Upon hearing this, Consort Jia paused for a moment, not knowing Xu Yuehuai's background, and thus declined to elaborate.
"My esteemed lady, this is my goddaughter, A-Yue," the Duchess of Zhenguo quickly explained.
Her simple sentence was enough to prove that Xu Yuehuai was a trustworthy person.
Seeing this, Hengniang dared not hide anything and immediately stepped forward and said, "Ever since our Lady suffered a miscarriage, she has had a poor appetite. Everything tastes strange to her, and she can't even take medicine."
She spoke with a worried expression.
Xu Yuehuai and the Duchess of Zhenguo looked at each other, clearly not knowing how the situation could be so serious. If a person can't even eat, then their life is over.
Seeing the two of them like this, Hengniang thought they couldn't help Consort Jia.
After a moment's thought, she still took the hand of the Duke of Zhenguo's wife.
"Madam of Zhenguo, Princess Heyue, please, please persuade my lady!" Hengniang pleaded tearfully. "Although my lady was not the most favored before, she was still an outstanding person. But since her miscarriage, she has lost all favor. It is clear that someone has framed her, but we are just ordinary people and have no influence. We are not enough to persuade anyone to investigate."
The Duchess of Zhenguo was also very upset to hear this; she hadn't expected Consort Jia to be in such a bad state.
Xu Yuehuai was also pondering the reason. She initially thought it might be postpartum depression, but after careful consideration, she felt that the problem was not simple and that she might have been framed.
"Cousin, what's wrong with you?" The Duchess of Zhenguo asked as she sat down beside Consort Jia's bed and helped her up.
Consort Jia hesitated, looking somewhat unsure of what to say. Her face was haggard, and she appeared very weak.
After a long pause, she simply shook her head.
She couldn't quite put her finger on what was wrong, but she just felt there was something wrong with the food.
Xu Yuehuai watched from the side.
She didn't know the whole story, so she could only say, "Consort Jia, some things are in the past and should be left in the past. You should try to be more open-minded, so that life will be easier."
Consort Jia's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but she remained silent.
Lady Zhenguo suddenly thought that since Consort Jia had a poor appetite, she could ask Xu Yuehuai to cook some delicious dishes.
"Ah Yue, go and make some appetizers for Consort Jia," the Duchess of Zhenguo instructed.
Consort Jia remained silent, only appearing melancholy.
Xu Yuehuai still felt that her heartache should be treated with heart medicine, and that no matter how delicious the food was, it wouldn't help.
Just as she was about to speak to the Duchess of Zhenguo, she saw the Duchess of Zhenguo's eyes, which seemed to indicate that the Duchess of Zhenguo had something to say to Consort Jia.
She decided to give the two of them some space to talk and immediately began asking about the location of the kitchen.
"I wonder where the small kitchen is in Consort Jia's palace?" she asked, getting up to prepare to cook.
Even if she felt that delicious food might not work, the person in front of her was, after all, her aunt, and she should do her part.
Unexpectedly, Hengniang said helplessly, "Princess Heyue, there is no small kitchen in our Anfu Palace, so we can only go to the Imperial Kitchen."
Xu Yuehuai raised an eyebrow.
She had access to a small kitchen when she was in the East Palace and the Phoenix Palace, and she had even heard about the small kitchens of the other concubines. However, although Consort Jia was favored before, she did not have a small kitchen. If that were the case, she would be easily poisoned.
However, Xu Yuehuai did not say anything, but followed Hengniang to the imperial kitchen.
As soon as she arrived at the imperial kitchen, the palace maids there gave her a cold look, seemingly harboring great hostility.
...
After Xu Yuehuai and the others left, Consort Min felt uneasy and couldn't concentrate on anything. She didn't know what Xu Yuehuai really meant.
"Pingping, go follow Xu Yuehuai. I want to see what she's up to!" She slammed her hand on the table in anger.
Just as Pingping was about to leave, Consort Min said again, "Take a few maids with you. You can make decisions if necessary."
"Yes." Pingping accepted the order and followed Xu Yuehuai and the others with a few maids.
When Pingping saw that the person had gone to Consort Jia's palace, she sent two lowly maids in to gather information. They were so inconspicuous that no one would notice them.
"Sister Pingping, she's going to the imperial kitchen to cook." The maidservant said and then waited to the side.
Upon hearing this, Pingping instantly had an idea: "Let's go."
She led her entourage directly to the imperial kitchen, claiming it was an order from Consort Min, and took away most of the cooks and ingredients.
“I’m telling you sisters, when someone comes to the Imperial Kitchen to cook, you can’t give them any ingredients or tools, otherwise that’s going against our Consort Min.” Pingping’s tone became increasingly fierce as she spoke.
The cooks nodded and replied, "Don't worry, Sister Pingping, we understand."
In this harem, besides the Empress, Consort Min is second only to the Empress, truly holding a position above all others. Who would dare disobey her?
"Alright, then you all can go have some tea later." Seeing how sensible they were, Pingping rewarded them with two taels of silver.
"Thank you, Sister Pingping." The cooks were even happier now, after all, who would turn down money?
Pingping knew it was about time, so she led the group back to Consort Min's palace.
Sure enough, no sooner had they left than Hengniang and Xu Yuehuai arrived at the imperial kitchen.
However, the imperial kitchen was already empty. Not only were there only three or four cooks, but even the ingredients and tools had vanished.
Upon seeing this, Xu Yuehuai guessed that someone was deliberately making things difficult for her.
Hengniang was furious and confronted one of the leaders, asking, "What do you mean by this?"
"Nothing to say?" The cook was very arrogant, even looking down on people when she spoke. "But Miss Hengniang, why are you so angry as soon as you walk in?"
"Why aren't you keeping your sick, pampered husband company? What are you doing out here?" The cook, who was sitting nearby eating sunflower seeds, mocked her.
This caused the three or four cooks to burst into laughter.
“My lady is hungry now, so I’ve specially hired someone to cook for her. You guys bring out the food and help her out,” Hengniang said, suppressing her anger.
Unexpectedly, the cook snorted and spat the melon seed shells at her feet: "Miss Hengniang has been in the palace for so long, don't you know the rules? The Imperial Kitchen is of utmost importance, and outsiders are absolutely not allowed to enter. Besides, we've already sent things to Consort Jia, so why are we asking outsiders to cook for us?"
"You!" Hengniang was naturally unwilling. She was about to argue with them when Xu Yuehuai stopped her.
She had already figured it out from the side; these people clearly had powerful backers. Moreover, while they were mocking Hengniang on the surface, their eyes kept glancing at her, suggesting they might be after her.
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