Su Wan'er didn't know that this matter was actually discussed and arranged by Si Junlin, Qingcao and the others. Their aim was to bring her and Si Junlin closer.
However, Su Wan'er had no choice but to serve Si Junlin dishes herself.
When Consort Xi forcefully barged in with some pastries, she saw a scene full of affection between a young couple. If it weren't for the need to show her best side in front of the emperor, she would have lost control. She took a deep breath to suppress the jealousy in her heart. When she looked up again, she had put on a gentle and virtuous expression.
"Your servant pays respects to the emperor," she said softly, bowing to Su Wan'er.
Su Wan'er gave her a cold look and said, "After a long and tiring journey, Consort Xi, instead of resting well in the palace, why have you come here?"
Consort Xi of course had her own motives for coming.
In the past, she and Consort Mei were the most favored concubines in the harem. Now that Consort Mei had been confined to her palace for making mistakes, the only one who could pull down the queen and ascend to the position of the mother of the nation was her.
In order to make the emperor remember her when she ascended to the position of the queen in the future, she naturally had to show herself well in front of the emperor.
Su Wan'er gave her a cold look and then said to her, "Sit down." After saying this, she treated Si Junlin even more tenderly.
From time to time, she picked up dishes for Si Junlin and fed him soup with a spoon. When she noticed some juice on the corner of his mouth, she picked up the embroidered handkerchief on the table and gently wiped it for him.
Si Junlin enjoyed the whole process.
Although other concubines would also serve him like this because of his status, for some reason, he always felt extremely comfortable when served by Su Wan'er. This feeling was something that other concubines couldn't give him.
However, this feeling did make him enjoy it very much, and he was also quite willing to indulge in it for the time being.
His enjoying expression was like a blatant provocation in Consort Xi's eyes. She breathed rapidly to prevent herself from losing control due to the stimulation and making any indecent actions in front of the emperor.
After her breath had calmed down a little, she showed her gentle face again. She took the food box from the maid's hand and placed it beside Su Wan'er. "Your Majesty, these are the little pastries made by your servant herself. I wonder if Your Majesty would do me the honor of tasting them?"
Su Wan'er glanced at the delicate pastries inside. She was about to say something when Si Junlin preempted her. "Consort Xi, it's lunchtime now. Why are you having pastries? Are you so idle that you want me to find something for you to do?"
"Your Majesty, look, look at what the queen said. Your servant just wanted Your Majesty to give some pointers on her cooking skills. As the queen, how could she talk like that?" Consort Xi looked at Su Wan'er with a face full of grievance.
Her eyes were even more urgent. If eyes could talk, she would probably be shouting at this moment, "Your Majesty, quickly punish this rude woman!"
Su Wan'er turned to look at Si Junlin and said to him with her eyes, "Look at the kind of women you like."
Si Junlin replied to her with a rather helpless look in his eyes, "Everyone makes mistakes. I was just blinded by the situation at that time."
Su Wan'er ignored his excuse. Instead, she picked up the chopsticks and picked up a piece of pastry from Consort Xi's food box.
Looking at the pastry, she couldn't help but think of that night. She then put the pastry to Si Junlin's mouth and said to him, "Your Majesty, you should try it first. It's more appropriate for you women to judge the cooking skills of women."
Si Junlin looked at her in confusion, and Su Wan'er nodded firmly.
Si Junlin didn't understand what Su Wan'er was thinking, so he took a bite of the pastry.
Su Wan'er did this because she thought she was doing a good deed for Si Junlin.
Her current body was the noble body of the emperor. Although he had occupied this body, he didn't dare to do anything dangerous with it.
Especially when it came to food, the previous experience had told her that Consort Xi had some special drugs in her hands. Maybe it was for currying favor with the emperor, or maybe it was for...
For the safety of her family, she still used her own body as an experiment.
However, in the eyes of Consort Xi, who didn't know the inside story, the emperor was completely captivated by the queen.
Once she had this thought, her desire to get rid of the queen became even stronger.
"How is it?" Su Wan'er asked Si Junlin.
Si Junlin frowned and said painfully, "It's unpalatable. Too much sugar was added. The pastry, which should have been loose, was made as hard as a rock by her."
Consort Xi became even more angry when she heard this.
She had clearly made it for the emperor. She didn't expect that in the end, not only did the queen take the credit, but she was also disliked by the queen. If the queen had such a low opinion of it, would the emperor still eat it?
"Your Majesty, you can't just listen to the queen's one - sided words. Your servant tasted it herself when it was made. The taste is definitely not bad," Consort Xi almost swore to the sky.
Su Wan'er picked up another pastry and put it into her own mouth.
Si Junlin couldn't understand. He originally thought that the reason why Su Wan'er let him taste it was to push Consort Xi away, so he deliberately said that the pastry was unpalatable. However, even if he didn't say so, this pastry was just ordinary. It was obviously made by someone who was not familiar with cooking.
After Su Wan'er ate it, she also frowned. It wasn't because it was unpalatable, but because it was too ordinary. There was nothing attractive about it. It was just the level of the imperial chefs in the palace.
The only thing that could show her cooking skills was the appearance.
Su Wan'er had eaten this kind of pastry before. It was made by the imperial chefs. The imperial chefs made them square. Whether it was the shape of the pastry or the patterns on it, they were all neat.
But Consort Xi's craftsmanship was, to put it nicely, rough - edged. To put it bluntly, the pastries were of all kinds of strange shapes.
As for the taste, there was nothing to say. Other people's pastries melted in the mouth, but the ones she made were hard. They were only a little better than stones, and definitely needed to be bitten with teeth.
"Consort Xi, it's not that I'm trying to discourage you. In the future, it's better to let the imperial chefs make them," Su Wan'er wiped her mouth and gave the most fair evaluation.
This time, she definitely didn't show any favoritism. The things Consort Xi made were just a waste of food...
Consort Xi immediately felt aggrieved. "Your Majesty..."
"Don't believe it? Try it yourself," Su Wan'er pushed the food box in front of Consort Xi.
Although she didn't know why Consort Xi thought the food she made was delicious, the best way was to let her taste it herself.
Consort Xi picked up a pastry defiantly and took a bite. As soon as she took a bite, she immediately spat it out.
"How, how is this possible?"