"What is that?" Kangxi was getting more and more confused by Lanqin's words.
Lanqin thought about it for a moment and suddenly realized that she might have let her imagination run wild. This old man Kangxi was not so easy to fool! If she accidentally injured him, that would be a serious crime!
"Girl, I'm asking you a question!" Kangxi refused to let Lanqin off the hook, his expression set with an air of wanting to get to the bottom of it.
“Well, Father Emperor, sometimes you can get minor injuries from exercising. For example, you might twist your ankle while running, or you might strain your back while doing exercises,” Lanqin said.
Kangxi understood that the girl was worried, and he laughed, "Then won't you choke on your food or drink water?"
Lanqin chuckled and said, "Father's words are insightful. Then I'll devise an exercise plan for you. If you want it to be effective, you must stick to it, otherwise nothing will work."
Kangxi nodded and said, "Alright, then you must be responsible for making breakfast for me every morning, and it's best if it's different every day."
Lanqin felt a sudden darkness engulf her; she was in deep trouble! She had to prepare breakfast for Emperor Kangxi every morning, and a different meal every single day! Was this even humanly possible?! She could no longer sleep in!
Lanqin wished she could take back all the words she had just said that were purely for Kangxi's health, and then swallow them down with the sesame oil cake in front of her!
"What's wrong? You're not happy about serving me breakfast?" Kangxi asked Lanqin.
Oh dear, that old Kangxi is definitely a master of deception, never cracking a smile!
"I'm thinking about what kind of breakfasts to make that won't be the same, and that will make Father Emperor happy!" Lanqin said with a forced smile. She had no choice but to bow down to power, but this way she could find an excuse to come and see Hongli.
"Yes, now that you've used it, go back. Send Hongli over later. I've already prepared a study and a place for him to sleep." Kangxi had achieved his goal and began to send them away.
When Lanqin came out, she wished she could take off the flowerpot-shaped shoes on her feet and throw them into Fuhai Lake.
“Your Majesty! If the Emperor stays here for three months, you’ll have to prepare ninety different kinds of breakfast!” Si Hua said, supporting Lan Qin’s hand.
Waaaaah!
Upon hearing this, Lanqin was so angry that she immediately stopped in her tracks, bent over, covered her head, and refused to leave.
"Master, Master!"
Seeing Lanqin like this, Sihua hurriedly squatted down and said, "The Emperor just said it was the best, so it's okay if it's repeated sometimes, right?"
Lanqin looked up with a pained expression and said, "Sihua, why am I making things so difficult for myself! I couldn't possibly make thirty different kinds of breakfast!"
Si Hua thought for a moment and said, "My lady, please don't cry here. It's not good if someone sees you. Why don't I go back with you and we can think about it together? We can write them down, one by one, so that you can do one every morning and it won't be so difficult."
Lanqin could only nod, stand up, and, holding Sihua's hand, return to Jiuzhou Qingyan dejectedly.
"Mother!" Hongli had already gotten up, but not seeing Lanqin, he was throwing a tantrum in the room. As soon as he saw Lanqin come in, he immediately jumped up from the small stool and ran towards her.
"Hongli, what's wrong?" Lanqin asked, looking down and touching her son's round face.
"Where did Mother go?" Although Hongli was only two years old, he could already speak quite well. His vocabulary was no different from that of a three- or four-year-old child.
"Your mother went to pay her respects to your imperial grandfather. Hongli, now you go and pay your respects to your imperial grandfather, okay?" Lanqin squatted down and looked Hongli in the eye.
"Then Mother, will you accompany Hongli?" Hongli knew that when his grandfather, the Emperor, came, he would have to go and pay his respects, and he would also have to talk with his grandfather to relieve his boredom.
"Your mother just arrived. Why don't you have Lanqi and the others take you there? I'll pick you up this afternoon," Lanqin said. Actually, she didn't know if she could bring Hongli back, but that was all she could say for now.
"Hongli will miss his mother." Hongli was a little resistant, because once he left, he would never see his mother again.
"Hongli, do you still remember what your mother said to you last night?" Lanqin asked.
Hongli looked at Lanqin with some sadness, knowing that he had to go, so he could only nod.
Lanqin looked at Hongli and, feeling a pang of tenderness, gently touched his cheek, saying, "Hongli, be good. Your mother will visit you every day. But perhaps your grandfather will have me pick you up to sleep every day. You can talk to your grandfather about that yourself."
Hongli nodded, and Lanqin instructed Lanqi to take several maids who served Hongli to Changchun Garden to pay their respects to Emperor Kangxi.
After Hongli left, Lanqin felt sad. She knew that Kangxi's high regard for Hongli was beneficial to both the Fourth Prince and Hongli. There were even rumors in the countryside that Kangxi passed the throne to Yongzheng so that Hongli would be qualified to inherit it. Of course, these were just unofficial historical accounts and shouldn't be taken as fact.
"Master, is it time to prepare lunch?" Jinju asked.
"Just prepare something simple. Si Hua, summon all the palace maids and eunuchs in the palace to my study. I'm going to hold a general meeting!" Lan Qin said. This old Kangxi, he's making things difficult as soon as he arrives! Alright, let's mobilize the masses; the power of the masses is great.
So Lanqin summoned all the palace servants in Jiuzhou Qingyan and asked them to report on the delicacies of their hometowns from their memories, and to record them.
"Si Hua, go out and give them a number. Come in one by one and explain. Otherwise, with all this chaos, it'll be hard to explain." Lan Qin saw a large group of palace servants standing in the courtyard outside.
After Si Hua left, Lan Qin asked, "Shui Ling, you go first. Do you remember any local snacks from your hometown? Preferably local snacks."
Shui Ling thought for a moment and said, "Master, I was sold when I was very young. I only remember that my mother made a kind of soup for me that was very delicious. Does that count?"
Lanqin immediately asked, "What kind of soup?"
Shui Ling thought for a moment and said, "Just put tofu, shiitake mushrooms, shepherd's purse, vermicelli, and pickled mustard greens together, then add a paste, vinegar, chili, and black pepper. It's so fragrant!"
Upon hearing this, Lanqin roughly understood what it was and asked, "Shuiling, your hometown is Shandong, right?"
Shui Ling exclaimed "Ah!" and nodded, saying, "Yes, this servant is from Dezhou."
“Your soup is called Hu spicy soup. It’s really good, I like it too, you can write it down.” Lanqin immediately picked up her pen and wrote down what Shuiling had just said.
“My lady, I also remember a kind of small cake from my hometown. It’s filled with dried plums and vegetables, and it comes in both sweet and savory varieties,” Jinju said.
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