A Foodie Transmigrated into the Palace

Chapter 582: Chapter 582: Perfectly Obedient

”Sister Ji, as I see it, the Empress Dowager doesn’t seem to have any schemes!”

”On the contrary, she really does seem to have aged a lot more than in previous years! The white hair on her head can no longer be concealed! Perhaps, when people grow old, they lose much of the desire to struggle and become more compassionate.”

Sister Ji thought about it and felt it wasn’t impossible, so she said, ”Even if that’s the case, Empress, you mustn’t let your guard down! After all... this is the palace, and one can never be too careful!”

The Empress just smiled. ”Sister Ji, don’t worry, I understand!”

Having said that, she remembered something and asked, ”Have all the yearly allowances been distributed to the palaces? Have the tribute gifts been divided up yet?”

During the New Year, various vassal states and countries would send congratulatory gifts or tributes. The Ministry of Internal Affairs would classify these tribute gifts according to a certain hierarchy. The best, naturally, were reserved for the Royal Family. The next best would be used as rewards, given to the Royal Clan as holiday gifts. The tier after that would be awarded to high-ranking officials outside the palace. However, even though they were called second best or third best, their quality was still top-notch. Certainly within the boundaries of the Great Chu Dynasty, such fine goods were hard to come by!

Sister Ji and Yu Lan laughed and replied, ”They’ve all been given out! But... there is one thing!”

The Empress frowned. ”What is it?”

Yu Lan looked at Sister Ji, and after the two nodded to each other, they said, ”The Emperor gave Consort Xian Pin an extra portion of rewards! That’s something no other ladies in the palaces have! Not even Noble Consort!”

One sentence made the Empress’s brows furrow tightly, and after a moment, she let out a cold laugh. ”The Emperor truly does have a special affection for our dear Consort Xian Pin!”

Yu Lan lowered her head, not knowing what to say.

Sister Ji was somewhat concerned and advised, ”Your Highness, you needn’t mind it. It’s not much, just a few pieces of jewelry! Far less than what the Emperor picked out for you personally on your birthday!”

The Empress snorted coldly. ”What do I have to mind! Favor is such an elusive thing, like a flower that blooms at midnight—beautiful indeed, but all too fleeting! As the Empress, I naturally cannot vie for favor with the concubines. It is more important to raise the Little Princess well and solidify my position! Back then, Noble Concubine Shih was so greatly favored, and now what? Hmph! What can a mere Consort Xian Pin do with her favor? As long as I make no mistake, the position of Empress can only be mine forever!”

The Empress finally figured it out. Of course, it wouldn’t do not to figure it out. Things had already come to this point, hadn’t they? If she showed the slightest bit of intrigue, the Emperor had his ways of warning her. What could she do?

Like the time when Honored Lady Cheng was pregnant, all she did was keep Honored Lady Cheng behind to have the Imperial Physician take her pulse. But unfortunately, the Emperor found out. The series of blows that followed... even now, the memory still sent chills down her spine! On her own birthday, the Emperor lifted Noble Concubine Shih’s house arrest. He also had Shih Jieyu name the Little Princess, and... he even forbade her from having more children, stating she already had a child!

Heh... an Empress, raising only an adopted daughter? Was the Emperor planning to prevent her from having a legitimate son? Not just a chill, but also a coldness in her heart!

The Empress let out a bitter smile. ”So, what moves can I even make?”

Honestly, she was now quite frightened! What is absolute obedience? This is probably it!

Sister Ji was also very heartbroken but, at this point, felt there was nothing more to advise. So she quickly changed the subject. ”Empress, the people from the Imperial Kitchen will come this afternoon to confirm the menu with Your Majesty. This year has been a bountiful harvest year, with favorable weather! Tomorrow’s New Year’s Eve feast must be lively and bustling to bring good fortune!”

The Empress sighed and nodded her head. ”Mhm!”

...

Qingya Residence was also bustling with activity.

Qiu Ye was diligent with her hands and feet all day on the twenty-eighth. She had cleaned up the whole yard, inside and out, top to bottom. She did not even skip the nests of Da Bai and Xiao Bai. Everything was spick and span.

Xia Ruqing looked on with satisfaction. ”You have worked hard!”

Qiu Ye, receiving praise from her mistress, was very pleased and said with a smile, ”Thank you for your appreciation, Mistress!”

Xia Ruqing looked at the honest girl on the ground and smiled as well. ”Because of the incident with Qiu Tong, I had my reservations about you, always refusing to see you. Please don’t take it to heart! Time reveals a person’s heart; I have seen all your hard work!”

Qiu Ye was utterly moved. ”Mistress, I... I haven’t been in the palace for long, and I don’t know how to serve people, but you haven’t despised me! Although I’m just doing menial work, you have neither beaten nor scolded me, and you make sure I’m well-fed; I’m already very grateful!” As she spoke, she kowtowed.

Xia Ruqing quickly said, ”Stop kowtowing and get up! Zi Yue!”

Zi Yue hurried over to help her up. ”Get up quickly, our mistress has always been kindhearted. As long as you serve her well, there will be no beatings or scoldings!”

Qiu Ye gratefully nodded her head, thinking to herself how lucky she truly was. She had actually seen with her own eyes how a few menial Palace Maids at Xifu Palace were punished by Lady Ying Qiu. Being made to kneel or stand as punishment was the least of it; sometimes they were beaten and scolded without being given food! The places they were hit were always concealed, not visible, and they could only swallow their bitterness. It was truly pitiable.

Xia Ruqing said with a laugh, ”No need for you all to stand there. We’ve sorted out so many items from the small storage room. Those that aren’t often used should be selected and divided among you!

”There are also a few quilts in my chest that I no longer need; those are for you as well!”

Her quilts were replaced every year; a concubine had no reason to use old quilts. Each year brought several new quilts, and her chest couldn’t accommodate them all, so she had to dispose of them.

”Although they’re old, I’ve only used them for a year, and they’re still ninety percent new. The cotton and the materials are all top-notch, far better than the quilts for you Palace Attendants! If you disdain them, well, I wouldn’t have much to say then!”

These words were a bit too modest. The few young girls hurriedly knelt down.

”Mistress, for you to say such things, how could we not feel overwhelmed!” Zi Yue was the first to speak.

Zi Su and Zi Ning also hurriedly spoke, ”We all come from poor families. When we were young, it wasn’t even about old quilts; the clothes on our backs and the shoes on our feet were all discarded by others!”

Qiu Ye chimed in as well, ”You are still better off; at least you had something to pick. I could not even find leftovers to pick! When winter came, we wrapped ourselves in whatever we could find. Without fabric, we unraveled unused hemp ropes to weave into cloth. Without cotton, we used bulrush fluff! It was heavy and didn’t provide warmth, rubbing our skin raw! But we had no choice; we still had to wear it. Without it, we would have frozen to death!”

The few of them added on, one after another, directly shocking Xia Ruqing.

Goodness! I thought I was poor in my previous life, but at least I had enough to eat and wear. I hadn’t expected that poverty in ancient times could be so horrifying! It’s a good thing I crossed over to the Royal Family. Otherwise... I would have to wear straw mats, which would be an absolute misfortune.