I saw sothing quite unexpected when I looked through the window. Instead of a small, rustic room, Eggy and I saw my bedroom back at the [Ranch House] on Emberstone Farm, with sleeping in my bed.
“Mom?” Eggy couldn't believe what he saw, and his head swiveled from the windows to three tis. “Two Moms!”
I pointed to my sleeping form and then to myself. “That is sleeping, and this is in my dream.”
“Your dream?”
My child gave a quizzical look, but before I could answer, the person inside the cabin stirred and started to open her eyes.
I woke up in my bedroom.
Yawning, I stretched luxuriously beneath the sheets before sitting up and rubbing the sleep from my eyes. The sun was shining through my bedroom window’s curtains-
Wait, the sun was shining?
I was supposed to go to the main house before dawn!
I threw the covers off and hurriedly showered, brushed my teeth, and put plain cotton robes on before half running, half walking to the courtyard house, and then changing course to the river when I encountered one of the maids walking to the river. She inford that everyone was already working on the ship, so we went there together. The [Floating Solarium] was a large rock with a giant maple tree in the middle whose roots were topped by a crystal do. Though it was technically a ship, it was so big that a gangplank was too small to use. It had two escalators, one going up and one going down, instead. The interior was full of natural light, courtesy of the plate glass walls and ceiling, and was elegantly furnished with fine wood and natural fabrics.
Fengying hustled inside the salon area the mont she saw . “My lady, do you mind eating breakfast while we dry your hair? We wouldn’t want you to catch a cold.”
“How’s everything going?” I asked as I sat on a barber chair.
The room was full of modern items like full-length mirrors, vanity lighting, styling stations full of makeup kits, curling irons, hot rollers, facial stears, and so forth. A maid ca at with a hairdryer in her hand while another put a basin of warm water at my feet and got started with the foot spa treatnt.
“The staff should be finished with all the last-minute preparations in an hour. Please take your ti eating.”
“Okay.”
Fengying left to take care of the details while I sat back and let the maids do their thing.
Since we were off to attend two royal ceremonies and one royal banquet, it was important that we looked our best. Therefore, I had temporarily converted half of the living area of the [Solarium] into two large salons, one for the n and the other for the won. The other half contained the state rooms for the Lady of the West and her entourage.
Yinuo ca by with a breakfast tray and I feasted on a light congee with chicken and ginger. It was amazing how the Demon Chef could make such simple fare taste like it should be a celebrated dish in a three-Michelin-star restaurant. The warming and savory flavors danced on my tongue and I sighed in contentnt as I filled my belly once again with world-class quality food.
“I haven’t seen the chef and kitchen staff. What’s happening?” I asked Yinuo.
She gave a short rundown of the morning’s events as the maids did my hair and dressed in silk court robes suitable for my rank as a Baroness. Intricately embroidered with gold and silk threads, it was red and had a motif of a flowering plum tree and a crane. The ornantal collar was white with a repeating pattern of waves and mountains. Though the robes looked spectacular, it was surprisingly comfortable since the body was loose and the long sleeves were not too wide.
The headdress was another matter. I was afraid it would fall off if I moved my head too quickly because it was too big and heavy. The crown was in the style of a “flower tree crown” with branches made of gold and flowers of pearl and jade.
“It’s so pretty, but I don’t think I can wear it,” I said to Yinuo.
“We’ll try to stabilize it,” she said.
They removed the crown and redid my hair using hot combs and so kind of horribly thick gel. I grimaced when they showed the result. The towering hairstyle didn’t suit at all! The crown was more stable, but It looked like I had two clouds sticking to the side of my head.
The maids had worked hard, and I didn’t want to hurt their feelings, so I said, “Let’s ask Fengying what she thinks.”
My housekeeper smiled when she saw the problem. “No, you’re not using the crown properly.”
She delicately unpinned it from my hair and showed us how the gold branches could be removed from the silver trunk.
“Oh, so the branches should be pinned to my hair directly!” I said.
“The headdress can’t be used in this form.” Fengying shook the crown, demonstrating the inherent instability of its narrow base and broad top.
My housekeeper gave more detailed instructions before leaving to take care of the other staff. The maids had to start over again. They washed off the stiff gel, dried my hair, and styled it into a large bun on top of my head to which they pinned the branches. The result was much better.
I turned my head in front of a mirror to view it from all sides. “I loooooove it! Thank you.”
We all hugged, triumphant, and I decided to retire to my assigned bedroom to rest. The maids’ work wasn’t done since they had to take care of Kharli and Lari next.
“Good luck!” I said.
However, when I put my feet up on a suprely comfortable reclining chair in my living room, I got bored with no one there to talk to and nothing to do, so I went back out to check on the others. I bumped into Scholar Wu, resplendent in deep blue robes, in the eastern corridor.
“Good morning, my lady.”
“Good morning.”
She chuckled softly. “Have you co to check on what the chef is cooking?”
“Huh? Wasn’t he finished cooking last night?”
Since I was holding a banquet for around 300 people today, my small kitchen staff had to prepare everything beforehand and use my apprentices' interspatial storage to keep them fresh.
Scholar Wu and I had been very amused at my apprentices’ shock and dismay when Deming served us the banquet food.
Northern banquet cuisine was known for its delicate, fresh flavors, with high-end nus featuring lots of crunchy green vegetables which were prized in the wintry lands that had a short growing season. Rich families showed off their wealth by importing vegetables and fruits from the Western continent, and my apprentices did not appreciate eating mostly salads.
Had the chef suddenly changed the nu?
Scholar Wu said, “Last night, word ca from the White Tiger clan that the Lady has started eating tofu thread soup with quail eggs at every al. Pregnancy cravings, you know.”
“Oh, I see!”
We walked to the kitchen together where I saw Deming, his eyes glowing red and steam coming out of his nose as he breathed, slicing a large block of tofu with two knives, one in each hand. The blades glittered as they moved too fast for to see and made scary kachunk kachunk sounds.
I slowly backed away from the kitchen’s open door and whispered to Scholar Wu, “Looks like they’re busy.”
Our eyes t and we retreated.
“That was too intense.” I wiped my forehead with a fine cotton handkerchief.
“Your chef is a formidable cultivator.”
“What’s this tofu thread soup anyway?”
“It’s a dish that requires an exquisitely precise cutting technique to slice tofu, eggs, and vegetables as thin as hair or thread. The taste is mild and delicate, which I suppose makes it suitable for invalids, the elderly, and pregnant won,” she said.
I invited her to my room where we rested and chatted until it was ti for us to depart.
My apprentices, household staff, and I all went up to the viewing platform. During our earlier trip to the Northernlands, I had applied a [Speed Boost] from the Cash Shop which I assud would make my flying ship go to faster-than-sound speeds, but I was wrong. The [Speed Boost] simply opened up a portal in the sky that brought us near our destination. Since I now knew what the item did, I had no qualms about using the most expensive item this ti, the [Hyper Speed Boost].
We poured ourselves crystal glasses full of either wine or fruit juice and toasted each other when I said, “Onwards, to another wonderful adventure!”
The onlookers all cheered, and I ntally pressed the big red [Start] button in the System nu. There was a loud booming sound and everyone laughed when I said, “And it’s five minutes before we arrive at the Southern camp.”
Our ultimate destination was the Northernlands, but we had to pick up Prince Baiyu and his parents in the Southerlands first.
We finished our drinks and went to the reception area. The [Solarium] flew on with astonishing smoothness, and we barely felt a jolt when it landed. I used the System to open the doors, and it wasn’t long until the Royal Herald, dressed in gorgeous golden robes, arrived with a small retinue of lower-ranked heralds.
The n among us bowed, while the won curtsied. Actually, female nobles could either bow or curtsy, but, seeing as I was wearing a heavy crown, curtsying was more practical since I wouldn’t be in danger of my headdress falling off.
The Royal Herald held up a large ornate scroll and said, “Hear ye! Hear ye! Hear ye! By order of the Lady of the West, I bring you greetings and a royal decree!”
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