The Black Chamber Dream: Daiyu's Revenge

That incident directly caused Second Sister-in-law's flower shop to lose the opportunity to send flowers to the palace. I heard that afterwards, even the noble ladies rarely went to Second Sister-in-law's flower shop anymore.

It seems that Eunuch Tao is no simple man.

"Granny Guan from the Imperial Clothing Bureau is truly a master of needlework. The magnificent robes worn by Her Majesty when she was conferred the title of Crown Princess were all made stitch by stitch by the Imperial Clothing Bureau." Granny Xu had a strong impression of Granny Guan from the Imperial Clothing Bureau.

After inquiring from Granny Xu and Granny Gu, Daiyu took the opportunity of preparing for the New Year's Eve palace banquet to carefully observe these people.

This task is meticulous and tedious, but it involves a wide range of people, so Daiyu will have to put in a lot of effort.

When Xiao Tingjun returned, he saw Daiyu still pondering the roster and felt sorry for her: "This matter is not urgent. You should rest well."

Chapter 214 mentions past events and the Crown Prince's lament.

Daiyu certainly understood that a balance between work and rest was the best policy.

"I was just waiting for you to come back, and I was just looking around since I had nothing else to do." Daiyu said as she got up and asked Xiao Tingjun if he was hungry and wanted some late-night snacks. "The kitchen is preparing them. I told them to wait since you hadn't come back so late."

"I didn't realize it until you mentioned it, but now that you do, I'm actually a little hungry." After washing and drying his hands, Xiao Tingjun told Daiyu about matters of the court when Chunyu brought him hot water.

"My fourth brother is marrying a princess from Goryeo after the New Year. They're sending quite a few people, so we need to give them a grand reception. Father Emperor has entrusted me with this task." Xiao Tingjun is currently extremely busy, finally realizing the significant difference between being a crown prince and a prince. So many eyes are watching him; if he makes even the slightest mistake, he'll be immediately seized upon.

Soon, Xueyan brought over a plate of shrimp and vegetable porridge, along with a dish of minced meat and green beans, a dish of stir-fried shredded radish, and a dish of steamed duck breast—all side dishes to accompany the porridge, which greatly increased Xiao Tingjun's appetite.

"Dinner was at Father's place, and it was all meat: sweet and sour mandarin fish, stir-fried beef jerky with dried bean curd, and braised fish balls with ham. I've noticed that Father really loves meat dishes," Xiao Tingjun said casually with a smile.

The meals sent to the emperor were naturally prepared according to his tastes.

"I remember that the head of the kitchen was originally surnamed Hu, but now the head is surnamed Zhu. Is there some reason for this?" Daiyu remembered that when she first went to the palace for a banquet, the head of the kitchen was named Hu Quan, but now he was no longer on the list. The current head of the kitchen is named Zhu Ling.

“You’ve come to the right person.” Xiao Tingjun started drinking his porridge, and Daiyu told him not to rush to speak, that it wouldn’t be too late to talk after he finished eating.

"I can't just say it for nothing. Yu'er has to promise me that she'll rest well after listening to me." Xiao Tingjun made a promise to Daiyu.

"Alright, alright, you're really being all fussy," Daiyu joked.

After Xiao Tingjun finished his late-night snack, he slowly told Daiyu the whole story.

"What is your impression of Consort Cheng?" Xiao Tingjun asked his wife first.

The current emperor has very few concubines, especially compared to the previous emperor. To be honest, among all the concubines in the harem, Consort Cheng has virtually no presence.

In terms of appearance, she was not as young and beautiful as Consort Guo, and she had neither sons nor daughters, so she didn't seem to have anything special in the eyes of the emperor.

But Consort Cheng was always very proper. Daiyu remembered that Consort Cheng was always there whenever she went to pay her respects to the Empress.

In front of Xiao Tingjun, Daiyu truthfully expressed her feelings for Consort Cheng.

"Consort Zhaorong is indeed very inconspicuous, and it is precisely because of this that the people in the kitchen have been bullying her." Xiao Tingjun recounted how the kitchen staff treated Consort Cheng harshly.

“Consort Zhaorong is a very low-key person. She never complains even when she suffers a loss. It was only when she caught a cold that the Empress Dowager went to visit her that she discovered that the meals sent by the kitchen were just a bunch of cheap imitations,” Xiao Tingjun told Daiyu.

According to the rules, Consort Cheng was also a principal wife of the palace, and she had her own set dishes for every meal every day, which were delivered by the main kitchen on time. If the mistress herself wished, she could also have them prepared in the small kitchen.

A Zhaorong's lunch should consist of four meat dishes, four vegetable dishes, two soups, and staple foods such as rice or steamed buns.

However, even though they are both meat dishes and vegetable dishes, the difference is huge. For example, stir-fried wood ear mushrooms with meat is a meat dish, and similarly, steamed deer tail is also a meat dish, but the two are completely different.

"Consort Zhaorong is a woman who doesn't like to bother with the kitchen. On the day the Empress Dowager passed away, the people in the kitchen never expected that the Empress would come in person. The dishes they sent were just to fool people, such as stir-fried cabbage with meat, cold bean sprout salad, and even a plate of plain steamed buns." Xiao Tingjun said, feeling quite sorry for Consort Zhaorong.

"Not to mention the snacks, they were actually sesame seed cakes. The Empress Dowager even took a bite. You'd never guess what happened!" Xiao Tingjun deliberately kept everyone in suspense.

Daiyu shook her head. She rarely ate sesame seed cakes and didn't know how they could skimp on the ingredients.

“No sugar was added.” Xiao Tingjun frowned, feeling very disgusted with the people in the kitchen. “The Empress Dowager immediately got angry, and after a thorough investigation, she had Hu Quan, the head of the kitchen, flogged fifty times and thrown into the Shenxing Division to do hard labor. She also took away the jobs of several other people.”

Daiyu couldn't help but feel ashamed: "If they do this, I'm afraid they've embezzled all the money they've been skimming off the top."

“Indeed, I must say these people really deserve to die. Their monthly allowances are already quite substantial, especially Hu Quan, who has risen to the position of steward. In addition, they receive rewards during festivals. Not to mention, sometimes the palace officials would also give them bonuses when they were in a good mood.” Xiao Tingjun shook his head and sighed.

“It’s clear that greed knows no bounds,” Daiyu remarked, but she was still curious. “The Lady Zhaorong’s personality is truly rare.”

“Actually, she wasn’t always like this.” Xiao Tingjun knew a little about it. “Back then, Consort Zhaorong and the current Consort Rong were pregnant in the same year. At that time, Consort Zhaorong was good at playing chess, and Father Emperor would often visit her. Who knew that for a while, Mother Empress fell ill, and her illness was quite serious. During that time, Consort Zhaorong lost her child.”

Daiyu was startled when she first heard about this. She thought of Qiuwen and Chunmei, who had gone to the Prince Li's mansion.

Seeing that Daiyu was frightened, Xiao Tingjun quickly said, "Later, Father and Mother both investigated thoroughly. According to the imperial physician, Consort Zhaorong was weak in qi and blood. Mother has been concerned about this for several years, but has not been able to find any other reason. So perhaps, it is Consort Zhaorong who is weak in qi and blood."

“From then on, Consort Zhaorong was like a different person, becoming exceptionally calm and low-key,” Xiao Tingjun told his wife.

It sounds like the emperor might have favored Consort Cheng more back then. But after these events, Consort Cheng was no longer as favored as before.

Because she was not favored, the people in the kitchen dared to bully her.

Xiao Tingjun stared intently at his wife's ever-changing face. He pondered to himself that, based on his understanding of her, he could more or less guess what thoughts were churning within her at that moment.

Without the slightest hesitation, he swiftly and gently pulled his wife's petite body into his broad, warm embrace.

He lowered his head slightly and said in an incredibly gentle voice, "Yu'er, don't worry, such a thing will never happen between us. Believe me, I will definitely protect this precious relationship between us and not let any external factors destroy it in the slightest."

"Don't worry," those three words made Daiyu tremble slightly.

But at this moment, Daiyu could feel that Xiao Tingjun was speaking with such sincerity.

Therefore, she chose to believe him.

She slept very well that night, but soon after, Daiyu had a lot of things to do.

First, we met with the head and deputy head of the kitchen.

Chapter 215 Daiyu Establishes Authority and Punishes the Steward

The kitchen was indeed a place that the Empress had recently reorganized. The head steward, Zhu Ling, and the deputy head steward, Granny Gou, were both efficient and capable, and quite familiar with all the affairs of the kitchen.

After having the two explain the current number of people, staff arrangements, and job duties in the kitchen, Daiyu asked directly, "Based on your experience over the past two years, do you think the kitchen has too many or too few staff?"

Because the layoffs have not yet been announced, the two of them did not know the purpose of Daiyu's question.

Zhu Ling pondered for a moment before speaking cautiously: "In my humble opinion, there are indeed too many people in the kitchen now. For example, the pastry section has a total of twenty people. The masters in the palace only have this many people. Even on big days like New Year's Eve, ten people would be enough."

Daiyu nodded and said to the two of them, "In that case, you two can carefully consider the staffing situation in the kitchen, see how many people can be reduced, and draft a plan, then report back to me later."

The two quickly agreed. Zhu Ling already understood: the Crown Princess was definitely going to make a move this time, so she had to be careful. It was now clear that both the Emperor and the Empress valued the Crown Prince and his wife; offending the Crown Princess would likely lead to dire consequences.

But others may not be as clear-headed as Zhu Ling.

After all, while the Crown Princess had established rules for organizing palace banquets, managing the various parts of the inner palace was a different matter entirely.

Ultimately, the Crown Princess is still young and not as experienced as the Empress. So the palace servants naturally want to observe her closely. If the Crown Princess is intelligent, resourceful, and handles affairs efficiently and appropriately, then everyone will feel awe and will diligently perform their duties. But if the Crown Princess is like a straw rope trying to lift tofu, completely incapable of bearing any responsibility and utterly incompetent, then they will not only lack fear, but may even secretly plot and engage in underhanded activities.

For example, the next person in charge of the cat and dog room is an old man surnamed Sang, a tall and thin eunuch who is already forty years old this year. The deputy manager is surnamed Xu, a short, plump, fair-skinned old woman.

When Eunuch Sang was summoned by the Crown Princess, he cleverly chose a very beautiful Jianzhou cat to take with him. This cat was extremely intelligent and agile, and also had a majestic air about it.

Unexpectedly, the Crown Princess had a parrot. When Eunuch Sang brought his cat over, he was covered in dust by the parrot before he even entered the room.

"You bad guy, you big bad guy~" the parrot started cursing directly.

Xueyan quickly stepped forward to rescue the parrot while scolding it.

"Please don't take offense, sir." Chunyu quickly led Eunuch Sang inside, taking his cat with her. "I'm afraid you shouldn't bring the cat inside, sir."

Eunuch Sang was furious, but he still had to force a smile and quickly said it was nothing: "It's all my fault for not thinking things through, and the young lady has been frightened."

Daiyu had already learned about Eunuch Sang's temperament from Granny Gu and Granny Xu, so when Eunuch Sang and Granny Xu praised the Crown Princess's appearance and demeanor in a theatrical manner, Daiyu's expression did not change at all.

Seeing that the Crown Princess remained motionless, Eunuch Sang couldn't help but glance up, then quickly lowered his head again. This young, delicate-faced Crown Princess possessed a face as white as jade, devoid of any extraneous expression, like a calm, still lake. Her eyes were clear as water, like dewdrops condensed on grass on an autumn morning, sparkling and captivating.

But when his gaze met that of the Crown Princess, it was as if a cold light pierced straight into his heart, instantly filling him with an indescribable sense of tension.

Eunuch Sang had long observed that people love to hear compliments. For example, Consort Wu and Consort Xu often found themselves caught up in flattery and the ostentatious displays of sycophancy.

However, these rules do not seem to apply to the Crown Princess.

When Eunuch Sang heard the Crown Princess ask if there were enough people in the cat and dog quarters, he quickly replied with a smile, "Even if the Crown Princess didn't ask, this servant should have taken the initiative to report to her."

"As Your Highness knows, to prevent the unpleasant smells from bothering the nobles, the cats and dogs kept by the servants are not kept indoors, but rather leap and walk in huge wire cages, and there are even artificial hills and trees for them to climb. This requires quite a bit of manpower."

"So with such a small number of people, it's really quite a struggle."

After listening, Daiyu nodded: "A couple of days ago, the little princess said she wanted to choose a poodle. Make preparations, and I will bring the little princess to choose one in a couple of days."

The young princess Daiyu mentioned was Gao Xin. A few days ago, when she entered the palace, she mentioned wanting to keep a Shih Tzu. The Princess initially refused, but after her granddaughter's repeated pleading and coaxing, she finally agreed.

Eunuch Sang breathed a sigh of relief: He thought the Crown Princess was so capable, but now it seems she's just so-so.

So, Eunuch Sang and Granny Xu happily returned to the Cat and Dog Room. To be honest, Eunuch Sang always felt that the Cat and Dog Room was really not a good place, but there was nothing he could do. There was no place for him anywhere else. In the palace, it wasn't just about first come, first served, but also about connections.

Although the young princess only requested one dog, nobles don't need to keep dogs themselves; they can keep several. In this way, their cat and dog quarters can receive even more rewards.

While Eunuch Sang was still expecting a reward, he had specially prepared several lively and adorable lion dogs. However, on the day the Crown Princess arrived with the young princess, before they could even choose a dog, a senior eunuch kicked a junior eunuch to the ground.

Daiyu and Gao Xin were both startled. Daiyu quickly covered Gao Xin's eyes because she had already seen the little eunuch's forehead hit the rocks and was bleeding.

Before Daiyu could speak, Eunuch Sang hurriedly went to deal with it, but Zhao Bingxin was even faster. He had already taken two eunuchs and ran over in a few steps to bring the two of them to him.

Eunuch Sang sensed something was wrong and immediately stepped forward, shouting, "How dare you make such a scene in front of the Crown Princess and the Princess? Have you lost your mind? Take them all away..."

"Shut up! How dare you speak in front of the Crown Princess and the Princess?" Zhao Bingxin's words successfully silenced Eunuch Sang.

Although Eunuch Sang hadn't had much contact with Zhao Bingxin before, he knew that Zhao Bingxin was now a trusted advisor to the Crown Prince. Seeing that the Crown Princess had brought Zhao Bingxin with her, Eunuch Sang knew something was wrong.

He quickly smiled and tried to speak.

The Crown Princess said calmly, "Take the two away. Xin'er, go and choose a dog first."

Zhao Bingxin agreed and ordered the eunuchs to take the person away. Eunuch Sang had no choice but to personally accompany the Crown Princess and the others inside.

Eunuch Sang gave Granny Xu a meaningful look, but to her surprise, Zhao Bingxin immediately brought his men and stood outside the gate, making it very clear that no one from the cat and dog quarters would be allowed to leave.

Chapter 216 The Emperor Praises Those Who Show No Mercy

Grandpa Sang was extremely anxious. The little eunuch who had been kicked had only been in the cat and dog shed for less than two months, but he had already been beaten countless times.

But at this moment, Eunuch Sang was at a loss. He knew about Princess Gao Xin; she was the eldest princess's most beloved granddaughter, and even His Majesty often bestowed gifts upon her.

Seeing that the young princess had chosen a snow-white, eight-month-old poodle, Eunuch Sang was eager to kneel down and apologize to the Crown Princess, but the Crown Princess didn't give him the chance at all.

"Don't wander off. I've found out what happened earlier, and I'll release them when I'm done." Daiyu wasn't just making things up. She had learned a lot from Granny Xu and Granny Gu, and Chunxian, who was very good at reading people and interacting with them, had already heard some news from various sources.

“Since my sister-in-law has something to do, I’ll take Black Bean to see Consort Rong.” Gao Xin was a clever girl. Knowing that Daiyu had something to do, she smiled and said, “Today is my little cousin’s day off at the academy.”

Daiyu sent Chunyu with others to escort Gao Xin to Consort Rong's residence. Consort Rong naturally summoned the Sixth Prince to play with the young princess.