Chapter 198: Princess Yinghua has made new food

"Holding a banquet?"

Shen Huazheng was a little surprised to learn from An Desheng that Emperor Jingning hoped that she could help arrange a banquet to reward the ministers.

As far as she knew, there was no banquet during the autumn hunt in previous years.

At most, after the hunting competition, Emperor Jingning would give some prey to the top-ranked contestants.

When hunting, the palace servants would also prepare some food and send it to the ministers and their families.

Is this banquet newly added this year? ?

"That's right. This banquet was held on the spur of the moment by His Majesty. However, there are not many cooks in the palace, so I have to trouble the county lady."

An Desheng saw Shen Huazheng's hesitation and was worried that she would refuse.

"His Majesty said that as long as it is necessary, all personnel and materials can be deployed by the county lady. Of course, the remuneration is calculated separately. I guarantee that the county lady will be satisfied."

Shen Huazheng noticed that when An Desheng said the last two sentences, he deliberately slowed down his speech.

It seemed as if he was deliberately emphasizing that as long as she agreed to host the banquet, she would be able to get a handsome reward.

Really, is she the kind of person who is blinded by money?

An Desheng observed Shen Huazheng's expression: "I wonder what the county lord thinks?"

A smile spread across Shen Huazheng’s face: “No problem.”

Every time Emperor Jingning asked her to do something, the compensation she gave was indeed something she could not refuse.

Even if the person who made this request was not the emperor, he would still have to take the job first for the sake of the remuneration.

An Desheng also laughed: "Your Majesty has had all the prey caught today moved to the kitchen. The county lady can go and have a look. If there is anything missing, just come to me. I have sent a message that everyone in the kitchen is at the county lady's disposal. Just give me any instructions."

Shen Huazheng: "Thank you, eunuch."

"You are too polite, County Lord."

Seeing that Shen Huazheng had readily accepted the task, An Desheng explained the important matters one by one, then hurriedly got up and went back to report to Emperor Jingning.

Emperor Jingning has been in a good mood these past two days. If he goes back to report earlier, he might receive an unexpected reward.

Before long, news spread that Emperor Jingning was planning to hold a banquet in the enclosure to reward his ministers, sparking much discussion among the public.

"Your Majesty is going to hold a banquet here. This is not a tradition in previous years."

"It was said that this was a temporary decision. They wanted to reward all the officials and their families who came to participate in the autumn hunt."

"But what can we eat at a banquet here? There is only game here. We are tired of eating barbecue every day, and the food prepared by the palace servants is not tasty either."

"Your Majesty wants to hold a banquet, so he naturally needs to find capable people. Can't you guess who will be added this year?"

"Are you talking about Lady Yinghua?"

"In previous years, Princess Yinghua never came to the enclosure with us. But this year, as soon as she came, His Majesty said he wanted to hold a banquet."

"Oh, right. Wasn't it County Lady Yinghua who hosted the Mid-Autumn Palace Banquet? So it's normal for His Majesty to ask her to host the banquet in the hunting ground."

"Oh my god, then won't we be able to eat the food made by County Lady Yinghua again?"

"I didn't get to taste the crab feast or the chrysanthemum feast hosted by County Lady Yinghua. I only got to taste the Mid-Autumn Palace Feast. I thought it was a pity before. I didn't expect that I would have such a great feast now that I'm in the enclosure."

"I have a feeling that Lady Yinghua is going to make some new delicacies again."

“I’m really looking forward to it~~”

So, after the news that Emperor Jingning was planning to hold a banquet spread, the news that Shen Huazheng was planning to make fancy food also spread.

Everyone was ecstatic, anxiously and excitedly waiting for the feast to arrive.

…

Amid everyone's anticipation, the banquet finally began and was held in the spacious main tent of the place.

The candlelight in the tent was bright as day.

Emperor Jingning helped the Queen Mother to sit down in the center, and then he and the Queen also sat down in their seats.

After the emperor and empress had taken their seats, the ministers and their wives sat down in their own seats.

The banquet officially began, and palace servants came in one after another with trays in their hands, placing plate after plate of food on the table.

When everyone looked closely, they saw not only various grilled meats and fruits and vegetables, but also steaming pots.

The soup in the pot is clear and glossy, and red dates, wolfberries and various mushrooms rise and fall in the pot as the soup boils.

Someone couldn't help but ask: "There's a pot? Are we going to have hot pot?"

As if to confirm his guess, the next moment, another group of palace servants came in with trays and placed the ingredients for the hot pot on the table one by one.

There are vegetables, bean curd sticks, tofu and other soy products that you usually eat in hot pot.

There was also a plate of very thinly sliced, pink and tender meat and red meatballs... There were deer tripe, deer tendons, deer belly, deer kidneys and the like.

At first glance, it is obvious that the meatballs are made from the prey hunted this time, but no one knows what kind of prey it is.

Mo Zhishan took advantage of the time when the palace servants were serving the dishes to ask, and only then did he realize that the pot was actually a specially prepared venison hotpot.

In addition to red dates, wolfberries, mushrooms and some medicinal herbs that are good for the body, there are also fresh deer bones in the pot.

These plates of thin, translucent meat are all venison.

Even the meatballs were made from venison.

The others soon learned the news from the palace people and they all opened their mouths in shock.

Oh my god, there are deer bones in this pot, no wonder it smells so good.

And these red meat slices and meatballs are actually made of venison.

In addition to fresh venison and meatballs, the palace servants also presented some venison offal.

There are ingredients such as deer tripe, deer tendons, deer belly, deer kidneys, etc. It is very rich.

Mo Zhishan was excited as he watched the bubbling hot pot.

He knew that with so much game to be seen during this autumn hunt, County Lady Yinghua would definitely make some new food.

It turned out to be the right place!!

Zhou smelled the fragrant aroma and looked at the steam rising from the pot: "Zheng'er, why does the bottom of this hot pot smell like coconut?"

Chen Huazheng smiled and said, "Deer bones and venison have nourishing effects, but too much may cause internal heat. So I added five-fingered ginseng to the soup base to reduce dryness and heat."

Zhou nodded. It turned out that five-fingered peach was added to it. No wonder it smelled like coconut.

"Zheng'er is really thoughtful."

Before eating the hot pot, Princess Lejia scooped a bowl of deer bone soup for Princess Yi'an and also scooped a bowl for herself.

After a long period of stewing, the deer bones take on a slightly brown color, and the boiling soup base is amber, clear and translucent, which looks very tempting.

"Grandma, try this deer bone soup. Zheng Zheng said you can drink some before eating hot pot."

"Okay," Princess Yi'an nodded with a smile, "Ning'er can drink it too."

"Hmm." Princess Lejia scooped up a spoonful of soup, brought it to her mouth, blew it gently, and took a sip.

The warm and smooth soup slowly falls into the throat, and the sweet taste lingers on the tip of the tongue.

The soup is fragrant but not greasy. In addition to the aroma of deer bones and various ingredients, there is also a coconut aroma that is hard to ignore.

The taste is even more refreshing than the coconut chicken soup I tasted last time, making people want to drink a few more sips.

Ahhh, it tastes so good!!

The soup base is already so delicious, what will it be like when you add meat to it? ?

After finishing a small bowl of soup, Prince An couldn't wait any longer.

He picked up a large piece of venison with a serving chopstick in one hand, picked up the colander in the other, and began to rinse the meat.

From childhood to adulthood, Prince An has always been most concerned about food.

He was concentrating, his eyes fixed on the boiling hot pot.

When the meat was ready, Prince An quickly brought up the colander, used the serving chopsticks to pick up some meat for Princess An and Xiao Jingran, and then poured the rest into his own bowl.