Concubine Li stared at Chu Jiujiu’s departing back, her smile strained.

“This concubine will take her leave.” Beauty Xin was the second concubine to leave.

Concubine Li acted as if nothing had happened, warmly taking Beauty Xin’s hand.

“Sister, have you been painting lately? I wonder if I could admire your work.”

Beauty Xin smiled gently, “If Concubine Li doesn’t mind, this concubine welcomes you anytime.”

“Then it’s settled. I’ll visit your palace another day.” Concubine Li’s smile was full of goodwill, but it sent chills down Lady Li’s spine.

Watching their feigned flattery, each step a calculated move, one misstep meant a fall into hell.

In comparison, Lady Li suddenly found today’s Consort Rou more genuine and approachable.

The next second, she was startled by her own thought. Yesterday, Consort Rou almost poisoned her maid, Xiaoyue. She couldn’t be blinded by Consort Rou’s temporary kindness.

Li Fang Palace

Chu Jiujiu walked as if sparks were about to fly from her feet. As soon as she entered Li Fang Palace, she forgot about maintaining her cool image, muttering, “I can’t take it anymore, I can’t take it anymore.”

This scared her maid, Xiaolan, who was waiting inside, quite badly. She quickly went out to greet her, “Consort Rou…”

For the personal maids of the palace concubines, each time their mistress went out was extremely risky. They might be harmed by another concubine or the Emperor.

Chu Jiujiu bypassed her and collapsed onto the table, frowning.

Xiaolan thought something was wrong and nervously paced around her.

“Consort Rou, what’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”

Chu Jiujiu lay on the table, uttering a voice of despair, “My stomach…”

These two words scared Xiaolan. “Mistress, I’ll call the imperial physician.”

Xiao Kui stopped her in time. She looked at Chu Jiujiu helplessly and told Xiaolan, “Mistress is hungry. Go and tell the kitchen to prepare lunch quickly.”

Xiaolan breathed a sigh of relief. She thought her mistress had been poisoned.

“I want braised pork…” Chu Jiujiu mumbled in a daze, completely forgetting she shouldn’t use “I.”  She had a headache and felt nauseous yesterday, so she hadn’t eaten much dinner, and she hadn’t eaten breakfast today either. She was famished.

In their own Li Fang Palace, Xiao Kui and Xiaolan didn’t correct her self-referential pronoun.

“Is Consort Rou talking about Dongpo pork?” Xiaolan asked after hearing her mutter.

Chu Jiujiu nodded heavily, her beautiful eyes filled with a pitiful look that softened one’s heart.

Xiaolan felt pity, “This servant will instruct the kitchen immediately. Mistress, please have some pastries to fill your stomach first.”

Then, she quickly left the palace and went towards the kitchen.

Chu Jiujiu picked up a pastry and took a bite. She wanted rice, she wanted vegetables—she had no appetite for the exquisite pastries on the table.

Xiao Kui silently brewed tea in case she choked or needed a drink.

As soon as lunch was served, Chu Jiujiu used two bowls to take some of each dish and gave them to Xiao Kui and Xiaolan.

“Don’t just watch me eat, you should eat too.” Knowing they wouldn’t feel comfortable sitting at the same table, she didn’t force them, but they were also human, and at this time, with the aroma of the food all around, how could they not be hungry?

Xiao Kui looked down at the bowls filled with dishes, then at Chu Jiujiu, who was still talking about wanting braised pork, but only kept a few pieces of braised pork for herself.

“Mistress…” Xiaolan was both flattered and at a loss.

Chu Jiujiu took a bite of food, “Quickly get an empty bowl for rice. The food will get cold.” She urged them to eat quickly; the food tasted better hot.

Xiaolan looked at Xiao Kui, who nodded. The two said in unison, “This servant thanks Consort Rou.”

Chu Jiujiu nodded as she ate, her eyes fixed on the food in front of her.

In the side room of Li Fang Palace, Xiaolan ate slowly, reluctant to swallow each bite. The hot food was no longer cold leftovers, but a full bowl of hot, soft and delicious Dongpo pork and sunflower seed meat and other good dishes.

The amount of meat given to Consort Rou daily wasn’t much. In the past, they could only watch.

Xiaolan started to cry as she ate, “Sister Xiao Kui, Mistress seems different.”

Xiao Kui remembered that Consort Rou hadn’t made them kneel and wait today, and hadn’t been harsh on them. Looking at the full bowl of steaming good food, she was silent for a moment, “Mm.”

In Li Fang Palace, Chu Jiujiu ate her fill and strolled leisurely around the palace, slowly digesting her food.

At this time, the system’s voice appeared again: 【Host, please plant a “poisonous sachet” in Consort Hui’s palace tonight to complete one of the vicious female supporting character’s plot lines.】

Chu Jiujiu: “?” Poisonous sachet?

She didn’t remember this plot point clearly. It was probably the original owner planting a poisonous sachet in Consort Hui’s palace, and it was discovered the next day.

The original owner refused to admit it, but the evidence was conclusive. The palace concubines came to watch her make a fool of herself. Fortunately, the big villain only punished her to eat vegetarian food for a year.

After this incident, Consort Hui hated the original owner and joined the heroine’s camp, first eliminating the original owner, then Concubine Li, then… many concubines.

Chu Jiujiu propped her chin. She knew she couldn’t escape the task, but if you have a plan, I have a counter-plan.

She casually asked Xiao Kui to get an empty cloth bag for making a sachet.

In a short while, she held a brand-new empty sachet bag in her hand. She then asked Xiao Kui to prepare paper, pen, and ink, and busied herself at the table alone.

Seeing her back turned to them, she seemed to be stuffing something into the sachet.

Xiao Kui and Xiaolan exchanged glances. They didn’t know what she was doing.

When Chu Jiujiu tied a beautiful bow on the sachet, she mysteriously called Xiaolan.

“Xiaolan, come here.” After these two days, Xiao Kui was very steady. Originally, she would have been more at ease entrusting this matter to her.