A Foodie Transmigrated into the Palace

Chapter 307: Chapter 306: Here to Fight Over a Man

One need only look at Honored Lady Liang and Honored Lady Li, who had served the Emperor, to understand.

These two were the newly entered Honored Ladies of Yaoyue Palace.

Since attending to him at night, they spent their days dreaming of running to the Imperial Garden, hoping to catch another glimpse of the Emperor.

As Lady Shih thought about this, her cheeks turned pink.

”Then... embroider a sachet!”

”Good idea, embroidering a sachet is great!”

Zhaoer excitedly brought out a book of embroidery patterns.

After Lady Shih had been selecting for a while, she pointed at a pair of mandarin ducks and said, ”Embroider this one!”

As the weather heated up, Xia Ruqing no longer fancied going out.

She emerged from her rather long noon rest and played with her cat for some time.

Then Xia Ruqing asked, ”Are you saying that Noble Concubine Shih has accepted Lady Shih? And even sent her quite a few things?”

It was not surprising that she was well-informed; the commotion was so great that the entire Harem knew about it.

Zi Yue, while peeling an apple, nodded. ”Exactly. Little Zhuzi said that Lady Shih ran to Ningshou Palace early this morning, her face so swollen from mosquito bites it was barely recognizable!”

Xia Ruqing sneered. ”Noble Concubine Shih is still as ruthless as ever when it comes to tricking people!”

Zi Yue continued, ”The Empress Dowager brought another young woman from the Shih Family into the palace. The Noble Consort must be feeling indignant, right?”

After speaking, she cut the peeled apple into pieces and placed them on a plate.

Xia Ruqing picked up a piece with a skewer and put it in her mouth.

The sweet juice filled her lips and teeth. Hmm, the apple was good.

After eating, she wiped her hands with a napkin and laughed. ”But... ’the older the ginger, the spicier it is’!”

”The quick change in Noble Concubine Shih’s attitude is simply due to some promise from the Empress Dowager!”

”Considering the current situation in the palace, it’s probably... a promise that if Lady Shih gains favor and has a child, Noble Concubine Shih will be allowed to raise it!”

Zi Yue thought for a moment and agreed. ”That must be the only reason!”

Xia Ruqing smiled faintly. ”The women in this palace are truly strange, every one of them scheming to separate mother and child!”

”Who knows, someday it wouldn’t be impossible for a situation to arise where they ’eliminate the mother and keep the child’!”

For those of lower status, life was such a tragedy!

How could I dare not compete for favor? If I don’t compete, should I just give it up to others? Don’t even think about it!

In the Emperor’s eyes, acting like a ’white lotus’ wouldn’t win his favor. A naive and innocent simpleton wouldn’t fare any better! So, it was better to be smart.

At dinnertime, Xia Ruqing had little appetite.

Almost five months pregnant, her cravings became increasingly strange.

She craved sour and salty foods; in short, she desired anything with strong flavors.

Once, she had Xiao Xizi go specifically to the Imperial Kitchen to get her a jar of pickled peppers.

She had the freshly picked garlic scapes chopped into sections and pickled them in it.

The taste... was truly something else!

Zhao Junyao merely frowned upon smelling it and wouldn’t even try a bite.

Lately, she had developed a fondness for coarse grains.

She specifically requested the coarsely milled type, to be steamed into homely steamed cornbread buns with a hollow in the middle.

When the steamed cornbread buns cooled and hardened, becoming almost like leftover buns, she would place a pinch of salt in the hollow, add a ladleful of water, and a few drops of sesame oil, then put them over a charcoal fire to bake.

She waited until the salt was baked into the bun, the sesame oil had soaked through, and the outer crust became charred.

Only then would she pick one up to eat.

Xia Ruqing had only heard of this method from her maternal grandmother when she was young.

She had never paid it much mind before, but who knew she would crave it so intensely now?

While making the steamed cornbread buns, the chefs in the Imperial Kitchen muttered to themselves, ”Xia Jieyu’s tastes are really strange!”

”Others love delicacies from land and sea, refined to the utmost, but she has to be different, insisting on eating this!”

If they made it poorly, their master would complain. But if they made it a bit more refined, their master still wasn’t pleased.

The head chef truly had it tough!

Zi Yue stood before Xia Ruqing with a distressed expression.

”Master, you’re not going to ask for steamed cornbread buns again, are you?”

Hearing this, Xia Ruqing’s appetite suddenly stirred.

”Mmm, I really do want some!”

”Zi Yue, have Xiao Xizi go and order the meal. Bake two for me today. Also, bring a dish of peanuts in aged vinegar, a bowl of hot and sour tripe soup—more vinegar, less spice—and some salt-roasted walnut kernels...”

Xia Ruqing listed them one by one.

Even Zi Yue was shocked. ”Master, how do you even think of these combinations!”

One dish is practically from the sky, and the next is from the depths of the sea! That’s quite a leap!

Fortunately, the Imperial Physician had not forbidden these foods.

Zi Yue shook her head and had no choice but to find Xiao Xizi.

Peace reigned in the Harem.

The new Honored Ladies, having witnessed the Emperor’s handsome and imposing bearing, all sought his favor and thus began to curry favor everywhere.

However, most of them sided with the Empress.

Even the two Honored Ladies living in Xifu Palace, right under Noble Concubine Shih’s nose, showed subtle signs of leaning towards the Empress.

So, the Empress had been in high spirits lately.

Noble Concubine Shih, due to the Empress Dowager’s words, had also temporarily put her scheming to rest and hadn’t caused any trouble.

This united front in the Harem pleased the Empress immensely.

Lately, the Emperor had been busy with state affairs and had scarcely visited the Harem.

On the fifteenth of the month, he spent a night in Jiaofang Hall, and the next day, he called for Honored Lady Cheng to attend to him.

The rest of the time, he dined exclusively with Xia Jieyu.

The newly arrived women received no favor at all.

That day, Zhao Junyao was sitting by the window in Qingya Residence, listening to the rustling of the bamboo leaves outside.

On a whim, he felt like playing the zither.

Xia Ruqing was a bit surprised. ”Emperor, you can play the zither?”

Zhao Junyao shot her a glance. ”The Six Arts of a gentleman, who doesn’t know them?”

After speaking, he shot her a disdainful look, as if to say, ”You’re the only one who wouldn’t know.”

Xia Ruqing felt chastened, pursed her lips without speaking, and leaned to the side, cradling her belly, to listen.

Under the candlelight, his slender fingers danced and leaped on the gleaming zither strings.

The sound of the zither was powerful and impassioned, reminiscent of a general clad in silver armor commanding troops in battle; it was also like a majestic waterfall plummeting from the highest heavens, its grandeur beyond words.

His brows would knit tightly at times and then smooth out, yet his expression consistently maintained a confident composure, as if he had everything under control.

He seemed like a born general, calmly seated in his command tent, absolutely certain of victory in the battle at hand.

Tsk tsk! So handsome!

Xia Ruqing watched him without blinking, sighing silently in her heart.

Alas! If it weren’t for your numerous concubines, I might have really fallen in love with you! But still... better just to think about it and let it be!

This man’s concubines could form a whole platoon, and new additions would constantly arrive.

Um...

But there was a silver lining to this.

She could not only admire handsome men but also beautiful women.

She recalled how lively the Imperial Garden was in spring when all the flowers were in bloom.

Each of these beauties was renowned in her local area, some even famous throughout their hometowns.

The selection process was like a distillation, concentrating them further and further, until finally... they were chosen for the Harem.

Xia Ruqing thought. Does this count as... gathering all the beauties of the world? Wait, my thoughts are a bit improper! I’m in the Harem to vie for a man’s regard, not to scout for beauties!

Cough, cough...

Xia Ruqing shook her head, casting aside these frivolous thoughts.

Then, she devoted herself to appreciating the handsome man playing the zither.