Before entering the palace, Shi Qiang lived in an inn.

Women in seclusion are not allowed to meet outsiders or go out casually.

Therefore, during her time at the post station, in order to avoid meeting outsiders and tarnishing her reputation as a candidate for the imperial concubine, she basically stayed in her room.

Except for going to the toilet, he never went out at other times.

After being successfully selected into the palace and becoming a concubine, she no longer had the chance to go out.

In the past, although Shi Qiang could not go out as she pleased when she was at home, she could still wear a woven hat and go out with her father occasionally.

The weimao is a hat worn by the Yeonggu people before. It has layers of veils to cover the woman's face. Initially, its length could cover the whole body. Later, as people's customs became more open, it was shortened and finally evolved to cover only the area above the neck.

Once you enter the palace, you may only be able to leave after you die.

Now that she suddenly learned that she could leave the palace, Shi Qian's heart skipped a beat, "Really...really?"

She couldn't believe it and asked again. After asking, she said, "It's not that I don't believe you, it's just... I'm sorry, I was too excited."

Her emotions were in turmoil, her fingertips were trembling slightly, she held the teacup in both hands and took a sip of the slightly cold tea. The cool feeling soothed her excited heart.

"I understand." Chu Qi said, "It's better not to drink cold tea. The weather is cold, take care of yourself."

She stepped forward, gently grasped the teacup with her bony fingers, and poured a cup of hot tea for Shi Qian.

"What should I do then?" Shi Qian gently touched the new hot tea, and she looked very anxious. Without waiting for the other party to answer, she suddenly sat back on the stool, dejected and hung her head:

"Forget it. I won't go out. If someone comes to Yanghe Palace and finds that I'm not here, it will be the end."

Hong Xing spoke up at the right time: "It's been half a year. Apart from Xiao Wuzi, has the young lady seen anyone else step into the Yanghe Palace?"

When he agreed: "..."

Chu Qi curled her lips: "Miss Hong Xing is right, no one comes in on weekdays, let alone during festivals."

Chu Qi told her plan: "You will wear eunuch's clothes, don't wear makeup, just keep your head down and follow me."

Shi agreed and nodded: "Okay."

*

The next day, Chu Qi had her ten-day rest day. Originally, she would rest all day to recharge her body.

But this time was different, she wanted to see the man who looked exactly like her.

Xingde said he was His Highness. In this palace, the only people who could be called His Highness were the princes, but looking at Xingde's condition, he was not treated like a guard around a prince.

Which prince could be so hungry?

She carefully looked through the original owner's memory and finally found a little information about the nobles living in the palace.

Living in Changqiu Palace, being called His Highness...

Then there is only one proton, Qi Chenli.

After all, he was a hostage from an enemy country, so the original owner didn't pay much attention to his news, but he could always hear a little about him in daily life.

In the original plot, it was heard that this hostage was lonely and helpless in the harem, with only one guard to accompany him. Even though Qi State offered so many tributes every year, he didn't get any good treatment in return.

Finally, the original owner accidentally heard from someone that a hostage had died in the harem.

Calculating the time, it was about half a year after the original owner entered the palace that she heard it.

In this life, Chu Qi is superior to Eunuch An. She doesn't have to work, and spends most of her working time killing time, reading books, practicing martial arts, etc.

The rare times she hangs out with eunuchs, she won't be able to hear gossip among them like the original owner.

By the way, Chu Qi kept his promise to the four eunuchs who had lived with him before and really did not forget about them. Instead, he used his position to pick easier jobs for them, thus severing their short-lived "roommate friendship".

By the way, if Qi Chenli really starved to death in the original plot, could it be that it happened last night?

If Chu Qi had not agreed to meet him last night, she would not have thought of going to the imperial kitchen to find something to eat, and she would not have met Xingde who came to steal food.

By then, Xingde, who has nowhere to hide, will be discovered by the imperial chef and others, and sent to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for processing...

No matter what the outcome was, Xingde would most likely not be able to go back to bring food to Qi Chenli that night.

Then, Qi Chenli might really have starved to death that night.

Thinking about it this way, Chu Qi accidentally saved Qi Chenli's life, so it was really fate.

I don’t know the original plot. If the original owner discovered Qi Chenli’s existence in advance, would the original owner’s fate change?

She thought about it and shook her head in her heart. Considering the extent to which Qi Chenli could be bullied and starved to death, even if he met the original owner, it probably wouldn't change anything. It might even affect the original owner's path to promotion.

The imperial kitchen also has a rotation system. The imperial chef who was working yesterday was named Zhang, and the imperial chef who was working today is named Liu.

Of course, Chu Qi had become a familiar face to both Chef Zhang and Chef Liu. With the help of Eunuch An, she would secretly go to the imperial kitchen to buy food when she was hungry, and the imperial chefs were all very familiar with her.

Every time Chu Qi made a purchase, she gave a proper tip. It wasn't much, but it wasn't too little either. A few dozen copper coins were also a considerable extra income. The imperial chef was familiar with Chu Qi and had a good impression of her.

Imperial kitchen, lunch time.

The palace maids filed in and came to take the masters' lunch back. Chu Qi, wearing an inconspicuous eunuch's uniform, blended in with them, came to the back kitchen openly, and handed five strings of copper coins to Liu Yuchu without anyone noticing.

Liu Yuchu calmly put the copper coins into his sleeves, put three dishes, a soup and a bowl of rice into the food box, and handed it to Chu Qi: "Why are you eating so much today?"

He asked out of curiosity.

Usually Chu Qi only eats in the Silijian, where he would be full by the end of the day. Even if he wanted to eat more because of practicing martial arts, he would never buy a big bowl of rice!

After all, this thing can only fill you up, but it doesn't have much nutritional value. It's better to eat more nutritious vegetables.

Therefore, she mostly eats vegetables when she comes here, and only has one bowl of rice.

"I want to entertain a friend today." Chu Qi responded casually while holding a food box, and then followed the crowd out. She looked calm as she walked up the path with a group of eunuchs and palace maids.

When she came to the next fork in the road, she naturally chose the road back to Silijian, but after walking for half a cup of tea, when there was no one around, she turned a corner and quickly headed towards Changqiu Palace.

Lunch, of course, is for Qi Chenli and Xingde.

Those two poor guys, they are so miserable that they can starve to death. How pitiful.

For some reason, Chu Qi recalled her first life.

In fact, she hasn't thought about her first life for a long time.

The longer she spent in the mission world, the further away her original world experience became.

But Qi Chenli’s situation of almost starving to death was very similar to Chu Qi’s situation when he was almost starving to death as a beggar in his first life.

That's why she remembered.

Perhaps it was because of this that she felt sympathy for Qi Chenli and decided to give him a few meals.

It's just a matter of adding two more mouths to feed, it's not something we can't feed.