Harem: Biography of Concubine Qin

Chapter 9
Seeing the emperor and Chen Wenxin finish their gossip, Li Dequan came up to collect the pen and paper.With a wink, more than a dozen eunuchs holding food boxes began to serve food in an orderly manner.

The two serving eunuchs stood next to the emperor and Chen Wenxin respectively, even Li Dequan, the head of the palace, was pushed aside.

It seems that there are many things to pay attention to when eating imperial meals.

She remembered that she had seen the rules of using imperial meals in the memoirs of Puyi, the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty.

When you want to eat a dish, just wink, and the serving eunuch will cleverly coax it for you.

You can only eat three bites of a dish, and you can't move anymore.

There are hundreds of dishes on a table, most of which are cold, and there are not many that can be eaten.Because the imperial dining room had to cook hundreds of dishes for the emperor, there was no way to guarantee that each dish would be hot at the same time.

Sometimes it is sent over while it is hot, and it will be cold when it is arranged one by one.

When she read books at that time, she only felt that the emperor of the Qing Dynasty really suffered.

On the outside it looks like a gorgeous brocade robe, but inside it is full of lice.

She looked at the table full of dishes in front of her. It was not as exaggerated as in Pu Yi's memoirs, but there were fifty or sixty dishes.

The dishes look good, the presentation is exquisite, and the aroma is full.

Thinking about it, the Qing Dynasty under the rule of Kangxi was a prosperous and prosperous country where foreigners came to pay tribute.

It is not the same as the semi-colonial countries in the Puyi period.

What's more, he is just a monarch in name only.

After Chen Wenxin finished watching the dishes on the table, he looked at the emperor again.

The emperor smiled at her and made a gesture of invitation, looking very gentlemanly.

She smiled silently back.
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She thought she couldn't speak with imperial food.

Didn't the ancients say that you can't eat without talking and sleep without talking.

The emperor spoke first:

"Give Chen Changzai some cold shredded chicken."

The emperor spoke, and it seems that there is no rule against speaking.

The serving eunuch had sharp eyesight and quick hands, and accurately identified which dish was cold shredded chicken among the dishes on the table.

Then quickly put it in her bowl.

Shredded purple cabbage, shredded pickled cabbage, shredded chicken, and shreds of some unknown vegetables, all shredded as thin as a hair.

Mixed together, there is the sourness of mature vinegar, the sweetness of vegetables, and the slight toughness of shredded chicken.

Cool and refreshing.

Presumably, such cold dishes have an ice box in the food box, so that they can still have a cold taste when they are placed on the table.

"Very refreshing." She replied somewhat cautiously.

She always felt awkward being served and eaten like this.

Seeing that she liked it, the emperor asked the eunuchs to bring him here, and the cold shredded chicken that he was used to eating seemed to be more delicious.

Chen Wenxin saw a plate of oily anchovy prawns, and with a wink, the eunuch asked the eunuch to bring one.

It turns out that the shrimp heads and tails are just for displaying on the plate, and only one body, the clean shrimp meat that has been peeled off, is actually put into the bowl.

The bare flesh turned out to be as shiny as a shell, which fooled her eyes.

Chen Wenxin took a bite, only to feel that it was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, it seemed that it had been fried.

"another one."

Chen Wenxin looked at the plate of shrimp and blinked her eyes.

The emperor wanted one too.

He was afraid that Chen Wenxin would say "one more" later, and he would not be able to eat this dish for a long time.
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According to the rules of the ancestors, a dish must be removed after three bites, and it takes half a month to remove it.

Ok?
It tastes really good.

Chen Wenxin had already swallowed the second shrimp, and the corners of her lips were slightly stained with juice.

The emperor was a little hesitant, should he remind her that there is no "one more"?

Chen Wenxin took off a silk handkerchief from the lapel, and lightly stamped it on his lips.

The emperor gave her a look with his eyes just now, and she guessed that there was something on his mouth.Sure enough, a little yellowing was left on the white silk handkerchief.

Looking around with bright eyes, her eyes fell on a piece of roast beef.
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How could she make the emperor unable to eat it for ten days and half a month just because she likes it?
The eunuch quickly brought her over, and Li Dequan, who was standing aside, breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, this Chen Changzai didn't ask for braised anchovy prawns any more.

Otherwise, if the dish is withdrawn, it will be a trivial matter that the dish will not be served again for half a month.It's just that it's not beautiful in front of Long Live God.
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Grandpa has never eaten three bites of a dish in a row, and the plate was removed by the servant.

After such a meal, I can eat one or two bites of each dish, and I am very full.

After eating, Chen Wenxin couldn't soak up all the rain and dew, and only chose to taste the delicious ones, or those recommended by the emperor.

Seeing that she was too full to eat, the emperor smiled and put down the jade chopsticks.

The eunuch serving food brought a cup of Longjing tea, which was for the emperor to rinse his mouth.Chen Wenxin secretly sighed at the extravagance, rinsed his mouth and followed the emperor to the inner room.

When the emperor came to the case, did he want to read the memorial when he was full?

The harem is not allowed to interfere in politics, it's better for her not to go there, lest she see something she shouldn't see.

She stopped and found a chair beside her to sit down.

"come over."

The emperor himself spread paper on the case, while Li Dequan rubbed the ink with his head down.

When she walked over, she realized that there was no memorial on the table, only some manuscripts.
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And the Hanfu she just drew casually.

"Why do you want to sit down when you're full? You're not afraid of hurting your stomach." The emperor gave her a displeased look, and said:
"Come practice calligraphy with me."

The emperor is used to standing and writing big characters after meals, so as to nourish his body and cherish his blessings.

She doesn't like to write calligraphy, and she doesn't have that patience.

"What kind of words does the emperor like to write?" She changed the subject with a smile.

"Zuo just writes whatever comes to mind." The emperor looked at her: "Look at you, what advice do you have?"

"It's not a suggestion, it's a request." Chen Wenxin's ability to change the subject is top-notch: "The emperor is always practicing calligraphy, it's better to write a poem, and the concubine will hang it in the bedroom after taking it back."

It takes a long time to write a single word, and after a line of poetry is finished, it is time for the emperor to take a rest, and she can go back to sleep.

perfect!

"Poetry?" The emperor deliberately held his chin, pretending not to understand her intention of being lazy: "I'll hear which poem Wen Xin likes."

Let the emperor write poems for her, first of all, you can't choose political ones.

War poems, frontier poems, etc. are not suitable.

For example, "the yellow sand wears the golden armor in a hundred battles, and if you don't break Loulan, you won't return it." It is inevitable that interested people will refer to "Loulan" as a golden soldier entering the pass.

The reason why literary inquisition prevailed in the Qing Dynasty was because the Manchus, as invaders, bore a kind of loss.
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Because I know that I am unjust, I am more sensitive to what others say.

Then write some love poems about you and me.

"After putting on makeup, I lowered my head and asked my husband and son-in-law, whether the thickness of the thrush is fashionable or not", it is too affectionate, and it is inevitable to be regarded as frivolous. "Love has hurt parting since ancient times, let alone the Qingqiu Festival" is too sad and heroic, with a bad meaning.

Many poems appeared in her mind, and she chose them one by one.

"Does the emperor know a poem by Han Yuefu, called Shangxie?"

She thought about it, and it was always right to show loyalty.

"You read it to me."

The emperor smiled.He had never heard of this poem, and was curious about what Chen Wenxin would read.

Chen Wenxin cleared his throat slightly, and read:
"I want to know each other with you, and my longevity will never end. There are no hills in the mountains, the rivers are exhausted, the thunder is shaking in winter, the rain is snowing in summer, and the heaven and the earth are united."

She stared at her benefactor with bright eyes, her red lips parted and said:
"I dare to break with the king."

The emperor is now her food and clothing, and Chen Wenxin is a person who has a clear distinction between love and hate, and knows how to repay her kindness.

If the emperor treats her well, then she should treat him well.

After hearing the last sentence of Chen Wen's thoughts, he was in a daze.

What a beautiful poem.

If deep love can last forever, it will grow until the sea is dry and rocks are rotten, and the sky collapses and the earth cracks.The mountains have lost their edges and corners, and the rivers have lost their water.

Thunder in winter and rain in summer, but love remains unchanged.

Really envious of the world.

The emperor felt that he had lost his composure, so he turned around and took out a thin gold pen from a large celadon brush holder.

Flying around on paper, I started to write running script.

The strokes of the pen wander, all done in one go.

When he finished writing, he leaned Jinhao on the pen holder and looked at his handwriting.

Then he showed a somewhat smug smile.

He was very satisfied with writing this word today.

Chen Wenxin was amazed.

The emperor could write down the entire poem word for word after only listening to her read it once.

Kangxi, who was able to ascend the throne at the age of eight, is really a child prodigy, right?

"Your room is too small, and my characters are too big to hang a poem."

The emperor changed his mind and did not intend to award this painting to Chen Wenxin.
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He kept it for another use.

"what?"

Chen Wenxin looked slightly disappointed.

Didn't the emperor keep his promises, so why did he go back on his word?

But just now, he really didn't say that he would reward her for writing.

"I will write you a big letter, and let you go back and hang it in the bedroom."

(End of this chapter)