Transmigration: The Little Chef Calls The Shots-Chapter 1431 - 250, Palace Banquet??? (47)

Empress had lost her son, her cornerstone, and was misunderstood and blamed by her daughter. Since then, her health had fallen drastically. Considering their affection of many years, the Emperor, who had always known the Empress to be kind-hearted, did not propose her deposition, even though she had indirectly caused the death of the Eldest Prince.

Thus, Princess Cuiwei had harbored resentment towards the Empress for many years. As the years passed, she never sought a Prince Consort again.

The Emperor, aware of his daughter’s temperament and despite being anxious, found himself helpless and thus allowed the situation to drag on.

Recalling the past, Tian Hui sighed deeply, "So many years have passed, I heard from my aunt that Princess Cuiwei has never entered the Empress’s chambers again. Even when they met, she never called her ’Mother’. Oh, what karma has been wrought!"

Lin Yuan couldn’t help but sigh, Perhaps Princess Cuiwei truly misunderstood the Empress, or perhaps the Empress, for her daughter’s sake, really had plotted to commit a grave action. However, regardless of the process, the outcome was unpredictable. Who would have thought that the Eldest Prince would also follow in death? After so many years, Princess Cuiwei still refused to find someone she loved. Was it because she couldn’t let go of the dead guard, or couldn’t she let go of her elder brother?

While Lin Yuan and Tian Hui conversed, the Emperor and the Empress had already spoken quite a bit in praise of the Xia Family Army’s first major victory, and the officials below were singing various praises.

Lin Yuan, finding it tedious, let her eyelids droop as she stared blankly at the food in front of her. A palace banquet was different from dining at home, where each person had a small table; before the banquet began, the table held pastries and fruits, which, when it was time to begin, the palace maids would remove and then serve the meals.

Each dish was beautifully presented on exquisite plates, each covered with a lid. A special palace maid would bring it over, and another maid would lift the lid and place the dish on the small table.

Despite the small size of the tables, each was filled with eight bowls and dishes, each beautifully and uniquely shaped, sharing one common trait: the vibrant colors of all the dishes. Red, yellow, green, white—Lin Yuan found it hard to imagine what ingredients the Imperial Chefs used that made the meals so visually appealing.

Still, as appealing as it was, she wondered about the taste.

Just as she pondered this, she suddenly heard the old eunuch by the Emperor’s side, in a shrill voice, proclaim, "Let the feast begin," after which everyone picked up their...

Wine glasses?

Lin Yuan was puzzled. Wasn’t the feast supposed to begin? Why were they raising wine glasses?

"Your servants wish His Majesty and the Empress a thousand years of blessings!"

A deafening chorus of congratulations echoed in the side hall, everyone shouting as if the louder they were, the more their loyalty showed.

The Emperor also raised his wine glass, smiling radiantly as he downed it in one gulp.

The Empress, though frail, also raised her wine glass and drank the wine within.

After toasting the Emperor and Empress, everyone finally picked up their chopsticks and began to eat.

Lin Yuan secretly pouted, internally sighing at how tediously lavish the palace banquet was. No wonder Xia Zheng always sneaked away, preferring to eat in her modest, dilapidated cottage rather than stay in the palace to eat these exotic delicacies.

Having wondered about the meal in front of her, she was now finally given the chance to taste it and was not about to miss it.

While the Emperor spoke, Lin Yuan had already mentally noted the order of the dishes that interested her, and picked up her chopsticks toward the plate marked as number one.

The plate contained entirely red items, arranged in the shape of a lotus flower, the petals so lifelike that one could even discern the fine lines on them.

But when the dish entered her mouth, all of Lin Yuan’s passion and excitement vanished.

"Ah? It’s actually a peach!"

The beautiful lotus on the plate was made from peaches, and the bright red color on the surface of the peach was created using cherry juice. Although this dish was quite common, the texture of the peach was tender, and carving the peach into a beautiful lotus flower also required profound knife skills.

Lin Yuan nodded secretly, thinking that just for the knife skills alone, she had to give some praise.

Tian Hui, who stood beside her, noticed Lin Yuan’s disappointed expression and chuckled while covering her mouth; she leaned over and whispered softly, "What’s wrong, are you a bit disappointed? Don’t be fooled by the beautiful appearance of the lotus; it’s just a peach!"

After saying this, she gave Lin Yuan a sympathetic look and continued, "Just eat casually, with banquets like this, aside from Mu Qing, who isn’t picky when hungry, others usually can’t get enough to eat."

Lin Yuan twitched her mouth, feeling that Tian Hui’s words contained many hidden meanings.

She nodded, then turned her attention to the dish tagged as number two. The color of this dish was also bright, yellow, but it did not have the complex appearance of the previous dish; instead, it was shaped into the simple form of a swimming fish.

"Shaped like a fish? It can’t really be fish, can it?"

Muttering under her breath, Lin Yuan picked up a bit from where the fish’s head would be and put it into her mouth.

Uh, Lin Yuan was at a loss for words again—the fish’s head was not fish, but taro! This dish was actually made from mashed taro, and curiously, the surface of the fish was meticulously drawn with the pattern of fish scales; even Lin Yuan hadn’t realized that this brightly yellow patterned fish was actually taro!

Taro is better with sugar, so this taro mash was mixed with sugar. Though the taste wasn’t very outstanding, the taro mash was mashed extremely fine and was incredibly delicate—almost melting in the mouth.

Smacking her lips, Lin Yuan felt this dish at least pleased her more than the previous one.

She glanced at the dishes marked as third, fourth, and fifth on the small table, already less expectant inside, but she figured since it wasn’t often she visited the palace, if she didn’t taste these dishes now, she would surely regret it later.

Thinking so, Lin Yuan again raised her spirits and continued to try the next few dishes.

On the plate marked number three, several pieces of green pastries were neatly arranged.

Lin Yuan thought they were pastries, but after tasting them, well, she indeed had given too much credit to the Imperial Chefs; they were little buns made from green vegetable juice and flour. Their surface was smooth because it was heavily coated with oil while being steamed.

Looks great but doesn’t taste as good!

In the plate marked number four, there was a fish, definitely a fish, but it was disassembled, with the head on one side and the tail on the other; the head and tail were not edible, only the heaped-up mound of finely fried bits in the middle was edible.

Lin Yuan thought it was fried fish meat, but after eating, she realized it was in fact diced mushrooms!

At that moment, Lin Yuan’s entire face began to twitch—what a rip-off, such a rip-off! Where was the fish meat? Had the Imperial Chef secretly eaten it? Or had he taken it home for a side dish to his drink?