A Foodie Transmigrated into the Palace

Chapter 264: Chapter 263 Commitment

「Xifu Palace」

After Noble Concubine Shih returned, she threw a terrible tantrum.

Is the Empress Dowager planning to give up on me?

At the banquet, it was one thing for the Empress Dowager to laugh and chat with the Emperor.

But to be so courteous to the Empress as well? What does this mean? She had tried so hard to please, what had she done wrong? What exactly is the reason? Why would the Empress Dowager abandon her!

”Ying Yue, do you think... has the Empress Dowager already chosen someone new?”

”Could it be... that several of my cousins are also going to enter the palace this year?”

Given the Empress Dowager’s character, she could not think of a second possibility!

Ying Yue shook her head.

”Your Highness, only the Emperor and the Empress know the list of Fine Ladies. Even the Empress Dowager does not handle it. This servant...” This servant has no way of knowing!

”Even the Empress Dowager does not handle it?” Noble Concubine Shih murmured to herself.

Suddenly, a bright idea flashed through her mind.

”Even the Empress Dowager...”

”No wonder, no wonder the Empress Dowager suddenly became so polite to the Empress. So it turns out...”

”It turns out the reason is here!”

She was so foolish; it was all so obvious, how did she only understand it now?!

Noble Concubine Shih let out a cold laugh.

”Indeed, the older the ginger, the spicier!”

The Empress Dowager had pampered her for years. Not only had she borne no children, but the Emperor also no longer doted on her.

So what else could she say?

After Noble Concubine Shih smashed a teacup, she sank heavily onto her seat.

She first burst into loud laughter, then, amidst her laughter, she began to cry.

After crying, she clutched her stomach.

”My child! My child, if only you hadn’t gone! None of these bitches would dare treat me like this!”

If the Little Prince were healthy and well, by now he would be half a year old.

Time flies so quickly, doesn’t it? Just like that, her child has been gone from her for so long?

”If the Imperial Son were still here, the Empress would have to yield to me considerably!”

”The Emperor would adore him even more, and I would not have been suppressed to this extent!”

As she spoke, Noble Concubine Shih’s eyes were filled with venom.

”Empress!”

”You and I shall not exist under the same sky!”

Her child was gone just like that. Who else could be responsible if not the Empress?

Noble Concubine Shih suddenly thought of something and asked, ”How is Lady Hu in the Cold Palace? Is she dead?”

Ying Yue didn’t know either and hurriedly said, ”Your Highness, please don’t worry; this servant will send someone to find out right away!”

With that, she went out.

A moment later, Ying Yue returned.

”Your Highness, Eunuch Gao has gone to inquire, and we should have an answer soon!”

Noble Concubine Shih snorted.

”If she’s not dead, make sure she never dies. I want to torment her for a lifetime!”

That look in her eyes made Ying Yue glance only once before she hastily lowered her head.

Somehow, it was a bit terrifying!

「A quarter of an hour later.」

Gao Changyi entered.

”Noble Consort, Lady Hu in the Cold Palace is still there!”

Noble Concubine Shih’s eyes brightened.

”She’s not dead?”

Lady Hu once acted as the Empress’s lackey, poisoning her, attempting to harm her child, and nearly causing her to miscarry.

Perhaps the ailment of the Imperial Son had its roots from that time. Hehe, Lady Hu, you cannot blame me for this.

”If you yourself won’t enter hell, then let me personally send you there!”

After saying this, she gave her orders.

”Gao Changyi, instruct the Imperial Kitchen to feed her well for a few days. Tell her, ’This is a reward from me!’”

Gao Changyi was somewhat puzzled but still bowed and complied.

”Servant will attend to it at once!”

Noble Concubine Shih waved her hand impatiently.

”Go!”

After giving the command, Noble Concubine Shih finally felt some relief.

She sighed deeply, reminiscing.

”Ever since I became pregnant, the Empress has never left me in peace!”

”First, she had Honored Lady Hu poison me. Then, at the Mid-Autumn banquet, she had someone place moss-covered bricks for me to slip on!”

”Later, when the Imperial Son fell ill, the Empress mocked me in every possible way, and after that, she even tried to poison me!”

Looking back now, Consort Yun Pin, that vile woman, was secretly the Empress’s lapdog! Who would have thought!

Ying Yue kept her head down, not daring to speak.

In her heart, she actually thought, although Consort Yun Pin was sometimes inappropriate, she didn’t seem like someone who would betray the Noble Consort! What benefit would she gain from betrayal? The father of Consort Yun Pin was still a subordinate of Grand Tutor Shih, and she herself was at odds with the Empress; besides, she was not favored. So, there was no reason!

However, the Noble Consort couldn’t make sense of it. All she could think of was that everyone wanted to harm her!

「The next day, early in the morning.」

The gates of the Cold Palace creaked open.

Dressed in coarse linen, Honored Lady Hu walked out of her room.

A twisted smile was still on her face.

She stood by the door, like a young wife waiting for her husband to return home.

Little Eunuch Xiao Chengzi returned from the Imperial Kitchen with her meal, setting it on the table for her one by one.

”This is a small steamed bun. Noble Lady Song had an extra. Servant begged for it and brought it for you!”

”This is a fried dumpling; it was ruined and couldn’t be served to the masters!”

”And this half bowl of soup is leftover from Xia Jieyu’s quarters!”

When she heard the name Xia Jieyu, a flash of resentment briefly crossed Honored Lady Hu’s eyes.

Lady Xia! She’s now a Jieyu, so glorious? She too longed for glory; she didn’t want to be trapped in the Cold Palace for the rest of her life. But... could she get out? Just being alive now was already difficult!

However...

Looking at the several dishes of food in front of her, Honored Lady Hu smiled with satisfaction.

”Thank you!”

Little Eunuch Xiao Chengzi looked at her with a somewhat strange gaze and said with a greedy smile, ”No need to thank me. We’re both stuck here, and it’s not easy for either of us! Since you’re relying on me, how could I let you suffer a loss?”

The expression on Honored Lady Hu’s face stiffened, and she spoke with dissatisfaction, ”Don’t keep bringing it up. I’m still an Honored Lady, the Emperor’s person. Do you want to die?”

Little Eunuch Xiao Chengzi gave a dark smile and immediately shut up.

”Fine! I won’t say it. Eat quickly!”

Only when she had eaten well and stayed alive could he take his chances with her more often!

Little Eunuch Xiao Chengzi was a eunuch who had been castrated and entered the palace in his teens. By that time, he already understood what he needed to understand, and whatever needed to develop had likewise fully developed. One cut removed his organs, but his lecherous heart could not be removed.

Eunuchs can be lecherous? Of course. After all, no one is born a eunuch. Some eunuchs were not only lecherous; their minds were also twisted and perverted. Little Eunuch Xiao Chengzi belonged to this kind.

As for Honored Lady Hu. Having passed through layers of selection to become one of the Emperor’s women, her face was definitely beautiful enough. Locked in the Cold Palace for so long, her beauty had faded considerably, yet she was still beautiful.

A perverted, lecherous eunuch with a twisted mind, and a beautiful woman with an extreme will to survive—it goes without saying what would happen between them.

Even without that organ, the techniques and variety for toying with women that circulated among eunuchs were in no way inferior to those of normal men. In fact, there were even more.

For instance, eunuchs could not only toy with women. They could also toy with men; pretty, young eunuchs could also be targets.

There was nothing they hadn’t thought of, nothing they couldn’t do!

Honored Lady Hu ate her breakfast contentedly.

Little Eunuch Xiao Chengzi took away the bowls and left.

Leaning on the doorframe, Honored Lady Hu watched his retreating figure, her eyes filled with resentment.