Volume 4: Gathering of Sages Chapter 602: The Dragon-riding Son-in-Law Must Be Robbed
Seeing that Mr. Song was trembling with fear, Zhang Shou changed his mind and said with a smile: "Mr. Song, where did your courage to argue with Princess Yongping go? You are a candidate who fought your way through the imperial examinations, and because of your hobby, you drugged or tied up the servants at home, and then swaggered to choose the imperial chef. How bold is that?"
"Why are you such a wimp now that we're at the last stage?"
Dr. Zhang, you are bringing up something irrelevant. Mr. Song was almost crying, especially since he didn't hear anyone speak when he bowed down to pay his respects. He also didn't know what the people in the palace, who he had never thought of before, were feeling. He was even more worried. Just as he was getting more and more panicked, he suddenly saw someone walking towards him.
He lowered his head and saw only a gorgeous pleated saffron skirt with golden hooks and jade rings hanging from the hem. He didn't even know where he got the idea from, but he even counted the number of jade rings, five in total - if he didn't count the jade rings, would he have moved his eyes upwards to look at the firm waist and tall breasts? Although he had already seen them from the corner of his eye...
He didn't even need to look at that face. Just by hearing the sound of someone reaching out to take food, he knew that the only person who could be so bold and unscrupulous in front of the Empress Dowager, the Emperor, the two imperial concubines... anyway, so many nobles were present was Zhu Ying!
Sure enough, the visitor took a piece of food and ate it. After a while, he smiled and said, "Not bad, not bad. Chef Song's other cooking skills are average, but this dessert is really far superior to many famous chefs! Even this seemingly ordinary osmanthus dumpling can be made to have a different taste. The osmanthus is sweet but not greasy, and the dumpling tastes particularly delicate!"
Hearing Zhu Ying's praise, Mr. Song immediately felt very comfortable. He straightened his back from bending over just now, and said proudly: "Miss, you are right to praise me. This osmanthus ball is made by me myself, with complicated process, and I also steamed and prepared the dew on the osmanthus. The recipe took a long time, and of course, the ratio of rice is also very particular..."
Since he was talking about his proudest things, Mr. Song began to talk fluently without realizing it. At this moment, his confident and relaxed appearance was fine in the eyes of the emperor - the emperor had seen him change into a different person when talking about things he was good at - but it was different in the eyes of the empress dowager and Concubine Yu.
The timid and cowardly performance of Mr. Song when he came in just now was completely different from his calm and confident appearance at this moment. Although they couldn't understand why a good candidate liked cooking, since there was Zhang Shou's cooking, which Zhu Ying often talked about, as a contrast, it was not unacceptable.
However, if the person is timid and lacks confidence, they will definitely not agree!
But even so, Zhang Shou's only advantage is cooking. It is just a special hobby of Zhang Shou, not his main occupation. Zhang Shou's main occupation is teaching and educating people. Just look at his many students! However, Mr. Song regarded the imperial examination as a supplement and was obsessed with cooking... He is also a strange man!
Zhang Shou looked at Zhu Ying with a smile as she deliberately teased Mr. Song's proudest point, and then led people to continue talking, starting from the method of making osmanthus sauce, how to mix polished rice and glutinous rice, how to grind it again and again after the first grinding to make the taste more delicate, and even how to choose the stone to be used for the mill. He couldn't help laughing.
However, at this moment, he suddenly felt as if someone was looking at him. He followed the line of sight and saw that it was the angry Princess Yongping. Without even thinking, he knew where this unprovoked disaster came from.
There is no doubt that Princess Yongping must have felt that everyone from the Empress Dowager to Concubine Yu had come here with such a large force today to help her find a husband, and that he and Zhu Ying were just supporting her... But to be honest, Zhu Ying did have this idea, but he never felt that Mr. Song and Princess Yongping were a good match!
Given Princess Yongping's aloof personality, being her consort is probably the most difficult job in the world, perhaps the only one!
Therefore, seeing Zhu Ying still teasing Mr. Song with words and teasing him to tell more cooking tips, he suddenly coughed heavily and then said indifferently: "Yingying, people who are interested in cooking will think it is the pursuit of life, but people who are not interested will only find it boring. Don't tease Mr. Song."
Seeing Zhu Ying snort with some regret, Mr. Song suddenly woke up from his dream and instinctively turned his gaze to look at the people in front of him. He saw the emperor smiling with a very kind expression. The third prince was looking at him with interest, while the fourth prince was looking at him with disgust.
As for the Queen Mother and the two suspected imperial concubines, the Queen Mother nodded slightly as if she approved of him, while one of the other two looked at him thoughtfully, and the other frowned slightly, as if she was not very satisfied with him. As for those noble princesses and other girls, Princess Yongping naturally didn't even look at him, while the others were whispering to each other with smiles on their faces, showing that they were very interested in him.
Song Juren, who was getting more and more frightened, finally came to his senses and laughed dryly, "I only know these little tricks of the kitchen. As for the official way of taking the imperial examination, there are too many people taking it. If I really want to take the imperial examination with my qualifications, I will probably have to wait until my hair turns gray."
"The students can only make some small skills such as desserts and snacks, which is still far from the standard of a royal chef..."
Feeling that the scene today was a bit weird, Mr. Song simply became extremely humble. However, he had never expected that a girl who was only 13 or 14 years old at most and looked quite innocent would suddenly say, "There are hundreds of Jinshi candidates in three years. Maybe there are only a few who can make delicious snacks in the whole capital!"
"Of course, talents like Mr. Song are even more rare!"
Before the Emperor, the Empress Dowager, the Imperial Concubine and the Princess spoke, someone else dared to speak first - and it wasn't Zhu Ying. Even Zhang Shou couldn't help but cast a curious glance at the last-ranked girl.
He clearly remembered that Zhu Ying seemed to have told him before that this was the Princess of Hailing County, the legitimate daughter of a certain prince who was very wealthy but never cared about state affairs. The princess gave birth to four sons before she had a daughter, so the little girl was the most spoiled by her parents.
His heart moved slightly, and he smiled and nodded, saying: "Lady Hailing has a good vision. Although people say that gentlemen should stay away from the kitchen, that's because most gentlemen believe in talking but not working, and keeping their fingers away from water. Talented people like Mr. Song can study for the imperial examinations and cook delicious food with his hands. Compared with some lazy people who don't know how to distinguish grains, he is much better."
Mr. Song was really puzzled by the flattery from Zhu Ying and Zhang Shou one after another.
He did think he was quite capable. After all, not everyone could get into the imperial chef selection competition, and he had even made it to the finals after going through so many rounds. He had even met the emperor, the princess, and a bunch of other nobles. However, Zhu Ying had said so many words to show off his cooking skills, and Zhang Shou had praised him for his ability to do both moving and stillness, and he himself felt that the praise was too much.
However, what almost made him pop his eyes out was that the Emperor and the Empress Dowager's expression was only a little subtle. He didn't even bother to look at the other concubines and princesses. He only saw that the Princess of Hailing was actually smiling and clapping her hands in praise, "Dr. Zhang said exactly what I wanted to say!"
"What's the big deal about liking cooking? My father also likes ironwork. He usually sweats profusely with his bare chest, and even asks his brothers to help him pull the bellows!"
As soon as she said this, she seemed to realize that she had revealed something very important, so she quickly covered her mouth. When she found that everyone was looking at her, she put down her hand awkwardly and whispered, "Empress Dowager, Your Majesty, please forgive me for speaking without restraint... But I have always loved sweets. Sister Yingying just praised Young Master Song's desserts so well, can I..."
"Can I have a taste?"
Seeing Princess Hailing looking at him with pleading eyes as she spoke, the emperor couldn't help but laugh.
He nodded slightly to the eunuch holding the tray, and saw the eunuch quickly walk a few steps and deliver the tray to the Princess of Hailing County. He saw the little girl smiling and grabbing a piece of osmanthus cake with her handkerchief, taking a bite and chewing it slowly. Soon, a happy smile appeared on her face. He joked, "Your father has long said that you love gourmet food. Can your family still be short of a cook?"
"They are too artificial!"
Lady Hailing didn't bother to swallow all the osmanthus cake in her mouth, but said vaguely: "These people will certainly work hard on the seasoning and ingredients, but nine out of ten of them choose to be cooks to make a living, not because they really like it. Mr. Song chose cooking despite his bright future. He really likes it, which is of course different."
If he had met such a rich lady who understood him before he came to Beijing, Mr. Song would definitely have regarded the Princess Hailing as his close friend.
Now that he has lived in Zhang Garden for a long time, he has even seen Zhang Shou cooking in the kitchen himself, and he has also seen Zhu Ying, the daughter of a wealthy family, cooking for herself - although most of the time she caused trouble for the people in the kitchen - he is very calm most of the time.
But the next moment, he was completely calm. Because while speaking, Princess Hailing quickly swallowed the whole piece of osmanthus cake, and then she burped, and then asked with interest: "I wonder if Mr. Song is married?"
"If not, are you willing to be my father's son-in-law?"
If he hadn't been mentally strong enough due to the many things he had encountered recently, Zhang Shou would have almost choked! It turns out that there are girls in this world who are more straightforward than Zhu Ying!
Look at the two stiff faces of the Emperor and the Empress Dowager, look at the two imperial concubines, Concubine Yu and Concubine He, who were caught off guard, and then look at Zhu Ying who was almost frightened to the point of raising her eyebrows... and the other princesses whose eyeballs were falling to the ground, and Elder Wu and Zhang Yu who were coughing desperately because of being choked by their saliva. It was very obvious that no one had expected this scene.
Mr. Song also did not expect that he would be asked such a fierce question by a little girl. Even though he was called Song Hunzi by Fang Qing and was considered a very thick-skinned person, he became half-mute at this moment.
Oh my God, can someone teach him how to answer? This is the first time he has met this Princess Hailing, right?
After being surprised, Zhu Ying gave Hailing County Lady a thumbs up very straightforwardly, as if praising her quick eyes and hands. Then she smiled and said, "A Ling, although Chef Song is indeed a good cook, you still don't understand his character, right? Besides, if you don't ask your parents and brother, aren't you afraid that they will disagree later?"
Princess Hailing stole a glance at the Queen Mother and the Emperor, who were looking odd, and whispered, "My father and my mother always say that as long as I like it, it's fine, and my brothers all follow my lead! Besides, when I saw him talking about food with such enthusiasm just now, I thought he was really interesting! Someone who can spend all his time on food can't be that bad..."
"No, he is definitely patient and has a good temperament! Besides, you, Yingying, and Dr. Zhang both like him, so how can he be wrong? It's just like you picked Dr. Zhang in the first place and told us that he was the only one you could have, so you had to stay at his house. You also kept saying that you have to snatch a good son-in-law, and that the quicker you act, the better... Ugh!"
This time, seeing that the person who covered the mouth of Princess Hailing with her hand was Princess Deyang, Zhang Shou finally couldn't help but cough. Although Zhu Ying, who was always generous, couldn't help blushing at this moment.
Although Princess Hailing didn't interact very often, they were still friends who could talk to each other when they met at various gatherings, so she did say this - of course, her intention was to promote her good vision. However, she never thought that someone would plausibly use her words as a reason!
But at this moment, she saw the Fourth Prince nodded in sudden enlightenment and said, "Just now I thought that this Song guy only knows how to cook and has no other skills, what's so good about him... But what you said, Sister A Ling, does make sense! Judging from the vision of Sister Yingying and the teacher, if someone doesn't have great skills, how could he stay in Zhang Garden?"
Zhang Shou felt both amused and sad when he heard this simple "truth". There were indeed no useless people in his Zhang Garden, but when it came to great abilities, most people these days looked down on those people's abilities. For example, Song Juren Song Hunzi, apart from his often offending mouth, he was only good at cooking and had a righteous character, nothing else!
However, others either recovered from their shock, or thought it was funny, or thought it was ridiculous, but Princess Yongping's face was becoming increasingly cold. She felt that everything that happened today was planned, whether it was Princess Hailing's request for a good husband, or the fourth prince's affirmation of loving the whole family, or Mr. Song who was at a loss like a fool.
She felt that everyone was plotting against her, and that everyone wanted to match her up with a man she didn't care about at all. Thinking back to when her father announced publicly that she and Zhu Ying were inseparable, he hadn't considered her feelings at all, she felt filled with resentment and unwillingness, and finally she couldn't help but take a deep breath and said something with a sarcastic look on her face.
"Since Hailing likes her, why don't the Queen Mother and Father help her?"
