Li Qiji looked at Lord Yang, who had fainted in front of his desk, and rolled his eyes at the sky speechlessly. How could this man be so spineless?
"Hua Quan, what are you doing? Hurry up and send him back to his residence. Are you still staying in the palace for dinner?" Li Qiji looked speechlessly at Hua Quan, who was waiting to the side.
Hua Quan was speechless. He flicked his whisk and then called over a few eunuchs who carried Lord Yang away, sprawling on his back.
"Ah! My Empress is truly decisive! The Golden Palace has windows on three sides, and now they will all be replaced with glazed windows. It will surely be much brighter when holding court in the future."
"Hua Quan, send someone to ask the Empress when the glass windows will be installed," Li Qiji said.
Before Hua Quan could even return to the room from the doorway, Li Qiji changed his mind and said, "Never mind, I'll go myself, lest the Empress misses me day and night since she hasn't seen me in so long."
Rosamund Kwan: Thank you!
Upon hearing the Emperor's words, Ji Wu couldn't help but roll his eyes and mutter, "Pah, I think it's Your Majesty who misses the Empress. This is just bragging about how the Empress misses you."
However, the Empress, whom the Emperor was thinking about, had no time to think about you, you narcissist. She was happily directing Bilian and the others to replace the windows in the room.
"Your Majesty, how do I install this? This servant doesn't know how!" Liu Debao looked at the glass blocks filling the courtyard. They were transparent, quite thick, and clear, allowing one to see directly into everything outside.
The key is that this thing seems to be airtight, much better than that paper-made thing.
Guan Zhiyue walked to the window and watched as several eunuchs installed the glass panes on the window frame. Then she took some screws and used a small hammer to start hammering them in place.
"Okay, after installing the glass, use these small iron nails to hammer around the edges to secure the corners. Be careful not to break the glass when hammering."
"Yes, this servant understands."
Liu Debao instructed the eunuchs to begin nailing these windows. The sharp end of the small iron nail was driven into the wood, while the other end was used to secure the glass block. This was the oldest method of fixing glass, and since there was no window frame, this was the simplest method Guan Zhiyue could think of to fix the glass block.
"Old Liu, you're in charge of fixing this room! It has to be finished before dinner tonight!" Guan Zhiyue said, watching Liu Debao and the others get to work.
Liu Debao quickly and respectfully replied, "Yes, this servant guarantees to complete the task and will not delay tonight's dinner!"
Rosamund Kwan: ......
****
Guan Zhiyue followed Bilian to the kitchen. When she was in the Cold Palace, Guan Zhiyue usually cooked for herself or had Bilian cook for her. The servants cooked for themselves. When Guan Zhiyue was in a good mood, she would cook a big pot of food and eat it with everyone.
Tonight, Guan Zhiyue is in an exceptionally good mood. The reason is simple: the glass window she created in this world has finally been installed in her bedroom, so she must be very happy.
"Bilian, go and call a few maids over. We're having a big meal tonight!"
Bilian's eyes widened when she heard this. Was there going to be something delicious tonight?
"Great! Great! Your Majesty, we're in for a treat tonight! This is absolutely wonderful!" Bilian happily ran off to find the little maid.
The two maids, Cuijuan and Shiliu, exchanged a glance and laughed. They were in for a treat tonight.
"Your Highness, what can this servant do?" Cuijuan asked.
"Cut all these dried chilies open with scissors," Guan Zhiyue said, pointing to the pile of dried chilies on the side.
Shi Liu looked at Guan Zhiyue and said, "Your Highness, what about me?"
Guan Zhiyue thought for a moment and said, "Do you see the garlic? Go peel some garlic."
Shi Liu happily sat on the kitchen steps with a head of garlic and began peeling it.
Guan Zhiyue was going to make boiled sliced pork tonight. Bilian found a few maids and servants, and Guan Zhiyue asked a servant with good knife skills to start cutting beef at the chopping block.
Yes, that's right. The boiled sliced meat isn't made with pork, it's made with beef. This is also one of Rosamund Kwan's favorite spicy dishes.
"Your Majesty, what shall we do tonight?"
Guan Zhiyue looked at the things in the kitchen. There were fish, shrimp, pork, beef, and a series of other things. These were all food sent from the imperial kitchen in the palace, and they were also the rations for the people in the Cold Palace.
"Then let's find someone to steam white rice first, and I'll see what other dishes we need to make."
There are nearly fifty people in the Cold Palace, so the amount of food consumed is quite large. Therefore, Guan Zhiyue prepared a lot of food tonight.
Not only does it have boiled sliced pork, but also braised pork, braised prawns, sweet and sour fish, stir-fried cabbage, stir-fried greens with oil, hot and sour cabbage, cucumber salad, sugar-coated tomatoes, shredded pork with green peppers, and finally, egg drop soup.
There were a total of ten dishes and one soup, all served in large bowls, which should be enough to feed fifty people.
"Ten dishes! Wow!! Your Majesty is so generous!"
"Did you hear that? Her Majesty is cooking herself tonight. Everyone hurry up and install these stained glass windows for her, or you won't get any food tonight," Liu Debao heard the young eunuch helping with the cooking report.
Everyone started to get full of energy. Tonight's dinner was quite lavish, and most importantly, it was delicious! They were practically drooling with envy, as it had been so long since they had eaten food cooked by the Empress herself.
****
When Li Qiji arrived with Hua Quan and the others, he found that there was no one guarding the gate of the Cold Palace. The gate was wide open, and he led his men inside without saying a word.
As soon as I entered, I smelled a fragrant aroma that filled the entire Cold Palace. The pungent smell was like the hot pot we had in winter.
"Are they preparing dinner?"
"Hua Quan, inform the imperial kitchen that they don't need to prepare my meal tonight." Li Qiji, with his hands behind his back, headed towards the backyard in a very good mood.
Hua Quan sent a young eunuch to the imperial kitchen, while he and Ji Wu followed behind Li Qiji toward the backyard.
As soon as they stepped inside, Hua Quan announced loudly, "The Emperor has arrived!"
Whether it was the eunuch installing the glass windows or the group of people busily working in the kitchen, they all heard Hua Quan's high-pitched and shrill voice.
"Damn, why is the Emperor here?" Guan Zhiyue dropped the shovel she was holding.
"Your Majesty, shall we go and greet the Emperor first?" Bilian asked tentatively.
Guan Zhiyue snapped out of her daze and continued shoveling the braised pork in the pot, saying, "No, there's such a big pot of food in the kitchen, how can we leave it behind?"
So Guan Zhiyue continued cooking with her people. Li Qiji was completely captivated by the glass window and didn't have time to think about why the Empress wasn't coming to greet him.
Li Qiji circled the Empress's bedroom, then looked around and said, "This is the glass window?"
Liu Debao said tremblingly, "Yes, Your Majesty."
Li Qiji didn't make things difficult and said, "Alright, then you can continue with the installation!"
Then, thinking about the Golden Palace in his mind, such a huge place, how many pieces of glazed tiles must it have? It's like a money-devouring beast over there. Just imagine how much money those glazed tiles could fetch!
The national treasury will become full because of this, tsk tsk tsk.
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