My Fantastic Chef Wife

330. So What Even If She Is Young?

Translator: ChowvanLee

Empress Dowager continued, “Why are you so eager to bring Madam Xiao back? Do you see her as the younger me and have something devious in mind?”

“Oh, my sweetheart. I’m not that kind of person. Madam Xiao is just a little girl. How can she compare to you?”

“She is young. All men like young girls.”

“So what even if she’s young? She’s very stuffy and won’t speak a word to me. I might as well face my old housekeeper, but not her.”

Empress Dowager burst out laughing.

State Preceptor immediately added, “Then… I can take Madam Xiao back?”

Empress Dowager was not an innocent young girl any more and could not be talked over easily. She became serious at once, “No!”

“Why?” State Preceptor asked.

“The more anxious you are, the more I can’t let you bring her back. You just deserve to be anxious. It’s you who lost our daughter back then! Also, you said that you don’t like Madam Xiao, but I can see that you care about her. You know what? I’ll let her out of the palace in a couple of days and you will be anxious for the next few days.”

“You… Hey, sweetheart, what should I do with you?” State Preceptor looked helpless.

However, he could only listen to Empress Dowager and was really worried that Empress Dowager would do something unexpected.

The jealousy of women was horrified.

…

State Preceptor comforted Empress Dowager for a while, had a meal with her, and then they had awesome sex. Empress Dowager was no longer angry.

State Preceptor didn’t dare to ask Empress Dowager to let go of Ye Xiaoxian, or she would lose her temper immediately. He was worried that he might accidentally piss her off again.

But before he left, State Preceptor told Empress Dowager, “Madam Xiao is famous for her cooking skills. Do you know about this? If you let her live in your palace, then find some work for her. Let her cook a few dishes for you. Didn’t you eat her dessert last time? It’s pretty good.”

Empress Dowager tidied up her messy clothes and said, “I almost forget she’s a chef. Alright, I’ll find her things to do. Let her show off her skills. She’s from the countryside. She must be used to hard work. Yesterday, I observed her hands, very rough, even rougher than mine. Just by looking at her hands, I’d think she’s well over thirty.”

State Preceptor kissed Empress Dowager’s hand, “Do you think every woman can maintain her skin as perfect as you do?”

Empress Dowager pulled her hand back. “You only know how to make me happy.”

“Definitely I’m trying to make you happy. Only you.”

“…”

Ye Xiaoxian had been secretly watching out in her room.

She counted the minutes and four hours passed before State Preceptor came out of Empress Dowager’s palace.

‘Well, they do have an affair. I knew it. Empress Dowager and State Preceptor are friends. Empress Dowager knew about the relations between me and Xiao Baoshan.’

After State Preceptor came out, he sent a maid to call Ye Xiaoxian over.

Ye Xiaoxian pretended that she didn’t know anything and looked surprised when she saw State Preceptor. “State Preceptor, you’re here too.”

State Preceptor was annoyed. “I know you saw me. Don’t pretend any more.”

State Preceptor’s tired face showed what he was doing inside. Ye Xiaoxian chuckled, “Really? I saw someone came in indeed. It looked like State Preceptor, but I wasn’t sure. I was worried that I might be wrong.”

After a while, Empress Dowager came out from her palace, too.

State Preceptor cleared his throat and said to Ye Xiaoxian seriously, “Empress Dowager said that she really likes you and is getting well along with you. In the next few days, you will stay with her in the palace. Of course, you can’t stay here for free. Make some dishes or snacks for Empress Dowager in your free time.”

Ye Xiaoxian thought that State Preceptor was here to bring her back but no.

It seemed that State Preceptor was a little afraid of Empress Dowager.

Although she was very reluctant, she had to say, “Yes!”

State Preceptor glanced at Ye Xiaoxian and then Empress Dowager. ‘Alright, mother and daughter have finally met, and mother will eat the dishes made by daughter, which is perfect.’

Thinking of this, he swung his sleeves and strode out of Empress Dowager’s palace.

Ye Xiaoxian turned to Empress Dowager. Empress Dowager was looking at her in a dominating gesture, “You shall go to cook!”

Ye Xiaoxian had to say respectfully, “Yes!”

…

There was also a kitchen in Empress Dowager’s palace and the maids would prepare the ingredients.

Ye Xiaoxian had inquired about Empress Dowager’s preferences in advance and learned that she liked light dishes. She didn’t want to gain weight, so Ye Xiaoxian had better make things with low calorie and low fat.

Ye Xiaoxian thought for a while and then made three dishes: Tofu with Dried Shrimps, Osmanthus-flavoured Pumpkin Soup, and Crispy Raw Fish.

Ye Xiaoxian was very conscientious when cooking these dishes.

After all, she was a chef. No matter how much she hated someone, she had to respect her cooking skills.

After the dishes were done, some old maids brought them to Empress Dowager.

After the maids left, Ye Xiaoxian found that her sleeves were broken. She must have accidentally broken it in food processing.

What she was wearing was the only clothes she got in the palace, and its sleeves were particularly large, not suitable for working time. So when she was making dishes, she rolled her sleeves up into a large bundle on her shoulders.

Ye Xiaoxian got all sweaty after cooking and her sleeves were broken. She came out to cool herself in the garden, intending to ask an old maid to find her other clothes when she came out from Empress Dowager’s room.

Empress Dowager had already started eating.

The dishes Ye Xiaoxian made were quite exquisite. The osmanthus-flavoured pumpkin soup was dotted with a few dates. The tofu looked light, and only some oil was drenched on it. Around crispy raw fish were various side dishes.

These dishes were small but contained many kinds of ingredients, which could satisfy Empress Dowager’s needs on taste and were not filling at the same time.

Empress Dowager tried every dish and felt that they were refreshing, not greasy at all. These dishes had a nice scent with the exact amount of salt, which satisfied her appetite.

And these dishes made her feel delightful.

She thought, ‘I’ll let Madam Xiao stay in my palace for a few more days.’

…

In the evening, a maid told Empress Dowager that Madam Xiao wanted to take a shower and got changed, and asked Empress Dowager what to do.

Madam Xiao wasn’t a maid. If she was a maid, she could wear a maid’s clothes. But she was a general’s wife, so the maid couldn’t find her suitable clothes.

Empress Dowager thought, ‘Let her wear a maid’s clothes.’

‘She is a chef here. It doesn’t matter what she wears.’

But in this case, people would think Empress Dowager was a narrow-minded and jealous person if the news spread.

In the end, Empress Dowager asked an old maid to pick out a few clothes that she had worn before and gave them to Ye Xiaoxian.

Empress Dowager was not fat, slender figure, so it was perfect for Ye Xiaoxian to wear her clothes.

She wanted to see how much Ye Xiaoxian looked like her.

…

After taking a shower, Ye Xiaoxian put on Empress Dowager’s clothes.

Empress Dowager’s clothes were smoked with incense so they had the smelt of the faint fragrance of flowers, perhaps with a mixing of Empress Dowager’s natural scent.

Ye Xiaoxian didn’t know why, but when she put on these clothes, she felt like she’d smelled the scent somewhere. And she actually liked it because it could calm her down.

She thought that it should be the fragrance of the incense that Empress Dowager had gotten from some imperial physicians, which could relieve uneasiness.

After taking a shower, an old maid came to invite Ye Xiaoxian and asked her to play chess in Empress Dowager’s palace.

Ye Xiaoxian followed her.

There were many exquisite candles in Empress Dowager’s palace. With dim light and a variety of silk screens, the room looked a little dreamy.

It seemed that Empress Dowager remained some romance of the youth.

Ye Xiaoxian walked in and greeted Empress Dowager.

Empress Dowager sat in front of a table casually and asked Ye Xiaoxian to sit opposite her.

Ye Xiaoxian sat down.

There was a board of Chinese Go Chess on the table. Empress Dowager pointed at it and asked Ye Xiaoxian, “Do you know how to play it?”

“No, Your Majesty.” Ye Xiaoxian said.

She didn’t know how to play Chinese Go Chess. She’d only played five-in-a-row.

Empress Dowager cast a disdainful glance at her, “Music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, which one would you be capable of?”

Ye Xiaoxian thought for a moment before telling the truth, “Your Majesty, I’m capable of nothing.”

Empress Dowager asked again, “What about the needlework?”

Ye Xiaoxian thought of the pouch she made and said, “A little. I can embroider a pouch.”

Empress Dowager sneered and changed a gesture, said lazily. “So, what you can do is only cooking.”

“Yes,” said Ye Xiaoxian.

Empress Dowager said, “Everyone says that you look like me. But apart from the moment when you’re wearing these clothes, you’re nothing like me.”

Ye Xiaoxian said, “Everyone grows up in a different environment. Naturally, I’m unable to do things that I’d never learned when I was growing up.”

Empress Dowager blinked and said, “You know how to normalize your incompetence. Actually, you’re just uneducated.”

“Empress Dowager is right.” Ye Xiaoxian added.

Ye Xiaoxian was not going to retort whatever Empress Dowager said. After all, she was living in her palace.

Empress Dowager asked someone to remove the chess board, then poured a cup of tea, and said to Ye Xiaoxian, “You’re very interesting. You don’t know much, but have a lot of ideas. Where do you learn the cooking skills?”

Ye Xiaoxian copied the words that she had said to deceive the minister of the Ministry of Rites, “A master taught me.”

“Where’s this master?”

“He’s not here. He doesn’t want his name known, so just passed on his cooking skills to me and left.”

“Then you’re quite hardworking. Even though you don’t know anything about the four arts, you took the opportunity to be an expert in cooking. You’re very smart.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Ye Xiaoxian felt that Empress Dowager was here to make fun of her today, or she was bored and wanted to kill her time by chatting with her.

“How did you and General Xiao get married? Because of a matchmaker or your parents?” Empress Dowager asked again.

Ye Xiaoxian replied, “I was taken into Xiao Family as a daughter-in-law when I was a little girl. I was originally going to marry General Xiao’s elderly brother, but he died before that. Later, General Xiao came home. In order to save money, my mother-in-law married me to General Xiao.”