Zhou Qiongyue knew that the Queen Aunt was worried about her health, so she nodded in agreement. She turned around and saw Gulan behind her. Gulan immediately brought up two jars of peach blossom wine for the Queen.
Zhou Qiongyue was about to reach out to take it, but Amber, who was beside the Queen, immediately reached out and took it. How could I trouble the Princess with such a matter?
"This is the first batch of peach blossom wine brewed at my niece's farm. I sent it to you for you to try. But you should consult the imperial physician before drinking it."
Zhou Qiongyue happily presented treasures to her aunt, the Queen.
The queen was indeed quite surprised. In their time, the recipes for winemaking were in the hands of prominent families, and she never expected that her niece would know it.
The queen curiously opened the wine seal and smelled it. It was quite fragrant, and her eyes lit up.
"Are these things you brought for my aunt?"
Zhou Qiongyue tugged at her handkerchief awkwardly. "These three jars are for my aunt, and the remaining two are for my second cousin's wife. The rest are strong liquor. Three jars for my uncle the emperor, two for my second cousin, and two for my fifth cousin."
But if Auntie likes it, I will give it to her often in the future."
The Queen was very satisfied to see that Yue'er had considered all aspects. "I'll try it first. If it tastes good, I won't be polite to Yue'er."
As the Queen spoke, she pulled Zhou Qiongyue to sit beside her, and did not forget to order Amber, who was standing beside her, to deliver the three jars of wine to the Emperor. She also asked Amber to call the upper chamber to judge together, after all, the Emperor's health was more important.
Yuanpan is the imperial physician who is responsible for the emperor's health. The empress felt it would be safer to call him.
When Judge Ding and Amber arrived, the Emperor had just finished his morning duties. He heard Eunuch He report that the Empress had sent Amber to deliver something to the Emperor.
The emperor immediately ordered the announcement, but when he looked at Lord Ding who followed him in, he was still a little confused.
After Lord Ding and Amber finished their greetings, the Emperor asked:
"Why is Lord Ding here?"
"It is said that Princess Shuxian sent a few jars of strong liquor to His Majesty and asked me to check it out. If His Majesty would be so kind as to allow me to have some as well."
Court Judge Ding had more contact with the emperor, so he was more casual in his speech. After all, the friendship between the emperor and his subjects was there.
The emperor looked at Ding Aiqing with amusement. He didn't expect that Ding Aiqing also liked good wine. He could only smile and say, "You!"
Lord Ding had finished speaking, so Amber just had to quietly play a role in the background. At least her mission was accomplished as long as she delivered the wine safely.
"Since it has been delivered, please take a look, Lord Ding!" The emperor did not take it to heart at this time. After all, in the emperor's opinion, there was all kinds of wine in the palace.
As soon as Judge Ding opened the seal of the wine, the whole hall was filled with the strong aroma of wine.
The emperor smelled the aroma and his eyes couldn't help but glance at the three jars. He thought to himself that the Cheng'en Marquis's Mansion actually had such good things.
"This is really good wine!" Judge Ding's eyes lit up. He wondered if the emperor could give him some after he finished the inspection. He didn't want too much, just a small cup would be enough.
Judge Ding was carefully checking the wine, and the emperor started to ask Amber some detailed questions when he was free.
"Who did the princess give the gifts to?"
Amber didn't dare to be perfunctory and replied respectfully, "Your Majesty, the princess presented three jars of this strong liquor to His Majesty, two jars each for the two highnesses, and peach blossom wine for the queen and the second prince's wife."
The emperor rolled his eyes after hearing this, but thought in his heart, those two brats were able to taste such good wine, why should they all be offered to him, their father?
"Did the princess say where she came from?" The emperor was still more curious about her origin.
"Your Majesty, the princess said that the wine was brewed in the farm under her name. A lot of it was wasted, so only these few jars were produced." Amber, the senior palace maid beside the queen, did have some cleverness.
Amber finished her reply and Judge Ding finished his inspection.
"Your Majesty, there is no problem with this wine. But I have never tasted it. Can you reward me with some?" Judge Ding looked at the jar of wine in his hand with naked eyes.
"Hahaha, my dear, you are still so funny. You also encountered this today, so I will be generous and reward you with a jar! But you can't drink it while you are on duty."
The emperor was so generous at this time mainly because he wanted to snatch his son's wine. Three jars may not sound like a lot, but seven jars would make the emperor willing to give up one jar.
"Thank you, Your Majesty. I'll take my leave!" Judge Ding was afraid that the emperor would regret it, so after paying his respects, he ran away with the jar in his hand.
The Emperor watched Court Judge Ding disappearing quickly and found it amusing. "It's rare that there's something other than medicinal herbs that Lord Ding loves so much."
Eunuch He and Amber at the scene had no way to respond to this. Fortunately, the emperor did not need them to respond and just talked to himself.
After the emperor finished complaining about Judge Ding, he immediately stood up and patted his dragon robe. "Let's go! Let's go to Kunyun Palace."
Eunuch He and Amber had no choice but to follow.
When the emperor arrived at the queen's Kunyun Palace, the second prince and the fifth prince had not arrived yet.
"I heard that Yue'er sent wine to Chen'er and Yu'er?" This was the first question the emperor asked when he entered the palace, without hiding his intentions at all.
The queen could only helplessly point to the six jars on the table next to her and said, "They are all there."
"Chen'er and Yu'er are still young and can't drink such strong wine, so let me help them drink it!"
After the emperor finished speaking, without waiting for the queen and Zhou Qiongyue to react, he immediately turned around and ordered Eunuch He to move the four jars of liquor on the table. He didn't want to take the two jars of peach blossom wine from his daughter-in-law.
Zhou Qiongyue could only look at her aunt, the Queen, for help, and the Queen could only shake her head at her. With the Emperor acting like this, there was nothing she could do.
When the second prince and the fifth prince arrived for lunch, they found that their good wine was gone. They could only look at Zhou Qiongyue with resentment.
Zhou Qiongyue spread her hands, indicating that she couldn't win over the emperor and she had no other choice.
What made Zhou Qiongyue speechless the most was that the second prince actually came with his principal wife and concubine.
The second prince seemed to be taking care of his concubine Xie Zixin the whole time. Zhou Qiongyue could only look at her second cousin-in-law Duan Jianing next to her. Seeing her second cousin-in-law's calm look, Zhou Qiongyue felt admiration for her.
Xie Zixin, however, was very angry when she saw that Zhou Qiongyue ignored her and didn't give her any wine. She said sarcastically, "I don't know where the princess got the recipe. It's a pity that I have been looking for a winemaking recipe for a long time and I can't find it."
"Oh, it's none of your business!" Ever since Zhou Qiongyue felt that the emperor was mocking her by giving her the title of Princess Shuxian, she became less and less willing to hide her temper in front of the emperor.
Anyway, she can handle the problem of being a willful princess!
Xie Zixin was shocked at first. She hadn't expected Zhou Qiongyue to be so open in front of the emperor. She could only look pitifully at the Second Prince beside her and said, "Your Highness, that's not what I meant. I was just curious."
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