As noon approached, the caravan had left the city and entered the outskirts of Beijing. Emperor Kangxi, unusually, allowed the carriages to slow down, giving everyone time to have lunch.
Qingyan stretched and began to look at the lunch on the kang table. These were all prepared by the small kitchen staff. Even the things that Kangxi used were basically steamed bowls prepared by the imperial kitchen. Those were the best travel essentials.
"Fourth Prince, shall we send a portion of these to Father Emperor? And send a portion to the princes as well." Qingyan continued the fine tradition of the past, with plenty of food in the caravan, and they would gradually start preparing these foods along the way.
"I've already given the orders, and our small kitchen is still quite busy." Yinzhen was in a good mood; Qingyan's thoughtfulness in preparing food for everyone was truly beyond his expectations.
If it were any other woman, who would do such a thankless and arduous task?
"Prepare an extra portion for my father-in-law and the others. They shouldn't be on duty right now. Ulanara's carriage convoy is quite far from where they are on duty, so the food will definitely be cold by the time it's delivered," Yinzhen quickly said.
Qingyan quickly nodded: "Suzhu, go and prepare three more portions of the meal and send them to Father."
Su Zhu accepted the order and left. Qing Yan and Yin Zhen sat around the kang table, waiting for the twins and Batu Buhe to come over. Ha Feng was held in Yin Zhen's arms and was eating his complementary food with a wooden spoon.
Yinzhen looked down at his youngest son, who was eating even faster, as if afraid someone would snatch his food. Yiken had taken Hafeng's baby food last time, and the little guy had been thinking about it ever since.
Later that evening, the family began to have lunch. The Yuelai Inn had obtained some bullfrogs, which made Qingyan very happy. He specially asked the kitchen staff to prepare several flavors of bullfrog so that everyone could enjoy a delicious meal.
"Mom, it's really delicious." Yiken took a bite of the spicy bullfrog, and the numbing and spicy taste satisfied his taste buds.
“Yes, this is a bullfrog, which is rarely seen within the Qing Dynasty. We managed to get these through a connection at the Yuelai Inn.” Qingyan said helplessly, “One portion was given to Father Emperor, two portions were sent to my father, and the remaining two portions are what you see here.”
Yiken'e and Batubuhe exchanged a glance, realizing they couldn't eat more.
"Master, Eunuch Li has brought over a meal," Su Peisheng quickly reported.
Li Dequan stepped into the carriage and personally placed the saliva-infused bullfrog on the table.
"Fourth Master, the Master said that this portion is enough for the young masters. This servant personally set aside a little for His Majesty, and that should be sufficient." Li Dequan looked at the similar bullfrogs on the table and was very happy.
Every meal was the same as here. His Majesty was afraid that Yinzhen and Qingyan would prepare extra dishes for him separately, and that Kangxi would definitely ask about it when they returned.
"Anda, thank you for your hard work." Qingyan looked at Li Dequan and said, "The kitchen prepared an extra food box for you just now, please use it as soon as possible."
"Don't worry, Fourth Princess Consort, this servant will be off duty soon and will be ready to use it immediately. Thank you for your trouble." Li Dequan stretched out his hand. In that position, one could eat anything, but few could offer the same level of care and attention as Qingyan.
"Anda is joking." Qingyan smiled, pursing her lips.
After seeing Li Dequan off, Yinzhen sat down and continued eating lunch. The twins and Batu Buhe were very happy, as a dish of drooling bullfrogs had appeared in front of them.
“Mother…” Yiken blinked her eyes, looking at Qingyan pitifully.
“Don’t eat too much, or you’ll get a sore throat.” Qingyan refused decisively. “Suzhu, take this away and put it in the small kitchen. In the afternoon, we’ll add some more vegetables and send them to Yiken’e’s carriage.”
Ha ha!
Yiken laughed: "Batubuhe, the three of us will be doing our homework later, so remember to bring your things to my carriage."
As soon as he finished speaking, both Yinzhen and Qingyan were very happy. Yiken'e was definitely not a person who would keep things to himself. Whenever he got something good, he would always choose to share it immediately.
“Okay!” Batubuhe nodded.
After lunch, the three little ones returned to their respective carriages, and Qingyan began to look through the account books and news brought from the capital.
As the sun set, the convoy still hadn't stopped, nor had it slowed down, as if it were in a hurry to reach the Mongolian tribe.
"Sisi, shall we stop and camp tonight?" Qingyan hadn't heard any urgent news, so why was they heading straight ahead?
“Yes, we need to get to the Qiumi grasslands as quickly as possible. I heard that some riots have broken out there. Didn’t you see that Father Emperor has mobilized the soldiers from the Xishan camp this time?” Yinzhen said directly.
Qingyan smiled and said, "I knew it. I thought I was seeing things. Some familiar faces have appeared. Are we... going to quell the rebellion?"
"No, it's just to give them a deterrent, so that these people won't cause trouble," Yinzhen said directly.
The Mongolian tribes had already received the news that Emperor Kangxi had come in person, which made them quite uneasy, fearing that Kangxi would seize their wealth.
Inside the convoy, Batubuhe looked at the letter in his hand with some embarrassment. Fortunately, his tribe hadn't participated, but this letter requesting help weighed heavily on his heart.
"Huricha, do you think we should tell Father?" After Batubuhe was taken in by the old prince, he suddenly seemed to have grown up and started to think about more things.
"Speak," Hu Richa said helplessly, knowing his master was still too young.
Although the tribal chiefs have become more restrained, they still retain some of their old habits. Batu Buhe, having grown up in the Fourth Prince's mansion, can no longer offer them much help. The days when the old prince protected them are gone.
Yinzhen and Qingyan didn't pay attention to Batu Buhe's dilemma. Since the child was in their own home, they would definitely help him out and hoped to make things easier for him.
"Have someone handle it in advance. If the investigation confirms the situation in these tribes, send some things to them in the name of Batu Buhe." Yinzhen took a brush and drew the destination directly on the memorial.
"Fourth Prince, won't Father be angry if we step in to help like this?" Kangxi was preparing to deal with the Mongol leaders, but they were secretly helping him.
"Probably not. Father Emperor would never say anything about us over something so trivial. Besides, there are few troublemakers in the Left Wing Prince's tribe." Yinzhen had observed the situation carefully before deciding to take action.
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