Chapter 104

The first time Yinzuo cooked, he didn't just make one dish, and he didn't just pick simple ones. In addition to stir-fried spinach, he also stewed chicken with mushrooms and stir-fried duck with winter bamboo shoots.

Yinzuo came in with the food, smiling broadly. As soon as he saw the people, he asked, "Father and Prince, have you been waiting for a long time? Are you hungry?"

"Look what I did?"

"Father, let me tell you, this chicken stewed with mushrooms takes a lot of time to make."

"This dish of fried duck with winter bamboo shoots is not easy to make. I chopped the duck meat myself, and it was not easy to chop."

“This stir-fried spinach dish is simpler, but it’s easy to overcook it in the pan.”

As soon as Yinzuo came in, he started talking about how he cooked. Look, look, he did everything by himself, starting from chopping the meat. It's not just sprinkling some salt for show!

Sincerity!

Yinzuo took the chopsticks and attentively handed them to Kangxi, picking up food for the prince: "Father, please have a taste, prince brother."

Yinzuo kept talking and only talked about the food, not giving them any chance to blame.

Kangxi glanced at the boy with a knowing smile and said, "Okay, let's do as he wishes and try the dish he made first."

Yinzuo smiled guiltily under the all-seeing gaze of his royal father: "How is it? How is it?"

Although Yinzuo followed the imperial chef's steps step by step, he certainly could not replicate the imperial chef's skills that had been accumulated over decades even if he just copied him.

So, the truth is, it’s not that great, it’s far inferior to the imperial chef.

However, Kangxi glanced at Yinzuo's excited and expectant eyes. Which parent would dislike the food made by their own children?

It's still edible, which is very good.

Kangxi picked up the chopsticks and poked at the fried duck with bamboo shoots. He felt that it was a little unsafe to say that it was edible. Was it because some parts were not cooked thoroughly, while others were overcooked? Kangxi picked up a piece of bamboo shoots and felt that it was more acceptable than eating unevenly cooked duck meat.

Kangxi said, "Not bad," as Yinzuo looked forward to it.

Yinzuo followed Kangxi in picking up a piece of bamboo shoots with chopsticks and said with a smile, "I think it's not bad either. I'm really good. It's my first time cooking and I can cook it well."

As Yinzuo spoke, he looked at the prince again, hoping to get his approval.

The prince swallowed the fried spinach that was a bit too salty in his mouth: "...It has a unique flavor."

There are not only dishes cooked by Yinzuo on the table, there are also delicious dishes prepared by the imperial chef. But if there is food cooked by your son/brother, would you have the nerve to leave it and eat something else?

Yinzuo also picked up another piece of duck meat with his chopsticks. He was lucky that he didn't pick up the ones that were unevenly heated and not cooked. He thought it was quite delicious.

Thinking it was delicious, Yinzuo reached out his chopsticks to the plate again. This time he ate bamboo shoots, which were also delicious. Didn’t he see his royal father pick up a few pieces with his chopsticks?

Oh, he has a talent for cooking! Look at what his father, the emperor, and his brother, the prince, like. Do they still have the nerve to give him the cold shoulder today?

No.

Kangxi suddenly reached out and picked up the plate of fried duck with winter bamboo shoots, placed it in front of the prince, and said, "Prince likes it, please eat more."

Yinzuo has a bad stomach, so he'd better not eat this unevenly cooked dish. As for him, he is old, so he should eat less.

It’s better for the young prince with a good appetite to come.

At this time, Kangxi thought that it would be good to have one more person to share the burden since the prince came over to eat.

The prince looked at the fried duck meat with winter bamboo shoots brought by his father, and his smile froze. Kangxi didn't want to be too harsh on his son, so he finally said, "Although you like it, you can't be greedy. Let's have some fish soup first."

The prince: "...Your Majesty is right. Your Majesty should also drink more fish soup. Fish soup is good for your health."

Drink more soup and say you are full.

Yinzuo felt relieved when he saw the loving father and filial son in front of him. He had always been worried that there would be conflicts between the Crown Prince and the Emperor. Now, doesn’t this seem like a good thing?

The prince also personally served some fish soup to Yinzuo, who found it delicious and fragrant. He said with satisfaction: "Since everyone likes to drink fish soup, I will make fish soup for everyone next time."

The prince smiled faintly. Although the food prepared by his younger brother was delicious, there was no need to work so hard.

Kangxi: "It is OK to do kitchen work occasionally."

The prince said, "Sixth brother is curious about everything. I heard that he even took over a troupe to rehearse a play. He was so busy outside that he forgot to return to the palace."

Yinzuo looked at his gentle brother the Crown Prince with his eyes wide open. He had been hoping that his brother the Crown Prince would speak up for him, but he didn't expect that the Crown Prince would start the fight first.

Kangxi: "I've had enough of the palace. How can it be better outside? I couldn't wait to move out of the palace. Now it's like this, I can think of it."

The prince smiled and said, "Father, don't say that. After all, Father, you are in the palace. If I don't want to think about anything else, I have to think about you, Father."

Kangxi: "Forget about my father, he hates me for scolding him, I know that. You and he have been good friends since childhood, aren't you his favorite brother? He can't even remember you for a month, let alone me."

The prince said, "No, no, I am definitely not as good as the emperor in my brother's heart. After all, my brother has returned. I thought that if I didn't send someone to call him, he would have to play outside for a few more days before he would remember the people in the palace."

"Now you remember it, and you even went into the kitchen and cooked for us?"

Kangxi: "Do you think this dish is delicious? It's just to shut us up."

Yinzuo looked at Kangxi and then at the prince, his neck almost broken, his eyes blankly fixed on what the two men said in unison.

Is he starting to exert his strength after eating? He was counting on the help of the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince was usually gentle and soft-hearted when facing him, especially when the Emperor wanted to teach him a lesson, the Crown Prince would usually stop him. But today, are the two of them, father and son, singing the same tune?

And I said I would cook to shut you up? It didn't work!

Yinzuo wanted to interrupt: "I..." but didn't.

"I..." Not yet inserted.

Forget it, just let them talk it out.

Finally, after talking enough, the prince smiled and said to Yinzuo, "What do you want to say?"

Yinzuo: “…”

Suddenly there is nothing to say.

Yinzuo bowed his head honestly: "I was wrong."

Although he said he was wrong, he still had to make excuses. Yinzuo lowered his head and said, "I was just too curious about how the tofu we eat was made, and then I saw the place where paper was made, and I was trapped again..."

"Alas, I am still not very experienced. I don't have the self-control of my father and my brother the Crown Prince. But I just went out to indulge myself for a while."

"It won't be like this anymore."

"I come to the palace to see my father and my brother the Crown Prince every day, which is too much. I am just worried that I will disturb my father and my brother the Crown Prince from their work."

"But even if the Emperor and the Crown Prince are busy, I have decided to come back every three to five days. Even if the Emperor and the Crown Prince don't have time to accompany me, it's good for me to see the Emperor and the Crown Prince."

Kangxi listened with an unchanged expression, and finally could not help but say to Yinzuo: "How can you be so smooth-talking?"

Yin Zuo: "I am sincere, and the heaven and earth can bear witness to my sincerity! Just wait, in two or three days I will definitely make fish soup for you, my father."

"I'm going to go back and practice my skills in making fish soup. I can't wait."

"Then I will keep Father Huang and Brother Crown Prince for a while longer. We have a long way to go."

Yinzuo was afraid that Kangxi and the prince would still settle accounts with him, so he left in a flash. It seemed that he could not wait to go home to practice his skill of making fish soup, but in fact he had escaped.

Kangxi and the prince were left looking at each other, feeling helpless and angry.

The palace servants were collecting the food. Looking at the plates being taken away, Kangxi remembered his previous "humble" behavior towards the prince at the dinner table. Kangxi coughed and said to the prince, "Is your stomach feeling okay?"

The prince said, "No." The prince said for Yinzuo, "This is the first time Yinzuo cooked a dish, and it's actually quite good."

Kangxi: "...Well, if you feel uncomfortable, call the imperial physician immediately."

The prince said, "Okay, my son saved it."

But the prince remembered something and smiled reluctantly: "Yinzuo misunderstood. We all like fish soup. From time to time in the future..."

Kangxi was also stunned, but soon his expression returned to normal: "Your sixth brother cooked because he felt guilty for not returning to the palace for a long time. He found that we didn't care about his matter this time, so he didn't keep his temper."

The prince thought about it and it made sense.

Next time Sixth Brother comes, please don't use the fact that he didn't even remember to go back to the palace for a month to bully him.

Yinzuo didn't quite understand the reason, but he only knew that when he went to the palace again, Kangxi and the prince were no longer sarcastic, so the matter was resolved.

Yinzuo served fish soup to Kangxi and the prince, and thought to himself, oh my, his upgrade method really worked.

From this time on, Yinzuo would often go back to the palace to visit, but of course he continued to live a free and easy life outside the palace. Well, he sometimes even changed his clothes and went to the gambling house.

They played like this for three months, and Kangxi thought, is it not right to keep playing like this?

Yinzuo argued that he was not just playing around, he also worked with others to study how to make paper better and porcelain more beautiful!

I also learned some tricks to cheat, but I can't tell this to the Emperor.

Kangxi ignored Yinzuo's rhetoric and thought he had to find something for his son to do.

"Let's go to the Ministry of Industry. Don't you like playing with the people there?"

Yinzuo frowned. He felt that his life was fulfilling now and he did not want to take on any other duties. He said to Kangxi, "My son does not want to go to court. My son cannot get up."

Only Yinzuo could say this with such confidence.

Kangxi: "Then I won't go to court."

Yinzuo: "My son doesn't want to go to the Ministry of Works to work every day."

Kangxi looked at him.

Yinzuo felt that his father was determined not to tolerate his "doing nothing", so he quickly found a job for himself: "Son, make a surprise visit every few days. This is called spot check supervision, and the effect is very good."

Kangxi was too lazy to argue with him, so he thought, okay, it was at least something serious to do.

Yinzuo, who had done some serious work, was also conferred a title after the New Year.

This time, titles were given out widely, and all the older princes were given titles. The eldest prince and the third prince were both given titles of prince, while the fourth prince, the fifth prince, the seventh prince, and the eighth prince were all given titles of beile.

It is worth mentioning that Yinzuo skipped his fourth and fifth brothers and was picked out from among them and was also conferred the title of Prince.

(End of this chapter)