Chapter 011 Food

The Lord Jingning's family was large and grand, and the matriarch, Lady Qi, carried herself with even grander importance.

She was always very particular about her meals, never allowing any perfunctory dishes to be served. The timing was strictly regulated, with meals always served promptly at the appointed hour. Each day, precisely at the hour of Chen, the meal had to be served – not a minute earlier or later.

The senior maid, Coral, led a team of servants to bring in the food boxes, carefully placing them at the side. Upon lifting the lids, a variety of dishes were revealed: fresh swallow’s nest hotpot, chicken and mushroom stir-fry with snow pears, stewed eel with bamboo shoots, as well as chicken soup with dumplings, steamed bread rolls, and sesame snowflake cake among the main courses, making a total of fifteen meat and vegetable dishes and eleven kinds of staple foods.

The table was full to the brim, with no space left.

However, Lady Qi was still not satisfied. She frowned at the array of dishes and remarked, "Why, it's not the depths of winter, yet there are no seasonal fruits or vegetables."

Coral, while arranging the chopsticks, smilingly replied, "The morning meal list was written earlier, it seems a bit outdated. I will compose a new one for the kitchen later."

Lady Qi then gave a noncommittal "Hmm," indicating her acceptance.

In a little while, another maid came forward and brought a bowl of hot milk to Lady Qi.

The milk had been heated, but it couldn't be too hot – it had to be just the right temperature, neither scalding nor lukewarm.

Lady Qi reached out her hand, placed it against the bowl, and nodded in approval before dismissing the maid.

Another maid then brought a small plate to Lady Qi's fourth daughter, Qimao. On the plate were two boiled eggs, small in size, piping hot, emitting white steam.

Among all the dishes on the table, only Qimao had this, and the others did not.

In theory, eggs were not rare items, and if someone wanted to eat them, they could simply have them prepared. However, the eggs Qimao was eating were special. It was said that the hens laying these eggs were from the Xia Kingdom and produced eggs entirely different from those produced locally.

When the Jianyang Emperor conquered the Xiang Kingdom and ascended to the throne, he complained that he could not get used to the local eggs, so he specially ordered a group of hens to be transported over a thousand miles across the Li Marsh to their new territory.

Last year, two of these hens were gifted to the Lord Jingning's Residence.

Lady Qi regarded these two hens as if they were sacred Buddhas and ceremoniously offered them up for daily egg-laying. There was a set number of eggs laid each day, just a few, and not everyone was worthy of receiving them. However, Lady Qi herself did not like to eat eggs, so she always bestowed these eggs upon her favorite fourth daughter.

Thus, every morning, Qimao would receive two eggs, as a special privilege.

The maid behind her took one egg, gently tapped its top, removed a small portion of the shell, then carefully sprinkled a bit of salt and seasoning on the egg white before offering it to Qimao.

Qimao held a small silver spoon and delicately savored the eggs bite by bite.

She was beautiful and ate with elegance, making even the eggs in her hand seemed noble.

Most others at the table looked on with envy.

Some wanted to taste these eggs to see what made them so different, while others envied Qimao's favoritism from Lady Qi. Qimao was secretly very proud of this, even though it didn't show on her face, she was always proud inwardly.

But she soon noticed that her second sister, Qiyin, and her fifth sister, Taowei, were both busying themselves with their food, not sparing her a glance.

Qiyin was reserved and aloof by nature, so her behavior was not particularly surprising. But Taowei?

Why wasn't she concerned at all?

Qimao's mind whirred, and she suddenly put down her spoon and called out, "Grandmother."

Lady Qi looked at her inquiringly and asked, "What's the matter?"

Qimao smiled faintly and said with sincerity, "Grandmother, I would like to offer the remaining egg to my fifth sister."

This statement surprised everyone.

Lady Qi was also puzzled, "Hmm?"

Qimao continued, "What happened to my fifth sister yesterday was nothing more than an unintentional act, a careless accident. But my overreaction caused her to suffer, and looking back on it, I feel really ashamed. I want to share the egg with her as a gesture of apology."

As she spoke, her voice grew softer, as if genuinely feeling ashamed.

Taowei couldn't help but stop chewing.

Truly… revolting.

She heard her grandmother chuckle and praise repeatedly, "Good, good, good. Your sisterly love and mutual support is the best resolution." Then she instructed, "Go, take the egg to your fifth sister."

Taowei gulped down the small dumpling in her mouth, forced a smile, and hastily stood up, saying, "Thank you, grandmother, and thank you, sister..."

A display of being overwhelmed by favor and gratitude.

Qimao felt both disappointed and puzzled.

According to Taowei's usual behavior, she should have firmly refused.

Lady Qi was still smiling, "You're a good sister, always considering and defending others. You almost lost your life because of your actions, yet you never once blamed her. A sister like this is hard to come by."

Taowei nodded in agreement, "Grandmother is right. I will always remember this and not cause any more trouble in the future."

Lady Qi nodded with a gentle smile, "Alright, let's all have our meal."

"Please, enjoy, fifth sister," the maid said, handing the peeled egg with salt to Taowei.

Taowei took it and, with a sidelong glance, noticed the youngest, Qiqi.

Qiqi was holding a spoon, eagerly eyeing her, her chubby little hands and round face practically pleading for her to share the egg.

Being young and fond of food, she couldn't contain her desire, displaying it clearly on her face.

Taowei couldn't help but secretly sigh in her heart.

Qiqi, this silly child, it's just an egg. What could be so different about a chicken's egg?

Could it be that the taste was different enough to matter? Could eating eggs from this specific chicken really make a difference?

Surely, it was all just nonsense!

Jianyang Emperor is so pretentious, and a group of fools underneath him are also following suit, which is really embarrassing.

Grandmother treats the chickens like treasures, unwilling to feed them to anyone, and doesn't seem to mind her own foolishness.

Taiwei sneered inwardly, thinking, "Eat eggs? She'll only truly enjoy it when she slaughters those two chickens for their meat."

As she pondered, she glanced at Madam Qi, "Grandmother, in ancient times, Kong Rong offered pears to others. Today, your granddaughter also wants to emulate Kong Rong and offer the chickens to the two sisters."

Taiwei has five sisters, including Sixth Sister Qizhi and Seventh Sister Qitang.

Although she only wanted to give the egg to Qitang, she knew she had to mention Qizhi, or else Grandmother might not agree.

In this era, being slim is considered beautiful, but Qitang, despite being young, is fair and plump, which Grandmother doesn't like.

At the dining table, she had repeatedly urged Aunt Bai to pay close attention to Qitang's diet, not allowing her to overeat and become chubby.

So, despite the table being filled with various dishes, there were no meat dishes in front of Qitang's plate.

The maid served only stir-fried mustard greens, pickled loofah, and some vinegar-dressed mung bean sprouts.

Naturally, the eggs would not be exclusively enjoyed by Qitang.

Taiwei's eyes narrowed slightly, "Moreover, when a granddaughter makes a mistake, she should be punished."