As soon as I arrived in front of the gate of Wan'an Palace, a Qimen came forward. He recognized me at a glance, raised his hands and saluted, "I have met your Highness, Qimen."
I smiled and said, "No need to be polite. Can the queen be in the palace?"
Zishu replied: "Your Highness, I am a bodyguard and don't know the Queen's whereabouts. Your Highness can enter the palace gate and someone will inform the Queen."
I nodded and walked into the palace gate. At this time, I was already the prince, so there was no big obstacle to walking in the palace. Besides, Wan'an Palace was independent of other harems, so getting in and out was relatively not that complicated. If you enter or leave other harems, not only will eunuchs follow you all the way, but you will also have to go through a series of tedious procedures such as registering and verifying your identity.
After stepping into the palace gate, a maid came up to greet her, bowed and said: "I pay my respects to Your Highness."
After I explained my purpose of coming, the maid informed me and took me into the queen's palace.
It was still warm in the room. When I looked up at Fusu's mother, I saw a plainly dressed woman sitting on a low couch, holding a bamboo slip in her hand. She was about thirty years old, with a thin appearance and a certain charm. There may be two slight wrinkles on the forehead due to frequent frowning.
Rumor has it that she is also a Mi, but I don’t know which lineage she is from.
In the old Qin State, if a person belonged to the Mi family, he must not be underestimated. Empress Dowager Xuan, Empress Dowager Huayang, Chang Wenjun, Mi Qi... these people can be said to occupy a pivotal position in the history of Qin.
However, since Mi Qi betrayed the Qin State, resulting in the annihilation of the 200,000 Qin army led by Li Xin to attack Chu, and until the fall of the Chu State, the Mi family gradually lost its status in the Qin State and declined day by day. If the queen was really from the Mi family, it would not be difficult to understand why she would remain anonymous and leave only the word "good" behind.
I stepped forward and bowed: "I have met the queen."
Liang smiled, put down the bamboo slips in his hands, stood up and said, "No need to be polite, how come Fusu has time to come to the Queen Mother today?"
I straightened up and said with a smile: "Reporting to the Queen, my son has been busy with state affairs in recent days and has not been able to come often to greet the Queen and ask her for punishment."
"You are now the prince, so you should be diligent in state affairs. Everything is fine here, Queen Mother." Liang responded.
"Today is the winter solstice. The weather is cold. I have nothing to do. I have made some dumplings with my colleagues in the palace. I would like to invite my mother to come and enjoy them together. I wonder if my mother can move her?"
Liang asked doubtfully: "What are dumplings? Why haven't I heard of it? Besides, a gentleman is far away from the kitchen. If you don't pay attention to state affairs, the emperor will be unhappy if he finds out."
I explained: "It's just that it's snowing heavily today. I couldn't read anything else after finishing the report, so I wanted to relax for a while. As for this dumpling, I made it on a whim and it was the first time I made it, so I thought Please help me taste it and see if there is any improvement."
Then he added: "Queen Mother, you can rest assured, it will taste a little bit unpleasant at most, but there will be no problem."
Liang smiled and said: "Why, am I still afraid that my son will plot to kill me?"
I said awkwardly: "Aren't you afraid that the queen mother won't be used to eating it?"
Liang told everyone behind him: "Go to the palace." Then he motioned to me: "The Queen will go and have a look with you. It's snowing heavily today, and the Queen is bored staying in the house."
Then Liang put on thick clothes and walked with me to the palace.
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When we arrived at the Prince's Palace, everyone had already made the dumplings, but they didn't know how to cook them, so they were all waiting for me to come back.
When everyone saw Liang, they hurriedly saluted and said, "See you, Queen."
Liang smiled and said, "No courtesy."
I ordered everyone to put the dumplings into the pot and told them how to cook them. Then I took Liang to the main hall and sat down.
Liang looked around the room and sighed: "I haven't seen you for two months, but my son's collection of books has become more and more." Then he picked up a volume of "Mo Jing" on the table and said: "The studies he covers are also more extensive."
I responded: "Since my son fell ill, I have had some feelings about life.
The lake where the son fell into the water can be used for irrigation in droughts and water storage during rains. It can both survive and drown people. Knowledge is like the lake. Confucianism can teach people to be benevolent and righteous, but it can also make people pedantic; Taoism can teach people to cultivate their nature, and it can also drive away strange thoughts; and Mohism can teach people to use weapons to attack each other, naturally. Being able to develop agricultural and industrial tools will benefit the people.
There are hundreds of schools of thought, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. It just depends on whether the person who follows him is doing good or doing evil. What does the queen mother think? "
Liang nodded: "What I'm saying is that there is no good or evil in weapons. It all depends on whether the person holding the weapon has evil thoughts. My son can understand this, and my mother is very relieved. But the emperor..." Liang stopped talking.
I smiled with relief: "Don't worry, mother, I have a sense of responsibility."
Liang Ye smiled and said, "It's the Queen Mother who is so verbose."
"Thank you, Mother, for your concern." I cupped my hands.
As soon as he finished speaking, Lan'er brought up a bowl of dumplings and saluted, "Queen and Your Highness, this is the first time the cook has tried to make these dumplings and he didn't dare to make more. So he made some first and asked Your Highness to taste them to see if they are correct." .”
I took the chopsticks and tasted one. It tasted good. It just lacked some seasonings and was a little worse than the later ones. But it was enough to relieve my longing for food and family.
Then I asked Laner to cook all the remaining dumplings according to this method, and prepared two dishes of vinegar.
Not long after, dumplings and vinegar were served.
Liang took a bite and asked with surprise on his face: "Fusu, where did you learn to make this dumpling?"
I replied: "Queen, I came up with it accidentally. I wonder how it tastes?"
Liang took another bite and said, "It tastes great! It's much more delicious than the food made by the cooks in my palace. I have never eaten such delicious food."
I also picked up a dumpling and demonstrated to Liang: "Mother, if you like sour food, you can dip it in vinegar and eat it. It tastes good too."
After Liang tried it, he was full of praise and asked: "How to make this? I can let the cooks in my palace learn from it when I go back."
I briefly introduced the making process. After learning about it, Liang was more interested in the dough and said, "This mutton is not a valuable thing. It's just that this dough needs to go through a complicated process of flour and so-called old noodles." , is it a bit wasteful?”
"The Queen Mother has a keen eye. The key is to make fine flour, which is indeed more laborious. Don't worry about the old noodles. This time I didn't grasp the proportion well, so I made a little too much. But my son has already tried it. Anyone can use this old noodle, and it can be used for several days if the temperature is low. Maybe I can research other leavened noodle foods in the future, which can also benefit people all over the world." I explained.
In this era, making flour is indeed a luxury. The main reason is that there are no suitable tools, and no cows or donkeys are used to grind. It is all done manually. The skin of the wheat grains and some wheat flour are indeed lost during the production process.
Liang nodded and shook his head: "This dough food is indeed delicious, but I am still worried that it will be a waste of food."
I consoled me: "Don't worry too much, mother. I also make it on a whim, so I won't do it often. But if the mother wants to eat it, even if my father scolds me, I will cook it for her."
Liang felt happy for a while after hearing this, and the two wrinkles on his forehead also relaxed. I told Lan'er to distribute the remaining dumplings to everyone, so as not to waste them.
After eating the dumplings, I chatted with Liang for a while, and then Liang went back to Wan'an Palace, with a smile on his face when he left, as if he had never been so happy. Presumably, given Fusu's character, he would answer questions like the master, and would not talk to Liang so cordially.
'This can be regarded as my filial duty for you. ’ I raised my arm and looked at my palm and said softly.
