Since it was a birthday gift given to the Empress Dowager by all the princes, it would not be good to leave out the eldest prince and the crown prince. After preparing the ingredients for making the cake, Yinzuo sent people to the eldest prince's mansion and Yuqing Palace outside the palace to invite the eldest prince Yinzhi and the crown prince Yinreng over.
"Brothers, now comes the most exciting cake-making part. This cake is actually quite simple to make. First..."
This gift was fresh and naturally a thoughtful gift. Yinzuo believed that the best way to express his feelings was to do it himself. With his previous experience in making birthday cakes for Yinzhen, the cake base sent by the royal chefs was more than enough, and there was a lot of cream prepared. So he simply demonstrated every step of making the cake to Yinzhi and the others himself. In order to prevent them from knowing it with their eyes but not with their hands, which would affect the appearance of the final product, Yinzuo simply gave each of them a set of materials and asked them to practice on their own.
How could they possibly be the Nine Dragons fighting for the throne? Their learning abilities were all top-notch, even the seemingly least reliable Tenth Prince Yin? The final practice results looked very good. Now that everything was ready, the next step was naturally practical application.
"Brother, you really are an expert at using a knife. Look at how the cake is cut, it's really round and of uniform thickness..."
"Ninth and tenth brothers are not bad either. Look at how the fruits are cut into almost the same size. Come here, seventh and eighth brothers, you just need to lay out the fruits and cake base, one layer of fruit and one layer of cake. You are so smart, this is a piece of cake for you."
"Third brother. Fourth brother is indeed the most steady. He is steady in both body and hands. Look at how he spreads the cream, it's so smooth..."
"Brother, your handwriting is good, and your painting is also good. I can see that you didn't slack off when practicing just now..."
"Fifth Brother..."
Although Yin Zuo stood aside without any touch, the emotional value of this was very high. No matter what the brothers did, or how they did it, he would only praise them in one word.
The brothers worked together, and the finished cake looked quite good. However, the Queen Mother's birthday was still two days away. If the cake was left out for too long, it would definitely affect its taste. So, they all decided to share the cake first, just to give it a taste for the Queen Mother. After all, the cake was not difficult to make, so they could just make a new one the day before the Queen Mother's birthday.
As the saying goes, first time is raw, second time is familiar. The finished product made the second time seemed to be of better quality than the first time. Yinzuo asked Dexi to take the cake away and watch it personally, while he went to the study because he almost forgot about the Queen Mother's birthday before, and he still hadn't finished copying the Buddhist scriptures.
"Dexi, today is the Queen Mother's birthday, so we should dress festively. Go find the outfit I wore last year during the Spring Festival. I've decided to wear that today..."
Kangxi always liked to regard himself as benevolent and filial, so he naturally attached great importance to the empress dowager's birthday. Although Yinzuo was lazy on weekdays, he dared not slack off on such an important day as the empress dowager's birthday, so not only did he get up early today, he also dressed himself from head to toe to ensure that he looked both festive and formal today.
Shoukang Palace was naturally bustling with activity at this time. Although there was still some time before the birthday banquet began when Yinzuo and his brothers arrived, many concubines in the harem had already arrived before them. They were sitting around the old lady, chatting and joking with her. It was really lively.
Regardless of who said what, the Queen Mother always wore a cheerful smile, nodding in agreement from time to time, as if she agreed with what they were saying. However, Yin Zuo was thinking that the old lady probably didn't understand much of what they were saying. After all, compared to him, the Queen Mother was a complete novice. She had lived in the palace for decades, and she hadn't even learned a few words of Manchu, let alone Chinese. If anyone wanted to communicate with her, they could speak her native dialect.
Yinzuo and the other princes came forward and politely paid their respects to the empress dowager. After being called, he and his brothers retreated outside the hall to wait for the birthday banquet to begin.
Soon after, Kangxi arrived at Shoukang Palace. Everyone greeted him again. Kangxi's arrival officially marked the start of the birthday banquet. He first glanced around the room, confirming everyone was present. Then, after walking over to the Empress Dowager, he personally helped her up and took her to the top seat in the banquet hall outside. He then announced the start of the banquet.
What was the most important part of the birthday banquet? Naturally, it was the birthday greeting. First, Yinzuo and his companions, led by Kangxi, followed the custom of previous years and respectfully presented the Empress Dowager with a Buddhist scripture they had copied by hand. Afterwards, they didn't rush to bring out the cake they had made. Instead, they waited until the banquet was almost over before letting Yinqi go out and bring over the cake they had prepared.
"What is this? It looks quite strange."
The Queen Mother naturally found this uniquely shaped cake very novel when she saw it for the first time.
Yinqi was raised by the Empress Dowager since he was a child and was always lively in front of her. Upon hearing this, he held the cake in front of the Empress Dowager and replied crisply.
"Madam Royal, this is a birthday cake. My grandson and all my brothers and sisters made it by hand. We wish you happiness as vast as the East Sea and everlasting youth."
When the Queen Mother heard that the cake was made by her grandsons, she smiled even more happily and immediately said that she wanted to taste the cake. The Queen Mother said she wanted to eat it, and a palace maid came forward to take the cake and took it away for inspection. After confirming that it was correct, the cake was quickly divided into several equal portions and served on exquisite porcelain plates.
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