Traveling to the ancient harem

Chapter 207 Small Kitchen and Vegetable Garden

Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Huang Lide, the chief steward of the Imperial Household Department, was sitting at the table drinking tea. It had been exactly three years since the Emperor promoted him to this position, and he had not had an easy life in these three years. The previous chief steward was promoted by the Empress Dowager, and of course he helped the Empress Dowager and made the Imperial Household Department a mess. He had used all means to get the Imperial Household Department back on track. Now, he could finally sit down and drink some tea and take a break every day.

At this time, his chief attendant came in to report that a eunuch who claimed to be from Concubine Huang's palace came and said he wanted to see the chief steward for something and asked if he wanted to see him.

"Let him in." He had heard about this distant cousin of his before she entered the palace. Combined with the descriptions of Nanny Xing and Nanny Zhang, it was hard to say how far such an intelligent and steady person could go. To be honest, he was not optimistic about the queen. The queen looked very good in front of others, but anyone who had dealt with her would quickly see what kind of person she was. A narrow-minded and cruel person was destined to go nowhere.

"Greetings, Steward." Xiao Xiangzi saluted with a smile. Steward Huang came back to his senses and had someone bring a chair over for him to sit down. He politely asked him what he wanted. He knew this child. He was the nephew of Steward Sun, who was in charge of purchasing for the imperial kitchen. It was Steward Sun who found him and asked him to arrange for the child to go to Ningyuxuan.

Xiao Xiangzi was flattered. The Empress was really capable. Even the Chief Steward of the Imperial Household Department was so polite to her just by mentioning her title. It seemed that he should be more loyal to the Empress in the future. He told Chief Steward Huang about Huang Ye's request. In fact, he was also nervous. Why did it sound so unreliable to turn the flower garden into a small vegetable garden?

After listening to his words, Manager Huang remained silent for a long time. This question was a real test for him. He had to give an answer whether it was okay or not. If he agreed, there had never been such a thing in the palace, and everyone would follow suit in the future. If he didn't agree, his sister might be very disappointed, and he instinctively didn't want to disappoint her.

"How about this, you go back and tell Concubine Huang that you can make a small vegetable garden, but you need to build a circle of flower beds on the side, so it will look more beautiful." Manager Huang felt that he was so smart to come up with such a good idea that would satisfy both parties.

"Thank you, butler. Thank you, butler." Xiao Xiangzi was also excited. The queen's words were effective. Look, it's done.

When Xiao Xiangzi excitedly returned to Ningyuxuan, when he reached the gate, Eunuch Ma from the imperial kitchen happened to meet him. The two had known each other before. Eunuch Ma was fat and had a good temper. He had taken good care of Xiao Xiangzi in the past. Xiao Xiangzi was also happy to see him. The two walked in together and saw Huang Ye sitting in the corridor warming himself by the fire. The two went forward to greet him.

Huang Ye asked them to get up and asked Lu Dou to take Eunuch Ma to the small kitchen. She had already designed the blueprint of the kitchen. There was a lot of space inside, so she added an oven. She missed the roast duck she had eaten in her previous life.

"Well, it looks like it's settled." Seeing Xiao Xiangzi's excited face, Huang Ye felt relieved. If it really wasn't settled, she would be sad.

"Your Majesty is right. Manager Huang is very nice. He promised to let us build a small vegetable garden in Ningyuxuan. However, we need to build flower beds around the house, otherwise it will not look good." Xiao Xiangzi said happily.

"Well, Xiao Xiangzi has done a great job today. Go down and play with the prince. He was just looking for you." Ever since Xiao Xiangzi made a warm and soft nest for the prince last night, the prince regarded him as a friend.

"Yes." Xiao Xiangzi ran to his room quickly. Uncle Diao was looking for him, so he had to go quickly. Uncle Diao was a man with a bad temper, and he dared not offend him.

At this time, Eunuch Ma had finished checking the small kitchen, and the young eunuchs were still cleaning it up. It would take a while to clean it up, so Huang Ye asked him to sit down and asked Hongdou to serve tea. Then he showed him the drawings at hand to see if there was anything else he needed to add.

Eunuch Ma looked at the blueprint in his hand and became more and more surprised: "Excuse me, Your Majesty, who drew this blueprint?" The stove was very ingeniously designed, and the oven was something he had never seen before.

"I designed it when I was free. Father-in-law, can you please take a look and see if I can build it?" Huang Ye was very polite. She always respected craftsmen.

"There is no problem in building it. The key is that the idea is very clever. Your Majesty is very talented, and I admire you very much." Eunuch Ma really admired her. Concubine Huang looked like a little girl, but she could design such an ingenious blueprint, which showed how clever she was.

"It's good that it can be built. It seems that it can't be done today. Please ask Eunuch Ma to come and help tomorrow." Huang Ye breathed a sigh of relief. He was afraid that he would say that it could not be built. He had to report to the Ministry of Works and wait for approval from all levels. It would be too late to wait.

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty. Since the Queen has entrusted this task to me, I will naturally do my best to complete it. I will come early tomorrow morning and will not delay Your Majesty's business." Eunuch Ma promised.

Without waiting for Huang Ye to say anything, Hongdou took out a piece of silver from his purse and put it into Eunuch Ma's hand. This piece of silver was a considerable amount. All the good food and drink in the future would depend on the stove built by Eunuch Ma. It was only right that he should give him more reward.

Eunuch Ma was even happier after receiving the reward. This lady was not only smart but also generous. She would have a bright future. He had to put more effort into his job. Who could predict what would happen in the future?

Two major issues were resolved in just the morning. Huang Ye was happy: "Didn't the prince bring back two wild rabbits last night? Let's have roasted rabbit meat at noon." They hadn't eaten roasted rabbit meat for a long time and they really missed it.