[Qing Dynasty transmigration + sweet romance + palace intrigue + cuisine]
When a top chef transmigrates to the Qing Dynasty and becomes the legitimate daughter of a prominent Zhenghong Banner family, her father a Secretariat Councilor, Wanyan Yuewei is born into wealth and privilege with nothing to worry about. She figures that living as a salted fish and enjoying a lie-flat life wouldn't be so bad.
But then a military defeat leads to her father and brothers being stripped of their wealth and exiled, while the rest of the family are demoted to commoners.
So Wanyan Yuewei steels herself and braves every obstacle to protect her family. She leads them from imprisonment to a bright future, not only clearing the Wanyan family's name but also bringing them back to the heights of power.
She opens a restaurant, a fabric shop, and an entertainment house, and accidentally becomes one of the Qing Dynasty's richest people.
Grand Empress Dowager: “Wanyan girl, I would love some of your West Lake vinegar fish.”
Emperor Kangxi: “Come here, girl. I haven't had your Longjing shrimp in ages. Hurry and bring some to me.”
Consort De: “Yuewei, your roasted lamb is delicious. Make some more. I'm entertaining the Fourteenth Prince today.”
Prince Yong: “This Buddha Jumps Over the Wall is excellent, but your entirely vegetarian banquet is even more ingenious. Please teach the people in my household how to make it sometime.”
Watching everyone dote on his own wife, the Twelfth Prince, Yinti, feels aggrieved for the first time. Everyone loves his wife, but why does that make him so unhappy?
At court, the Twelfth Prince is a nobody. The rest of the court is busy scheming for power, but he has no interest in imperial authority or rank. All he cares about is the wife he went to great lengths to marry, Wanyan Yuewei. He would give up everything in the world for her, and all he asks is a quiet life together, forever.
[This story is set in an alternate Qing Dynasty. The leads are each other's first love, and she becomes his one and only later in the story. A sweet romance with no angst.]
I cried when I looked at the first few pictures. The family was almost destroyed. The eldest brother's body was hung on the upper floor and he knelt in the rain to redress the grievances of the family. I cried so much that I burst into tears 😢