Chef Wu, who was cleaning the stove, was called to the courtyard by Chef Liu. Chef Liu was nearly forty years old and much more robust than Chef Wu, but he lacked the composure that came from the palace.
He looked at Chef Wu with some concern, "Master, Madam sent someone to summon you to Jian Gong Zhai. Is she trying to make things difficult for you?"
Chef Wu, with his advanced age, glanced at Chef Liu's shifty eyes and immediately understood what he meant. Chef Liu was afraid that Chef Wu would win Yan Ning's favor again and regain control of the kitchen. He patted Chef Liu's shoulder and sighed, "I'm already quite old. Madam only wants to send me away!"
Chef Liu breathed a sigh of relief and also sighed, "That matter was also a hardship for Master!"
Chef Wu was already used to the coldness of human relationships. He didn't bother to say anything more to Chef Liu, and went to change into a decent-looking robe before heading to Jian Gong Zhai.
A few months ago, Wei Changyun came, and although he made a fool of himself, he told Chef Wu many palace secrets. Chef Wu worked in the imperial kitchen and rarely saw the ladies-in-waiting, but he had heard whispers about Lady Yue. He didn't know what connection Yan Ning had with Lady Yue, but Wei Changyun said with certainty that Yan Ning and Lady Yue were the same person.
He laughed, wanting to say that Wei Changyun was confused. Putting aside appearances, even if the Lady of the Moon were alive, she would be an old woman of the same age as the Empress Dowager, how could she be as beautiful as Yan Ning, who is only twenty years old?
Chef Wu vaguely recalled Yan Ning's appearance that day. Wei Changyun said that the Empress Dowager must know the late Emperor because the Consort Yue was the person he cherished in his heart.
Thus, Yan Ning had heard something, but matters concerning Miss Yue were a major taboo in the palace, and Yan Ning probably wouldn't know the full story. If he were to tell Yan Ning about Miss Yue, perhaps Yan Ning would allow him to return to his hometown as the head chef of the Fucha family.
Seeing that Yan Ning had been back at the manor for over ten days, first bedridden and then showing no sign of inquiring about him, Chef Wu was getting impatient. Yan Ning could wait, but he, at his age, probably couldn't.
Fortunately, Chef Liu, out of consideration for their past master-disciple relationship, allowed him to make a bowl of bird's nest soup for Yan Ning. Chef Wu sighed inwardly, thinking that the master-disciple relationship was nothing more than that. So, the matter of the bird's nest soup would end there.
In the summer, the Jian Gong Zhai restaurant had a weapons rack standing in the courtyard, gleaming with a cold light, which made Chef Wu's eyes feel a little cold.
The beaded curtain was rolled up, and Yan Ning leaned against the main seat in the hall, as if she had been waiting for him for a long time. Chef Wu stepped forward, performed a full bow, and then stood waiting for Yan Ning to ask her questions.
Yan Ning was still unwell, and the maids were worried that placing ice in the hall would harm her, so Ju Xiang and Lan Xiang stood on either side of Yan Ning, fanning her with long-handled paper fans.
Although a cool breeze was blowing, Yan Ning was anxious, and fine beads of sweat kept appearing on her forehead. Her light green gauze robe clung to her body, and her loosely tied hair was held up only by a jade hairpin. She looked languid in the hot summer.
She stared at Chef Wu for a while, realizing that he was also a person from the palace who was good at reading people's expressions. The series of changes that occurred inside and outside the mansion made her unwilling to deal with Chef Wu.
After dismissing the servants from the room, Yan Ning waved a short-handled paper fan painted with landscapes and looked at Chef Wu listlessly, saying bluntly, "Tell me everything you know. If there is not a single falsehood, I will grant you your wish to return home in glory! But if you dare to use the schemes you used to hide in the palace today, even if the General cherishes the bond you have with him since childhood, I will not allow you to stay in the Fucha Mansion!"
Chef Wu was stunned. He couldn't help but look up at Yan Ning. Her face was still the same as before. The scene of her first entering the kitchen to make birthday cakes for the old lady was still vivid in his mind. But today, Yan Ning was sickly yet exuded the dignity of a general's wife.
He sighed inwardly at the changes, and then spoke to Yan Ning in detail.
The Moon Maiden's real name was Qingyue. She was a girl rescued by the late emperor when he went to Jiangnan to inspect the floods on the orders of the Holy Ancestor. Hearing that she emitted a strange light, the locals believed she was a demon and wanted to burn her alive. It was the late emperor who saved her and took her back to his mansion in the capital.
When the Holy Ancestor visited the late Emperor's residence to admire the flowers, he encountered the stunningly beautiful Qingyue and brought her back to the palace. Despite his great favor, he never granted Qingyue the title of concubine, and the people in the palace called her Miss Yue. Miss Yue rarely left her palace, and apart from the maids and eunuchs who served her closely, very few people had seen her face.
After the Holy Ancestor passed away, Yue was banished from the palace because she was not a concubine, but was later brought back to the palace by the late Emperor. Wei Changyun was also banished from the palace at that time. He inquired with the former palace servants and learned that Yue had been given the title of Noble Lady by the late Emperor, and that no one was allowed to mention Yue in the palace.
The late emperor greatly favored the old concubine and even considered adopting the fourth prince, Hongli, into her palace, where she had no children. However, the then-concubine Xi used some method to dissuade the emperor from this idea.
After the late emperor passed away, the old noblewoman lived in Cining Palace to accompany the Empress Dowager. More than 20 years ago, she was buried in the Sumalagu Cemetery in the Eastern Qing Tombs.
Yan Ning stood up, staring blankly into the distance. The strange light emanating from Qingyue Body that Chef Wu had mentioned was exactly the same as hers.
Her hands tightened, and her voice, tinged with urgency, became sharp. "Why does Miss Qingyue emit such strange light?"
Chef Wu shuddered and took a few steps back. When Wei Changyun told him these things, he had held back. How could he know why Miss Yue's body emitted strange light?
He knelt down and said, "This servant has told Madam everything he knows. I beg Madam to remember that I have served the Fucha family for many years and grant me a good end!"
Chef Wu's words brought Yan Ning back to her senses. How could Chef Wu know something she herself didn't? She waved her hand, dismissing Chef Wu.
Clear moon.
Yan Ning's thoughts were filled with this name. Her mother's name was Qinghua, and the woman who resembled her was called Qingyue. She remembered that this name would occasionally appear during her parents' arguments when she was a child. Yan Ning guessed that Qingyue was related to her by blood, but she couldn't be sure. Qingyue was about the same age as the Empress Dowager, but much older than her parents, which made her give up the idea of ​​recognizing Qingyue as her aunt.
First, there was the beloved Yue maiden, favored by the Holy Ancestor; then, the favored old concubine of the late Emperor. After her death, she was accompanied by Su Ma La Gu of the Eastern Qing Tombs. It is likely that the Empress Dowager harbored resentment towards Qing Yue, which is why she was separated from the late Emperor by such a great distance after her death, unable to be together in life and death.
As Yan Ning pondered, Zhu Xiang entered with a tinderbox to light the lamp, and only then did she realize that her eyes were already completely dark.
After returning home, Zhu Xiang gradually recovered, but her eyes remained vacant. She would stare at the gold hairpin Zhao Xing had given her from time to time, and then burst into tears.
She wept, and Yan Ning wept with her. As time went on, Zhu Xiang worried about the child in Yan Ning's womb, and when Yan Ning came to see her, she forced a smile. But this smile only pierced Yan Ning's regret, for everything had started because of her.
Now that Yan Ning saw that Zhu Xiang was willing to leave the side room on her own, she felt much more at ease and put aside her doubts about Qing Yue.
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