Later, when Qiu Hu reported that Granny Xu was waiting outside, Li Chenjiao glanced at the Fourth Master and said, "Please invite Granny Xu to the west wing. I'll be there right away."
When Fourth Master saw Li Chen looking at him with a smile, he waved his hand to shoo her away: "I still have official business to attend to here. You can go ahead. There are people to serve me here."
This means that the Fourth Master will not be leaving anytime soon.
Li Chenjiao smiled and agreed, reminding Qiu Ci to serve tea to the Fourth Master before leaving.
After Li Chenjiao left, the Fourth Prince was not idle. During this period, without the Emperor Father in charge in the capital, the princes were the ones who reviewed the greetings to the emperors from places that were not important.
However, Prince Zhi found these greetings memorials useless to review, and since the Crown Prince was in charge of the country and had other matters to attend to, the Fifth Prince reluctantly shared some of the burden.
In the past, when the third brother was still alive, he could share the burden, but now even the fourth brother gets tired of writing with the vermilion brush.
While reviewing the documents, the Fourth Prince suddenly remembered something: "Did the Thirteenth and Fourteenth write back?"
Father Emperor's southern tour has lasted almost a month. If the thirteenth and fourteenth emperors had written back, they should have arrived by now.
Su Peisheng replied, "The letter was just delivered; it's probably in the front yard right now."
The Fourth Master gave a nonchalant "hmm" and ordered, "Bring the letter."
Su Peisheng went there in person.
As for Li Chenjiao, strictly speaking, aside from a few banquets during the New Year, this was only the second time she had seen Granny Xu.
The first time was probably when Granny Xu came with the servants from the sewing room to measure her winter clothes.
When Xu Mama saw Li Chenjiao, she bowed very respectfully.
Li Chenjiao was very polite to this Granny Xu: "Please sit down, Granny. I have never handled such a matter before, so I really have no experience. I will have to rely on you for everything."
Xu Mama smiled and said that Li Chenjiao was too polite, and after declining, she still sat down.
"These are the dishes from the banquet when Fourth Master, Third Master, and Fifth Master had a drink at the manor last time. However, it wasn't a seasonal event then, and since the Crown Prince is here this time, we can't be careless."
As she spoke, Granny Xu pushed several menus on the table.
Li Chenjiao glanced at it and nodded slightly: "The tableware, the dining table, and the arrangement of the dishes will all be decided by the nanny. For now, I will take the liberty of looking at the layout of the dishes. As for the final dining procedure, we will decide on that after the dishes are finalized."
Xu Mama nodded to herself, thinking that although the person in front of her was known in the mansion for not liking to manage affairs, she was not careless when it came to actually managing things.
"As for the meal arrangements—cold dishes, snacks, hot dishes, soups, and staple foods—I'll take a look at the list prepared by the kitchen first."
Li Chenjiao naturally wouldn't devise every single dish herself; she would simply revise the menu prepared by the kitchen staff.
After all, the kitchen staff are experienced.
Li Chenjiao kept her head down, nodding occasionally, and raised her hand.
Qiu Hu, who was beside him, quickly understood and brought out a red brush.
"We don't want this red and white duck soup. It's only for the Fourth Prince and the Crown Prince. This dish is too grand and extravagant. Let's replace it with bird's nest and eight-immortal soup. It's equally valuable but less conspicuous."
The duck soup dish, once placed on the table, not only took up a prominent spot, but also looked rather greasy at this time of year.
Li Chenjiao didn't like the bird's nest and eight immortals soup at all, but since she was entertaining the Crown Prince, she couldn't let him feel that the Fourth Prince didn't value her.
Local specialties are acceptable, but the essential premium ingredients must also be included.
"Let's not have this milk tea either. Since it's the Dragon Boat Festival, let's have calamus wine instead. I heard from the Fourth Prince that the nobles in the palace have recently taken a liking to Southeast Asian wines. It's too late to brew one right away. Tomorrow morning, I'll have someone go to the wine shops in the capital to see if they have any."
"I remember the lotus leaves in the lotus pond on the estate grew exceptionally well, and we made lotus-scented rice as our staple food. It's been quite refreshing to eat this lately since the sun has gotten hot."
"I think the cold and hot dishes are fine, but the desserts are reduced by two. The soup is good as long as the bird's nest soup is available. Also, the dishes added by the kitchen seem a bit extravagant, so we'll reduce one or two of them as well."
"Reduce the amount of snacks and serve some Dragon Boat Festival rice dumplings instead of the red date paste ones. Only serve the ones that are lightly sweet and not greasy. Oh, by the way, Fourth Master said that the Crown Prince should eat less red beans, so avoid that too."
The Fourth Prince and the Crown Prince have similar tastes; neither of them likes sweets.
"Add a Five Poisons Cake to the replaced snacks, and serve a fruit platter with cherries, mulberries, water chestnuts, peaches, and apricots, which is in line with the auspiciousness of the Dragon Boat Festival."
"These are all I can think of for now. Granny, please take a look and see if there's anything else that's not right?" Li Chenjiao put down her vermilion brush and asked Granny Xu for her opinion with a smile.
Xu Mama was not dissatisfied at all, but she still looked at it carefully again: "It is good that the princess is meticulous, but it looks a bit too simple."
The main issue is the removal of those major dishes.
Li Chenjiao nodded in agreement: "What you say is true, Granny. But since Fourth Master is always frugal, it seems appropriate to keep things simple."
According to Li Chenjiao, she still felt that the revised menu was quite extravagant.
Granny Xu was cautious after all. After nodding, she still said, "Why don't we let the Fourth Master take a look later, after we've made a decision?"
Li Chenjiao had no objections and discussed the meal procedure with Granny Xu.
By the time the agreement was reached, it was completely dark outside.
Having been in the manor for so long, Li Chenjiao rarely had a moment to use her brain like this, even if it was just thinking about food.
However, Li Chenjiao was still a little hungry after the agreement was reached.
She asked Granny Xu to go and see the Fourth Master. After Granny Xu left the west wing, she took a big gulp of cold tea and gave further instructions.
"I'm starving right now, I'll go to the kitchen and order some Qiaoguo (a type of pastry) and a bowl of wontons."
Qiaoguo is a type of pasta dish made by shaping vermicelli into flower shapes and then deep-frying it.
When Li Chenjiao was revising the menu, she saw the Kyoto pastries ordered by the kitchen and suddenly remembered Qiaoguo (a type of fried pastry).
Qiu Hu watched as her mistress, who had been so serious and focused when revising the menu, suddenly became flustered and couldn't help but chuckle.
"Just one serving?" Qiu Hu asked again.
It means, do you want to order the Fourth Master's portion?
Li Chenjiao then remembered that there was a Fourth Master in Xinlutang.
"I'm afraid Fourth Master doesn't like Qiaoguo (a type of pastry). Tell the kitchen to make an extra bowl of wontons, but not too much."
Li Chenjiao sat for a while longer, waiting for Granny Xu to return and report that the Fourth Master had agreed, then she stood up with a smile.
"Then tomorrow, I'll need you to keep a close eye on things in the front yard. It's inconvenient for me to go, but the two maids are at your beck and call."
Qiu Hu immediately bowed to Granny Xu.
When Xu Mama was in the mansion, she had discussed various small banquets with Wu Gege, but after looking at Li Gege in front of her...
Naturally, one can then weigh the importance of things in one's mind.
Wu Gege wanted to take everything upon herself, but she found this Li Gege quite unusual and didn't interfere much.
It's as if they've done everything they can, and then they just want to wash their hands of everything else.
It's extremely rare, not just in the backyard, but even in the palace.
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