Xie Zhihang remained still, observing what she intended to do.
Yun Jiao slowly adjusted her position in his embrace, her small hand resting on his shoulder.
“What are you doing?” Xie Zhihang asked her.
Yun Jiao whispered softly, “Your humble consort wishes to embrace Your Majesty.”
Xie Zhihang truly found her somewhat unfathomable. If she wanted to hug him, why did she repeatedly Rewind time, unwilling to see him?
Before this, Xie Zhihang had never pondered the thoughts of the women in the rear palace.
His mind was already overworked with state affairs, and his attitude toward consorts was clear—favor those he liked a bit more, ignore those he didn’t. Wanting something yet keeping a distance, this mindset prevalent in romance novels was entirely outside the Emperor’s understanding, purely an unnecessary internal drain on time and energy.
But…
“We thought it was something extraordinary,” Xie Zhihang said with a faint expression, his hand clasping her waist in return. “Then we shall embrace you too.”
But the next second, time Rewound again.
Xie Zhihang: …
Women are so hard to understand.
He looked down and saw Yun Jiao’s flushed pink cheeks. Even through the fabric of her clothes, he could feel her wildly beating heart. Only then did he belatedly realize that she had Rewound time out of shyness because he had taken the initiative to hold her waist. Among the consorts in the rear palace, some were passionate and charming, while others were reserved and cautious, but he had never encountered this type—sometimes daringly bold, sometimes sneaky and timid like a little coward.
Yun Jiao mentally prepared herself before embracing him again, pressing close.
After two Rewinds, Xie Zhihang had long lost any amorous thoughts. He simply sat upright, watching her performance.
After clinging for a while, Yun Jiao’s heartbeat returned to a steady pace. Feeling that she had adapted to interacting with a real man, she was back in action! As nervousness faded and confidence reclaimed the high ground, she chuckled, picked up a small silver fork spearing diced fruit, and attempted to feed the Emperor like Daji feeding King Zhou in TV dramas: “Please, Your Majesty.”
However, according to protocol, she couldn’t look directly at the imperial countenance, and she had no experience.
With this poke, the juicy crisp peach ended up on the Emperor’s nose.
Yun Jiao: “Uh…”
The western chamber instantly fell into deep silence.
Yun Jiao: “Your Majesty, your humble consort didn’t do it on purpose.”
“We know.”
Xie Zhihang watched her wipe his face with a handkerchief, expecting her to Rewind time and practice a few more times, studying the Emperor’s preferences and habits. Unexpectedly, after cleaning his face, she simply nestled into his embrace, behaving properly without any mischief: “Your Majesty, your humble consort is hungry. How about we have the meal served first?”
After a brief moment of stunned silence, Xie Zhihang realized—she had given up!
After just one failure, she had given up!
In his entire life, he had never seen someone so prone to quitting halfway. Calling her a kitten would be flattering her; she was more like a turtle that, once flipped over, simply basks in the sun with its belly up. “What would you like to eat?”
The little turtle replied joyfully, “Can your humble consort still choose dishes?”
The Emperor’s formal Imperial Cuisine was sure to taste exquisite.
Xie Zhihang turned and instructed Yinglu to bring the menu.
The Imperial Kitchen’s ingredients were supplied by the Imperial Manor. The menu offered an exhaustive array of dishes, dazzling Yun Jiao to the point where she didn’t know what to choose. In the end, she followed her whims and selected a bunch of meat dishes, leaving Yinglu in awe. This Consort Xi really didn’t hold back when ordering—feasting on meat dishes without worrying about the lingering smells during the evening’s service.
“Never expected Consort Xi to have such an appetite.”
“The ingredients reserved for imperial use must be the finest in the world. I’m greedy—I want to taste them all.”
Xie Zhihang chuckled. “Who told you imperial ingredients are the best?”
Yun Jiao was taken aback.
With the entire nation’s resources dedicated to serving one person, how could they not have the very best?
“Farmers depend on the weather. The taste of fruits, vegetables, and grains varies with each season, and the finest may not be available every year. If I were to taste the absolute best one year and it wasn’t available the next, wouldn’t I have to hold someone accountable? It’s better to start with slightly inferior offerings. What’s sent to the palace can’t be poor quality, but the most important factors are consistency and safety. That’s what it means to handle affairs competently. This is especially true for specialties from the Imperial Manors.”
“The very best harvests are likely enjoyed only by the locals. The fruits and melons eaten by farmers are fresher than those reserved for imperial use.”
The ingredients presented to the Emperor were inevitably the most visually appealing.
Whether they tasted good was another matter.
Xie Zhihang wasn’t one to indulge in food and drink, and he was more struck by the officials’ logic of prioritizing stability. He truly didn’t lack for good food, but he noticed the young woman in his arms lost in thought. When he asked what she was thinking, she replied, “Sweet fruits attract insects. The sweetest ones must have been tasted by bugs, even before the farmers get to them… It’s alright. Your Majesty hasn’t tasted the very best, and my family was poor, so I haven’t either.”
Yun Jiao wasn’t foolish—she just had a wildly imaginative mind, jumping from one thought to another.
How could the heavens entrust the power to reverse fate to someone like her?
Xie Zhihang couldn’t help but feel the heavens were blind.
When the Imperial Cuisine was served, he was once again astounded.
Yun Jiao hadn’t ordered many dishes, but the imperial kitchen naturally wouldn’t serve just a few. The table was laden with food. Yun Jiao thought to herself, “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—Imperial Cuisine! A state banquet!” Ignoring Gong Mei’s meaningful glances, she summoned the spirit of getting her money’s worth at a buffet and dug in with gusto… Of course, her table manners remained elegant, and she didn’t forget her etiquette, but she still managed to give the Emperor a bit of a shock.
However, the human stomach has its limits. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t finish dozens of dishes. So, when she could eat no more, she chose to reload and eat again.
Throughout, Yun Jiao didn’t forget to glance at the Emperor and say, “Your Majesty, you should eat more too.”
“…Mm.”
Watching her eat was enough to fill him up.
After two rounds of eating, Yun Jiao finally managed to sample all twenty-four dishes. Just as Xie Zhihang thought she was done, time Rewound once more.
This time, Yun Jiao only took small tastes of the three dishes in front of her before setting down her chopsticks and saying demurely:
“My appetite is small. I’m full now~”
If he hadn’t witnessed her whirlwind-style eating earlier, the Emperor might have believed her.
Xie Zhihang looked at her. “You’re eating so little?”
“Your Majesty, I’m afraid of gaining weight and dare not eat too much. Just a small taste of each dish is enough to satisfy me,” Yun Jiao nodded, smiling with such delicate charm. “Has my bird-like appetite startled Your Majesty?”
“Yes, a little.”
He was a bit startled by her other side.
After the meal, Xie Zhihang didn’t leave immediately. He asked Yun Jiao if she needed anything and made sure she was comfortably settled, ensuring there was no need for a reload before he finally took his leave. His attentiveness and consideration were so remarkable that the palace attendants who witnessed it could hardly believe it.
In just half a day, news of the Emperor visiting Xianfu Palace to dine with Consort Xi had spread throughout most of the rear palace.
A promotion after a single night of intimacy could be considered a momentary whim.
Today’s actions proved that the Emperor had not completely forgotten her, nor was he merely captivated by the fleeting pleasures of their encounter.
Thus, many could no longer remain composed.