Chapter 150,

"The Hu envoys arrived so hastily, and the banquet is scheduled for tonight. The imperial kitchen is full of experienced chefs, so they're bound to be short on energy. So... I thought of asking them to each bring out a special dish to welcome the Hu envoys. This would be a token of our appreciation, right? We can then tell them that the emperor has specially recruited many skilled chefs from Bianjing to prepare their meals for them."

"I'd like to invite them to taste some of Bianjing's specialties and experience its customs and culture, Your Majesty. What do you think?"

Later, she started to speak in a coquettish tone.

However...there was mostly impatience in Emperor Mingde's eyes.

But then she thought again that it might be better to arrange more people to go in, so that she wouldn't cause trouble and let the Hu envoy see that they were having an internal conflict, which would be bad.

So no matter what, they have to pretend to be friendly and deal with the envoy from the Hu Kingdom first.

For a moment, no one knew who was plotting against whom, but Emperor Mingde actually agreed to the imperial concubine's request.

This made Su Guoer look panicked.

Unexpectedly, unexpectedly, she still couldn't avoid it, but... the result was better than she had expected at the beginning. She was finally not fighting alone. With the participation of several other chefs, even if something happened, she could get herself out of it.

If that doesn't work, the Imperial Concubine will do her best to protect her. After all, she is her person on the surface, and anyone with an eye can find out with a quick investigation.

Su Guoer felt that the Imperial Concubine would definitely not want anything to happen to her, nor would she want anything to happen at the banquet.

So, just as Su Guoer and the others left Chaoyang Palace and returned to their own small courtyard, Qingluan came over with a few young palace maids. She came to give Su Guoer instructions and to hand these people over to Su Guoer for command.

"You don't need to stand out this time. You just need to keep a close eye on the people in the imperial kitchen. These are the people I assign to you. Don't worry, they are all my people. Just give them instructions if there is anything."

Qingluan led everyone in front of her and introduced them one by one. "Xiaoxiao, Xiangzhu, Cuitao, Minghua, all of you just need to follow Madam Su today. Do whatever she tells you to do. Remember, you can't let anyone with ulterior motives ruin this banquet. Do you understand?"

Several people nodded politely and replied, "We will follow your instructions, sir."

Then she pulled Su Guoer aside and said, "You can trust them, but there will be so many people at this banquet, and we're afraid we won't be able to fully control the imperial chef's situation. So we need you to pay more attention and ensure that there are no problems with the dishes at this banquet. Can you do it?"

Su Guoer bit her lip and said, "I'll try my best." Qingluan was a little dissatisfied by not giving her a direct answer, but she still said, "Forget it, forget it. You have always been so cautious, so I don't think anything will go wrong. I don't believe you can do it either."

"This banquet was entrusted to Her Majesty at her own whim, and with such a tight deadline, we were completely unprepared. This is the only option left. If anything goes wrong, please be careful. If anything does go wrong, blame it on those outside chefs first. Don't try to drag Her Majesty into this out of a momentary act of kindness. Do you understand?"

Su Guoer can guarantee this.

So she said, "I do know this. Don't worry, sir. After all, who doesn't want to live a good life?"

Although Su Guoer is not afraid of death, she will not make unnecessary sacrifices. Besides, she doesn't think there is anyone among these chefs who needs her protection.

Okay, that's the end of it for now.

Since the Hu State delegation had already arrived in Beijing, the government sent a large number of troops to welcome them, so there was a lively scene outside the palace gate. This made Changqi feel a little excited and confused.

Why did the Hu State delegation come to Beijing at this time?

And where's his young lady? Why hasn't she returned yet? He was anxious, wondering if he should reply to Pei Yan. Turning around, he saw Pei Yan riding a tall horse to receive the Hu Kingdom delegation.

Before leaving, she gave him a small note.

He told him to wait patiently and explained Su Guoer's situation. He also secretly prepared a team, saying that he had a feeling something was going to happen tonight.

Although he was confused, Changqi still did as the prince said and asked someone to wait outside the city, although he didn't know what they were waiting for.

After the competition, Su Guoer brought a few maids to the imperial kitchen without any hesitation.

This time, all the ministers will be welcoming the envoys from the State of Hu together, so a lot of dishes need to be prepared...

There are dozens of tables.

She had no time to waste. When she arrived at the imperial kitchen, the people inside were already busy.

When she entered with her maid, the first person she ran into was the director of the imperial kitchen. Seeing Su Guoer coming in, he looked unhappy and scolded her, "What are you still standing there for? Why don't you go and cook? The emperor didn't ask you to come here just to eat!"

The tone of her voice was very fierce, very fierce, but... when she saw clearly that the four maids behind Su Guoer were with her, her expression immediately changed.

No one doesn't recognize Minghua's face.

She is a favorite of Concubine Zhang, so even though she is the director appointed by the emperor himself, she has to give Su Guoer some face.

"You...are Miss Su?"

"I heard your Yunjiang fish balls are delicious and easy to make. I just happened to have some freshly delivered seafood, but I don't know how to eat it. Why don't you arrange for someone to make these Yunjiang fish balls?"

He quietly assigned the task to Su Guoer.

But... this job seemed pretty good. When Su Guoer was about to refuse, she saw Madam Zhou and the young man who could carve busy washing and cutting vegetables, and she understood.

Although they were called by the government to cook, not everyone was qualified to be a chef. In front of these veterans, they could only do odd jobs and were used as helpers.

The work they do is all hard labor with no technical requirements.

In comparison, Su Guoer can cook right away, which is already an exception.

The director was afraid that Su Guoer didn't understand, so he immediately explained with a smile: "I was worried that their knife skills were not clean enough, so I arranged for them to wash the vegetables. But I heard that Miss Su's fish balls are particularly good. Xiao Cui, Xiao Lan, come over and follow Miss Su, and do what she tells you to do."

He added, "Don't worry, Xiao Cui and Xiao Lan are both experts in our imperial kitchen. Just follow me and arrange the work for me. You don't have to do it yourself."

This is considered a preferential treatment for Su Guoer.