“Tonight’s New Year’s Eve Palace Banquet—let’s set aside other matters for now—this Golden Feast was specially prepared by Noble Consort Zhaoyuan for all of you.”
Kangxi smiled and changed the subject, raising his wine cup: “I am truly delighted. Let me toast everyone first.”
Mingzhu and several cabinet ministers exchanged glances, their eyes shining with excitement and ripples of emotion unhidden.
Hastily, they lifted their cups, trying to suppress the fluttering in their hearts with wine.
Why was the Emperor so happy?
It couldn’t be because Noble Consort Zhaoyuan was flourishing in managing palace affairs.
It had to be because of this Golden Feast… a feast made from golden grain!
After downing their cup of wine, everyone’s spirits only grew hotter.
If there truly was a high-yield grain, capable of producing five times the harvest of rice—even if that figure was halved to account for moisture—the entire structure of the court would inevitably change.
Before the campaign against Jungar, why had the ministers argued so fiercely?
Was it because they truly didn’t want to fight?
Certainly not.
The pacification of the Three Feudatories and other efforts had been costly, and the treasury and current supplies could not sustain a prolonged war.
The tribes in Moxi were known for their bravery and combat skills.
The court feared that if supplies were insufficient, the Great Qing would suffer defeat, and the hard-earned peace would vanish like a mirage.
But with a high-yield grain, first, the people’s lives would improve significantly; the population and taxes would grow, replenishing the treasury quickly.
Second, with an ample food supply, the Great Qing could confidently send the Jungar back to their homeland, ensuring they never dared to rear their heads again, thus glorifying the Great Qing’s national prestige!
Either way, this was a boon for all the princes and ministers present!
Of course, they didn’t have such lofty patriotism.
To put it plainly, as long as they could unleash the campaign against Jungar without worrying about supplies, the military achievements would be a juicy prize laid out before them.
Whether they could bring honor to their family name and blessings to their descendants depended on who acted first.
With a rising population and tax revenue, that would be an obvious merit.
Whoever could seize the task of promoting this grain, arrange their own people in the lands where it was first planted, would only strengthen their power in court.
Even Tong Guowei was tempted, unable to urge his wife to speak with Concubine Jing, he held back his excitement and quietly discussed with Tong Guogang.
All the behaviors of the princes and nobles below did not escape Kangxi’s eyes.
He sat calmly at the Fishing Platform, smiling, serving the Empress Dowager rare delicacies from the New Year’s Eve banquet, showing no rush.
According to his little fox’s words, even if others profited, he would not lose.
Let them rack their brains; all he needed was for this golden grain to spread rapidly throughout the Great Qing.
The dishes following arrived swiftly.
Besides the wolf fang golden beans mentioned by Fang He, no less than eight dishes featuring potatoes appeared, completing a lucky set of nine.
First came the golden thread cakes: potatoes cut into thin strips, soaked to remove some starch, then mixed with eggs, flour, and pepper salt.
They were pan-fried golden on both sides inside prepared iron rings.
Each round cake gleamed with golden threads, arranged staggeredly on a silver plate atop a pear blossom wooden stand, garnished with a few green vegetables grown on the heated kang stove — a lucky dish named “Golden Threads Playing a New Spring Melody.”
Next was “Bringing Fortune and Wealth”: soft, boiled potatoes mashed into a paste shaped like Kangxi Tongbao coins, the characters exquisitely clear, so beautiful that no one dared to start eating.
Then followed “Great Blessings and Longevity,” “Abundant Granaries,” “Flowers Blooming with Prosperity,” “Hall Full of Gold and Jade,” “Step by Step Lotus,” “Jade Thin Threads”… one dish after another, stunningly beautiful, placed before everyone.
In reality, they were braised pork ribs with potatoes, cumin minced meat potato chunks, crispy rice with bacon and potatoes, dry pot potato slices, golden potato shrimp balls, fried potato chips, and cold tossed potato shreds—each transformed into an artistic creation.
Some preferred the rich and tender pork rib potatoes; some liked the cumin-scented potato cubes; some enjoyed the sweetness and meaty aroma of potato and bacon; others liked the spicy kick from the dry pot potato slices.
Most of these dishes catered to the drinking ministers and nobles.
The ladies favored the crisp and fresh potato shrimp balls, as well as the hot and cold chips and shreds, all crunchy but with distinctly different flavors.
Potato chips shaped like lotus petals made the ladies feel like fairies eating flowers and drinking dew, letting the sweet, sour, and crisp taste dance on their tongues.
The potato shreds felt light and lively, like tiny sprites of winter, coaxing them to eat one after another.
Because the chips and shreds were so fine, they felt they wouldn’t ruin their figures; unknowingly, entire plates vanished.
When they finally felt full, not only the princes and ministers, but many consorts were dumbfounded, staring at their empty plates, silently unable to speak.
Though the palace dishes were presented in small plates, barely palm-sized, there were still nine dishes in total!
Fuquan and Changning weren’t drunk yet but rubbed their bellies in disbelief.
Having attended countless palace banquets since childhood, they had never eaten so well.
At every palace banquet before, they had to eat snacks beforehand, and after the banquet, enjoy soup and noodles to soothe their stomachs.
But tonight, barely halfway through drinking, they were already too full to continue.
Even Consort Yi looked at Fang He with a hint of envy; even when pregnant, she had never eaten this much.
Fang He didn’t notice Consort Yi’s gaze but signaled to Cui Wei, who promptly arranged for desserts.
The ladies were served fruit corn salad mixed with old yogurt, and golden corn silk soup for digestion.
The men drinking wine got crispy golden-fried sweet potato balls and crunchy potato cartilage balls, cloud-shaped corn cakes, and honey-glazed hawthorn balls—delicious, time-consuming, and aiding digestion.
The desserts and drinks stirred appetites anew in the already stuffed guests…
Fang He herself hadn’t eaten much recently; she had indulged quite a bit these past days.
Just as the guests awkwardly and subtly finished some of the food and began reaching again for the dessert plates, Fang He smiled and nodded to Cui Wei.
Cui Wei immediately clapped twice, drawing everyone’s attention.
Before anyone could ask what was happening, a spicy, fragrant aroma drifted faintly from outside the hall, captivating everyone’s senses.
Three eunuchs each carried a purple clay pot decorated with dragons and phoenixes and brought them forward.
Everyone murmured: “Are the plates not enough?”
But before anyone could make a sarcastic remark, the lids of the pots in front of Kangxi, the Empress Dowager, and Fang He were lifted.
Good heavens—tart and fragrant spicy aromas aggressively filled the hall, overwhelming all speech.
Everyone could only sniff and swallow, dumbstruck.
Wait… weren’t they already full… stuffed?
Why did it suddenly feel like they could eat more?
‘No…’ Yinreng caught the familiar spicy scent and cast a restless glance at Fang He, then looked longingly at Kangxi.
‘Your Majesty, my health has greatly improved. Honestly, didn’t you say you wanted me to try it?’
‘After all this time being poisoned in the Palace, can’t I have a proper meal?’
Kangxi ignored him, picking up a glistening crystal noodle with his chopsticks and slurping it into his mouth.
The moment his tongue tasted it, the slight heaviness from drinking and eating earlier vanished.
The sour, spicy aroma slid down his throat and into his stomach, invigorating his pores and forcing out a faint sweat mixed with alcohol, instantly clearing his mind.
After swallowing this bite, Kangxi looked toward the nearly crying Yinreng and the nobles eyeing the Crown Prince’s neglect with special… not envy, but subtlety.
He smiled and said, “This recipe was provided by Noble Consort Zhaoyuan. I would not dispose of it casually; it is up to the Consort to decide.”
Everyone immediately looked toward the rosy-lipped Fang He.
Yinreng’s eyes flickered.
Clenching his fists tightly, under the amused gazes of Yinzhi and some brothers, he took a deep breath and bowed to Fang He.
“Noble Consort Zhaoyuan, when I was in Yuqing Palace, your secret recipe tormented me so much that I was sleepless and restless. I have craved it for a long time. Might I beg you to grant me a bowl to taste?”
Tong Guogang, Tong Guowei, and other princes trembled, unable to help but glance repeatedly between the Crown Prince and Fang He in disbelief.
Even if this dish was delicious, no matter how fragrant—wasn’t it just food?
It wasn’t dragon liver or phoenix marrow, nor a miraculous elixir.
The Crown Prince had surely eaten countless delicacies.
Was it really necessary to speak so humbly to Noble Consort Zhaoyuan?
If anything, the Crown Prince was not merely craving the dish but, after the earlier incident in the Imperial Garden, was bowing publicly to Noble Consort Zhaoyuan as a sign of submission to the Emperor.
Several fortunate cabinet ministers invited to this private banquet nodded inwardly.
The Crown Prince was indeed worthy of Kangxi’s personal tutelage—flexible and composed.
Trying to pull him down was no easy task.
Fang He would not embarrass the Crown Prince in public.
After he spoke, she put down her chopsticks and leisurely wiped her lips.
She smiled and said, “It’s not that I am unwilling to let the Crown Prince try it, but this crystal noodle is not elegant to eat—it tends to splash soup everywhere. I can afford to get my robes dirty since I cannot wear my large gowns now, but for others…”
She didn’t finish the sentence, but everyone understood.
The Emperor and Empress Dowager could not be made to suffer, and they had many palace robes and need not worry about changes.
But the others, including the Crown Prince, even if they had multiple formal court robes, still had fifteen more palace banquets ahead, needing to change every day.
There might not be enough.
The nobles did not have the habit of wearing dirty or old clothes during the New Year; only untouched garments were considered proper.
If stained, new palace robes would have to be made.
Yinzhi was the first to speak up, eager to satisfy appetite.
“It’s only a few robes. Your Majesty is wise and mighty. Now that the nation is peaceful, who cannot afford new clothes? Noble Consort, you worry too much!”
Fang He’s smile did not change.
She stood and respectfully bowed to the Empress Dowager.
“Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager, is kind-hearted. Not wanting to see the suffering of the people in the capital, she donated five thousand taels of silver to build houses for those displaced by the heavy snow, setting an example for all.”
“I, your humble servant, also wish to follow the Empress Dowager’s benevolence and donate the money saved from making palace robes.”
“We have just finished a war. I sympathize with the Emperor’s day and night worries for the country and have naturally become frugal, which may make others laugh.”
At these words, even the Crown Prince couldn’t say he lacked silver for court robes, nor dare request to try the crystal noodles.
Yinreng swallowed hard, biting his lip as he bowed, “Noble Consort Zhaoyuan’s righteousness humbles Yinreng. I am narrow-minded. I also wish to donate three thousand taels of silver to follow Her Majesty’s kindness!”
Kangxi leisurely swallowed the last bite of crystal noodles from the clay pot, nodding with a smile at Fang He and the Crown Prince.
“The actions of the Consort and the Crown Prince greatly please me. If all the people of the realm were like you, what worries would there be for the Great Qing’s peace and prosperity?”
The crowd murmured:
“Donations brought to a New Year’s Eve Palace Banquet?”
“Even the Consort and Crown Prince donated, and the Emperor praised them—this is the New Year. How could they not know better and bring bad luck to the Emperor?”
Tong Guowei bit his teeth and stood up first to echo Kangxi.
“Your Majesty’s words are indeed wise. I also wish to donate two thousand taels to help the disaster victims!”
Mingzhu followed, “I also wish to donate two thousand taels!”
“I also…”
“I also……”
The ministers…
In no time, from Prince Yu down to the palace attendants, they collected over a hundred thousand taels in donations, most from princes and ministers.
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