Just as everyone was feeling confused, Luo Cheng found something and walked towards a place in the kitchen.
Luo Cheng bent down and took out the rice from the rice jar. Then, he sniffed it.
“My father asked someone to send it to us! This rice can only be eaten by the royal family!”
When Li Xiaoran heard Luo Cheng’s words, she walked over and grabbed a handful of rice to take a closer look.
“This rice grain is slender and crystalline. No wonder it’s exclusively for the royal family! Come, let’s steam this rice today. As a woman from the countryside, I want to try the rice eaten by the nobles in the royal family!” When Luo Cheng heard Li Xiaoran’s words, he was immediately amused.
To him, the rice eaten by the royal family wasn’t as delicious as the rice he ate in Sichuan.
It seemed to be the best quality rice, but because it was exclusively for the royal family, it lacked a sense of comfort. Naturally, it didn’t have that same delicious taste.
Li Xiaoran had high expectations for this rice. After all, she had never eaten good quality rice since she was young.
Be it in the modern world or here, the rice she ate tasted the same.
Of course, when one was hungry, everything tasted delicious.
“Madam, there are so many delicious ingredients today. What should we eat?” Zi Cheng looked at the pile of ingredients in the kitchen as he asked.
When Li Xiaoran saw that the weather was getting hotter and hotter, she thought for a moment before saying, “Everyone has had no appetite during this period of time, so why don’t we make some appetizing dishes?! We’ll braise two pots of veggies, one pot of rice, and one pot of mung bean porridge. There are a lot of ingredients here, so we can braise the meat and make salad with the veggies. When the porridge is cold, we’ll eat the braised meat and salad. It’ll be very appetizing!”
“Why don’t we make some fried dumplings?! I think fried dumplings will be very appetizing when paired with porridge!” Zi Zheng thought of something and said.
“Alright, is there anything else you want to eat?” Li Xiaoran nodded and asked again.
The others shook their heads.
“Then let’s split the tasks and cook together!” Li Xiaoran said as she arranged tasks for everyone.
Wu Qinghe was in charge of kneading and rolling the noodles while Zi Zheng chopped meat to make dumplings.
Luo Cheng and Zi Cheng mixed brine with Li Xiaoran. Then, they blanched the ingredients and placed them in the brine to braise.
While the meat was being braised, Li Xiaoran got some salad pig ears and pig guts. Then, she made several salad dishes with them.
For example, shredded potatoes, lotus roots, peas, peanuts, and fungus.
When the emperor brought Xiao Dezi over to freeload again, there were already two tables of food in the courtyard.
There was a large basin of mung bean porridge and a pot of braised rice.
The braised dishes were cut into a large basin and placed there according to the ingredients.
The salad dishes were also placed at the side in large portions.
There were also fried dumplings that had just been cooked in a large basin.
This way, everyone could pick what they wanted to eat from these ingredients.
They could take as much as they ate and could add more after eating.
This way of eating was like that of buffets in the modern era.
The others found this way of eating very novel.
At this moment, the emperor appeared at Luo Cheng and Li Xiaoran’s house with Xiao Dezi.
“It seems that we came at the right time! Seventh son’s wife, what new dishes did you cook today?”
Li Xiaoran wasn’t surprised to hear the emperor’s voice.
The emperor seemed to be addicted to coming to their house to freeload.
“It’s not a new dish. I just changed the eating method!” Li Xiaoran said as she looked at Luo Cheng. “Husband, I’m so hungry. You can show your dad around.
I’m going to eat first!”
Luo Cheng knew that Li Xiaoran was really hungry, so he nodded and led the emperor to the plate area to get a bowl, chopsticks, and spoon.
After he scooped a bowl of mung bean porridge first, he took the plate to the area where the food was placed.
After the emperor watched Luo Cheng’s actions, he knew what to do. Compared to how he used to eat a large table of dishes alone, he preferred this a la carte way of eating better.
They could eat whatever they wanted. At the same time, the others could eat whatever they wanted. There was no restriction at all.
“Not bad. I think the royal family should implement the same eating method!” The emperor nodded as he praised.
Li Xiaoran, who had just eaten a fried dumpling, immediately objected when she heard the emperor’s words.
“Sir, don’t do this in the royal family, unless you let the eunuchs and palace maids do it! This kind of buffet is only suitable when many people gather together to eat. It’s too wasteful to eat a buffet all alone!”
When the emperor heard Li Xiaoran’s words, he was immediately dejected.
“Girl, you’re so bold. You say whatever you want to me! Aren’t you afraid that I’ll chop off your head?”
When Li Xiaoran heard this, she was immediately amused.
Unafraid of the emperor’s threat at all, Li Xiaoran said with a smile, “I’m not afraid of you beheading me! If you behead me, your son will hate you for the rest of his life, so it isn’t worth it! The gains don’t make up for the losses! It’s best to listen to my advice. Treat me better and pamper me a little! After all, I’m the best person to help you ease the relationship between you and your son!”
When the emperor heard Li Xiaoran’s words, he was angry and amused, but in the end, all his emotions turned into helplessness.
“Only an unruly girl like you isn’t afraid of me. That’s why I’m more tolerant of you! Anyone else would have suffered punishment!” The emperor muttered indignantly.
When Li Xiaoran heard this, she immediately smiled even more happily.
“Old Master, it’s not that I’m unruly, but I have nothing to ask of you. I sincerely treat you as my family and elder. That’s why you can sense my sincerity and are willing to pamper me a little! Don’t be in a hurry to deny it. You know if it’s true or not very well! Instead of continuing to bicker with me, why don’t you sit down and enjoy the delicious food? We can continue arguing after we’re full!”
When the emperor heard Li Xiaoran’s words and saw the dishes in his hand, he quickly sat down and ate.
It had to be said that this method of eating was really enjoyable.
He could eat whatever he wanted. The emperor ate a few bowls of mung bean porridge and a lot of vegetables as well.
“This tastes more and more delicious the more I eat it! What kind of ingredients are these?” the emperor asked as he ate.
When Li Xiaoran heard the emperor’s words, her expression immediately became strange..