Crossing the Palace Fighting Fox Harem

Chapter 198: Imperial Meal Acquaintance

After a while, Huarong brought good news from Yanniang, saying that Yanniang agreed to let Die'er work in the Dong Congfei Palace as Yizhen's maid.

After hearing the news, the happiest person was Dier, because now she would not have to be assigned to work somewhere else where she could not see Ji Anni.

But Ji Annie was a little depressed. Although she was happy, she always felt that it was a good deal for the little Queen Mother Shui Furong.

At this time, they were all a little hungry. Since there was no palace maid to bring lunch, they had to go to the imperial kitchen to get it themselves.

Ji Anni was curious about what the imperial kitchen looked like and insisted on going with Yizhen.

Yizhen couldn't refuse her, so she had to agree.

In this way, Die'er stayed in the Dong Congfei Palace to continue helping Ji Anni clean the room. Ji Anni, Yizhen and Huarong went to the imperial kitchen to get lunch together.

After walking for about a quarter of an hour, I finally saw the door of the imperial kitchen.

This was a courtyard slightly smaller than the Concubine's Palace, with people coming in and out, very busy. From a hundred steps away, one could smell the strong aroma of food, which made Ji Anni, who was already hungry, even hungrier, and she wanted to rush in and have a full meal right away.

Yizhen was already very familiar with the chefs and eunuchs in the imperial kitchen, and along the way, many people greeted her warmly.

Nanhu County is famous for its delicious food and great chefs. Many people in the imperial kitchen are from Nanhu County, and He Yizhen is a fellow villager.

Although Yizhen was a concubine, she did not have the airs of a queen at all. The young eunuchs did not really treat her as a queen, but as a relative like an older sister.

Although Yizhen's father was the county magistrate of Nanhu County, her background was extremely poor compared to other concubines.

When she was in the Concubine's Palace, Yizhen was like an ugly duckling among a group of white swans, a little out of place. But in the Imperial Kitchen, she didn't feel a bit out of place. For some reason, Ji Anni always felt that compared to the Concubine's Palace, Yizhen's aura seemed to fit in better with a place like the Imperial Kitchen - was Yizhen a natural cook?

Yizhen led the way and took Ji Anni and Huarong to the place where the palace maids got their meals.

This is a large room where you can definitely hear the heavy echo if you shout, and there are dozens of large tables placed side by side in it.

There were plates filled with delicious food on the table, but the food was a little cold at this moment. It must have just been taken down from the palace of the dignitaries.

At this time, a man who looked like a chef saw Yizhen, put down his work, walked over and asked respectfully: "Madam, are you here to get food?"

The cook looked very kind and plump, like a laughing monk.

Yizhen introduced Ji Anni, "Xiao Zhao, this is the chef from the imperial kitchen, who cooks for the emperor. Before he entered the palace, he was the signature chef of the Yipinlou in Nanhu County, and everyone in Nanhu County has tasted his cooking."

It turned out to be Yizhen’s fellow villager. Ji Anni hurriedly bowed to the master chef.

The chef was so frightened that he quickly waved his hands and said modestly, "You are too kind." Then he looked at Ji Anni and asked, "Is this the famous Concubine Zhao?"

Famous? Ji Anni smiled bitterly.

I never thought that I had become a famous figure in the palace... But this "famous" is probably 70 to 80 percent "bad reputation", right? The correct understanding of "famous" should actually be "notorious"...

Ji Anni waved her hand and said, "Master, I was just demoted back to Consort today, so you'd better not call me Consort Zhao."

"Your Majesty, minor demotions are only temporary... When you are on the rise in the future, please be sure to support Concubine Su Congfei. She is a good girl..." The master chef had great confidence in Ji Anni, and entrusted Yizhen to Ji Anni as if he was marrying off his daughter.

From his expression and attitude, it can be seen that he really cares about Yizhen.

While helping Yizhen pick the dishes, he sighed and complained: "Alas, those rich girls are so vicious, they even snatched the palace maids... They are bullying people like this, aren't they afraid of shortening their lives?" He felt very sorry for Yizhen, but there was nothing he could do, after all, he was just a cook. Talking about the empress was enough to get him dozens of slaps, and someone with such courage must have a very straightforward personality.

The chef picked out the most exquisite dishes on the table and put them in Yizhen's basket.

"Your Majesty, these are all delicious dishes that were just removed from the Emperor's table. They haven't even been touched with a chopstick. It would be a pity to throw them away. You can take them back and eat them."

"There's so much left today?" Yizhen was a little surprised.

The chef sighed, "Alas, the emperor must be in a bad mood today. When people are in a bad mood, they have no appetite..."

After hearing this, Hua Rong suddenly looked at Ji Anni, her eyes filled with thousands of words.

Ji Anni's scalp suddenly felt numb, and Hua Rong's murderous gaze made her feel a little suffocated.

In fact, she knew in her heart that the emperor's poor appetite today was probably related to her being demoted to a concubine.

The emperor was willing to offend the empress dowager in order to make her the imperial concubine, but she failed to live up to her expectations. In just ten days, the empress dowager found fault with her and demoted her back to her position. Not only was she further away from the throne, but even Prince Ming could not return to her side...

At the same time, Yizhen was looking for something in the dishes that were being removed.

The chef was the first to see through Yizhen's thoughts, and said with a kind smile: "Don't worry, your Majesty, the emperor ate all the Yugong meatballs you made, not a single one was left."

After hearing this, Yizhen suddenly became very happy, and the smile on her lips could not be hidden.

She was worried that the dishes she cooked would also be taken away, but the chef actually said that the emperor had finished eating. How could she not be happy?

Ji Anni felt very strange and asked, "Yizhen, do you cook for the emperor?"

No wonder Yizhen didn't know that Die'er and the others had returned to the East Concubine Palace to deliver things, nor did she know that she had been demoted to a concubine. She must have been helping in the imperial kitchen this morning. When she first arrived at the East Concubine Palace, she had just returned from the imperial kitchen.

Yizhen explained, "I saw that the imperial kitchen was very busy, so I often came over to help out. The chefs usually took good care of me, and I also wanted to do something within my ability."

The master chef smiled and praised: "Don't be modest, madam, your craftsmanship is far beyond the reach of a master chef like me..."

"Yes, yes, Yizhen's cooking is delicious." Ji Anni hurriedly agreed, as happy as if she was being praised.

During the birthday party, she also tasted Yizhen's cooking skills, which were definitely above professional level.

Even Princess Tianning, who is so picky about food, has praised Yizhen for her superb cooking skills.

So the chef’s words just now were definitely not flattery, but sincere praise for Yizhen.

Yizhen felt embarrassed when she was praised and smiled shyly.

At this time, someone's face became obviously gloomy. This person was Hua Rong. She stood silently behind Ji Anni, but her eyes went over Ji Anni's shoulder and fell directly on Yizhen's face. She seemed to see through something...