As dinner time approached, the Empress Dowager's imperial carriage arrived at the entrance of Beiyuan Mountain Village. Emperor Kangxi, along with Consort Tong, Consort Hui, and Consort Yi, personally went to greet her. He did not let his children come forward, but told them to stay and help in the kitchen. He felt that since his daughters-in-law were busy, he should lend a hand as the head of the family.
"Brother, look how well I kneaded the dough!" Yin thought Qingyan's hand-pulled noodles were delicious. Yin had been helping Qingyan knead the dough, and he was quite envious. "Fujin, you should learn from Fourth Sister-in-law. When we get back to the manor, we can make this for dinner tonight!"
The rule that gentlemen should stay away from the kitchen had long been forgotten by the group. Anyway, their father had said that it would be good to help out if they could.
"When you go out, don't spread rumors. The censors aren't just sitting around doing nothing!" Yin said to his brothers.
"Fourth Brother, you know us all too well. Even though we have servants, we rarely have the chance to get close to Father Emperor like we do now. You and Fourth Sister-in-law have really been helping us," Yinzhi said loudly.
The Tenth Prince's wife looked at the dough in Yinzhi's hand with disdain. Everyone else had already started rolling it out, but he was still 'kneading' it.
"Tenth Prince, if you keep doing this so slowly, we won't be able to eat!" The Tenth Prince's wife glared angrily at Yinzhi.
"Tenth Prince, hurry up and roll out the dough. We agreed that each of you would give some to Grandmother and Father Emperor. Don't you dare mess this up for me!" Yin said directly.
The brothers all said that if Grandma Huang came, they would take some of the noodles each of them made, cook them together, and serve them to the two of them.
Ugh!
Yinzhi looked innocently at his brothers: "Let Fourth Sister-in-law try my noodles first. If she doesn't like them..."
"I will eat them all." The Empress Dowager walked in, dressed in a dark brown casual robe. She saw several princes with long faces, each wearing an apron and diligently rolling out dough. The wives were busy preparing their toppings. "Alright, stop with the formalities. Grandma is just waiting to eat your dinner."
The Empress Dowager looked at the princes with a faint smile on her face.
"Your Majesty, please wait in the main hall for a moment. Your son will make you some noodles!" Kangxi said, watching his sons getting to work. "Consort Yi and Consort Hui, go inside and keep Your Majesty company. Consort Tong, you come with me to the kitchen!"
Consort Yi and Consort Hui both breathed a sigh of relief; their culinary skills really couldn't compare to Consort Tong's.
"Your Highness, you'll have to go to so much trouble. The two of us really aren't up to it!" Consort Yi said, trying to please Consort Tong.
"Your Majesty, this..." The Empress Dowager hesitated. If she let Kangxi go to the kitchen, what would the censors think if they found out?
"This is what your son made for his mother. No one will say anything about his filial piety." Kangxi quickly escorted the person into the main hall and then went straight to the kitchen.
Yin was dispatched to inform Kangxi how to knead dough.
After washing his hands, Kangxi began kneading the dough as Yinzhen had instructed. Several princes glanced at Kangxi out of the corner of their eyes, hoping to regain their self-respect from him.
The first time they kneaded the dough, they all made a lot of funny mistakes.
Kangxi discovered that the dough in his hands was indeed very easy to work with, and his sons were all kneading it very well, which directly stimulated Kangxi.
Consort Tong chuckled to herself. Kangxi was about to lose to his son, but Kangxi would certainly not accept defeat.
"Xuan Ye, you really need to step up your game. If your sons surpass you, I'll think you've really gone too far." Consort Tong smiled.
"You're laughing at me too!" Kangxi warned Consort Tong in a low voice.
The princes saw another side of Kangxi, and several of them envied Yinzhen. In Chengqian Palace, Kangxi only treated Consort Tong well, and there were no other concubines. In other courtyards, there would be one or two lower-ranking concubines living together.
"Fourth Prince, don't think I didn't see you laughing." Kangxi looked up and saw that Yin's shoulders were trembling, which naturally made Kangxi very angry.
“Father, I’m not laughing at you. It’s almost time for dinner. Grandma will be missing your noodles soon!” Yin said quickly.
Yin and the others suppressed their laughter, their faces turning slightly red.
"Alright, stop holding it in, or I'll make you all hold it in!" Kangxi said directly.
Upon hearing Kangxi's words, Yin and the others burst into laughter.
"Father, we need to hurry!" Qingyan glanced at Kangxi out of the corner of her eye and noticed that there was no life in his eyes, so she quickly said it.
Having no other choice, Emperor Kangxi took a rolling pin and, under the guidance of Consort Tong, began rolling out the noodles.
Inside the kitchen, the princes had already started cooking noodles, while Emperor Kangxi was still rolling out the dough.
With Li Dequan's appearance, Kangxi became slightly flustered.
"Your Majesty, let me do it." Consort Tong couldn't bear to watch any longer. The noodles she was cutting were sometimes thick and sometimes thin. The Empress Dowager would definitely want them to look nice.
"No need, I made this especially for Mother. No matter what it looks like, Mother will definitely like it!" Kangxi was very stubborn, feeling that if Consort Tong helped, her filial piety would not be pure.
Inside the kitchen, the women began preparing the toppings. Qingyan had prepared several kinds of toppings, and everyone would surely be eating them soon.
"Lanya, could you make some mutton toppings for your mother? She really likes mutton," Kangxi whispered to Consort Tong.
"Alright!" Consort Tong nodded in agreement.
Li Dequan led all the princes' personal eunuchs to stand outside, and the personal maids of Consort Tong and other female relatives were also placed outside the door, as the kitchen was too small to accommodate so many people.
The servants who originally served in the kitchen were all driven to the courtyard. These servants were worried that once their masters left, would the kitchen still be needed?
"You must all forget everything that happened today, understand? Anyone who dares to tell anyone, don't worry about me dealing with them!" Li Dequan suddenly thought of something, walked up to the servants, and shouted sternly.
“!” The servants all bowed their heads in response.
Li Dequan was relieved. If the fact that the Emperor had entered the kitchen were to be exposed, those censors would be in for a world of trouble.
Inside the kitchen, all the noodles were ready. Everyone's noodles were placed together, and Qingyan chilled them in a large basin before placing them directly into a large bowl.
"Fourth Sister-in-law, only this big bowl is good. I ate to my heart's content the other day!" the tenth brother said directly.
"Alright, you can't eat squatting on the ground today!" Qingyan looked at the princes, feeling utterly helpless.
Yin and the others burst into laughter. To be honest, they never imagined they would do such a thing.
Perhaps ordinary people do this often, but among the royal princes, it was never done this way. Everyone found it very novel that time, so they did it directly.
"Tenth Prince, behave yourself in front of Grandmother!" Yin warned, glancing at Yinzhi.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
