Volume 4: Gathering of Sages Chapter 601: There are noble people every year, but today is the most
No matter who exposed his intentions and true colors, Chu Kuan would remain calm. However, he never expected that Zhu Ying, who was considered by both the officialdom and the woman in the backyard to be beautiful but brainless, could see through his thoughts. Although he did not try too hard to hide it, Zhu Ying should not be the first person to discover it...
Although he reacted calmly to Zhu Ying's questioning, and appeared calm in front of the emperor after Zhu Ying left in a huff, when he followed the emperor to attend the final of the imperial chef selection competition the next day, when he met Zhu Ying on the third floor, he turned his head away to avoid her merciless snort, which was more cold than fiery.
He knew that since Zhu Ying understood what he meant, she was probably just acting. Her hostility was probably pretended, but her dissatisfied attitude was genuine.
However, his and Zhu Ying's reactions were seen by the other judges who were invited that afternoon, which naturally proved one thing. Zhu Ying and Chu Kuan had a falling out, this was true! Chu Kuan's shadow was behind the dispute in the Imperial College, this was probably also true!
Wu Ge Lao and Zhang Yu, the only two people invited to the cabinet, sat together even though they had no personal relationship. They whispered about what dishes and flavors they liked. As old officials who had been in the officialdom for a long time, they were very skilled in using puns in dish names, so they inevitably used this opportunity to exchange their views.
As for the other judges today, the emperor, the third prince and the fourth prince occupied one table, and Zhu Ying and Zhang Shou occupied another table.
As for Zhang Shou's students... except for Lu Sanlang, the others have not been released by their families. Even Qin Guogong Zhang Chuan, who has always ignored his son, has put Zhang Chen under house arrest for the first time. Even Zhu Er, whose "mistakes" were far less serious than Zhu Ying's, is said to have been punished by the lady to reflect on his mistakes at home. On the contrary, Zhu Ying has been released and is free.
In addition, there were no three senior mathematics experts like Ge Yong, no Lu Wan and Liu Zhiyuan who gave up their official positions to teach, no nobles gathered together, and no princess like Princess Yongping. At first glance, the two elders felt that today's finals seemed even more shabby than the previous preliminary and re-examinations.
However, they soon realized that they were wrong, because after a commotion downstairs, there was a movement on the stairs, and seeing the barrier being pulled up, the two looked at each other and had the same idea in their minds.
Could it be that the emperor brought the concubines out of the palace? Other emperors would never dare to do such a thing, but the emperor was able to take Concubine Yu to the Buddhist temple to burn incense and pray for blessings. Now Concubine Yu has become a noble concubine, and the third prince's biological mother and concubine have also been promoted to a noble concubine . If this is really brought out, it is not impossible!
If it was Confucius who was here, he might stand up and be ready to turn hostile at any time - this is also the choice that any Prime Minister who is committed to being something other than a yes-man of the emperor would make. If you need to persuade, persuade. If you can't persuade, you have to argue!
However, Lord Wu was used to being a yes-man , and he would not say a word even if the concubine really came.
As for Zhang Yu, he was no hypocrite. He himself often took his wife and daughter out for fun, so if the emperor really brought his favorite concubine out, he might give him some advice afterwards, but he would never turn hostile to him in person.
Zhang Shou was held by Zhu Ying, and before he could even think about anything else, he heard the eldest lady's nervous voice: "Ah Shou, I heard that the emperor would personally preside over the finals today, so I ran out of the house to watch the fun. Now that the barrier has been raised, it should be a girl. It can't be my mother, or maybe it's my grandmother?"
Zhang Shou couldn't help but be slightly stunned: "But given the personalities of Madam Tai and Aunt Jiu, they won't set up obstacles when they come out, right?"
"That's right!" Zhu Ying smiled immediately, "My grandmother and my mother are both the most straightforward people. They definitely wouldn't be so pretentious..." But as soon as she said the word "pretentious", she heard a cough.
Along with this cough, Jiu Niang came up the stairs with a cold face. Seeing Zhu Ying staring at her with wide eyes, and then hiding behind Zhang Shou, she said unhappily: "Why, you are hypocritical for talking about people behind their backs, but now I am here, you dare not say anything? What kind of heroine is this who is making up stories about people behind their backs?"
Zhang Shou almost spit out his wine when he heard his future mother-in-law's serious words "heroic woman". However, when Zhu Ying supported his shoulders from behind, she inevitably had some physical contact with him, and he couldn't help but feel a little warm, so he had to stand up quickly. However, just as he was about to greet Jiu Niang, he didn't expect Jiu Niang to just tease Zhu Ying and give up her position at the stairs.
The person who appeared right after him was exactly what he had expected, but it was also reasonable - Jiu Niang was here, so how could Taifu be far behind? Taifu also glanced at her granddaughter who was squatting behind Zhang Shou with a half-smile. Seeing that the emperor was also looking at her mother-in-law and daughter-in-law with a surprised look, she bowed slightly as a courtesy, and then stood aside.
Realizing that there were more people coming up next, Zhang Shou had some vague guesses and finally understood what this obstacle was all about.
Sure enough, after a while, the Queen Mother led the way, followed by Concubine Yu whom he had met twice, and then a woman in palace dress whom he had never seen before, and then Princess Yongping and Princess Deyang, and a few unfamiliar girls. Judging from their behavior and appearance, they should be princesses of the royal family.
Faced with such a lineup, not to mention Zhang Shou was dumbfounded, even Wu Ge Lao and Zhang Yu were sweating coldly. The emperor came with the third and fourth princes, the queen mother came with two concubines, plus two princesses and several daughters of the clan, today's standard is more than just high... it is simply breaking through the sky!
But the problem is, with so many nobles from the royal family gathered here, wouldn't the Ruiqi Battalion have to come out in full force? Has the Shuntian government been informed? Is Zhang Chuan, the Duke of Qin, the governor of Shuntian, worried at this moment? Are the three shifts of officials going crazy?
As the two were thinking this, they heard the emperor's surprised voice from above: "Mother, why are you all here?"
It turns out that the emperor himself didn't know! At this moment, Wu Ge Lao and Zhang Yu were both shocked. Such a big thing, it turns out that this most noble mother and son in the world didn't discuss it?
"It is said that only county officials are allowed to set fires , and ordinary people are not allowed to light lamps. Are you saying that only the emperor is allowed to watch the fun, and not the concubines?"
The Queen Mother teased casually. Seeing the Third and Fourth Princes hurriedly coming up to pay their respects, and the Fourth Prince's eyes moving back and forth between them, as if he was a little upset because he didn't notice Concubine Jiang, she said lightly: "Concubine Jiang said she was not feeling well and refused to come out. Even the two concubines, whom I had to invite three or four times, are more polite than me."
When the empress dowager said the rules, naturally no one dared to respond, and even the emperor could only laugh dryly. As for Zhu Ying, who was just talking about being hypocritical, she wanted to crawl under the table at this moment - how could she have expected that the empress dowager, who always hated the hustle and bustle the most, would actually bring out a bunch of concubines, princesses, and clan daughters in a grand manner on this occasion today!
The Queen Mother did not show any reaction to Zhu Ying's criticism just now. Instead, she nodded slightly to Zhang Shou and Wu Ge Lao Zhang Yu who came forward to pay their respects, and then said with a smile: "Although there is already one more imperial chef in the palace, I also want to taste the skills of many famous chefs in person and see who to choose later, so I brought them here directly."
"Mr. Wu and Mr. Zhang are not outsiders, so there is no need to be so rigid about gender. As for Zhang Shou, you are going to marry Yingying, which is almost the same as being my grandson-in-law. There is no need to be so formal. You all can take a seat."
Hearing that the Empress Dowager had directly mentioned grandson-in-law, Zhang Shou followed suit with a smile. As for the eldest daughter behind her, who was treated as a daughter and granddaughter by the Emperor and Empress, she was still squatting on the ground with a bitter face, and she was almost drawing circles.
However, Zhu Ying was only annoyed for a while. She saw that the Empress Dowager, Concubine Yu and Concubine He occupied a table next to the Emperor, Princess Yongping invited Princess Deyang and three princesses to occupy another table, and her grandmother and mother did not sit down immediately, but stood there because the Emperor was talking to them. She immediately forgot the previous embarrassment and got up and slipped over.
"Grandma, mother, even though this upstairs is spacious, it's too stuffy for just the two of you. Why don't you sit with me and Shou?"
"Haha, we, the hypocritical mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, dare not sit with you." The old lady also joked. Seeing Zhu Ying's face flushed with embarrassment, she smiled and said, "Be more thoughtful when you speak and act outside in the future. Don't just say whatever comes to your mind! Will you dare to speak carelessly next time? Will you dare to block the door of someone's government office? You are too bold!"
Chu Kuan didn't expect the Madam to bring up the past again. After a moment of hesitation, he smiled and said, "Madam, the past is over..."
Before he could finish his words, the lady said coldly, "Eunuch Chu, I am disciplining my own granddaughter, what does it have to do with you?"
Seeing Jiu Niang also gave him a cold look, Chu Kuan looked embarrassed and frightened, but he felt relieved. In any case, the feeling of dealing with smart people made him feel very comfortable.
The Queen Mother interrupted at the right time and said, "Well, since my elder sister has already taught Yingying a lesson, Chu Kuan, you made a mistake and you will be fined for three months. That's it. Zhang Shou, Yingying almost broke the news for you. If you can't treat her well in the future, I will hold you responsible!"
Because Zhu Ying had revealed that she had acted as a peacemaker between the emperor and Chu Kuan before, Zhang Shou naturally realized that the Empress Dowager and Jiu Niang had shown no mercy to Chu Kuan just now, and the intention behind the Empress Dowager's attempt to keep things quiet and smooth things over.
But this had nothing to do with him. He was not too impressed by Chu Kuan's succession to the throne by relying on the eunuch party's lobbying, and he was also suspicious of certain things. Therefore, after agreeing, he simply kept silent. When Zhu Ying came back to him with a sullen look on her face, and poked at the Taifu and Jiuniang who were sitting alone at the table next to her, he smiled.
"Don't worry, they won't be mad at you for long."
"It's easy for you to say it. It's rare for me to say something and mother just finds me sore." Zhu Ying said while glaring at Chu Kuan with hatred, "It's all his fault! If it weren't for him, why would my grandmother and mother scold me!"
Zhu Ying's expression of true feelings was natural and beyond the realm of acting. When they saw that Chu Kuan had no objection to the Queen Mother's treatment, but stood by the Emperor for a while before hurriedly finding an excuse to leave, Wu Ge Lao and Zhang Yu, who were still somewhat suspicious, now completely believed that the Zhu family and Chu Kuan had fallen out.
However, this was just an unexpected episode. As the final competition among the chefs to become the royal chef began and exquisite dishes were served one after another, they put these thoughts aside for the time being.
The royal girls, who were reserved at first, tasted a few dishes. Some said they were good while others said they were not. But they were talking about another topic among themselves - why was Chef Song, who was said to be a successful candidate in the imperial examination, still nowhere to be seen?
The surname that Princess Yongping hated the most was Song. What made her even more ashamed and angry was the tendency that her father had once revealed. Although she had not heard anyone mention it in recent days, when she heard that Princess Ninghe had instigated Princess Deyang to ask Zhu Ying about Chef Song, she finally couldn't help herself.
But before she could respond, Zhu Ying suddenly said, "Where is Chef Song? He finally made it to the finals, so why is his specialty not here? I remember the emperor said that desserts were one of the topics today!"
That is, in order to prevent Song Hunzi from thinking too hard and not being able to come up with a dish, I specially added a dessert question in addition to the three questions, and there is no limit on the order of serving the dishes. With Song Hunzi's level, serving dessert first can at least be considered as one of the questions, so there should be no problem, right? Why haven't you come yet?
The emperor was puzzled, and Zhang Shou was even more puzzled. You know, Ah Liu had gone to the big kitchen where famous chefs gathered from the beginning, under the pretext of keeping an eye on it just in case, but he was extremely suspicious that he was just guarding the big kitchen to get a good meal, and of course, to take care of Mr. Song who often offended people with his bad mouth.
But even under such care, Mr. Song was still hesitating... Is this guy going to give up?
Just when he was getting a little impatient and was about to go to the window and call Ah Liu to ask about the situation, he finally heard a voice coming from the stairs: "Chef Song is here."
When the name "Chef Song" was called, all eyes turned to the stairs. When Mr. Song followed the eunuch carrying the tray to the third floor, he heard the eunuch in front of him calling out the Empress Dowager, the Emperor, the two Imperial Concubines, Princess Deyang, Princess Yongping... a long list of more than a dozen titles, and his knees went weak and he almost fell to his knees.
Having met the emperor before, he thought he had seen the world, but how could he have imagined that today's final would be such a grand occasion! No wonder someone suddenly looked after the kitchen before, and as soon as he opened his mouth, he said that a distinguished person had come. It was true that there were distinguished persons every year, but today was the most!
