"I'm going too!" Mr. Lu said, "When you go to the palace tomorrow, remember to call me!"
"Grandpa Lu, why are you..."
Before Su Liuye asked him why she wanted to go with him, Mr. Lu got up and left without giving her a chance to ask more questions.
Looking at his back, Su Liuye suddenly remembered that she had asked about Mr. Lu before. People nearby knew that the old man was once the royal chef in the palace, and he was once deeply appreciated by the late emperor.
However, after the death of the late emperor, Mr. Lu's cooking skills gradually lost prestige in the palace. The old man didn't want to waste time in the palace, so he took the initiative to resign. That's why he moved to the city and had conflicts with his neighbors.
Now the old man wants to follow them to the palace to meet the dowager, and he is afraid that he may not know the dowager either.
The old man said so, and she had no reason to refuse, and Manager Xie didn't say he couldn't take others with him.
After a night's rest, Su Liuye took Qin Lian and Mr. Lu to the palace early, and Qing Shu also went with him.
When Qin Lian saw that Liu Yuan and Zhang Shan were not there, she quickly urged Su Liuye to leave, lest Zhang Shan would chase them later.
When they arrived at the palace, Manager Xie had arranged for the maids to receive them and took them to the small kitchen, where all the ingredients were prepared.
The maid Cuizhu said respectfully, "Shopkeeper Su, all the ingredients you need are here. If you need anything else, you can give your orders to the slaves. I will be waiting outside."
"After you have cooked the dishes, I will take you to see the concubine. The concubine has the habit of facing the Buddha every day. She has not finished facing the Buddha yet. Please forgive me."
"Miss Cuizhu, you're welcome."
Su Liuye had already heard about the concubine's habits, so naturally she didn't think much about it.
She looked around the kitchen and found that the ingredients were all available and very fresh. After winter, it is difficult to find among the people. It is probably stored by the royal family.
"You guys go and stand aside, let me make the noodles today."
Just as Su Liuye wanted Qin Lian to wash the ingredients, Mr. Lu next to him suddenly spoke.
"Grandpa Lu, do you want to cook yourself?"
Su Liuye and Qin Lian were both shocked.
They had been getting along with Mr. Lu for a while, but they almost never heard him cooking. They just guided them from the side.
"Stop talking so much nonsense! Go and help me wash all the ingredients now!"
Just do it. The old man didn't waste any time. He rolled up his sleeves and started to do it.
It was rare for Su Liuye and the two of them to see the old man cooking, so they naturally wouldn't refuse.
The old man has been an imperial chef for most of his life, so he is naturally skilled in his craftsmanship. From kneading the dough to the next step, the old man handles everything with his own hands, and Su Liuye learns from the side.
Mr. Lu not only made a bowl of snail noodles, but also made several other dishes, all of which were relatively light.
"okay."
After wiping his sweat, the old man finally finished all the dishes, "You go and call the little maid, hehe, I won't go. I'll wait for you here."
"Grandpa Lu, you cooked all these dishes. What if you don't go?"
"Why can't it work?" the old man scolded, "Didn't you just watch the whole process? Don't you know how to cook this dish? Anyway, if I don't go, you can't say I'm here!"
Such a strange request made Qin Lian couldn't help but ask, "Grandpa Lu, do you know the concubine? Otherwise, why don't you dare to see the concubine?"
As if his thoughts had been exposed, the old man's face became unnatural for a moment, and his tone became anxious, "What do you think you are doing, girl? Why don't you send the food over quickly, otherwise it won't taste good when it gets cold?" Got it!"
Hearing this, Su Liuye and the other two had no choice but to give up and quickly went outside to call Cuizhu.
Cuizhu called a few maids and walked along the corridor with the prepared dishes to a quiet courtyard.
There is a budding plum blossom planted in the courtyard. The bright red spots are very eye-catching against the white snow.
Cuizhu entered the house and explained the purpose of her visit to the maid in the house, and soon led Su Liuye and the two inside.
As soon as she entered, she smelled the elegant scent of sandalwood, which came in waves and was refreshing. There are several burning charcoal stoves in the house, which is very warm, not at all like the wind and snow outside.
"Toffee, princess, shopkeeper Su and the others are here."
Cuizhu, who was leading the way, was the first to kneel down. Su Liuye suddenly came back to her senses from the refreshing scent of sandalwood and saw two elegant women sitting by the window.
One of the women has gorgeous makeup and a fierce arrogance in her movements, while the woman next to her has simple makeup, a gentle smile on her face, and her eyes are like autumn waves, falling on others with a gentle look.
Su Liuye came back to her senses and quickly knelt on the ground. She immediately guessed that the one with the gentle smile was the concubine, and the one next to her should be the fifth princess.
The concubine looked at her and saw that she was even younger than the fifth princess.
The princess looked at the people in front of her, frowned, and asked in confusion, "Mom, why did you really invite these people here?"
"I've been craving for something different lately. I just want to eat something different."
Concubine Huixian's voice was also soft, and as soon as she finished speaking, she asked Su Liuye and others to get up. Seeing that Su Liuye was so young, she was a little surprised and said, "Are you Shopkeeper Su?"
"Back to the concubine, she is a commoner."
"It's really rare." The concubine smiled, "I was surprised when I learned that the shopkeeper of Cyclamen is a woman. I didn't expect that she would be such a beautiful woman."
"The concubine is over-reputed, and common people can only do this." Su Liuye smiled and had a calm attitude.
When Princess Hui Xian saw this, she liked it even more. She asked the maid to help her to the dining table. When she saw the dishes on the table, surprise appeared on her face, and then she smiled again.
"Shopkeeper Su is really thoughtful. I haven't eaten this lotus seed soup for a long time. I didn't expect to be able to eat it during this season."
Lotus seed soup? Su Liuye was surprised, she didn't expect Mr. Lu to cook such a dish.
Just now, she was afraid that the dishes would become cold if left for too long. Su Liuye only glanced at them briefly without taking a closer look, and did not know that there was lotus seed soup in them.
But the lotus seed soup made by Mr. Lu seemed to be different from others. There was even some minced meat and eggs added to it. At first glance, Su Liuye couldn't even tell that it was lotus seed soup.
Thinking of Mr. Lu's explanation, Su Liuye had no choice but to comply, "When the people learned that it was the concubine who invited the people to the palace, they were both surprised and frightened. They were afraid that they would not do well, so they asked the concubine about her preferences before coming. , I specially made this lotus seed soup, I hope the concubine likes it."
"So that's it."
The concubine greeted it with her mouth, but her eyes looked at the lotus seed soup in a daze. But soon, she calmed down her emotions, called the princess to come and sit down, looked at the snail noodles on the table, and said in surprise, "Shopkeeper Su, is this the signature dish of your store?"
