轉碼失敗！請您使用右上換源切換源站閱讀或者直接前往源網站進行閱讀！Chapter 5: The So-Called Desirable Position

Since ancient times, a mother's status is elevated by her son's position; in the palace, the empress holds the highest rank, but there's still the dowager empress above her. Although the dowager cannot interfere in politics, she has supreme authority.

This dynasty exemplifies this point even more thoroughly: it’s said that if an emperor doesn't gain the dowager's approval, he would be charged with filial impiety and forced to kneel outside her chamber every month until she forgave him or passed away.

However, Feng Changqing is an exception. His eccentric personality makes people uncertain about him, his cruelty and cold-heartedness make people shudder at the mention of him. Yet he also holds unparalleled achievements, incomparable to previous emperors.

Although the dowager refuses to see him, he still fulfills what a son should do: every month he provides five times the material goods that an empress would have and fully adheres to her commands. The current selection of beauties for the imperial harem is essentially a process chosen by the dowager's approval; Feng Changqing accepted this without hesitation.

Even so, Feng Changqing still kneels outside the Dowager’s Changle Palace at the beginning of every month for an entire day.

Following tradition, there would also be a senior eunuch who would present a golden whip given by the dowager and strike him twenty times. However, previous emperors only went through the motions or even used substitutes instead of their bodies.

Since Feng Changqing ascended to the throne, however, he has done everything as required, with no substitutes; every month without fail, it continues to this day.

This made everyone close their mouths and left court officials speechless.

It also bewildered Qi Lin greatly—what an odd nation, what an odd emperor.

And yet, a heart-wrenching emperor.

If she hadn’t come today, Yu Jin would have kept on thinking Feng Changqing was just an energetic workaholic with twisted emotions.

Turns out he’s also a filial son; no wonder back then he felt so powerless...

"Hey Which palace are you from Don't you know this is the Dowager Empress's palace No one can enter at will, daredevil slave who wants to die"

While still in thought, she heard a sharp voice. Qi Lin involuntarily felt goosebumps.

Lifting her eyes, she saw a sly eunuch there; he was called "sly" because he had fox-like eyes, resembling a failed plastic surgery cross-dresser.

Qi Lin didn't dare to take it lightly, as Feng Changqing hadn’t spread the news of her banishment here. The Lady Liu seemed to have been treated harshly, and Qi Lin could do nothing about it.

As she pondered, Qi Lin respectfully came before the eunuch, bowed slightly, and said, "Reporting to Master Eunuch, I am Ah Xue who was assigned here today to serve."

Saying this, Qi Lin took out Feng Changqing's letter of introduction and slipped a gold ingot silently into the eunuch’s hand. She accidentally touched his oily palm, which made her shudder; she quickly withdrew her hand.

Old thing, though he looks thin, he has so much grease—looks like he extorts many palace servants regularly.

"Please take good care of me." Although she detested him deeply inside, her words were as smooth as ever. Seeing the eunuch's smug grin on his face, it seemed to be fine now.

"You seem quite shrewd. I assume the master you serve must be very favored."

Saying this, he turned around and said, "Follow me. Being here in Changle Palace is a stroke of luck for you. However, you need to be extra careful with your service. Otherwise, if the Emperor were to blame, even I, as someone close to the Empress Dowager, couldn't protect you. Do you remember"

Qí Lín nodded in agreement but was met with a stern snort from the eunuch. She quickly realized her mistake and responded accordingly.

"This humble servant is simply awed by the grandeur of Changle Palace. Please forgive this humble servant's indiscretion." This wasn't an exaggeration, for only after entering the palace grounds did she realize how vast and magnificent it truly was.

"Of course. However, do not get lost in your thoughts elsewhere, or you might risk losing your head," said the eunuch with a hint of reprimand. "Today is fortunate as this humble servant returned from purchasing supplies outside. I can take you to a good place."

Qí Lín quickly thanked him.

After navigating through several twists and turns, they finally arrived at the entrance of a grand hall where delicious food aromas instantly wafted towards her nose, arousing her appetite.

[Gurgle]

Qí Lín blushed as she clutched her stomach; fortunately, no one had noticed.

"This is your work station." He then stood by the door and cleared his throat.

Coughing caused everyone inside and outside to rush over. A rather plump man at the forefront greeted them with a beaming smile.

"Today, early in the morning, there was singing from magpies on the branches, and this humble servant knew that an esteemed guest had arrived; I just didn't know it would be the famous Grand Eunuch Su. This humble servant truly failed to pay proper respects," said the plump man with a quick change of expression.

"Who was so bold as not to inform Grand Eunuch Su upon his arrival"

He then pretended to scold someone before smiling again and asking, "What does Grand Eunuch Su wish for This humble servant will attend to it immediately."

Grand Eunuch Su nodded in satisfaction. He was quite pleased with such flattery.

"A few days ago, you mentioned needing someone here. I've brought a somewhat shrewd maidservant. Don't say that this humble servant doesn't care about your Imperial Kitchen."

Saying this, he flicked his whisk and continued, "She is..."

"This humble servant's name is Ah Xue," Qí Lín quickly interjected when she noticed Grand Eunuch Su was having trouble remembering her name. She flashed a professional smile while observing the people around.

It appeared to be evenly split between men and women, all with slicked-back hair. The men were robust while the women were petite.

She didn't expect Empress Dowager's personal Imperial Kitchen; this was impressive indeed.

After some flattering words, Grand Eunuch Su left, leaving Qí Lín to start doing low-level tasks as a new recruit.

The Imperial Kitchen had its hierarchy with the highest being the supervisor Fang Zhuizi, followed by ten male and female chief cooks each. Then came twenty male and female cutting masters, paired up with one chef apiece. Below them were the ingredient providers who distributed today's ingredients to each master, and finally, there were helpers like washing vegetables and dishes.

Currently, she was tasked with picking out vegetables. As a new recruit, she would be bullied, so facing this mountain of vegetables, Qí Lín felt overwhelmed. The person assigned by Zhuizi to supervise her was a plump woman who sat idly snacking on pumpkin seeds.

This woman was the fattest and had dark skin but insisted others call her slim.

"Why are you so slow Hurry up, I'm waiting to use them." Meiiao was impatiently urging Qilin due to her dissatisfaction with the speed, and in front of her was a small pile of sunflower seed shells.

This entire afternoon, Qilin spent it under such circumstances. Although she eventually got help from a kind eunuch who finished everything for her.

Helplessly looking at her hands filled with tiny cuts, she didn't expect that even picking vegetables could be an art form.

"Swish," as she threw away the last basin of dirty water, Qilin stretched her arms.

Seeing the dusk creeping up to the horizon, she realized that today had passed without accomplishing anything at all.

However, Empress Dowager should be having her dinner right now. Everyone would be waiting there, which could also provide an opportunity for her to look for what she needed.

"Finally found it," satisfied with the recipe in her hands, Qilin wiped away sweat from her forehead and quickly scribbled down those items with a pen and paper taken out of her bosom.

They say if you want to win someone's heart, you must first conquer their stomach.

But... Qilin embarrassedly wiped the sweat dripping from her forehead. Come on, fifty dishes Even if she only eats one bite per dish, wouldn't that be enough to make anyone sick

Looking at previous menus, even a single dish rarely appeared more than twice, making it impossible to discern anything.

And why did she have to sneak back into her own quarters unnoticed and risking her life!

"Mistress, you're back" As soon as Meizhu saw Qilin, she hurried over with concern. "Hot water is prepared, along with dinner."

Qilin felt warmth in her heart and nodded while deliberately hiding her hands. This place sure does feel cozy.

But...

"Why aren't you leaving yet" Ah Piao, whom she thought wouldn’t appear, was now leisurely sitting on the bed. She wasn’t there when Meizhu was present earlier; is this guy really a ghost

Ah Piao smirked and lifted her wine flask in front of Qilin, saying, "Come over."

Qilin shook her head vigorously. No way she's going to that.

"Come over."

Saying no with a shake of the head, she won't go under any circumstances.

"Come over."

Shaking her head again and firmly stating she won’t move.

If possible, it really could be a scene where a big gray wolf is waving at a cute little lamb, extremely adorable.

"Looks like you like this kind of setup."

"Isn't it you who likes it" If she could, Qi Lin would really want to slap the damn A-Piao in front of her senseless.

Just now when she was shaking her head, A-Piao suddenly flew over and pressed her acupoints before bringing her here. Now, she was staring at him in an extremely stiff and unflattering pose.

"Sigh... It hurts so much." The sharp pain transmitted through her fingertips made Qi Lin involuntarily let out a sound, then feeling the heat on her face, she lowered her head to avoid looking at A-Piao. She continued, "How did you know my hand looks like this"

She had thought that she would be subjected to some strange treatment, but it turned out that he actually came to clean her wounds for her. Did he come specially to help her Qi Lin shook her head vigorously; wasn't that a bit too weird It felt like... boyfriend and girlfriend.

Wait, why did she have such thoughts

"Your face is so red, are you發燒了" He said as he touched her forehead with concern. But what he found there was slowly sweating, then looking at Qi Lin's head shaking like a bell. His heart immediately understood the situation, and his lips curled into an unnoticeable smile. He leaned in towards Qi Lin and said, "Although Changle Palace is Empress Dowager's bedroom palace, its treatment is extremely good. The servants there are all proud and arrogant; only old foxes can live there for three years. Someone like you, without backing or experience, naturally has such a fate."

No experience He got that part wrong, but Qi Lin didn't want to argue. She just felt that although this man was powerful, he knew too much about the place here; even though she had doubts, she thought that since he belonged to Zi Yin, Zi Yin should have fully explained the situation.

That would explain it then.

In the next ten days, Qi Lin kept researching Empress Dowager's dishes but couldn't find any patterns. Her hands were continuously being abused, and if A-Piao didn't treat them every night, they probably would have developed calluses already.

"Ah Xue, damn girl, where did you run off to"

Just as she was daydreaming, a loud roar came from outside the door. Yao Miao and the others had returned.

"Here." She quickly ran over; facing her was Yao Miao's huge body. Qi Lin almost fell on the ground, struggling to support Yao Miao's obese frame, helping her sit down on the tatami mat and offering her a cup of tea that A-Piao brought from Yu Mu. "Please have some tea."

Yao Miao took the tea in one gulp without caring about its fragrance, then raised her eyes to ask Qi Lin to massage her shoulders.

Qi Lin hurriedly went over but didn't use her hands; instead, she took out a wooden hammer that she designed and gently tapped on A-Piao's mentioned acupoints.

Yao Miao nodded in satisfaction and said, "Don't think that being a servant here is an easy job. We have to cater to Empress Dowager’s stomach; only by satisfying her can we servants live comfortably. This requires effort."

"Yes." Qi Lin nodded as she watched bowls being brought in, followed by the aroma of delicious food.

As they say, leftovers from their masters are delicacies for servants. Even leftover dishes count as excellent cuisine; so even though it was hard work, they wouldn’t skimp on feeding themselves well.

This is what's known as an easy job then

But every dish looked like it hadn't been touched much at all; at least one of them should have had a lot of bites to make things normal. Otherwise, how could the leftovers feed everyone in the imperial kitchenn suspect us instead""Suspect" Setting down his teacup with a smile, he replied, "He’s already started to doubt."Otherwise, he wouldn’t have investigated Yumu and wouldn’t have looked into Zhili. Fort...