Yinzhen's eyes flickered, and after a moment he chuckled. He took Qian Shengyan's hand and patted it, implying, "If there really is a golden pheasant on Leshan Mountain, then I will count it as a favor to you."
Qian Shengyan: ...
So what if she gets credit? She can't become empress anyway.
She should just wait and enjoy the blessings of her son.
Thinking this to herself, Qian Shengyan rose to express her gratitude, but Yinzhen stopped her from bowing down, patting her hand instead: "Then in a couple of days, arrange the menu and have the household prepare it. As for preferences..."
Qian Shengyan laughed and said, "We live off the land we live on. Since we're out having fun, the food we eat here will definitely be different from what we eat in the palace."
"Very well." Yinzhen was satisfied and smiled again. "Very well."
With this agreement reached, the two acted in tacit cooperation. Yinzhen busied himself in building up his reputation in front of Kangxi, praising the red-bellied pheasant for its beauty, agility, and fearlessness; while Qian Shengyan…
Busy preparing dishes.
Various wild vegetables and game must be fresh, authentic, delicious, and safe. Although there is no need to consider the tastes of the palace, the emperor's taboos mean that even for the sake of the wild flavor, they cannot actually be served.
Busy until the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, when Yinzhen went to see his father again, he mentioned that the servants had vaguely seen several fiery golden pheasants on the mountain opposite the garden. His two sons were very curious and insisted on going to see them.
"Please forgive me, Father Emperor. I have already promised the two boys that I would like to go back and take them up the mountain as soon as possible," Yinzhen said with a smile.
Kangxi, intrigued, exclaimed "Oh?" and looked at Liang Jiugong beside him: "The other day you mentioned to me that the fiery golden pheasant was originally found in the Fourth Prince's garden?"
"This servant doesn't know. This servant only heard that a young eunuch saw it once. The pheasant had a beautiful call and flew very fast." Liang Jiugong bowed and smiled broadly.
Kangxi then looked at Yinzhen: "This golden pheasant sounds quite interesting. Your family..." He then glanced at Liang Jiugong, who immediately replied: "Prince Hongshi is also seven years old."
“Yes, there’s also a fourth one, whose nickname is Yuanshou. He’s almost two years old now,” Yinzhen said with a smile.
Kangxi nodded: "I remember you have a son in your household?"
“Yes, Xiao Wu was born with great difficulty and is not yet a year old, so I dare not take him out casually,” Yinzhen said.
Kangxi nodded again, then smiled and said, "Good, good, but I haven't met your two sons yet..."
Upon hearing this, Yinzhen was overjoyed and immediately invited Kangxi to the garden for a banquet.
Emperor Kangxi naturally agreed, adding, "The main hall of your garden is named Leshan Academy because it faces Leshan Mountain."
"Yes, I am grateful to Father for bestowing this name upon me. Your unfilial son has yet to invite Father to visit the Lion Garden." Yinzhen helped Kangxi up and said with a smile, "When I came here this year, I also built three thatched huts in the southeast of Miaogao Hall. They are not particularly special, but they do have a rustic charm."
"Oh? Then I'll have to go and see." Kangxi accepted the offer.
Meanwhile, Kangxi responded to Yinzhen's words, and someone rushed to the Lion Garden to inform Qian Shengyan.
Qian Shengyan clasped her hands together and waved them in the air, then called Hongshi and Yuanshou to her side.
She looked at the two children, the younger one was only a little over a year old and the older one was only in first grade, yet they were about to be received by the country's highest leader. Thinking about it, she was indeed a little excited.
She first instructed Yuan Shou: "When you go out to play, listen to your father, brother, and Grandfather. Do you recognize them?"
Yuan Shou nodded with his chubby little face tense: "Yuan Shou, I recognize him."
Qian Shengyan nodded, then looked at Hongshi: "You've always accompanied your father to the palace for banquets, and you've met your imperial grandfather many times, but this time only you and your father are with your imperial grandfather. Do you... understand?"
Hongshi nodded with a tense face: "Don't worry, Your Highness, Hongshi understands."
"That's good. I'll trouble the Third Prince to look after Yuan Shou, since he's still too young." Qian Shengyan couldn't help but add another sentence.
Hongshi looked down at the little one who was half his height, then at Qian Shengyan, and slowly nodded: "Okay."
After he finished speaking, the two children were picked up by people specially arranged by Yinzhen. When the Emperor arrived in Leshan later, the two children would also appear on time, and then the four of them could go find that damn golden pheasant.
Qian Shengyan is now going to oversee the stewing of golden pheasant in the kitchen.
So busy and overwhelmed, Qian Shengyan didn't even have time to sit down all afternoon, let alone worry about Yuan Shou.
News kept coming in, from "The Emperor has arrived in Leshan," to "The Emperor, along with the princes and princes, has come down from Leshan," then "The Emperor has entered the garden!" and finally "The princes and princes accompanied the Emperor to see the thatched houses!"
Finally, everyone took their seats at the Water and Moon Pavilion, ready to have their meal.
Qian Shengyan stood at the entrance of the kitchen, watching the carefully prepared dishes being served one by one. In addition to the eunuchs in charge of the meals, there were always servants from either Yinzhen's or her own side accompanying the food to prevent any accidents from happening along the way.
She waited anxiously until the moon rose above the willow trees, and finally heard that the Emperor had finished his meal.
They enjoyed the meal and even praised the banquet.
Whether or not she praised Qian Shengyan was no longer important. She slumped in the chair, letting two or three maids massage her legs and shoulders, thinking that she could finally rest.
It was only then that she finally remembered to check on Yuan Shou, but before she could even call someone over to ask him anything, Su Peisheng rushed in, his hat askew in his haste.
He approached Qian Shengyan and hurriedly bowed, saying, "Your Highness, the Emperor wishes to see you."
Qian Shengyan: ? ? ? ?
No, Emperor Kangxi, is it really a good idea for you to eat and drink your fill and then go back to see your daughter-in-law?
But Kangxi was the emperor after all, and no one dared to disregard his words. Even though Qian Shengyan was in great pain all over, she jumped up immediately. Qingxue and the others were even more anxious to change her clothes and fix her hair. Su Peisheng was so anxious that he kept urging her to hurry up.
In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Qian Shengyan had tidied herself up—she had never been so fast before!
Fortunately, the Cloud-Swept Palace was not far from the Water-Moon Pavilion. Qian Shengyan was helped to hurry over. Even from a distance, she could hear a child's clear laughter mixed with a man's slightly deep laugh.
That's... Emperor Kangxi...
Qian Shengyan suddenly realized that this was the first time she had seen Emperor Kangxi since she transmigrated!
Ah, Kangxi, the living Kangxi!
She suddenly stopped in her tracks, and Qingxue, who was supporting her, looked at her with some confusion: "Master..."
"Oh dear, Master Qian, hurry up!" Su Peisheng was even more anxious when he saw her stop, but Qian Shengyan began to look herself over again: "Steward Su, is this... this outfit appropriate for meeting the Emperor?"
"Oh my money master, at a time like this, what's inappropriate! Hurry up, hurry up!" Su Peisheng was really jumping up and down.
Qian Shengyan took a deep breath, took Qingxue's hand, and walked step by step toward the Water and Moon Pavilion.
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