The Record of Fine Cuisine: The Concubine Who Won by Doing Nothing

Chapter One: The Consort Who Loved Pork Knuckles

In the spring of the third year of Yonghe, under the Great Liang dynasty, flowers bloomed in a riot of color in the imperial garden. The consorts of every palace pulled out all the stops, hoping to catch the emperor's eye. Concubine Liu danced among the peonies in a gauzy gown, fluttering like a butterfly. Lady Zhao played the zither and sang, her clear voice like an oriole emerging from its valley. Even Consort De, past the age of forty, had a fashionable plum blossom ornament on her forehead, the very picture of "a woman past her prime, yet still charming." But that day, the imperial procession turned through the winding corridors and headed straight for the remote Jinhua Palace.

"His Majesty has gone to Consort Li again?" Concubine Liu twisted her handkerchief, her phoenix eyes practically spitting fire. "Then..."