jdhmnovel Chapter 257 Copying the Menu
Chapter 257 Copying the Menu
In Qingshan Village, Xiaocao'er's family and Qi Xingyun were enjoying the freshly cooked potatoes with great relish. Their faces were filled with satisfied and joyful smiles, and their laughter filled the whole house.
A few days later, the people Qi Xingyun sent to deliver potatoes to the capital rode at full speed and finally arrived at the palace smoothly. They presented the fresh potatoes to the palace. The guards who delivered the potatoes were now in the imperial study accepting the emperor's summons.
The emperor was holding a letter presented respectfully by Qi Xingyun's guards, but the letter did not come in an envelope. The emperor frowned slightly, his eyes fell on the thin papers in his hands, but he did not rush to read them. Instead, he played with them repeatedly, muttering to himself, "How could my little uncle be so embarrassed now that he can't even afford an envelope?"
The guard bowed and responded, "Your Majesty, we were in the mountains at the time, and it was difficult to find pen and ink to write the letter. We really couldn't find an envelope. And the master was extremely anxious and ordered his subordinates to send it back to the capital as soon as possible, so we didn't have time to return to the city to buy an envelope."
The emperor nodded slightly to show his understanding, but soon noticed that these pages were not written by the same person, and asked again: "I see two completely different handwritings here. One of them is obviously written by the young uncle, so who wrote the other one?" When saying this, the emperor actually felt a vague sense of familiarity with the strange handwriting.
The guard lowered his head and replied, "Your Majesty, I was not aware of this. The master gave me these two letters to bring back."
"Was your uncle the only one there at that time?" The emperor narrowed his eyes slightly, stared sharply at the guard in front of him, and continued to ask.
"Your Majesty, that is not the case! Besides the master, those present at the time also included Miss Xiaocao'er and her second brother General Yang, as well as two of General Yang's men." The guard did not dare to hide anything and answered respectfully and honestly.
That's right, Ermao has been working hard in the military camp for so many years. With his own efforts and military achievements, he has now become a young general and has a group of capable subordinates who obey his orders.
"Miss Xiaocao'er?" Hearing this long-lost name, the emperor couldn't help feeling a little curious.
"That's right. This little girl's full name is Yang Xiaocao." The guard explained hurriedly.
"So that's how it is. According to you, these things were discovered together with Yang Xiaocao?" The emperor raised his eyebrows and asked again.
"Yes, Your Majesty! When we arrived at the mountain, Miss Xiaocao'er and her group had already been there." The guard nodded quickly in response.
"Hmm..." The emperor nodded thoughtfully, picked up the paper in his hand and studied it, muttering to himself, "The handwriting is beautiful and graceful. It is obvious that it was written by a woman. It must have been written by that little girl Cao'er."
After that, he handed one of the recipes to the eunuch Gu Zhong standing beside him, and ordered, "Quickly copy down the recipes for potatoes and send them to the Imperial Study. Then pass on my order and have the Imperial Kitchen prepare one recipe for each. I'm going to have a potato feast tonight, so remember to read the requirements carefully and make sure it's exquisite and delicious. Once everything is ready, send it directly to the Empress Dowager's bedroom, and invite Father and the Empress Dowager to taste it first."
"Yes." The chief eunuch Gu Zhong bowed slightly and replied, then respectfully took the paper with both hands, turned around and moved to the side, ready to copy the menu. He knew that there were many things to be done next, especially such an important matter as arranging the imperial meal, which could not be sloppy.
At this time, the emperor turned his eyes back to the table in front of him and began to carefully read Xiao Cao'er's article about potatoes. After reading it all, the emperor slowly put down the paper in his hand and reached out to pick up the letter presented by Qi Xingyun.
The emperor gently opened the letter and started reading. The content of the letter was concise and clear. It first described how potatoes were discovered, and then explained Qi Xingyun's personal views and opinions on potatoes. One point emphasized was to vigorously promote the cultivation of potatoes, after all, this crop has a very high yield advantage.
Recalling the emergence of sweet potatoes and corn in the past few years, many ordinary people’s homes have now accumulated some surplus food. Although some people still cannot eat too much, they will not be expropriated.
However, as the saying goes, more is better, and who would complain that their granary is too full? Therefore, when the emperor learned that a high-yield crop like potatoes had appeared, he was naturally overjoyed.
Moreover, Qi Xingyun specifically reminded the emperor in the letter that all the new types of grain that have emerged in Daxia in recent years were produced by Xiaocao'er's family. Thinking of this, the emperor could not help but admire and appreciate the contributions of Xiaocao'er and his family.
She also complied with Qi Xingyun's request and recorded all these merits, and would reward her when Qi Xingyun said the time was right.