A Foodie Transmigrated into the Palace

Chapter 743: Chapter 743 You are the Princess Consort

Ever since Ye Tang disappeared, Xia Tingfeng had been under orders to find her. After numerous setbacks, working day and night, he finally confirmed she was still alive and knew she had been captured. However, knowing this was one thing; rescuing her was a formidable problem. If they were on land, things would be simpler, but the enemy’s warships were adrift at sea. This greatly increased the difficulty of the rescue. Moreover, he had no idea where Ye Tang was currently being held. Any careless or rash move could lead the enemy to kill the hostage. This was simply... too difficult.

To assess the situation, he had no choice but to disguise himself as a Southern Ocean Soldier and infiltrate the warships, searching them one by one. However, this approach yielded little success. First, he was alone and couldn’t conduct a large-scale search. Second, the enemy possessed hundreds of large ships, each with over a hundred men scattered in various odd corners. He had to check every nook and cranny, the difficulty of which was unimaginable. In short, more than ten days had passed, and he still hadn’t found Ye Tang.

Xia Tingfeng felt extremely guilty. She had always been by his side, and he hadn’t noticed when she was abducted. He had been... too careless! She was an orphan with no one else to rely on; she trusted him as her elder brother. And what had he done for her? He couldn’t even ensure her basic safety. To think someone had taken her away right under his nose! This was simply outrageous!

The more Xia Tingfeng thought about it, the more agitated he became. He prayed they wouldn’t discover Ye Tang was a woman and mistreat her. Meanwhile, he assembled his subordinates to increase their numbers and expand the scale of the search.

Expanding the search, though simple in theory, was extremely dangerous in reality. Delving deep into enemy territory, one could easily be discovered. And the consequence of discovery was almost certainly death. In other words, those going this time must be prepared to die!

「Afternoon.」

Xia Tingfeng gathered a group of soldiers, already in disguise, and said with a stern face, ”You can still back out now. Once we enter the enemy camp, it will be too late!”

These men were from his Imperial Forest Army. They had witnessed countless life-and-death situations and were confident in their abilities. Instantly, they all declared they had no regrets!

Xia Tingfeng was inexplicably moved, but his expression remained stern. ”Good, let’s set out! Emergency contact via signal flares!”

”Yes!”

The men saluted and then boarded the ships.

「At this very moment.」

On a ship of the Southern Ocean Kingdom, in a small room, Ye Tang sat before a dressing table. The two maids had made her up to look like a frightful ghost! She looked at the woman in the mirror—face as white as a ghost, lips blood-red—and was so shocked she nearly fainted.

”Oh my, who is this?!”

The two maids immediately laughed. ”Princess Consort, it’s you! You look beautiful!”

Ye Tang frowned. ”You call this beautiful? Are you blind?!”

The two maids quickly smiled apologetically. ”Princess Consort, we are not lying. You truly are the most beautiful woman we have ever seen!”

Ye Tang was speechless and quickly changed the subject. ”I forgot to ask, where are you from? What are your names?” She remembered that when she had bathed last time, there were only a few coarse serving women from the soldiers’ mess hall. How were there suddenly young maids to attend her?

The two maids didn’t mind and answered directly.

”My name is Honger!” one announced.

”And I am Zizi!” the other added.

”We are all concubines kept by His Majesty. When he said he was going to marry a new Princess Consort, we were assigned to serve you!”

Oh... Ye Tang thought. So these were the women that old scoundrel brought with him! What a lecher, bringing women along even to war—how outrageous!

Wait a minute, something’s not right! They aren’t from the Southern Ocean Kingdom. This accent—how is it exactly like that of the Great Chu Dynasty?!

”You are...”

”We were originally songstresses on a flower boat. His Majesty redeemed us!” one of the maids said shyly.

The other maid quickly nodded in agreement, her expression full of gratitude. ”If not for His Majesty, we’d still be entertaining guests on the flower boat right now!”

Songstresses?! Entertaining guests? Ye Tang was utterly incredulous. This is allowed? Arubasi certainly knows how to enjoy himself! These two women are fools too. Don’t they know these men are Southern Barbarians? To forget the enmity against one’s country and kinsmen—this is a disgrace! If it weren’t for killing that old scoundrel, I wouldn’t even want to wear these ridiculous bridal clothes!

”Do you know who Arubasi is?!” Ye Tang’s face was stern and serious.

The two women shook their heads in confusion, paused for a moment, then nodded simultaneously. ”He’s a... a high official, right? And you are the Princess Consort?!”

Ye Tang was so angry she almost fainted, but she managed to control herself and continued, ”Do you know that he’s the Monarch of the Southern Ocean Kingdom? Do you know that they came here to humiliate our Great Chu Dynasty! They have grand ambitions, intending to launch a large-scale invasion of our Great Chu Dynasty! They want to oppress the common people and seize the lands of our Great Chu Dynasty!”

Ye Tang spoke with genuine passion. She shared the fervent spirit of a true patriot; even if it meant a noble death, she would have no regrets.

After her words, silence hung in the air for a long while. Finally, Honger cautiously asked, ”Princess Consort, what are you talking about? We don’t understand!”

Zizi also quickly nodded. ”Yes, Princess Consort, His Majesty treats you very well! He personally had all these things prepared for you!” After saying that, Zizi lowered her head, her face inexplicably flushing. She hesitated for a long moment before leaning in to whisper in Ye Tang’s ear, ”Princess Consort, there’s something else you don’t know... His Majesty is very skilled in bed! Better than all the men I’ve met before! Some men are finished after just a brief encounter, but His Majesty... he lasts at least half a Shi Chen...”

Ye Tang was... Completely speechless. ’The songstress, ignorant of her country’s ruin, still sings ”Backyard Flowers” from across the river.’ This poem truly speaks the truth. In the eyes of such women, what is nationalistic hatred? They follow whoever pleases them. This has never changed! Forget it! I have nothing more to say. It’s like playing the lute to a cow—utterly useless, isn’t it?!

Ye Tang huffed coldly and said no more.

Time ticked by, and the sky gradually darkened. Everything for the night had long been prepared. Those two maids locked her in the room and went to arrange other places. The bridal chamber, perhaps? HAH! Fools. I can’t rely on them. I’d better stick to my original plan: kill Arubasi, then kill myself!

Thinking of this, Ye Tang felt a surge of melancholy. She rose and walked to the window. Peering through the cracks between the wooden planks, she watched the sun dip below the sea’s horizon. She sighed deeply. What is Big Brother doing now? Will he... come looking for me? Perhaps he will, perhaps not. But it doesn’t matter anymore. As long as he can live well, that’s enough!