Chapter 3

Xiaoyue, the maid assigned to me upon my arrival, tried to comfort me.

She said the young emperor had personally traveled to Jiangnan to fetch me, leaving a mountain of memorials in the imperial study, and he was simply too busy to visit. I must not be sad, she insisted.

Sad? I was so delighted I wanted to celebrate with several extra lamb legs.

In my experience, the more the emperor cared about a woman, the more the other consorts watched her. I had no desire to attract attention the moment I arrived. If the young emperor stayed away, I could enjoy a leisurely life in the harem.

Unfortunately, I attracted the other consorts’ attention anyway.

Xiaoyue explained that although the emperor had many consorts, most were daughters former ministers had gathered and forcibly stuffed into his harem. He had never been intimate with any of them.

The time he had me tied up and delivered to my residence was the closest he had ever come to an eligible woman.

Naturally, the ladies of the harem concluded that his relationship with me was extraordinary. I had upset the delicate balance among their factions, so they declared me the common enemy of the harem and came to teach the newcomer some rules.

One day, while I was experimenting with a new dish in my little kitchen, I saw a rainbow cloud floating toward me in the distance.

Upon closer inspection, it proved to be a large group of consorts in magnificent robes of every color.

Dripping with gold and silver, they soon filled my receiving hall like a bed of bright morning glories. The pretty flowers cracked sunflower seeds and chirped their criticisms at me.

One accused me of putting on airs because I had not risen early to greet my visitors. Another complained that my tea was bitter and astringent.

Consort Xi, the longest-serving among them, declared that she would teach me proper decorum. Everyone agreed as if this were not my residence but their assembly hall.

In my earlier lives, their irritating words would have angered me. Now, I could not take them seriously.

Counting all my undeserved deaths in the harem, I had more palace experience than any woman before me. In a way, they were my former colleagues.

I looked at their young, lovely faces with affection and greeted them one by one.

I walked over and patted Concubine Li on the shoulder. “I hear you worry constantly about your younger brother’s marriage. Have you found a satisfactory sister-in-law yet?”

Just as Consort Xi opened her mouth, I took away her plate of sunflower seeds and ordered a servant to bring pears instead. “Your throat has always been weak. How dare you eat things that inflame it?”

Blunt-spoken Lady Hua could no longer sit still. She had barely said, “Mind your own business,” when I tipped up her chin.

“You too. Stop staying up all night reading storybooks. Look at your skin. I happen to have pear soup simmering with rock sugar. It clears internal heat and improves the complexion. I’ll bring you a bowl later.”

Her face turned crimson. Leaning close to my ear, she whispered, “Does it truly work?”

I patted her hand benevolently and assured her everything was under control.

The hostile atmosphere gradually softened. I went to the kitchen myself and prepared several specialties for my guests, enthusiastically pouring wine and filling bowls.

“Please, don’t stand on ceremony. I just threw a few things together.”

Spicy rabbit heads, prawns braised in oil, steamed perch, and sweet fermented-rice dumplings appeared one after another.

Amid clinking cups, I watched a drunken Consort Xi collapse against Lady Xu’s shoulder while Concubine Li and Noble Lady Bi played a boisterous drinking game. Consort Liu, the youngest, was sweating profusely as she gnawed on a spicy rabbit head.

Host and guests alike left thoroughly satisfied.

After seeing them off, I thought, Surely they will not return tomorrow to make trouble after a welcome like that.

The next day, they arrived even earlier.

Several palace maids followed each woman, all carrying food boxes. The moment they saw me, their faces lit up and they crowded around.

Concubine Li said, “Elder Sister’s spicy rabbit heads were so authentic. I craved them all night and simply had to taste them again.”

Consort Xi said, “Yesterday’s peach-blossom wine was mellow, with a lingering sweetness. I brought an enormous jar today.”

Lady Hua asked, “Who taught you? How did you become such an accomplished cook?”

In the lives when I refused to enter the palace, I had spent my time fleeing, sightseeing, sampling delicacies, and apprenticing myself to cooks.

After so many rebirths, I had traveled widely and learned many dishes.

The consorts had spent too long inside the palace and grown tired of the imperial chefs’ food, so they had set their sights on me.

Their eyes brimmed with expectation for fine food and wine. I could not bear to send them away empty-handed, so I rolled up my sleeves and set to work again.