Harem: Biography of Concubine Qin

Chapter 90
Seeing that it was evening, I am afraid that after the salute utensils were arranged, dinner would be served.

Chen Wenxin lay flat on her stomach, lying on the quilt, while Bai Lu half sat on the edge of the couch and held her shoulders.

"Neck, neck hurts..."

Not only the neck, but also the shoulders, waist, back, everywhere.

Bai Lu patiently massaged her, seeing that her consciousness gradually became blurred, afraid that she would just fall asleep, so she led her to talk.

"Master, what do you think of this station?"

"It's pretty good. Yongqing County is close to the capital, and it can be regarded as the foot of the emperor, so it's not too bad."

Anyway, the yard arranged for her is not bad. I don't know what to do with the emperor, it should be better than her place, right?

"Master, what do you want to use for dinner? If you have any ideas, I will go and inform Mrs. Zhao."

Chen Wenxin began to think about this issue. It is spring and everything is recovering.In this season, all kinds of fresh fruits and vegetables are still available.

After sitting in the carriage all day, I have no appetite, so I want to eat some fresh fruit now.

"Aren't there cherries at this time of year?"

I passed by the market just now and seemed to see a vendor selling cherries.

"And strawberries!"

She sat up from the bed as she spoke, "I want to eat now."

Bai Lu smiled and said, "Master is not too picky. These are all seasonal fresh fruits, and they are abundant in Zhili area. They are in the food box that Mrs. Zhao sent just now."

Bai Shuang listened to Huatou and brought in the food box, put it on the table and opened it, the first box was cakes of various colors.

"Master, these are Zhili's specialty cakes, do you want to try them?"

Chen Wenxin lost his appetite when he saw it, "My mouth is bitter now, who wants to eat that. You just find out the fruit box."

The next floor is indeed a fruit box, which contains not only the cherries and strawberries that Chen Wenxin just mentioned, but also fresh oranges and fragrant pears.

She didn't even get up, she just leaned against the bedside cabinet, and Bai Lu stuffed a mandarin duck soft pillow behind her waist to make her more comfortable.

With Bai Shuang holding the box, she picked up a cherry and began to chew it.

"Hmm. So sweet!"

Bai Lu brought her hand to her mouth to let her spit out the pit, she picked up another cherry and stuffed it into Bai Lu's mouth, and fed Bai Shuang one more.

"Sweet?"

She picked up another cherry.

Chen Wenxin also did such things in the palace, and let them taste whatever was good to eat.Especially Bai Lu, she is Chen Wenxin's personal palace maid, there is hardly anything she has never eaten.

If it was something like pastry fruit, she would give Bai Lu one at will.

Like the fresh dishes developed by the small kitchen, Chen Wenxin and the emperor will also reward them with the dishes after eating.

A bowl of dishes was brought to the host and table. In fact, there were at least two bowls made in the small kitchen.

You have to prepare for the master to eat, and you want another bowl, right?

This is a tacit understanding in the palace.

But this kind of situation usually does not happen, so the rest of the dishes are eaten by the people in the dining room.Unless there is a master who orders it to be rewarded, the dining room will be given to whom.

In the Yikun Palace, the six palace people brought by Chen Wenxin are regular guests of the appreciating dishes.Apart from the six of them, there are Mother Liu and Mother Deng.

"I think it's sweeter than the ones in the palace."

Calling Bai Shuang to speak so openly, Chen Wenxin also felt that it seemed to be sweeter than the one in the palace.

"What's going on here, isn't it that Zhili's cherries were brought into the palace?"

Bai Lu looked at the cherries in the box, and quickly figured it out, "The food brought to the palace as a tribute is naturally top-notch. It's just that the appearance is good, the inside may not be better than the ordinary cherries outside."

Chen Wenxin picked up a cherry and took a closer look. Although the cherry was sweet, it was not as big as the one in the palace, and the color was not rosy enough.

If she had to choose, she would definitely choose something delicious. What's the use of looking good?

However, the imperial palace is destined to be a place that cares about face and not liking.

She thought about it, thinking that the emperor would give food to some foreign ministers' homes at the New Year's state banquet.

A minister who goes to a banquet will bring at most one wife or child.There are old and young in his family, and those who are not qualified to come to the banquet, the emperor will give food to the family of the favored ministers.

Those dishes were prepared from the imperial dining room in the palace, sent out of the palace after being assigned by the emperor, and finally sent to the homes of the ministers.

In the season of the twelfth lunar month in the cold winter, the minister’s family has to give thanks for the food, and then enshrine it in front of the ancestor’s case, and the mouth is already cold when he eats it.

Chen/Xihai also received food gifts at that time, and Mrs. Zheng and her two younger sons, who were at home at that time, both ate the dishes given by the emperor.

It was a golden and jade-full dish, a chowder of fresh fruits mixed with various grains such as corn kernels and mung beans. It was originally eaten hot or cold.

Mrs. Zheng entered the palace on her birthday, and once talked about this gossip with Madam Liu and the others in front of her.

It is said that Master Tong, the uncle of the country, was rewarded with an extremely luxurious dish of sea and land, and Master Tong's wife and several children ate it.Mrs. Tong was weak, she didn't dare to live up to the emperor's grace, she ate too much, she vomited and had diarrhea for several days.

This is not just for the sake of face, not liking.

Such things are very common in the palace.

Chen Wenxin thought secretly, could the emperor know this and deliberately reward Tong Guowei's seemingly luxurious, but in fact, cold and extremely difficult to eat?

It's good to appreciate Chen/Xihai's gold and jade, but it's just some corn and mung beans, and it won't affect you if you eat it cold.

This year's state banquet, if the emperor still wants to give food, she must remind the emperor to reward the Chen family with a full house of gold and jade.

"Miss Qin, the emperor's dinner is set up, please go and have dinner."

Ah, it's time for dinner?
There was still a cherry in Chen Wenxin's mouth, and the thin skin was broken with one bite. The sweet and sour juice of the cherry filled her cheeks with a fragrance.

She seems to have eaten too much without knowing it...

The emperor's residence was arranged in the main hall in the front yard of Mingo Post, which should be the office of the post, and it was temporarily moved out to welcome the Emperor.

The emperor saw it at a glance, so he told Li Dequan and the station officer Zhao Tianyi that he and Chen Wenxin could live together in the inner courtyard, and let them work in the main hall.

After all, the emperor is not a person who indulges in pleasure.

Zhao Tian only knew that the emperor was in the Forbidden City, and he lived in the Qianqing Palace in the middle of the palace.

The empresses and concubines had their own palaces, so he tidied up the central hall and gave it to the emperor, and also tidied up a separate courtyard for Chen Wenxin.

Unexpectedly, the emperor told them to pack up the courtroom after dinner. It is shameful that the courthouse of a dignified post station is gone.

Hearing this, Zhao Tianyi was very panicked.

There are two seats at the top of the main hall, the emperor sits in the middle, and the one shorter on the side belongs to Chen Wenxin.

There are also a few seats at the bottom, which belong to Chen Wenyi, two bachelors and imperial physicians, and the bottom one is Zhao Tianyi, the station official.

This imperial doctor is the judge of the left courtyard of the imperial hospital, named Lu Zong.The emperor didn't like this person at first, he thought he was ugly.But the imperial physicians who are as skilled as him are too old to travel long distances.

These two university non-commissioned officers are second-rank, and they can be regarded as senior officials.One of them was older, about 50 years old, and his name was Wang Xi.Another younger one, about thirty, was called Huang Ji.

These two walked frequently in the emperor's south study, and they were civil servants whom the emperor relied heavily on.Being able to go on tour with a micro-clothes next to their body is enough to show the emperor's trust in them.

Originally, the emperor wanted to bring Nan Huairen, but unfortunately his Western appearance is too unique, and it was too ostentatious to bring him out.

Where the emperor is present, as usual, the opening of the banquet requires the emperor to toast and drink together before everyone can start eating.

Sure enough, the emperor raised his glass and said: "Since I am visiting privately in micro-services, you dear friends have worked hard with me, so you don't have to be restrained. It's very nice to ask Zhao Qing to arrange board and lodging."

The emperor said this very politely, everyone dared not say it, Zhao Tianyi stood up and cupped his hands and said: "Rural village things, simple tea and light food, please don't dislike the emperor and empress."

"It's okay. Let's eat."

The emperor picked up a chopstick of japonica rice first, then everyone politely exchanged words and began to eat.

After a day of traveling in the carriage, everyone was tired, and now they were also hungry.

Naturally, the food is not as exquisite as that in Beijing, but fortunately Zhao Tianyi is not stupid, he didn't make some big fish and meat to block the eyes, but served some refreshing side dishes.

Chen Wenxin only ate vegetables, and didn't touch the bowl of rice.

The emperor looked at the small bowl full of rice in front of her, and asked softly, "Why, this round-grained rice doesn't suit your taste?"

Although the emperor's voice was soft, everyone below still heard it, and the hands holding the chopsticks paused.

Zhao Tianyi was even more nervous. Could it be that the dinner he carefully prepared still dissatisfied this concubine?

Japonica rice is served by Beijing officials, and ordinary people cannot eat such good rice.

Zhao Tianyi is not a Beijing official, so the rice might have been bought outside at a high price.

It's just that what the palace eats is Oden pearl rice, and Chen Wenxin often eats a kind of precious Oden rouge rice.In contrast, this japonica rice is indeed rough.

The emperor doesn't even think it's rough, but does this concubine feel disgusted?

Wang Xi secretly frowned, his gray eyebrows almost forming a straight line.

"no……"

Chen Wenxin felt a little embarrassed, and saw that Zhao Tianyi was panicking again. If he didn't make it clear, Mr. Zhao might not be able to sleep tonight.

"It's because the concubine ate too many cherries in the house just now, and the cherries that Mrs. Zhao sent are very delicious. I'm not hungry now, seeing the freshness of the dishes, I want to eat more."

It turned out that I was full of cherries and wanted to eat vegetables, so I didn't touch japonica rice.

Every word in her words praised Ming Geyi for his considerate care, and said that the cherries delivered were delicious, and that the dishes were fresh.

Master Wang Xi's brows stretched.

This concubine, the concubine Youlong, not only does not rely on pampering, but also considers her subordinates and bureaucrats.I would rather disclose my greediness than let Zhao Tianyi be charged with negligence.

This can really be called a virtuous concubine.

Chen Wenyi saw the change in Wang Xi's expression and secretly smiled.

Zhao Tianyi also breathed a sigh of relief, and he was grateful to this diligent concubine.

The emperor laughed and said: "You still need to eat some rice to keep it under control, otherwise you will be hungry at night, which is not good for sleep."

"Yes."

In front of the foreign ministers, Chen Wenxin didn't want to talk too much, and it would not be too late to speak slowly after the table was over.

(End of this chapter)