"You few, immediately leave the palace and bring Xu Yuehuai in," Aqi commanded the servants domineeringly.
Xu Yuehuai received the imperial decree and began to have doubts.
Zhou Wan also noticed the problem and quickly said, "Mother, you'd better not go over there. What if he has bad intentions? You'll be in trouble then."
“No, he sent someone to issue an imperial decree, just to prevent me from going. Right now, he is the Crown Prince, and we are just commoners. If we don’t go, it would be disobeying the imperial decree.” Xu Yuehuai shook her head. “If I don’t hear from you within three days, then you should try to go and find me.”
Although she was wondering to herself, she knew that Ah Qi wouldn't break off relations with her right now. After thinking for a moment, she packed her things and went to the palace. But she couldn't help but wonder what had happened this time.
When they arrived at the East Palace, Ah Qi had been waiting for them for a long time.
When Ah Qi saw the person coming, he immediately became enthusiastic, ran forward and said with a smile, "Grandma, you've finally come."
As he spoke, he stepped forward and helped the person sit down.
"Your Highness, what's wrong? Why are you in such a hurry?" Xu Yuehuai couldn't help but ask, but her words revealed a sense of estrangement and indifference.
Ah Qi pretended to be embarrassed and touched his nose: "Father Emperor can't eat anything again, he has a very poor appetite, so he wanted to ask Grandma for some ideas."
"Is it really that simple?" For some reason, Xu Yuehuai had a feeling that things weren't so simple.
Aqi panicked for a moment: "Grandma, have you been doing too many big things? It really is just about thinking of ways to prepare Father's meals."
Xu Yuehuai scrutinized him for a moment, then smiled and said, "It's rare to see someone so filial. Don't worry, leave the rest to me."
"Then I'll thank you in advance, Grandma," Ah Qi said quickly with a smile.
Xu Yuehuai paused for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Your Highness, may I ask why His Majesty has a poor appetite?"
"It must be because of the heat, coupled with what happened to the Prince before, which really chilled Father's heart. Now, it's even more true that the Prince and Lord Pei are in the territory of Mingyue, which clearly confirms the crime of treason and collusion with the enemy. Father is even more anxious and upset." Aqi deliberately revealed the matter.
Xu Yuehua nodded meaningfully.
Ah Qi didn't say anything more, but instead pulled the person to the kitchen.
Xu Yuehuai thought long and hard about what to do. It was so hot during the dog days of summer, so she had to make something cold and spicy, one to cool her down and the other to make her eat more.
With a direction in mind, she started worrying about what to choose. Kung Pao Chicken was incomplete due to a lack of ingredients, Mala Xiang Guo didn't seem like a proper dish, and Spicy Chicken was a bit off.
"Hey, I've got it! I've got it!" Xu Yuehuai suddenly became excited. "We can make boiled sliced pork, and then the starch we get can be used to make stir-fried mung bean jelly."
Xu Yuehuai was overjoyed and started swaying as she walked.
Ah Qi quickly stepped forward: "Then I'll help Grandma."
As soon as he finished speaking, the imperial chefs surrounded him in great fear: "Your Highness, you are of noble birth and cannot do these things. Please let us do them."
“I think…” Aqi looked up at Xu Yuehuai, hoping she could speak up for him.
Unexpectedly, Xu Yuehuai did not side with him this time. Instead, she said, "They are worried about you. Your status is different now than before. Just listen to them. Besides, don't you trust my skills?"
Ah Qi pursed his lips and could only nod in agreement.
Just as Xu Yuehuai turned to get busy, a dark glint flashed in A Qi's eyes.
Xu Yuehuai started preparing. The key to delicious boiled pork slices is the layer of starch, so starch is essential. Fortunately, it's not difficult to make.
Xu Yuehuai had someone bring her a lot of potatoes, and then she gathered a group of laborers to work with her, because making starch was hard work, and the output was small even with a large quantity, so she needed to find many people to make a lot of potatoes.
"Let's split into several groups now, and then follow my instructions." Xu Yuehuai instructed the leaders to form groups, and then she waited to be assigned tasks.
The palace maids and eunuchs were dumbfounded. Could potatoes really be made into something fancy? And why did it take so many people to do it together?
"You two wash the potatoes, and the rest of you chop them into small pieces. Use the gauze to squeeze out all the juice from the potatoes." Sure enough, as soon as Xu Yuehuai finished speaking, the people below started whispering among themselves.
Xu Yuehuai's eyes flashed, and she coldly shouted, "Did you all understand? Hurry up and do it."
Although the subordinates were puzzled, they all obediently did as she asked and quickly produced what she wanted.
"Pour the scraps over here." Xu Yuehuai had already prepared gauze and was waiting on the side. Soon, the squeezed potato scraps filled a large piece of gauze.
To speed things up, she knew there wasn't enough time to let the sun dry naturally, so she decided to stir-fry some directly over a fire.
"Aren't you adding water to the pot?" the maid tending the fire couldn't resist asking out of curiosity.
"No water needed." She casually replied before pouring in the semi-dried potato bits and stir-frying them until they turned into small white lumps.
"All done." Xu Yuehuai scooped it out, let it cool, and then crushed it to make starch.
Everyone was curious: why go through all that trouble to produce some white powder? Someone secretly dipped their finger in it and tasted it, only to find it didn't taste good at all.
Now we can officially start making it. First, take the best part of the pork tenderloin, then cut it into thin slices. Add some salt and seasoning powder, then add an egg yolk and mix it by hand. Then add starch to coat it evenly, and add a little oil. It's ready to use.
Next, I prepared some green vegetables, washed and chopped them, lit a fire on the stove, added a little oil to the pan, stir-fried them until just cooked, and then served them.
Next, prepare the scallions, ginger, and garlic, cutting them all into sections. Chili peppers are absolutely essential, and then you can start cooking.
I started the stove again, using two pots. I added water and oil to one pot at a time. Once the oil was hot, I added scallions, ginger, and garlic to sauté until fragrant. Then I added chili peppers and the previously prepared seasoning powder, along with sugar. The aroma instantly filled the kitchen. Then, I added a ladle of water with a 'whoosh'.
Xu Yuehuai then took a bowl and mixed the starch, half starch and half cold water. After stirring until there were no lumps, the water in the pot was heated up, so she slowly poured it in and kept stirring until it became transparent and solidified.
The other pot was boiling. First, filter out the scallion and ginger residue, then add the greens. After about two minutes, take them out and put them in a bowl. Then add the sliced meat, and after another two or three minutes, take it out and place it on top of the greens. Finally, pour the soup into the bowl.
The jelly has solidified. Take it out and cut it into thin strips about the length of a finger. Then put it in a bowl for later use. Place the minced garlic on top of the meat.
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