Lian Hua spilled out all the lyrics in one breath, finished speaking, and then couldn’t help feeling proud, admiring how her vocabulary had grown.
"Hmm, you praised correctly," the Emperor commented with a smile, feeling gratified. He couldn’t resist teasing, "Why didn’t you speak more at the banquet and praise like you do now?"
Lian Hua stuck out her tongue and playfully hummed, "Your Majesty, you are too naughty. Were you doing it on purpose at the banquet?"
While saying this, she tilted her head and looked at the Emperor.
The Emperor smiled, saying nothing, and signaled with his eyes for her to look at the courtyard.
Lian Hua, puzzled, turned her head to look and saw a group of people, led by Nanny Qi, all staring at them, which made her embarrassed...
Uh, it seemed like her praises for His Majesty had been overheard... Had she been a bit too ingratiating just now?
Regardless, every word of her praise for His Majesty was genuine, and His Majesty had said she was correct, so it must be right.
Thinking this, Lian Hua raised her head and puffed out her chest, walking towards Nanny Qi with a bit of pride, cheerfully shouting, "Nanny, where are our big mooncakes? Let’s eat, let’s eat..."
The Emperor watched his Little Concubine stride off proudly like a little rooster, cheerfully mingling and creating a scene in the courtyard—he was the life of any gathering.
He couldn’t help but smile and shake his head.
Recalling her words, he silently decided to later have Zhang Qing shake up the Imperial Kitchen and reform it; the food served at future palace banquets must be hot.
Unwittingly, Lian Hua had caused the Chief Steward of the Imperial Kitchen quite a headache; the menu for the palace banquets was always set according to traditional recipes and had always been this way.
The food for grand banquets had to be prepared in advance, and the timing of serving each dish was critical—it was a matter of life or death if there was a delay.
Thus, every grand banquet, the Imperial Kitchen would start preparations very early. When it was time to serve, palace maids and eunuchs would bring the food from the Imperial Kitchen to the banquet. Given this procedure, expecting the food to be as hot as freshly cooked was almost impossible.
Upon receiving the imperial decree passed down by Zhang Qing, the Chief Steward of the Imperial Kitchen was worried all day, frantically pulling his hair out until it started to thin.
Finally, one day he met Xiao Jizi, who personally came to manage some affairs. Taking advantage of their past interactions often involving free supplies of grain, oil, and vegetables, he lamented to Xiao Jizi and vented his frustrations.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Jizi pondered for a moment and thought, ah, this was just the kind of task his master excelled at!
His master was fretting about having nothing to occupy himself with and would certainly be interested!
So, he went back and discussed it with Lian Hua. Upon hearing it, Lian Hua indeed became enthusiastic to offer ideas for the Imperial Kitchen, wanting to contribute to His Majesty and her newly appointed sister in the harem management.
Eagerly drawing talismans, she drafted over a dozen design sketches and eventually helped the Imperial Kitchen create a small warming pot, with dishes on top and charcoal fire underneath, all at a low cost.
This move earned the boundless gratitude of the Chief Steward of the Imperial Kitchen.
Of course, all these events are a story for another time.
Right now, Lian Hua was busy sharing mooncakes, with Xiao Qing having just cut up a large one.
Unable to sit still, she first handed a piece to Nanny Qi; seeing Nanny Qi enjoy it, Lian Hua beamed with pleasure and praised the deliciousness.
Then, she picked out a particularly large piece for the Emperor, "Your Majesty, please try this mooncake. It contains walnuts, pumpkin seeds, sesame, and several other types of nuts, along with slices of cured ham—it’s savoury and slightly sweet, soft yet crunchy, and not the least bit greasy. The flavor is really delightful."
The Emperor looked at the mooncake held up to his face, feeling apprehensive; he had felt sick after eating the last few mooncakes last night and the memory was still fresh. Seeing another mooncake now just made him nauseous, and he had no desire to eat.
His darling Little Concubine was truly considerate, having specially picked out the largest piece for him... this...
Lian Hua held up the mooncake, staring at him eagerly, and urged, "Master, please have a taste quickly."
She was about to drool, and if he didn’t eat soon, she couldn’t hold back any longer.
The Emperor looked at the mooncake and her expression and really couldn’t bear to disappoint her good intentions.
Despite his aversion, he grasped her wrist with his large hand, shielded her view with his sleeve, lightly touched his lips to the mooncake in her hand, put down his hand, pursed his lips, and nodded as he directly praised, "Not bad, it tastes very good."
Lian Hua was just about to smile when something seemed slightly off. She suspiciously looked at the mooncake_Hey, was any missing?
But since His Majesty had praised it as delicious, it must have been eaten.
Perhaps the mooncake was not cut well and was already broken off—it wasn’t noticeable, so he must have eaten it.
She was about to encourage His Majesty to eat some more.
The Emperor, realizing her intention, coughed uncomfortably, quickly took the mooncake from her hand without letting her look further, broke it into pieces, and put a small piece to her lips, "Nannan should eat too."
Lian Hua stopped overthinking, bit into the mooncake, and ate it with satisfaction, nodding while smiling and saying, "It really is delicious."
What followed was the Emperor continuously feeding her piece by piece; as she finished one, he would give her another. Lian Hua ate with a satisfied face, too content to attend to anything else.
The Emperor was finally relieved, as Little Concubine’s attention had shifted, and he wasn’t obliged to eat any more mooncakes.
Later on, Lian Hua shared some fruits with Nanny Qi and the Emperor while they enjoyed the moonlight. It had its own charm.
Inside a side hall of a certain palace.
Liu Ying, keeping watch overnight, turned over, adjusting her position_every time she kept watch in one position for too long, half her body would stiffen.
As she turned over, she glanced into the inner chamber and suddenly noticed a faint silhouette sitting at the round table. She wasn’t alarmed; such sights were nothing unusual for her.
She stood up to look, peering through the palace lamps outside the window, she vaguely saw a familiar outline, and softly called out, "Master, it’s deep into the night; haven’t you slept yet?"
After a long pause, a cold response came from inside:
Liu Ying eased her mind and lay back down without saying anything further.
They had long been accustomed to the Master’s ways. He was affable to everyone in public, treating them quite well in private without shortchanging them on rewards, all in all, quite passable.
The Master’s private demeanor seemed somewhat distant, but how to explain that sensation_well, she couldn’t quite put it into words, but it gave her that feeling.
Since Changzai Zhou had entered the palace, Liu Ying had stayed by her side, yet she never felt she held a special place in the Master’s confidence, nor did she think anyone could.
The Master liked to keep things bottled up inside and wasn’t fond of explaining; she would think things through on her own, seldom sharing with them.
The Master had many private idiosyncrasies, such as disliking the night light in the room at night, and often preferring to stay quietly in the dark alone, not allowing anyone to disturb her_everyone in their hall knew of this habit.
The Master also tended to speak very little with them in private, unlike her talkative public self.
As Liu Ying drowsily thought about these things, she started to feel sleepy again, comforting herself with the thought that the Master was still quite tolerant, not one to fuss over these small matters.