As soon as Yuwen Ran said this, the smile on Liu Yanyan's face suddenly faded. She became lifeless and looked at Yuwen Ran with confusion.
The Queen Mother's hint was so obvious. Unless Yuwen Ran was a fool, there was no way he didn't know what the Queen Mother meant.
Yuwen Ran said these words in front of all the court officials and the ladies and daughters of noble families, clearly meaning that he did not want to take her into the harem.
The empress dowager sitting next to Liu Yanyan naturally noticed the change in Liu Yanyan's expression. She coughed a few times, trying to remind Liu Yanyan to recognize the occasion.
In his heart, he looked down on Liu Yanyan. If it weren't for the fact that Liu Yanyan was infatuated with Yuwen Ran and the fact that the Zhenbei Marquisate was also quite powerful, asking her to check and balance Gu Yanyue would have been the only choice. Although she was stupid, she was also obedient and a worry-free person.
Liu Yanyan immediately sat up straight after hearing the Queen Mother's suggestion, and a smile was once again on her face. Things were different now; she now had the Queen Mother's support. She had also said that she disliked Gu Yanyue's behavior and that she was her first choice for daughter-in-law. As long as she entered the palace, she would help her deal with Gu Yanyue, so that she could successfully ascend to the position of Queen.
The Queen Mother continued to smooth things over, "Miss Liu heard that the Emperor had just returned from disaster relief work in Qianzhou, so she personally prepared a bowl of chicken soup for him to nourish his body."
As she spoke, the empress dowager ordered someone to bring the chicken soup made by Liu Yanyan from the imperial kitchen.
No matter how much the Queen Mother praised Liu Yanyan before, Gu Yanyue knew that Yuwen Ran was not a man who was greedy for beauty, and it was impossible for him to take her into the harem so easily just because of the Queen Mother.
But the Queen Mother was praising him and helping Liu Yanyan deliver soup to Yuwen Ran. She also said that since Yuwen Ran had just returned from disaster relief work in Qianzhou, she specially stewed a bowl of chicken soup for him to nourish him.
He dared to say this in front of her, the empress, and he thought of himself as Yuwen Ran's woman before he even entered the palace?
It was obvious that this part had been planned long ago. He said he was going to the imperial kitchen to serve chicken soup, but he had just gone downstairs and in the blink of an eye, he came back with chicken soup. How come the eunuch in the Empress Dowager's palace learned to fly, or teleport?
The moment the chicken soup was served, the eunuch opened the lid for Yuwen Ran, and a burst of fragrant aroma greeted her. Even though Yuwen Ran was used to eating food made by Gu Yanyue, he was a little surprised by this bowl of chicken soup.
He originally thought that the chicken soup made by Miss Liu Yanyan would definitely not taste very good. After all, not every lady is like his Ah Yue, who knows everything.
Even if it smelled good, it definitely wouldn't taste as good as what Gu Yanyue made, and it was made by another woman, which immediately reduced Yu Wenran's appetite.
When the Queen Mother saw Yuwen Ran hesitate to touch the spoon after the chicken soup was served, she thought he was worried that it wouldn't taste good, so she hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, don't you want to try it? After all, it was Miss Liu's gift. After she made it, she gave me a bowl to try first. This is much better than what the imperial chef in the palace makes."
With the Queen Mother's words, Yuwen Ran reluctantly picked up the soup spoon and tried to taste it, just to appease the Queen Mother. With just one sip, the soup was rich and mellow, leaving a lingering aftertaste. It tasted almost like Gu Yanyue's. Perhaps the heat wasn't controlled well, so the stew wasn't as delicious as Gu Yanyue's.
Yu Wenran took a sip and drank the rest. The taste of the chicken soup was obvious, and it was not made by Liu Yanyan herself. It looked like the cooking method and taste were made by the restaurant that Gu Yanyue opened outside the palace.
Yu Wenran couldn't help but sneer as he put down his bowl. Liu Yanyan was just like that. She couldn't cook but pretended to be able to. She went out to buy chicken soup without even checking who owned it, and ended up buying it at Gu Yanyue's restaurant.
As soon as Gu Yanyue smelled the chicken soup, she knew it must have been made using the same recipe she had used for Yu Wenran. Furthermore, Gu Yanyue was certain that she had only taught this recipe to the chefs at her restaurant. No one else could possibly make it taste this good unless they became her apprentices or the chefs at her restaurant.
Since Liu Yanyan admired the cooking skills of the chef in her restaurant so much that she even went to learn from him, then as the owner, she had to ask Liu Yanyan which chef she learned from and how she was doing.
Gu Yanyue looked at Liu Yanyan, who was sitting across from her, and smiled faintly as she said, "I just smelled the chicken soup Miss Liu made. It must have come from the most popular restaurant in the capital. Last time, I went to the kitchen to ask them about the recipe, and they said that you can't learn it unless you become an apprentice. I wonder which chef Miss Liu became an apprentice to learn this recipe? Why not teach me when Miss Liu comes to the palace someday? I can make it for His Majesty when he wants it in the future."
When Yu Wenran heard Gu Yanyue say this, he almost burst out laughing, and the food he had just put into his mouth almost choked him to death.
When Liu Yanyan heard Gu Yanyue's words, the smile on her face suddenly faded, and the handkerchief in her hand kept twisting.
How could she know who the chefs were in that restaurant? Although she brought the chicken soup from outside the palace, she sent a maid to buy it. How could she know which restaurant the maid went to buy it from?
"This... this... this..." Liu Yanyan seemed to have thought of something, and said quickly: "My master is not after fame and fortune, so he didn't tell me his name. He just wanted me to learn the cooking skills well." After saying that, Liu Yanyan breathed a sigh of relief. After hearing what she said, Gu Yanyue should not ask her about the cooking master anymore.
"I see." Gu Yanyue pretended to be regretful. "It's okay. It's okay if I don't know the chef's name. It's the same as when Miss Liu taught me how to make chicken soup. I still have some basic cooking skills, so I think it won't be difficult for Miss Liu to teach me."
When Liu Yanyan heard that Gu Yanyue wanted her to teach her how to make chicken soup, she immediately panicked. She was just a young lady from a wealthy family who had never done any housework, so how could she know any cooking skills!
"This, this, this... Your Majesty is the queen of a country, how can you cook for yourself? If Your Majesty wants to drink it, you can ask your servants to prepare it and bring it to the palace."
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