This was merely a casual act of kindness for Situ Chuanqiong, encountered by chance. But for Qin Mingzhu, who was on the brink of suffocation and death at the time, his appearance was like a divine descent. With just one glance, Qin Mingzhu fell in love with this man.
Later, during Situ Chuanqiong's struggle for the throne, Qin Mingzhu constantly urged her father, Qin Feng, to help him more. However, Qin Feng was always very shrewd. When the former emperor was alive, he outwardly maintained neutrality, not leaning towards any side. But in secret, he still extended much goodwill to Situ Chuanqiong.
Thus, after Situ Chuanqiong ascended the throne smoothly, he wished to marry Qin Mingzhu as a noble consort to stabilize his imperial position.
Qin Mingzhu, of course, was unwilling to be a concubine. However, at that time, Empress Chu Yulan was the daughter of the Grand General who defended the nation, and she could not, in a short period, make the Emperor divorce his wife and depose her to remarry her like her mother, the little princess, had done back then.
But for the sake of her beloved man, for this benefactor who had saved her back then, Qin Mingzhu married him even as a concubine. After marriage, as time passed, she had also given up hope of becoming empress. But unexpectedly, fortunes turned! The Chu family actually collapsed!
Thus, her dream of becoming empress reawakened. Chu Yulan was thrown into the cold palace. Among the imperial consorts by the Emperor's side, apart from Leng Yuanxiang from the Right Prime Minister's family, whose status was slightly higher, the other consorts were not to be feared.
As for Leng Yuanxiang, the Emperor had never paid much attention to her, and rarely visited her palace. Yesterday, she heard that she had somehow offended the Emperor and was punished with confinement for half a month.
Looking at it this way, wasn't she the best candidate for the next empress?
Qin Mingzhu pulled herself out of her beautiful reverie, controlling her lips that were involuntarily curling upwards, and pouted, "Your Majesty, how long has it been since you last visited my humble abode? I miss you so much I'm going mad!"
"Oh? I didn't realize Noble Consort Qin misses me so dearly! It seems I have indeed neglected you recently. Will you blame me?" Situ Chuanqiong was eloquent.
"Your Majesty, please don't say that. You handle state affairs every day, and national matters are always more important than personal ones. How could Mingzhu dare to blame Your Majesty!" Qin Mingzhu kept reminding herself that she would be empress in the future, and she could not be too petty now, lest it displease the Emperor.
Suddenly, Qin Mingzhu's eyes flickered, and she asked, "By the way, Your Majesty, you shouldn't have had dinner at this hour, have you?"
"Indeed! I specifically made time today to accompany my beloved consort for dinner, would that be alright?" Situ Chuanqiong looked at Qin Mingzhu affectionately.
"Of course, it's alright!" Qin Mingzhu was overjoyed. "Your Majesty, you don't know how much I've been waiting for you!"
Sitting in Qin Mingzhu's palace, Situ Chuanqiong felt a sense of displeasure as he watched the palace maids bring in dish after exquisite dish. However, he did not show it on his face.
Although there had not been many wars in the past two years, natural disasters had been frequent. The first year was a drought, and the second year, along with the drought, a locust plague struck. The grain that the common people had barely harvested was further ravaged by the locusts, and in severely affected areas, there was truly no harvest at all.
Recently, Situ Chuanqiong had also received several memorials in the imperial court, all requesting the opening of granaries to provide relief and aid to the common people. However, the imperial granaries were mainly reserved for wartime, and could not be entirely depleted.
Therefore, he only distributed a small portion, and also asked the court officials to economize and contribute grain to help the people. Since all officials were asked to be thrifty, Situ Chuanqiong, as the emperor, naturally had to set an example.
Thus, Situ Chuanqiong never expected to see such a luxurious dinner in the imperial harem, within the palace of Noble Consort Qin Mingzhu.
After all the dishes were served, Situ Chuanqiong's initially steady smile could no longer be maintained. He counted fifteen dishes, plus two exquisite desserts and a soup. Although the portion size of each dish was not particularly large, for just the two of them, the total amount was more than they could possibly eat.
Qin Mingzhu had not yet understood Situ Chuanqiong's expression. With a tone of seeking praise, she said, "Your Majesty, please try these dishes. These were specially prepared by Chef Sun for me. Chef Sun cooks wonderfully. He was my mother's personal chef, and he only reluctantly agreed to lend him to me for a few days to cook for me in the palace!"
"Chef Sun? Is it Sun Wenyi?" Situ Chuanqiong frowned.
"Yes, yes, it's him! My mother said that Chef Sun used to work in the imperial kitchen. Later, after my mother married my father, she couldn't get used to food outside the palace, so the former emperor gave Chef Sun to my mother, making him the exclusive chef of our Qin family." Qin Mingzhu proudly introduced, "Does Your Majesty also know Chef Sun?"
"I've heard of him," Situ Chuanqiong remembered Sun Wenyi because his own birth mother had mentioned this matter at the time. At that time, the little princess had married the top scholar Qin Feng, yet she still came back to the palace to eat. Seeing that she did not eat well outside, the former emperor, who doted on her, bestowed Sun Wenyi, who worked in the imperial kitchen, upon the little princess.
"Noble Consort Qin, have you been having these same dishes every day recently?" Situ Chuanqiong picked up a piece of fish to taste, but did not find it particularly delicious.
"Yes, Mother would only lend me Chef Sun for a month, and I have to return him in eight days," Qin Mingzhu said regretfully.
"Today, I didn't know Your Majesty was coming, otherwise I could have asked Chef Sun to prepare more dishes. Your Majesty, you don't know, Chef Sun's Buddha Jumps Over the Wall is truly exquisite! His..." Qin Mingzhu was so happy to be dining with her beloved man that she chattered on incessantly.
"Enough! These dishes are already too many!" Situ Chuanqiong finally interrupted her, put down his chopsticks, and said sternly, "Noble Consort Qin, the entire Dading Dynasty is currently economizing. Don't you think you are eating too extravagantly?"
"I... Your humble servant is also economizing! Originally, I would have at least twenty dishes at a meal at home!" Qin Mingzhu also felt wronged.
"You are simply unreasonable! I ask you, do you eat all these dishes you order every day? What do you do if you can't finish them?" Situ Chuanqiong realized he was discovering Qin Mingzhu's extravagance for the first time.
"The portions aren't that much to begin with. If we don't finish them, there are so many servants. Just give it to them to eat, it won't be wasted. And they are all so grateful for the opportunity to taste food made by Chef Sun through my favor!" Qin Mingzhu's dignified and composed demeanor was beginning to crack.
"Slap!" Situ Chuanqiong threw the chopsticks in his hand to the ground. "Then should I also be grateful to you for letting me taste the dishes of your Qin family's exclusive Chef Sun?"
"Your Majesty, please calm your anger!" The surrounding maids and eunuchs knelt on the ground.
Qin Mingzhu was somewhat frightened by Situ Chuanqiong's fierce expression and muttered, "Your humble servant did not mean that..."