After lunch break, Qingyan saw Yin off, sat in a grand chair, fanning himself with a round fan, and looked out from the open tent door. The scorching heat outside baked the earth, leaving traces of heat on the ground.
Under the scorching sun, the guards remained steadfast in their duties, standing ramrod straight, not daring to slacken their vigilance even slightly.
This morning, news of the Fourth Prince's outburst at his personal guards spread throughout the camp. Emperor Kangxi smiled knowingly; the Fourth Prince had a weakness. The Mongol entourage believed that Yinzhen was making a mountain out of a molehill.
Inside the tent, Qingyan rested her chin on her hand, staring blankly at the grass outside. The temperature outside must be quite high.
"Master, the ladies will be bringing afternoon tea to the arena," Su Lan reported as she entered.
In the past few days, Qingyan had been busy with the preparation of everyday clothes, so they prepared them in private. Today, they had done something wrong, and it would be best to let their mistress prepare them herself.
Ugh!
Qingyan was stunned. It turned out that Yin knew that the afternoon tea was not prepared by her, and took this opportunity to make a special request.
"Wait, prepare some double-skin milk pudding, remember to make it ice-cold, and also some dried fruit. Have the cook shave some shaved ice, garnish it with watermelon juice, and slice some mangoes." Qingyan specially chilled all the fruits bestowed by Emperor Kangxi.
After arriving at the Mulan Hunting Grounds, Emperor Kangxi often bestowed upon them a lot of fruit. In the hot weather, these fruits would easily spoil, so Qingyan specially had a hole dug in the iceberg, and put the fruit in a tray, much like a modern refrigerator.
Some of the women thought the Qingyan banquet was a bit extravagant when they heard about it. After several days, none of the fruits at the Qingyan banquet spoiled, and some of the rare vegetables were preserved in this way.
"Also, fill another pot with chilled plum juice. Remember, make two servings of each, and send one to the Thirteenth Prince as well. Replace the mangoes with mangosteens." Qingyan remembered how much stock she had left, and she had kept all the fruits that the Thirteenth Prince liked.
During afternoon tea, Yinxiang sat to the side, looking at his brothers with envy. In the past few days, he had also received some sour plum soup from his fourth brother. It was obvious that it was not sent by Qingyan. The gifts were all quite ordinary.
"Master, Su Zhu from Fourth Master's side has sent over some ice cream. This is a portion for you." Shunzi took out a bowl of double-skin milk pudding and a large Ru kiln lotus flower cup from the large food box behind him. The bottom was covered with white shaved ice, topped with a layer of watermelon juice, and on top of that, there were five or six mangosteen pieces of peeled fruit.
"It's mangosteen!" Yin exclaimed in surprise as he looked at Yinxiang's ice bowl.
Many of the fruits bestowed by Emperor Kangxi spoiled by the third day, and it was such a pity that the tribute fruits could not be used.
hey-hey!
Yinxiang felt a warmth in his heart. Beside him, there were also plates of frozen desserts, all made of crystal-clear ice cream. These were recipes that Qingyan had specially found for Yinxiang, and no one else could make them except Qingyan.
At this moment, Yin heard Su Peisheng report that Yinxiang had the same thing, except that the ice bowl was specially prepared according to Yinxiang's taste.
A slight smile played on his lips. The things from a few days ago, Yiqiao, were not prepared by Qingyan.
Su Lan and Su Shu are both quite bold, daring to even conceal their master's affairs.
"Fourth brother, I think it's mango." Yin Zhi tilted his head and saw that the top of Yin's ice bowl was actually diced mango.
Yin nodded. Qingyan should give the mangosteen she had left to Thirteen; she wanted to take care of him.
"I heard that Thirteenth also sent one?" Yin Zhi felt a pang of sadness; Qingyan was a thrifty woman.
"Yes, it's mangosteens that were sent. She has a lot of ideas; the fruit was well protected," Yin said proudly.
Yin Zhi simply pursed his lips, then noticed that the pastries on Yin's table were different from theirs—a hazy white skin filled with frozen strawberries.
The dish consisted of ten pieces, arranged in the shape of a mountain on a white porcelain plate with lotus leaf patterns in four colors: blue, cyan, lake blue, and grass green.
The princes were drawn to the afternoon tea that Yinhe and Yinxiang were having, and all turned their attention to it.
Later, Emperor Kangxi also heard Li Dequan's report and discovered that Yinzhi and Yinxiang were quite similar, which piqued his interest.
"Upon arriving at the Mulan Hunting Grounds, Fourth Prince has been taking care of Thirteenth Prince, so that portion should have been sent by Fourth Prince's wife," Li Dequan replied. "The portions from the previous two days were probably prepared by the servants below. Today, Fourth Prince was angry, so the servants reported back to Fourth Prince's wife."
Emperor Kangxi was taken aback. How dare these servants be so bold?
“The Fourth Prince’s wife can’t control the servants; it’s all the Fourth Prince’s help to punish them. She’s been pampered at home, spoiled by her father and brothers since childhood, and the Fourth Prince has spoiled her for a long time.” Li Dequan said. Kangxi smiled, his temperament unusually gentle. Well, if Yin likes her, it doesn’t matter much; it’s better than being ruthless.
Emperor Kangxi remembered that Empress Xiaoyi resembled Qingyan, so it was no wonder that Yinzhi liked this type.
"Is the thirteenth prince very happy?" Kangxi cared a lot about his children. At the age of thirteen, there was no one to take care of them, so he asked Li Dequan to keep an eye on them.
"Yes, according to reports, the princess saved all the fruits that the thirteenth prince likes and sent them over today," Li Dequan replied.
Upon hearing what Kangxi said, Heta looked directly in Yin's direction and saw the golden things. He felt a little envious, thinking how he wished he could store more things on the grasslands.
Yin felt a little better as he enjoyed his afternoon tea.
"Fourth Brother, these pastries look pretty good. May I have a taste?" Yinqi was also attracted by Yin's pastries.
Yin handed the bowl to Yinqi and said, "Give some to the younger brothers, but don't give any to Yinxiang."
Yinqi turned to look at Yinxiang, who had almost finished eating all the snacks on the table. He quickly nodded in agreement; each of his brothers could only have one, while Yinxiang had several plates.
"Su Peisheng, give this to Anda." Yin gave it to his brothers and also handed it to his father, the Emperor.
Li Dequan served a white pastry, which Kangxi couldn't help but look over. Li Dequan tried one with a silver fork. The outside was a slightly cool glutinous rice skin, and inside was a frozen strawberry. It tasted especially refreshing.
After watching Li Dequan try it, Kangxi quickly ate one as well, and a cool sensation instantly filled his body.
"This is not bad. Have the fourth brother bring up a plate of strawberries every few days." With dozens of strawberries every day, Qingyan has probably frozen all the gifts. "Also, give the fourth brother some fruit as a gift, and more strawberries."
“!” Li Dequan bowed slightly and left.
"You can use it too. I saw a plate." Kangxi unkindly exposed Li Dequan's lie. Under normal circumstances, Li Dequan was happy to reassure the princes.
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