Wu Yiming has successfully won over Granny Yun in the Imperial Kitchen and has now begun learning to make pastries from the master chefs. Because she grew up in the era of information explosion and has some talent, she can often apply what she has learned to other situations. She has begun to develop some new dishes and is highly regarded by the master chefs.
Although the credit ultimately went to someone else, her life became much better.
When Wu Yiming first transmigrated, she was afraid of being exposed, so she rarely spoke except for necessary reconnaissance. Later, she also discovered that those who spoke less in the palace could live longer, so she simply stopped talking.
Wu Yiming's master chef asked her to prepare a traditional dessert. While she was making it, she needed to fetch an ingredient. On the way, she overheard people whispering among themselves around a corner.
Palace Maid A: "I don't know why Her Majesty the Empress suddenly remembered to record our information. I heard that it needs to be archived. She's already very busy, so where would she find the time to do this? It's so troublesome."
Palace Maid B: "That's absolutely right! Especially in our kitchen, we're busy all day long, and the mistress never seems to care about us servants."
A young eunuch standing beside the two palace maids said, "My dear sisters, Her Majesty the Empress's decision is not something we can question. It's just a little troublesome, isn't it? Since the Empress dares to do it so openly, and the Emperor has not objected, it must be the Emperor's will."
...
Wu Yiming had recently become obsessed with making pastries, and she had only just heard about this. Now she was absolutely certain that the former Consort Xian, now the Empress, was from her hometown, which further solidified her resolve to serve at Yongshou Palace.
Recently, the palace maids and eunuchs have been quite unhappy about the information recording and archiving, but they cannot disobey the Empress's orders, so they all harbor some resentment towards Yunrong, the newly appointed Empress.
When Consort Hui and Consort Rong found out, they started to act recklessly, secretly instructing people to slack off and be extremely uncooperative.
When Yunrong found out, she hardened her heart and issued an order, setting a final date. Anyone who failed to register within the specified time could leave the palace. This was not a normal release from the palace; it was expulsion.
Everyone was taken aback by the Empress's move. Even Consort Hui and Consort Rong didn't dare to let their few people test her.
The archiving of information on all the palace maids and eunuchs in the entire palace was completed by the end of May.
After reviewing the personnel information several times, Yunrong discovered that almost everyone was not from a separate family. Nowadays, the internal marriages within the Bao Yi families were no different from those of powerful and wealthy families.
Yunrong had heard before that in the late Qing Dynasty, bondservants controlled the palace's expenses, that an egg cost one tael of silver, and that even the emperor had to wear patched clothes.
It now appears that the collaboration between these families of garment manufacturers has already begun to produce models.
Yunrong had been thinking about this matter and mentioned it to Yinzhen. Yinzhen knew about it, but it was not a good thing to handle. If the bondservant families were to be brought down all at once, the impact would be too great.
This needs to be done gradually.
Another point is that Yinzhen didn't want Yunrong to worry about this matter. Although the status of the bondservant families was not as high as that of the Manchus, they could still be a force if they joined forces. Yinzhen was afraid that Yunrong would offend too many people and do some underhanded things. If he didn't notice, Yunrong would be the one who suffered. Yinzhen couldn't bear to see his wife suffer like that.
Yinzhen: "I know about this matter. I will send people to deal with the Imperial Household Department. You don't need to get involved. Who knows if those people will turn on you when they're desperate?"
Yunrong: "That works too."
Yunrong only mentioned the matter to let Yinzhen know, without intending to get involved herself. Seeing that Yinzhen took it to heart, Yunrong truly let it go.
Yunrong sent the files of the palace maids and eunuchs to Yinzhen and then stopped asking about the matter altogether.
The palace rules were all set up, so Yunrong picked them up quite quickly. Baiguo, Baixiang, and the others who entered the palace with Yunrong were specially trained by Yunrong so that she could have an easier time. Therefore, Baiguo, Baixiang, and the others were also good at things like managing the household and doing accounts.
After Yunrong mastered the skills herself, she had her subordinates learn from her. Once they were all proficient, Yunrong delegated all the trivial tasks to them, and all she needed to do was ensure the overall direction was correct.
July arrived quickly, another year of talent shows. This year, Yunrong was hosting the show. Since she had little experience, she simply followed the usual rules.
Soon, the selected young women moved into the palace.
Among the more eye-catching contestants in this selection were Tong Tongyue from the second branch of the Tong family. Tong Tongyue comes from a relatively good family and is related to the emperor as cousins, so she attracted a lot of attention. Another one was Dai Jia, who also came from a good family and had an outstanding appearance.
Moreover, Daijia's purpose was very clear: she wanted to stay in the palace, and her target was the emperor.
Because of her family background, everyone thought that Tong Tongyue would definitely enter the palace this time, and Tong Tongyue herself also thought so. Her family background speaks for itself, so no other candidate would specifically target her.
However, Dai Jia was not as lucky as Tong Tongyue. She had a dazzling face, which made many people dislike her. In addition, she was not very low-key in her actions, so many people wanted to bring her down.
Dai Jia was often bullied behind her back, but she was not one to be trifled with. Those who bullied her never fared well, and gradually no one bothered her anymore.
Tong Tongyue had no feelings for Dai Jia. As the emperor's cousin, Tong Tongyue felt superior. She believed that the emperor was not the kind of person who valued appearance, so she didn't take Dai Jia seriously.
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