Reminded by Fu Liu, Song Xibai smiled and said to Lai Fu.

"Father-in-law, I'd like to research some new dishes. Would you mind having two people help me prepare the ingredients?"

The father-in-law perked up as soon as he heard that.

"What does Your Highness want to do? There's nothing I can't do, whether it's Sichuan, Shandong, Guangdong, Huaiyang, or any other style!"

Grandpa Lai was originally a royal chef, but he has gotten older in the last two years and doesn't cook much anymore. Most of the time, he asks his two apprentices to cook.

Song Xibai took out the written menu and handed it to him.

When the old man took it and looked at it, his old face couldn't help but wrinkle.

"Squirrel-shaped mandarin fish, boiled beef, boiled cabbage, lotus pond under the moonlight?"

The last dessert was simple: egg yolk pastry, which I imagine is a shortbread made with egg yolks.

After thinking for a while, the father-in-law tentatively asked.

"We know how to make boiled beef, but how do you make the other three dishes?"

Song Xibai was slightly surprised that he could make boiled beef.

"Does Grandpa Lai know about boiled beef?"

"That's right. Our master's hometown is Sichuan, so there's no Sichuan cuisine he doesn't know."

The young apprentice of Grandpa Lai spoke up, only to be slapped on the back of the head by Grandpa Lai.

"Who gave you the right to interrupt when your master is speaking? Kneel down now!"

The young apprentice knelt down tremblingly to apologize.

Song Xibai waved his hand: "Get up quickly! It's not a big deal. Eunuch Lai is too strict with his disciple."

The old man glared at his young apprentice: "The master is kind, but you can't be so unruly. Go to the back and chop a basket of firewood!"

The young apprentice kowtowed and hurriedly ran away.

The old man looked apologetic: "This child was sent by a fellow villager. He is kind-hearted but doesn't know how to read people's expressions and still needs some discipline."

Song Xibai did not interfere with her father-in-law teaching his apprentice. She smiled and agreed before explaining how to make the dishes.

Actually, she had only eaten it; as for the cooking process... she really didn't know much about it.

But Grandpa Lai is a shrewd man! Just from Song Xibai's description, he roughly got the gist of it.

"In other words, this squirrel-shaped mandarin fish is made by deboning a carp, cutting it into a diamond shape, making grooves, coating it in flour, and then deep-frying it until the fish meat expands, resembling the fluffy tail of a squirrel?"

Song Xibai nodded.

The old man was overjoyed and even asked someone to bring him paper to take notes.

"As for the specific taste, it should be on the sweet and sour side, but not too sour, not too sweet, and it shouldn't mask the saltiness."

Every word Song Xibai said, the eunuch would write down, not missing a single word.

The recipe for "Lotus Pond Moonlight" is quite simple; it just involves stir-frying a few vegetables. The key issue is that there are no snow peas available, so Song Xibai asked her father-in-law to improvise, as long as it's related to "lotus."

Boiled beef was what Father-in-law Lai suggested, and Song Xibai listened. It was pretty much the same as what he said, except that Father-in-law Lai's recipe didn't include any side dishes; it was all meat. Song Xibai simply suggested adding some cabbage and bean sprouts to adjust the flavor.

Ironically, the seemingly simple boiled cabbage is the most troublesome.

Because Song Xibai had only eaten it once and had no idea how it was made.

Moreover, she wasn't even sure if what she was eating was authentic; this was a famous dish served at state banquets in her previous life!

This shows how good it is to be the master.

Song Xibai explained the process of cabbage flowering and then described the taste: "The main point is to maintain the natural sweetness of the cabbage."

The father-in-law said with a serious expression that he would try it a few more times.

Finally, it's time for dessert.

The ingredients for egg yolk pastries are easy to find. My small kitchen already had plenty of salted duck eggs, flour, red bean paste, and other ingredients.

After noting down the ingredients, the father-in-law casually asked, "Is this going to be deep-fried?"

Song Xibai thought for a moment: "It should be baked, right? Do you have an oven here?"

“Our small kitchen doesn’t have one, but there’s a roast duck oven in the Empress Dowager’s kitchen. We can go and ask about it. The head eunuch in the Empress Dowager’s palace is an old acquaintance of ours.”

My father-in-law practically patted his chest and guaranteed it.

Song Xibai breathed a sigh of relief.

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Father-in-law. It would be best if you could figure it out within three days."

After saying that, Song Xibai gave Fuliu a wink.

Fu Liu understood, stepped forward a few paces, and handed a rather heavy purse to the old man.

"Father-in-law will keep it to buy wine."

After pretending to decline twice, the old man finally accepted it. Once Song Xibai left, he called his eldest apprentice.

"The main course is already prepared? Don't worry about the other side dishes, tell them to make them. You come with me to figure this out."

Grandpa Lai's eyes lit up as he looked at the menu, as if he were seeing an unparalleled beauty.

The reason he left the Imperial Kitchen was because he didn't know many recipes, and the Emperor got tired of them. He was also neglected in the Imperial Kitchen, so he had no choice but to leave.

To be honest, my father-in-law had tried to research new dishes, but creating recipes requires talent, and unfortunately, he wasn't very talented in that area. The new dishes he came up with always seemed to be missing something.

I never expected that coming to the East Palace would lead to such a great opportunity!

His eldest apprentice, Anshun, was also forty years old. He was a plump cook who looked honest and kind.

Anshun wiped his hands, gave a few instructions to the kitchen helper, and then followed his father-in-law to the side to study the new dishes.

Meanwhile, after returning to her residence, Song Xibai began to worry about how to tell the Crown Prince.

Why don't you just say that I've had some novel dishes prepared for the Crown Prince to eat?

There's a feeling that the prince is being used as a guinea pig for food testing...

"Men are such a hassle. If it were my best friend, I could just call her over for dinner."

Song Xibai sat on the couch, sighed, leaned back, and lay down.

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