up a piece and put it in his mouth.

Bite a small piece first.

Then the refreshing sweet and sour fruity taste begins to reverberate in the mouth.

If you don't say a bite, you will have an appetizer immediately, but at least she is willing to eat this, and she is not eating to survive starvation.

She personally prefers to eat fruit, and every time there is a new fruit from Fanbang, she will keep some of it for herself first, and distribute the rest to other ministers and princes.

But this time, although the taste of the pastry is somewhat similar to that of fruit, it feels completely new.

"It tastes good, which minister's residence did you go to and come back from?"

After hearing this, Li Zhao showed a look of grievance: "I ate this pastry at Fu Xin's house, but later I learned that this pastry came from a friend of his. Therefore, I followed the place Fu Xin said. I was going to buy some results, but when Fu Xin’s friend heard that I came from Fu Xin’s house, he didn’t take any money and gave me two copies, one of which I got from Fu Xin’s place, and the other was from Fu Xin’s house. Bring it back to His Majesty to eat."

"Gift?" Li Xu heard these two words, "As a prince, you can't afford what you want to eat, and you want someone to give it to you? And the other party seems to be a commoner?"

"No, no." Li Zhao quickly explained, "I didn't reveal my identity, and he didn't seem to recognize who I was. He only knew that I was Fu Xin's friend, and he insisted on accepting money if I asked for it. He also said that a friend of a friend is a friend, and since I can appreciate his pastries, he also regards me as a bosom friend."

"Confidant?" Li Xu felt a little interesting when he heard this word. A commoner in the market actually took the initiative to regard Li Zhao, the current prince, as a confidant.

At this moment, Li Zhao suddenly remembered an interesting thing: "Your Majesty, after he finished his own words, he also said half a poem. Without thinking, it was purely a coincidence that a good sentence was born with a skillful hand, and the younger brother finally accepted it calmly."

"Oh?" Li Xu became interested again, "Let's hear it?"

"A confidant in the sea is like a neighbor at the end of the world." Li Zhao recalled.

Li Xu thought for a while: "It's really good."

It's possible, and it's amazing, but it's not to the point where Li Xu desperately wants to meet this person.

"But as a prince, you should not do such a thing."

"Well, the younger brother will go again tomorrow and pay some money."

"Okay, then you can bring some of these pastries back tomorrow."

"Minister Zunzhi!" After hearing the message, Li Zhao turned and left, but just as he walked out of this courtyard, he suddenly slapped his forehead.

"Oh, it's broken!"

"I'm going to take back part of the pastry for her, and take the rest to eat by myself. Now it's all in His Majesty's place. What should I eat?"

But when he turned his head to look at the study room which was still lit with candles, he could see Li Xu was still reviewing the memorial from the reflection, but from time to time he picked up a piece of pastry and put it in his mouth, Li Zhao sighed.

"Forget it, I'd better go buy some more tomorrow."

……

Chen Nian naturally didn't know that his new mincemeat paste had triggered such a story.

In the middle of the night, he heard someone's chicken crowing again in his sleep, which made him a little annoyed.

"How can I meet this kind of chicken without eyes?"

Then he forced himself to sleep with his head covered.

When he got up early the next morning, Chen Nian saw that the door next door was open and immediately walked over: "Brother, do you sell your chicken?"

"Not for sale, what's wrong?"

"It's like this. My sister hasn't had a good rest in the past two days, and she's not used to it. I want to buy a chicken and cook it for her. Look. How about you sell your chicken to me?"

The elder brother next door looked at Chen Nian: "Little brother, I think it's not that shopkeeper Lu is unwell, but you think it's noisy?"

"Okay, I sold it to you, go and grab it yourself, and you will pay back the money."

"Okay, thank you bro."

After getting the approval of the other party, Chen Nian got into the yard, and it took a lot of effort to catch the chicken.

"Thank you." Chen Nian thanked him again when he left.

"It's okay, it's all from the neighbors in the neighborhood, if you have anything to say, just say it." The elder brother said straightforwardly.

Just like that, when he returned home with the chicken, Lu Ke was puzzled when he saw it: "Why did you bring a chicken back? Where did it come from?"

"I just bought it. We'll have stewed chicken for lunch today. I'm a bit hungry." Chen Nian said with a smile.

"Oh." Lu Ke nodded without doubting anything.

Old age in the backyard kills chickens, bled them, and plucks their feathers, thinking that the big brother next door is too happy.

But it also shows that everyone has a good relationship with the neighbors.

As for the money, it must not be the most important thing. After all, it is not a poor person to have a shop in this place.

After the chicken is processed, it is first passed through the water, then marinated for a while, and finally put into the pot and simmered slowly.

Only then did Chen Nian wash his hands, and then went to the front to help.

In the middle of the morning, a batch of dim sum had just been prepared in the store and was ready for sale when the person who came last night came again today.

"Xiao Nian, your friend." Lu Ke called out

Chen Nian wiped off the powder from his hands and came to the door. .

"Young master, come to buy some snacks?"

"Yeah, buy some snacks. The snacks I bought yesterday were taken away by my sister when I went home. I didn't eat a bite. It won't be early in the morning."

But Chen Nian showed regret: "I'm sorry, if you want the one yesterday, you may not be able to buy it today. We have just researched this pastry, and many of the tools we need are not ready yet, so if you want to eat it, you can't buy it today." Have to wait a few days."

As soon as Li Zhao heard this, what if he didn't have it?

That's what His Majesty wants to eat, if you can't take it back today, wouldn't you have to break your promise?
"Can't you make it again? I really want to eat it. I can pay more, as long as I can eat it at noon today."

Wanting to eat something can be seen on his expression, and Chen Nian can also tell that the other party really likes to eat this.

"Xiao Nian, why don't you go and make some more for this guest. Anyway, the morning snacks are already ready, and my sister can do it all by herself."

, I looked at the recorded song today and then looked at Li Zhao: "Okay, then I will do it now, but it may have to wait, after all, it is quite troublesome and time-consuming to do."

"how long?"

"About an hour."

"Okay, then I'll just wait, don't be in a hurry, as long as the taste is the same as yesterday."

(End of this chapter)