A Foodie Transmigrated into the Palace

Chapter 224: Chapter 223 Consort Yun Pin Gets Beaten

Consort Yun Pin was so angry she was gnashing her teeth.

”Nothing but lickspittles, climbing up by trampling on others! Once I turn the tables, you’ll be the first to see what’s coming to you!”

Cai Die was on the verge of tears.

Thinking to herself, can we even turn things around, Your Grace? There used to be Noble Consort Shih looking out for us; even when we fell out of favor, we weren’t neglected right away. But later... I’m afraid Noble Consort Shih herself will come to mistreat us now, this... how are we to get through these days!

In the twelfth lunar month, another heavy snow blanketed the entire world in a single color.

In the Harem, everyone’s mood was different.

The Empress was busy worrying—worried about having no children, anxious that the Emperor had not been willing to visit for months.

The Noble Consort was busy recuperating, eager to recover from her illness and settle scores with the lowly ones who had wronged her.

The rest of the concubines also had their own troubles.

But Xia Ruqing spent her days comfortably. Although she hadn’t seen the Emperor for several days, no one in the palace dared to slight her from top to bottom.

After the twentieth day of the twelfth lunar month, the palace grew even busier.

Xiao Zhu Zi ran to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for three days in a row to fetch things.

Seeing this, Xia Ruqing smiled.

”Can’t you save up and go all at once?”

”Those are all things for the New Year; there’s no rush for us!”

Xiao Zhu Zi smiled naively, ”Running errands is all this Servant can do, and it’s always better to bring things back at the earliest opportunity than to let them pile up!”

Xia Ruqing nodded in satisfaction.

”Zi Yue, pick out two plates of snacks for him!”

”You’re too thin, eat more, grow strong so you can serve well!”

Xiao Zhu Zi immediately perked up.

”Thank you, my lady!”

Xia Ruqing laughed too. After all, he was still a boy! At that age, when one is growing, one gets hungry with any movement! A half-grown boy, capable of eating one out of house and home!

Zi Yue also felt sorry for him, so she picked out two plates of savory snacks for him. One was fried fish balls, the other was salt-baked chicken cubes. The finely salt-baked chicken, diced and coated in a thin layer of flour, was fried in oil until cooked, then sprinkled with salt and pepper to become a snack.

Sweet snacks can be cloying if one has too many. Savory ones are better; they have more substance, and the little eunuchs all like them.

Xia Ruqing asked again, ”How old are you now? Who else is in your family? Why did you enter the palace?”

This path, where one sacrificed manhood just to survive. Only those driven to absolute desperation would choose it.

Xiao Zhu Zi, remembering the teachings of the old men in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, did not dare to hide anything. He answered each of her questions in turn.

”This Servant is thirteen this year. My family is poor. My father, in his forties, finally brought home a simple-minded woman as his wife! That’s how... this Servant was born. My mother died early, and my father passed away not many years later! There was no one left at home! No house, no land, so driven to a dead end, that’s why I...”

Xia Ruqing sighed.

”Your father wanted you to carry on the family line, yet you ended up in the palace... Do you have any regrets?”

Xiao Zhu Zi hung his head, and after a long while, he replied with embarrassment, ”I have... some regrets!”

Xia Ruqing was instantly amused. This child, he’s so earnest, he couldn’t possibly be pretending, could he!

Seeing Xia Ruqing laughing, Xiao Zhu Zi laughed as well.

”My lady, do you think this Servant is particularly naive?”

Xia Ruqing stopped laughing.

”No, you’re very smart!”

In the palace, there’s one kind of smart called ’not smart at all’. And there’s another kind of smart called... being too clever by half!

Xiao Zhu Zi went on to say, ”At that time, this Servant was so hungry, truly desperate, that’s why I entered the palace! After eating my fill, thinking it over, I did have some regrets!”

Xia Ruqing laughed again.

”Regretting it now is useless. What you can do is serve well!”

Xiao Zhu Zi quickly agreed.

”That’s true! How fortunate that I met Your Ladyship! As long as I am fed and clothed, this Servant is content!”

Xia Ruqing then said, ”You’re really easy to satisfy!”

Xiao Zhu Zi rubbed his head, ”Contentment brings happiness...”

Xia Ruqing was amused again.

”You little eunuch, you really do know a lot!”

After saying that, she continued, ”Don’t worry, as long as you serve well and don’t betray me for your own glory, I won’t treat you unfairly, understand?”

Xiao Zhu Zi hurriedly kneeled down to show his loyalty.

”My Lady, this Servant was assigned to you as soon as I entered the palace, and I swear I have no divided loyalties towards you...”

Xia Ruqing quickly told him to get up.

”I was just speaking off the cuff... Get up quickly!”

Xiao Zhu Zi then stood up.

Just at that moment, Xiao Xizi rushed in from outside in a flurry.

”My Lady, over there in the plum grove, Noble Consort and Consort Yun Pin have gotten into a fight!”

”Ah??”

No way!

”The new year hasn’t even arrived, and the drama has already started? What happened?”

Xiao Xizi recounted the events in detail.

It turned out that after Noble Consort recovered, she had been looking to get back at Consort Yun Pin. However, Consort Yun Pin had been hiding out in Yaoyue Palace and not leaving. Noble Consort Shih still had to save face and couldn’t just rush over and start fighting directly. This morning, Cai Die finally persuaded Consort Yun Pin to go out for a walk to relax. That provided the perfect opportunity!

In the plum grove, Noble Consort found hundreds and thousands of reasons to mistreat Consort Yun Pin. Consort Yun Pin, having suffered unmerited disaster and mistreatment, could not hold back and fought back...

Upon hearing the whole story, Xia Ruqing sneered.

”Plastic sisters, they were never going to last long anyway...”

Everyone is the Emperor’s consort; who could really stand each other? An offer of undeserved help usually means mischief!

”Forget it, let’s pretend we don’t know about this!” With that, she instructed, ”Go close the main gates; no one is to go out today!”

”Yes!” Xiao Xizi and Xiao Zhu Zi complied.

It’s best to steer clear of such excitement. In the palace, curiosity can kill a person!

Thinking this, Xia Ruqing, carrying Da Bai, headed toward the vegetable garden.

In the snow-covered ground, the radishes and cabbages were growing well. The spinach was also lush and green, standing out beautifully against the snowy backdrop.

”The spinach that grows in the cold winter is sweet. Stir-fry a dish of it, sweet and crispy, it’s good for two bowls of rice!”

Xia Ruqing was pleased.

In modern times, winter vegetables were mostly grown in greenhouses. Without having endured frost and snow, they may look tender and have larger leaves, but they taste watery and lack flavor.

Xia Ruqing sighed.

”Really, the fruits that have been through frost and snow are the sweetest! Isn’t that right, Da Bai?”

Xiao Xizi and the others didn’t quite understand, but they didn’t dare to ask more questions.

...

Qingya Residence was peaceful, while the Imperial Garden was anything but.

Consort Yun Pin knelt on the ground, her hair disheveled and her clothes disordered.

Noble Consort was also somewhat disheveled, but her makeup remained delicate. She stood to one side, towering above, laughing coldly and hurling insults.

”Harlot! If you dare to harm me, you should’ve thought of this day! Did you think poisoning me would end it all? What now? Didn’t go as planned, huh! You thought you could replace me if I were dead? You really are dreaming!”

Consort Yun Pin knelt there, her eyes cast down, her gaze dark and indistinct.

Noble Consort wasn’t entirely wrong. She did want to free herself from Noble Consort’s control; she could never surpass her otherwise! The only way was for Noble Consort to die! But... but she had only ever thought about it. She... didn’t do anything!