The drum music sounded, Nangong Yihan sat on the main seat, and Chu Lixue sat on the chair on his left hand. With the eunuch Manager Zhang singing, a total of twenty show girls to be selected stood in a row according to the order of five people in each column.

Nangong Yihan swept over those women lightly, they were all people who loved vanity, where did they really love themselves. What's more, he already has two people who are in love with each other, and he is satisfied in this life.

"Your Majesty, the people have already stood up, you can come up with the question." Manager Zhang said with a smile.

"Then let them compare their cooking skills, if they can't wash their hands and make soup, just some people who only know how to enjoy themselves, then just put the sign on it." Nangong Yihan said lightly.

As soon as these words came out, several women began to talk to each other, they are all young ladies in the house, these are all ten fingers that do not touch the spring water on weekdays, this requires them to go into the kitchen to cook? What kind of competition is this, even if it is a competition, it should be piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, as for this cooking, only the cook or the maid can do it.

"What? Don't you all know how to cook? Nangong Yihan raised his voice.

Hearing this, where do these women dare to say a word, of course, they have to bite the bullet. Immediately, a little eunuch led these five people aside, and there was a row of pots and stoves here, which were arranged in five positions, and in front of the pots and stoves, there were all kinds of condiments. Now it's sad for these delicate ladies on weekdays, they can't even recognize all the dishes, how can they distinguish oil, salt, sauce and vinegar.

Qi Lin looked at the stove and thought of the sweet and sour pork ribs that the nurse made for herself yesterday, the nurse said that this sweet and sour pork ribs are the easiest, since they are sweet and sour pork ribs, then she just needs to put the sugar and vinegar in the ribs.

Thinking of this, Qi Lin asked the eunuch on the side for a plate of pork ribs, and without thinking about it, he poured a bowl of vinegar and a jar of sugar into the pot.

After a while, the fragrance of vinegar had already wafted out, and the other four saw that Qi Lin's dish was about to be completed, and they couldn't fall behind, so they didn't care about cooking all the dishes they could see.

After Qi Lin's sweet and sour pork ribs were ready, the dishes of the other four people were also ready. The eunuch held the dishes that he didn't have any appetite for, and he was really aggrieved for the emperor in his heart.

I'm afraid that such a burnt dish will not be eaten at all, let alone the taste. The sweet and sour pork ribs were first served in front of Nangong Yihan, looking at a plate of black and burnt things, Nangong Yihan could only choose the smallest one and take a small bite and taste it.

As soon as he took a bite of the ribs, Nangong Yihan immediately spit it out, "Your cooking skills, let's go back and learn again." Nangong Yi said coldly.

This means that she was put off the brand, Qi Lin began to get anxious, she put vinegar and sugar in this sweet and sour pork ribs, the nurse said, the most important thing in this sweet and sour pork ribs is sugar and vinegar, she did it right, isn't the emperor testing himself? Or did the emperor deliberately do it for the queen to show in order to make the queen happy?

Thinking of this, Qi Lin also picked up a piece of ribs and took a bite, the bitterness and mushy taste in her mouth made her really difficult to swallow, and she spit on the ground as soon as she turned her head.

Seeing this, Chu Lixue raised her eyebrows slightly, such a woman also wants to enter the palace, no matter what her cooking skills are, even if she is so rude, she is already destined to be rejected outside the palace gate.

Qi Lin was pulled aside by the eunuch, waiting for the emperor's final ruling, looking at the other people's equally burnt dishes, Qi Lin felt that his chances of victory were a little greater.

After all the dishes failed to pass the tasting, Chu Lixue said with a flash of inspiration: "These dishes are all planted by farmers with hard work, and they are not easy to come by, the emperor advocates frugality, since these dishes are made by you, then you can eat all the dishes you make." ”

What the? Do you want to eat these unpalatable dishes yourself? This queen is inevitably too ruthless. Isn't it just some dishes, it's a big deal that they pay for it, so why do you need to bully them?

"Queen Mother, this kind of dish, even pigs won't eat it, but you let us eat it, isn't this a bit too much." One of them, a woman dressed in pink embroidered peach blossom clothes, said coldly.

Immediately, there were other women who were candidates for the election, and they all knew that this queen mother was not a good master, but they couldn't just let her be bullied at will. They are all the daughters of ministers, and the country of Beichen still needs their father and brother to assist, even if they refuse to eat, they don't dare to do anything to the queen.

Hearing someone raise an objection, Chu Lixue said coldly: "Oh? You're saying that even pigs won't eat this dish, right? But just now the emperor tasted the dishes you made, so what do you mean is that the emperor is not even as good as a pig? ”

Hearing this, the woman knelt on the ground with a puff, this crime is big, she just said that the burnt dish pig will not eat, but this is also a fact, how did it get into the mouth of the queen, and it became an insult to the emperor?

"Niangniang, the courtier doesn't mean that, the courtier means...... The courtier's daughter ...... "The woman was also anxious for a while, and she didn't know how to justify."

She is still just a show girl who is participating in the election, and she has no strength and qualifications to compete with this queen mother, so it is better to be soft first, and wait until she enters the palace, and then slowly find a chance to take revenge.

Thinking of this, the woman burst into tears, "Your Majesty, Niangniang, the courtiers are really wronged, the courtiers just made a slip of the tongue for a while, and please ask the emperor and Niangniang to calm their anger." The courtiers only begged the emperor and the mother not to talk about the sins of the courtiers and implicate their fathers. When she finished speaking, the woman kowtowed heavily.

Chu Lixue watched the woman acting coldly, with such acting skills, did she still want to deceive her? She has seen what real acting is, but this woman's acting skills are too poor.

"Oh? I didn't expect you to be a filial daughter, but I don't know which important minister your father is? Chu Lixue said softly.

"Back to the queen's mother, the father of the courtier's daughter is Chen Tong, a scholar of the palace." The woman said with a smug face.

"Oh, it turned out to be Chen Tong's daughter, Chen Tong is a scholar of the palace, and he doesn't want to teach such a daughter." Chu Lixue smiled lightly.

Such a daughter, what does the queen mean by this, because she feels that her father's official position is very high, and she has some concerns? Or do you want to be sarcastic about not being able to cook?

Before she could come back to her senses, she heard Chu Lixue order again, "A few of you, don't feed a few young ladies to eat the dishes, otherwise it will be cold and lose its taste for a while." ”

A few people just wanted to resist, everyone was restrained by the four Tai Monitors, and forced those burnt dishes into their mouths, and the most pitiful of these people was Qi Lin, she made sweet and sour pork ribs, and the eunuch could only break off the meat on the ribs with his hands and stuff them into her mouth one by one.

When the rest of the women who were running for the election saw such a scene, some of them were already so frightened that they collapsed on the ground, and if they were not supported, they would probably have fainted.

And not all of these women who participated in the draft are the same, and there are several of them who are good at cooking, although they are not as good as the skills of the imperial chef, but they are also delicious.

After a round of cooking competition, there were only fifteen people left. This also means that there are still five people who will be eliminated, and the nine who won do not know what fate will be.

"Congratulations to the young ladies, you won the first round, and then let a few grandmothers take you to freshen up first, and then go to the next round of competition." Chu Lixue said lightly.

These fifteen people didn't expect that the queen would arrange for them to freshen up and change their clothes, etc., this can't be a trap, right? They have gone through a lot of hardships to win, but they can't be negligent.

More than a dozen people cautiously came to a house under the leadership of the palace discipline mother, and seeing that there was nothing wrong with this house, they gradually let down their guard.

"Girls, just wait in this room, and someone will bring you something in a moment." After speaking, he walked out and closed the door.

These fifteen people suddenly reacted, they were fooled, this queen shouldn't want to kill people. Immediately, a puff of smoke drifted into the house, and everyone shouted for help when they saw this, and some people even began to scold, and cursed Chu Lixue.

"Niangniang, why are you so good to them, the smoke you smoke for them is to drive away diseases and detoxify, look at how ugly their words are." Ning Xiang said angrily.

"It's okay, I want to know if any of these women are up to the task." Chu Lixue said lightly.

"Niangniang, what do they know, what else can they do except think about being favored." Ning Xiang wondered.

This queen seems to have changed a little bit after she became pregnant, and she actually wanted to give the emperor a concubine, if she hadn't followed her every day, she still thought that the mother in front of her was pretended to be.

"Ning Xiang, my body is getting heavier and heavier day by day, and then my mind will be all on the child, among these women, if there is someone with outstanding character and who can be worthy of the big responsibility, then when I give birth to a child, some trivial things in the palace can be handed over to her to do." Chu Lixue said lightly.

"Niangniang, then don't you worry, after decentralization, they have become more fearless?" Ning Xiang wondered.

"Of course not, these women have been strictly screened, whether it is their identity or family background, or their talents, they are not too bad, the difference is only because they live in different environments and have different visions. In the final analysis, they also want to be favored by the emperor and protect their families. ”

When Ning Xiang heard Chu Lixue's remarks, she had to have a new understanding of her master, but she couldn't let those women misunderstand Niangniang like this, and then, she walked quickly to the door of the room and said loudly: "You don't have to worry, this is a medicine specially prepared by Niangniang for you to drive away diseases and detoxify, after smoking such a medicine, your body will be healthier in the future." ”