Consort Tong: "Your Majesty, Consort Ming really doesn't take you seriously at all. You haven't even left yet, and she just walked right in front of you."
The Empress naturally understood such blatant provocation, but what Consort Tong said was also true. Although she was unhappy, Consort Ming had not made any mistakes in etiquette and manners, so she would not be used as a pawn by Consort Tong.
He immediately said, "It is normal that Consort Ming is new to the palace and has not yet mastered many things."
The Empress didn't want to argue with Consort Tong at the entrance of Cining Palace, so she said, "Alright, go back to your own palaces."
After saying that, he sat in a sedan chair and went straight back to Kunning Palace.
When Consort Ming returned to Jingren Palace, she found that the Emperor had already left court and was waiting for her there.
Alright, let's start acting! ヾ(????)???~
She immediately ran forward with a smile, took the emperor's hand, and said, "Your Majesty, why have you come? You didn't even send someone to inform me so I could have returned sooner."
She then asked, "Has Your Majesty had breakfast yet? I haven't had breakfast since this morning."
As she spoke, she took Kangxi's hand and led him into the hall.
"Tingyu put the gifts bestowed by the Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager into the small Buddhist hall."
Of course, Wanwan did not believe in Buddhism, but because the Empress Dowager was a Buddhist, there were small Buddhist shrines in each palace, so it was a good opportunity to place the Guanyin statue that grants children in the small Buddhist shrine.
Emperor Kangxi had just finished court and went straight to Jingren Palace to wait, intending to have breakfast with his Consort Ming, but he didn't expect to be waiting until now.
"Why are you back so late? Did something happen?" Kangxi thought that Consort Ming had been mistreated.
Although Emperor Kangxi turned a blind eye to the Empress's management of the harem, he knew that Consort Ming had just entered the palace and was so beautiful that she would naturally be the subject of some jealous remarks or harassment.
Wanwan replied, "Nothing happened. I just went to pay my respects to the Empress first, and then went to Cining Palace to pay my respects to the Grand Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager. I sat and chatted for a while before coming here, so I'm a little late. I'm sure Your Majesty is getting impatient." Wanwan said this with an apologetic look on her face.
Kangxi originally wanted to tell Wanwan that everything was fine, but he didn't wait long, since it was a habitual phrase, just like social etiquette.
But seeing the apology on Wanwan's face, he changed his words, "I did wait a while, and now I'm hungry. So, punish my Consort Ming by having breakfast with me."
The two walked to the dining table together as they talked.
Looking at the breakfast, Wanwan really wanted to call it extravagant, since the emperor's breakfast rations were quite different from hers.
After sitting down on the stool, an advisor first gave Kangxi a silver needle to test for poison, and then a young eunuch tasted the poison.
Wanwan watched, thinking to herself, 'Sigh, it's so troublesome and time-consuming for the emperor to eat, but there's nothing I can do. He's the emperor, so even if you're starving, you have to wait.' (┯_┯)
Only after the advisor tested the dish with a silver needle and then the eunuch tasted it and found no problems could the dish be served to Emperor Kangxi.
Looking at the speed at which she was eating, Wanwan felt that her stomach could no longer bear it. She had gotten up early in the morning, washed up, and rushed to pay her respects. She hadn't eaten a single bite since then, only drinking a few sips of water in Cining Palace. After all, she dared not drink the water in Kunning Palace.
Wanwan then coaxed Kangxi, saying, "Why don't I, Your Majesty, test the poison for you?"
As he spoke, he picked up the serving chopsticks, took a dish from the plate in front of him, put it on his own plate, and then used his own chopsticks to put it in his mouth.
Wanwan was somewhat disappointed. Although the dishes looked appealing, the taste was just average.
Indeed, the Manchus were ruled by a minority ethnic group, and their dietary habits still retained those of the nomadic peoples of the past. They ate only two meals a day, mostly meat, with little vegetarian food. The cooks were also Manchus, so naturally they couldn't compare to the eight major cuisines of the Han people.
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