The Dingxi Marquisate, like all households of the time, observed two meals a day, with dishes delivered from the kitchen sequentially according to rank.

Now that the Old Marquis had passed, the highest-ranking mistress of the inner residence was Madam Xie, wife of the Marquis.

When Lady Xie accompanied the Marquis of Dingxi into the dining hall, the concubines standing in the room bowed in greeting.

"Has Your Lordship rested well?" they would ask in unison.

It had been the rule since the passing of the first Madam Xie that the Marquis’s children did not serve breakfast; the Old Marquis had decreed that as the head wife, the mistress's duties were taxing, so she should enjoy a relaxed meal and they could discuss matters afterward. Thus, those attending the Marquis at the table were the concubines of the inner chambers.

Lady Xie would offer a slight nod, as usual, in acknowledgment. The Marquis of Dingxi would then smile and address each of them briefly, mostly pleasantries like, "You look well," or "What did you occupy yourself with yesterday?" Of course, he wouldn't ask every single one, as with five concubines, the meal would grow cold before he finished, but this gesture nonetheless pleased everyone present.

After the couple was seated, Concubine Zhou would personally present the hand towels for the Marquis and Lady Xie to clean their hands. This duty originally belonged to Concubine Huang, the birth mother of the eldest legitimate son, but Concubine Huang’s health had worsened over the years, leading Lady Xie to excuse her from the daily service. Thus, Concubine Zhou had taken over this task.

Then, Concubine Song and Concubine Liu would present two cups of tea for rinsing the mouth. The newly arrived Concubine Zhu, being pregnant, had also been excused by Lady Xie from waiting attendance, and instead sat nearby. However, after the other two had finished rinsing, she respectfully stood to arrange the chopsticks.

From this point until the meal concluded, the atmosphere remained utterly silent. The concubines served dishes and refilled bowls without a sound, punctuated only by an occasional query, "Would you like to try this?"

Breakfast was simple. The Marquis of Dingxi, having a good appetite, finished after just two bowls of congee and a few bites of side dishes before setting down his utensils. Lady Xie took only about half a bowl of rice porridge.

This was followed by the same routine of hand-washing and mouth-rinsing.

"You may all retire now to eat," Lady Xie said, nodding once everything was done.

The concubines bowed in unison and took their leave. As they exited the door, word reached the kitchen, and the prepared meals were sent to their respective courtyards.

Concubine Zhou stepped into her courtyard. Chang Yunqi was already seated inside, flipping through the Buddhist sutras she routinely copied, while Concubine Zhou’s head maid, Ah Jin, sat nearby, chatting with him.

"It is this hour already?" Concubine Zhou asked while washing her hands in the copper basin held by a kneeling young maid. "Have you eaten the egg custard?"

The young masters’ meals were served earlier than the concubines’, commencing only after the Marquis’s table was set.

"How old am I? I don't care for that," Chang Yunqi chuckled.

Concubine Zhou did not look at him, but merely instructed the maid standing in the room, "Go tell the kitchen, I want an extra bowl of egg custard here."

The maid acknowledged and left.

"Ayi, don't trouble yourself," Chang Yunqi called out, a hint of helplessness in his tone.

Concubine Zhou was already at it.

"It’s no trouble. Though I am only a concubine, I have been in this household for so many years. Adding one bowl of egg custard beyond the standard rations is something I can manage. No one would dare slight a concubine over such a small dish," she stated calmly.

She reached out and gently took his face to examine it closely.

"Open your mouth, let me see," she said.

Chang Yunqi smiled and opened his mouth.

"It's already healed," he said with a touch of resignation.

"See that you don't eat recklessly next time," Concubine Zhou looked, then breathed a sigh of relief, patting his cheek with a trace of reprimand.

That day, Chang Yunqi had eaten some of Qi Yue's spicy chicken chunks, which had resulted in his lips swelling and blistering, making it painful to eat and causing Concubine Zhou great worry.

"Which cook made that? How could they use so much Sichuan peppercorn..." Ah Jin casually inquired from the side.

Chang Yunqi smiled vaguely, muttering something about 'some random person,' and said no more.

"Ayi, your calligraphy improves every day from copying these," he said, smoothly changing the subject.

Concubine Zhou had learned her calligraphy from her paternal grandfather and was considered among the best in the region; she had always been very confident in her own writing.

"Speaking of writing, your father mentioned that you've been less diligent than before. Having your elder brother dedicated to martial arts is enough for this household. You should give up that notion early and focus properly on your studies and calligraphy; that is the true path," she said.

Chang Yunqi smiled and agreed.

"Then I shall help Mother copy some sutras," he said, and true to his word, he sat properly and began to write slowly.

"This is just how we older folk pass the time. You are young; writing too much of this will drain your spirit," Concubine Zhou remarked.

Her voice was faint, imbued with a slight, lonely sorrow.

Chang Yunqi’s brush paused slightly.

The Marquis of Dingxi had acquired two new women by his side in just a few days—one brought in from outside, though she had been raised outside for four or five years, she was still a newcomer to the residence. Yesterday, he even heard that a maid in Concubine Zhu’s quarters had been promoted to a secondary companion...

Fair faces fade quickly; only the smiles of newcomers endure.

Chang Yunqi looked through the bead screen at Concubine Zhou, who was slowly eating her meal. A woman in her prime possessed a unique allure, but the brilliant radiance of youth was undeniably gone.

She ate slowly. The dishes on her table were exquisitely selected—the finest rice, dishes appealing to sight, smell, and taste—yet Concubine Zhou’s movements seemed utterly joyless.

Chang Yunqi recalled when he was young and stayed near his grandmother; his father often had him join them for meals, and the concubines were there too. The family would sit together, chatting and laughing, and his mother’s face would show pure happiness with every grain of rice she swallowed.

But those days were long past, perhaps never to return...

What she was consuming was not food, but profound loneliness.

Chang Yunqi sighed and lowered his head to copy the scriptures slowly.

He looked up toward the window as he heard the footsteps and faint laughter of maids outside the courtyard. He saw one maid carrying a food box, surrounded by two or three others, not taking anything from the box.

The wet nurse by the door coughed once, and the girls quickly dispersed.

"Ayi, the egg custard has arrived," the maid carrying the box announced as she entered.

"Take it to the Young Master," Concubine Zhou instructed.

The maid obeyed, bowing low to Chang Yunqi and calling out cheerfully, "Third Young Master."

"Set it down," Chang Yunqi said, smiling, realizing he couldn't refuse it now, and set aside his brush.

Ah Jin personally brought over the water basin.

"I dare not impose," Chang Yunqi quickly stood up and smiled.

"When you were younger, I did this for you all the time. Now that the Third Young Master is grown, you’ve become so formal," Ah Jin laughed, pulling his hand over to wash it herself before wiping it dry with a towel.

"Speaking of which, among the four who came from Grandmother's side, only Ah Jin remains a second-rank maid, doesn't she?" Chang Yunqi observed her attire, recalling a past conversation. "If Ah Jin hadn't come to serve Ayi, she wouldn't..."

"What do you think, Third Young Master," Ah Jin retorted with a smile, flicking his hand. "It is because Ah Jin is clumsy and not good enough for anywhere else that Madam took pity on me. Otherwise, I would have left long ago, running errands for others instead of standing here, hearing the Third Young Master address me so familiarly."

Her words made everyone in the room laugh.

"If she were clumsy, we wouldn't want her," the younger maids chimed in.

"Hurry up and go about your duties, standing around here," Ah Jin playfully chided them.

The young maids were about to leave with smiles when Chang Yunqi called them back.

"What were you girls sharing outside just now?" he asked, slowly spooning the egg custard—which had been made bland and flavorless to counteract the heat and inflammation—and which was certainly not delicious.

"It was... oh, it was called a chicken cake," the young maid paused, thinking.

"Where did it come from?" Ah Jin asked, her brow furrowing slightly. "I've told you several times not to ask the kitchen for things arbitrarily. If trouble arises, it reflects poorly on our Madam... so many people are watching us in secret these days..."

"No, Ayi, it's not from the kitchen. I remember the instruction, we didn't ask the kitchen for any extra food," the young maid quickly explained. "I met Ah Hao on the road and asked her for it."

"Ah Hao?" Ah Jin blinked. This name was once so familiar, yet now felt slightly foreign; it had been three years since...

"Is there more? Bring it here for me to see," Chang Yunqi said, taking the bowl.

The young maid responded, pulled a piece wrapped in oiled paper from her sleeve—a tiny portion—and said happily, "I was afraid the others would grab it all, so I secretly hid one piece."

Chang Yunqi took it and unwrapped the paper.

"Can this even be eaten?" Ah Jin leaned in to look at the crudely made pastry, though it smelled quite fragrant.

"It’s delicious," the young maid rushed to say. "It’s made by Ah Hao! It wasn't easy to get one. I ran into her when she was going to deliver things to her parents. I begged and pleaded, and she managed to get three for us to share..."

While she was speaking, Chang Yunqi had already popped the cake into his mouth.

"Mmm, mmm," he nodded, then handed a piece to Ah Jin, "Try some."

Ah Jin took a small piece with hesitant curiosity and ate it, her eyes widening in surprise.

"It truly is good. Sweet but not cloying, and soft," she nodded in approval.

That was all. For a maid like her, especially one who came from the Old Madam’s service, she hadn’t tasted much beyond the standard fare. But if this was made by that maid Ah Hao, not the pastry chef from the kitchen...

"Made by Ah Hao?" she asked again, recalling the habitually clumsy and scatterbrained little maid from before.

"Yes," the young maid confirmed. "Ah Hao can make many delicious things. She even made fried dough twists that Man’er, the sweep-up girl, has eaten."

Ah Jin smiled.

"This girl has been practicing her cooking skills while stuck in that courtyard these past few years," she remarked, shaking her head.

As they spoke, Chang Yunqi chewed the pastry slowly, lost in thought.

"Did you eat?" Concubine Zhou's voice inquired.

"I ate," Chang Yunqi answered reflexively.

Concubine Zhou looked at the egg custard, barely touched on the table, and her expression soured.

"Ayi, it’s getting late. I should go pay my respects to Father; I imagine they are all done by now," Chang Yunqi said, smiling as he stood up. "I’ll eat this after I warm it up."

Without waiting for Concubine Zhou to say more, he bolted out the door.

"He's becoming more disobedient," Concubine Zhou sighed, shaking her head.

"The Third Young Master is a grown man now; I will take care of things, please do not worry, Ayi," Ah Jin said with a smile, waving her hand to signal the young maids to clean up and leave.

"What were you talking about just now? Eating and drinking?" Concubine Zhou sat down before the low kang table, opening her sutra book as she asked.

Ah Jin paused for a moment.

"Speak plainly. If we reach a point where we can't even speak freely in our own rooms, then it means I am already dead. Even if her reach is long, even after three years of ceaselessly trying to strike down the Old Madam’s remaining supporters, it still hasn't stretched over to me," Concubine Zhou said casually, a trace of mocking laughter playing on her lips.

"Yes," Ah Jin replied, helping Concubine Zhou grind the ink. "Regarding the Young Master's quarters, should I go over there and make a round?"

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