After everyone was seated and wishing the Queen Mother a happy birthday, Gu Yanyue suddenly stood up, bowed to the Queen Mother, and then said: "Your daughter-in-law wishes the Queen Mother everything goes well and happiness lasts forever; may your life be as long as the sky and as blessed as the sea!" Gu Yanyue spoke the congratulations to the Queen Mother without any pause, which made the Queen Mother, who was sitting in the main seat, look as if she had not changed much, but at least her brows relaxed when she looked at Gu Yanyue.
Then Gu Yanyue asked the palace maids to serve the dishes she had prepared for the empress dowager one by one in order to the long table that had been prepared in advance.
Everyone's eyes were drawn to the first dish. On the round white porcelain plate, Gu Yanyue had painted a lifelike crane with boiled syrup, and on it was a fairy peach carved from radish.
"Mother, this is the birthday gift I prepared for you. The first dish is a cold dish made with mushrooms, chicken jerky, and cucumber. This dish is fresh and light, and is perfect as an appetizer. Please enjoy it, Mother!"
Before everyone started eating, they were already attracted by this unique platter. They couldn't believe that Gu Yanyue, as the queen of a country, could use such simple ingredients to create such a lifelike dish. When Yu Wenran picked up her chopsticks, everyone couldn't wait to pick up the dishes on the plates in front of them and put them into their mouths. The moment they took the food in, they felt that this dish was indeed a good appetizer as Gu Yanyue said.
"It's truly delicious, with a refreshing and natural taste. This appetizer doesn't overshadow the rest of the meal. Furthermore, this chicken breast is so different from what I'm used to; it's so chewy. This also allows the veteran officials to enjoy it." Yuwen Ran was the first to praise. It was clear from his words that he truly enjoyed Gu Yanyue's dish. The expressions of the others also revealed their satisfaction with Gu Yanyue's appetizer.
Even the empress dowager, who was usually very picky about food, was eating with gusto at this moment, but she was embarrassed to show it because of her face.
Meanwhile, Gu Yanyue, standing on the other side, didn't let Yuwen Ran's praise get her compliments. After all, Yuwen Ran praised her cooking every day, and she even knew how Yuwen Ran would praise the dishes later. Gu Yanyue turned around, took the second dish from the maid, and personally brought it to the table.
"My Queen Mother's second dish is 'Happiness as Great as the East Sea', made with pork belly, winter melon and sea cucumber stew! The third dish is 'Golden Branches and Jade Leaves', made with pork tripe and pig tripe mushrooms! The fourth dish is 'Good Luck', made with braised beef in red sauce! The fifth dish is 'Longevity and Prosperity', made with mushrooms and rapeseed! The sixth dish is 'Joyful House', made with celery, lily bulbs and prawn balls! The seventh dish is 'Family Portrait in Milk Soup', made with two kinds of dumplings, three taels each of meat and vegetable! The eighth dish is 'Abundance Every Year', made with steamed grouper! The ninth and final dish is the highlight, 'Live as Long as the Southern Mountains, Buddha Jumps Over the Wall'!"
After all the dishes were served on the table, Gu Yanyue stepped aside, sat down again, and waited for everyone to enjoy.
But at this time, no one had the heart to taste the food. They were all shocked by the names of the dishes that Gu Yanyue came up with.
"The Queen is such a clever girl! Queen Mother, you are truly a blessed person. In order to celebrate your birthday, the Queen has come up with such auspicious names for these dishes. Even the taste is a delicacy rarely found in the world, much better than what the royal chefs here in the palace make." Duke Zhou, a veteran of three dynasties who was sitting below, tasted all the dishes on the table before putting down his chopsticks and looking at Gu Yanyue with approval.
Gu Yanyue really has some skills. Even the imperial chefs in the palace only know how to make Buddha Jumps Over the Wall. Unexpectedly, she not only made it, but also tasted just as good as the imperial chefs. It can be said that she really took the trouble to prepare this birthday gift for the empress dowager.
"Your Excellency the Duke, thank you for your praise! I have merely borrowed the talents of the ancients for my own use. Even my skills are just average, and there is nothing outstanding about them." Gu Yanyue stood up and bowed in the direction of Duke Zhou. Her speech was still as slow as ever, and she did not become complacent because of the praise from Duke Zhou.
The more Duke Zhou looked at Gu Yanyue, the more he liked her. Unfortunately, Gu Yanyue had already married Yu Wenran as queen. Otherwise, if his son could marry such a wonderful woman, he would be lucky.
Duke Zhou was about to continue praising Gu Yanyue, but Yuwen Ran's voice came from above, "Ayue, you're really too modest when you say your cooking skills are average. If I hadn't been so reluctant to let you cook every day, I would have fired countless imperial chefs in this palace."
In response to Yu Wenran's words, Gu Yanyue just smiled and didn't continue.
While Yuwen Ran was praising Gu Yanyue, the court officials below had already started eating. The older court officials of Duke Zhou did not like the hard food and strong-flavored dishes in the restaurants inside and outside their mansion.
On the contrary, the delicious dishes that Gu Yanyue made with ordinary ingredients not only tasted good, but also had just the right texture. Every dish was just right when put into the mouth, not too soft or too hard. I don't know how Gu Yanyue controlled the heat to achieve such a good texture.
If it weren't for Gu Yanyue's status as the queen, they really wanted Gu Yanyue to teach the chef they hired to their house how to cook.
A group of professionals are not as good as an "amateur" girl. If this were to be made public, people would laugh at them!
As for the other ministers, although they were relatively young, the food that Duke Zhou and his men had eaten was a little soft in their mouths. However, this did not affect their enjoyment of Gu Yanyue's cooking. Perhaps it was because they had consumed too much of the wild game and exquisite dishes they usually ate.
Now I don’t feel any sense of incongruity when eating the lighter flavors made by Gu Yanyue. On the contrary, I like it more and more.
The Queen Mother, in particular, had completely changed her poor appetite from the past few days and immediately ate a bowl of rice with Gu Yanyue's cooking. However, because she was a person who cared about her reputation, she didn't let herself show any sign of liking Gu Yanyue's cooking. It was only the few dishes left on the plate that revealed her opinion of Gu Yanyue's cooking.
After the birthday banquet, everyone was very satisfied!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
