Sitting Alone on Golden Lotus, the name sounds like it is related to Buddhism.
It’s made so golden, has a nice name, and looks good.
Master Cai and Master Bai tried a few extra ones and were immediately amazed by their taste.
Mushrooms, black fungus, etc. are all delicious ingredients. How can they taste bad if they are stir-fried first and then deep-fried? The cucumber is added to dilute the taste of deep-frying, which is really wonderful.
But once this meal is served, the dishes they cook will pale in comparison.
In fact, it’s not that the vegetarian kitchen is bad at cooking. These are all imperial chefs transferred from the saint’s imperial kitchen. They are naturally good at cooking, but the masters have eaten them many times, and no matter how delicious the food is, they will get tired of it eventually.
Otherwise, we wouldn’t urge them to research new dishes. But if they could make a new dish in three days, they would have become masters long ago.
Without waiting for them to speak, Su Wan said, "I remember they asked the vegetarian kitchen to research a new dish every three days. Isn't this the new dish in three days? Anyway, just tell them this."
"But this is what you did." Master Cai said subconsciously.
"Since we were transferred here, it was done by the vegetarian kitchen, and we also didn't want to stay and copy the scriptures."
Who wants to!
Work in the kitchen is already busy, and these people are picky about their food, so how can I not be tiring?
Do you need to copy scriptures after finishing your errands?
Others copied the scriptures calmly, but they became more and more annoyed and wished they could burn down the fake monk's temple.
People outside the palace may not know.
But what the people in the inner palace often say is: "Twisting the Bodhi tree with my hands is like chanting a sutra, with nothing in my eyes and empty in my ears. I work hard not to become a Buddha, but only to make the Bodhi tree bloom as soon as possible."
At first glance, this sentence may sound like a compliment, but it is actually a doggerel written by the Secretary of the Central Secretariat beside the sage. It was originally written just to have fun in misery, but it was discovered unexpectedly and the sage has now been demoted to the countryside.
The last one is just for Bodhi to become famous as soon as possible, which does not refer to the perfection of merit, but fame and status.
After this Zhongshu Sheren was demoted, his doggerel was passed down, because it was not so explicit and it was okay to say a few words occasionally.
From this we can see that most people in the inner palace think that they are fake monks and have long disliked them to the extreme.
This is even more so in the vegetarian kitchen. Su Wan said that this is their new dish for the past three days, so how could they not be happy.
Apart from anything else, at least I don’t have to copy scriptures today!
If they don't like such delicious dishes, what's the point of eating them?
As it was almost the Yin hour, Su Wan's dishes were brought over by a special person and divided into two tables just like during the winter festival.
But last time, there were five people at the table, all of them were little mages.
This time their respective masters were also present, so there were six at one table.
Although there are only six people at the table, including monks, there must be nine dishes and one staple food in the morning to make it perfect.
Breakfast is like this, and lunch has eighteen dishes.
No wonder so many cooks are needed!
Su Wan had only known that these monks were domineering before, but she was still surprised when she knew the truth.
And this is only a small part of their lives. Zen robes, Zen temples, and even wooden fish have specified rare woods. Fragrant wood is even better.
The food was delivered in the morning, and the small vegetarian kitchen was a place to take a break. Everyone ate breakfast and gossiped with Su Wan and the others.
The palace maids in the outer palace had only heard rumors before, but now that they have entered the inner palace, they realize how excessive these monks are. Even the concubines in the harem have complaints.
Not everyone, like Concubine Chu, will take the initiative to cater to others. She even gave a string of Buddhist beads a few days ago.
Although the complete set of gold Sanskrit beads that the great master wanted had not yet been found, the material of this string of beads was excellent, which was enough to earn the saint some praise.
Sanskrit gold beads?
Su Wan subconsciously thought of the one that Xie Pei gave her. Although she had already returned it to him, she still remembered the appearance of the golden bead, and it looked indeed valuable.
But I didn’t expect that even the great wizards wanted it.
In the entire Tianxiang Kingdom, only these two can be called great masters. No one else dares to have this honorific title. This title is bestowed by the saint himself, which shows its importance.
The more Su Wan talked, the more she understood why these good imperial chefs had no pride at all. They were all tortured.
But the royal chef’s cooking skills were great, and she enjoyed this breakfast very much.
But just after the meal, the eunuch came to the door of the vegetarian kitchen in Tianbei Hall again.
When Su Wan saw this eunuch, she felt as if he had come as expected.
People around Concubine Jiang.
"I heard that the palace servants from the Imperial Food Department came to Tianbei Palace to do something about the food of the monks. The Imperial Concubine is very concerned and asked you to go over and tell them to do a good job."
After the eunuch finished speaking, everyone looked at each other. Although Concubine Jiang respected the magicians, she didn't respect them to this extent, right?
But since they were called, the four of them naturally had to go.
In fact, it has nothing to do with the mages. After all, they are from the Imperial Food Bureau, so they are called to attend training at 3:30 in the morning.
Looking at how well the time is scheduled, I make sure they have prepared their morning meals so that nothing will be delayed, and I will get them back before noon so that nothing will be delayed.
The moment she entered the inner palace, Su Wan thought of this matter, which is why she told Li Rongrong to make sure to prepare a good meal.
There is a wolf in front and a tiger behind, you can only choose one side.
Or, it must be interesting to watch wolves and tigers fighting each other.
Su Wan had made her decision long ago!
She wants to be a troublemaker!
Before leaving, Su Wan turned around and whispered to Master Cai and Master Bai, "If the masters come looking for us later, just say that we were summoned by the Imperial Concubine to be lectured, and we may not have time to make lunch at noon."
"If you didn't find us, please let us know in advance. The four of us are busy and lunch will definitely be delayed."
Master Bai's eyes lit up.
He obviously heard the hidden meaning, which was that if he was gone for a long time, he would ask the mages for help.
On one side is the imperial concubine, and on the other side are the mages favored by the saint.
It’s so hard to tell which side is heavier and which side is lighter?
They all cooked in the palace, and they had heard a little about the big incident between Imperial Concubine Jiang and the Imperial Food Bureau.
When they heard that it was Concubine Jiang's people coming, they were worried for a moment.
But now I'm not worried anymore.
At worst, we can call for help?
But are the domineering monks willing to be the rescuers?
Master Cai thought about the meal Su Wan had just prepared and decided he would definitely be willing to do it!
Everyone knows how much these people like delicious vegetarian food.
They will definitely do what is beneficial to them.
When Li Rongrong and the other two palace maids heard this, they were no longer worried.
I finally understood why Su Wan wanted to make a very beautiful and delicious Solitary Sitting Golden Lotus. Since they are so "valuable", Tianbei Palace will protect them.
Su Wan and others walked out of Tianbei Palace. The last time they went to Zhongcui Palace where Concubine Jiang was, it took them almost an hour to walk there. Now it only took a quarter of an hour.
This shows how good the location of Tianbei Hall is.
The eunuch in front was leading the way with a lantern. It was still dark outside and the people in Concubine Jiang's palace insisted on taking the small path.
Li Rongrong just asked: "Why don't you take a wider road? There are lanterns on the road."
"The small road is closer. Given your status, you can just take the small road." The eunuch replied directly.
He was still pretending when he was in Tianbei Hall, but now he is completely different and it is obvious that he has something against the people in Shangshisi.
There is a deep-seated grudge between the Zhongcui Palace and the Shangshi Division. In the eyes of the former, if the people in the Shangshi Division had not been disobedient, the Imperial Concubine would not have lost the right to manage the inner palace.
Fortunately, it has been taken back now, but all the humiliation suffered before is blamed on the Shangshi Bureau.
When they arrived at the main hall of Zhongcui Palace, it was still dark. Some people in the palace had already gotten up and started cleaning. The eunuch said to the four of them directly, "Wait in the corridor in front of the hall and wait for the queen to reply."
Waiting for a reply from the Empress?
Li Rongrong looked at the door of the main hall.
Yes, it was not yet Yinzheng, which was less than four in the morning, so of course Concubine Jiang had not woken up.
According to the time, Concubine Jiang should get up at about five o'clock in the morning.
Because she was a noble concubine, other palaces did not need to come to pay their respects, and she could then slowly start the day.
From the middle of the yin hour to the beginning of the Mao hour, it takes more than half an hour to wait?
Now everyone confirmed that Concubine Jiang was deliberately looking for trouble.
Su Wan has become accustomed to her little tricks. Last time, she asked Jiang Hongye to search the Shangshenjian on the pretext of something, and there were countless small actions before, all of which made Su Wan know that if the Shangshisi came to the inner palace, they would definitely not escape this test.
Although she had only met Concubine Jiang once, Su Wan felt that she already had some understanding of her style of doing things.
Su Wan looked at the corridor and simply sat on the railing, taking out a few small notebooks and a portable brush from her sleeve.
These were all obtained from the Ministry of Rites. No, these were all given by the officials of the Ministry of Rites!
Last time I saw that she found it inconvenient to use light charcoal pencils, as they would easily ruin the notes she carried with her, so I found these small notebooks and small brushes for her so that she can carry them with her at any time.
Su Wan distributed the notebook to everyone and saw that not only the palace maids in Zhongcui Palace, but even Li Rongrong and the palace maids in Shangshisi were stunned.
Su Wan said seriously: "Hurry up and write, we still need to copy scriptures to pray for the saints."
It is not allowed to copy scriptures and give them to Tianbei Hall.
It is very advisable to copy scriptures and give them to saints.
As for the arrogance, he looks a bit like Xie Pei.
But if you think about it, you will know that, first of all, they will not be punished for such things. After all, they are responding to conversations, not being lectured. People need to know how to adapt.
The second is the conflict between the Shangshi Department and the Zhongcui Palace. Not only the ordinary palace people know about it, even the saint knows about it. No matter how respectful they are, even if they stand in the corridor of the main hall and blow the cold wind for ten hours, the conflict will still exist.
In this case, it is better to copy some scriptures and pray to the saints.
Everyone knows it's an excuse, but what can we do about it?
That's not right. Su Wan is only thirteen. She can only say that this little girl is sincere, but she doesn't know how to do things.
Seeing that Su Wan really sat down to copy the scriptures, writing one character per stick of incense, the other three people also sat down one after another, and continued to copy from time to time.
According to Su Wan, they copied slowly, but they were sincere.
The word "sincere" made Concubine Jiang, who had just woken up, so angry that she vomited blood. The senior palace maid beside her also said angrily: "You are so disrespectful to the queen, you should be severely punished!"
Concubine Jiang was about to nod.
Then I thought that the current Shangshisi is from the Ministry of Rites.
Beating a dog depends on its owner.
The eldest prince will have to work in the court in the future. Although the Minister of Rites will not turn against him for a few palace maids, it will eventually slap him in the face.
Not worth it.
Imperial Concubine Jiang sat up, secretly resentful. If the eldest prince's position was stable, if he was the legitimate son, then there would be no need to worry so much.
It was because the sage was reluctant to appoint a crown prince that she had to be so patient.
If the Shangshisi is someone from the palace, he will be punished.
It’s a pity that the chief of the Imperial Food Department is so cunning that he actually clings to the front hall.
And those scholars knew that these four palace maids from the Ministry of Rites were so disrespectful, and they could only praise them for their integrity, especially the people from the Censorate. Even the saints could not do anything about them.
It's really hateful!
Especially that Su Wan, who is as hateful as Xie Pei at such a young age.
The two men are only about thirteen or fourteen years old, but their skills in making people angry are exactly the same. If you didn't know they were not related, you would have thought they were from the same school!
Concubine Jiang calmed down and was just about to get up and change her clothes when she heard hurried footsteps outside.
The footsteps paused in the corridor, as if talking to Su Wan and the others.
Then someone came to report: "The chief eunuch of Tianbei Palace has arrived. He has been responsible for the food, clothing, housing and transportation of the masters. He came hurriedly to say that the master wants to see the palace servants of the Shangshi Department, and he wants to see them now, and he is very anxious."
Want to meet now? Are you in a hurry?
It's early morning now, a little after five o'clock, what are you in such a hurry for?
They don't have morning classes anymore?
The eunuch of Tianbei Palace was talking to several palace maids from the Imperial Food Department in the corridor at this moment: "No need to stand up, just sit down and talk."
"Copying scriptures? Good, good, very good."
"The masters loved the Solitary Golden Lotus you made very much. They also said that this dish should be used in the vegetarian feast on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month. You are really lucky and talented."
The eighth day of April is the Buddha's Bathing Festival. At that time, the temple gates are wide open and thousands of people are invited to enter. The dignitaries are also invited to taste vegetarian food.
This Solitary Golden Lotus was actually chosen as the dish for that day in advance, which shows how much the mages like it.
You know, it's only February 19th, and the reservation was made so far in advance. Even the eunuch of Tianbei Palace wanted to try the vegetarian food prepared by the Shangshi Bureau. You know, privately, he is a meat lover.
These mages wanted to ask the people from the Imperial Food Department what new dishes they would cook before the morning class, but then they heard that they were called away by Concubine Jiang?
Apart from anything else, Imperial Concubine Jiang has never been very friendly towards them, so why would she call people over now?
Is it possible to snatch someone away?
The mages are used to being domineering and will definitely not allow such a thing to happen. Moreover, the person they want to see will be seen immediately.
Not to mention that the remaining cooks also said that several palace maids from the Imperial Food Bureau had said that lunch might be delayed.
Can this be delayed?
Is it more important for Concubine Jiang to say a few words than for them to have a meal?
So he directly called the eunuch chief to ask for someone, but this delayed them so they could only go directly to the morning class and let the Shangshisi and others prepare lunch seriously.
As long as the vegetarian meal at noon is well prepared, they will be exempted from copying sutras in the next few days, as it shows their respect for Buddha.
Now, even if the chief eunuch doesn't come to look for someone, the people from the vegetarian kitchen will come.
But this lackey naturally came over quickly. If he wasn't so lackey, how could he have become the chief steward of Tianbei Palace.
Naturally, you can do your best to "take care" of the mages' food, clothing, and daily life.
Concubine Jiang?
Concubine Jiang is not as important as the mages right now, so of course they still have to be polite and not be too embarrassed.
Don’t ask about the future, no one knows what will happen.
When the mages first arrived, everyone thought they wouldn't stay long, but everyone has seen what has happened in the past few years.
He used to be an ignored eunuch, but now he can have a say in front of the saint. Isn’t it all for the sake of gaining face in Tianbei Palace?
Anyway, when those monks went to do morning prayers, they were still chanting that Sitting Alone in Golden Lotus was both delicious and beautiful.
All the dishes in it are what you usually see, but never cooked so attentively, so deliciously and beautifully.
Seeing that the mages liked it, the chief eunuch of Tianbei Hall almost ran over, for fear of delaying the lunch.
Imperial Concubine Jiang was almost so angry that she threw things. How dare a bastard come here to demand someone's help?
Who dares to bully her? !
She is back in power!
If she were the queen, she would not have to suffer any grievances in this place, and her son would have become the eldest son and the first choice for the crown prince.
Imperial Concubine Jiang could only grit her teeth and say, "It's important for the mages to have food, so let's ask them another day."
Imperial Concubine Jiang added: "Tell these palace maids from the Imperial Food Department to serve well and not make any mistakes, otherwise the Saint will definitely not forgive them."
Because of the Taoist curse case, the saint has become more trusting of the magicians, as if if the magicians had not prayed for the saint frequently, the Taoists would have harmed the saint long ago.
Therefore, the saints now favor them more.
Su Wan looked back and thought that perhaps some people would say that the emperor was confused and the ancients were ignorant.
But in ancient times, there were too many things that could not be explained, so people would naturally turn to theology for help, attributing all unknown things to ghosts and gods.
This was not only the case in ancient times, but it also happens in modern times.
It's simply that we know too little about the world, and we need a reasonable explanation.
The older people get, the more they believe in ghosts and gods, and the more they believe there is a way to make time stand still. Many wise rulers in history were no exception, let alone this one.
After all, the unknown is the most frightening.
One day, the chief eunuch of Bei Palace led them out of Zhongcui Palace, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
The eunuch chief took the initiative to flatter: "We know that your Shangshi Division and Zhongcui Palace are not on good terms, so we rushed here in a hurry. I hope we didn't cause any trouble to you."
"Look at your little faces, blowing in the cold wind on the porch, how pitiful."
Li Rongrong also came back to her senses, but the maid beside her had already said with a smile: "Yes, thank you for saving us this time, we will definitely be grateful in the future and will definitely repay you if we have the chance."
After hearing what they said, the chief eunuch nodded with satisfaction, thinking that he had taken some credit for the achievement. Who knows, it might come in handy in the future.
Su Wan and Li Rongrong also thanked him a few times. The eunuch smiled from ear to ear: "Alright, alright, no need to be so polite. I knew that you people in the Imperial Food Department were smart, but I didn't know you were so smart. Let's go back to the small kitchen in Tianbei Hall. They are waiting for you there."
As he spoke, he explained that the mages had already gone to morning classes, so it was inconvenient for them to meet.
It’s best not to see them. Su Wan is too lazy to see them.
Cooking well is the happiest thing for her.
However, Su Wan looked at the Zhongcui Palace behind her again. What kind of food should she cook today to sow discord? No, that’s not right. What kind of food should she cook today to make everyone satisfied?
There are still a lot of mushrooms in the morning, so it's normal to make a teppanyaki mushroom dish.
If you want to stand out, you still need a nice and beautiful name.
On the way back, Su Wan had already prepared a recipe in her mind.
A dish of iron plate mushrooms and a dish of bamboo shoots are auspicious.
Next, the black glutinous rice soup.
If you say it is stunning, it is definitely stunning, but not as good as the Solitary Golden Lotus in the morning.
This thing also needs to be done in moderation. If you always appear to be very powerful at the beginning, what will happen in the future?
So we have to proceed step by step.
Su Wan knew everything.
When the four of them returned to the small kitchen of Tianbei Palace, the imperial chefs inside all breathed a sigh of relief.
I'm glad that everyone is okay!
They will feel relieved!
Su Wan smiled and said, "In that case, let's start making lunch?"
Everyone looked at each other in surprise. They had never seen a girl who loved cooking so much.
And she looked so smiling, I always felt like something else was going to happen?
Su Wan still smiled and picked up the dried bamboo shoots that had been soaked in the morning. They had not yet fully expanded and she had to wait a little longer.
Black glutinous rice is almost the same.
Then start using it right away!
Su Wan was cooking happily, which inspired everyone around her. No one knew what she was thinking.
If you knew, you would probably be shocked?
In fact, some contradictions already existed, but Su Wan just happened to discover and catch them.
For example, the Tianbei Palace and the Zhongcui Palace do not get along.
Su Wan had suspected this before, otherwise why did the people in the small kitchen only say that Concubine Chu gave the Buddhist beads but did not mention Concubine Jiang at all.
In other words, if Imperial Concubine Jiang was on good terms with Tianbei Palace, Concubine Chu would not have rushed forward, otherwise it would have been of no use.
In this case, we must make good use of this gap and use it to her advantage.
The author has something to say:
I have never found the source of this doggerel poem, so I would like to clarify that it is quoted from a miscellaneous book.
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