Chapter 285

Chapter 285: Chapter 285: Cooking for the Empress Dowager

Hearing this, Qiao Jinniang frowned. Seeing that this person was the most trusted eunuch of the Emperor, she was not afraid that he was one of King Huai’s men. However, she still asked, “Eunuch Quan, did something happen in Luoyang?” “Nothing happened in Luoyang. It’s just that the Empress Dowager is on her deathbed. His Highness is out fighting, but the empress and the emperor’s great-grandson can not disrespect this filial piety. “Also, the Emperor and the Empress heard that you are pregnant. They were afraid that it would be inconvenient for you to give birth outside…” Qiao jinniang frowned and said, “Alright then.” They were supposed to return to Chang ‘an after the first month, but because of the war in the northern desert and Western Liang, they did not move the capital. It took them a month to arrive from Yunzhou to Luoyang. It was the Cold Food Festival on the third day of the third month. The princes, nobles, and young ladies of Luoyang were not affected by the war. They still held poetry meetings, took walks, and flew kites. After Qiao Jinniang brought Lu Xi back to the palace, she first went to the Xuanzheng Hall to meet the Empress and the Hui Lin Emperor. The empress said, “Get up quickly. It’s been almost half a year since I last saw you. Xi’er has grown a lot taller. It’s been almost five months since I saw your belly, right?” Qiao jinniang answered, “Yes, it’s been five months.” The empress sighed and said, “Chen ‘er is really too much. He still kept such a big matter a secret and didn’t allow you to return to Luoyang. It is very dangerous in Yunzhou.” Lady Qiao Jin said, “I am also worried about your highness. I think that I can be closer to your highness in Yunzhou.” The empress said, “It is good that you mother and son have returned safely. The Empress Dowager is already dying. Let’s go and see the Empress Dowager Together!” .. The Empress Dowager’s sleeping hall was filled with people. There were relatives of the Grace Imperial Manor, and there were also first-class wives who came to serve the sick. They said that the most important thing to serve the sick was that if the empress dowager died, they could make preparations early. When Lady Qiao Jin entered, she saw that the empress dowager’s eyes were popping out. There was not even any flesh on her face. She looked extremely ugly. The palace maids at the side were feeding the empress dowager porridge, but the empress dowager forcefully shook them off! “Slut! Give me all these disgusting things to eat. I am the Emperor’s favorite concubine!” “Where is chef Li Yu? where is chef Li Yu!” Chef Li Yu was already sweating profusely at the side. The empress dowager could not hold on any longer, and King Huai’s army had yet to invade Chang ‘an. This brain of his probably could not hold on any longer. “Rice sack flower fruit, give me rice sack flower fruit!” “If you don’t give it to me, I’ll have my son kill all of you. All of You Are Bitch Zhou’s Helpers!” The Empress Dowager pointed at the palace maids in front of her as if she had returned to her senses. She said to the food bureau, Chef Li, and the others, “Today, you can’t Cook a dish that I’m satisfied with. I want all of you to die with me.” Little Lu Xi held onto Qiao Jinniang’s hand and said, “Mother.” Princess Shou’an stepped forward to hold the empress dowager’s hand and said, “Mother, don’t be angry. Imperial chef Li, why don’t you hurry and cook for mother!” Even prisoners were said to be beheaded, but the rice sachets and fruits had no effect on the empress dowager these days. She practically spat out whatever she ate. Imperial chef Li knelt on the ground and said, “Your Highness, I really don’t have any other way! I heard that the Crown Princess’cooking skills are superb. Why Don’t you let the Crown Princess Cook a few dishes? Perhaps you can let the Empress Dowager Eat a Little?” Qiao jinniang rubbed her abdomen, indicating her unwillingness. How could she cook for the Empress Dowager! She had repeatedly harmed Lu Chen. The last time, she had actually gone crazy and wanted to make her take that white powder as well. Longevity Princess Shou an stepped forward and held Qiao Jinniang’s hands with both hands. “Jinniang, Jinniang, count it as I’m begging you. Just do your grandmother a favor!” “Aunt, I’m pregnant and can’t enter the kitchen.”Qiao Jinniang pushed away Princess Shou an’s hands. Princess Shou an knelt down in front of Qiao Jinniang with a plop. “Jinniang, I know that mother has done many wrong things. She has let Chen’er down, but mother has her reasons too! I remember when I was young, my father doted on Royal Consort Zhou alone. Mother had fallen from being deeply doted on to someone everyone in the palace could bully. From the delicacies of the mountains and seas to the eating of chaff, the palace had always been a place to eat people. When Imperial Concubine Zhou gained power, my days with my royal brother and mother were extremely difficult. I once had a fever in the middle of the night. Not long ago, my father, who doted on me a lot, was in imperial concubine Zhou’s palace. Because imperial concubine Zhou had a slight headache, he called all the imperial physicians in the imperial hospital. “It was mother who spared no effort to hug me in the cold weather and use ice water to cool me down. That was how she saved my life. “Mother hated Imperial Consort Zhou to the bone. Only then would she implicate imperial consort Zhou’s sister-in-law and Chen ‘er. “Please, for my sake, help my mother this time!” Qiao Jinniang helped longevity Princess Shou ‘an up and said, “Aunt, how could i deserve such a kneel from you! Please get up quickly.” Fu Lu said with tears, “Jinniang, teach me how to cook. I’ll Cook for Grandmother!” Qiao Jinniang sighed. Empress Zhou said, “Jinniang, you can instruct her from the side.” Qiao Jinniang could only agree. However, the empress dowager was a person who had lost her sense of taste. Even if there were really delicacies in front of her, how could she taste them. On the way to the imperial kitchen, Qiao Jinniang could not help but think of the Hui Lin Emperor’s tolerance towards the empress dowager. Hearing the long-lived Princess Shou an talk about the past, Qiao Jinniang could somewhat understand. Back then, the Hui Lin Emperor, Princess Shou An, and the mother and son of the empress dowager lived extremely hard lives. In such an environment, the empress dowager missed the delicacies of the past, but because she could only eat leftovers, she would inevitably feel an imbalance in her heart. The imperial physician had said that the empress dowager’s loss of sense of taste was mostly due to a mental illness. Now, she could only rely on heart medicine to cure it. Qiao Jinniang asked the old man in the imperial kitchen and wrote down the recipes of the delicacies of the mountains and seas in the competition for the divine chef that the late Emperor had convened for the empress dowager. She gathered all the people in the imperial kitchen to recreate the dishes of the past. “The dish that the empress dowager liked the most back then was called the Winged Bird in heaven. That dish was roasted using squab. The Empress Dowager loved it very much!” Qiao Jin understood. “I’ll leave the other dishes to you. I’ll cook this winged bird!” “Yes, Princess Consort.” Seeing that Fu Lu was staring at her, Qiao Jin asked, “Why do you keep looking? Go somewhere else.” Fu Lu whispered, “No, I want to look at you.” “Why are you still afraid that I’ll poison your grandmother?”Qiao Jin asked with a chuckle. Fu Lu said, “You wouldn’t dare to poison her, but if it were me, I might spit in her mouth.” Qiao jinniang smiled and said, “Aunt has already knelt down to beg me. No matter how much I hate the empress dowager, I wouldn’t do such a thing. Compared to this, perhaps in the future, if Imperial Consort Zhou and the late emperor were to be buried together, it would make the empress dowager so angry that she would crawl out of her coffin.” Fu Lu:”…” After a day, only at dusk did she recover the dishes from the culinary competition that the late Emperor had held for the empress dowager. When the empress dowager saw these dishes in her final moments, a smile finally appeared on her face. However, when she saw the plate of dishes that Qiao Jinniang had brought over, she said angrily, “Imperial consort, what is This! You are worthy of bringing it up for me to Eat!” As the Empress Dowager spoke, she wanted to do it herself, but one of her legs had been crippled from eating too much rice sack flower and fruit powder. She could not stand properly and fell to the ground!