Medicine in Song Dynasty

Chapter 164 The Capital
Gao Chang thought for a long time, then turned his head, and led two young eunuchs out of the imperial dining room, and entered a small courtyard after a while.

The yard is small and very remote. It is estimated that ordinary masters do not know that there is such a place in the palace. No exotic flowers and plants have been planted in the yard. There is a clear pond with water lilies in it, and a vegetable field in the yard. Green vegetables, there are several pigeon cages hanging on the tree, and several pairs of pigeons are raised.

An old gray-haired eunuch was lying on the bluestone slab in the yard, humming a little song, holding a pair of walnuts in one hand, and a long tobacco rod in the other hand, swinging leisurely long legs.

Gao Chang approached with a smile on his face, the old eunuch opened his eyes, sat up lazily, and passed his hand with a smile, Gao Chang lit a cigarette for the old eunuch winkingly, and then whispered: "Godfather, today , The Empress Dowager wants to eat pork, and she also wants to eat stewed trotters, this, this..."

The old eunuch glanced at him and smiled: "Let's eat then, we can only listen to what the nobleman wants to eat, can we not accept orders?"

Gao Chang was stunned: "But..." But the rules in the palace are not to eat pig meat and other things, if he breaks the rules for the sake of the Queen Mother, if something happens, it's not a joke.

Of course, it is not that there is no pork in the palace, and it is occasionally used to watch dishes, that is, things that are only used for viewing, and occasionally as a side dish, and are rarely eaten by the masters. That kind of thing is not on the table. There is no such thing in the palace.

The old eunuch shook his head, glanced at him and sang, "Boy, you have been working in the palace for so many years, why you still don't understand, what the master wants to eat, you have to do, we are born to serve the master, as for The rules, of course, must be followed, and only by following the rules can we live for a long time."

Gao Chang made this person get involved in a lawsuit, and he was very confused.

The person in front of me is Eunuch Guo, the former eunuch in charge of the imperial dining room. He is old and frail, unable to do any activities, but he is still being raised in the palace, and the juniors in the imperial dining room have always respected him and dare not There is no slightest negligence, especially Gao Chang, if he is not the son of eunuch Guo, such a fat job as eunuch in charge of the imperial dining room will definitely not fall on his head.

"Hey, my godfather, don't entertain the little one, and quickly give the little one a trick. Don't dare to delay the meal at the empress dowager's place."

Gao Chang's whole face was twisted into a ball, full of anxiety and flattery, very happy.

As soon as Eunuch Guo looked up, he saw Gao Chang's stupid face, and he knew in his heart that he was just making this appearance on purpose. By now, Ben has reached the time when he needs to be confused from time to time.

"Okay, it seems that the queen mother is not happy today, I will cook myself, and you will beat me up."

Gao Chang was overjoyed, and he helped the old man to go out very attentively. When he arrived at the imperial dining room, the old eunuch directed the two young eunuchs to make two sheep's hoofs, dehaired them with hot water, scrubbed them clean, got a pile of materials, and put them into the pot Stewed together, the old eunuch's ingredients are of course very suitable, and it must be able to cover the fishy smell of the sheep's feet well, but the sheep's feet are sheep's feet, so they can't be turned into pig's feet...

Eunuch Guo ignored his distressed face, and while instructing the young eunuchs to cook, he wiped the sweat off his face with a clean towel: "How many years has it been, our empress dowager hasn't touched a pig for at least thirty years?" Meat."

Just this one sentence, Gao Chang stopped.

How can a queen mother who has lived in the deep palace for so many years and sent little girls out to buy some snacks at most, be able to tell whether she is eating mutton or pork, and besides, the meals are still carefully prepared by the imperial chef passed.

Stewing goat's trotters is a slow job, and when it's dinner time, the imperial dining room will prepare the food, and Ah Yue comes over to get the food box in person.

The meal for the Empress Dowager, of course, cannot be finished with such a simple pot of sheep's hooves, but recently the officials have been frugal, and the Empress Dowager has also followed suit. The dishes are relatively simple, and they are all ordinary food.

It is served with a five-flavored apricot goose, a sea bass clear soup, a plate of mixed lettuce, and a plate of honey mixed with yam, that's all, with pretzel cakes, it is naturally very luxurious in the eyes of ordinary people, but here, the Queen Mother, Even frugality, just this, is much better than official meals.

For the past few months, except for the few days of the Chinese New Year banquet, Zhao Zhen, the official family, has been eating meat and vegetables, so simple that even the eunuchs around him feel distressed.

Empress Dowager Liu didn't dissuade her, she just reduced the number of fans in the harem.

After eating two pieces of soft and rotten goat's trotters with the cooking cake, Empress Dowager Liu was very satisfied, "That's the taste, it seems to be the handicraft of eunuch Guo, um, at his age, he still has to work hard to serve me, It's really not easy, Ayue, don't forget to give a reward."

Ayue quickly responded, seeing that her master's complexion had improved, and she was relieved. Ever since her master spit out blood for some reason before the Chinese New Year, she didn't show it on her face, but she was always holding her breath in her heart.

Since then, the empress dowager can't tell from the outside, but every night there is a slight movement, she will wake up, and the food is getting less and less.

Ah Yue saw that the Empress Dowager actually ate half of the pancakes, she couldn't help being happy, and said with a smile: "Your Majesty's appetite is really good today, she must be in good health."

Empress Dowager Liu smiled, she was really interested, and asked the imperial dining room to give a bowl to the official family and a group of relatives who were close to her. Even the eldest princess Zhao Wanrong, who hadn't seen her for a long time, got a bowl.

Even though it was already freezing cold, it was only a sheep's hoof with a good-looking surface, and few people were willing to eat it.

After dinner, the maids removed the meal, the sky was already a little dark, the house was lit, and the whole room was as bright as day.

Liu E took the booklet and leaned on the beauty's couch to read it. The words in front of her eyes became more and more blurred. She was closer to the lights, but she still couldn't understand it. Anyway, the general meaning was that after reading it, she closed the booklet, and the corners of her mouth couldn't feel it. He showed a smile: "In the past year, there have been many good news in Qingzhou. I remember that the current Tongpan was the number one scholar in the eighth year of Tiansheng. I didn't expect that I didn't learn all about poetry and books, but I was so concerned about farming."

Ayue sat on the side, took a beauty hammer and knocked on her leg. She didn't say a word, she pretended she didn't hear it, but she saw the face of the Empress Dowager through the light, and she didn't know if it was an illusion. In the gratified look on the master's face, there is more or less something else.

Thinking of this, Ayue quickly lowered her head and discarded distracting thoughts. Although she is a servant, she also knows that farming is important. In this world, officials who are good at farming are always easy to get reused, and it is not easy to get involved in gossip. There will be a good future.

(End of this chapter)