The whole family was in high spirits in the main hall. Lady Wei went to the kitchen and told the cooks that since it was a joyous occasion today, they should prepare more dishes for the family gathering.
Lu Wanning followed her. Seeing Lady Wei bustling about, she called out, "Sister-in-law."
Hearing the call, Lady Wei turned around with a smile. "Why did you come, Ning'er? What would you like to eat? You haven't had meat for months. How about having some with Chengcheng today?"
Lu Wanning was a bit tempted. After thinking for a while, she nodded. "That's fine."
Lady Wei was about to get busy again when Lu Wanning quickly grabbed her.
"Sister-in-law, don't be so busy. You're already over seven months pregnant. You should take good care of yourself."
Lady Wei nodded. "I know."
Lu Wanning supported her and walked out, saying, "Sister-in-law, are you unhappy?"
Lady Wei smiled. "How could I be? Your second brother and sister-in-law's baby was born. There's one more child in our family. How could I not be happy?"
Lu Wanning reached out and touched Lady Wei's belly. "I also hope it's a niece. I'll protect her with sister-in-law and make her happy all her life. Just like... Is this okay?"
Lady Wei covered her lips and smiled, patting Lu Wanning's head. "You'll be seventeen by the end of the year, yet still so naughty. What will you do in the future?"
Lu Wanning stuck out her tongue. "Then I'll pester sister-in-law all my life. No, I'll accompany my little niece all my life."
Lady Wei frowned slightly to hide the trace of tears in her eyes, then looked up and said, "Ning'er, you don't need to worry about me. I'm fine. Since I took a fancy to your elder brother and married him, I've been prepared. Chengcheng is the eldest legitimate grandson. He will surely take that path. How could I ruin his future and disgrace the Lu family because of my womanly kindness?"
After she finished speaking, she calmed down a lot and continued with a smile. "Come on. It's a joyous occasion today. Don't mention such sad things. Chengcheng won't leave for more than a year. In this more than a year, I, as his mother, will surely accompany him well."
Lu Wanning followed Lady Wei out, thinking as she walked that men in ancient times had a hard life, and women were equally hard. Who didn't want the whole family to be together? But the country was always more important than the family. This was their necessary choice, and she couldn't change it.
It was just that this family had great love for the world, but in the eyes of villains, it became a weakness to be exploited. How sad.
The next day, Lu Wanning carried a big box into the palace and went straight to the imperial kitchen to teach the cooks how to cook.
The queen was the first to hear the news. Curiously, she asked, "Lu Wanning entered the palace but didn't come to the Guanju Palace. Instead, she went straight to the imperial kitchen. What is she up to?"
The maid explained, "Your Majesty, the emperor once said that Princess Zhaoyang could enter the palace at will without announcement or paying respects."
The queen sneered. "That day in the main hall, she said herself that rituals should not be abolished. Why is she not so particular now?"
The maid quickly nodded. "Your Majesty is right. It can be seen that the princess doesn't really abide by the rituals. Instead, she just looks down on our Guanju Palace..."
The queen slapped the table heavily. "She's been like this since childhood. She only tries to curry favor with the one in the Shoukang Palace and is not close to me. Now that the empress dowager is dead, she's still like this. Isn't it because she thinks the Prince of Zhennan's Mansion has now secured its position?"
The maid whispered, "Your Majesty, this servant thinks that the princess knows the emperor dotes on her, so she acts so recklessly. After all, the princess is young and may be a bit naive."
The queen said coldly, "Naive? She's very sensible. She knows what's most beneficial to her. She has foresight. In this regard, I'm far inferior to my elder sister."
Feeling vexed, she waved her hand and told the maid to leave.
The old maid followed out quickly and grabbed the maid, warning her, "How can you talk nonsense in front of the queen? The queen is in a difficult situation now. If she drifts further away from the Lu family, it won't do her any good."
The maid was sharp-tongued. "You're old, auntie. You're confused when looking at things. The queen is the mother of the country. Why does she need to humble herself to please others? The Lu family is just a subject after all. If they don't give the queen face, why should the queen care about them?"
The old maid was a bit angry. "Don't talk nonsense. The Princess of Zhennan is the queen's elder sister..."
The maid sneered. "Auntie, do you really not understand the queen's mind or are you just pretending? It wasn't long ago that your plan failed and you spoke for the Prince of Zhennan's Mansion, which made the queen unhappy. Have you forgotten so soon? Are you going to continue to act against the queen?"
"You..."
But the maid ignored the old maid and happily turned around and left.
Of course, Lu Wanning didn't know anything about this. She instructed the imperial cooks to prepare a table of dishes and then had someone send them to the emperor.
The emperor was buried in dealing with government affairs and was extremely frustrated. In the past, he had given most of the court affairs to the Prince of Yu and a small part to the Prince of Chen. He didn't need to handle much himself. Now that the Prince of Yu had gone on a campaign and the Prince of Chen had been demoted, he had to do everything himself, so he was extremely tired.
Should he still hand over a part of the affairs to the Prince of Chen?
This thought flashed through the emperor's mind. Everything was going smoothly now. Those people in the hands of the Prince of Chen had either left or been demoted. There was no need to worry about his comeback for the time being.
However, if he handed over these important tasks to the Prince of Chen, what about A Yu? The one he most favored in his heart was still A Yu.
The eunuch came over. "Your Majesty, it's time for dinner."
The emperor rubbed his temples and waved his hand. "I don't want to eat."
The eunuch advised, "Your Majesty, your dragon body is important. Today's dishes..."
"Now we're still in the period of mourning. Even if the dishes change every day, they can only be like that. Can they turn into something special?"
The eunuch smiled. "Your Majesty is right. But today's dishes are really something special. Your Majesty might as well take a look."
Seeing that the emperor was a bit interested, the eunuch clapped his hands to signal the maids and eunuchs to bring up the dishes. There were eight dishes and one soup. Each dish was covered with a lid, and together they just formed the shape of a flower.
The emperor pointed at the dishes. "It really looks like a flower. What else is new?"
The eunuch asked the maids to open the lids. Different from the usual dishes that looked like meat dishes but were actually vegetarian, this time they were all vegetarian, but they smelled so fragrant that it made people's stomachs growl.
The emperor was stunned. He took a closer look and found that the fragrance came from several dishes. He asked curiously, "What are these? Who made them?"
The eunuch smiled and explained, "I don't know what they are, but I know who made these dishes. Early this morning, Princess Zhaoyang entered the palace. She took a box of ingredients to the imperial kitchen and personally prepared this meal for you."
The emperor raised his eyebrows. "Zhaoyang? Can she cook?"
The eunuch chuckled. "With the imperial cooks there, why does the princess need to do it herself? But the princess's filial piety is obvious. She knows that you don't have a good appetite, so she specially found a way to prepare these appetizing dishes. Although the princess didn't do it herself, she gave instructions for each dish."
The emperor became even more interested and nodded in satisfaction. "Summon Princess Zhaoyang to the hall and let her tell me what these dishes are."