The next morning, Qi Daiyu was still immersed in her dreams when she heard movement.
Why was Shiliu waking her up so early today...
She struggled to open her eyes and, in her drowsiness, saw unfamiliar palace maids assisting Jiang Yuan with dressing and washing.
Qi Daiyu jolted awake and sat up abruptly.
The emperor was leaving for court, and the unfamiliar maids must be from the Qianqing Palace...
Several thoughts flashed through her mind in an instant. Qi Daiyu blinked—should she get up now to help as well?
Jiang Yuan caught her movement out of the corner of his eye and snapped, "No need for you."
After a sleepless night, he was in no mood for pleasantries.
Urging the maids to work faster, he strode out of Yanqing Residence without a backward glance.
What was wrong with him? Qi Daiyu was puzzled, but she didn’t dwell on it. Seeing that it was still early, she flopped back down and pulled the covers over her head to continue sleeping.
When she woke again, it was already 6:30 in the morning.
While Qi Daiyu freshened up, Shiliu and Putao went to tidy the bed, both wearing faint smiles.
Nothing had happened last night...
Shiliu thought to herself—it seemed His Majesty was satisfied with her mistress. She wondered when they’d be blessed with a little heir.
Putao, on the other hand, assumed she’d been mistaken earlier—no embarrassing incident had occurred.
Neither of the inexperienced maids noticed that their mistress’s bed, aside from the usual wrinkles from sleep, was spotlessly clean...
The morning greetings passed uneventfully, save for a few passive-aggressive remarks from Concubine Miao at the end.
But Concubine Miao seemed out of sorts, her jibes lacking their usual bite, leaving Qi Daiyu unable to even feign illness convincingly.
Back at Yanqing Residence, Qi Daiyu resumed her work on the "beauty cream" until midday, when Little Cheng came to report: Noble Lady Qin had arrived.
Qi Daiyu was startled—she’d assumed Noble Lady Qin’s earlier mention of visiting was just a jest, but here she was!
She quickly washed her hands and went to greet her.
Stepping outside, she saw Noble Lady Qin standing with her arms crossed, gazing up at the osmanthus tree in the courtyard.
It was the season for osmanthus blossoms, and this tree was heavy with golden buds, their fragrance light and pleasant, not overwhelming.
"Noble Lady Qin, greetings," Qi Daiyu said, curtsying.
Noble Lady Qin pulled her up with enthusiasm. "Let’s make osmanthus cakes!"
"Huh?" The abrupt suggestion left Qi Daiyu momentarily speechless.
"Or osmanthus pudding! No wonder I’ve been catching whiffs of osmanthus around the palace lately—it’s from your tree!" Noble Lady Qin circled the tree excitedly.
Her Qixiang Palace was just in front of Changchun Palace, close enough for the scent to drift over.
"This humble one doesn’t have a private kitchen..." Qi Daiyu demurred, reluctant to engage too much with fellow consorts.
Noble Lady Qin waved it off. "No matter! My palace has one. Come with me!"
Without waiting for a reply, she dragged Qi Daiyu along.
Though they’d spoken of osmanthus cakes, they wouldn’t use blossoms from Yanqing Residence’s tree. Seasonal treats like osmanthus cakes, pastries, and pudding were common this time of year, and the imperial kitchens always kept cleaned osmanthus flowers on hand. Noble Lady Qin sent someone to fetch some.
This was Qi Daiyu’s first visit to Qixiang Palace, and she couldn’t help looking around.
The palace was similar in size to Changchun Palace but decorated differently—Qixiang was more open and airy, while Changchun was more refined.
Like Qi Daiyu, Noble Lady Qin, not yet a full concubine, resided in a side hall.
Her private kitchen, however, was a gift from the emperor.
Noble Lady Qin loved food—eating it, studying it—and though her obsession had led to some embarrassing incidents, her lively, straightforward nature had won the emperor’s favor. Rumor had it that once, when His Majesty developed blisters from stress and refused even the Dowager Empress’s meals, the empress had turned to Noble Lady Qin for help. The dishes she prepared were the only ones the emperor would eat.
Thus, the private kitchen in Qixiang Palace remained.
"Should I go instruct the cooks, or would you like to join me?" Noble Lady Qin asked.
Uncomfortable waiting alone in someone else’s quarters, Qi Daiyu said, "I’ll come."
"Excellent!"
Noble Lady Qin led her to the kitchen—a converted room in the rear servants’ quarters, staffed by one cook and two assisting maids.
The osmanthus had already been delivered, and the cook was kneading dough. She hurriedly bowed when she saw them.
Noble Lady Qin motioned for her to continue and inspected the osmanthus, muttering, "Cakes or pudding? We just had lunch, so nothing too heavy. Pudding’s best with ice, but it’s too early in the season for that..."
While she deliberated, Qi Daiyu surveyed the kitchen. Upon entering, she’d caught a faint, tantalizing whiff of spice. Her eyes landed on a large sieve in the corner, piled high with vibrant red dried chilies. Just the sight made her mouth water.
"Noble Lady Qi, what do you think?" Noble Lady Qin turned and followed her gaze. "Do you like spicy food?"
Qi Daiyu nodded. In her past life, she’d been a spice fiend.
Noble Lady Qin clapped her hands. "How rare! Finally, someone who appreciates real heat! But can you handle it? Don’t just say yes to please me—if you only tolerate a mild kick, that doesn’t count."
Qi Daiyu then learned that Noble Lady Qin was from Shu (modern Sichuan), where spice tolerance was legendary. These chilies were locally sourced, sent by her family after she’d secured her kitchen, and sun-dried using a secret method for maximum potency.
She planned to use them with spices to create a broth for hot pot.
Qi Daiyu’s eyes lit up. "Beef tallow hot pot?" She nearly drooled at the thought.
"Beef tallow hot pot?" Noble Lady Qin mirrored her excitement. "We’ve always called it ‘bo-xia-gong,’ but ‘hot pot’ fits perfectly! But beef tallow as a base? I’ve never tried that. It’s rich—imagine the depth it’d add to the spices! And it can be reused, so the broth wouldn’t go to waste after one meal!"
She grew more animated. "I never took you for a fellow gourmet!"
Qi Daiyu: "..." Well, she’d only remembered belatedly that beef tallow hot pot wasn’t yet a thing here.
"Today? No, today’s too rushed. Once the tallow base is ready in a few days, I’ll invite you back!" Noble Lady Qin looked at Qi Daiyu like she’d discovered a treasure. "Now, about the osmanthus—any ideas?"
"Uh," Qi Daiyu blurted out the first thing that came to mind, "osmanthus glutinous rice balls with fermented wine?"
"Osmanthus! Fermented wine! Rice balls!" Noble Lady Qin clapped again. "Why didn’t I think of combining these? I’ve had fermented wine—a Jiangnan delicacy—but paired with osmanthus? Divine! And rice balls... like tangyuan?"
Qi Daiyu: "Smaller ones, about the size of a fingertip."
"Brilliant! That’s today’s menu!" Noble Lady Qin dashed off to relay instructions to the cook.
Noble Lady Qin loved to eat, yet she rarely stepped into the kitchen herself. Even if she didn’t mind, the palace servants wouldn’t dare let her cook. So after carefully explaining her requirements to the kitchen staff, the two of them left the kitchen.
As soon as they stepped outside, Noble Lady Qin turned to Qi Daiyu with a smile.
Qi Daiyu looked at her, puzzled.
Noble Lady Qin couldn’t contain her laughter.
"I truly never expected you to be this kind of person."
What kind of person was she?
Noble Lady Qin continued, "I’ve visited the palaces of many imperial consorts, and quite a few have come to mine as well. But not a single one was willing to accompany me to the kitchen—some even found it dirty and advised me to go less often. Yet you don’t mind at all. You even shared new and interesting dishes with me. Do you know that any recipe in this palace could become a clever trick to win favor?"
Recipes for food were still recipes.
This was something Qi Daiyu hadn’t considered. She had no intention of competing for favor, and those recipes were useless to her anyway. If she wanted to eat something, she could just order takeout.
"To be honest, I didn’t like you at first," Noble Lady Qin admitted bluntly. "Do you remember? When you first fell ill, I went to visit you. At the time, I thought since we lived close by and you were bedridden all day with no one to talk to, you must be terribly bored. I’m a chatterbox, so I figured I could keep you company. But that afternoon, you cried the entire time—so much that it gave me a headache. I never dared visit again."
Noble Lady Qin couldn’t stand people crying. Back then, Qi Daiyu had been utterly gloomy, and being around her drained all the joy out of the air. After that day, Noble Lady Qin never set foot in Yanqing Residence again.
"That’s why, when I saw you at the morning greetings yesterday, I said you looked radiant," Noble Lady Qin remarked with a sigh. "This is so much better. Life is short—why wallow in self-pity?"
Qi Daiyu didn’t respond to that. Everyone else could criticize the original owner of this body, but she couldn’t. Having inherited her memories, Qi Daiyu wouldn’t speak a single ill word about her. Imagine someone confined to bed day after day, deprived of sunlight, relying on others for even the most basic needs, stripped of dignity, and seeing no hope for the future—how could anyone expect such a person to stay cheerful? The original owner’s suffering was hers alone to bear.
But since no one could truly understand another’s pain, Qi Daiyu didn’t argue with Noble Lady Qin.
Still, she found Noble Lady Qin quite fascinating.
Unlike any other woman she’d met in this era, Noble Lady Qin was unexpectedly different.
Conversing with her was effortless.
Just talking about food alone, the two of them could go on endlessly.
Noble Lady Qin told Qi Daiyu about the countless delicious dishes from her hometown, though most were quite spicy—something few in the palace could handle.
She even mentioned that the Emperor enjoyed spicy food too, though his stomach couldn’t tolerate it. Every time he ate something spicy, he’d suffer for days. Noble Lady Qin scoffed, "And that was the mildest possible level of spice!"
Qi Daiyu, thinking of her current physical condition, guiltily touched her nose. "I’m afraid I can’t handle too much spice either. How about we have a split pot?" If nothing else, she could always opt for the tomato broth.
If she remembered correctly, foreign missionaries had already introduced tomatoes to the dynasty by this time—though not as food, but as ornamental plants.
"Foreign persimmons? You mean the June persimmons? Those things are edible?" Noble Lady Qin’s eyes lit up again.
