Tastes Off

Mi Dou was in charge of the noodles, and she laughed merrily, "I think working in the kitchen isn't too bad either. We get to eat and drink, so at least we don't starve."

Yun Dou looked at Mi Dou's round figure and felt disdain for her. She said, "Do you think everyone is just like you and only cares about eating all day? Just look at how fat you've become."

After Yun Dou mocked Mi Dou, she glanced at Hong Dou.

Out of the three young maids in the kitchen, Yun Dou had the most slender figure, Mi Dou was plump and adorable, but the prettiest one was Hong Dou, the one in charge of cooking the carbohydrates like rice and porridge.

She had an oval face, pretty brows, bright eyes, a small nose, and perfect lips.

She was the exact definition of a beauty.

But she didn't seem to care about that at all. She just wore the well-worn light green uniform of palace maids and didn't put on any makeup. Her bare face had been tanned by the sun, and her skin was now a light brown color.

But that still wasn't able to hide her beauty.

Yun Dou looked at Hong Dou with nothing but jealousy in her eyes.

But Hong Dou was aloof and focused on doing her own work, and she didn't really talk to anybody.

The two old women were in charge of menial work, like washing the cutlery, chopping the firewood, drawing well water, and cleaning the place.

They had rough hands, so their employers disdained them and didn't allow them to touch the food.

Mo Chun personally filled up the serving trays with rice, soup, and other dishes before handing them to the two high-ranking maids.

After they had left with the food for the Crown Prince, they started to prepare food for the rest of the royal family members.

Of course, everything was prepared in the same order as their ranks in the palace.

If Filial Lady Guo of Excellence and Lady Lin of Decorous Service ever got their food before Consort Chen, Consort Chen would never let them off the hook.

Mo Chun saw that Yun Dai was finished with the green peas, so she got her to come over and fill up the serving trays for the other ladies in the palace. At the same time, she reminded everyone, "In this palace, there are rules for how much each person is allocated in terms of food and clothing. It is improper for someone of a lower rank to get more than someone of a higher rank, even if it is by just a little bit."

Yun Dai and Hong Dou listened quietly, but Mi Dou laughed merrily, "As long as the food they can't finish is enough for me to eat my fill, that's good enough."

Her carefree expression was really amusing.

Yun Dou always looked down on her and grumbled in a low voice, "Who doesn't want to be the employer? You get good things to eat, drink, and wear…"

Mo Chun glanced at her but didn't say anything.

They had to finish preparing all the food for the people in the palace before it was their turn to eat.

Their own food was extremely simple: just a bowl of white rice, a portion of vegetables, and a bowl of soup.

Since they were lowly ranked maids, they were allowed just enough to feel full. They would never get anything fancier, and there was no way they would be allowed to eat meat.

After they'd finished eating, everyone was washing up when the two high-ranking maids who had taken the food to the Crown Prince marched in with grim expressions on their faces. There was a clattering sound as they threw the serving tray onto the floor.

The bowls and plates of food spilled all over the floor.

Everyone was shocked.

"Ladies, what's happened?" Mo Chun hurriedly ran over to ask.

"What's happened?" The taller of the two had a cold expression on her face as she pointed to the food on the floor and said, "How dare you give His Highness such food to eat?"

"This food…what was wrong with it?" Mo Chun was upset too. "We always prepare these dishes…"

"His Highness says it's off!" shouted the taller maid. "His Highness specially wanted that boiled meat dish, but once we served it, he took a bite and his expression immediately changed. He said the taste was off."

Yun Dou's face went deathly pale.

She was the one who'd prepared the meat dishes.

She quickly ran forward, squatted down on the floor to pick up a piece of the meat, and said in a trembling voice, "I took great care to prepare this meat well, so there shouldn't have been any problems…"

The taller maid took a step forward and slapped her across the face before reprimanding her, "His Highness says there's a problem, so how dare you say that there's no problem? Make another meat dish for him right now! If the taste is still off, then you'll be in trouble."