Shocking! The entire court was drooling with envy because of me.

Fang Shanren waved his hand: "Since Madam Shen is so capable, it doesn't matter whether she listens or not."

"That's true. In my opinion, Madam Shen has a very high chance of winning first place in this cooking competition." Mr. Qingci nodded.

"That's right, Madam Shen is truly amazing! Her spicy strips are absolutely delicious! I support Madam Shen being number one!"

Grandpa He also spoke up.

The remaining judges echoed their agreement. Having tasted Shen Qing's spicy strips today, they were all impressed and were eager to try them again.

As he sipped his tea, Mr. Jin pondered to himself.

He originally had two or three candidates in mind as his top choice.

But after today, he felt that giving first place to Shen Qing wasn't a bad idea.

After all, Shen Qing is truly talented and has gained recognition from many viewers.

After Shen Qing wins first place tomorrow, he will publicly invite Shen Qing to join the Golden Sparrow Tower.

Needless to say, Shen Qing would be flattered to receive his invitation.

At that time, Jinquelou will have the most unique dishes in the world!

Jin Ye was getting more and more excited about it. He even thought about how to package the spicy strips and how to market them.

......

Shen Qing and the others chatted as they walked toward the Yan residence.

Before even reaching the gate of the Yan residence, one could see a man in official robes sitting on the steps in front of the gate, looking resentful.

Hearing the commotion, the man shouted, "Yan Wenli!! What happened to the promised money? Why did you run away again!!!"

It was Xin Heng, the Minister of Works. He was eagerly waiting for Yan Wenli to hand over the silver, but the man had slipped away before he could react.

He had no choice but to wait at the entrance of the Yan residence.

Was it easy for him? This was building a palace for the emperor!

Yan Wenli looked distressed: "Tomorrow, definitely tomorrow!"

"You said the same thing yesterday!!!"

"Oh dear!!" Yan Wenli was at his wit's end. "Even if you come tomorrow, I'll have to say the same thing: it's not that I don't want to give you the money, it's just that the national treasury doesn't have any!"

With the national treasury empty, he couldn't very well use his own money to make up for it, could he?

"But His Majesty wants to build a palace. If it can't be built, we'll both be finished."

"But I really don't have any money!"

"But His Majesty wants to build a palace..."

"But the national treasury simply has no money!"

"We must build a palace!!"

"I have no money!!"

"..."

At the gate of the Yan residence, the two started arguing back and forth.

Shen Qing was stunned and couldn't help but interject, "If you don't have the money, why build a palace at all? Isn't this just a waste of resources and manpower?"

Yan Wenli stopped talking and gave Shen Qing a serious look: "You can't just say things like that."

"Yes, that makes sense, but you can't put it that way," Xin Heng added from the side.

Yan Wenli nudged Xin Heng and sneered, "What you're saying isn't right either. What do you mean by 'reason'? Whatever His Majesty does, it's always for a reason!"

"Yes, His Majesty is right, but he won't take the money."

Xin Heng said in a low voice, his tone carrying a hint of resentment.

His Majesty is actually very wealthy. His private treasury contains countless gold, silver and jewels. He could easily build ten palaces, let alone one.

But His Majesty was reluctant to use the money in his private treasury and forced these ministers to come up with a solution.

He was incredibly unlucky to be assigned this job.

"If the national treasury is short of money, we can take it from the powerful and wealthy merchants in the capital," Shen Qing said, blinking.

She read a lot of time-travel novels when she was in modern times.

In order to curry favor with those in power and earn money, female protagonists who transmigrate often gather a bunch of junk and auction it off.

Those powerful and wealthy merchants, out of consideration for their reputation and face, would often spend huge sums of money to bid for some useless items.

In this way, the time-traveling heroine will have a lot of money.

This method should also work in our current dynasty.

Upon hearing this, Yan Wenli did not show any joy, but instead wore a bitter expression: "Madam Shen, do you think we haven't tried this method before?"

"The powerful and wealthy have been exploited to the point of developing psychological trauma."

"They have no regard for their reputation or face whatsoever!"

Indeed, their emperor is ambitious and loves to show off his wealth and power.

It was all about building palaces, holding beauty pageants, playing games, hosting banquets, and going on tours.

Moreover, they are extremely stingy and unwilling to take any money out of their own coffers.

Shen Qing sighed. Well, it seems there is a difference between novels and reality.

Since things have come to this, perhaps...

"Let's eat first."

"Eat??" Yan Wenli's eyes lit up. Eating was great! He loved eating, he loved eating the most.

"That's great, Madam Shen, you're right. Let's eat first, and we can talk about anything else after we finish eating."

"Minister Xin, come with me into the manor. Today I'll show you what true culinary delight is all about!!!"

Yan Wenli was so excited that he kept talking nonstop.

Xin Heng looked even more miserable; he felt that Yan Wenli was simply insane.

All they do is eat, eat, eat. As soon as they finish their morning court session, they rush to the food competition. They talk about food all the time, just like those things in a pigsty.

Serving in the same court as such a person was incredibly unlucky for him.

"I'm not going!"

Instead of wasting time on delicious food, why not think about how to raise funds and how to advance the work?

"Go on, go on. You'll definitely regret it if you don't eat Madam Shen's food. As for building the palace, we'll talk about it tomorrow."

"If all else fails, let's resign in advance and let whoever wants to clean up the mess do it."

Yan Wenli pulled Xin Heng up, eagerly anticipating Xin Heng being proven wrong.

He planned to make Xin Heng a person whose mouth was always full of food.

"No, no, I'm not going!"

"Go! Go! Go!"

They pulled and dragged him, and even Situ Liang ran up to help.

After all that, Xin Heng still managed to get into the Yan residence.

A group of people entered the kitchen laughing and joking. Yan Wenli and his wife were especially skilled, taking chopsticks and bowls.

Shen Qing calmly gave instructions, occasionally pulling out one or two seasonings from his pocket.

Situ Liang and Guo Tiancheng were responsible for preparing the dishes and other tasks.

For a moment, everything was extremely harmonious.

Xin Heng was stunned; he never expected Yan Wenli to come to the kitchen to help out.

"Minister Yan, as the old saying goes, 'A gentleman keeps away from the kitchen,' but you..."

"A gentleman, when dealing with animals, cannot bear to hear of their death, nor can he bear to eat their flesh upon hearing their cries. Therefore, a gentleman keeps away from the kitchen." Shen Qing calmly continued, "This ancient saying means that people should always have a kind heart and not commit acts of killing indiscriminately."

"It doesn't matter whether you go into the kitchen or not."

This statement has been misunderstood by many people.

Before Shen Qing transmigrated, she had heard many men use this as an excuse not to cook.

They are utterly ignorant, completely unaware of the full meaning of this ancient saying, and only smugly call themselves gentlemen.

How ridiculous that so many vulgar people presumptuously call themselves gentlemen?

Therefore, every time Shen Qing heard this, he couldn't help but recite the whole sentence and then explain the meaning of this ancient saying.