A Foodie Transmigrated into the Palace

Chapter 383: Chapter 383 Be Careful

After lunch, she took a nap.

When she woke up again, Hua Cha excitedly pulled her to try on clothes.

”My lady, please come try these on! These were just delivered by the Ministry of Internal Affairs; they say it’s this year’s autumn collection!”

Hua Cha nodded.

”There are four sets in total! All in the latest fashion and most popular fabrics!”

Honored Lady Jiang’s figure was average, neither tall nor short, neither fat nor thin.

It was unlikely that the Ministry of Internal Affairs made them on the spot. They simply chose a few ready-made pieces of clothing in similar sizes and sent them over.

Honored Lady Jiang took a look. The colors were bright, and the fabrics luxurious. In the past, she wouldn’t even dare to dream about such things.

But now, she could wear them herself.

Thinking this way, Honored Lady Jiang felt a sting when she looked at the items before her. All of these... were exchanged for something of herself!

She forced a dry smile and instructed, ”First... take them all away!”

She didn’t want to see them yet.

Hua Cha was stunned and called out in a daze, ”My lady...”

Honored Lady Jiang couldn’t bring herself to be happy and lay back down in bed.

”Take them away.”

Having said that, she turned inward and closed her eyes!

Hua Cha let out a sigh, feeling a sourness in her heart.

Her lady had suffered humiliation from the Empress and was feeling distressed. But what could be done? After all, an arm can’t twist a thigh. If one can’t resist, it’s better to live a little better. Since the Empress was arranging for her to serve the Emperor, it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing! And as for having children... It’s not so easy. Who knows what the future holds? Living well now is better than anything else, isn’t it?

Hua Cha sighed and stopped thinking about it.

Someone came from outside again. It was two Little Eunuchs from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, carrying a large basket.

Upon seeing Hua Cha, they instantly changed their usual disdainful attitude and started addressing her affectionately with ”sister.”

”Sister Hua Cha, these are Honored Lady Jiang’s rations. We have been very busy lately, miscounted, and didn’t give you enough!”

”We apologize for causing inconvenience to Honored Lady Jiang. Today, we have specifically come to make up for it!”

As they said this, they placed the huge basket in front of Hua Cha. The Little Eunuchs wore flattering smiles on their faces.

Hua Cha looked at them and scoffed. ”Oh, it’s you two. Who was it that insisted our rations were only that much and stubbornly refused to give more last time?”

”And you, when I went to collect rations, I was clearly there first. Why did you make me wait until the end?”

Hua Cha was a bit annoyed.

It took the Little Eunuchs calling her ”sister” over and over, for quite a while, to finally appease her.

In the end, Hua Cha was satisfied and accepted the basket, telling them to leave.

Taking advantage of her lady still sleeping, Hua Cha, along with Xiao Dengzi, cleaned the courtyard from top to bottom. Even the several pots of orchids in front of the door got thoroughly watered several times!

Finally, at dusk, as the sunset glowed in the west and half the sky turned red, Hua Cha and Xiao Dengzi admired the neat and tidy courtyard, thinking, From now on, we can finally live a good life!

Xiao Dengzi was also very happy. Not to mention, when he went to the Imperial Kitchen today, someone actually called him brother!

Heavens, this was the first time! This treatment... well, it’s indeed good!

Neither knew that Honored Lady Jiang was watching them through the windowpane. She looked at the spotlessly clean courtyard, then at her room, which had been refreshed.

She even began to doubt her own life.

Could it be that she had been wrong all along? Xia Jieyu once said, ’A good life is what one makes of it!’ But... to sell her body in service to the Emperor, to bear his children, she really didn’t want to do it! That man already has too many women. He certainly doesn’t lack one more!

Suddenly, without knowing when, Hua Cha appeared.

”My lady, you’re up?”

Honored Lady Jiang tugged at the corner of her mouth and suddenly smiled.

”Mm.”

When evening came, Xia Ruqing heard Xiao Xizi say, ”Today, I saw several Little Eunuchs from the Ministry of Internal Affairs heading to Lijing Pavilion, and they carried quite a few things!”

Xia Ruqing was skeptical. ”They carried a lot of things?”

Xiao Xizi then said, ”They were wrapped in cloth sacks, so who knows what was actually inside?”

Xia Ruqing thought for a moment and smiled faintly. What else could it be? Isn’t it just embezzled allowances? Who hadn’t gone through that period? Those days were indeed tough! Not only was it hard to get a good meal or a good sleep, but there was also the constant fear of others posing a deadly threat! I mean, if you are favored, you fear being harmed, and the same goes for when you lose favor. Your mind never rests for a minute. Eventually, by managing things carefully, she finally started living a good life. How bitter that process had been, probably only she knew.

Xia Ruqing sighed. I guess... Honored Lady Jiang has already boarded the Empress’s boat! Everyone should be more cautious from now on! After all, in the palace, one often can’t act independently. It wouldn’t be good if anything else were to happen!

Zi Yue and Zi Su both nodded their heads.

Xia Ruqing smiled, took a deep breath, and decided to let the matter go.

”Enough, don’t keep dwelling on it. We’ll just live our lives as we always have from now on!”

”Alright!” Zi Yue responded.

Not far away, Da Bai and Little White appeared from who knows where. Their fur, originally snow-white, was now stained in patches. The white fur was also in disarray.

Xia Ruqing was torn between laughter and tears.

”You two conscienceless creatures! Do you know how hard it is to give you a bath each time?”

As she spoke, she glared reproachfully at Da Bai and scolded, ”It’s all your doing!”

”If it weren’t for you leading the way, Little White would never cause such a mess!”

Da Bai stared at her coldly and, after a good while, lazily squinted at her like an arrogant CEO. The entire cat seemed to be saying, Forget it, I won’t lower myself to argue with a foolish biped like you.

Xia Ruqing kept a straight face and continued to scold, ”If you lead Little White into those filthy places again, I’ll take your... your...!”

Da Bai glanced at her haughtily. ”What will you do about it?”

Xia Ruqing was quite angry. ”Hey! You little cat, dare to oppose your owner?”

”How about it, if I confiscate all your dried fish, do you believe I will?”

Da Bai understood and then... cowered.

Dried fish was treasured food. Even if he didn’t eat it himself, he had to save some for Little White!

Seeing it lower its head, Xia Ruqing was finally satisfied.

”That’s more like it!”

With that, she ordered someone to lead the two cats to take a bath.

After the time it takes two incense sticks to burn, the two drenched cats were carried out of the bathing room. Xia Ruqing personally helped to dry them with a cotton cloth.

Only when their entire bodies were dry did Xia Ruqing dare to let them down to the ground.

”Let’s see if you’ll still be so mischievous!”

Little White was docile and sweet, but as for Da Bai... Xia Ruqing needed to give him a stern warning.

She hadn’t even managed to put on a stern face when the two cats rolled together once again.

Xia Ruqing: ”...”

Little White, you’re not so well-behaved either!

After playing with Da Bai and Little White for a while, Xia Ruqing washed up and then went to bed to rest.