On the second day after the foreign delegation arrived, before going to the morning court, Lord Wei instructed the steward to prepare a carriage for Xiao Duo and the young master in advance. In the end, it was all for nothing.
The palace eunuch Fu personally came to the gate of the mansion to greet them and asked Xiao Duo and the other two if they had eaten breakfast. If not, His Majesty had already instructed the imperial kitchen to prepare it.
Hong Xiaoduo said she had already eaten, but if there was enough time when she got to the palace, she could try the breakfast from the imperial kitchen.
Her response pleased Eunuch Fu more and more. What a wonderful girl! She speaks her mind so frankly. It's a pity that even His Majesty couldn't keep her.
“Young Lady Hong, Young Master Kaiyang, today you will be discussing trade matters with the foreign delegation. Several officials are waiting for you in the palace. They will tell you what to pay attention to.” On the way, Eunuch Fu said again.
“That’s for the best. After all, Kaiyang and I don’t know anything about trade.” Hong Xiaoduo spoke the truth as always. If you don’t know, you don’t know. You can’t pretend to know.
"By the way, Miss Hong, you see how much His Majesty values you, why don't you consider staying? If you don't want to be a lady-in-waiting, then don't. His Majesty won't force you." Eunuch Fu couldn't help but persuade her.
Having served the emperor for so many years, I've seen all sorts of people, but a girl like Hong Xiaoduo is truly a first for me.
Not only is she straightforward, but what's most unique about her is that, in her eyes, there seems to be no distinction between high and low status.
Most people would fawn over him when they met him, because he served the emperor. Of course, he was well aware that while those people flattered him to his face, they secretly despised him for being a eunuch.
But she didn't. She wasn't afraid of, looked down on, or fawned over this disabled eunuch. The way she looked at him and the tone of her voice made him feel comfortable. Only at that moment did Eunuch Fu feel that he was being treated as a human being.
Therefore, the Emperor was unable to keep this person in the capital, which Eunuch Fu found very regrettable.
Furthermore, he believed that the Emperor had also noticed the girl's uniqueness, because she didn't react in any particular way to the Emperor. On the contrary, she dared to ask the Emperor for a thousand taels of gold.
It was the emperor himself who said later that the girl must have already known his identity that night.
"The capital is a place of trouble, and I really don't want to stay here. But I have no choice now. One thing after another has happened, so I have no choice but to stay temporarily."
"Eunuch Fu, the world outside the capital is so wonderful. You'd feel much more comfortable anywhere than here," Hong Xiaoduo said, shaking her head.
"That can't be right," Eunuch Fu quickly said. "I've been listening to the memorials submitted by the ministers, and many places are in turmoil, with bandits and robbers everywhere. Surely the officials below aren't lying?"
“They weren’t lying. What are bandits and robbers? We’ve even encountered pirates before. They can only harm innocent civilians. But when they encounter my mother, they’re nothing. They’re all doomed.” Kaiyang couldn’t help but interject from the side.
Upon hearing this, Eunuch Fu looked at Hong Xiaoduo with even greater admiration: "Young Lady Hong may not like being a civil official, but what about a military one? If you'd like, I'll speak to His Majesty."
Hong Xiaoduo smiled and shook her head, saying, "I'm not interested in any official position. It's better to be free from official duties. If you become an official, you'll be subject to others' control, which is meaningless."
Grandpa Fu wanted to persuade him further, but they had already arrived.
Hong Xiaoduo and Kaiyang thought they had arrived at the palace gates, but after getting off the carriage, they found that they had already entered the palace, with the Golden Palace not far away.
Wow, isn't this a fast track?
In the period dramas I used to watch, it seemed like the carriages would stop outside the palace gates, and then people would take sedan chairs to get inside!
Many ministers were already standing outside the Golden Palace.
Eunuch Fu led Hong Xiaoduo and the other girl to a hall next to the side hall and instructed someone to go to the imperial kitchen to inform them to send breakfast.
"It's just the two of us, so it's quite peaceful. Let's enjoy the breakfast from the imperial kitchen." Hong Xiaoduo was talking to Kaiyang when she looked up and was stunned to see a line of palace maids queuing up to walk in from outside the hall.
It's just breakfast, why all this fuss?
The palace maids at the front of the line had already reached the table where Hong Xiaoduo and her companion were sitting, while those behind them were still outside the palace gates!
At this moment, a woman who claimed to be a servant of the Imperial Kitchen personally picked up the food from the tray held by the palace maid and placed it on the table in front of Hong Xiaoduo and Kaiyang. After introducing the food, she personally scooped out a small bowl for each of them.
The first breakfast dish was eel noodles. The waitress explained how to make it: steam the eel until tender, remove the bones and meat, mix it into the noodles, add chicken broth and knead well, roll it into a thin sheet, cut it into strips, and then boil it in chicken broth, ham broth, and mushroom broth.
Hong and Xiaoduo picked up a piece and took a bite. They looked at each other and nodded. The noodles were very chewy and indeed very delicious.
There was only a tiny bit left in the bowl, and I hadn't even had my fill yet, and it was taken away?
The second course was warm noodles, followed by eel noodles, and then various delicate pancakes, such as scallion pancakes, shrimp pancakes, beef pancakes, etc. Regardless of whether the two of them liked the taste or not, they each took a small portion of each, which was gone in a few bites.
Next up were wontons with crystal-clear skin, crab roe soup dumplings, rice noodles, mixed fruit cake, and pigeon congee...
"It's such a loss that your second brother isn't here," Hong Xiaoduo whispered to Kaiyang.
Kaiyang nodded in agreement. Second brother Tianxuan was in charge of everyone's food. As Hong Xiaoduo's wallet got fatter and fatter, his cooking skills also improved. At first, he would just dig up wild vegetables and cook them into porridge with rice or noodles into a thick paste. He would just stir it together, add some salt, and cook it. Gradually, he started to figure out how to make all kinds of simple dishes.
The cook explained how to make each breakfast dish, but Hong and Xiaoduo felt it was unnecessary. They were simply food lovers and had no interest in how the dishes were made.
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