Chapter 16: Friends, A Fellow Man

Li Chengxuan was naturally hesitant about this.

But he didn’t want Song Jinning to look down on him, so he didn’t refuse.

“Zhen ¹朕 (Zhèn)- Royal ‘We’. An illeism used by the Emperor. is the son of heaven, and all people in the world are zhen’s subjects. Zhen should naturally know what his subjects eat.”

As he said this, he stretched out his chopsticks to pick up a small piece of fermented tofu, and slowly put it into his mouth.

Song Jinning: Tsk, once you eat this fermented tofu, can you still say the same words to me?

Song Jinning asked Li Chengxuan with her eyes narrowed: “Your Majesty, how does it taste?”

Li Chengxuan did not pick up the fermented tofu at all, but actually just picked up chili flakes with his chopsticks.

Although chili is already available in this era, they are not very popular. At least in the palace, chili is not used much in cooking.

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Li Chengxuan: …

Although he doesn’t know what Song Jinning is thinking, he feels that there is something wrong.

Her attitude towards him made a 180 degree turn from just now.

“Taste a bit of the Fermented Tofu again. It’s actually not spicy at all, and it has a bit of wine aroma, doesn’t it? Just make sure not to eat the chili flakes.”

Zhou Jing: Why do I feel like something is wrong?…..

As for Bai Lu, she knew that her mistress was like this when introducing new food. Even to the prince, she would introduce food in a very joyful way.

Eating should be a good experience for everyone on the table.

Song Jinning even discussed the process of making tofu with Li Chengxuan.

“…To make soy milk, you have to soak soybeans first. Afterwards, grind the soy into soy milk and boil it over low heat. Soy milk can be drunk either as a sweet or sour drink. After soy milk is heated, a layer of film will slowly appear on the surface. This is called ‘tofu skin’.”

“The tofu skin can be served cold or marinated, or it can be added to various ingredients and stir-fried for a better taste. You can also add it to shredded pork and you just need to roll it together in order to eat. You can also add brine to it, which will turn it into tofu.

“Of course, making spicy tofu is not impossible. In addition to making it spicy, tofu can be added to chicken, fish, beef, pork or any dish that you can think of. Tofu is a really good dish, your majesty, you should ask the palace chefs to make it for you.”

Li Chengxuan :…

He is busy fighting ministers all day long, and he also has to guard himself against Empress Dowager Song. How could he have time for these things?

He is the Emperor of an Empire, so why would he care about tofu?

But it’s just a soybean. He didn’t expect that it could be used for so many things. Now that he thinks about it, it is quite amazing.

Song Jinning was obviously in a good mood, so after she finished breakfast, she looked at Li Chengxuan with a smile.

“Speaking of which, Zhao Mama²If you remembered, i mentioned in another chapter that mama is a respectful way to call an old servant actually made a new jar of fermented tofu a few days ago. It will be good to eat in a few days. Your Majesty should try it again.”

Fermented Tofu? Just thinking about it makes him feel bad….

And seeing the narrow look on Song Jinning’s face, he felt that she was deliberately making fun of him.

But he has to admit that breakfast was very delicious.

Li Chengxuan hesitated for a moment, but eventually nodded in agreement.

A maidservant brought tea³this doesn’t apply to the tea you drink, this is actually just regular water used to wash hands. It’s just called tea to make it sound fancy so that Li Chengxuan and Song Jinning could wash up.

Although Li Chengxuan does not have to go to court today, there are still many memorials waiting to be reviewed. Several officials from the Ministry of Households and the Ministry of Industry were also summoned to discuss the dredging of the Xin’an River, so he got up and left immediately after breakfast.

Song Jinning felt that no matter what, she is still Li Chengxuan’s wife, so she must do her duties as the empress.

So she accompanied Li Chengxuan to the door and dutifully sent him off.

Li Chengxuan walked to the courtyard, and when he turned around, he saw Song Jinning still standing at the door.

Although the morning sun had not yet risen fully, there was still light sunshine. Song Jinning was wearing a light green dress, and she looked really beautiful, beautiful enough to be a painting.

Li Chengxuan had a strange feeling in his heart.

It seems that both him and Song Jinning have changed a lot. The Song Jinning now….he doesn’t seem to be too annoyed with her.

Song Jinning waited for Li Chengxuan’s figure to leave the courtyard before she turned back and went inside the hall.

The servants were already removing the dishes, and Song Jinning walked to the wooden couch near the window and sat down.

Qiu Qiu ⁴Qiu Qiu is the cat, remember? She hasn’t appeared for a few chapters so i added this footnote incase you forgot rushed towards her, and Song Jinning took her from the floor smoothly and hugged her in her arms.

One person and one cat lay lazily on the couch. When Bai Lu came over to serve tea, she couldn’t help but remind Song Jinning, which is usually something Gu Yu would do.

“Your Highness, it’s not good to sit down immediately after a meal. It’s better to get up and walk around. Isn’t your highness going to pay respects to the Empress Dowager?”

Song Jinning didn’t move, and firmly held Qiu Qiu in her hand. Qiu Qiu then glared at Bai Lu with his blue eyes.

“Bengong will go to Shoukang Palace on foot .”

Weiyang Palace is quite a distance from Shoukang Palace. Bai Lu thought about it, but felt that it was fine.

She put the tea cup on a tray beside Song Jinning and was about to withdraw.

But then she heard Song Jinning ask: “Where’s Gu Yu? How come bengong only saw her once this morning?”

Bai Lu was about to answer, but a voice cut her off.

“Mistress, this slave is here.”

Song Jinning followed the sound and saw Gu Yu walking in from outside the hall.

When she got closer, Song Jinning noticed that she was holding a thorn…or was it a stick?

Song Jinning: …

“What are you doing?”

Gu Yu didn’t answer, and knelt down in front of Song Jinning.

“Your Highness, this slave knows that your highness likes her book collection the most, and does not easily lend it to outsiders. But last night, this slave allowed the emperor to touch your highness’s books without your highness’s permission. Your highness, please punish this slave.”

After speaking, she held the thorn twig up her neck while looking distressingly at Song Jinning.

Song Jinning: …

She looked at Gu Yu who was kneeling on the ground, and Bai Lu who was standing beside her with a calm face.

She understood.

It’s no wonder that she hasn’t seen Gu Yu. It turns out that she was brewing up a plan.

And Bai Lu was clearly aware of this matter.

“Where did you learn to do this?”

Song Jinning felt dumbfounded for a while, ” Yu’er, Bengong knows you are good, and Bengong doesn’t blame you. Get up.”

Gu Yu and Bai Lu have been with Song Jinning for several years, and they naturally know that she is a very generous master. Song Jinning doesn’t beat them, and doesn’t even scold them for anything. Song Jinning would even call them Yu’er and Lu’er ⁵Adding 儿 (er) to someone’s name when speaking to them is a way to show your closeness to that person. For example, 宁儿 (Níng er). Jinning is SJN’s personal name, so people close to her call her Ning’er. This is the same for Gu Yu and Bai Lu affectionately.

Song Jinning spoiled the two of them, so Gu Yu and Bai Lu didn’t fear her much.

Gu Yu knew that Song Jinning would not really blame her, but she was a slave, and she had to stand up and admit if she did something wrong.

So when Song Jinning said that she didn’t blame her, Gu Yu stood up.

At the same time, she smiled and complimented: “Your Highness, you are really broad-minded.”

Song Jinning gave her a slanted look: “Stop flattering me.”

But the truth is, she liked it. Who doesn’t like being praised?

Gu Yu didn’t care about this. She gave Song Jinning a grin and said: “This slave heard that the emperor liked breakfast this morning . It seems that the emperor likes the meals made by the little kitchen in our palace.”

So what? Why would I care?

Gu Yu continued to talk.

“This is good. This slave will ask the kitchen to make more dishes so that when his majesty comes to Weiyang Palace in the future, he will have new food to try.”

The hidden meaning of this is that: In this way, wouldn’t the emperor like you more?

Song Jinning rubbed her forehead in distress.

This girl really spares no effort to match her up with Li Chengxuan.

“Yu’er.” Song Jinning finally said something, “Bengong is going to visit the Empress Dowager, get some snacks from the little kitchen to bring.”

“Now?” Gu Yu was easily taken off the topic as expected.

“Now of course. The little kitchen just made some buns with sesame and red bean paste fillings. Bring a plate of each with you.”

After a pause, Gu Yu asked tentatively: “Um, Your Highness, do you want this slave to send something to His Majesty?”

Gu Yu was a little worried.

She noticed that Song Jinning seems to be a little cold to Li Chengxuan.

But to her surprise, Song Jinning nodded in agreement.

“Send him a plate. In the future, when the little kitchen makes new snacks, send some to his majesty as well.”

Li Chengxuan is her new ally and food friend, so she naturally has to be good to him.