"Surrounded by a flock of chirping and chattering concubines, the Empress Dowager gently pinched her brow.
Her daughters-in-law, each skilled in flattery, lacked a sincere one among them.
Having spent most of her life in the palace, she had tasted the creations of every Imperial Chef and Spiritual Delicacy Master, only to be repeatedly pald off with the sa old dishes.
Empress Feng and the other concubines had no choice but to leave helplessly.
Shi Guiren, standing off to the side and without a chance to speak, had to leave as well.
Holding a food box, she was in a dilemma, unable to decide whether to leave or stay.
Thinking of Xin Lin’s instructions, she gritted her teeth, stumbled, and the food box in her hand clattered to the ground.
"Who let this clumsy fool in, disturbing the Empress Dowager with such negligence? Can you bear the responsibility?"
The nanny beside the Empress Dowager scolded.
"Shi Guiren, don’t you leave now."
Empress Feng turned around only to see Shi Guiren’s food box on the ground.
She frowned, seeing Shi Guiren, who was as timid as a mouse, unable to even carry a food box properly.
Muttering softly, Shi Guiren moved to pick up the lid of the food box.
"Hold on, does that food box contain the Spiritual Delicacy Buns from De Yue Building?"
A fragrant scent wafted out when the food box hit the ground.
This scent was not from the royal chefs’ craftsmanship.
Driven by curiosity, the Empress Dowager asked.
Several plump buns were exposed, steaming hot, exuding a unique fragrance of white flour.
The Empress Dowager rembered that the Spiritual Delicacy Buns made by the city’s De Yue Building were unmatched, even by the palace’s own Spiritual Delicacy Masters, but the Empress Dowager, being a devout Buddhist, had never tasted them due to their scarcity.
"How dare you, Shi Guiren, knowing the Empress Dowager follows Buddhist precepts, bring at buns here?"
Empress Feng scolded harshly.
"Reporting to the Empress Dowager, Empress. These are White Jade Vegetable Buns, specially supplied by Taichang Temple, not at buns from De Yue Building."
Shi Guiren quickly knelt down.
Temple’s special vegetable buns?
The Empress Dowager’s interest was peaked upon hearing this.
The Empress Dowager, being a Buddhist, maintained relationships with the high monks of Taichang Temple.
"What is that dish next to the buns?"
The Empress Dowager, with keen eyes, noticed sothing else in the food box beside the vegetable buns.
"Replying to the Empress Dowager, it is Candied Hawthorn. Your servant heard that the Empress Dowager’s appetite has not been good, and considering elixir pills are harsh on the stomach and broths too rich, I thought of the snacks often eaten in childhood, to help stimulate the Empress Dowager’s appetite."
Shi Guiren, eyes and gaze lowered, answered whatever the Empress Dowager asked.
"Commoner’s snacks dare to be sent here to the Empress Dowager? If such things harm your precious health, can you bear the responsibility? Shi Ying, what nonsense did you learn during your years among the commoners?"
Empress Feng rebuked.
"Your servant recognizes her wrongdoing."
Shi Guiren bowed her head, not daring to say more.
"Empress, what’s wrong with being a commoner? I myself ca from the common folk when I was young. It’s been decades since I last had Candied Hawthorn. Bring it here."
The Empress Dowager, glancing at Empress Feng.
A chill ran across Empress Feng’s scalp; she suddenly rembered.
Before marrying into the palace, the Empress Dowager was just a common girl who grew up among the common folk.
Because of this, the Empress Dowager had always been indifferent to the palace’s noble ladies and even to Empress Feng.
The Empress Dowager first tasted a piece of Candied Hawthorn, imdiately finding her mouth watering and her appetite open.
She then took a White Jade Vegetable Bun and bit into it.
With that bite, thin skin and tasty filling, refreshing and sweet cabbage, chewy flour skin, the Empress Dowager ate four White Jade Stead Buns in one breath.
"
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