Chu Qiao got up early the next day, and everything seemed natural. Liao Yun still jumped in so stupidly, as if nothing had happened, and told Chu Qiao the new things he had encountered while delivering meals to the ministers.
As she spoke, she turned directly to the topic. She really wanted to know why Eunuch Ping wanted to see Chu Qiao so late yesterday.
"What's going on? It's not just some trivial matter. It's nagging, and it's late at night." Chu Qiao didn't answer Lianyun directly, and became defensive about this woman.
"When I opened the door yesterday, I saw that Eunuch Ping had gone out." Lianyun said suddenly.
When Eunuch Ping went out, Chu Qiao stopped packing her things for a moment, and then started laughing.
"Eunuch Ping asked me to chat for a while, and then asked me to help with some work. After finishing the work, I came back. As for where he went in the middle, I really don't know. I thought he didn't go out."
"No wonder." Liao Yun smiled.
"I have to go early today, I'm leaving first."
After cleaning up, Chu Qiao ditched Lian Yun and went to the imperial dining room in advance. In order to avoid being plotted by Concubine Jin Hui, she thought it was better to stay away from Lian Yun.
Today's imperial dining room is a little different from the past. All the chefs are studying Mongolian food and discussing how to make Mongolian roast lamb. In fact, few of the chefs in the outer imperial dining room have actually cooked Mongolian roast lamb. This time the Mongolians are coming to Kyoto.
, they all need to be studied carefully.
"It's nothing more than feeding the mutton with star anise, peppercorns, green onions, salt and so on, then roasting it in a pot. How can we learn more about it? The Mongolians are so sophisticated compared to us."
"Come on, this milk alone is enough for you to study. Mongolians like things differently from us. I heard that even the queen and princess of Mongolia are here this time. I really can't take it lightly, otherwise the food minister in the palace will
Why would the supervisor personally go to each dining room to inform us?"
"I heard that the livestock farm sent a bunch of fresh lambs, five of which were allocated to each kitchen, for studying meals. There are also some lambs sent from the grassland to be eaten at the state banquet.
."
"I really want to give it a try. If I can get the approval of Xue Wanyue, the director of Shangshi, I will have a chance to stand out during this state banquet."
They were talking like this, and Chu Qiao listened with her ears pricked up. When Mao Daqiu slapped her hard on the head, she came back to her senses.
"Did you hear me talking to you?" Mao Daqiu rolled up his sleeves, his eyes widened, and he was getting angry.
"Say, what did you say?"
Chu Qiao only listened to the discussion of those people and did not hear what Mao Daqiu said. When Mao Daqiu reached out again, Chu Qiao dodged to avoid it.
"Come with me to the livestock farm this afternoon to have a look."
"Go ahead, why are you hitting me?" Chu Qiao muttered, and continued to cut vegetables. After only a few cuts, the sharp sound of Mao Daqiu sounded again. Chu Qiao was so frightened that she almost threw the kitchen knife away. He
What's wrong again?
"What did you cut into the radish?"
With Mao Daqiu's voice, everyone in the dining room stopped talking. It was surprisingly quiet. They all looked at Chu Qiao, and then at the food table under her hands.
Chu Qiao didn't know what she had done wrong. Mao Daqiu yelled like this, which made her very embarrassed. When she noticed that everyone looked at her strangely and looked down at the vegetable case, she was also a little dumbfounded. The radish slices she cut were thin.
It couldn't be any thinner, and it completely inherited the skill of cucumber cutting last night, no less.
"Did you cut this?" Mao Daqiu picked up a piece of radish, and everyone in the dining room exclaimed. This kind of "thinness" must be beyond the acceptable range.
Chu Qiao looked at the carrot slices that Mao Daqiu was carrying, and was extremely annoyed. She had just been listening to everyone talking and forgot that the carrots needed to be cut into pieces.
Mao Daqiu stared at the thin radish slices, unable to utter any words of reprimand. Even if he cut it wrong, he had to admire Li Chunxiang's knife skills. How did she do it?
"So thin?"
A nearby cook came up and picked up a piece. He looked at it from the front and back. He went back and tried to cut it. Although he concentrated on it and was careful, he still couldn't succeed.
"Cut, cut into pieces!"
Mao Daqiu threw down the radish slices, yelled a few times in displeasure, then turned around and frowned in confusion, somewhat incomprehensible.
Chu Qiao wiped her sweat and quickly changed the knife. However, she discovered a problem. After training with cutting so many cucumbers last night, she could easily cut the radish pieces very evenly, making them square and almost square.
It's really strange that they are the same.
Moreover, Chu Qiao found that she was chopping vegetables faster. When Mao Daqiu turned around and came back, she had already finished chopping.
"What the hell."
When Mao Daqiu saw this scene, he cursed secretly. Although he wanted to find an excuse to touch that little hand, it seemed that this opportunity was gone. Chu Qiao had already hidden his hand.
"I'm done cutting."
Chu Qiao smiled proudly. Only now did she understand the intention of the old chef. Cutting vegetables was the basic skill, and the techniques were developed in this way. Obviously she needed to cut a few more baskets of cucumbers, radishes, etc. to become more proficient.
"Prepare the ingredients." Mao Daqiu shook his head and went back to cooking.
Chu Qiao responded and went up to help Mao Daqiu prepare the seasoning. A little palace maid came in tremblingly. As soon as she entered the door, she was scolded. After hearing the steward's curse words, Chu Qiao knew that this was her.
It was Lady Liu who delivered meals to the Imperial Hospital. Judging from her face, she seemed to be recovering from her illness, but she didn't seem to have any strength.
After being scolded, Palace Maid Liu stood aside obediently, shrinking her neck, as if she would not resist even if she was pinched to death. She was really pitiful.
But there was one thing that Chu Qiao could confirm. She didn't have to go to the hospital today, and she felt relieved.
Ever since she knew the identity of the man from Yuquan Mountain, Chu Qiao had been resisting seeing him in her heart, and she felt even more regretful. She shouldn't have stood out on Yuquan Mountain. If not, she and he would have just passed each other by now.
.
Undoubtedly, someone had caused unquenchable waves in her still calm heart, and she had to take some time to calm down.
At noon, more than a dozen maids went to deliver meals. Mao Daqiu and several chefs took the assistant cooks and set off to the livestock farm. Obviously, Mao Daqiu brought Chu Qiao out this time, not because he needed her help, but as a personal waiter.
The little palace maid, doing this now and then that way, kept Chu Qiao in such a state that she was actually sweating profusely in the cold weather.
Just as they were walking through the snow toward the palace livestock garden ten miles away, suddenly there was a sound of horse hooves behind them.
Chu Qiao looked back and saw that among the snow and white smoke, several people on horseback were galloping towards her from far away.