One Jar of Cottonseed Oil, and the Whole Household Begs Me for a Baby

On the day of Shen Qingji, second young master of the Marquis of Yong'an's household, got married, the entire manor was decked out in festive lanterns and decorations. Maid Dong Yingxue stood at the end of the gift procession, holding a jar of cottonseed oil pressed by her mother with her maimed hand over three days and nights.

Nanny Zhou lifted the lid and rolled her eyes. "How poor can you be? You think a gift like this is even worth giving?"

Shen Qingji passed by and waved dismissively. "Take it away. Don't dirty the storeroom floor."

Three days later, starving, Dong Yingxue used the oil to fry a bowl of plain noodles with chili. Shen Qingji, drunk, barged into the kitchen, snatched the bowl, and wolfed down three bites. "Make this for me every day from now on!"

Six months later, not one of the three wives and concubines in Shen Qingji's rear courtyard had borne a child. Only Dong Yingxue married the man who left a lamp burning for her late at night: Shen Qingyun, the manor's most neglected illegitimate son.

On the night twins, a boy and a girl, were born, the entire household finally realized that the jar of cottonseed oil everyone had scorned had already written a destiny of imperial glory for this "lowly maid."

She rose from concubine to empress in ten years. And all it took to set everything in motion was a bowl of plain noodles no one wanted.