The Empress of the Qing Dynasty is from the Northeast

On the day of winter solstice, dumplings, glutinous rice balls, rice cakes and glutinous rice are all indispensable, and the kitchen is bustling with activity.

In the Bibo Courtyard, Zhang Gege and Gao Gege discussed ordering a hotpot together.

Fu Jin was kind-hearted. During such festivals, she would always give them some extra dishes and give each of them two dishes so that they could have a sumptuous winter solstice.

Originally, they wanted to hold a small banquet together, but Concubine Chun was pregnant and Concubine Qing had passed away not long ago, so it was not appropriate to hold a banquet. So they ordered the kitchen to let everyone eat in their own courtyards.

Zhang Gege and Gao Gege were also unlucky. They entered the mansion after Changning became a concubine. Changning had always been the only favorite, and Yinzhen had never favored them at all, so the two of them are still virgins now, which made many people in the mansion laugh at them.

Originally they were together with Princess Nianhulu, but who knew that Nianhulu had evil intentions and was so bold that she dared to go against Concubine Chun, and ended up with her death.

This made life even more difficult for both of them.

Geng Gege was in the same group as Wu Gege, Liu Gege and Tang Gege. Although they were noisy, they had known each other for many years and got along better with each other than the two newcomers.

Moreover, these princesses of the Geng family had a vague sense of superiority and looked down on the princesses who entered the palace later, not to mention that they were not even favored by the emperor.

As for the rest, Princess Song had a daughter, so her status was naturally higher than theirs. The rest of the concubines were even more incomparable.

Therefore, no matter how noble and talented Zhang Gege was, or no matter how Gao Gege relied on her family background as a tribute girl and her youth and beauty, it was all useless.

They can only huddle together for warmth, otherwise they will have no sense of existence and no place to stand in this Beile Mansion.

Zhang Gege likes light food, but it is also very comfortable to eat a steaming hot pot in winter, so she discussed with Gao Gege and ordered a shabu-shabu pot, with spicy food on one side and mushroom soup on the other.

The canteen was very busy today, so the food was delivered a little late. Fortunately, the dishes delivered were very fresh, and it was rare that the canteen did not offer discounts today.

Gao Gege asked curiously, and then she found out that the cat beside Concubine Chun had escaped and happened to run to the kitchen to steal food. It was looked for everywhere by the big maids such as Chuixue and Yuzhu. After they found it, they ordered a few dishes and said that the prince was there.

The kitchen then prepared all the dishes carefully, fearing that they would spread the word and the prince would blame them.

After all, the kitchen has always been an important place. If a group of people fall for some reason, it will be easy for others to intervene.

But Changning didn't mean that. She was too lazy to meddle in other people's business. It wasn't like she would lose a bite of food.

Unexpectedly, it was because of Mrs. Chun that they were able to have a delicious meal by accident. Both of them felt a little complicated.

When I first knew that Concubine Chun was favored, I thought she was resourceful and scheming. Later, I thought she was arrogant and domineering. She actually controlled Prince Beile and prevented him from favoring other women. How was this possible?

But after all these years, they are still sweet.

Even her belly is looking so good, how many babies are she pregnant with?

I can only say that luck is really unpredictable.

The two of them couldn't even feel jealous, the gap was too big, they could only look up and sigh.

Gao Gege had previously tried to win favor, but after being punished by Yinzhen once, she gave up the idea.

Never mind, it's better to live a miserable life than to die. It's better than having your tongue cut off.

Their life is now stable, they have enough food and clothes, and Mrs. Fu is fair, so they live quite well.

Qingzhiyuan

Chang Ning was hugging Tuantuan and scolding her: "You are not a child anymore. You have a husband and a child. How can you not control them? Where did your previous arrogance and spirit of being the boss go?"

The lost kittens were Tuantuan's three children. Changning discovered that Tuantuan really didn't care about raising them. He just spent the whole day being affectionate with Yuanyuan and the other two cats, and didn't even pay attention to the children.

Today is the winter solstice, and there were not enough people in the courtyard, so Yuzhu and Xiaokangzi, who were supposed to take care of the cats, also rushed over to help. However, in just a short while, the three kittens secretly ran away.

When Changning first discovered that the cat was missing, he was really shocked and very anxious.

Fortunately, the three kittens were finally found in the kitchen, and they were still stealing food.

Chang Ning was a little disappointed: "You are really a love-brained person!"

In the evening, Yinzhen and the children came over. When they heard that the three kittens had run away from Taxue today, they came to express their condolences.

Tuantuan still looked her most beautiful self, not caring about the accusations from everyone.

Just kidding, she is so happy that her children are able to go out and find food on their own, okay?

The palace maids and eunuchs who were taking care of the cat and guarding the gate were all scared to death this time. To be honest, they were also responsible for this matter, but for the sake of the festival, Changning spared them. He only remembered that they would be punished if they made the same mistake again next time.

After a while, Changning's stomach started growling. He couldn't stand the hunger at all, even though he had just eaten half a bowl of sweet soup.

However, the pregnant woman was the oldest, so everyone started to eat.

The snow outside was getting heavier and heavier, so Changning specially asked the kitchen to serve a pot of mutton soup.

This soup is made from tender and delicious lamb legs. It is simmered for four or five hours and served in bowls while still steaming hot. A handful of green onions are sprinkled on top, giving it a rich aroma that drives away the cold just by looking at it.

Several children also played snowball fights outside today, and after drinking a bowl of soup, their whole bodies were warmed up.

Even Hongmin and Hongchen fed them each a little.

After everyone drank a bowl of soup, they whetted their appetite and started to eat with relish.

Fei Yang'a was the first to pick up the meat. He loved to eat big meatballs. He picked up a four-happiness meatball the size of half a palm, covered with thick brown sauce. He crushed the meatball and ate it with rice.

Changning quickly told him: "We're going to eat dumplings today, so eat less rice."

When he heard that there were dumplings to eat, Fei Yang'a stopped mixing rice and continued to pick up dishes.

Hutuli liked the honey chicken wings. The outermost layer was covered with honey and there was a layer of bright syrup. The skin of the chicken wings was fried crispy and tasted sweet and salty. There were eight wings in a plate, and she and Changning shared them all.

When everyone had almost finished eating, dumplings were served.

Today's dumplings have a wide variety of fillings, including lamb and radish, Spanish mackerel, leek, sea cucumber and shrimp, the sauerkraut pork and oil filling that Changning specifically requested, and some with unidentifiable fillings.

The family members played a game, each eating one, and then telling each other what they had eaten. Soon they had eaten more than a dozen kinds.

I had enough dumplings for this meal.

They didn't disperse immediately after the meal. It was a good opportunity for everyone to gather together and enjoy the family warmth. Even Hongmin and Hongchen were not taken away by the wet nurse to sleep.

As usual, people have to go to the palace on New Year's Eve. It's not as if we have so much free time as we do now.