FID – Chapter 901

Chapter 901: I Can’t Even Share a Pickled Radish with Her Now? 

Feng Mohan leaned sideways and clung to the Empress Dowager, hugging her arm tightly. “So this is what it feels like to have Imperial Grandmother backing me.”

The Empress Dowager had been about to push him away, her face already darkening as she prepared to scold the boy. But at his words, she froze, and a wave of inexplicable sorrow welled up in her heart.

She suddenly realized that she and Feng Mohan were actually quite alike. Both of them held extremely noble statuses, yet both had lost their blood relatives early on. In this world, they were solitary figures.

If not for Feng Qingbai and Liu Yusheng, that kind of loneliness might have lasted them a lifetime.

Her body stiffened for quite a while. She truly wasn’t used to such intimate gestures. Eventually, she shook her arm. “Let go already! You’re the emperor—acting like this…”

“Is unbecoming,” Feng Mohan and Liu Yusheng said in unison.

The Empress Dowager: “…”

Laughter rang out in the hall again.

Over in the small kitchen, hearing the laughter coming from the hall, Grandma Liu couldn’t help but smile as well. She neatly packed the pickled vegetables into a clean jar. “Granny, go to the imperial kitchen and pick out two fresh radishes. I’ll make a batch of pickled radish that can be eaten right away.”

“Yes, this old servant will go now,” the old maid replied with a smile before retreating.

The small kitchen in Yangxin Hall was usually only used for boiling water. It rarely saw real use. The hall had always felt cold and oppressive, with a gloom that seeped into every corner.

But today, the atmosphere felt entirely different just from Grandma Liu’s light bustle in the kitchen—like the place had finally come alive.

It added a touch of everyday warmth.

And with it, a sense of humanity.

While waiting for the old maid to return, Grandma Liu wiped her hands clean and rummaged around the small kitchen. In just a short while, she was already grumbling about it.

“This little kitchen is just for show, huh? There’s not even an extra set of bowls or chopsticks,” she muttered, glancing around before a thought struck her. She turned on her heel and headed toward the inner hall.

“Grandma, what are you busy with? Want some help?” Liu Yusheng called over from the soft couch.

“No need, you all carry on with your conversation. It’ll be time to feed Xiao Badou and Hongdou soon. Don’t let them go hungry.”

“Got it.” Counting the time, the two little ones probably were getting hungry. Liu Yusheng and the Empress Dowager carried the two babies into the inner chamber to feed them.

Feng Mohan, on the other hand, got up and quietly followed Grandma Liu to the small kitchen.

He needed to avoid suspicion.

Even though his aunt was just inside feeding the two little ones, he couldn’t remain in the inner hall.

He was a man now. Staying would risk damaging his aunt’s reputation.

“What are you doing, Great-Grandma?” Feng Mohan asked, eye twitching slightly at the sight of what the old lady was holding.

“I’m pickling some sour radish. There’s nothing else to do anyway. Just something to nibble on to cut the grease. These past two months in the capital have been nothing but rich food every day. This old lady’s grown a whole layer of fat!”

“Where’s the fat? You look just like before, plump and prosperous. That’s a sign of good fortune.”

“You and that sweet mouth of yours.” The old lady chuckled, eyes crinkling with delight.

By the time the Empress Dowager and Liu Yusheng came out holding the two little ones, the air in the hall was filled with a mouthwatering sour aroma.

Grandma Liu and Feng Mohan were already sitting by a low table, eating contentedly. The old maid stood nearby, her expression a tangled mess of emotions when she saw the Empress Dowager emerge. She opened her mouth as if to speak but hesitated.

“You’re out? Come, come—try it and see how it tastes. It may not look like much, but it cuts the grease and whets the appetite,” Grandma Liu called out warmly as soon as she saw them.

The Empress Dowager immediately sensed something was off. She looked up, and when her gaze landed on the item on the low table, her expression shifted—silver hair trembling as she exclaimed, “You… you used my porcelain dragon-pattern bowl for… sour radish?!”

That was one of the display pieces she kept in the inner hall for ornamental viewing. It was very precious!

“Porcelain dragon-pattern bowl?” Grandma Liu glanced at the colorful large bowl in front of her. “Well, the porcelain is quite pretty. But your little kitchen didn’t have a single large bowl. I searched high and low and this was the only small basin that could hold everything, so I used it.”

“Do you know that’s a tribute item? The only one in the entire Nanling palace! You couldn’t buy it with all the silver in the world!” The Empress Dowager was so furious her eyes turned red.

Grandma Liu looked genuinely puzzled, unable to understand why she was so angry. “I just put some white radish in it. Once we finish eating, I’ll wash it and put it back. What’s the point of such a beautiful bowl if you just leave it out for display? That’s a real waste.”

“…” The Empress Dowager pressed her hand to her forehead and took a deep breath. She had given up hope that this brash woman would ever understand elegance. In her eyes, everything was either useful or not.

At this point, she just wanted this woman back in the village as soon as possible—before she managed to ‘ruin’ her two little great-grandchildren.

No way she’d let her take them!

“Well, are you eating or not? If not, it’ll be gone soon.”

“I am!” Of course she would eat! She was already this mad. How could she not get at least a couple bites of sour radish out of it?!

Liu Yusheng and Feng Mohan quietly huddled in a corner, silently competing for bites.

They dared not make a sound, lest the Empress Dowager, blazing with fury, turn her wrath on them.

The bowl of sour radish was quickly finished in a flurry of stubborn eating. When the Empress Dowager finally sat back down on the soft couch, she let out a burp—filled with the unmistakable tang of pickled radish.

Her silver hair trembled all over again.

At that moment, the troublemaker had already been half-dragged away by Liu Yusheng and Feng Mohan. As they hurried her out, she was still asking why they were walking so fast. She’d planned to spend the whole day with the Empress Dowager.

Staring at the retreating figure and then at the now-empty bowl still sitting on the small table, the Empress Dowager went from fuming to laughing.

“That rough woman, she’s going to be the death of me!”

“Though Elder Madam Liu may lack an appreciation for refinement, she’s honest and genuine. Your Majesty is gracious and magnanimous. You would never stoop to argue with her.”

“Of course not.”

The old maid struggled to hold back a laugh. “Shall I take the dragon-pattern bowl to be washed?”

“Quickly. And light some incense in the hall afterward. The whole place smells like pickled radish. Even I stink of it now.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Far away from the Yangxin Hall, Liu Yusheng and Feng Mohan exchanged a look and burst out laughing.

They had held it in too long. They hadn’t dared laugh inside the hall, afraid they’d add fuel to the fire.

“What are you two laughing at?” Grandma LIu was completely baffled. She batted away Xiao Badou’s waving hands and looked down at him with a mock glare. “Even you are laughing at your great-grandma, huh? It was just a bowl!”

“Great-grandma, I really admire you. Only you could make the Empress Dowager so mad and still leave her with no way to vent it,” Feng Mohan laughed until he was out of breath.

Liu Yusheng raised a hand and lightly smacked his forehead. “You’re one to talk. You were right there when Grandma picked up the bowl. Why didn’t you say anything?”

“It was just a bowl. Wash it after using it and it’s fine. Leaving it there unused is such a waste,” he said, repeating Grandma Liu’s words, leaving Liu Yusheng at a loss for words.

“Alright, alright, if you’ve had your laugh, let’s get going. I won’t be staying in the capital much longer. I’ll visit that old woman again tomorrow. After that, who knows when we’ll meet again.”

With Xiao Badou in her arms, she hummed a tune and led the way.

Of course, she knew the Empress Dowager’s belongings were mostly precious. But rare or not, things only show their worth when used, don’t they?

She wasn’t really a rough country woman. She knew what she was doing.