The Empress Arrives: Rebirth of Concubine Hua

This day was the tenth day, and Su Peisheng arrived at Yiku Palace early in the morning. He first paid his respects to Nian Shilan.

Nian Shilan looked at Su Peisheng, who rarely kneeled on the ground, and said with a smile.

"Eunuch Su, please get up! It's New Year's Day.
It's rare that you have time to come here in person.

But what does the Emperor want?"

Xiao Linzi was very considerate and took two steps forward to help Su Peisheng stand up.

While Su Peisheng was being polite, he was very pleased that Xiao Linzi had a good eye for him.

"Thank you very much, Majesty, for your consideration and wisdom.

The emperor said that lunch will be served in the Yikun Palace today.

The Emperor hasn't seen the Fourth Prince for several days and is missing him very much.

The Emperor asked me to ask if the Fourth Prince has been eating well these days.
Did you sleep well? Did you cry at night? "

Nian Shilan was still smiling.

"Your Majesty, thank you for your concern. On behalf of the Fourth Prince, I would like to thank Your Majesty for his grace.

Please ask Eunuch Su to report to His Majesty that the Fourth Prince is doing well.

Eat well, sleep soundly, and this makes me worry less.

I will instruct the small kitchen to prepare lunch in a moment.

Then bring the Fourth Prince out for the Emperor to hug personally.
See if I have taken care of the Fourth Prince too much."

As she spoke, Nian Shilan personally took out an exquisite purse and gave it to Su Peisheng.

"During the New Year, it is hard for Eunuch Su to come to Yikun Palace in person despite his busy schedule.

I don’t have anything else, this purse is for you to drink tea with.”

Su Peisheng knew that this was a reward from Concubine Hua in consideration of the New Year, so he did not refuse it. He accepted it generously and bowed to express his gratitude.

"Thank you very much, Madam Hua Fei, for your reward. I will report back to the Emperor."

Su Peisheng is a smart man among smart men. As soon as he got the purse, he weighed its weight.

There were about ten taels of silver in the purse. You should know that the monthly allowance of a noble in the palace was only ten taels of silver.

Empress Hua is so generous!

Su Peisheng thought about the rewards that Nian Gengyao had received, and he must have given a lot of it to Concubine Hua.

It was rare that the Nian brothers and sisters were not arrogant. Nian Gengyao was taciturn in the court and did not like to form cliques with others.

Although Concubine Hua's methods are more powerful in the harem, it is also for the purpose of better managing the six palaces.

Su Peisheng happily took the silver and returned to work for Yinzhen, and reported everything Nian Shilan had said in detail.

When Yinzhen heard Su Peisheng say that Nian Shilan took good care of the Fourth Prince and even prepared lunch for him, he couldn't help but smile.

Su Peisheng said again.

"Empress Hua also gave me a purse as a reward. I found it quite valuable, so I specially reported it to the Emperor."

As he spoke, he glanced at Yinzhen's face and saw that Yinzhen glanced at the purse and didn't seem to care much.

"Empress Hua is generous and has given you a reward. Just take it with confidence."

Su Peisheng chuckled and put away his purse.

After Su Peisheng left Yiku Palace, Nian Shilan went to the small kitchen in her palace and asked them to cook a copper pot of mutton.

Song Zhi said.

"It's New Year's Day, and the master is giving this to the emperor?"

Nian Shilan glanced at Songzhi.

"Your Majesty must have gotten tired of the dishes in the imperial kitchen these days, this mutton hotpot is much better.

What I asked someone to get was the fine mutton that my brother brought back from the northwest.
My brother told me that those sheep were raised on a diet of sand onions and had no smell at all.

There is no need to add any seasoning, just cut it into thin slices and rinse it in the copper pot of white water."

Songzhi couldn't help but ask.

"Boiled mutton in plain water? How would that taste?

Please forgive my ignorance, I have never heard of such a way of eating. "

Nian Shilan said with some pride.

“I heard about it from my brother, so I made it today to try it out.

My brother said that you just need to add onions, ginger and garlic to plain water and cook them together.

The real secret is in the sauce.”

Songzhi was confused, trying to recall in her mind when the general had taught her that her master could speak so confidently.

The master is in the harem and rarely has the opportunity to see her family. Could it be what the letter said?
No wonder the master often brings thick letters to Xiao Linzi to deliver. I guess they are not letters but recipes?

Nian Shilan had no idea about the nonsense in Songzhi's mind because she was also making it up.

This way of eating was proposed by Nian Gengyao at the hunting ground when I followed Yinzhen on hunting trips in my previous life.

The sauce for dipping the mutton is particularly important. In his previous life, Nian Gengyao had taken shallots and leek flowers that were used to make the sauce, added blended sesame paste, and some fried dried Qin pepper segments. The taste was unforgettable.

In this life, Nian Shilan has been asking Nian Gengyao to prepare these for her since the twelfth lunar month.

Nian Gengyao was puzzled for a moment. He wondered how his sister, who had been a noble and precious person since childhood and was in the harem, knew all this.

However, he did not ask any further questions and just did as he was told. As long as his sister was happy, there was nothing wrong with it.

When Yinzhen arrived at lunch time, he saw the steaming copper pot bubbling.

Nian Shilan pulled Yinzhen to sit at the table and said with a smile.

"I think the emperor must have eaten too much meat and fish recently.
I specially prepared this light lamb hotpot.

Your Majesty, please try it and see if you like it."

Yinzhen looked at the pot of water and wondered.

"What are you doing today? I am a little tired of eating these days, but you can't fool me with plain water."

But Yinzhen had a smile on his face, and Nian Shilan was not worried at all about angering the emperor.

She said with a smile.

"Your Majesty has wronged me. How dare I deceive you? The emperor's wrath will burn thousands of miles of land.

I cannot bear it. The pots that His Majesty used to eat were all seasoned with a lot of spices.
Today, I want to let Your Majesty taste this hot pot mutton."

Yinzhen sat down and smiled.

"I'd like to try it. If it doesn't taste good, you have to make me another meal."

Nian Shilan had personally placed the prepared dipping sauce in front of Yinzhen, and then used ebony silver chopsticks to dip the slices of mutton on the plate.

Yinzhen said.

"Why bother doing these little things yourself? Just let the servants do it."

Su Peisheng hurried forward and took the chopsticks from Nian Shilan's hand.

Nian Shilan did not act pretentiously. She handed the chopsticks to Su Peisheng and asked him to cook the dishes on the table one by one according to the method she had just taught him and serve them to the emperor.

Nian Shilan insisted on taking another pair of chopsticks, rinsed the mutton in the pot, put it in her own bowl, and tasted it carefully.

When Yinzhen took his first bite of the hot pot mutton, he immediately let out a sigh of satisfaction.

"Shilan really knows how to eat. I have never tasted such delicious food before.

This mutton doesn't have any fishy taste. Although it is boiled in plain water, it tastes delicious when paired with this dipping sauce.
There is only delicious taste in the mouth, no other taste. "

Nian Shilan chewed the mutton in his mouth carefully, and after swallowing it, he took out another piece of meat with the ebony silver chopsticks and put it into the pot to cook.

Nian Shilan said as she watched the mutton quickly change color and become cooked in the white water.

"As long as the emperor likes it. Although the method of making this pot is simple, it has a unique flavor.

It’s different from the daily eating habits in the palace.”

Yinzhen was so satisfied with the meal that he couldn't help but eat a lot.

Su Peisheng was anxious watching from the side but did not dare to say anything to persuade them.

Some time ago, the emperor was unhappy because the empress warned him not to eat more than three times a day when he had a meal in the empress's palace.

Your Majesty is in good health now, so it’s okay for him to eat more meat.

Su Peisheng felt relieved when thinking this.

Yinzhen was eating when he suddenly said.

"Shilan has been working in the palace day and night, and has come up with something so simple and delicious. I am really surprised."

Upon hearing this, Nian Shilan put down her chopsticks, smiled sweetly and said.

"How could I have such ability? Your Majesty knows that I can only order others around.

This mutton was brought back by my brother from the northwest. It is said that the mutton that grew up eating sand onions has delicious meat.

But there is no smell of mutton. My brother also taught me how to make this sauce.

My brother said that the soldiers on the frontier had a hard life and the food in the pot helped them keep warm.

Even this pot of boiled water is what the soldiers have been waiting for for a long time to eat."

Nian Shilan smiled playfully and continued.

"Your Majesty is the Supreme Being. I dare to ask Your Majesty to eat such food. Your Majesty will not blame me, right?"

(End of this chapter)