Imperial Palace

In the south, autumn always arrives later than in the north; the ginkgo tree in front of Cining Palace has just begun to turn yellow.

The Empress Dowager rested on a soft golden pillow, while a palace maid knelt beside the bed, gently massaging her legs.

Next to them, an incense burner shaped like a purple-gold beast released spirals of fragrant smoke.

The Empress Dowager reclined on her couch, feeling an unprecedented sense of comfort.

She had married into the Eastern Palace at sixteen and had just given birth to the Crown Prince when the Crown Prince was assassinated by a mob while on his way to Jiangnan to manage flood control.

Everyone believed that her days as Crown Princess would soon be over, but the late Emperor, until his death, never established a new Crown Prince, instead passing the throne to her son.

After holding her breath for a full twenty-two years as Crown Princess, she was finally granted the title of Empress Dowager on the day her son ascended the throne.

Yet she still felt uneasy because there was still a Grand Empress Dowager above her, even though that woman was mad.

But now, in this vast palace, no one could overshadow her.

Perhaps feeling at ease in her heart, her voice lengthened a bit compared to usual: “Tinglan, do you think the one from Ci’an Palace has already reached Xizhou?”

Her chief maid, Tinglan, smiled and said, “Counting the days, she has arrived.”

The Empress Dowager’s voice was calm: “She is indeed fortunate; her son still thinks of taking her out.”

Tinglan knew what the Empress Dowager wanted to hear, so she picked her words carefully: “A madwoman like her can’t really be considered lucky. Xizhou is famously a barren land, how can it compare to the palace? If you ask me, the most capable and fortunate person in the world is still you, Empress Dowager. You raised His Majesty well, which allowed him to sit on that dragon throne.”

The Empress Dowager’s smile deepened, clearly pleased with this flattery.

But as soon as the Emperor was mentioned, she recalled the recent worries: “My son is great in everything except that he’s now infatuated with that little hussy with the surname Jiang!”

Tinglan replied, “That Jiang Concubine is plain-looking. His Majesty is just seeking a momentary novelty. Look at how the late Emperor favored the one from Ci’an Palace back then. In the end, he nearly granted her a cup of poison!

In terms of looks, Jiang Concubine is not even worthy of holding her shoes. When spring comes, there will be a new batch of beauties entering the palace. How could His Majesty still remember such a weed-like person?”

The Empress Dowager didn’t respond.

After she gave birth to the Crown Prince, it was only shortly after that the one from Ci’an Palace entered the palace.

The late Emperor’s affection for her was not an exaggeration.

At that time, the Empress Dowager found herself in a difficult situation.

To stabilize her position in the Eastern Palace, she had placed many spies within the palace.

She overheard a secret that the one from Ci’an Palace bore a striking resemblance to the late Emperor’s deceased Empress.

The late Empress died in childbirth while delivering the Crown Prince, and the Empress Dowager had never met her mother-in-law.

Worried that the late Emperor might establish another Crown Prince, she bought information from eunuchs serving in the late Emperor’s quarters, only to learn that every time the late Emperor summoned the one from Ci’ning Palace to his bed, he had her wear the clothes of the deceased Empress, imitating her behavior and even asking her to pretend to be the Empress, scolding herself as a shameless vixen and a worthless harlot…

The one from Ci’an Palace went mad due to such prolonged torment from the late Emperor.

In the end, she could no longer tell whether she was the late Emperor’s Empress or the beloved Consort.

She was a pitiful person, but for all these years, that pitiful person had been stepping on her head.

The son she bore made her anxious for decades, and now the Empress Dowager could not feel pity for the Grand Empress Dowager.

She fiddled with the string of Buddhist beads on her hand, realizing that the person was no longer in the palace, and her heart felt at ease once more: “Forget it. Since the Kun’ning Palace already has an occupant, let her take good care of herself and give birth to a Crown Prince. In this harem, who else can surpass her?”

Naturally, the one residing in Kun’ning Palace was the current Empress.

“I have heard that Minister Jiang will come to the palace today to see his good daughter. Inform the eunuch who will lead him to give him a warning: once Jiang Concubine enters the palace, she must adhere to the rules! As a palace concubine, she hasn’t even gone to the Empress’s palace to pay her respects. She truly has a lot of nerve!”

In the Hidden Beauty Palace.

Jiang Yanxi sat by the bed, slowly embroidering a royal blue robe in her hands.

Her looks were not particularly stunning, but rather pleasant, with a delicate nose and red lips, appealing and charming.

Her skin was as smooth and white as milk, but several ambiguous bruises on her neck were especially noticeable.

A strand of her black hair hung down in front, half concealing the marks, revealing them just enough to provoke curiosity.

The maid beside her advised, “You should have submitted to His Majesty long ago; he cherishes you the most.”

Jiang Yanxi’s eyes were cold. “Why should I submit to him?”

The maid thought she was just putting on a brave front and said, “Your clothing will be finished in a few days. When His Majesty sees it, he will be very pleased.”

Jiang Yanxi suddenly threw down the needle and thread. “Who said this is for him?”

The maid quickly looked outside and, seeing no one else in the hall, breathed a sigh of relief. “Your Highness, you shouldn’t speak like that!”

Sewing a man’s robe but not for His Majesty?

Wouldn’t that be asking for a death sentence?

Jiang Yanxi sneered, “I was dragged into the palace without knowing why. Now I can’t even make a piece of clothing for my father?”

Upon hearing that the clothing was for Minister Jiang, the maid felt relieved and urged, “Your Highness, why must you be so stubborn? Young Master Lu has been demoted to the frontier. If you want him to have an easier time, try to accommodate His Majesty.”

Hearing this, Jiang Yanxi pierced her fingertip with the needle without realizing it, blood oozing and darkening the robe.

She closed her eyes, a tear slipping down her cheek: “It’s I who have harmed Brother Lu…”

The maid was nearly in tears. “Your Highness, think of it for Young Master Lu’s sake and for yourself. Just forget him; do not mention his name again. If His Majesty finds out, what will happen?”

Jiang Yanxi closed her eyes as if resigning herself to fate. “Perhaps one day, he will tire of me and let me go.”

Just then, an announcement came from outside that Minister Jiang had arrived.

Minister Jiang wore a purple official robe of the third rank and sported a long beard, which made him appear even more refined.

The maid quickly exited.

Jiang Yanxi looked at her father and wept bitterly.

After crying, she explained the real reason for summoning Minister Jiang into the palace.

“Father, I heard by chance a few days ago that His Majesty was furious. It seemed like the Chu family had done something wrong, and I fear it may involve you.”

Minister Jiang said, “The Chu family only has the Third Master in court now. He is stationed in Yongzhou; how could anything happen to implicate His Majesty? There are many Chu family officials in court; my daughter is overthinking it.”

Jiang Yanxi shook her head. “I heard His Majesty say the name Chu Changping.”

Minister Jiang’s brow furrowed, and thinking of his daughter who had died in Xizhou, his expression changed dramatically.

Could it be that that martial man, in a fit of rage, had gone to retrieve Jiang Yanyi’s corpse?

He said angrily, “That martial man insists on showing off for a moment, dragging everyone down with him!”

Jiang Yanxi sensed that Minister Jiang was hiding something from her.

After some pressing, she learned that her legitimate sister had been secretly sent by the Emperor to Xizhou’s barracks as a prostitute.

Minister Jiang sighed deeply. “Our family is unfortunate; that rebellious daughter has always been wicked-minded since childhood. Now that she’s dead, she still stirs up trouble for the family…”

Jiang Yanxi didn’t reply.

She vividly recalled the day she had been set up by her sister and nearly lost her life to the son of the Minister of Works.

She had thought that her sister would only be punished by kneeling in front of the ancestral tablets.

After all, over the years, whenever she had suffered injustice, her sister had always received the heaviest punishment.

Yet she didn’t expect her sister to meet such an end.

No wonder Jiang Chushi had gone mad.

Thinking about her deceased aunt, who was often insulted by Madam Jiang Chushi even after all these years, Jiang Yanxi didn’t quite know why she said what she did: “Father, if His Majesty truly intends to punish the Chu family, I fear it may implicate you as well. Perhaps… you should consider giving Mother a letter of divorce?”

Minister Jiang was stunned.

He had been married to Madam Jiang Chushi for nearly twenty years.

Although they often quarreled, he had never once thought about divorcing her.

Seeing her father’s prolonged silence, Jiang Yanxi gave a bitter smile. “I apologize, Father. No matter what, Mother is still my third brother’s birth mother. It was thoughtless of me to say that. If His Majesty truly intends to take his anger out on you, I will do my best to intercede.”

Minister Jiang thought about how Madam Jiang Chushi had mistreated Jiang Yanxi all these years.

Remembering the warnings from the eunuchs on his way here, he felt a pang of sorrow.

“My child, I know you have had a hard time in the palace, and you’ve suffered at home as well. However, your mother has now lost her senses. If I divorce her at this moment, people will talk behind our backs.”

Jiang Yanxi replied, “I do not feel as if I am suffering, Father, only regretful. Now that I’m in the palace, I can’t fulfill my filial duties by your side. Father, Yan Hong is the maid Auntie left for me. She is long past the age to be wed, and I cannot take care of her while I am in the palace. She has even taken punishments for me when Mother was angry.”

She looked up at him. “Father, my only concern now is Yan Hong. If it’s not too much trouble, could you please look after her? I wish to request an honored title for her as one of your concubines.”

Minister Jiang hadn’t expected his obedient and sensible daughter to say such a thing and scolded her immediately: “Nonsense!”

Jiang Yanxi’s tone grew firm. “Yan Hong admires you, and I don’t want her to continue being ordered around. Treat her as if she were a freeloader at home, if you like.”

In the end, the conversation ended on a sour note.

After Minister Jiang left, Jiang Yanxi removed a jade pendant from around her neck, gently stroking it as she shed silent tears. “Mother, I will reclaim the honor Madam Jiang Chushi stole from you, bit by bit.”

The jade pendant was a keepsake from her father, supposedly a relic of her Mother’s.

Minister Jiang had told her that her mother had died shortly after giving birth to her, but Madam Jiang Chushi’s disdain was clear.

She often cursed her Mother’s name, calling her lowborn and despicable.

Jiang Yanxi was convinced that her Mother’s death was related to Madam Jiang Chushi.

Madam Jiang valued her status above all, so Jiang Yanxi would take it away from her.

Making her maid Yan Hong a concubine to Minister Jiang was only the first step.

---

Western Province.

As Jiang Yanyi and Liu Ji left, the guards on the streets were retreating from the governor’s district.

Shops along the street began opening one after another.

Jiang Yanyi asked, “What happened just now?”

Liu Ji, also seeing such a scene for the first time, replied that he had never encountered anything like it before.

“It must have just been a coincidence. Look, the tea houses and restaurants are opening again, aren’t they?”

He seemed afraid that Jiang Yanyi might change her mind about renting the shop.

After thinking it over, Jiang Yanyi realized she would be hard-pressed to find such a good price anywhere else in the province.

Liu Ji was right; other shops on this street were operating as usual.

She agreed to rent the shop, and Liu Ji, delighted, gave her a box of rouge.

As a chef, her senses had to be sharp.

She immediately noticed that the scent of the rouge was similar to the fragrance she had smelled from the merchant caravan near the city gates.

Could the rouge in Zhao Dabao’s shop be from that caravan?

Jiang Yanyi didn’t ask further questions, as it wasn’t her business.

After leaving the shop, Zhao Tou’er had to rush back to the east of the city to inspect the ingredients they had ordered, which would take quite a bit of time.

Jiang Yanyi wanted to do some shopping and agreed to meet him in the east of the city in the late afternoon.

After an autumn rain, the weather had turned much colder.

She had woken up several times during the night due to the chill.

She went to a tailor’s shop and bought two sets of thick clothes, one for herself and one for Qiu Kui.

She also bought two cakes of fine tea—one to thank Head Zhao for helping her find a place, and one for Chef Li, the cook, for his care over the past days.

Near noon, more people began heading out to restaurants.

Jiang Yanyi, seizing the opportunity for some market research, entered a busy tavern with her parcels and ordered their specialty dishes.

…..

On the second floor’s private room, several empty wine jars lay at Feng Shuo’s feet.

He drank one jar after another as though it were water, though his throat burned with the heat of the wine and he barely tasted anything.

He tossed the wine jar aside, his voice hoarse from the alcohol. “Waiter, bring more wine!”

The waiter, upon seeing the mess of wine jars, was startled, but noticing the man showed no signs of drunkenness, he quickly brought up several more jars.

Feng Shuo tore open the seal, chugged down more wine as before, only to spill most of it and cough.

It seemed… he could taste it again!

Initially, he thought the cooking fire at the military camp had restored his sense of taste, but he had already tested it that morning, and it hadn’t.

Glancing out the window, he saw a cook downstairs with a painted face, gnawing on a pig’s trotter.

Recognizing her military cook’s uniform, he identified her as Jiang Yanyi, having seen her several times before.

Feng Shuo’s brow furrowed.

He had visited the military camp that morning and didn’t see her there.

When he asked, the cooks said she had taken a sick day.

Yet here she was, in a tavern, devouring a pig’s trotter?

An absurd thought crossed Feng Shuo’s mind.

Could the sudden return of his sense of taste be related to this cook?

Jiang Yanyi was busy savoring her meal when she felt a chill run down her spine, sensing someone’s gaze on her.

Looking up, she saw the army advisor striding toward her with a strange glint in his eye, which made her uneasy.