Xia Zhengqi glared at Cao Qingchun fiercely and said, "Keep a close eye on him. He must not speak more than fifteen words."
"No more than four sentences for each thing!"
"Each official document he writes must not exceed 800 words."
"If you exceed the limit, you will be fined five taels of silver each time."
[No way! This is possible!] Xia Miaoyuan's eyes widened in shock.
[As expected of the Emperor! I admire you so much!]
The queen also looked shocked.
"Your Majesty, this fine is too heavy. A Hanlin's monthly salary is only thirty taels of silver." The queen said in a low voice.
"Ruoyu, I discipline my own officials, so don't say anything." Xia Zhengqi's tone was firm and unquestionable, so the queen immediately shut up.
Cao Qingchun looked at Emperor Mingxi in horror, his lips trembling slightly, and he seemed to be very aggrieved.
"Your Majesty, may I ask what crime I have committed that you want to discipline me like this?" Cao Qingchun's voice trembled a little.
Emperor Mingxi gave Shuisheng a look and said, "Write it down in a notebook. I just made the same mistake."
Shuisheng lowered his eyebrows and replied submissively, "Yes."
Tears of grievance welled up in Cao Qingchun's eyes. He stretched out his hands and covered his mouth tightly.
Five taels of silver, just gone like that.
How did Emperor Mingxi become so unreasonable?
Emperor Mingxi no longer paid any attention to Cao Qingchun, and took the empress and daughter into the carriage and continued to stroll on the streets.
The streets are bustling with activity, and the cries of hawkers can be heard one after another.
Xia Miaoyuan lay on Emperor Mingxi's lap, stretching her neck to look out of the car.
"Wow! Flower seller! Look, Daddy and Mommy, there are so many oranges!"
"Oh, it's roasted sweet potatoes, yummy!"
Xia Miaoyuan looked around and shouted from time to time.
The emperor and empress were also deeply affected by their daughter's emotions and smiled happily.
Emperor Mingxi and the Empress, along with their daughter, bought a lot of food and toys, strolled around and stopped frequently, having a very happy time.
A family of three was walking around when they suddenly smelled a fragrance.
"Look, it's lamb skewers!" Xia Miaoyuan shouted, pointing ahead.
I saw a restaurant in front of me, and the aroma of barbecue wafted out from it.
Looking up at the sign again, it said "Royal Barbecue".
"I want to eat this!" Xia Miaoyuan shouted, pointing at the barbecue restaurant.
"Okay, okay, let's eat barbecue." Emperor Mingxi picked up Xia Miaoyuan with a doting look on his face and walked towards the barbecue restaurant.
"Please come in!" The waiter at the barbecue restaurant greeted the guests warmly.
"The barbecue in our restaurant is the favorite method of Princess Anguo in the imperial palace. I guarantee you will be full of praise after trying it."
Xia Zhengqi raised his lips slightly and asked, "Is your boss from the palace? How does he know what the princess's favorite cooking method is?"
In Daxia, the things in the imperial palace and the preferences of the nobles often become the benchmarks that the nobles in the capital city strive to emulate.
Merchants would often crudely imitate the palace practices based on hearsay, and use the palace as a gimmick to promote them, thereby attracting uninformed people to consume.
Anything with the word "palace" added to it will have its value increase significantly.
Emperor Mingxi was well aware of this, so he despised the store's palace gimmicks.
The waiter replied calmly, "Although our boss isn't from the palace, he's well-informed. He knows that Princess Anguo likes to eat mutton grilled on bamboo skewers."
Seeing that they were dressed richly, the waiter invited them to a private room on the second floor.
Emperor Mingxi and the Empress took the menu and ordered some dishes at random.
Soon, several large plates of barbecue were brought up.
There are lamb skewers, grilled lamb chops, grilled chicken skin, grilled chicken wings, grilled steamed buns, grilled corn, etc.
"Ah, it's so rich!" Xia Miaoyuan's eyes lit up, he reached out and grabbed the lamb skewers and started eating.
The emperor and empress looked at it and picked up what they liked and started eating.
"Oh, it's so hard and stuck in my teeth!" Xia Miaoyuan said angrily.
As he said this, he put down the lamb skewers and anxiously picked his teeth with his fingers.
The queen hurriedly asked Yingxue to get a toothpick for Xia Miaoyuan to clean up.
"Is the mutton skewer stuck in my teeth?" Emperor Mingxi was a little puzzled and picked up a mutton skewer from the plate and started eating.
"Oh, these mutton skewers are so hard and sticky!" Emperor Mingxi complained and put the mutton skewers aside.
The Queen said gently, "I remember last time, Miao'er taught us how to bake it. It didn't get stuck in our teeth, and it wasn't tough either."
Xia Miaoyuan shaved his teeth, then picked up a mutton skewer and looked at it carefully. He saw that it was densely packed with mutton, but it was all lean meat, and it was roasted very well.
[No wonder, this method is completely wrong, there is not a single bit of fat added, and it is still roasted so well.]
[Alas, it seems this boss is just acting blindly based on hearsay.]
She picked up another roasted chicken skin.
I saw a bunch of chicken skin on the bamboo skewer, which looked very rough. I took a bite and chewed it in my mouth, and it was very greasy.
The grilled chicken skin is also completely wrong. Chicken skin is inherently greasy. When skewering it, it's important to cut it into very small pieces and then season it with honey to avoid being greasy.
The Empress and Emperor Mingxi tasted the chicken skin and found that it was just as their daughter had said.
The family of three then tried grilled lamb chops and grilled chicken wings, but the same problem occurred. They made them based on information they heard from others, but the taste was far from perfect.
"It doesn't taste good. It's better if we make it ourselves." Xia Miaoyuan muttered to himself.
Emperor Mingxi glanced at Debao, who immediately shouted, "Pay the bill!"
Not long after, the waiter came in swiftly, calculated the bill and said, "The total is eighty-five taels."
"What? This table of barbecue costs eighty-five taels of silver?!" Emperor Mingxi was shocked.
"Yes, it's exactly eighty-five taels of silver, not eighty-five taels of gold." The waiter said with a smile.
"How dare you sell it at such a high price after making it like this?" The Queen looked incredulous.
"Dear guests, you two actually dislike our barbecue?" The waiter showed disdain on his face.
"Look downstairs, you two. Our business is booming! The dine-in seats downstairs are in high demand and there's a long line."
"If you two hadn't requested a private room, I'm afraid you wouldn't be able to get one even now."
The waiter said this while pointing to the bottom of the stairs.
Emperor Mingxi and the Empress looked down the stairs and saw that there was indeed a long queue downstairs, with people rushing to eat barbecue.
[Are these people stupid? It's expensive and tastes terrible, yet they're still scrambling to eat it?] Xia Miaoyuan's eyes widened in shock at this scene.
"You use the palace as a gimmick to attract diners, but the barbecue is so bad, and you are still so stubborn?!" Emperor Mingxi became even more angry after hearing what the waiter said.
Seeing Emperor Mingxi's aggressive tone, the waiter immediately put on a fierce expression and demanded, "What's the matter? Gentlemen, you two are dressed in finery and don't look like you're short of money. Are you hoping to eat for free?"
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