The Princess Kicks Down the Protagonists

Chapter 305 New Flavor of Mooncakes

As the wedding date of August 26th was getting closer, and considering the rule that newlyweds could not see each other often before the wedding, Jingyan simply moved back to the Cining Palace and stayed there for a few days.

It just happened to be the Mid-Autumn Festival, so we celebrated it directly in the palace, and the atmosphere was more lively.

After all, ever since he knew that Qing'er had sacrificed a lot of time to accompany Yongheng for her, Jingyan felt a little guilty every time he saw his brother's sad little eyes.

It’s better to go to the palace and spend more time with the Empress Dowager, and also play with Hanxiang.

Leave Qing'er Duoduo to her poor brother.

It's August and the heat hasn't dissipated yet. Jingyan seldom goes out and basically stays in the room to cool off. These days, he has been fiddling with the incense that Fu Ling'an asked someone to send him.

The two of them couldn't meet often due to the rules, so Jingyan directly started writing letters. Although they were in the same city in Beijing, they actually lived a long-distance relationship.

Fu Ling'an also tried his best to find fun and interesting things to give to Jingyan to play with.

No one knew where he got a set of exquisite and small perfume-making toys from, and he immediately asked someone to send them to the palace like a treasure.

Jingyan mixed some perfume according to the recipe and spices he got from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and it turned out quite good. He was planning to develop a new scent on his own.

However, she had been studying for two days without making any progress, and her little study was filled with both fragrance and smoke.

"Cough cough cough, wuwuwu, Nian'er~ I failed again."

She didn't need to say anything, Nian'er who was waiting on the side had already smelled the scent. It couldn't be said to be exactly the same as the incense her masters usually used, but it could be said to have nothing to do with it.

Nian'er skillfully poured out the incense that Jingyan had extinguished, and drew a cross behind the incense recipe written by Jingyan, indicating that this version failed.

Nian'er didn't understand why those spices, each of which smelled so good, were ground into powder by her own princess and burned together, and it became firewood? And it was a fragrant and intoxicating firewood at that?

"Princess, how about you follow the incense recipe in this ancient book?"

Jingyan tried the incense recipe several times a few days ago and was very successful, but these were all available in the Imperial Household Department, and there was no sense of accomplishment, so Jingyan wanted to make a new one himself.

Jingyan waved his hand without hesitation, "That would be no fun."

At this time, the little palace maid came to report that Concubine Xiang had come to pay her respects, and the Empress Dowager called her over.

"The Fragrant Concubine is here?" Jing Yan suddenly became alert, stood up and walked towards the main hall.

Jingyan returned to the palace these days, and the person who was happiest besides the Empress Dowager was Hanxiang.

Hanxiang came to pay her respects earlier and earlier, and left later and later.

The old man knew that she was willing to play with Jingyan, so every time she came, the old man would call Jingyan out.

"Empress Xiang!" Jing Yan walked forward crisply, greeted her, and then sat down next to Hanxiang.

"Mid-Autumn Festival is coming soon. This is Concubine Xiang's first Mid-Autumn Festival in the palace. Has the Emperor told us how we plan to celebrate it?"

When this was mentioned, Hanxiang lowered her eyes and smiled, "The Emperor hasn't said anything yet. He said before that he was worried that I would miss home and wanted to invite my father to come, but I always felt that it would be too much trouble for him, so I refused."

The emperor is the emperor after all. He summoned his relatives into the palace for fear that his concubine would miss home. But she was different from other concubines. Returning to Xinjiang was too far away, and she had experienced how tiring it was when she came here. Naturally, she didn't want to make her father suffer again.

Actually, the emperor and Empress Dowager Cixi had mentioned this before asking Hanxiang, and Empress Dowager Cixi also thought it was inappropriate. At that time, Empress Dowager Cixi said that Hanxiang was a sensible and filial person, and would not let the emperor do whatever he wanted. As a result, Empress Dowager Cixi was right.

However, once concubines enter the palace, it is indeed difficult for them to see their families.

Hanxiang was marrying far away, which made it even more difficult.

After discussing with the Emperor, the Empress Dowager decided to have Changyin Pavilion stage a play for Hanxiang related to Xinjiang customs, and then decorate the place so that Hanxiang can have some fun in her Baoyue Tower.

However, this matter was arranged secretly by the emperor, so Hanxiang didn't know about it.

Jingyan held his chin and whispered to comfort Hanxiang, "I will also spend the Mid-Autumn Festival in the palace. My brother and Qing'er will also be there. Then we can get rid of my brother's follower and have fun together."

Hearing this, the old Buddha and Hanxiang laughed out loud. The old Buddha shook his head helplessly and pointed at Jingyan twice with his hand in the air, feeling a bit embarrassed and helpless. "Look, it's you, a little devil, who's delaying my grandson and granddaughter-in-law."

"How is that possible! In a way, I am their little matchmaker." Jing Yan was quite proud. Although she didn't help much, her existence played a positive role.

The old lady curled her lips and raised an eyebrow at Hanxiang, "Hanxiang, look at them. They are childhood sweethearts. I just can't understand how Yan'er became a matchmaker."

Hanxiang pursed her lips and chuckled, "Master Buddha, Hanxiang actually feels that Yan'er played a big role in preventing the two from meeting."

Well, it’s really hard for Jingyan to refute this.

She chuckled, "You don't understand. It feels like a long time since we last saw each other. Maybe we'd get tired of seeing each other every day."

"Hahaha," Old Buddha almost laughed out loud, "Yes, yes, your brother is lucky to have a sister like you."

As they were laughing, Chef Zhuang from the imperial kitchen arrived.

He brought a few young eunuchs, carrying a few trays.

"Greetings to the Empress Dowager, to the Fragrant Concubine, and to the Princess. I, along with the Imperial Kitchen, have devised a few new dishes for you, the Empress Dowager, to try."

The main purpose was to invite Princess Jingyan to taste it. Knowing that Princess Jingyan lived in the palace, Chef Zhuang came as soon as he finished cooking. The princess could always give pretty perfect suggestions when it came to tasting his food.

"What's the filling?" Jing Yan looked at it curiously.

Master Zhuang introduced them one by one, "These two are sweet, and these two are salty."

The salty taste was suggested by a young eunuch who had just arrived at the imperial kitchen. He said that in their hometown they used fresh meat as the stuffing, so Chef Zhuang dared to give it a try.

"In previous years, various nuts and date pastes have always been the most popular in our palace. A few days ago, we were thinking about trying something new this year."

"This one has sweet potato filling, this one has red bean paste filling, and these two salty ones have meat and salty nut fillings respectively."

The mooncake chef had already tasted it, and both he and the chef from the imperial kitchen thought it was good, so there should be no problem.

"Meat?" Mr. Buddha was a little shocked. This was a path he had never imagined.

Jingyan picked up the one with red bean paste filling first and happily gave it to Lao Fuye and Hanxiang. This one shouldn’t fail.

Sure enough, it was just ordinary red bean paste, with the unique softness and sweetness of red bean paste, which was very good.

"good."

The sweet potato ones were also very good.

"Have these sweet potatoes been roasted? Why do I taste the aroma of roasted sweet potatoes?"

Master Zhuang nodded repeatedly. That’s why he said the princess understood. The princess really understood him!

Chef Zhuang felt that using only sweet potatoes would be monotonous, but since no one could resist the aroma of roasted sweet potatoes, he added this step when making the filling, and it turned out to be quite successful.