Chapter 560: Showing Filial Piety
"Sixth girl, from now on, you can go to the Shang family troupe to listen to the opera, and then come back to perform for me!"
While still in the palace, the Queen Mother's happy laughter could be heard. Xiao Jiuyue and Jun Lie looked at each other, and she yawned: "It seems that the Royal Grandmother is in a good mood."
Well, it shouldn’t be so hard to eat later.
"Sixth sister is very much loved by the Imperial Grandmother." Jun Lie reminded her and whispered, "You can go back after dinner and have a good sleep then."
Xiao Jiuyue glanced at him and whispered in his ear, "Isn't it because of certain people that they are never sleepy?"
Jun Lie touched his nose awkwardly, knowing he was in the wrong, and said, "It's my fault."
"Hmph." Xiao Jiuyue snorted softly. After entering the hall, the couple tacitly dropped the topic.
Everything in the palace is good, except that you have to bow and kneel all the time, which is really tiring!
With the Sixth Princess helping out, everything went very smoothly until almost noon when the Emperor arrived!
When they came to pay their respects before, the emperor did not show up at the morning court, and Xiao Jiuyue thought that there was no need to see him. Unexpectedly, the emperor actually came to the empress dowager?
Does that mean that he didn't go to the Imperial Noble Concubine?
Xiao Jiuyue knelt down with everyone else. After all, the emperor came to see the empress dowager, so it had nothing to do with her.
"The third son's wife." The emperor suddenly called her name. Xiao Jiuyue was stunned for a long time before she realized that he was calling her.
"Father." Xiao Jiuyue stood up quickly, lowered her eyes and thought, why was the emperor calling her?
"When we were hunting earlier, you made delicious spicy diced chicken, and the pheasant soup was not fishy or woody." The emperor suddenly praised, saying, "Mother, next time, I can ask the third daughter-in-law to come to the palace and stew a dish for you. It will be just the right way to nourish your body."
"Father, it's better to do it today than to wait for a day. Today, your daughter-in-law will make a Tai Chi fish soup for grandma. It is nourishing and nutritious." Xiao Jiuyue took the initiative to speak.
"Mother." The emperor did not answer, but looked at the empress dowager.
The Queen Mother smiled and said, "Since Jiuyue is so thoughtful, Mother Jiang, why don't you take Jiuyue to the small kitchen?"
"Your Majesty, I also want to show my filial piety." Jun Lie stood up, as if he was going to follow Xiao Jiuyue to the kitchen.
"A gentleman should stay away from the kitchen." As the emperor finished speaking, Jun Lie said, "Food is the most important thing for the people. I want to cook some delicious food for my father and grandmother. I don't feel ashamed."
Jun Lie spoke frankly, without any concealment.
The emperor's mouth twitched, and the empress dowager said, "Lie'er is so thoughtful. I will wait for your couple's kind gesture."
Jun Lie and Xiao Jiuyue followed Mother Jiang to the kitchen. The Sixth Princess was about to get up to join in the fun when the Queen Mother called her back and said, "Don't join in the fun. Think about it carefully and explain the play to me later!"
"Oh." The Sixth Princess followed Xiao Jiuyue's eyes. She was a little curious about what this Tai Chi Fish Soup was. However, it must be something delicious. Sister Xiao, oh no, the food made by Third Sister-in-law, was all delicious!
I was originally thinking of going to the kitchen with you so I could have the first bite, but now...
"Your Majesty, I am very satisfied with my granddaughter-in-law Yue'er. I have eaten the food she prepared herself, so I must give her a reward!" The Queen Mother said with a smile. She never took sides and was not partial to either the Crown Prince or the two princes.
In the past few years, she just helped Jun Lie because he did not fear the hardships to collect herbs for her, and because his mother once risked her life to save her.
These days, she listened to the Sixth Princess talking about how good Xiao Jiuyue was, how delicious the food Xiao Jiuyue cooked was, the girl in Qingfeng Temple who donated money but was stupid and rich, and her thoughts on the two times she met Xiao Jiuyue. She liked it very much.
The Imperial Noble Consort was bent on letting her son Jun Chen ascend to the throne, and she kept making small moves. In front of her, Princess Duan dared to mend Xiao Jiuyue, showing no respect for her, an old woman.
The emperor was somewhat surprised that the empress dowager, who usually didn't care about these matters, would actually talk about these things. It seemed that she really liked Xiao Jiuyue. Xiao Fu's daughter was indeed a good one. He said, "Don't worry, mother. I will naturally not treat the third son's wife badly."
The small kitchen, the Queen Mother's small kitchen, was fully equipped with everything you need. Xiao Jiuyue gave an order for the ingredients needed for the dishes she was going to make, and many people in the small kitchen came to help wash the vegetables, prepare the side dishes, and so on.
"Yu'er, thank you for your hard work." Jun Lie looked at Xiao Jiuyue who was busy stewing soup, feeling full of guilt.
"I can cook for the emperor... my father and the royal grandmother, so what's so hard about it?" Xiao Jiuyue smiled and said, "Even if you don't marry into the royal family, but into an ordinary family, a daughter-in-law has to cook for her parents-in-law as soon as she enters the house. It's a rule. We only cook today. We don't have to cook on weekdays."
"Besides, you see, I only need to do it myself, and they will do the rest of the small chores. It's not hard at all." On the contrary, Xiao Jiuyue quite likes cooking.
It is really tedious to prepare the side dishes, wash the vegetables, and wash the dishes and clean up the kitchen after the meal.
"Come, help me try this steamed water chestnut meat. How does it taste?" Xiao Jiuyue first brought some dishes to Jun Lie to try.
"There's water chestnuts in here?" Jun Lie scooped up a bite with a spoon and praised, "It's delicious. There are water chestnuts, carrots, and corn in the minced meat. It tastes very special and sweet."
"I added some chopped water chestnuts to enhance the taste." Xiao Jiuyue explained with a smile, and handed over the pumpkin stewed with pork ribs next to her: "Try this."
"And this is steamed chicken with bean curd sheets!"
“…”
Xiao Jiuyue handed the dishes to Jun Lie one by one to try. When she heard him say, "Delicious," Xiao Jiuyue became a little skeptical: "Every dish is delicious. Do you really think it's delicious?"
“Of course it’s delicious.”
Jun Lie didn't even hesitate and said directly: "Everything is delicious, but I like spicy food, like spicy chicken."
Jun Lie glanced at the chicken prepared next to him, which had not yet been put into the pot.
"These are prepared for the Empress Dowager, so they are naturally not spicy. These are prepared for the Emperor." Xiao Jiuyue prepared boiled pork slices, spicy chicken cubes, and stir-fried pepper bullfrog!
Fortunately, the palace has a full range of ingredients, otherwise it would be very difficult to prepare these things.
The last dish is Tai Chi fish soup, with two colors, one blue and one white, poured into a round plate to form a Tai Chi pattern. Not only is the color beautiful, but the taste is also delicious!
"It's done." Xiao Jiuyue finished making the last Tai Chi fish soup, and then returned to the main hall with the dishes she had made. The empress dowager and the emperor had already prepared the food on the dining table. Xiao Jiuyue introduced each dish as it was served.
Xiao Jiuyue watched Eunuch Fu and Mother Jiang testing the poison with silver needles. She remained calm and her face was still full of smiles.
"Grandmother, Father, these dishes were all made by Jiuyue herself, without asking anyone else to do it." Jun Lie said from the side. His words were very clever. He did not praise how hard Xiao Jiuyue worked, but instead explained the complexity of each step.
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