Allure of a Country Maiden-Chapter 261 - 259

She somehow managed to swallow a mouthful of the yellow fish porridge but the Empress had lost courage to try the fish soup next to it.

She had an urge to vomit now.

The black substance floating on top of the fish soup was definitely the consequence of frying the fish till it turned black and then adding water.

Just looking at it was enough to lose one’s appetite.

However, as a judge, it would be unprofessional not to at least try a bit.

Reluctantly, the Empress takes up a spoon, pretends to take a tiny sip, and then quickly puts the spoon back down.

She then quickly scored it: two points.

Everyone was amazed that the Empress would actually attempt to taste that soup. No wonder she could be the Empress, her tolerance was incomparable!

Having seen the Empress drink it, everyone else also bravely tried a bit. Before they even managed to swallow, their stomachs were churning. They had to hold back their reflexes to not vomit in front of the Empress. That would have been too disrespectful.

Next, either fish porridge or fish soup was brought up again.

In some porridge, the rice was still like rice, the water like water, and the fish slices were not even fully cooked.

In other porridge, the rice didn’t look like rice, the porridge didn’t resemble porridge, they had simply turned fish slice porridge into burnt fish cakes.

The Empress had a headache. Was this prearranged? Could fish only be made into fish porridge or soup? Why were they all banding together like this?

At this moment, she was full of regrets. She couldn’t understand why she had crazy impulse to let these people who had never in touched spring water make food with fish.

Fish was the hardest to handle. If not done properly, it would be filled with fishy smell.

Now, her entire mouth, nose, and throat were filled with the smell of fish and tasted bitter. It was utterly unbearable, and the smell of fish was everywhere.

She had never thought that eating could be so unbearable.

Occasionally, when a slightly normal-looking bowl was served, although sugar had been added instead of salt into the porridge, the judges unanimously agreed: "The taste is fine, it can be eaten, three points!"

Li Yunning, a talented woman in the past, had a high IQ. At least the fish porridge made by her was edible, so she simply didn’t make fish soup anymore.

Smart people have an advantage; they pick up anything quickly and know their limits. She saw the fish soup required the fish to be fried and knew that she certainly couldn’t do it well. So she focused solely on making good fish slice porridge. Hence, she came in second place and received unanimous praise from the Empress and the few madams.

As for Xiao’er, everyone just couldn’t stop praising her culinary skills.

...

"I’ve heard from the Emperor, Second Prince and Sixth Prince that the dishes at Rui’an County are so delicious that one can’t stop eating them, even the simplest white porridge and steamed buns are exceptionally fragrant, soft, sweet. I thought they were exaggerating, but today I was fortunate enough to taste the fish porridge made by the Countess of Rui’an. I then realized that they did not exaggerate at all. In a few years, my Yi’er will be very fortunate." The Empress was more and more satisfied with her daughter-in-law.

She can enter the kitchen, get out of the hall, earn silver, has a good Eight Characters birthdate, is versatile in both literary and martial arts...she’s just impeccable.

Having heard what the Empress said, everyone recalled the taste of the first bowl of fish slice porridge and fish soup. Their appetites, which had been nonexistent, began to salivate again...

It really was a matter of thinking about heaven and thinking about hell. There was no harm without comparison. Once the results came out, the madams who were both judges and mothers were blushing.

It was too embarrassing!

There was too little to commend, and the ladies at the table began to criticize their own children.

"Ah, it’s all my fault for spoiling my girl. She made a mess in the cooking class and let it go. I didn’t expect the food she made would be so horrible. Even as her mother, I couldn’t eat it at the time. From now on, I need to be stricter with her. Otherwise, it would be a disgrace to our family and it would mean I haven’t fulfilled the responsibility of a mother." The wife of the Minister of War thought of the raw fish slice porridge that was just rice and water, and deeply regretted it.

Although the others’ dishes were scorched and charred, at least they were cooked! Her own daughter dared to bring something half-cooked to the table. How could anyone eat it? They would surely throw up and have diarrhea!

"My girl is just the same. Every time it’s her turn for cooking class, she comes up with all kinds of excuses. Considering the porridge she made, half of it was black. I don’t understand how she could have the audacity to present it. The embarrassment made my face flush. In the future, we can’t let her get her own way."

"The soup my daughter Yu’er makes has such a strong fishy smell that I almost vomited. I was wondering which family had a child so stupid that they didn’t know to put some ginger in to get rid of the fishiness. The stupidest one turned out to be my own daughter."

"The child in my family used sugar as salt and turned fish slice porridge into sweet soup. It’s truly unprecedented."

"Turning it sweet is still tolerable. The one my Jiejie made was so salty it tasted bitter. I guess she put in more salt than rice. I only tried a little bit, but I was so thirsty. It took me several cups of water to feel better."

...

This contest could only be described as disastrous with all the innovative fish slice porridges being an appalling sight for the judges.

The younger sisters sitting next to their own mothers were so embarrassed that they couldn’t lift their heads.

But who could they blame? They had practiced making stews at home for a long time. Who knew that the Empress would specify that fish had to be used?

Although they thought so, they all decided secretly to learn good cooking skills when they went back. At least they had to make a comeback next year, otherwise, it would affect future marriage proposals.

"Girls who are good at cooking will make their future husbands and children happy. We are fortunate to live in affluent households, where we do not have to take care of any housework and the servants do everything. But we should not forget our own duties. When the husband and son are working hard outside letting us live a life where we don’t have to lift a finger, it is our duty as wives and mothers to occasionally cook a good meal for them, even though we don’t need to cook every day. So, these cooking skills should not be lost. The Empress did well in holding this cooking contest, and Marquis Shengping and his wife have done a good job in educating their children." The old mother of Marquis Zhongyong sighed.

Being the eldest here and the Empress’s birth mother, naturally everyone nodded agreement to her words, regardless of what they thought.

"Having a child who is clever indeed makes parenting much easier. I really envy Marquis Shengping and his wife. Their children have good character, are well learned, and I heard that their sons all study hard at the Imperial College. Basically, they understand as soon as the teacher teaches. It’s so easy to raise such children." The wife of the Minister of Rites thought of her youngest son who always makes a fuss about not going to school for having a headache. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm

"I’ve heard from my son that the two sons of Marquis Shengping are very studious, especially the younger son, who is not even ten years old, correct? He’s already in the same class as my son. Their teacher said that if the two brothers took the Imperial Examination now, they would surely pass as scholars."

The madams present were taken aback when they heard this. A ten-year-old becoming a scholar? There are still more than two years before the Imperial Examination, would they become the top scorer by then?

This won’t do. When they get home, they must rush to supervise their own children!