Chapter 35 Chapter 35 Ending
Chapter 35 Chapter 35 Ending
Chapter 35
The imperial carriage is always different from the one used by the emperor. It was moving very fast along the way, obviously to reach the capital as soon as possible. Sitting opposite her was Eunuch Zhang. Since he got on the carriage, he closed his eyes and stopped talking.
Jiang Yu was actually a little puzzled as to why the emperor would call her to question him. It was incredible no matter how she thought about it.
In the afternoon, the carriage arrived in the capital and drove into the palace.
At the dark red gate of the Meridian Gate, Jiang Yu saw the petitioners sitting on the ground. The one in the front was naturally her husband Du Haoyu. Jiang Yu carefully calculated that it had been almost five or six days. His face was a dark black color like death, and his lips were chapped, as if he had reached his limit.
Jiang Yu was so heartbroken that she almost cried. She knew Du Haoyu's character well. Even if the public was close to him and his two younger brothers wanted to participate in the petition, he would not necessarily participate, because he always felt that people should make their own decisions and be responsible for them. He was pure and never cared about other people's opinions. He would only do what he wanted to do. He was so willful.
Why did he do this? Jiang Yu could only think of herself.
Du Haoyu did it for her.
The two people looked at each other from a distance. Du Haoyu tried hard to squeeze out a smile, but he looked so haggard that it was heartbreaking. Jiang Yu held back her tears and nodded, and went into the palace without looking back, fearing that she would not be able to help but run over if she stayed any longer.
This was Jiang Yu's first time entering the palace. She felt that the palace walls were deep, high and majestic, and she could not see the end at a glance. It turned out that the Forbidden City was so big. She first went in on a mule cart, and then changed to a sedan chair.
Jiang Yu was arranged to wait for the emperor in the back room next to the Qianqing Palace.
Time passed little by little, and it was dark. Jiang Yu did not wait for the emperor to summon her. She was trembling with fear at the beginning, and then she felt drowsy. She was tired and thirsty, and she was even more anxious because she was worried about Du Haoyu. She leaned on the Qingluan Peony Round Armchair and almost fell asleep.
Someone seemed to come in in a trance. When Jiang Yu looked up again, it was empty.
After a while, Eunuch Zhang came to visit her and revealed that His Majesty had been taking a nap in the afternoon, so she had to wait. Finally, he reminded her, "His Majesty is worried about the ministers outside the palace, so he asked someone to send rice porridge over."
Jiang Yu breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that at least she would have a bite, right? She brought out a heavy red envelope and gave it to Eunuch Zhang. He took it with a smile and did not refuse. He just said, "Madam is a lucky person. Good days are still to come."
Waiting to come out of the back room, the eunuch beside asked, "Eunuch, this Jiang has caused a lot of trouble. If it weren't for Jiang Ji's trouble, would she be implicated like this? How can you say she is a lucky person?"
Eunuch Zhang knocked his apprentice's head hard, but did not speak. He thought in his heart that the prince had given Zhao Shoufu some face. When did the prince kill her? It was probably when Zhao Shoufu instigated people to arrest Jiang?
Du Haoyu also joined the petitioning crowd. As for Lord Liu's death on the dragon pillar, it was because the prince saw Du Haoyu and obviously felt that he could not hold on.
How could a person who could move the prince's heart and make the top scholar, who was talented but disdained to fight for power and profit, bow his head, not be rich?
At night, the emperor finally remembered her and asked Jiang Yu to come over to ask questions. The emperor seemed to have just woken up and looked lazy. He leaned on a red gold couch with nine dragons carved on it and a gold-plated brocade cushion on top
. His face was a little pale and sickly, and it was still obvious that he had been ill for a long time. Jiang Yu went to pay her respects. The emperor looked at her and said, "Are you Jiang? Look up."
When he saw Jiang Yu's face, he was surprised and said, "She is really a beauty."
Although she was exhausted, Jiang Yu had beautiful eyebrows, a beautiful nose and cherry lips, and outstanding temperament, which naturally made his eyes light up.
It is said that the current emperor is a benevolent ruler, and it is true. Unlike the seriousness that Jiang Yu imagined, the emperor looked very kind and spoke very casually. He asked, "The prince said that your Jiang's dishes are very delicious. I would like to taste them."
Jiang Yu was stunned for a moment. She didn't expect that the emperor summoned her to the palace just to taste Jiang's dishes.
In fact, Jiang Yu didn't understand how things turned out like this, but she immediately remembered Wang the shopkeeper who was in prison, and others, and took the opportunity to say, "Thank you for your majesty's kindness, but I only know a little bit about cooking. If I really want to make some of Jiang's signature dishes, I still need a chef."
The emperor looked at Jiang Yu carefully, suddenly smiled, and said, "She is a kind and righteous person, which doesn't match your crime."
Jiang Yu was shocked. It turned out that the emperor summoned her to see what kind of person she was, right? Was she as guilty as Zhao Shoufu said?
Jiang Yu had prepared many words to respond to this matter, but saw that the emperor sighed, and then ordered Zhang Gonggong to release the person from the prison.
Because it was too late, and they had to go to the prison to pick someone up, so this meal was naturally changed to the next day, and Jiang Yu spent the night in the palace.
Shopkeeper Wang and several cooks couldn't help crying when they saw Jiang Yu. Several grown men cried very aggrievedly. Jiang Yu couldn't bear it. It was really an unexpected disaster. He said, "You have suffered a lot, right?"
Shopkeeper Wang said, "We were placed in a cell. The food is normal, and there are no jailers bullying us."
Jiang Yu knew that someone must have said hello. Thinking that it must be her husband Du Haoyu, she didn't ask carefully. Then several people discussed the menu for tomorrow.
Jiang Yu had been thinking about it before. She scribbled and revised it many times before deciding on the menu, but she still felt a little uneasy.
Shopkeeper Wang was also a smart person. He said, "It would be great if I could know your majesty's preferences."
Everyone's preferences are different. It would be best if they could be adjusted as needed.
However, the emperor's preferences are secrets. Outsiders can't know them, and it's useless to think about them.
At night, the palace was exceptionally quiet, but Jiang Yu tossed and turned and couldn't sleep. She always felt that this matter was too bizarre and unreal. She really didn't know what to do, but she knew one thing, she must satisfy the emperor.
In the morning, Jiang Yu saw that her clothes had been touched. She didn't feel surprised for a while. After all, she was in the palace, and the maids who came and went were all outsiders. When she picked it up, she found a note underneath.
The three words "Osmanthus Cake" were written on it. Jiang Yu recognized it at once in the familiar font from reading books. This was the handwriting of the crown prince Lin Bozhi, and the other party obviously deliberately let her recognize the handwriting.
Is this asking her to make osmanthus cake?
Jiang Yu paced in the room, watching the Forbidden City gradually brighten up and be shrouded in the morning light. The outline gradually became clear, majestic and solemn, representing supreme power, and she was worried for a while.
Power is a good thing. However, all the people in Jiangji were arrested just because of his anger. It can be seen what Zhao Shoufu usually does.
It is said that Mr. Wang just refused to teach Zhao Chunpeng because he thought he was too dull. Zhao Chunpeng was angry. On the way back, he was caught and beaten to death.
His death was too miserable and aroused public anger.
I'm afraid that the thing that Zhao Shoufu regretted the most was provoking Mr. Wang. He never thought that those students who were usually silent and submissive would suddenly get together and rebel.
After all, he had stayed in the palace for three years. Jiang Yu was familiar with the emperor. He knew that he had congenital deficiencies since he was a child and had been recuperating in Jiangnan.
But it seems that he had also lived in Xianning, and osmanthus cake is the most famous in Xianning. Wait, Xianning?
Jiang Yu looked at the menu again, hesitated for a while, and added osmanthus cake, and then asked someone to send it to the kitchen because the ingredients had to be prepared in advance.
There was naturally no shortage of things in the imperial kitchen. To make osmanthus cake, you need to use ground polished rice and glutinous rice. When Jiang Yu went there, they were already prepared.
The other dishes were made by others, but this osmanthus cake was made by Jiang Yu himself. He put the ground glutinous rice flour and polished rice flour together, added water, kneaded it into a ball, added osmanthus, used a mold to shape it, and then put it in a steamer. Finally, sprinkled osmanthus honey on it.
The emperor ate very casually and had the dishes delivered to the imperial garden.
To Jiang Yu's surprise, the people inside were not as casual as he had imagined. Princess Le'an, Crown Prince Lin Bozhi, Prime Minister Zhao, and several cabinet officials were also there.
Prime Minister Zhao seemed a little absent-minded and looked a little haggard. It was obvious that he had not been feeling well these days, but everyone looked friendly.
The emperor asked everyone to take a seat, and the palace maids began to serve the dishes.
These dishes, which were very different from those in the palace in terms of both cooking methods and styles, naturally attracted the attention of the ministers. The emperor was obviously satisfied, because the emperor's appetite became very small due to long-term use of medicine, but he tasted almost every dish. When he saw the osmanthus cake, he was stunned and asked someone to pick up a piece to eat.
The emperor took a bite and then fell silent. Eunuch Zhang asked, "Your Majesty, is there something wrong?"
Prime Minister Zhao was anxious. When he saw Jiang Yu waiting on the side, he knew that this was the dish she cooked. Seeing that the emperor didn't speak, he thought he had found an opportunity and said, "Your Majesty, how can such crude food be presented to Your Majesty? Not to mention that Your Majesty is a noble dragon and cannot be neglected."
Prime Minister Zhao had been looking for Jiang Yu. He always felt that if he caught Jiang Yu, the matter would be a little different, and he could even push the matter to her.
But today, when Jiang Yu suddenly stood here, she knew that something was wrong.
Princess Le'an glanced at Crown Prince Lin Bozhi, but saw that he just pretended not to see it. It was obvious that Lin Bozhi was the one who fanned the flames in this matter, but he had never said a word against Prime Minister Zhao in front of the emperor.
She also understood that the crown prince wanted to avoid suspicion, but was he too cautious?
The emperor took another bite, and then suddenly burst into tears, which caught everyone off guard. The emperor said, "Why does this sweet-scented osmanthus cake taste a little different from the one in the palace?"
Suddenly, everyone's eyes turned to Jiang Yu, especially Princess Le'an, who felt that the woman in front of her was as beautiful as a flower and moon, and she couldn't help but look at her again and again.
This Jiang seemed to be an old friend of the crown prince Lin Bozhi. Princess Le'an looked at Lin Bozhi again and saw that he also looked at Jiang Yu, but his expression was normal, and he couldn't see any emotions. She couldn't help thinking that the crown prince's scheming was getting deeper and deeper, and there was really no flaw.
Jiang Yu said, "I made the sweet-scented osmanthus cake made in Xianning."
"I have been in Xianning for three years." The emperor nodded, and then suddenly turned cold and said to Zhao Shoufu, "Zhao Di, I am really disappointed in you."
"Your Majesty?" Zhao Shoufu collapsed when he heard the emperor's words.
The emperor shouted, "Someone come!"
Someone came and caught Zhao Shoufu. He was panicked. Ever since he had made great contributions and helped the previous emperor to eliminate Concubine Wang's party, and supported the emperor's ascension to the throne, he had been an important official for two dynasties and was even the emperor's confidant. I don't know how many people had advised the emperor that Zhao Di was powerful, but they were all rejected by the emperor.
Zhao Shoufu glanced at the crown prince Lin Bozhi in the crowd, then at Jiang Yu, sighed for a while, and finally lowered his head, thinking that the situation was over.
Jiang Yu and the crown prince Lin Bozhi looked at each other from a distance in the crowd. The two had been together for three years, and there were some things that did not need to be said. They had a tacit understanding with each other.
However, the emperor still showed mercy to Zhao Shoufu. He only dismissed Zhao Di's official position, confiscated his property to expand the national treasury, and sentenced Zhao Dechun to death immediately to quell public anger, and the matter was over.
