"Brother Zichen, why don't you come with us too?"
“We won’t go. Nianxia shouldn’t be overworked right now, and I’m afraid she’ll be scared. We’ll stay here with her. You guys go ahead.”
Mo Zichen naturally understood that as a member of the martial arts world, if he entered and left the palace without being summoned, he would be at risk of being exploited by those with ulterior motives, which would bring him nothing but harm.
If it implicates Yan An, it will be a loss that outweighs the gain.
Su Jingzhan was different from them. He was a longtime friend of the Regent and had entered the palace many times to treat the Empress and the Emperor. No one could say anything about his comings and goings in the palace.
"Alright then, once Sister Nianxia is better, I'll make you something non-spicy."
"good."
"You're still talking, let's go, let's not waste time."
After Su Jingzhan changed his clothes, he hurriedly urged Yan An and the other person to hurry up.
"Didn't you say it smelled bad?"
"Xiyuan, you're wrong about that. That stuff might smell bad but taste delicious. Besides, my junior sister's cooking is always good. If we miss it this time, we might not get another chance."
Su Jingzhan nudged Yue Xiyuan with his shoulder, "Xiyuan, you should hurry up and marry your junior sister so I can mooch meals at your house every day."
Yue Xiyuan suddenly stopped. "I see you don't want that mouth anymore."
"Cuiguo, smash his mouth!"
Yue Xiyuan helped Yan An into the carriage.
"Junior sister, who is Cuiguo?"
"If you say one more word, you won't have to go."
Su Jingzhan immediately covered his mouth. [Even with a junior sister, this guy is still not likable.]
The four returned to the palace and found that everyone had been waiting for them for a long time.
"Oh dear, little sister, you've finally arrived! You have no idea..."
Yan Yi looked around. He couldn't speak of the Empress Dowager, the Emperor, or the Empress; he dared not speak of his father or mother...
"This kitten is starving!"
"Kitten? Where's the kitten?"
Yan An looked around but couldn't find the kitten. "I think the kitten in your belly is starving."
"An Si, take these to the imperial kitchen to wash them. I'll go prepare them."
"An'an, I want to go too! I want to go too!"
"Okay, let's go together."
Gu Yanan, carrying Yan An, "ran" to the imperial kitchen.
"An'an, you have no idea, I've been craving this hot pot for over twenty years. It's all thanks to you coming here, otherwise I would never have been able to eat it."
"Don't worry, Sister Ya Nan. I have several kinds of hot pot bases, including famous ones, good ones, and Haidilao ones. This time, you can eat your fill."
"Really? That's great! I want Mingyang's, extra spicy, extra numbing and extra spicy!"
"good."
Yan An dismissed the others and took out the hot pot base, seasonings, side dishes, and freshly frozen beef and mutton that had appeared yesterday.
Yan An placed a lot of ice on the plate and arranged the sliced meat pieces one by one on the ice.
I also prepared many bowls of condiments: peanut butter, satay sauce, vinegar, soy sauce, fermented bean curd, chili powder, chive blossoms, chili oil, cilantro, scallions, sesame paste, white sugar, oyster sauce, mushroom sauce...
There's also houttuynia cordata, which some people dislike while others like.
Everything was vacuum-packed in jars; I must say, the space was incredibly thoughtful.
Yan An was worried that everyone wouldn't know how to make it, so he prepared several more flavors.
It includes classic Chongqing hot pot base, seafood dipping sauce, old Beijing hot pot dipping sauce, spicy northern dipping sauce, deluxe oil dipping sauce, and the recently popular TikTok influencer dipping sauce.
All kinds of flavors are available.
"Ah! An'an, I absolutely love you! You know what? I love your Old Beijing dipping sauce the most! You know what? When I'm not with you, even hot pot doesn't taste as good."
"Hmm? Tell me the truth! Who else have you eaten hot pot with?"
Gu Yanan felt a little guilty. "Hehehe, no, no, how could I eat hot pot with other people? Hot pot is a delicacy that can only be eaten with An'an."
She couldn't tell Yan An that she had once eaten with a younger man; if Yue Yufeng found out, she'd be in serious trouble with her back.
"If it's not a girl, then it must be a boy. Oh, I see. I'm going to report you to the Emperor!"
"What accusation are you bringing against me?"
"Nothing, nothing. I'm not complaining about you. You misheard me, you misheard me."
Gu Yanan was afraid that Yan An would let slip the secret, so she quickly covered Yan An's mouth.
"Yeah?"
"certainly."
Yan An whispered to Gu Yanan, "You owe me something big!"
"Alright, alright, little darling, I'll do anything as long as you don't say anything."
Alright!
"Your Majesty, Yue Xiyuan, have someone bring all of these over, including these two yin-yang hot pots."
The group gathered at Shou Kang Palace, circling around the table.
Yan An poured the hot pot base into the divided pot one by one. One pot was half spicy beef tallow and half pork tripe and chicken soup, while the other pot was half spicy beef tallow and half mushroom soup. Then he poured in water from Tianshan Mountain.
Because of the water from Tianshan Mountain, that little flavor suddenly appeared.
"Let me introduce them to you one by one."
"These are the meats: pork belly, sliced beef, luncheon meat, bacon, chicken strips, crispy pork, tripe, shrimp, sashimi, beef tripe, shrimp paste, seasoned beef balls, cheese balls, duck blood, and crab sticks. Vegetables: potato slices, lotus root slices, corn, cilantro, lettuce strips, yam, baby bok choy, lettuce, shiitake mushrooms, bean curd sheets, and dried bean curd sticks. Staple foods: instant noodles, potato noodles, rice noodles, and wide rice noodles."
Yan Anlian also explained how long it would take to master each item.
"Here are the seasonings I prepared. There are other seasonings as well, and you can arrange them as you wish."
"Alright, let's eat!"
We'd been waiting a while for this meal; my stomach was practically growling with hunger.
Everyone put what they thought was delicious into the pot, and after it was cooked, they picked it up, dipped it in the sauce, and put it in their mouths.
"Delicious, so delicious, this is the best thing I've ever eaten in my life."
Su Jingzhan took the first bite, followed by Gu Yanan, the Empress Dowager...
"Such delicacies should only exist in heaven; how often can one taste them on earth?"
Gu Yanan nudged Yue Yufeng, "Being all pedantic won't fill you up."
Gu Yanan took a bite of the tripe in the spicy hot pot, "Wow, so spicy! So refreshing! An'an's dipping sauce is the best."
"Mother, your stomach isn't very good, so please don't eat too much spicy food."
The Empress Dowager glared at Yue Yufeng, lamenting that he was the one who spoiled the mood in such a pleasant atmosphere.
“Jingzhan cured me long ago. You can’t shut up even with food. No wonder Ya Nan said you deserved it.”
The Empress Dowager also learned some new words from Yan An and Gu Yanan, but none of them were pleasant phrases.
Among them were some daring individuals, such as Yan Yi, Su Jingzhan, and Yue Xi, who wanted to make their own dipping sauce.
After trying many different recipes, I found that Yan An's was the best.
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