Chapter 529: Chapter 529

Rong Heng had not conferred the title of Imperial Concubine, so the highest-ranking concubines in the harem were Consort De, Consort Xian, and Lady Shu. In some dynasties, the Four Concubines were known for their virtue and morality, but in Nanling Country, it was the Imperial Concubine who led, with the other three concubines being of equal rank and treatment. Above the Imperial Concubine was the Empress, followed by the Empress herself.

Below the rank of concubine were noble ladies, Chang Zai, and concubines; this hierarchy was quite similar to that of the Qing Dynasty. Back in Dongru Country, she had never understood the harem ranking system. It was only this morning, while cooking, that a serving aunt beside her had pointed it out to her.

Ayue’s hands were full of mud from playing, and after returning to Changchun Palace, Tangyuan took good care of him by giving him a thorough wash before she sniffed and asked, "Are you hungry?"

Ayue shook his head, "Not hungry. Daddy prepared lots of delicious food this morning, and Ayue ate plenty. Mom, when are we leaving?"

"Do you not like it here?"

Rong Yue shook her head, "It’s not that I don’t like it; it’s just that I find the people here so dull, not fun at all. Even when I was playing with them, they wouldn’t touch the mud, calling it dirty, and said that only children from outside play with such things. Mom, what’s a ’wild child’?"

After hearing this, Tangyuan wasn’t surprised. She took Ayue’s hand and sat him down on the steps at the entrance, pointing to the sky outside.

"Ayue, this is the Forbidden City, where the Emperor lives. Your daddy is the Emperor, the king of this country. All the common people outside are his subjects. The aunties you met are his wives, and the brothers and sisters are his children, and you, you are his son. If you like it here, we can stay; if not, we can leave, okay?"

Rong Yue stared with an expression that seemed to struggle with understanding, and Tangyuan knew it would be hard for him to grasp so much at once, so she just patted him on the head.

"Don’t be nervous, Ayue. We will live here for a while, and once you’re used to the life here, you can make a choice then."

Rong Yue had never entered the palace since he was little. If he were to make a choice, it should be under fair conditions. She was conscious of that as a mother.

At only three years old, Tangyuan hadn’t started educating Ayue too early, but she would occasionally teach him some Tang poetry to exercise his speech and memory. As for writing, that would wait until he was at least six years old; there was no hurry now.

While she didn’t know martial arts, having been a Special Forces member, she could teach him some basic combat moves. His attention was short due to his young age, so she would usually play with him and guide him gradually, correcting him through play.

"Ayue, what would you like to eat for lunch? Shall Mommy make it for you?"

"Dumplings, Ayue wants shrimp dumplings. Mom, I’ll help you!"

"That would be great, I was worried about making them alone. Come on, Mommy will take you to the kitchen."

To have shrimp for the filling, she needed to get some first, so she called for Zhao Yang, the Chief Eunuch of Changchun Palace.

"I have a list here, go check if the Imperial Kitchen has what we need."

While the eunuchs were preparing, she mashed some spinach to make spinach juice and carrots to make carrot juice. Without a juicer, mashing the ingredients into juice was quite troublesome, because a cheesecloth was needed for filtration.

Though she wasn’t sure if "he" would come, his favorite was the three-delights filling, so she planned to make dumplings stuffed with shrimp, pork, and chives—that’s the meat three-delights, and another one would be the mushroom three-delights.

They had brought their luggage with them, so it was no novelty when she took mushrooms out of their luggage.

The mushrooms were fresh ones from the Space Mall, including shiitake mushrooms, button mushrooms, and king oyster mushrooms—just add a bit of dried shrimp, and you’re set.

Before the other ingredients arrived, the mother and son busied themselves washing and slicing mushrooms, and preparing the juice for dough. Everything looked harmonious, and they didn’t need anyone’s help. The little guy was doing a good job, obviously used to these tasks.

By the time they finished kneading the dough and the shiitake mushrooms were diced and ready, the eunuchs had also delivered the ingredients she had requested, except that the shrimp were river shrimp, not sea shrimp.

River shrimp had too little meat, usually used for frying or stir-frying, not suitable for dumplings. But given the circumstances, she had to make do, yet to ensure a delicate texture, she had to mince them very finely.

As she was working on the shrimp, her son was picking the chives. When nobody was looking, he would sneak some sea shrimp into the mix, then shift the river shrimp into the space. If there were too many river shrimp, it would affect the texture, so balancing it out without notice was the goal.

Making dumplings was tedious work. When they were too busy, they would call palace maids to help, but the mother and son still worked hard. Her main focus was training Ayue’s manual skills, so she assigned him the task of rolling out the dough. He rolled one wrapper while she filled one, their teamwork honed by repetition to the point of expertise.

Even though Ayue’s wrappers varied in size, wasn’t that part of the fun? She even set aside the dumplings made from his wrappers, planning to let Rong Heng taste the little one’s handiwork if he came.

Since she still had Qingfeng and Ming Yue on her mind, reliving the memory of dining together, she prepared a large quantity, keeping the palace maids busy for most of the day.

At noon, Rong Heng indeed arrived with his entourage, usually accompanied by the Chief Eunuch, just like Rong Heng. However, knowing Qingfeng and Ming Yue were old acquaintances and had craved her cooking skills for many years, it was clear to their superior. Thus, as soon as it was noon, he led everyone over.

As soon as they entered Changchun Palace, a familiar delicious fragrance hit their senses: "This smell... Spicy Crab?"

Ming Yue sniffed the air, "I think I also smell a strong meat fragrance, could it be Braised Pork Belly?"

Indeed, Tangyuan had not only made dumplings but also cooked other dishes. Qingfeng and Ming Yue, true to their keen noses, guessed two dishes right. The other two were earth three-delights and earth skin veg stir-fried with egg, plus a nori tofu soup, a nutritious and rich combination of meat and vegetables.

In other palaces, concubines might have to serve the Emperor their meal, but although she had set the table early, she hesitated over whether to adhere to palace protocol.

Then Rong Heng, holding his son, took a seat first, and noticing her hesitation, he gently pulled her to join them.

"Don’t be restrained, how we were before, let’s be the same now. And you two, sit down as well, let’s eat together just like old times!" Chapters first released on N0v3l.Fiɾe.net

His considerate nature warmed Tangyuan’s heart and relieved Qingfeng and Ming Yue. Although this was the harem and their actions broke many rules, since Tangyuan was involved, everything was treated differently.