Chapter 28 Yongqi Learns to Make Noodles

After finishing his classes the next day, Yongqi rushed to the imperial kitchen without stopping, while Xiaoyanzi and Qing'er went home.

"Why did only the young lady return?" Mei'er, who was waiting for Yongqi and Xiaoyanzi at the door, asked curiously. "Why didn't the Fifth Prince return?"

As Xiao Yanzi walked inside, she explained, "He went to the imperial kitchen and wouldn't let me follow him. I don't know what he's up to."

This was the explanation they had agreed upon that afternoon: they would not tell Consort Yu for the time being, to give her a surprise.

However, they clearly underestimated Consort Yu's intelligence.

Yongqi never set foot in the imperial kitchen. Ever since Xiaoyanzi entered the palace, he would take Xiaoyanzi with him whenever possible.

Now that Yongqi has gone to the Imperial Kitchen and Xiaoyanzi hasn't followed, something's definitely up!

Her own birthday is next month, and she probably already guessed it...

However, if we're going to keep it from the two children, let's pretend we don't know for now.

She was also looking forward to seeing what delicious food her son, who never lifted a finger to cook, could make for her.

After Xiao Yanzi met Consort Yu, she repeated what she had just said. Consort Yu didn't say much, but simply asked Xiao Yanzi to sit down and said, "Since he has his own plans, let him be. Let's eat first!"

"Yes." Little Swallow breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Consort Yu didn't say anything more.

If she pressed her for an answer, she really wouldn't know what to say.

To be honest, she really liked Consort Yu, so she really didn't want to lie to her!

The thought of lying to Consort Yu filled her with guilt; she felt she had let Consort Yu down for trusting her so much, for supporting and caring for her so much…

After finishing her meal, Xiao Yanzi went to Yongqi's study to review what Ji Xiaolan had taught her during the day, and then continued with her embroidery.

Yongqi's learning experience in the imperial kitchen was rather "tragic".

Although he had cooked in his previous life, he only knew a little bit!

So this time, he listened to the imperial chefs the whole time!

He did whatever his master told him to do, learning slowly and step by step.

However, there were still some substandard finished products during the process!

Those that don't meet the standards are too inedible for humans, so they're thrown to pigs and dogs.

Even pigs and dogs won't eat it, so we'll just have to throw it away!

After several attempts, I finally produced a finished product that passed the test.

The chefs in the imperial kitchen finally breathed a sigh of relief and quickly praised, "Fifth Prince has made rapid progress; he learned it in just over an hour..."

"Thank you all for your hard work today. If you don't mind, please have those bowls of noodles!"

Yongqi was referring to the finished products that passed the test. He had cooked a lot, so he let the chefs in the imperial kitchen enjoy them first.

The chefs in the imperial kitchen naturally refused; how could they eat food made by the prince himself?

But Yongqi said, "Consider this my tuition fee. Now I can eat with peace of mind!"

Since Yongqi had already said that, what else could they do? They could only smile and thank him, "Then thank you very much, Fifth Prince!"

As Yongqi prepared to leave, the chef who was in charge of teaching Yongqi how to make longevity noodles ate his noodles in peace, while Chef Zhuang, the head chef of the imperial kitchen, watched them eat with longing.

However, to his surprise, just as Yongqi was about to reach the door, he suddenly walked up to him and thanked him, saying, "Master Zhuang, thank you so much for today. If you hadn't been so generous in letting them teach me, I'm afraid I wouldn't have been able to learn it. There's a bowl over there for you, go and eat it!"

Upon hearing this, Master Zhuang immediately knelt down and said with a smile, "This servant thanks you, Fifth Prince!"

After seeing Yongqi off, Master Zhuang rushed over to the group of chefs and took his bowl away.

Master Zhuang had only taken one bite when he exclaimed excitedly, "Fifth Prince's cooking is amazing!"

"This is his first time cooking, and he's already so good! If he practices more, he could be a chef!"

"You'd better not say such things. Making the Fifth Prince a cook? How could you even think of that!"

"Yes, the Fifth Prince only cooked for Consort Yu, so he probably doesn't have time to study cooking. Besides, a gentleman keeps his distance from the kitchen!"

"Then what are we?"

"You despicable person!"

Well, they really are despicable people. In front of their masters, aren't they despicable people?

Whether we can live well or not depends entirely on the master's word!

After Yongqi learned how to make longevity noodles, he made up his mind to learn more dishes so that he could cook for Xiaoyanzi sometime!

Otherwise, what if Little Swallow gets distracted by spaghetti again when Benjamin comes from Great Britain?

Wait a minute, why can't he learn to make pasta himself?

If he learns it himself, Little Swallow will definitely choose his first!

Even the pasta made by Benjamin, a true Westerner, pales in comparison to this!

Although his noodles may not be as good as Benjamin's, it doesn't matter. Little Swallow sees beauty in the eye of the beholder, so he will definitely win!

Before leaving the imperial kitchen, he even grabbed a box of pastries to take back to Yonghe Palace.

Upon returning to Yonghe Palace, seeing that Consort Yu's lamp was still on, Yongqi first delivered some pastries to her, saying, "Mother, your son is back!"

"Is the Imperial Kitchen fun?" Consort Yu asked jokingly.

Yongqi laughed awkwardly, "Mother, I'm not going there to play..."

"You'd better watch out, or your Emperor will find out and say you're neglecting your duties!"

Yongqi protested, "How could that be?"

"I'm going to learn cooking so I can cook for Father Emperor in the future!"

"Besides, I don't do it often..."

"In short, it won't interfere with my studies!"

Consort Yu sighed helplessly, "You, you've been spending too much time with Little Swallow, and your wit has only gotten better and better!"

"But that's good too, that way no one will bully you!"

Yongqi was slightly embarrassed, "Mother..."

"Alright, you can leave the pastries here and go now. I know you're in a hurry to see Xiao Yanzi, so I won't keep you!"

After Consort Yu finished speaking, she picked up the pastries that Yongqi had brought and started eating them, so Yongqi had no choice but to leave.

He took the other half of the pastry to his study, where Xiao Yanzi was still making purses.

Yongqi laughed and said, "Alright, let's rest for a while, have some pastries to replenish our energy, and then continue making!"

Xiao Yanzi stopped what she was doing and looked up at Yongqi. "Didn't you go to make noodles? Why did you bring back pastries?"

"Of course, I'll bring the noodles I made back on Mother's birthday. Today's dish can only be eaten by the chefs in the Imperial Kitchen first. If they all praise the taste, then Mother will definitely like it too!"

Little Swallow frowned and said, "That's not necessarily true, because everyone's tastes are different. Maybe it tastes good to them, but Mother doesn't like it..."

As soon as Xiao Yanzi finished speaking, the surroundings fell silent instantly. She stared blankly at Yongqi, thinking to herself, "(What did I just say?)"

Why did she just blurt out "Mother"?

She instinctively wanted to explain something, but found that she couldn't, and it would only make her more embarrassed, so she could only pretend that nothing had happened.

Yongqi chuckled inwardly, but said nothing more, instead bringing up the topic of longevity noodles, "I tried it first, and I think it's pretty good, quite fragrant. I'm confident Mother will like it!"