The Innkeeper Cooks Up a Storm in the Imperial Palace

Ruan Tang, a modern Sichuan chef, unexpectedly transmigrates into the owner of the Fulaiju Inn in the capital and becomes bound to the Cuisine Heart System. She must complete ten imperial-cuisine assignments to return home. When her younger brother is arrested for stealing ingredients from the imperial kitchen, she is forced to enter the palace as a “commoner chef.” Faced with the consorts’ schemes, the emperor’s suspicions, and plots by remnants of the former dynasty, Ruan Tang repeatedly turns danger aside with her mischievous wit, cooking skills worthy of an imperial chef, and tasks issued by the System, such as “make jujube-and-yam cake to soothe Consort Shu” and “improve the hangover soup to save the drunken prince.”

The aloof, sickly emperor Xiao Chengyu initially suspects that she “has ulterior motives.” Then her medicinal dishes gradually restore his health, and he realizes that he “wants to eat her cooking every day.” After she outsmarts the corrupt Consort and uncovers a plot involving a poisoned banquet, he falls for her completely. Meanwhile, as Ruan Tang completes one task after another, she goes from wanting to “finish the tasks and go home” to realizing that “there are people here worth protecting.” From trading barbs to falling in love, the two uncover the truth behind the late empress’s sudden death twenty years ago and the remnants of the former dynasty’s attempt to restore their rule.