The doctor from the Ministry of Rites had a numb mouth for several days after eating the grilled fish, but if you ask him, he doesn’t regret it.
The answer is definitely no regrets!
Why would you regret eating something so delicious?
It’s okay to let him have two more meals.
Su Wan didn't know whether to laugh or cry when she heard about this way of eating, but later when the people from Hunan and Sichuan in the Ministry of Rites heard about this way of eating, they asked Su Wan to make some.
These are not against the rules. For example, on the north and south sides, there are officials in charge of government offices who order meals. This is the function of these small kitchens.
It is special that the Ministry of Rites suddenly added me here, but when you think about it, since we are all from the same department, it doesn’t seem like a big deal.
Su Wan cooked a few fish and sent them over. After eating them, the people in the Ministry of Rites all agreed that it was the best decision to merge the Shangshi Bureau into the Ministry of Rites and it should have been merged earlier.
As for Su Wan's name, it also kept ringing in their ears.
But the leisurely days did not last too long. It was already September and the imperial palace had already set out. Both inside and outside the palace, people were busy preparing to receive the emperor.
When the saint was not in Kyoto, the officials were relatively comfortable as they did not have to follow him to the palace. But as soon as he returned, everything became tense.
Moreover, in autumn, the autumn harvest and autumn taxes are the top priorities, and there is even the Autumn Festival, which is the autumn sacrifice, and all things become busy.
There was a slight sense of urgency in the west kitchen.
Speaking of which, although the Western Kitchen and the Imperial Food Department no longer have much dealings with the Imperial Household Department, it is also heard that the chief steward of the Imperial Household Department has been replaced and is now recommended by Concubine Chu.
The current Chief of the Imperial Household Department speaks and acts in a friendly manner, but no one has yet met what kind of person he is.
Su Wan calculated that she had only been in the palace for four or five months, and as far as she knew, two eunuchs had been replaced. It seemed that being an official in the palace was not that easy.
The Baochaosi is fine, although it is important, it is not as important as the Imperial Household Department. However, the chief steward of the Imperial Household Department can change it at will.
However, the situation in the harem has little to do with her.
Now for the western kitchen, the autumn menu is stable, and the winter menu will not be changed until November. During this time, she cooks in the small kitchen or just goes to the big kitchen to check.
As for the changes in the female officials in the Shangshi Division?
It has nothing to do with her.
Life like this is quite comfortable.
That being said, things still need to be done, but looking at the busy appearance of the Imperial Household Department, you can tell that apart from the Western Kitchen, other places are already extremely busy.
The Imperial Household Department had mentioned before that they were responsible for replacing the utensils of each palace. In addition to each palace's own personal belongings, they were also responsible for replacing the screens and other items in the palace.
Now that the seasons are changing from summer to autumn, it’s time to get busy again.
It's not just the Imperial Household Department, it's almost the same in other places, especially here in Yan Pei.
Since the day he ate the grilled fish, he was not seen until the tenth day of September, when the palace collected the monthly salary again.
It turned out to be at least ten days, and this time he didn't even leave a note. I guess he was really busy.
Su Wan didn't think much about it. She put away the monthly salary carefully. She added the processing fee for helping to prepare meals, the monthly salary, and the money from selling the house. In total, she had two hundred and twenty taels on hand.
This is not a small amount of money, but it is still too slow to save.
Not to mention anything else, with two taels of silver a month, five cents for my aunt every month, and three cents for food and clothing, there was actually not much left.
Su Wan understood even more clearly why people still came to eat in the western kitchen every day even though the food there was so bad. The reason was to save money.
Speaking of this, the palace servants of the West Outer Palace were naturally very grateful to Su Wan. Perhaps the palace servants in other places were not clear about the situation in the West Kitchen of the West Outer Palace, but they knew it.
If Su Wan hadn't turned the tide and shown her cooking skills, they would probably have to eat out every day and wouldn't be able to save any money.
Things are much better now and I have more money.
So no matter who Su Wan talked to, the palace servants from the West Outer Palace were all friendly and basically answered all her questions.
Therefore, Su Wan has fallen in love with this lazy life.
But after receiving my salary on September 10th, another thing happened.
The saint and his entourage arrived in Beijing on September 12, and the palace maids from various palaces also returned one after another. It was said that the chief eunuch of the imperial household who had gone to the temporary palace lay down in bed to rest for almost a day after returning. Although they were not in a hurry on the way there and back, it was still hard work after all.
The people in the Outer Palace were all like this, and the Inner Palace was even busier, with quite a few people from the Imperial Household Department also being transferred over there.
Su Wan knew it was a big deal, and occasionally heard Wei Jun, who was free, say, "The saint is very unhappy, so everyone is having a hard time."
He came back from the palace happily, so what's there to be unhappy about?
Zhuo Hui whispered, "I heard that halfway along the way, the Third Prince went to welcome the Saint back to the palace, and the scene was very awkward."
Your Highness?
Su Wan was no longer a young maid who had just entered the palace. She had heard a lot about the fame of the Third Prince. Many people said that he was not the saint's biological son, but the son of Prince Yu who had been sentenced to death.
Prince Yu was originally close to the late queen, and the two had always had a good relationship.
Unexpectedly, the former queen married the saint, but she still had feelings for Prince Yu, so rumors spread.
However, the saint insisted that the child was his, thus avoiding the critical eyes of others.
Su Wan thought about it and it made sense. No matter whether the child was his or not, even a saint would have to acknowledge him. What else could he do if he didn't acknowledge him?
Is he going to announce to the world that he's been cuckolded?
You have to admit it for the sake of face.
After all, it doesn’t matter if you admit it, just ignore it.
Now the transparent Third Prince is an eyesore in front of the Saint, no wonder he is angry.
But this is all a mess. It has happened in every dynasty and is not a rare thing.
Su Wan just treated it as gossip.
But why did the Third Prince go to welcome the Saint back to the palace? Was it really because of the father-son relationship?
She had never met this person, so it was difficult for her to comment too much.
Now I have to pack up and prepare to go to the Shangshenjian, which is the headquarters of the Shangshisi.
Originally, Su Wan shouldn't have gone there. After all, this time she was going there, it must be about official positions. There were four more positions in the headquarters, so naturally someone had to be promoted.
It has nothing to do with a little palace maid like Su Wan.
However, the chief of the Imperial Kitchen wanted to see her and gave her special treatment.
Therefore, the deputy prime minister of the West Kitchen, the left and right leaders, the five senior palace maids, and Su Wan all went to the Shangshenjian headquarters.
The remaining palace maids were filled with envy and also looked at Yu Shu with envy.
All the female officials and palace maids had left, but unexpectedly, another older palace maid and Yu Shu were in charge of the west kitchen.
It seems that Yu Shu is also very valued.
It would have been fine for other people. Xiaoyue looked at Su Wan who had left, then at Yu Shu, and Chunxiang who was beside her. Even Chunxiang had followed Su Wan to work in the miscellaneous warehouse and make mooncakes.
Among the several palace maids who entered the palace this year, I seemed to be the only one who was completely useless.
Xiaoyue has been talking less recently, but the west kitchen is so busy that no one noticed.
Su Wan followed the female officials to the Shangshenjian of the Dongwai Palace. She had been here several times and was quite familiar with the place.
As soon as I walked in, I heard a lot of noise inside, and many people were congratulating the female official from the Imperial Food Department.
Since everyone returned to the palace on September 12, and now on September 14, everyone has had a good rest, many people have come to the Shangshenjian to see their superiors.
The reason is simple.
It has been many years since I have seen a female official who was promoted from the fifth rank to the fourth rank.
Moreover, the Shangshi Division now has the support of the Ministry of Rites, so it has a bright future.
But now the outsiders had been sent away, leaving only the Shangshisi people.
They are the three deputies of the South, North and West Chancellors, and the six people in charge of the three places.
Deputy Prime Minister Li of the Miscellaneous Affairs Bureau and three deputy prime ministers in the wine-making and sweets department.
There were five senior palace maids in each place, and the last one was Su Wan.
On the side of the Imperial Kitchen was a female official from the Imperial Food Department. There were four senior palace maids beside her. One of them, named Song Cui, was known to Su Wan and she greeted her when she entered the room.
The last time I went to the inner palace to deliver black plum soup, it was Song Cui and Su Wan who brought it.
Anyway, all in all, Su Wan was the only little palace maid.
The others were at least senior palace maids.
We haven't seen each other for a long time, so naturally we have a lot to talk about now, and everything is natural, and the atmosphere is lively.
When he saw Su Wan coming over, Deputy Prime Minister Li looked at her first and said, "Have you grown taller?"
It has been more than two months since Deputy Prime Minister Li and the others went to the palace. He has indeed grown taller during this time!
The head of the Imperial Food Department also said, "It does seem a bit high."
Isn’t this what Su Wan likes to hear the most!
The eggs you eat every day are not in vain!
After chatting about small things, we naturally have to talk about what happened recently in Shangshisi.
For other departments, it was just a matter of going to the palace and coming back, but for the Imperial Food Department it was a different situation.
The Imperial Kitchen had been through so many things, so they definitely had to talk about them, including the dirty stuff with the Imperial Household Department and the grudge with Concubine Jiang.
Whether he likes it or not, the grudge with Concubine Jiang can no longer be resolved.
It wasn't even the choice of the Chief of the Imperial Kitchen.
All she wanted to do was to do her job well. She had no interest in taking sides and was respectful to Concubine Jiang.
But the example of the Western Kitchen made her alert. The money withheld from the Western Kitchen was embezzled to an alarming extent.
So afterwards the superior said that she was not allowed to interfere in other kitchens under any circumstances.
It would be fine if everyone could live in peace.
Who would have thought that so many troubles would arise while visiting the palace. Fortunately, the problems have been resolved, and the Imperial Food Bureau has made further progress.
The commander looked at Su Wan and continued to talk to everyone about what to do next.
The Imperial Food Department will never become a tool for some people to enrich themselves, otherwise the food for thousands of people in the outer palaces will suffer.
After the discussion was over, the officer smiled and said to Su Wan, "Do you have any ideas?"
Although there were more than a dozen female officials and senior palace maids present whose positions were higher than Su Wan's, they still asked her a question.
The other female officials didn't think there was anything wrong with it and looked at her with smiles, but Deputy Prime Minister Nan was the only one who was stunned for a moment, feeling mixed emotions.
I thought her niece Li Rongrong was the best among this batch, no, the best among these batches of palace maids, but Su Wan happened to appear. But now he still looked at her, and Deputy Nan Cheng also admired her very much.
When Su Wan was looked at like this, she actually had an idea to say, but it seemed that everyone had forgotten it before.
Su Wan coughed lightly: "I remember that Concubine Jiang has an appointment with the West Kitchen in March?"
As per the March agreement, as long as the western kitchen is reorganized within three months, Imperial Concubine Jiang will provide a subsidy of 100 taels of silver per month as a reward this year.
The March appointment starts on April 11th.
Logically speaking, the March agreement would have ended by mid-July. As for whether the West Kitchen won or Concubine Jiang won, it was self-evident.
But it’s September now!
Where is the subsidy for their western dining room? !
Besides, since I have already fallen out with Concubine Jiang, this doesn’t really matter.
The head of the Imperial Food Department obviously thought so too, and raised his eyebrows: "I was so busy with work that I forgot about this matter."
"I will ask someone to go to the inner palace to get the silver in a moment. You can prepare the extra meal in the west kitchen."
Add more food!
Yay!
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