The Empress’s Dark Cuisine in the Imperial Kitchen

Modern culinary goddess Ling Qiao sends herself to the afterlife with a durian and stinky tofu hot pot. When she opens her eyes, she's the deposed empress of the Great Jing dynasty, confined to the cold palace.

Her predecessor was a menace in the kitchen, but Ling Qiao specializes in dishes like honey-fried pig intestines and bird's nest stewed in river snail rice noodles. Her forte is delivering a full-on dark-cuisine assault.

She sets up a stove in the cold palace and makes wild vegetable dumplings with mustard, only to be caught by the haughty Emperor Xiao Che.

“What is this cursed stuff... Send it to the imperial kitchen.” Xiao Che pinches his nose and gives it a taste. That very night, he has her brought back to the palace.

From then on, the imperial palace goes off the rails:

Noble Consort Shu tries to imitate her cooking, using croton as pepper in chicken soup and ending up with three days of the runs.

A little eunuch sobs as he presents an empty plate. “Your Majesty, Her Highness has made another batch of raw marinated crabs with spicy strips!”

Xiao Che says without expression, “Another serving.”

No one expects her spatula to be deadlier than a sword. Poisoned wine in the cold palace, the Empress Dowager's schemes, the in-laws' ambitions: she stews them all in one pot.

Ling Qiao grins, holding up her spatula. “Your Majesty, care to try my ‘Rule the Martial World’ hot pot?”

Xiao Che catches her wrist. “First, try my ‘Settling Accounts After the Harvest’.”

Everyone in the land knows the Great Jing emperor fears two things: Ling Qiao's dark cuisine, and her wanting to make even darker dishes.