The news that the West Kitchen had offended the powerful nobles in the Inner Palace soon spread to the West Outer Palace.
Most people here knew about the situation of the West Kitchen, and some were even applauding, thinking that after Deputy Prime Minister Xi left, the food in the West Kitchen might get better.
But Su Wan knew the inside story. If Deputy Prime Minister Xi left, the West Kitchen would only get worse and worse, and no one dared to raise any objections.
Deputy Prime Minister Xi had a falling out with the people in power over the food issue. The official who succeeded her would certainly not dare to argue with the people in power over this issue, otherwise he would resign like his predecessor.
So rather than saying it was a matter between the Western Kitchen and the nobles in power in the Inner Palace, it would be more accurate to say it was a matter of power struggle between the entire Imperial Food Bureau and the nobles.
If the Western Kitchen wins and prepares good meals in these three months, the powerful people will not be able to interfere with the Western Kitchen.
If you lose, there will be plenty of reasons.
What, to “improve” the food in the western kitchen, so she has to do this and that.
There are a lot of twists and turns here.
But for her, a little palace maid in the west kitchen, it was enough to do her job well.
However, after I prepared two dishes and a soup on April 13 and had them tasted by the Right Minister, two or three days later, there was no further development on the matter.
In addition, the Imperial Household Department also sent money. Although only a few meals were prepared, they still gave Su Wan five cents of silver and Yu Shu one cent of silver.
I won't be in the kitchenette for the time being.
It’s not that the people in the Imperial Household Department don’t want to eat it, but that they can’t eat it!
Nothing will happen in the West Kitchen at this critical juncture. I guess there are people watching over it in the inner palace.
What if Su Wan is exposed and the other party takes the opportunity to ask for the person in advance?
So when Su Wan woke up, the news she got was that she should not be anxious for the time being and just do her job as a maid well. By the way, the head maid should take her around to familiarize herself with all the ingredients in the west kitchen, because she would be taking action soon.
Su Wan was naturally obedient. As soon as she stepped into the door of the west kitchen, she was pulled by five palace maids one by one. The five palace maids did not feel jealous of Su Wan at all.
After eating the soup made by Su Wan that day, the five palace maids wanted to praise Su Wan to the sky and wanted her to be the chef right now.
This way they can also eat the food cooked by Su Wan.
Although I can now occasionally taste the delicious food made by Su Wan behind others' back, it is still not enjoyable.
Only the senior palace maids in the west kitchen can be so simple-minded. If they had any thoughts, they would have gone somewhere else.
These five palace maids taught her carefully and even gave her a long menu and asked her to go to Guandi Temple to look at it.
Su Wan gradually understood the situation in the west kitchen.
But you have to avoid others when doing these things.
For the people in charge, Su Wan’s talent cannot be discovered by anyone for the time being.
Otherwise she would definitely be snatched away!
Now the only ones who know Su Wan's craftsmanship in the palace are the chief and deputy chief stewards of the Imperial Household Department. They don't rely on the nobles in the inner palace for their living and are willing to give face to the Imperial Food Department. Naturally, the young eunuch Wei Jun also listens to his master.
There are also the Chief of the Imperial Food Department, the Deputy Prime Minister of the West, the left and right officials, and five senior palace maids.
These people are our own people and will never leak any secrets. The same goes for the little palace maids below. They are not allowed to walk around anywhere, so even if they want to tell on others, they don't have the chance.
But if the palace servants other than these people knew about Su Wan's craftsmanship, they would definitely fight for her.
He is the only one who is good at cooking in the West Kitchen. If he is taken away now, Deputy Prime Minister Xi can really pack up and go home.
The more powerful you are, the more you have to hide.
It cannot be shown until Su Wan officially starts working as the head chef of the western kitchen.
Because they had to keep their skills hidden, the five palace maids' eyes were full of pity when they looked at Su Wan.
Many palace maids in the West Kitchen discovered this and teased Su Wan, saying that she was the youngest and therefore the most favored.
Su Wan just smiled and continued to do her work.
Yu Shu also asked her privately why she didn't start working as a chef immediately. It was obvious that Su Wan had the ability to do it as long as she started taking action.
The food in the western kitchen can definitely be improved.
Su Wan was getting ready to deliver offerings to the Guandi Temple. Under the offerings was a thick list of ingredients, all of which she needed to familiarize herself with.
Hearing this, he laughed again: "Because we are negotiating terms."
The nobles in power asked the Deputy Prime Minister to improve the western kitchen within three months. It was done intentionally, thinking that she would not be able to do it because she had neither the ingredients nor the manpower, so they would let her resign when the time came.
Moreover, at this time, it would be inappropriate for the Imperial Food Department to immediately send more staff to the Western Kitchen, otherwise it would be directly going against the powerful.
We are all decent people and we have to keep looking good.
When those in power think they have a sure win, that is when they will let down their guard.
But she happened to appear in the West Kitchen, and since the Chief of the Imperial Food Department had this trump card in his hands, he would definitely use it well.
It would be too easy to just call it out and improve the western kitchen.
The head of the Imperial Food Department would certainly take advantage of the time when the powerful people let their guard down to negotiate more conditions.
For example, if the food in the western kitchen improves, can we get more food quota?
For another example, the situation in the West Kitchen is complicated, and the Deputy West Prime Minister probably won’t do a good job. If he does a good job, can the West Kitchen be given some preferential treatment?
But the western kitchen is probably not going to work, so you just raise your hand or something.
The more humble the head of the Food Department is at this time, the more proud they will be, and they may even promise more conditions.
As for how to play the game, Su Wan was just thinking about it.
She is just a little palace maid, just do her own thing.
Although it has been three days since she last cooked, what she does every day is the same as when she first came to the palace.
Early in the morning, I would go to Guandi Temple to offer sacrifices, and then go to the big kitchen to help.
But now that the offerings have been delivered, there is still one more thing to do, and that is, using the temple of Lord Guandi, she has to carefully record the ingredients allocated in April and formulate a menu suitable for the canteen as soon as possible.
When the game over there is over, she can take office immediately.
So as soon as Su Wan arrived at the Guandi Temple, she immediately and neatly changed the offerings, then sat on a low stool nearby holding the changed offerings, eating the fruits while memorizing the ingredients, and occasionally taking a pen to organize the menu.
When the young man in black came in, he paused.
Why is this little palace maid here again?
Under Su Wan's curious gaze, the young man in black calmly took three incense sticks and lit them beside him. The young man extinguished the flames of the incense by swinging them left and right. Then he faced the statue of Guandi, raised the incense to his forehead, and bowed to show respect.
Then he inserted the incense burner from left to right and said, "Burning incense brings great tranquility."
Wow, what a ceremonial feeling.
It turns out there are so many etiquettes for burning incense, and the boy’s movements are quite beautiful.
Who knew that just after Su Wan finished praising him in her heart, she saw the young man look at her, then sit on a low stool on the other side, close his eyes and silently recite the "Morning and Evening Exercises", looking very normal.
But in reality, I was wondering when this little palace maid would leave.
If she doesn't leave, do I really have to finish reading this sutra?
Unexpectedly, the little maid said, "You haven't had breakfast yet, I brought it today."
"Would you like to try it?"
When breakfast was mentioned, the boy immediately opened his eyes and narrowed them slightly.
If he hadn't heard of the bad reputation of the food in the western kitchen, he would have thought that someone was trying to murder him again.
“No.”
He would rather die than eat it. He had never eaten such a disgusting meal.
Su Wan laughed subconsciously, and when she saw the boy's grim expression, she coughed lightly and said, "It's not bad this time, really."
Su Wan slowly opened the lid of the egg custard. She made it herself. She made six servings today, one for each of the five senior palace maids. The last one was her breakfast.
But thinking that it would be miserable for the young man to recite the sutras on an empty stomach, he decided to give it to him. After all, he was guarding the kitchen and could easily get a bite.
After the lid was opened, the boy frowned.
Why is the taste so different this time?
It’s just an egg custard, how can it be so fragrant?
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