Chapter 998: Chapter 54: Shouzhe Enters the Capital! The Storm Rises Again (Part 2)
These Spiritual Beef cattle, specifically bred and raised in the Imperial Family’s large livestock farms using special methods, are a unique breed developed through extensive domestication and improvement, fed daily with formulas consisting of Spirit Valley and Spirit Grass, with tender meat and abundant nutrition.
This exclusive Snow Pattern Spiritual Ox of the Imperial Family can grow up to the appearance of Tier Five and Six, with a fast growth rate and low intelligence. The Spiritual Beef produced is finely tender, with excellent taste, highly popular outside.
From time to time, the Imperial Family farms will sell some Snow Pattern Spiritual Ox at high prices to supplement the farm’s losses.
The Great Emperor’s dinner usually involves consuming six or seven hundred catties of Spiritual Beef, which, based on market prices, exceeds ten thousand Qian Gold.
Besides the Snow Pattern Spiritual Ox, the Great Emperor also enjoys eating some High Tier Spirit Fish, some Spirit Melon and Spirit Fruit, and may drink a bit of Spirit Wine when in a good mood.
This dinner often costs over thirteen thousand Qian Gold.
In terms of food supplies, Emperor Longchang’s annual expenditure reaches around seven hundred thousand Qian Gold. Plus, with each Spirit Treasure Pill costing one hundred thousand, he consumes twelve pills annually for refining.
Thus, the Great Emperor’s basic annual expenditure amounts to nineteen million Qian Gold.
Moreover, Emperor Longchang had long abandoned the upgrade, greatly lowering his own supply standards, only maintaining the most basic consumption levels.
Otherwise, based on the consumption during his prime or the supply standards for leading a campaign, the expenditure would increase exponentially.
This clearly shows how astounding the annual consumption of a Lingxu Realm Emperor can be.
"All five of you, join me and have a bite." Emperor Longchang chuckled, "If you like Snow Pattern Spiritual Ox, I’ll have the Imperial Kitchen prepare more bone-in Spiritual Beef."
The five little ones’ eyes brightened, and they nodded vigorously.
Grandpa, you’re such a kind-hearted person; what you said made them drool.
In the conversation, the serving eunuchs had already lifted the food box’s lid, revealing a heap of grilled Snow Pattern Spiritual Ox inside.
It’s evident that the fire was well-controlled during the roasting process of these Spiritual Beef; each piece is crispy on the outside and tender inside, emitting a rich roasted meat aroma, making them very appetizing.
However, Emperor Longchang’s face turned grim after just one bite, complaining, "Why weren’t these Spiritual Beef pre-marinated? They taste completely bland, did the Imperial Chef get his head caught in the door?"
Having lived for millennia, being pampered most of the time, he’s naturally become increasingly picky, with extremely high standards for food flavor.
The eunuchs trembled in fear.
It was Old Yao who braced himself, stepped forward, and explained in a low voice: "Your Majesty, the Imperial Kitchen’s Imperial Chefs opened the kitchen this morning and found that the Spiritual Beef we pre-marinated yesterday was all gone."
"With no choice left, the hastily cooked Spiritual Beef indeed lacks the flavor of previous times. Your humble servant is already investigating the case, and I ask Your Majesty to make do for today."
"Humph~" Emperor Longchang said in displeasure, "Those Imperial Chefs are becoming increasingly careless. They even lose the ingredients. This time I’ll let it slide, but if it happens again, I’ll have their heads relocated."
But because of this, Emperor Longchang, who is known for his pickiness, became a bit disinterested in food; he ate only half of the Spiritual Beef, then gradually lost his appetite and only ate some Spirit Melon and seventy or eighty catties of Spirit Rice without touching the chopsticks further.
This incidently benefited the five little ones, who happily devoured the food.
Indeed, like master, like pets. Despite being immature, their appetite and eating capacity were already quite astounding.
Soon, the five little ones finished all the leftover food, their bellies becoming round and full.
After eating, they didn’t forget to charm and serve Emperor Longchang with cuteness and affection, a skill they were quite adept at.
This cheered up Emperor Longchang considerably.
The following day.
Emperor Longchang, similar to yesterday, took them for a walk and handled some affairs before it was time for dinner again.
This time, however, the dishes presented made Emperor Longchang even less satisfied. The ingredients seemed hastily prepared, lacking the usual care, with a noticeable drop in quality.
"Old Yao." Emperor Longchang angrily barked, "What are you doing? Can’t catch a petty kitchen thief?"
"Your Majesty," Old Yao replied with cold sweat trickling, "The Imperial Kitchen’s array showed no signs of being triggered. The guards assigned for night watch saw no one entering or leaving. But the strange thing is, the ingredients prepared and marinated fresh last night vanished without a trace by morning."
"Interesting, interesting." Emperor Longchang chuckled coldly, "There hasn’t been a thief in my Imperial Palace for God knows how long, and now one dares to steal my food. Old Yao, once you find who it is, bring them to me. I want to see who possesses such skill."
Consequently, his appetite was yet again poor, leaving the remaining food to the five little ones, who feasted on it until they could barely walk.
The five little ones, with their bright blue eyes, were ecstatic.
Woo woo woo, the kind and approachable grandpa is such a good person~~~
The third day.
Because of the events of the previous days, Emperor Longchang had little mood to go for a walk in the morning and directly went to Zhuozheng Pavilion.
Old Yao guarded personally last night, so today is bound to yield some results.
Sure enough, as soon as he arrived at Zhuozheng Pavilion, Old Yao came seeking an audience, reporting: "Your Majesty, to avoid alarming the snake in the grass, I kept watch from afar over the Imperial Kitchen. But the entire night passed without the kitchen’s array being disturbed. When I entered in the morning, I indeed found the ingredients had been stolen again."
