Gluttonous Crown Princess

Gluttonous Crown Princess Chapter 17.3

Tao Ti flipped the spatula in a dashing manner; grains of golden rice tumbled in the air then fell back steadily into the wok—not a single grain fell out of the wok.

The palace maid that was helping in the kitchen stared with amazement as she exclaimed inwardly, Crown Princess is simply amazing.

Not long after, Tao Ti plated the fried rice, took off her apron and instructed, “Take them all to the dining room.”

The palace attendants swallowed their saliva and hurriedly went out with the simple but extraordinarily tempting dishes.

Tao Ti washed her hands and walked out of the kitchen to let the smell of oil and smoke disperse from her body before heading to the dining room. It was only a short walk from the kitchen to the dining room, but almost every palace attendant she met on the way looked at her with great admiration.

When she stepped into the dining room, the palace attendants in the dining room also had the same expressions.

Tao Ti raised her eyebrows slightly, feeling amused; she had only cooked a meal, could this also increase her favourability?

On second thought, it seemed that no matter in which dynasty, the people of this vast land all had a deep fondness for good food. As the saying goes, food is the most important issue under the heavens—this was no lie!

“Didn’t you say you were only going to make fried rice? Why did you cook so much?” Pei Yan swept a glance at the food on the table: a large bowl of golden fried rice, a plate of crispy chicken wings, and a bowl of fresh and light green vegetables and bean curd soup. In addition, there were some ordinary fruits, pastries, and a pot of fragrant jasmine tea.

“I got a little more salted egg yolks than I needed and thought it would be a pity to waste them, so just I fried some chicken wings. As for this vegetable and tofu soup, it’s even simpler. I just had to add the ingredients when the water is boiled, then add some seasonings and it’s done, it doesn’t take much effort at all,” said Tao Ti in a relaxed tone.

“Thank you for your hard work.” There was a soft light in Pei Yan’s eyes.

“Ah, no need to be so polite, I’m the one craving for it anyway. Let’s sit down and eat, it won’t taste good when it gets cold.”

The two sat facing each other. Tao Ti straightaway scooped a large bowl of rice into her own bowl, then, seeing Pei Yan’s refined demeanour, she scooped a large bowl for him too. “Eat up! It’s really tasty!”

Pei Yan’s appetite has always been small, and his meals are always light. Now, facing this big bowl full of oily and golden fried rice, he was a little dazed.

Just as he was about to say, “I may not be able to eat so much”, he looked up and saw that the little lady across the table had already started eating.

She was eating very happily; her cheeks were bulging, and her bright eyes carried a natural pleasure derived from being immersed in the delicious food.

Seeing her eating so deliciously, Pei Yan unconsciously developed an appetite and tasted a bite of fried rice.

As soon as it entered his mouth, a touch of amazement flashed in Pei Yan’s black eyes.

The salted egg yolk fried rice was really delicious—the rice was golden yellow, and each grain was separate and distinct. Every bite had the pleasantly sandy texture of salted egg yolk, and the fresh and fragrant taste was like that of the richest crab roe in autumn.

Seeing him eat several mouthfuls in a row, Tao Ti smiled and asked, “How is it? Delicious, right?”

“It’s very good,” Pei Yan appraised approvingly, then tried a piece of chicken wing. In one bite, the outer skin was crispy, while the inside was tender and juicy, full of the fragrance of meat.

The palace attendants on the side watched them eat ate mouthful after mouthful while their noses were filled with the tantalizing aroma of the food, and their saliva was about to turn into tears and flow down. They’ve never found waiting on masters during meals to be a difficult task, but now… they were also craving for a bite really badly!

Seeing that the crown prince had eaten a large bowl of fried rice, three chicken wings and a bowl of vegetable and bean curd soup for dinner, Fu Xirui’s eyes almost fell out of their sockets.
His Highness had eaten so much? This was really an unprecedented first!

If at first he had only thought that the crown princess was very good at cooking, now that he saw how she could make the crown prince eat so much, Fu Xirui simply wanted to worship the crown princess as if she were a bodhisattva!

****

That night, Pei Yan stayed in Yaoguang Hall again.

Before going to bed, he asked casually, “Tomorrow is the fifteen, you are going to greet the empress by yourself, will you be nervous?”

Tao Ti was surprised, “Ah, right, tomorrow will be the fifteen...”
Time passed so quickly; she had been busying about in her small kitchen so happily that she almost forgot that there was this matter.

“If you don’t want to go, you can just say that you’re unwell and not go.”

“Ah, I just married in not long ago, that won’t be very good… I’ll get used to it sooner or later, so I’ll go.”  Tao Ti was thinking that it wasn’t like Ganquan Palace was some dragon lair or tiger cave, plus Empress Zhou’s attitude was rather cordial. It would just be one day less of sleeping in—it was better that she upheld the requite etiquette thoroughly.

Hearing her response, Pei Yan gave an ambiguous “Mhm,” then said softly, “Alright, go to sleep.”

Tao Ti obediently closed her eyes, but for some reason, the thought of having to go to Ganquan Palace the next day made her eyelids twitch wildly several times.