Outside the foyer, I saw Xiao Chenzi bringing eight kitchen eunuchs from Jiuzhou Qingyan, each holding a pair of boxes of red lacquered flying dragon soup and meal.
"Paired boxes" means two boxes combined into one, and getting them in pairs means auspiciousness.
Except during the palace festival celebrations, Concubine Qian and Li Guiren rarely saw the emperor's royal family, and their eyes could not help but follow the eunuchs as they came.
When Xiao Chenzi arrived in front of Ji Ling, he cleverly flicked his sleeves to greet Qian'er and said with a smile: "Slave Xiao Chenzi, please pay my respects to the concubine! May the concubine be safe!"
He turned around to greet Concubine Mao, Concubine Qian, and Guiren Li, and saluted them.
Seeing that he had finished his work, Ji Ling smiled and said, "Xiao Chenzi, get up."
When Xiao Chenzi heard the concubine's friendly tone and called her name again, her eyes couldn't help but light up, and she felt that she had gained a lot of face in front of the servants of Jiuzhou Qingyan.
He bowed and said with a smile: "My dearest concubine, I am hereby ordered to send you..."
As Xiao Chenzi spoke, he stood aside with his head high and his chest high, making way for the eight kitchen eunuchs, and sang with great enthusiasm: "Your Majesty gives a bird's nest, mushroom and white smoked chicken to the Concubine——! Your Majesty
Give a piece of vinegar duck kidney soup to the concubine——! The emperor rewards..."
Every time he announced the name of a dish, the kitchen eunuch would walk forward in pairs, with Qixi and Bixue busy at the other end.
After the hot dishes were served, the pastries came again - various rice cakes, flower rolls, soup noodle dumplings, various soup noodles, pork-filled sesame cakes...
When Qixi and Bixue saw this posture, they quickly called the new maid to help.
Five people, ten pairs of hands, passing the dishes around in a dazzling manner, almost overwhelmed - how can it compare to the usual training of the dining room eunuchs in the Kyushu Qingyan?
Ji Ling watched as each banquet box was opened, and there was an endless supply of dishes inside, and they were served like fish and dragons.
Ji Ling covered her face: In the eyes of Fourth Master, am I edible like this?
After a while, there were already eight large banquet boxes piled on the table. The outsides were all decorated with patterns of flying dragons painted in gold, with different shapes. The flying dragons were soaring and ready to fly. They were used by the emperor and were unique and noble.
The eight kitchen eunuchs came forward and took the banquet box away without saying a word.
Concubine Mao, Concubine Qian, and Guiren Li were standing nearby, and for a moment they were speechless.
After all the delicacies were finished, Xiao Chenzi said with a smile: "Don't worry, concubine, the emperor specifically said - these delicacies were all consulted by the imperial doctor. You can use them as long as you like."
!”
Ji Ling pursed her lips and said with a smile: "Xiao Chenzi, go back and thank the emperor for me!"
Her eyes fell on the flying dragon banquet box again, her heart moved, and she asked Xiao Chenzi: "Is the emperor holding a small banquet in front of you today?"
Xiao Chenzi twitched his eyebrows slightly and said with a smile: "In response to Concubine Chen's words - how did the concubine guess it? The emperor indeed entertained several distinguished ministers today and had a small show in the Qinzheng Qinxian Hall
The banquet, when I was ordered to come out just now, the cold food for the banquet was not finished yet!"
He paused and then said with a smile: "The emperor also said..."
What he wanted to convey later were of course Yinzhen's gentle words.
When Xiao Chenzi turned his head, he saw Mao Bi and others next to him looking here. Ji Ling also guessed about it, with a slightly embarrassed look on his face.
Xiao Chenzi knew that this was not the time to speak, so he started talking and then calmly avoided it.
He originally wanted to spend some time in the natural paintings, say a few more flattering words in front of the concubine, and gain a good impression.
However, with Concubine Mao, Concubine Qian and others nearby, when Xiao Chenzi saw that the task was completed, he could only kneel down, get up, take the few kitchen eunuchs, and walk backwards to create a natural pattern.
Seeing that the group of people had gone away, Concubine Qian slowly came back to her senses. Her voice became a little timid, and she was not as confident as she was when she came in at the beginning.
She turned her head and said to Li Guiren without saying anything: "Okay, we have disturbed Concubine Chen for so long, so we should let Concubine Chen have a good rest. We should go!"
Ji Ling listened to her address and changed from "Sister Chen's concubine" to "Empress Chen's concubine"...
After she said this, Mao Bi and Li Guiren both agreed and wanted to leave.
It's so heartbreaking to watch the emperor appreciating vegetables here.
Besides, these people are not fools. The concubines are polite to them, but they are just giving them face, and they are not really so close to them. If they stay here with a cold face, it will be annoying.
.
Ji Ling naturally politely tried to persuade him to stay, but didn't force himself too much.
When Concubine Qian left, she was dejected and in such a hurry that she almost stepped on Concubine Mao's heel.
Seeing that these people had all left, Qixi let out a little breath, helped Ji Ling into the back room, looked at the full imperial meal, and said happily: "Your Majesty, you are so scared to hold it in your mouth, Master."
, hold it in the palm of your hand for fear of falling!"
Yes, even setting up a small banquet in the front court can remind you of the meals in the harem.
Didn’t Xiao Chenzi say just now? - When he had just come out of the Qinzheng Qinxian Hall, the emperor was having a small banquet with his noble ministers, and the cold meal had just started!
Cold meals are the first order of business at a banquet.
Not finishing the cold meal is actually the same as not having started the meal.
Before the emperor had even started the banquet, he thought of his master.
This is very different from admiring the vegetables while eating, or even thinking about admiring the vegetables after eating.
Although there are many large and small banquets in the palace, since the time of Emperor Kangxi of the previous dynasty, there has been a fixed repertoire at the end of various banquets.
That is: the emperor will reward hundreds of royal dishes that he has eaten, leftovers, or just uneaten items to his close ministers and the princes and princes he trusts.
Whether the food is delicious or not is not the key. The key is the leftovers mixed with the emperor's spit - its symbolic meaning is a supreme honor for the noble ministers.
How many people in the world can follow the emperor to pick up leftovers?
This behavior itself illustrates the incomparable intimacy between the monarch and his ministers.
But now, the emperor was thinking of delivering the royal meal to his master just before the banquet started.
The operations of Xiao Chenzi and the eight kitchen eunuchs also made all the nuns in the natural painting look dumbfounded - the name of the concubine was that before she came to Yuanmingyuan again, she was still a noble person at that time, and the palace
No one here knows it, no one knows it.
Everyone knows that a concubine is favored—but how exactly is she favored?
The grandmothers couldn't tell.
According to their various experiences in serving concubines and empresses in the past, they always feel that to gain favor is to resort to a hundred tricks and try their best to retain the emperor.
Isn't that right? They have seen it in the past - ladies and gentlemen, some are pretending to be sick, some are crying and pretending to be pitiful, some are dragging their children to be pampered, and the most ruthless ones, some can make their children suffer a little, even to the emperor.
induced.
Tsk tsk, there are all kinds of things in the deep palace that are unspeakable.
But when I arrived at the concubine, I saw that the master was actually doing well, but the emperor came here every two days and kept giving him this kind of energy... just like a young man who was in love.
Tsk tsk, this is called pampering!
The nuns exchanged glances with each other, secretly gaining a new understanding of how favored the concubine was.