Chapter 5 So-called Beauty Difference

  Since ancient times, mothers have relied on their sons for prestige. In the imperial harem, the empress was the most important, but there was also the empress dowager above her. Although the empress dowager could not participate in politics, she still had supreme authority.

  This dynasty was even more embodied in this point, it is said that if an emperor did not get the approval of the empress dowager, he would be accused of unfilial piety and would be punished to kneel outside the gate of the empress dowager's palace every month until the empress dowager forgave him or passed away.

  However, Feng Changqing was an exception. His eccentric personality made him unpredictable, and his ruthless and cold-blooded nature made people tremble with fear. Yet, he was equally exceptionally talented, unmatched by the previous emperors.

  Although the Empress Dowager refused to see him, he did what a son should do, providing five times more supplies for the Empress Dowager than the Empress every month. He followed every single decree of the Empress Dowager. This time's hundred flowers competition was actually a selection process for imperial consorts, and almost all the selected candidates were chosen by the Empress Dowager except for Qi Lin. Feng Changqing settled on it without hesitation.

  Even so, Feng Changqing still went to the front gate of Empress Dowager's Changle Palace on the first day of each month and knelt for a whole day.

  As usual, an elderly aunt would take out the golden whip bestowed by the Empress Dowager and strike him twenty times on the back. However, in the past, emperors usually just went through the motions, or even used a substitute object to replace their own body.

  However, Feng Changqing has done all of this since he ascended to the throne, without a substitute, month after month, until now.

  So it also shut the mouths of people all over the world and left the high-ranking officials in the court speechless.

  At the same time, it also made Zilin extremely surprised, a strange country, a strange emperor.

  It's also an emperor who makes people feel heartbroken.

  If it weren't for today's visit, Yu Jin would have thought that Feng Changqing was just a vigorous and emotionally abnormal workaholic.

  It turns out he was still a dutiful son after all, no wonder he felt so helpless and resentful back then...

  "What? Which palace are you from? Don't you know this is the Empress Dowager's palace? You can't just come and go as you please, you bold and reckless servant girl!"

  Just as she was admiring, a sharp and fine voice came from her ear, and Qilin couldn't help but feel a chill.

  She glanced up and saw a eunuch with a sly brow and beady eyes squeezing in, his sly brow and beady eyes were due to his having a pair of fox-like eyes, which made him look like a failed transvestite.

  However, Qilin was not idle either. The fact that she was punished and sent here was not spread by Feng Changqing outside. That beautiful woman Liu seemed to have been treated in a way that no one knew about. Qilin also couldn't do anything about it.

  Xiang Jian Qi Lin respectfully came to the front of the eunuch, bowed and said "Reporting to Your Excellency, I am Ah Xue who was assigned to serve in Chang Le Palace today."

  As she spoke, Qilin took out the script given to her by Feng Changqing and quietly slipped a gold ingot into the eunuch's hand, accidentally touching his hand in the process. The excessive greasiness made her feel a chill, so she quickly withdrew her hand.

  This old thing looks so thin and frail, but it's got a lot of fat on it. It seems that the palace people have been embezzling quite a bit lately.

  "Please take care of yourself, Grandfather." Although I felt extremely disgusted in my heart, my mouth still worked its magic, and seeing the eunuch's smug smile on his face, it seemed like there was no problem now.

  "You're quite clever, I suppose your master is very fond of you." She said, turning around "Follow me, once we arrive at the Chang Le Palace, it's considered good fortune for you, but you still need to be careful and serve well, otherwise, if the Emperor blames you, even being a favorite of mine, the Empress Dowager, won't be able to save you. Do you remember?"

  Uh-huh, Qilin nodded, but received a warning cold hum from the eunuch, and only then did she realize her mistake and hastily responded with an "yes".

  "The slave is only stunned by the grandeur of this Chang Le Palace. Please forgive me, sir." This sentence is not an exaggeration, it's just that after entering the palace walls of about 10 meters, I realized what it means to have a heaven beyond the sky.

  "This is natural, but if you lose your mind elsewhere, be careful with your head." The eunuch said with a hint of reproach. "You also met me today when I was out buying things. I can take you to a good place."

  Qilin hastily thanked him.

  After a series of twists and turns, they finally arrived outside a grand hall. The aroma of delicious food immediately wafted up to their noses, stirring the appetite of Zilin's stomach.

  Gulu

  Qilin covered her stomach and blushed, fortunately without being discovered.

  "This is where you get off." He said, taking a step towards the gate, "Cough cough cough".

  Qilin's face turned red as she pursed her lips, and after his cough, people from inside and outside the house all rushed over. The slightly chubby man in front had a bright smile on his face as he welcomed them.

  "This morning, a magpie was chirping on the branch, and I knew that a noble guest had arrived. I didn't know it was the famous Lord Su. I'm truly sorry for not welcoming him from afar." The leading man quickly put on a smile, "Who is so bold? Lord Su has come without even reporting his arrival."

  He said, feigning a scolding tone for a few moments before continuing with a smile, "What are your orders, Sir Su? I'll go and take care of it right away?"

  Mr. Su nodded in satisfaction, he was still very pleased with such flattery.

  "Didn't you say the other day that there was a shortage of people here? I've brought you a fairly clever palace maid, don't say that this old eunuch doesn't care about the affairs of your imperial kitchen." He said, flicking his dustpan and continuing to say "She is..."

  "A servant with a humble name, Ah Xue" saw that Su Gonggong couldn't recall her own name, so Qi Lin quickly filled it in, flashing a professional smile as she took the opportunity to observe the people around her.

  It seems to be half male and half female, each with a shiny face, the men are strong and the women are pretty.

  I didn't expect the Empress Dowager to have a separate imperial kitchen here, it's really impressive.

  After a round of flattery, Su Gonggong was sent away, and Qi Lin, as a newcomer, was arranged to do some lower-level chores.

  The imperial kitchen also has three six nine, the largest is the head of Fang Zhuzi, followed by the head chef, ten men and women each. Next are the knife masters, twenty men and women each, with two people following a head chef. Then there are the food handlers, who distribute today's ingredients to each master. Finally, there are the helpers, washing vegetables and dishes and so on.

  And she is now picking vegetables, new people are always bullied, so facing a small mountain of vegetables, Qilin is very headache, and the person who let her follow is the fat woman who is sitting and eating melon seeds.

  She is the fattest here, with dark skin, but she insists on being called slender.

  "How slow can you be? Hurry up, I'm still waiting to use it." Miao Tiao was dissatisfied with Qi Lin's speed and urged her impatiently. In front of her was a small pile of melon seeds.

  Qilin spent the whole afternoon in such a situation, and it was still the kind-hearted palace staff who helped to finish it.

  Helplessly looking at hands full of small mouths, who would have thought that picking vegetables is also a skill.

  She poured out the last basin of dirty water and stretched her waist.

  Watching the dusk climb up to the sky, I just realized that I've been here for a whole day without accomplishing anything.

  However, Empress Dowager should be having her meal now, everyone is waiting there, and it's also a good opportunity to find what you want.

  "Finally found it." Satisfied with the recipe in his hand, he wiped away the sweat from his forehead and took out a pen and paper from his pocket to quickly record those things.

  As the saying goes, if you want to capture a person's heart, you must first control their stomach.

  But... Qi Lin wiped away her sweat from the waterfall of dishes, I'm telling you, fifty dishes, even if we only eat one chopstick per dish, it's still going to burst our stomachs.

  Looking at the old menu again, basically the same dish doesn't appear more than three times, in that case, it's impossible to tell what's going on.

  And why did she have to sneak back into her own palace at the risk of her life without anyone knowing?!?!

  "Master, you're back?" Seeing Qilin, Lüzhú hastily went up to greet her, worriedly saying "Hot water has already been prepared, and dinner is also ready."

  Qilin felt a warmth in her heart and nodded, deliberately hiding her hands, it was still comfortable in her own nest.

  But what?

  "Why haven't you left yet?" The Yu Puo who was thought to have disappeared, was now sitting leisurely on his own bed. Clearly he wasn't there when Qing Zhu was around earlier, this guy is really a ghost?

  A Piào smiled with satisfaction and looked at Qi Lin, waving the wine gourd in his hand, saying "Come here."

  Qilin shook her head fiercely, as if to say "no way".

  "Come over."

  Shaking head, even death won't make it go away.

  "Come over here."

  Shaking head, absolutely won't go.

  If possible, a big grey wolf is waving at a cute little lamb, super lovely~

  "It seems you like it this way."

  "You like it this way." If possible, Qilin really wanted to slap the damn Ah Piao in front of her to death.

  Just now, when she was shaking her head, Ah Piao suddenly flew over like the wind, pressed her acupoints, and took her to bed. Now she is staring at Ah Piao with an extremely stiff and ugly posture.

  "It hurts so much." The sharp pain transmitted from her fingertips made Zilin involuntarily cry out, and then her face flushed with heat. She lowered her head, avoiding looking at A Piao, and continued, "How did you know my hand was in this state?"

  I thought something strange was going to happen, but it turned out that this guy was just wiping his own wound. Is he here specifically to help himself? Qilin shook her head vigorously, isn't that weird? It feels like... it feels like they're boyfriend and girlfriend.

  Wait a minute, how did she come up with this idea?

  "Your face is red, have you got a fever?" As she spoke, she gently touched Qilin's forehead, but found that it was slowly sweating. Looking at Qilin shaking her head like a bell, she immediately understood what was going on. A faint smile appeared at the corner of her mouth as she leaned in close to Qilin and said, "Although Changle Palace is the empress dowager's residence, the treatment there is extremely good. The palace maids are all proud and arrogant, and those who can stay there for three years are all old foxes. Someone like you with no background or experience would naturally receive this kind of treatment."

  No experience? That's one thing he got wrong, but Qilin didn't want to argue, she just felt that this man, even if he was all-knowing, knew too much, although it was suspicious, thinking that as a person of Zixian, Zixian should have fully explained the situation here.

  This can be explained.

  For the next ten days, Zilin was studying the dishes of the Empress Dowager, but she couldn't find any rules, and her hands were constantly being ravaged. If it weren't for Ah Feng helping her deal with them every night, they would probably have grown calluses by now.

  "A Xue, you dead girl, where have you died to again?"

  While I was in a daze, I heard a loud roar outside the door, and Miao Tiao and the others had returned.

  "She's here." Quickly ran over, and coming face to face was a slender yet plump figure. Qilin almost fell to the ground, struggling to support the slender yet chubby body, and helped her onto the tatami mat, handing her a cup of tea that Ah Piao had brought from Yu Mu. "Please have some tea."

  Slender picked up the tea and drank it all in one gulp, completely ignoring the fragrance of the tea, raised her eyes to signal Qi Lin to help massage her shoulders.

  Qilin hastily went over, but didn't use her hands. Instead, she took out a wooden mallet she had designed herself from her bosom and gently tapped the acupoints that A Piao had mentioned.

  The slender and satisfied nodded, saying "Don't think that being a servant here is an easy job. You should know, we are in charge of the Empress Dowager's stomach. Only when her stomach is satisfied will our lives as servants be easier. This requires effort."

  "Yes." Qilin nodded, looking at the bowl that was brought in, followed by a series of delicious aromas.

  It is said that the leftover food of the master is a delicacy for the servant, even if it's just leftovers, it's still considered a great dish, so no matter how hard life gets, one won't cheat their own stomach.

  That's what they call "beautiful difference".

  However, each dish looks like it hasn't been touched much, at least there should be one that has been touched a lot to be considered normal, otherwise how can the leftovers support the entire imperial kitchen?

  Could it be... that the Empress Dowager doesn't like these dishes at all?!