Aunt Ning had been a caregiver to Grace, and the original Grace was closest to her. Hearing her voice, Grace immediately stood up.
Several people walked in along with Aunt Ning, who was in her thirties and well-maintained, with fair skin now accentuated by red-rimmed eyes. Her thick, jet-black hair was elegantly styled, and her slender figure was wrapped in a stone-blue spring dress. Seeing Grace, she rushed over, exclaiming, "You child, you nearly scared me to death!"
Grace had only been hugged like this by her grandmother and her elementary school homeroom teacher. Now being tightly held to Aunt Ning's chest, she felt touched but also dared not move.
The others in the room quickly reassured Aunt Ning, "Madam, rest assured, the girl came back safe and sound!"
Aunt Ning wiped away her tears, released Grace, and held her hands, examining her repeatedly. "Did the Empress Dowager punish you? How did you get out?"
This was the question on everyone's mind.
Seeing their concerned looks, Grace initially planned to brush it off with a few words. But after thinking it through, she realized that if the Empress Dowager suddenly summoned her to the palace to cook tomorrow, it would likely give everyone a big shock. To minimize the surprise, she decided to be honest and give them a heads-up.
She straightened her posture, looked at each of their faces, and said, "I cooked a meal for the Empress Dowager—"
"Cooked a meal?"
There weren't many people in the room, just over twenty including the servants. But upon hearing this, everyone seemed to have their throats grabbed simultaneously, their mouths wide open, staring at her!
Even the Marquis of Qingyun and her eldest uncle Zhao Nan, who had just entered, were dumbfounded at her words. They stood at the threshold, seemingly holding their breath.
Originally, considering the trouble she had caused, it was already impressive that Grace managed to get out safely so quickly. And now she claimed she had cooked for the Empress Dowager—
Born with a silver spoon, Grace had enjoyed the best life had to offer since birth. When had she ever cooked? She probably didn't even know which way the kitchen door opened! Besides, if she had the brains to cook, would she have gotten into this mess in the first place?
"Su Jie'er, don't lie in front of your father and uncle!"
Aunt Ning gave Grace a stern look.
"I'm not lying. If you don't believe me, you can ask in the palace."
The Empress Dowager had a lot of witnesses when she asked Grace to cook. Could she even keep this a secret? There was no need to hide it, right?
The Marquis of Qingyun took a step through the door. "Say that again?"
"I said, I cooked a meal for the Empress Dowager, and she let me go."
The Marquis of Qingyun's expression grew even more horrified. "Did the Empress Dowager eat it?"
"She did! She ate it all." Grace thought the Empress Dowager, being so distinguished, would prefer steak or something. Who knew she'd like spicy hotpot! It seems next time, if there's an opportunity, Grace could be bolder and offer her some stinky tofu or maybe even snail noodles.
"… And she was fine after eating it?!"
The Marquis of Qingyun seemed so shocked he was about to pass out, even his voice sounded like it couldn't land.
Thinking about it, it indeed was quite shocking. One was a somewhat ignorant, useless young girl, and the other was a powerful Empress Dowager. One dared to cook, and the other dared to eat!
"She was fine. She even asked me to go back to the palace tomorrow."
"We're doomed!" The Marquis of Qingyun began to pace around. "Where's Old Fourth? Where the hell is he? Hurry and send someone to the palace to pay respects to the Empress Dowager!"
He then called for a servant, "Prepare my court attire, bring my whip, I must go to the palace to apologize to the Emperor and the Empress Dowager right now! — How come the Emperor didn't mention this earlier in the palace? We could've avoided this delay!"
With that, he stomped his foot and dashed out!
Uncle Zhao Nan, understanding the gravity of the situation, saw that Zhao Ying was absent and quickly instructed Aunt Xing to go to the palace to pay respects to the Empress Dowager, then followed the Marquis out.
Meanwhile, Aunt Ning grabbed Grace's shoulders tightly. "Child, how could you be so careless? What if the Empress Dowager had gotten sick from your food? What would we do?!"
"…"
Grace looked at the room full of people clutching their thighs and praying to Buddha, feeling that even if she hadn't displeased the Empress Dowager with her cooking, she'd never be able to clear her name now.
"Madam, Lady He and her eldest daughter are here to visit."
As everyone in the room worriedly watched Grace, who remained calm like a pig unafraid of scalding water, a maid reported the visitors.
"Understood," Madam Huang responded, worried.
Grace's curiosity was piqued. "Which Lady He?"
"The eldest daughter-in-law of the former Minister of Works, Lady He."
That's the mother of the He family's young lady who was celebrating her birthday today! Grace immediately understood. Why were they here? Could they be trying to gather information?
Second Miss Zhao Ying, sitting nearby, seemed to share Grace's thoughts. "Coming now, after all this time."
Madam Du wasn't impressed either. "They were having a great time at the theater earlier. Now they're here, putting on a show."
"Keep it down," Madam Huang stood up, "Aunt Ning, please stay with Su Jie'er. We'll go greet the guests." She then instructed Grace, "Stay in your room and reflect. Hopefully, everything in the palace will be fine!"
Sighing, Madam Huang led Madam Du and Zhao Ying, with their entourage, to greet the guests.
Grace, accompanied by Aunt Ning, watched the procession of finely dressed ladies leave the courtyard. She glanced at the decorative brick walls and lattice windows she'd only seen in movies and books, inhaling the peony fragrance wafting from the garden. It was only now that she started to feel the true reality of being in ancient times.
Back in the room, Aunt Ning's earlier anxiety resurfaced. "What did the Empress Dowager say to you? How did she allow you into the kitchen?"
The palace kitchen was a critical area, clearly not somewhere anyone could just enter.
The key issue was, even if Grace told her the whole truth, she wouldn't believe it!
Grace stayed silent.
Aunt Ning eyed her suspiciously. "I always felt something was off with you."
Grace instinctively touched her face, looking back at Aunt Ning.
Aunt Ning came from a wealthy family in Huizhou, engaged in business with officials. Her husband's family was a scholarly family from Huzhou but had few descendants.
After losing her husband, Aunt Ning brought a large dowry and an only son, without any relatives to rely on, moving to Beijing to seek support from her beloved cousin, hoping to find a good teacher for her son, Ning Cheng.
Upon arriving in Beijing, she discovered her cousin had already passed away. At that time, Grace was motherless, and Aunt Ning's presence to care for her was a suitable arrangement.
Twelve years later, Ning Cheng had already passed the imperial exams and was appointed county magistrate in Tongzhou last year. Yet, Aunt Ning still lived in the Qingyun Marquis's residence, taking care of Grace.