Chapter 140 The Prince's Taste
The Crown Prince is a genuine northerner. Before he was 13 years old, he grew up with his father in the northwest, which was the fiefdom of King An.
When he was 13 years old, he was named General of Divine Strategy by the emperor. Since then, he has been living in the capital, so the prince's taste is more inclined to the northern flavor.
Unfortunately, Mr. Fan and his mother are both authentic southerners who prefer southern food. Even when they lived in Beijing before, the chef in their house was brought from the south and only knows how to cook southern cuisine. Of course, Mr. Fan would occasionally go out to eat northern food.
Although Uncle Chang had tried his best to instruct the chef to put less chili in the dishes, the taste of the dishes still did not suit the prince's appetite, and he had not eaten much in the past few days.
After Qianhuan finished making sugar-roasted chestnuts and pickled radish skins, she left with her brother Wenjie.
Uncle Chang personally brought the food to the prince's room. Chi Ying looked at the food and asked Uncle Chang dissatisfiedly, "Uncle Chang, I heard that the mansion made sugar-roasted chestnuts. This is the first time I've heard of this thing. I don't know how to eat it. Why don't the people in the Fan Mansion bring some over for our prince to try?"
Upon hearing this, Uncle Chang immediately knelt down and apologized, "My Lord, please forgive me. This sugar-roasted chestnut is a new delicacy in Qingxi County this year. It was invented by Mr. Fan's new disciple named Shanbo. Our old lady also likes to eat it, but unfortunately, only Master Shanbo can cook the best in the whole county. Mr. Fan accepted him and his brother as his disciples because of this sugar-roasted chestnut. If you want to eat it, he just fried some today. I will bring it to you right away."
The person on the bed just replied with a nonchalant "hmm".
Uncle Chang wiped the sweat from his forehead. Their old lady didn't have a big appetite. Every time Master Shanbo fried a pound of sugar-roasted chestnuts, the old lady could only eat two or three taels at most, and the rest would be shared with the maid who took care of her.
Two pounds of chestnuts were fried today, and one pound of them has been given to the master. Fortunately, he was afraid that the old lady would not be able to eat lunch after eating the chestnuts, so he heated the remaining one pound in the pot and planned to give it to the old lady in the afternoon.
Otherwise, under normal circumstances, as soon as Master Shanbo fried the chestnuts, they would probably have been eaten by the old lady and the old woman, and there would be no extra ones to give to the young master.
Uncle Chang quickly went to the kitchen and took out most of the sugar-roasted chestnuts and brought them to the prince's room, leaving two or three taels for the old lady.
The prince saw that the shell of the sugar-roasted chestnuts was a shiny brown-red, smooth and lustrous. There was a small cut on each chestnut, revealing the golden chestnut flesh inside. It looked really delicious.
So he stretched out his big, bony hand, picked up a chestnut, peeled it and put it in his mouth. Originally, the prince was not a person who liked snacks very much, but after tasting it, he couldn't help but pick up the second one, and the third one...
Chi Ying knew that his master had always been a picky eater, and it was rare to find food that the prince could feed to him one after another. He thought that the sugar-roasted chestnuts must be to the prince's taste.
Thinking of what they just said about pickled radish skin, Chi Ying asked again: "I heard that the disciple named Shan Bo also made pickled radish skin?"
"Yes, Master Shanbo did make a jar of pickled radish skins, but Master Shanbo instructed that the radish skins must be soaked for a few days before they can be opened and eaten. And the pickled radish skins are a bit spicy, and I don't think the prince would be able to eat them."
Chi Ying thought that this servant of Mr. Fan's was really unreasonable. He had taken the initiative to ask, but the servant actually replied, "The prince may not be able to eat it."
He has followed the Young Master for many years, and he can usually guess what his master is thinking. Could he really ask the Young Master to personally say that he wants to eat?
Teng Yu was indeed a little unhappy when he heard this. Uncle Chang suddenly felt the air around him was a little cold. He seemed to realize something and quickly changed his words and said, "Wait a few days until the radish peels are soaked, and I will bring some over for the prince to taste."
As soon as he finished speaking, Teng Yu's expression relaxed, and Uncle Chang also felt that the cold air around them suddenly disappeared.
"I heard that the disciple named Shanbo can cook all kinds of food from all over the world? Since the mansion has always let him cook lunch, why didn't he cook after we came?" Chi Ying acted as his master's mouthpiece again.
Uncle Chang hurriedly explained, "Normally, whenever Young Master Shanbo cooks, the master would keep the two brothers at home to eat together. After the young master came, the master was afraid that the two brothers would disturb the young master's recovery if they stayed at home to eat, so he did not keep him to cook and just let them leave after school."
"Our prince is used to the taste of the north, and he is not used to eating southern food all of a sudden. He hasn't eaten very well these past few days. Tomorrow, ask that disciple if he can make northern food like dumplings. If he can, let him cook tomorrow."
"Yes, I will definitely ask him tomorrow. I dare to ask, if he can do it, can you invite the two brothers to have dinner at your house?"
This time, Chi Ying was not sure what his master was thinking, so he quickly looked at the prince lying on the bed.
At this time, the person on the bed finally spoke: "Stay, you two should get along the same way as before. It just so happens that I can walk tomorrow, and it's time for the two of them to pay their respects to their senior brother."
After leaving the room, Chang Bo secretly breathed a sigh of relief. The aura of the prince was so strong. Fortunately, their master was the prince's former teacher. The prince respected their master and was quite polite to him.
Otherwise, if it was any other servant with no good eyesight today, he would have been punished long ago. He was really old and confused. He didn't even notice that the prince was not used to the food in the mansion and had eaten very little in the past few days.
Teng Yu slowly finished eating more than half a pound of sugar-roasted chestnuts, still feeling a little unsatisfied. He thought to himself: These sugar-roasted chestnuts are indeed soft, sweet and delicious. I think the other food made by Shan Bo should not be too bad either.
Qianhuan brought Wenjie out of Mr. Fan's yard. As they walked, Qianhuan said, "Wenjie, my sister wants to ask you for help with something?"
"Sister Qianhuan, what's the matter? As long as Wenjie can help, he will do his best to help you."
"I bought the Jixiang Restaurant opposite Zuixianju and plan to open a teahouse after renovation. Today I have taken in many orphans to work in the teahouse, but unfortunately they can't read a single word. Sister would like to ask you to be a little teacher to these orphans in the teahouse every afternoon and teach them how to read. Are you willing?"
Qianhuan thought about it and decided that letting Wenjie be a little teacher could cultivate his sense of responsibility and leadership ability, so that he would be more serious and responsible in his future studies.
"Sister Qianhua, I have only been studying with Mr. Fan for a short time. Are you sure I can be a little teacher and teach those children?"
"Wenjie, I believe you can do it, and you should have confidence in yourself. And if you teach them, you can also consolidate the knowledge you have learned, which will only benefit you and not harm you."
"Okay, Sister Qianhuan, I promise you."
"Well, you are a brave boy. I have found you a little follower, so you will have someone to serve you in the future."
"Sister Qianhuan, I don't need anyone to serve me. I can do everything by myself."
"I know you are very independent, but you will take the imperial examination in the future. If you go to take the examination in the future, how can you do it without a servant to take care of you? Besides, with that servant by your side, you won't need Chang Bo to help you with things like grinding ink in the future."
Qianhuan knew that although her younger brother was young, he was an ambitious man. Seeing how hard he studied every day, she knew that he must want to pursue a career in politics in the future.
"Okay, thank you sister Qianhuan for considering Wenjie so much. If Wenjie has a promising future, he will definitely repay your kindness."
"Well, then, keep up the good work. Sister is waiting to eat delicious food and drink spicy drinks with you."