The cold wind swirled in the yard, pulling away the last dead leaf on the old tung tree.

Honeysuckle carried the food box and trotted back to Yongning Palace.

Compared with other palaces in the harem, this place was secluded and remote, and the furnishings in the palace were also a bit simple.

A charcoal stove made the room barely warm.

Yan Shu was roasting by the charcoal stove. When she saw her coming back, she immediately asked, "What are you eating today?"

Ren Dong took out the food from the lunch box one by one and said, "There are stuffed mushrooms, roasted duck with bamboo shoots, stir-fried vegetables, eight-treasure tofu, and yes, we have Laba today, and Laba porridge!"

Yan Shu followed her to the table and said, "I like stuffed mushrooms the most. The Laba porridge in the palace is also delicious, not bad!"

Before she finished speaking, she took a bite of a stuffed mushroom filled with three fresh meats.

Hmm, it's delicious and juicy. The meat filling is fragrant and glutinous, and the mushrooms have a slightly chewy texture. It's the best to eat with rice!

Of course, this is also thanks to Ren Dong's agility. If he walked too slowly on the road and let the food get cold, the taste would definitely be greatly reduced.

The harem had strict hierarchy, and high-ranking concubines had their own food delivered by the palace maids of the Shangshenjian, but Yan Shu was just a beauty, so she could only ask her own people to fetch it.

There were only eight eunuchs and palace maids in the Yongning Palace, and it was the honeysuckle brought by her mother's family who knew her taste best, so it was always the honeysuckle who fetched the food.

"By the way, master,"

Rendong said again, "I heard that there will be a New Year's banquet tonight. Just now, Dewang from the Ministry of Treasures went to Zhang Cairen with a bag. I wonder what he has delivered."

When this was mentioned, Rendong felt unfair for her master -

the concubines all had rules for food, clothing and other expenses. Yan Shu's position was low, so her clothing could naturally not be compared with the concubines above her. But Zhang Cairen, who was obviously of a lower position, relied on her family's money to bribe the eunuchs in the palace, and from time to time she would find some of the finest clothes, jewelry, rouge and powder from various places, and she wanted to suppress her master in everything.

"I think other ladies are not as pretty as you,"

she said in a melancholy voice, "If we can also have spare money, we can ask you to dress better, and you will definitely be better than them."

Yan Shu didn't care at all, "That's useless. Even if you dress up like a fairy, His Majesty won't come tonight."

Tsk, this is already her third year in the palace, but she has never even glanced at the corner of the emperor's robe.

Speaking of which, the current emperor can be called a legendary figure. When the previous emperor was weak, the clan princes were eyeing him covetously. He was young and broke through the siege, inherited the throne in the bloody storm, and only took three years to stabilize the country and make the government orderly. It can be said that he has quite some skills.

The most important thing is that it is said that he is very handsome, incomparable to ordinary people.

However, during these three years, the king never set foot in the harem, and even rarely showed up at festivals and banquets.

Yan Shu was of low status and had no qualifications to pay respects to the king, so she had not yet had the opportunity to confirm whether her legendary beauty was true.

However, despite this, the concubines in the palace still did not give up hope. Some clung to each other, some stood in line, and like Zhang Cairen, they did their best to enter the king's sight as soon as possible, except for Yan Shu.

Hearing her say this, Ren Dong hurriedly advised, "Even if His Majesty doesn't come, you can show your face in front of the Queen Mother. What if the Queen Mother likes you and often asks you to talk in Ci'an Palace? Wouldn't it be a great chance for you to see His Majesty?"

Yan Shu was putting a piece of browned eight-treasure tofu into her mouth, and said vaguely, "Forget it, Concubine Zhou is still the Queen Mother's niece, isn't she still the same? Well, this tofu is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, very tasty!"

Ren Dong, "..."

Alas, based on the master's appearance, if she had a little more ambition, she would have been successful long ago! But she only cares about what to eat and all kinds of gossip she heard from who knows where.

At this moment, she was heard to say, "By the way, Concubine Zhou's parents are having a big fight in the mansion these two days. I wonder if she and the Queen Mother have heard about it."

Rendong's eyes lit up, "Could it be that the wife of Duke Cheng'en has found the sixth concubine of Duke Cheng'en?"

"Yes."

Yan Shu nodded while eating, "This Xiaoliu is indeed scheming. She took advantage of her pregnancy to spread the news, causing the wife of Duke Cheng'en to make a fuss. However, Duke Cheng'en always loves his own flesh and blood. The wife of Duke Cheng'en

can't do anything about it. She will probably watch Xiaoliu being taken into the mansion as a permanent wife." Rendong clicked her tongue, "If Xiaowu had this scheming last time, she wouldn't have died. After all, Duke Cheng'en is so old, and he still has a lot of filth in his stomach all day long. Isn't he ashamed?"

"Men are like this, most of them."

Yan Shu drank a mouthful of porridge and felt sweet and dense, and the fragrance went to her stomach.

Then she tasted a piece of duck meat. Hmm, the chef cooked it to the right temperature. The duck meat was tender and delicious, and the texture was permeated with the fragrance of bamboo shoots. The aroma was not greasy, and the salty taste was delicious.

She traveled from the future. In her previous life, she had a bad health. She had to hold a medicine bottle since she was a child. She couldn't eat this or that. She barely managed to survive until her youth, but still died of pain.

Although she traveled back to ancient times in this life, she was grateful for having a good body and not worrying about food and drink.

Also, after she entered the palace, she got a melon-eating system, and from time to time she could eat all kinds of fresh melons, the secret love stories of various families in the harem, which made people overwhelmed every day, not to mention how exciting it was.

At this moment, the voice of the system appeared in her mind again, [New melon, the prince of Linwu Hou is not his. ]

Yan Shu was almost scolded by Labazhou, [There is also this? ]

The whole capital knows that Linwu Hou has only that one son, who is usually loved like an eyeball, but he is not his?

...

~~

After lunch, the cold wind outside blew even harder.

Yan Shu was eating the big melon of Linwu Hou's mansion, but she heard someone outside the door saying, "Is Concubine Li here?"

From this voice, it was Zhang Cairen who Rendong mentioned just now.

Yan Shu was of a low rank, and other concubines disdained to pay attention to her, and she would not go around others to do things. This Zhang Cairen was very different. Although she was the lowest-ranking concubine in the palace, she often came to her, the second-to-last concubine, to seek a sense of existence.

People were already at the door, and it was not good to refuse to see them, so Yan Shu asked Ren Dong to open the door.

Sure enough, Zhang Cairen stepped into the room and greeted her, "Sister Li, you have finished your meal, and I have nothing to do, so I come here to talk to you."

Yan Shu smiled politely, "Please sit down, it's cold outside, right?"

"It's okay, I'm wearing thick clothes, so I don't feel it."

Zhang Cairen smiled and slowly took off her brocade cloak with dark patterns, which was obviously worth a lot of money. She also adjusted the snow-white mink on the brim of her hat, and then slowly sat down on the chair and said, "There is a New Year's Eve banquet tonight. I heard that His Majesty will also attend. Is your sister ready?"

As she spoke, the red-gold plum blossom hair on her temples trembled and shone in the afternoon sunlight that shone into the room, so bright that it was blinding.

Honeysuckle was furious. This Zhang Cairen came here wearing a new cloak and new jewelry. Wasn't it just to make fun of her master's poverty?

But Yan Shu frowned, held her forehead with fatigue, and coughed twice, pretending to be weak, "But unfortunately, I caught a cold yesterday, and I feel a little uncomfortable today. I'm afraid I can't go tonight."

Ren Dong, "???"

Uncomfortable? Didn't she just swallow a bowl of rice and two bowls of hot porridge?

Zhang Cairen's eyes lit up, but then she tried to cover up, "This is really a pity. It's a rare opportunity to see the emperor. I was thinking that if my sister didn't have any jewelry, I would lend you two!" Yan

Shu covered her lips and coughed twice, "Thank you for your kindness, I'm afraid I can't use it."

Probably because he was afraid of being sick, Zhang Cairen hurriedly got up and said, "Then sister, take a good rest, I won't disturb you."

After saying that, he put on the newly made mink awning again and led the palace maids out.

The room was quiet. Ren Dong looked at Yan Shu with great sorrow, "Didn't you hear that His Majesty would go tonight? What a great opportunity, why did you pretend to be sick?"

Yan Shu didn't care, "I would be at the end of the list even if I went, with more than ten people between us. His Majesty couldn't see anyone else, so how could he see me?"

Instead of watching those boring concubines fighting for favor, it would be better to stay in the room and continue to watch melons. The love history of Lady Lin Wuhou has just been revealed to the first half, and it is very exciting!

Ren Dong said, "You are the hope of the people of Ande County! Our county has at least had an empress in history, how can you be so unmotivated and self-destructive?"

Yan Shu, "..."

She just wanted to be a happy salted fish, and couldn't bear such heavy moral shackles, okay?

However, before she could say anything, she saw the young palace maid Lianxin come into the room and say, "My beauty, the Empress Dowager has just sent an order that His Majesty will be here tonight, and all the ladies must attend the New Year's Eve banquet in Rouyi Palace."

Yan Shu, "..."

Now, I can't be lazy anymore.

~~

Dusk fell, the lanterns were on, and the palace was brilliant.

Living far away, with a low status and no sedan chair to ride, Yan Shu had a hard time moving to Rouyi Palace in the cold wind, and her face was frozen red. Fortunately,

the palace was warm, and her redness soon faded, making her look good.

Because of the news that His Majesty would be here, the concubines came early tonight, all of them with golden hair and silver faces, powdered and painted, and looked extremely gorgeous.

Even Zhang Cairen was dressed more gorgeously than when they met in the afternoon. She was wearing a palace dress with golden plum blossom patterns, golden branches, gemstones, flowers, butterflies and pearl hairpins, and bright red lipstick, which looked very eye-catching.

In contrast, Yan Shu was wearing a lotus-colored cross-collared skirt with light patterns, and only a pearl tiara on her bun. Her plainness seemed a bit pitiful.

Ren Dong was helpless. She wanted to dress up her master well, but Yan Shu insisted on light makeup, so light that she had no sense of presence, so she had to do it.

At this time, Yan Shu was sitting almost at the end of the banquet. Compared with the concubines in front who were wearing heavy makeup, she really had no sense of presence.

But Zhang Cairen, who was sitting at the same table, was different. Ren Dong could clearly feel that Concubine Zhou Guifei, Concubine Ning and others who were sitting at the upper seats were casting glances at her intentionally or unintentionally.

All of a sudden, she understood her master's intentions - to step out in such an occasion would obviously make enemies for herself, and they were all powerful enemies!

Zhang Cairen was really bold.

However, Zhang Cairen herself did not seem to feel it. At this time, she sat upright with her back straight, and put on her best manners, waiting for the carriage to arrive.

In comparison, Yan Shu was just a filler, listening to the system's melons while looking at the cakes on the table, wondering when she could eat.

Well, the cakes for such a banquet are different at first glance. The lotus cakes are really tempting.

Not long after, with a voice of "Your Majesty is here...", the protagonist of the night finally appeared.

Everyone saw a figure in a black dragon robe stepping into the hall. He was tall and majestic, with a face carved under the golden crown as if carved by a knife, and he walked with a breeze.

The concubines in the hall were excited, and they all stood up to salute, calling out in a sweet voice, "Long live the emperor."

Yan Shu followed the routine. After all, the opportunity was rare, so she intended to sneak a peek, but unfortunately she was too far away, and could only vaguely make out that the other person had a straight nose, thin lips and a beautiful jaw, and seemed to be really good-looking.

At this moment, there was a ding in her ear, and the voice of the system rang out, [There is a big melon of the emperor. ]

The author has something to say:

System: There is a melon of the emperor.

Yan Shu: What melon?

A certain emperor: Your husband is very handsome.

Yan Shu: ...