King Yi, who is also an examiner, couldn't bear the loneliness at this time, and commented:

"Well, this little scholar, a few days ago, I went to my brother's mansion and asked my brother for tea and said that he wanted to take it back to King Zhao's Mansion to make tea. After shopping in King Yi's Mansion for a long time, I couldn't look at any rare treasures, but I only remembered what I was eating. On that day, the courtier's brother accompanied her to walk by the lake, and saw the sunset shining, the leaves were still in the background, and the wild ducks were playing on the lake, so he said to her, 'The sunset and the lonely bird fly together, and the autumn is the same color as the sky', but she said to Xiao Wang, 'Have you ever burned that lonely bird?' Won't it be particularly fragrant? ’”

"Haha, no, that little flower girl, no, no, no, that little scholar, did she really ask King Yi like that?"

The emperor was also interested. King Yi then added:

"Not only that, but that day the younger brother got a basket of crabs, and it happened that the ninth princess and Liu Chihui, the son of Taiwei Liu, were also present that day, so they asked everyone's opinions, and in the evening, the crabs were steamed and the wine was made, and everyone ate crabs with scissors to cut them open, and used chopsticks to pick up the meat, and this little scholar also said something at that time."

The emperor asked, "What words?" ”

The little scholar said that in their hometown, eating crabs is directly started, and now seeing that we are all using scissors, and making it so clean and neat, I feel that the food culture of the Central Plains really makes people look very comfortable. The younger brother thought that she was just complimenting us in the Central Plains like other guests, but she said, "However, Hua Qing still wants to get started directly." Everyone couldn't help laughing, and the little scholar thought that everyone was laughing at her, and raised his hand, saying that he had indeed washed his hands before eating, but it was clean. Then she tore the crab and ate it, looking very fragrant, and the courtier's brother thought she was very cute at that time. ”

Mo Huaijin listened, and his face darkened. But he could not interject, so he turned to the maid beside him and said:

"Why is this tea so hot?"

"The slave and the maid should die, and the slave and the maid will go and change."

Irritable, Mo Huaijin's whole person is not ordinary irritability.

King Yi, who is good at observing words and feelings, saw his displeasure, so he remembered the past when Mo Huaijin came to King Yi's mansion to pick up Hua Qing and broke his arm that night, he knew why Mo Huaijin, who had always been gentle as jade, was finding fault at this moment, he wanted to continue to provoke Mo Huaijin, but when he thought that the puppet had not yet been trained, in order to avoid conflict with King Zhao, he stopped talking.

After the emperor swallowed countless saliva and the queen sat reserved for half an hour, the ladies of the palace and various prefectures finally handed over the dishes.

The queen stepped down from the viewing platform and went down to watch and taste the dishes handed in by the candidates. Name:

"The snow soup of Huaququ in Huafu, the baxia offering of Liufu Liu Rumei, the wine cooking Huai white fish of Zhang Yini in Zhangfu, the preserved plum blossom of Baifu Bai Suwen and the crab stuffed orange of Huaqing in Zhaowangfu are left, and the rest will be rewarded to the palace people to eat!"

"Thank you for your grace!"

"A few of the top candidates on the list stand at the front desk!"

"Yes."

Hua Qing followed Bai Suwen and the other three candidates to stand in front of the viewing platform.

The five dishes that had just been named were served on the table.

The emperor and King Yi both stretched their chopsticks to Hua Qing's crab-stuffed orange, and Mo Huaijin watched coldly from the sidelines, saying very disdainfully:

"That dish should not be eaten with chopsticks, but should be eaten with an orange lid and scooped with a spoon."

King Yi was embarrassed in place, and then stretched out his chopsticks to the plum blossom made by Bai Suwen.

As soon as the emperor was reminded, he put aside the chopsticks, reached back and asked the palace maid for a spoon, and the waiter pushed the plate with crab stuffed orange to him, and wanted to remove the lid for him, but he knocked down the hand of the palace man with one hand, and went to uncover the orange lid with his own hands.

The emperor stretched out his spoon and scooped it out and tasted it carefully. The moment she closed her eyes, the queen swallowed her saliva and asked:

"How? Is it tasty? ”

The emperor didn't answer, but opened his eyes and quickly scooped it and fed it to the queen's mouth.

"How's it going, isn't it delicious?"

The queen nodded like pounded garlic and said with a smile:

"This little boy really has ideas. King Zhao, you must have eaten this crab stuffed orange before, otherwise how do you know that this dish should be eaten with a spoon? In the palace, there is a person who is so good at cooking, he must have eaten a lot, right? ”

After hearing this, Hua Qing's face turned red and white. Mo Huaijin said with a smile:

"That's nature. My little scholar every day in addition to my spread of ink, tea and water, but also often make all kinds of delicious food for the king to eat, since she entered the house, the king's clothes before the thin, the king had to order the people in the house to cut a few sets of slightly looser clothes. Alas, recruiting a scholar who can cook is sometimes quite troublesome. ”

King Zhao rested his elbows on the table, raised his eyelids slightly and glanced at Hua Qing in the audience, looking arrogant. Hua Qing didn't say anything, she also knew that if she refuted Mo Huaijin's remarks at this time, she couldn't help but make Mo Huaijin's face ruined, and she would also end up with a "crime of bullying the king", so she simply didn't say anything.

Everyone tasted the five dishes, and the emperor asked the other four to express their opinions, and the great uncle took the lead in saying:

"The five celebrities, each with their own merits, are ashamed, and it is really difficult to distinguish one from the other."

It's not that Uncle Dazong can't tell a lot, but he's afraid of offending people, so he prevaricates, but fortunately, the emperor is in a good mood today, and he doesn't care too much, so he asked King Xiang Yi:

"Fifth brother, what about you?"

King Yi nodded and replied:

"Brother Hui, the name of the preserved plum blossom is elegant, the color is quiet, the taste is fragrant, and the younger brother is deeply impressed. As for the snow soup, it is even better, and the younger brother used to have to taste the snow soup made by the white clouds, which is very similar to what he eats today. So this dish evokes the past in the hearts of the younger brothers. The name of Miss Hua's dish, the cooking techniques and even the formation of the dishes are exactly the same as those of Baiyunjian, I don't know ......"

Huaqu was below, listening to King Yi's praise like this, his heart was very useful, and he suddenly forgot the so-called reserve, and came out to worship:

"Huaququ greets the emperor, the queen, and the prince. Back to the prince, Bai Yunjian is the master of Huaququ cooking, and this snow soup is taught by Master Bai. ”

The emperor touched his cheeks and fell into deep thought.

"Oh, I see. Previously, I spent a lot of money to invite him to the palace to be the imperial chef for me, but he didn't expect that he was Miss Hua's cooking master. ”

Hua Ququ nodded and smiled, she thought to herself, today's leader must be her. Just as she was proud, the queen spoke at this time.

"According to the concubine's point of view, since today is 'autumn' as the topic, then the dishes made by the candidates should fit the exam questions. Whether it is preserved plum blossom or snow soup, the color, fragrance and taste are complete, and it is really the best quality. But the elegance is elegant, the plum blossoms and snow are all winter things, and the Baxia offering is also winter food, which is not as good as crab stuffed orange and wine boiled Huai white fish. ”

The queen said:

"White fish in the wine cook, although it is relevant to the topic, it is indecent. Crab stuffed oranges, autumn oranges and crabs have been matched in the palace kitchen, but autumn oranges are used alone, and the two foods cannot be mixed well. Therefore, the essence of crab stuffed orange flavor is no different from other crab orange pairings, but it is better in the details. The details are still orange fragrant, slightly sweet, and crab meat fresh, and the two foods are mixed and blended through the technique of 'stuffing', hitting the taste buds. The convenience of being able to scoop and eat with a spoon, the elegance of appearance, and the more aromatic aroma of the heated orange peel multiplies the orange aroma, and the chef uses chrysanthemum very skillfully to highlight the eye, and the mouth full of autumn fragrance evokes the autumn thoughts in the mind. That's why I think crab stuffed oranges are the most successful. ”