Chapter 200 Unpalatable Barbecue

Xia Zhengqi glared at Cao Qingchun and said, "Keep an eye on him. Each sentence he writes must not exceed 15 words." "

No more than 4 sentences for each matter!" "Each official document he writes must not exceed 800 words." "If it exceeds, a fine of 5 taels of silver will be imposed each time." [No way! This is also possible!] Xia Miaoyuan's eyes widened in shock. [As expected of the emperor father! I admire you!] The queen also showed a shocked expression. "Your Majesty, this punishment is too heavy. The monthly salary of a Hanlin is no more than 30 taels of silver." The queen whispered. "Ruoyu, I discipline my own officials, don't say anything." Xia Zhengqi's tone was firm and unquestionable, and the queen immediately shut up. Cao Qingchun looked at Emperor Mingxi in horror, his lips trembling slightly, as if he was very aggrieved. "Your Majesty, may I ask what crime I have committed that you want to discipline me like this?" Cao Qingchun's voice was trembling. Emperor Mingxi gave Shuisheng a look: "Take a notebook and write it down. I just did it once." Shuisheng lowered his eyebrows and answered obediently: "Yes." Cao Qingchun's tears of grievance rolled in his eyes. He stretched out his hands and covered his mouth tightly. Five taels of silver, just gone like this. How could Emperor Mingxi become so unreasonable? Emperor Mingxi no longer paid attention to Cao Qingchun, took the empress and daughter to the carriage, and continued to stroll on the street. The street was very lively, and the hawkers' calls came one after another. Xia Miaoyuan lay on the knees of Emperor Mingxi, stretching her neck to look out of the car. "Wow! Flower seller! Look, Daddy and Mommy, there are so many oranges!" "Oh, it's roasted sweet potatoes, smells good!" Xia Miaoyuan looked around and kept shouting. The emperor and empress were also deeply affected by their daughter's mood and smiled. Emperor Mingxi and the empress took their daughter to buy a lot of food and toys, strolling and stopping, very happy. The family of three was strolling and suddenly smelled a fragrance. "Look, it's lamb skewers!" Xia Miaoyuan shouted, pointing to the front. There was a restaurant in front, and bursts of barbecue aroma wafted out from it. Looking up at the sign, it said "Royal Barbecue". "I want to eat this!" Xia Miaoyuan shouted, pointing to the barbecue restaurant. "Okay, okay, let's eat barbecue." Emperor Mingxi picked up Xia Miaoyuan with a doting look on his face and walked towards the barbecue restaurant. "Please come in!" The waiter of the barbecue restaurant greeted the guests enthusiastically. "The barbecue in our restaurant is the favorite method of Princess Anguo in the palace. I guarantee that you will praise it after you have eaten it." Xia Zhengqi's mouth curled slightly and asked, "Is your boss from the palace? How does he know what the princess likes the most?" In Daxia, the things in the palace and the preferences of the nobles often become the benchmarks for the nobles in the capital to imitate. Merchants often imitate the palace practices they heard from others, and use the palace as a gimmick to promote it to attract uninformed people to consume. Anything with the word "palace" added to it will be worth a lot more. Emperor Mingxi knew this very well, so he despised the store's palace gimmick. The waiter replied calmly: "Although our boss is not from the palace, he is well-informed and knows that Princess Anguo likes to eat mutton on bamboo sticks and grill it the most." Seeing that they were dressed richly, the waiter invited them to the private room on the second floor. Emperor Mingxi and the empress took the menu and ordered some at random. Not long after, several large plates of barbecue were served. There were lamb skewers, grilled lamb chops, grilled chicken skin, grilled chicken wings, grilled steamed buns, grilled corn, etc. "Ah, it's so rich!" Xia Miaoyuan's eyes lit up, and he reached out to grab the lamb skewers and started eating. The emperor and empress saw this and picked up their favorites and started eating. "Oh, it's so hard and stuck in my teeth!" Xia Miaoyuan said angrily. As he said that, he put down the mutton skewer and anxiously used his fingers to pick his teeth. The empress hurriedly asked Yingxue to get a toothpick for Xia Miaoyuan to clean it. "The mutton skewer is stuck in my teeth?" Emperor Mingxi was a little confused and picked up a mutton skewer from the plate and started eating. "Oh, this mutton skewer is really hard and stuck in my teeth!" Emperor Mingxi complained and put the mutton skewer aside. The empress said gently: "I remember last time, Miao'er instructed us to grill it, and it didn't stick in my teeth and the taste was not hard." Xia Miaoyuan shaved his teeth and picked up a mutton skewer to examine it carefully. He saw that it was densely skewered, but it was all lean meat and was grilled very well. [No wonder, this method is totally wrong. There is no fat added, and it is baked so well.] [Ah, it seems that the boss is just doing it blindly based on hearsay.] She picked up another roasted chicken skin. I saw a bunch of chicken skin on the bamboo stick, which looked very rough. I took a bite and chewed it in my mouth. It was very greasy. [This roasted chicken skin is also completely wrong. Chicken skin is greasy in itself. When skewering, it must be cut into small pieces, and then seasoned with honey sauce, it will not be greasy.] The queen and Emperor Mingxi tasted the chicken skin, and it was just as their daughter said. The family of three tasted the roasted lamb chops and roasted chicken wings, and it was the same problem. They just made it based on hearsay, but the taste was a million miles away. "It's not tasty, we can make it ourselves." Xia Miaoyuan muttered to himself. Emperor Mingxi glanced at Debao, who immediately shouted, "Check out!" Not long after, the waiter came in swiftly and calculated the bill, saying, "The total is eighty-five taels." "What? This table of barbecue costs eighty-five taels of silver?!" Emperor Mingxi was shocked. "Yes, it's eighty-five taels of silver, not eighty-five taels of gold." The waiter smiled.

"You are so embarrassed to sell it so expensively after it's done like this?" The Queen looked incredulous.

"My two guests, you actually dislike our barbecue?" The waiter showed contempt on his face.

"Look downstairs, our business is so hot that the seats for dining downstairs are in short supply and people have to queue up."

"If you two hadn't asked for a private room, I'm afraid you wouldn't be able to get one even now?"

The waiter said, pointing to the seat below the stairs.

Emperor Mingxi and the Queen looked down the stairs and saw that there was indeed a long queue downstairs, with people scrambling to eat barbecue.

[Are these people stupid? It's expensive and unpalatable, but they are still scrambling to eat it? ] Xia Miaoyuan's eyes widened in shock when he saw this scene.

"You use the palace as a gimmick to attract customers, but the barbecue is so bad, and you are still so stubborn?!" Emperor Mingxi became even more angry after hearing what the waiter said. Seeing

that Emperor Mingxi's tone was very aggressive, the waiter immediately put on a fierce face and questioned: "Why? These two guests, I see that you are dressed in gorgeous clothes and don't look like you are short of money. Do you want to eat for free?"