Hua Manxi woke up from sleep, stayed on the bed for a while, and silently touched his cheeks and lips.

Uh, in this matter, she was a little shy, she actually dreamed of Xu Gongzi last night! In the dream-

"Hua Manxi, what are you in a daze! It's almost time for breakfast! If you go slowly, you won't have food! Just recalling last night's dream, the door was suddenly pushed open, and Xiao Wu poked his head in and urged.

Hua Manxi suddenly came to his senses, patted his cheek, suppressed the thoughts in his mind, and responded, "Oh, I know." ”

After both of them washed up, they changed into uniform clothes, and Xiao Wu complained: "It's very cold today, this dress is too thin, and I'm not afraid of freezing us." ”

Hua Manxi remembered the clothes sent by Wang Shishi to Chen Xiuli last night, which could come in handy, and hurriedly said: "I also feel quite cold, I'll wear more clothes." ”

She ran back to the room, shook off the burden, picked out a padded apricot yellow gown and put it inside, and then put Yipinju's clothes outside, just warm and not cumbersome.

This sister is so caring, Hua Manxi is full of gratitude.

Xiao Wu waited for her to go downstairs together, and saw that her collar showed a hint of apricot yellow, but she was shivered by the oncoming morning breeze, and said with envy: "You are so good, someone sent you clothes, but other men gave you clothes, does your fiancé know?" ”

"It wasn't sent by a man, it was sent by my good sister, and she asked her brother to bring it." Although Hua Manxi didn't care about what others thought of him, he didn't want to hear any gossip, so he explained simply.

"I see, what did your good sister's brother do? Pretty handsome, from Kyoto? Xiao Wu's eyes lit up, and he asked repeatedly.

"Well, you're an official, a person from Kyoto." Hua Manxi said vaguely.

"It's hard to be an official." The light in Xiao Wu's eyes dimmed all of a sudden, and he sighed, "If it's like your fiancé, how good it would be to open a shop." ”

The two gossiped, and soon arrived at the back kitchen to eat, Xiao Wu was about to go to eat with the dishes, but Hua Manxi's meal, Danyun had already finished it, and put it on the table next to the bed, waiting for her to eat together.

Hua Manxi sat down, yawned, and said to Danyun, "You got up so early." ”

Danyun looked indifferent: "I've always been so early, eat it quickly, by the way, this is some ointment, if you apply some, you won't have back pain." ”

"Your son-in-law's inventory?" Hua Manxi took the ointment and said a little embarrassedly, "Did he reply to you, whether our marriage contract is dissolved or not." ”

When it came to the marriage contract, Danyun was inexplicably a little weak-hearted, quickly lowered his head, slurred a few mouthfuls of porridge into his mouth, and said in a low voice: "Childe didn't reply, I'll ask you about this again." ”

"Don't ask, don't go back, the old lady is too lazy to wait for him, I'll go find Brother Chen tonight." Hua Manxi felt that he was about to explode, and after gritting his teeth and stacking the next sentence, he began to pick up rice angrily.

Yipinju's training schedule is very tight, in addition to learning the rules, there are also various basic skills to pass, so Hua Manxi doesn't have much time to think about Xu Gongzi.

She didn't have the worry and anxiety in her heart at all, thinking that he was fine, but why didn't he reply to her, it was very annoying.

Hua Manxi, who was angry and turned into strength, performed well in the following training camps, and was soon selected by a master and promoted her to assistant cook.

As a cook, in addition to preparing ingredients and cutting vegetables, helping to set dishes, sometimes she can also be on the stove, if she can get the reward of the guests, she can be a master, and to achieve the level of a special master, she can naturally choose the imperial chef.

However, this is the method of choosing the imperial kitchen in previous years, this year because it is the birthday of the Queen Mother, the imperial dining room needs a large number of people to prepare, so it is specially made an exception, as long as you can be a master in Yipinju, you can go to participate in the audition of the imperial kitchen.

This year's selection of the imperial chef for the birthday banquet can be regarded as the top priority in Kyoto, because the holy decree said that the selection of the imperial chef was held in the courtyard of Yipinju, first of all, the audition, invited the palace masters, royal relatives and nobles, and ordinary people dozens of judges to select 100 as the final imperial chefs.

Then there is the semi-final, where sixty out of 100 are selected, and finally the final, where twenty out of 60 are selected.

These twenty people can organize a birthday banquet for the Queen Mother, of course, there is a finals among these twenty people, which is to select the best chef as the head chef of the entire birthday banquet, and oversee everything.

Hua Manxi's efforts are very solid, and the opportunity to go to the stove will soon come.

"Hua Bang Chef, this Chef Li can't spare time, there is a southern dish to be made here, it is seafood, can you make it?" The kitchen manager held the menu and asked, "Fried prawns, do you know how to make them?" ”

"My hometown is rich in seafood, and this is a home-cooked food, so I know how to make it." Hua Manxi is neither humble nor arrogant.

She has been working in this No. 4 kitchen for several days, and she is very easy-going, and everyone likes her.

"You go to the stove, this is a good house, don't be careless. If you don't do well and are complained by the guests, you will lose the opportunity to choose the imperial chef. The steward admonished again.

Hua Manxi nodded and began to get busy. She has cooked the dish of fried prawns more than a hundred times in Shishan County, let alone counting the previous life.

The shrimp line of the prawns has been cleaned, then marinated for a while with cooking wine, a little salt, and a small spoon of starch, after the oil is warm, fry the prawns until golden brown, drain the oil, stir-fry the green and red peppers under the bottom oil, and then put the shrimp to stir-fry, and finally sprinkle some pepper and salt on the plate.

After a dish was served, it didn't take long for the news to come from there, and the guests liked it very much, so let the cook go and receive the reward.

The director of the No. 4 kitchen took Hua Manxi to the guest's private room, and then waited outside, for fear that Hua Manxi would not understand the rules and offend the guests.

Hua Manxi entered the room and raised her head slightly, but saw that there was an acquaintance in the banquet, it was Shen Miaolan, but Shen Miaolan just glanced at Hua Manxi lightly, and did not say hello, but said to a girl next to her: "Miss Lin, the cook is here." ”

"You made this dish?" Miss Lin is not someone else, she is Lin Fengxuan, the daughter of the Weiguo Mansion. She glanced at Hua Manxi and said indifferently.

"If you reply to the guests, it is the chef who made it." Hua Manxi is neither humble nor arrogant.

"This dish is okay, but I didn't expect it to be made by a little lady." Lin Fengxuan laughed, and suddenly asked, "I taste the food you cook quite appetizing, why don't you go back to the house with me to make a kitchen?" I've never seen a female imperial chef in the imperial dining room, you just stay in Yipinju, and you can't choose, instead of being a cook here, why don't you go back to the small kitchen in my house to serve me? ”

There are many rich and noble families in Kyoto, and they are particular about food, and there are many obstacles to choosing an imperial chef, so Lin Fengxuan said that this method is not impossible, no matter what, he can finally gain a foothold in Kyoto.

But Hua Manxi came here to see the real imperial meal, how could he give up so easily?

"Thank you for your kindness, but the chef is not here, and I hope the guests will understand." Hua Manxi replied in a low voice.

"Do you know who I am? I'm the eldest lady in the Weiguo Mansion, the cook in my house, not to mention the moon silver, even the reward is higher than the salary you receive in this class, are you still unwilling? Don't you really want to be a royal chef? Lin Fengxuan couldn't imagine that she would refuse, and she was a little ashamed and angry in front of so many people.

This meal was to thank Zhao Yingying and Princess Mingzhu for the birthday banquet they organized for themselves last night, who would have thought that Princess Mingzhu and Zhao Yingying were both stumped in the palace and went to the Queen Mother, but they couldn't come, so they could only call two more people temporarily.

One is Chen Xiuya in the Shangshu Mansion of the Ministry of Rites, she brought her cousin Shen Miaolan over, originally Shen Miaolan's identity was not enough to be with them, but she was not easy to make a noise to drive people away, so she could only rely on Chen Xiuya.

"Since Your Majesty has decreed that let, the little chefs, go to Beijing to see the grand occasion of selecting the imperial chef, then we will naturally try our best to participate, if we refuse, wouldn't it be disrespectful to the emperor's order?" Hua Manxi replied lightly.

These words can be regarded as poking Lin Fengxuan's sore spot, the emperor's order, the emperor's order, a little cook dares to use the emperor's order to press her? She can't refuse her marriage, is it difficult for a little cook to come?

"The Emperor's Order? You are a cook, do you know what the imperial mandate is? You don't even understand the rules of Yipinju, do you? If I give a complaint about your dish today, I'm afraid you won't be eligible to run for the Imperial Chef election, right? Lin Fengxuan's eyebrows turned cold, and her voice was threatening.

However, Hua Manxi did not have the slightest panic on his face, and did not kneel down and beg for mercy as Lin Fengxuan expected, but said lightly: "Then I don't know where this dish is not in line with the customer's appetite, just say it, I will report it to the chief manager, and it will be improved in the future." ”

"A little cook, I really think I can be a chef, it's just a pipe dream, where is there a female chef in the imperial dining room, a girl's family shows up to be a cook, I'm afraid it's not a good situation, Feng Xuan, forget it, you recruited such a cook into the house, I can't say that it will ruin your reputation, let her kneel down and kowtow twice, and then it will be revealed." A girl next to Lin Fengxuan persuaded in a gentle tone, but the words she said were also heart-wrenching.

These words made Hua Manxi's face pale, she is a modern person, let her kowtow, it can be regarded as a real insult, she is naturally unwilling.

But this is the era of imperial power, they are princes and nobles, she is just a powerless cook, if she does not bend her knees, she will definitely have endless troubles.

"What are you all doing? How did you stand up? Didn't you say you were going to reward the cook? Just as her expression stiffened, a familiar voice interjected.