Food starts with Mapo Tofu

In the next few days, Chen Nian made snacks for the nobles in the palace in different ways every day at noon.

After finishing his work at noon, Chen Nian went to learn how to prepare dishes with Song Qingzhou in the afternoon.

But at night, they have to be on call at any time. After all, as the emperor, it is basically impossible to go to bed on time.

At least hundreds of memorials are sent from all over the country every day, except for those who have nothing to do to write memorials and ask the emperor if he has eaten?Are you resting well?In addition to the non-nutritious memorial of whether there is anything I like to eat recently, there are at least a hundred other affairs.

Li Xu has to review each of these.

And there are a lot of things, and even some ministers have to be called to discuss.

Calculated in this way, he has to read 10,000+ words every day just to read these memorials.

So sometimes the emperor stayed up late, and they also needed to make some light and delicious supper.

However, just two days later, the rank of the old age was finalized, and along with the imperial decree, there were also old official uniforms and waist badges that symbolized status.

Although usually they are not used in the kitchen.

But it is inevitable that there will be times when they leave the palace or enter the palace or the court will hold a grand ceremony. If they need to show up, they have to wear corresponding clothes.

So Chen Nian properly put away his clothes and put them away.

That is to say, on the day when Chen Nian got the grade, Song Qingzhou notified some friends in the palace and invited them to watch the ceremony together.

After all, this kind of thing must have a witness.

In this way, not only the master and apprentice will know, but other people will also know that Chen Nian now has a hilltop.

When I go out to introduce again, I don’t just introduce Chen Nian’s name, but also who’s apprentice this is and what kind of cuisine I learned.

But just when Song Qingzhou was notifying everyone, he happened to meet Prince Jing Li Zhao. Although Prince Jing is very talented, he is also a prince who can enjoy himself.

Therefore, he is very familiar with the imperial cooks and imperial doctors in the palace.

When he had nothing to do, he would go into the palace to find the emperor for a meal, but most of the time it was because he wanted to eat a certain dish, and the cooks in his house and those in the capital were not doing well enough, so he had to go to the palace. come to eat.

After questioning, Li Zhaocai found out that it was Song Qingzhou who was going to take Chen Nian as his apprentice. He immediately became interested when he heard this, expressing that he also wanted to attend the ceremony.

Song Qingzhou was too happy that such a big man was coming, how could he refuse?
"Then I'll invite Fu Xin over when the time comes. He is Chen Nian's good friend."

"If the Minister of Honglu Temple can come, I will be very grateful."

"It's all small things."

Finally, after Li Zhao asked Song Qingzhou what time it was, he headed towards his sister.

When Song Qingzhou returned to the imperial dining room, he was so happy that he even sang a little song. May I ask which of the cooks in the world can let the prince of the current dynasty go to watch the ceremony when he is accepting apprentices?

Of course, except for the kind of person whose status is particularly noble, the chef is just a big man who he likes.

"What's wrong with Master? Why are you so happy?"

"Hey, I ran into Prince Jing on the road just now. He said that he would come to watch the ceremony with Mr. Fu Xinfu. Tell me, can I be unhappy?"

Chen Nian smiled: "Happy, this is indeed something to be happy about."

"Hey, don't say it's my old guys this time, maybe even my master will praise me."

Song Qingzhou shook his head and sang a ditty and returned to the kitchen. Chen Nian saw that Song Qingzhou was happy, and he was also happy, so he followed in.

On the other side, Li Zhao came to the emperor after bidding farewell to Song Qingzhou.

"Ce'an, why are you here?"

"Hehe, don't you miss my imperial sister? Let's go into the palace and have a look." Li Zhao said with a playful smile.

Ce'an is his name, and Li Xu usually calls him that when there are no outsiders around.

"Hold on, I don't know you yet? Tell me, what do you want to eat this time when you enter the palace? I'll tell the people in the imperial dining room to do it." Li Xu said.

Similarly, in front of her own brother, when there are no outsiders, she will not call herself Zhen, but me.

Because even if everyone in the palace had a second opinion on him, he would never have this younger brother. If his younger brother wanted to fight for the throne, he would definitely not be able to.

Li Zhaofei did not fight for the throne, but instead relied on his own strength to make Li Xu, the Empress of Great Xia, sit as firmly as Mount Tai.

"I didn't expect to be spotted by Huang Jie." Li Zhao said with a smile, "My brother has been wanting to eat skirts recently, but none of the cooks in my house can do it well. There is someone in the capital who can cook, but the minister Brother has asked, he is not in the capital recently, and he will not be back until next month, so I can only come to your majesty."

"Okay, then I'll order someone to do it, and you wait here a little longer, as I also have some things I want to discuss with you."

After speaking, Li Xu first called the eunuch outside and asked him to tell the people in the imperial dining room to add an extra dish made with skirts tonight.

Then he discussed with Li Zhao about state affairs.

After chatting, Li Xu suddenly thought that Li Zhao seemed quite happy when he came in just now.

"By the way, Ce An, what were you happy about before? I haven't left the palace for a long time."

"Sister Huang, what makes me happy is not the things outside the palace, but the fact that I happened to meet Song Qingzhou from the imperial dining room on the way here, that is, Mr. Song who learned Tan's cooking, so I chatted casually for a while. Knowing that he will accept Chen Nian as his apprentice tomorrow.

It just so happened that the younger brother had a good relationship with Chen Nian, so he said he wanted to take Fu Xin to watch the ceremony. "

"Chen Nian wants to worship Song Qingzhou as his teacher?" Li Xu thought for a while, "That's good, Song Qingzhou's apprenticeship is also considered a famous family, and Chen Nian can learn more things by worshiping under his name."

"That's right." Li Zhao smiled, "The two apprentices of Song Qingzhou were sent by His Majesty back then to the courtier's residence. When will Chen Nian be sent to the courtier's house this time?"

When Li Xu heard this, he gave his younger brother a blank look: "People's hearts are not enough!"

Li Zhao didn't care, just kept smiling.

But Li Xu thought about it: "Are they accepting apprentices tomorrow?"

"Yes."

"You said that if I also go...is it appropriate?"

If other officials in the court were here at this moment, they would definitely shout that it must not be done. After all, who is the emperor?No matter how well Song Qingzhou and Chen Nianfan did, they were nothing more than imperial cooks. How could it be worthwhile for His Majesty the Emperor to preside over the ceremony in person?

It's a pity that it's not someone else in the imperial study room, but Li Zhao.

Li Zhao was naturally evasive, and never liked to follow the rules.

It was the same when he let his elder sister be the emperor. After his elder sister took the position of emperor, he resolutely handed over the right to be an idle prince.

Even the signboard of Lu Wanxing Dim Sum Shop was written by Li Zhao at the request of himself, the emperor's elder sister.

Of course, what he said at that time was to let everyone know that the empress of the Great Xia Dynasty loves the people like a son
So after hearing this, Li Zhao's eyes lit up immediately: "It's suitable, this is too suitable, let alone this palace, is there anyone in the world more suitable than you to participate in?"

"Since you said so, I'll go and have a look tomorrow too."

Li Zhao nodded again and again. In fact, he had his own considerations for Li Xu's going. On the one hand, it was because Li Xu had been reviewing memorials in this imperial study all year round, either to go to court or to go back to the palace to rest.

The three o'clock and one line all day must be boring, boring to death, this vintage is just an opportunity.

What's more, he also wanted this imperial sister to show her face outside more and show more favors.

The hearts of the people and the hearts of those courtiers are accumulated bit by bit in this way.

In fact, according to him, the ministers outside all know their balls. They talk about the voice of the people and the opinions of the people all day long, but none of them really went to the people to have a look.

Everything is passed up level by level from below, and when it reaches them, it completely becomes what the people below want them to see, and only then can they know what.

But this kind of thing is not difficult at all, as long as you put on ordinary clothes and take a smart follower to the folks for a walk, you can understand everything.

But they just don't.

Every time it is said, it is official majesty and royal dignity.

Although it is said that the superior should always be majestic, etiquette is etiquette, and you have to understand the common people.

But after Li Zhao saw that Sister Huang was going to go, he suddenly thought of a very interesting thing, that is, they didn't tell anyone about it.

When the time comes, pop up and surprise them.

The more he thought about it, the more amusing he found it.

Afterwards, it would be a big deal to ask those ministers to hand over a few memorials to impeach me, but I am the emperor's younger brother, and the most loyal supporter of His Majesty today, so what can a few memorials do to me?

In this way, they made an agreement for the time being. Li Zhao turned around and left after having dinner here in the evening. Before leaving, he said that he would bring Fu Xin over early tomorrow morning.

……

As for Chen Nian, they are also making preparations. Since there is going to be a teacher apprenticeship ceremony, they naturally need to prepare some melons and fruits.

Although they are courtiers, they are not allowed to eat things in the warehouse, but as a large department of the palace, since they are to be controlled from eating indiscriminately, they will be given some corresponding food during work, such as fruits and vegetables. species, and sometimes rare items of foreign tribute.

On weekdays, these things are basically kept by the royal family for their own enjoyment.

If any minister performed well during that time, he could get some rewards, but the rest would go to the eunuchs and maids in the palace, or their support staff.

But more common melons and fruits.

But after Li Xu learned about this, he thought that since he was going to come, the scene must be richer, so he specially arranged for the head of the imperial dining room to bring some better melons and fruits.

Others also arrived one after another, chatting in twos and threes.

"Congratulations, congratulations, Mr. Song has accepted another high-level apprentice."

"Master Song has taken in an excellent apprentice this time, and your lineage of Tan Jiacai will probably flourish from now on."

These people in the palace also knew that Chen Nian was now favored by the empresses of the palaces and His Majesty, and they handpicked him to make desserts for them every day.

And every time they make it differently, let alone seeing those desserts, they have never even heard of them.

And these deeds of Chen Nian have been passed on for a long time, and they all learned that Chen Nian has a good relationship with some people in the court.

Song Qingzhou was naturally so happy that he couldn't stop talking about his villain.

"Master Song, if Chen Nian is a villain, then let's change the protagonist today, and I would be happy to accept this villain."

"That's right, you don't want us to!"

As a result, Song Qingzhou waved his hands again and again: "That's not possible. I discovered this first. Although several adults are of higher grade than me, I will definitely not let it go this time."

And Chen Nian was also chatting with other chefs, they all congratulated Chen Nian on being able to worship Song Qingzhou as his teacher, and they were all very envious.

In this way, as time passed by a little bit, the ceremony soon arrived.

Seeing that Prince Jing and Fu Xin haven't come yet, they don't plan to wait any longer, what if something happens to them?
So Song Qingzhou took the main seat, and everyone else also took the stage, ready to start making arrangements.

Everything is ready for apprenticeship tea, including Song Qingzhou's gift for his apprentice.

But at this moment, a sharp voice suddenly came from outside.

"The Emperor is here!"

As soon as these words came out, everyone couldn't help being shocked.

"Why is Your Majesty here?"

Song Qingzhou was even a little apprehensive. Could it be that His Majesty came here to inquire about crimes?

He didn't even think about the fact that the emperor came to congratulate him on accepting apprentices, because even if it was a happy event in the homes of those ministers, His Majesty might not be there in person.

And His Majesty came after accepting an apprentice, which sounds a bit unreal.

But he changed his mind and thought again, that's not right, Mr. Liu said before that His Majesty had given a lot of rare melons and fruits after learning about this.

Just when everyone was feeling uneasy, Li Xu walked in with someone.

Everyone at the scene quickly knelt down.

Li Xu, on the other hand, walked into the house and let everyone get down first.

The eunuch next to her said, "Your Majesty is here today to congratulate the imperial cook Song Qingzhou on accepting his apprentice."

Song Qingzhou was stunned when he heard this. Did His Majesty really come here to congratulate him?

"This this this..."

"I've never heard of any royal chef accepting apprentices who would allow His Majesty to be there in person! What an honor it is!"

"Could it be that my family's ancestral grave is smoking?"

Song Qingzhou couldn't believe his ears, but he looked around again, and the expressions of surprise, envy, and jealousy on everyone's faces did not seem to be fake.

Only then did he secretly pinch himself and told himself that this was true!
Originally, he was going to take the lead.

But since His Majesty came down, he had to sit down.

But even so, he is willing!

Not to mention sitting in the second place, even if he is to kneel down and accept Chen Nian as his apprentice, he is willing!

In the crowd, Li Zhao and Fu Xin kept blinking at Chen Nian, only then did Chen Nian realize that it was the two of them who caused the emperor to come in person.

But even so, he still felt warm in his heart.

This is a brother who is adding more face to support himself.

He has already thought about it, and when he has a chance in the future, he must thank them both. (end of this chapter)