As soon as Yin entered the courtyard, the first thing he saw was two rows of floor lamps supported by oil paper cloth.
At this time, the sky is dim and twilight is closing in. There are only the fragrance of grass, leaves, trees and earth floating around. The floor lamps are on both sides of the path, and the shadows of the lamps are hazy, which is quite elegant.
There is a small pond in the middle of the courtyard, which contains some clear water. The source is the running water brought from the imperial garden. The water surface ripples slightly with the evening breeze, reflecting the dim yellow light of the ground lamp, just like a floating lantern on the water.
Although there are only three rooms, each window is covered with light green window paper and wiped clean. At a glance, it looks like a green garden.
Although it is a small world, it is organized in a warm and lovely way.
A group of people entered the back room, and the light suddenly dimmed. Compared with Mao Bi's main hall, this place seemed much shabby. Not only was the room not spacious and bright enough, but the furniture and furnishings were also relatively simple. However, the beams were high and cyan hangings were hung on them.
The palace lanterns with tents and tassels hang low, everything in the house is cleaned, tables, chairs, wardrobes are arranged in an orderly manner, and there is a kind of simplicity and beauty.
Bixue came over with a copper basin to help Yin wash his hands. Yin saw some tea leaves floating on the hot water in the copper basin. They were just ordinary tea leaves. When they were evaporated by the heat, the fragrance of tea came out.
This was Ji Ling's first time spending time with the emperor outside of bedtime. It would be a lie to say that she was not nervous at all.
Ji Ling wiped her hands on the hem of the flag jacket and whispered: "Your Majesty, wash your hands first, hot tea can relieve your fatigue." Yin heard her speak very fast, and when she finished speaking, her voice trembled imperceptibly.
, and saw her hands constantly making small movements, knowing that she was nervous, he smiled and said gently: "Where am I sitting?".
Only then did Ji Ling remember that she had been standing since Yin came in. She smiled sheepishly and wanted to move the bed she was sitting on for Yin to sit on. It was the best bed in her room.
The stool was empty. The servant quickly stepped forward to help her move it.
Yin rolled up his sleeves slightly, put his hand into the copper basin and started washing his hands. His movements were careful and slow. Ji Ling stood beside him and saw that Yin had washed his hands, and there were still drops of water on his fingertips, so he borrowed it from the slave's hand.
Use the towel roll to wipe Yin's hands.
While wiping, Yin looked around the room, frowned for a while and said, "From tomorrow on, you can move to the east courtyard."
The east courtyard is where Hai Guiren used to live.
Although the sparrow is small, it has all the internal organs. Although it cannot be compared with the main hall of Mao Bi, it is much better than the west courtyard where Ji Ling lives now.
The most important thing is that it also has its own small kitchen. Although there is no cook, Ji Ling quickly thought of setting up a stove and making simple late-night snacks, breakfast pastries, fried rice, noodles, etc.
, definitely no problem!
She knelt down and quickly thanked him.
In less than a stick of incense, Qixi and Xiaofenzi came back. Knowing that the emperor was here, the Changchun Palace dining room was eager to bring out the entire dining room to flatter him, and the eunuch in charge of the dining room personally brought hot pots to him.
Only then did Yin realize that Ji Ling's meals were all served by Changchun Palace.
"Why isn't the dining room in Jingyang Palace used?" he asked Ji Ling.
Ji Ling hesitated for a moment and then said slowly: "Mother Maobin has been a vegetarian for many years, and she only eats vegetarian dishes... so I have been following you to the Changchun Palace dining room to have a full meal." As he spoke, the dishes were already being served one by one.
When it is served, a place for the hot pot is reserved in the center of the table.
The hot pot arrived, it was Yuanyang pot.
In fact, Yin quite likes hot pot, but he is used to keeping his preferences secret and keeping his sorrows and joys secret. Hot pot will never appear on the menus of the Yangxin Palace and Qianqing Palace for two consecutive days. Even the Queen and Nian Fei will. I thought Yin didn't like hot pot.
Ji Ling stood up, took out the plates of sauces, and lined them up in a long line on the edge of the table for Yin to choose. The clear soup on one side of the mandarin duck pot was milky and fragrant, while the red soup on the other side was filled with chili peppers. Sichuan peppercorns, five-spice, star anise, and fennel smell spicy and numb.
In fact, when she eats hot pot, she usually wears a homemade scarf, which Qixi specially sewed for her. It is made of coarse floral fabric and is unseemly, but it still has no problem blocking the splashing oil and water.
There was no way, after all, the original owner had too few clothes and there was nothing he could change.
However, since Yin was opposite him at this time, he was inevitably restrained, so Ji Ling did not dare to send someone to take out the scarf.
Seeing that the water in the hot pot was boiling with white spray, and the temperature was about the same, Ji Ling took action himself, picked up a piece of mutton with long chopsticks, and put down the red soup.
The mutton knife was very good. It was cut as thin as paper and almost transparent, making it easy to taste. As soon as it was put into the pot, it immediately changed color and was soaked in red soup, and the aroma was overflowing.
Ji Ling rolled the mutton in sesame sauce, then dipped it in some white sesame seeds, boldly put it on the plate in front of Yin, and said like a treasure: "Your Majesty, please try it, it's delicious!".
Su Peisheng, who was always serving the meal, stopped his hand and glanced at Yin. To his surprise, Yin actually gave Ji a face, picked up the chopsticks in front of him, and picked up the chopsticks. Put the piece of mutton into your mouth.
Su Peisheng looked at the mushy stuff, whether it was white or red... oil was still dripping down. He knew that Yin had always hated dishes that were not refreshing.
But when Ji Chang offered it to him, he actually ate it!
Su Peisheng slowly took a breath, pursed his lips, waved his hand gently, and left with the servants in the room, leaving only Qixi waiting at the table. When he walked to the door, he quietly closed the door. .
Yin had never tried dipping sesame sauce into a hot pot before. For him, this was a brand new attempt.
Qibao sauce was usually served with the hot pot in the Qing palace. The so-called Qibao sauce was made from seven kinds of bamboo shoots, cattail leaf, rock fungus, perilla leaves, peanuts, rice wine and pepper. It was sour and spicy and very appetizing. .
Yin took a few bites and felt that the taste was very good. He saw that the mutton slices on the plate had been finished. Qixi was about to order more when Ji Ling had already dipped another plate of barbecued meat in sweet sauce and wrapped it in cabbage that had been blanched in boiling water. Ye Li handed it to Yin: "Your Majesty, I have wrapped my body for you. You can try eating this again!"
Yin looked at the cabbage leaves. They were dry and dry after being soaked in salt water. The barbecue inside was sizzling with oil, and it was paired with red sweet sauce. Jishi just took it with his hands... and handed it to him. ...it's not that particular.
Yin took it with chopsticks and saw the barbecue being placed on the plate and the cabbage leaves flicking open. Ji Ling hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, don't eat this separately. It's best if you eat it wrapped!" After she finished speaking, she took it. He picked up the cabbage leaves in front of him and put in a piece of barbecue to demonstrate.
There was a slight smile on the corner of Yin's mouth, and he looked at her quietly: This Ji family! When talking about eating, his eyebrows lit up and he talked non-stop. The nervousness just now was gone at all.
Ji Ling was still talking when she suddenly saw Yin looking at her with a smile, without saying a word, as if he was teasing her, but also seemed to like him. Her heart skipped a beat and she immediately shut up.