The emperor looked in good spirits, with a faint smile on his face. He was supported by the empress and Fanghua as they sat on the dragon throne. Amidst Lu Chengbao's chanting, the empress took the lead and greeted the emperor in waves.
Everyone's auspicious words were like a basket full of flowers, each one different.
Next came the imperial banquet, with the Empress sitting slightly below the Emperor's right, the Crown Prince and his consort slightly below his left. Below that were all the concubines, who sat on the right, and sons, daughters-in-law, and unmarried women, who sat on the left.
The palace maids began to serve the dishes, and the hall was filled with laughter.
The Queen offered the Emperor a glass of wine before smiling and saying, "Your Majesty, they have all been waiting for this moment. As far as I know, they have been preparing it long in advance, just waiting to present it to you."
The emperor nodded, "I appreciate your filial piety."
Several daughters-in-law quickly stood up and said, "Of course." Fanghua looked at the sisters-in-law standing below and looked at the emperor coquettishly, "Father, have you got your prize?"
The emperor laughed and said, "You didn't participate, and the prize won't fall on you, so why are you so anxious?"
Fanghua pouted, "It's not that I don't want to participate, but the Empress said that Father always eats the food from the palace. No matter what Yong'an and I do, we can't escape the palace's practices. There will definitely be no new ideas."
The Queen was secretly resentful when she heard Fanghua say this, but she didn't dare show it on her face. She smiled and said, "This is just one of the reasons. Your Majesty, you don't know that when Fanghua first proposed this, Yongan really wanted to show off her skills. She fried, stir-fried, and cooked in the small kitchen of Kunning Palace every day. Oh my, I was afraid that she would set that small kitchen on fire."
The Emperor laughed heartily upon hearing this. Yong'an stood up with a red face. "My daughter is foolish. I thought my second sister could play chess with you to relieve your boredom. I wanted to learn something good, but I'm just not cut out for it."
The emperor looked at his chaste daughter and smiled, "You are very good like this. The belt you gave me is very good. Your second sister couldn't sit still and embroider it."
Fanghua heard the emperor say this and stretched out her hands. "It's not that I don't want to do it. Look, it's like this after just a few stitches. I don't know what's wrong with that needle. Others use it to press hard on the material, but why does my daughter always go for this finger?"
The emperor laughed even louder when he heard this, causing everyone to laugh along with him. For a moment, the entire hall was filled with cheerful laughter.
The Queen looked at the Emperor and smiled, "Why don't you ask them to bring the dishes over so you can identify them?"
The emperor nodded, "Okay, don't worry. No matter how well you do, I will reward you."
Everyone was happy. Yong'an thought for a moment and said, "Father, how should we determine the order? How about drawing lots?"
Fang Hua curled her lips and said, "What a hassle. According to my daughter's opinion, why don't we go by age? The Crown Princess goes first."
Yongan said with some embarrassment, "But if that's the case, if we have the same dishes, wouldn't that be unfair?"
"How could there be the same dishes? It can't be such a coincidence." Fanghua said disapprovingly.
Princess Jing breathed a sigh of relief when Fanghua said this, then looked up at Meng Qi, who was watching the fun. She had also brought two dishes today, one of which was the "Buddha Jumps Over the Wall" that Ms. Zhang had brought back for Meng Qi to serve.
She had obtained this recipe not long ago, and although it tasted excellent after her hard work, she was afraid that if Meng Qi presented it before her, and Meng Qi had been making it for a longer time, the taste would definitely be better than hers.
After hearing what Fanghua said, Princess Jing thought it would be better to serve the "Buddha Jumps Over the Wall". After all, she had never heard of this dish before, and no matter the name, as long as it was served before Meng Qi, even if Meng Qi cooked better than hers, it would not be surprising. Moreover, she could also make some innuendos and lead the emperor to think that Meng Qi plagiarized her.
Thinking of this, she looked at the emperor with expectation, until the emperor nodded in agreement with Fanghua's suggestion. Princess Jing felt relieved and just waited for Meng Qi to make a fool of herself.
Thinking about how Prince Rui had been accompanying the Crown Prince in handling state affairs, even though they were all minor matters, he had, whether intentionally or not, repeatedly infringed upon Prince Jing's interests. This had infuriated Prince Jing, but he couldn't confront Prince Rui openly. After all, the Emperor had personally appointed Prince Rui to handle state affairs in front of everyone.
When the Crown Princess heard the Emperor's decision, she hurriedly took two steps forward, and the maid from the East Palace brought out a large bowl with a lid.
Meng Qi stood there and glanced at Wang Chenghai. Wang Chenghai nodded and turned to the west.
Meng Qi listened to everyone saying auspicious words and calling out auspicious names of dishes while Lu Chengbao placed the dishes on small plates and presented them to the emperor.
After the emperor finished eating a dish, he commented on it one or two, saying that they were all carefully prepared and tasted excellent. He also carefully asked what ingredients were used, how it was cooked, etc.
Both the Crown Princess and Princess Duan were able to answer the Emperor's questions fluently, and it was obvious that they had really put in a lot of effort, which made the Emperor even happier.
Seeing the emperor in such high spirits, the empress praised Fanghua for coming up with the idea, "Your idea is really good. This time, we'll have several more dishes for the palace banquet during the first month of the year."
The Emperor put down the dish offered by Princess Duan and said with a smile, "You are right. I think they are all good. We can serve them at the palace banquet on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month and let everyone taste the cooking skills of our royal daughters-in-law."
Princess Duan retreated with a smug look on her face. Meng Qi seemed to feel Princess Jing glanced at her, then stepped forward and saluted.
Under the table, through her sleeve, Meng Qi felt Song Chengze seemed to touch her. She looked up, but Song Chengze was concentrating on watching the eunuch from Prince Jing's Mansion bring out a jar of wine. He couldn't help but turn his head and glance at Meng Qi.
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