Mischievous wife

  "Hmm..." Having slept dreamlessly till dawn, Tao Le'er got out of bed and stretched her waist contentedly. This silk quilt was really good, it felt extremely comfortable to sleep in.

  "Princess, you're awake." Hearing her satisfied hum, Chunyue immediately pushed open the door and entered.

  Taole'er hugged the quilt and smiled foolishly at Yalou. "Hehe, Chunyue is early. Have you been waiting for a long time?" She just stretched her waist and called out softly, and she came in immediately, definitely having waited outside the door all along.

  "No. Besides, it's Spring Month's job to serve the princess and help her with her morning routine." The princess was too kind, so she didn't understand that as a servant, besides doing one's own work, one also had to be the master's punching bag. Being scolded was nothing, being able to avoid being beaten all day was already a blessing. Those serving the concubines were often caned until their arms were bruised and bloody, yet they still had to lower their heads and say that the master's punishment was justified. Only someone like the princess would treat her servants as human beings.

  "Let me tell you, I love sleeping in. From now on, don't get up so early, sleep well and then get out of bed, or you'll be too tired to work. I guarantee that when you wake up, I'll still be snoring away like a little pig. Tell the others too, no need to stand outside so early, aren't your legs tired? She used to have a part-time job delivering newspapers and knew the pain of being woken up at dawn. Her eyes couldn't even open, she walked with her eyes closed, and her brain was still in a daze."

  Chunyue smiled and said, "Although the princess doesn't remember anything from before, she's still so kind-hearted. Chunyue must have accumulated a lot of good fortune in her past life to be assigned to serve the princess." She wasn't just being polite, but truly meant it.

  Tao Le'er gently poked her forehead. "Sweet-talking little girl!"

  Soon, another maid came in with a basin of water and towels.

  After dressing, Tao Le'er wore a simple white Luo skirt and walked out of the room. She raised her arms, looked at her clothes, and thought to herself: Chun Yue this maid is quite understanding of her, without needing to say much, she knew that she liked this kind of simple and elegant clothing.

  "The princess, the king has gone to the palace. Where will the princess have breakfast?" After last night's events, Chunyue naturally knew what the little princess was thinking, with her sly smile.

  Last night, Xiaoyue ran over and said that, almost stopping her little heart from beating. Fortunately, Wang Ye didn't blame her, but seemed to be very happy instead. She also heard that those madams were so angry that their faces turned green, and they slapped the maid's mouth shut.

  Taole'er widened her eyes in surprise, looking at her, then smiled slightly. As expected, she was a clever little girl, and she knew what she wanted to say before she even opened her mouth. Then, she drooped the corner of her mouth again. It's so boring to eat breakfast alone again. "Chunyue, have someone bring it to the pavilion, I'll eat my breakfast there."

  Taole'er pointed to what she wanted, and another servant girl went to fetch it. Chunyue poured her a cup of tea and stood behind her, chatting with her in a desultory manner.

  Before long, the little girl who had gone to fetch breakfast returned.

  Taole'er picked up her chopsticks, ready to eat, but found that it wasn't what she had ordered earlier. "What's going on? Didn't the kitchen make scallion and pork buns?" Unbelievable! This was a very common breakfast dish! She hadn't asked for anything fancy like bird's nest congee or ginseng congee.

  "Ah, yes, there is some, but the kitchen manager said it was specially made for the Fourth Madam and only made enough for her portion, no extra."

  "Ah, Princess, why don't we skip the leek and pork buns today? This congee is quite good, try some. I'll instruct the kitchen to prepare the leek and pork buns for you tomorrow, how's that?"

  Taole'er turned her head to look at the smile on her face, and gradually furrowed her brow. "Chunyue, are you hiding something from me? Could it be that for those people in the kitchen, I'm not even as good as that Fourth Madam?"

  Won't she be bullied like that before she even puts on her clothes? Can a kitchen manager ride roughshod over the dignified princess? Has she eaten leopard gall or something?

  "Nothing—" Chunyue wanted to smooth things over, but another little maid was apparently faster with her mouth than she was.

  "The housekeeper is the aunt of the second wife and was arranged by the fourth wife."

  "Don't spout nonsense in December!" Seeing Wang Fei narrow her eyes, Chun Yue secretly thought it was ominous.

  "Let her finish speaking in the spring month! Winter month, you continue to speak." She is not a soft persimmon that can be bullied by anyone. Even if she was just a small concubine, she couldn't be bullied by others, let alone being a dignified princess!

  Dongyue glanced at Chunyue, seeing that she wasn't glaring, and continued: "What does the princess like to eat? Every time she goes to the kitchen, the person in charge says there isn't any. Who doesn't know that it's because of Fourth Madame's orders? The other three madames have a good relationship with her, and the prince seems to like her too, so..."

  "Alright, no need to say more." She's not an idiot, saying so much and still can't figure out her own situation. "I'd like to see what kind of big shot this manager is, daring to bully even me, the princess?"

  With a sudden movement, Tao Le'er swept past like a gust of wind. After walking for a distance, she stopped and turned back to ask, "Is the kitchen this way?" She hadn't noticed where Dong Yue had come from earlier.

  The originally tense Chun Yue couldn't help but burst out laughing at her question. After the princess forgot about past events, she seemed more cheerful, but also more confused.

  Taole'er knew where the kitchen was and rushed out like a whirlwind. She slept until the sun was high in the sky, and others were already preparing lunch, so there were people walking back and forth in the kitchen, very busy.

  As soon as Tao Le'er entered the kitchen door, those people had already stopped their movements in unison, looking at her and then at the middle-aged woman in the corner. She must be the one in charge. She nudged Chun'er and asked in a low voice, "Is that the round winter melon?"

  Chun Yue bit her lip and nodded with a hint of a smile. A round, plump winter melon? The princess's description was quite apt, it really did resemble the short, stout winter melons sold at the market.

  She slowly walked up to the woman, who was even shorter than her 13-year-old self, and asked in a slow and deliberate tone: "Was it you who told Dong Yue that the leek and pork buns were specially made for the Fourth Madam? Does even I, the princess, need to get your approval to eat them?"

  "Reporting to the princess, the leek and pork buns were indeed made under the orders of the fourth madam. I didn't know the princess liked them too, so not many were prepared. If the princess likes them, tomorrow I will instruct them to prepare more." The steward was also calm, only briefly surprised, apparently due to Tao Yue'er being overly yielding in the past.

  "Oh? But I, the princess, want to eat now, what can be done?" She wasn't particularly picky about food, but if she continued to yield, who knows when some servant would start lording over her.

  "That old slave will have someone prepare it, please have the princess wait outside for a bit." Although the words sounded pleasant, there was not even a hint of respect in his tone and attitude.

  "The queen wants to eat what you prepared for the fourth madam, what do you say we should do?" The young lady is going to make an example out of someone today, let's see if you still dare not to take this queen seriously.

  "Is the princess intentionally making things difficult for an old slave like me?"

  "How can you say that I'm being difficult? The princess is hungry, and she needs to eat now. She wants to have leek and pork buns, not a minute later. Is it possible that the Yu Wang Fu brought you back just to starve the princess?"

  "Master, there are leek and pork buns here. I saw the maid from the fourth madam's room bring breakfast over early this morning." Dongyue obviously didn't have Chunyue's cunning, and opened the lid on the tray, revealing a neat and tidy large plate of steamed buns in front of everyone.

  The steward's face changed slightly, but he quickly regained his composure. "Reporting to the princess, that is the lunch that the fourth madam had already arranged for a long time ago. Without the fourth madam's consent, this old slave dare not take it upon himself to give it to the princess."

  "Oh? Alright! Since the steward said that all these buns are for Fourth Madam's lunch, then... Dong Yue, bring over the small meat buns and have the steward come too. I want to personally go to Fourth Madam's room and watch her eat every single one of these buns, not a single one can be left over, otherwise..."

  The butler gazed at the petite figure walking ahead and felt a sense of foreboding.