When they were sweeping up the dead bodies on the battlefield, Yan Ziyan and the rest were overjoyed, especially Wang Meng.
Wang Meng laughed out loud, “Hahaha, Northern Qing Kingdom is just a paper tiger. It looks mighty. In fact, it can’t withstand a single blow. They have dispatched one troop after another but none of them is powerful. The Emperor and State Preceptor didn’t dare to send armies to fight against them, and indicated that our country had no strong generals. It doesn’t make sense. I think we are very strong! In my opinion, they are not capable of managing people. They found some useless men in charge of the army. No wonder they lose every time.”
Yan Ziyan didn’t dare to hold a victory party at this point. After all, this battle was not over and as long as the Northern Qing Kingdom did not surrender, they had to stay here with the enemy.
They had not been defeated yet, but if they kept wasting time here, Yan Ziyan was afraid that the soldiers would give up one day.
Wang Meng then said to Yan Ziyan, “When the Northern Qing Kingdom surrenders, the Heihe City and the Linglong County will be our territory. Hahaha! At that time, we should call you Marquis Yan.”
Yan Ziyan immediately became serious. “Don’t talk nonsense. We have not yet won the battle. If we act too arrogant, the imperial court will definitely wipe us out.”
“It’s not up to them. We’re going to do our job alone. If they won’t accept us, then we will directly attack the capital city and change an emperor. At that time, Brother Yan, you will be the emperor!”
Yan Ziyan saw that Wang Meng was getting more and more ridiculous, so he scolded him, “Wang Meng! If you continue to talk such nonsense, I will punish you with military laws.”
Wang Meng gave up and dared not go on this subject.
…
In the capital.
Xiao Baoshan was once again appointed as a general.
He was just appointed as a Right General. Strictly speaking, he was only a fifth rank official and was not qualified to be distributed a residence. Qian Qi was a third rank official and had a residence.
One day, they gathered at the Sixth King’s residence, including Qian Qi, Xiao Baoshan and Li Chengru.
The moment Qian Qi arrived, he said to Xiao Baoshan, “General Xiao, are you unwilling to be appointed as the Right General?”
Xiao Baoshan smiled, “State Preceptor and His Majesty wanted to split us up in this way. Actually, I never want to be a general. I just want to get my job done. Besides, I never care about what my title is.”
Qian Qi agreed, “I have seen it clearly these days. This is who they have always been. They suppress loyal officials and let them compete with each other. As such, they will be addicted to plotting and wrangling each other and have no energy to do things for the imperial court. This will only produce more parasites for the imperial court.”
Everyone nodded and agreed with Qian Qi.
Li Chengyi looked to Xiao Baoshan and said, “The result of the battle in the North is uncertain. I assume State Preceptor will not send you out for the time being, so we have to come up with an elaborate plan on how to save your wife.”
Qian Qi asked, “What next once we succeed? What about it? Baoshan had already been granted a general. If his wife is out, would he be able to successfully resign from his position and flee with his wife?”
Li Chengyi said, “There’s always a solution. As long as Baoshan is willing to give up the opportunity to be an official in the capital.”
Xiao Baoshan said right away, “I have never been long for the prosperity of the capital city. I just want to live a poor but peaceful life with my wife.”
…
The ceremony of worshipping the ancestors in the palace was about to begin.
This kind of ceremony was usually handled by the Ministry of Rites. Since it involved the royal family, the harem was also in charge of a part, such as the royal banquet after the ceremony.
The Empress was responsible for this banquet, and because this was not a small matter, Empress Dowager would be the supervisor.
The Empress had delivered the process of the royal banquet to Empress Dowager early.
The Empress Dowager had no problems with it except that she advised on the dishes.
“This banquet will invite all the royal descendants and their family members. Who is responsible for the dishes?” The Empress Dowager asked.
The Empress replied, “The cooks in the palace.”
“Do they have enough people?”
“It should be enough. The cows and sheep used for the ceremony will return to the dinner table. Our cooks will be responsible for the later processing.” The Empress said.
The Empress Dowager said, “I’m afraid it’s not enough. How about this, you send an order to the Ministry of Rites. If they need more people, they can figure out a way to mobilize these servants. This ceremony is related to the prosperity of the next year. We must take it seriously.”
“Yes!” The Empress received the order and left.
The Empress was twenty-six this year. As the female leader of this country, she had to look after everything in the harem. She would be questioned if there were any lapses. She also had to evade covert attacks from the concubines. As such, she was younger than the Empress Dowager, but looked more haggard than her.
Ever since the Empress came out of the Empress Dowager’s palace, she had been feeling annoyed.
“The process has been clearly set up. It’s so detailed that all the lanterns for the banquet are carefully selected. The Empress Dowager is so picky. Isn’t she looking for bones in an egg?”
The maid serving the Empress Dowager consoled her right away, “Your Majesty, don’t be angry. The Empress Dowager is that sort of person. She was unwilling to run affairs when she was in your position. Now she is the Empress Dowager, what she will do is only to give an order. Please try to do whatever she wants, and don’t make her angry!”
The Empress said, “Alright. Inform the Ministry of Rites and let them check the numbers again in case there are not enough cooks. Also, we must ensure that the ingredients are fresh, so as not to eat stale meat at night.”
…
The Ministry of Rites paid great attention to this ceremony, so they sped up.
The ceremony in the capital was far more complicated than in the Tianshan tribe. Tianshan tribe only used cows and sheep in ceremonies, while the imperial family used six different domestic animals. Besides, when the ceremony was over, the meat would be made into dishes for the imperial family’s descendants to eat, so they must ensure fresh ingredients.
The Ministry of Rites had appointed some of the imperial chefs, but it was not enough, so they had to take some of the chefs from the ministers’ residence.
As the former head of imperial chefs, Zhang Deshui was naturally a member of the team.
The ceremony was going to start in three days. The Ministry of Rites had prepared all the ingredients, but Zhang Deshui and the other chefs had not yet decided on the menu.
The ceremony was held every year, so they were supposed to know how to cook these ingredients used for the festival. However, the Ministry of Rites had changed the minister this year. It was said that this minister had travelled many places and eaten prime roast lamb and roast whole suckling pigs, so he had a high standard on the taste.
This ceremony’s dishes of beef, lamb, pork, and dog meat, must be in line with his tastes, otherwise, chefs had to make new dishes until he was satisfied.
Zhang Deshui and the others had already roasted seven suckling pigs, eight sheep, and nine dogs. However, the minister of the Ministry of Rites wouldn’t let them pass, which made the group of chefs very exhausted.
Apparently, the newly-appointed minister wanted to show off in front of the Emperor. He wanted the descendants of the imperial family and the ministers to enjoy the meal.
When these chefs failed again, they couldn’t help but scream in pain.
“This minister only cares about the taste, but he doesn’t know the recipes. He is making things difficult for us!”
“Exactly, this is how we cook the meat every year. His Majesty has never judged on the taste. Besides, the imperial family won’t eat much at a banquet. It’s just a tradition. The minister is too picky.”
“If he goes on like this, we will find our heads on the street.”
“It won’t happen. If we can’t finish this work, the minister is responsible as well. I just hope that he can figure it out sooner and don’t torment us anymore.”
“…”
Zhang Deshui complained, too. He nearly spitted saliva into the ingredients.
Somehow, he thought of Ye Xiaoxian.
Ye Xiaoxian had been studying ingredients, and Zhang Deshui heard that she had been in a tribe. ‘I assume that she have seen roasted beef and sheep in the tribe. What if she has the recipe?’
Zhang Deshui immediately left the palace and returned to the State Preceptor’s residence. Then he went to the backyard to visit Ye Xiaoxian.
…
Ye Xiaoxian was bored to death these days. Apart from cooking occasionally, what she could do was staying in her room and did nothing. She even learned to embroider flowers with Jin Xiaoyu.
They were embroidering mandarin ducks.
Jin Xiaoyu embroidered the mandarin duck into a cartoon duck while Little Ye embroidered it into a goose.
Then they laughed at each other.
At this point, the old maid said that Zhang Deshui was here for Little Ye.
Little Ye put the needle and thread down and went out.
She and Zhang Deshui had been exchanging cooking skills for the time being. They had met many times and no one stopped them. After all, State Preceptor liked to eat the dishes she made.
When Zhang Deshui saw Little Ye, he hurriedly gave the desserts taken out from the palace to Little Ye and said, “These are palace desserts. Usually, only the Empress and imperial concubines can eat them. I take some out today. Madam Xiao, please have a try.”
Little Ye asked curiously, “You even entered the palace?”
“Yes.” Zhang Deshui chuckled.
Little Ye took the dessert box from Zhang Deshui. Then she opened the lid, took out a small cookie and had a bite.
“It is good.” Little Ye asked again, “How can you enter the palace? Is it easy to enter the palace?”
“It’s not easy. I haven’t been selected to enter the palace for a long time. But there will be a ceremony in the palace worshipping the ancestors in a few days. There is a lack of chefs, so I am recruited too. Hehe.”
“What did you do in there?” Ye Xiaoxian asked again.
Jin Xiaoyu went out at this time. She saw those cookies and picked one up. Then she sat down to listen to what Little Ye and Zhang Deshui were talking about while she was eating this cookie.
Zhang Deshui said, “I have to cook six domestic animals, such as roast lamb and suckling pigs. Basically, these kinds of meat are all roasted.”
Jin Xiaoyu said, “Oh, that’s simple. Little Ye knows how to make roast lambs. They are the best roast lamb I’ve ever eaten.”
“Really?” Zhang Deshui’s eyes glowed.
“What are you gonna do? Little Ye can’t get into the palace. “Jin Xiaoyu said.
Zhang Deshui asked Little Ye right away, “Madam Xiao, how do you make roast lambs? I want to refer to your recipe. The new minister of the Ministry of Rites is too picky and is unsatisfied with what we roasted. I want to try your recipe.”
Previously, no matter what recipes Zhang Deshui wanted, as long as he asked Little Ye for the recipes, Little Ye would tell him. But this time, Little Ye didn’t tell him right away.
“How about this. I’ll roast lamb first. You can try its taste before you decide whether you want this recipe. If you like it, I’ll tell it to you.”
