Becoming the Empress: Golden Finger Set Under My Bed

Translator: Storm in a Teacup

The next day, early in the morning.

As Hong Yu helped An Rushuang get dressed, the doors were opened suddenly with a squeak. Zhao Xiaotao entered the room with a red-paint hamper in her hand, her pretty face full of calmness.

Standing beside the closet, Silver asked with a smile, “How come the small kitchen provides the breakfast so early today? Since Miss An has promised to take the meal with Lady An, why bothered yourself to fetch the breakfast instead?” She then picked a dress and turned to An Rushuang. “Miss, how about this one?” Since An Rushuang rejected to wear those ones with bright colors, it took her such a long time to find this elegant light blue dress dotted with butterflies patterns.

Hong Yu interrupted after turning back to have a look, “This was made last year, already out of fashion in the capital city. According to Hong Zong, the wave brocade is very popular, but isn’t sold well due to its high cost.” freℯ𝓌e𝚋𝐧𝘰vℯl.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Silver echoed, “Since Miss An will go to make dresses today, maybe we can have a look at the so-called wave brocade.”

An Rushuang picked up a jade hairpin and inserted it into her cloud-like black hair. “This dress is okay. You take the breakfast cooked by the small kitchen, while I will take the meal with my parents.”

“Miss An, it’s not from the small kitchen,” Zhao Xiaotao pointed to the hamper as she said.

Hong Yu gazed at her in confusion. “You bought them on the street? Nanny has warned us that Miss An can merely eat the food cooked in the manor, otherwise...”

Staring at the hamper, An Rushuang suddenly realized something. She said when Hong Yu finished her chatter, “Mr. Cheng sent it, right?”

Zhao Xiaotao’s eyes widened in surprise. “How do you know about that?”

A little stunned, Hong Yu turned to the red-paint hamper with a frown. “You have promised to have a check for its operation after three days. How come he is that impatient...”

Silver had a general knowledge of Mr. Cheng who borrowed a large sum of money from Miss An. She gazed at the hamper in curiosity, the fragrance floating from within made her mouth water.

With a chuckle, An Rushuang removed the lid of the four-layer hamper. The top layer contained a dessert in the shape of two mandarin ducks with their necks intertwined. As sophisticated as it was, the mild sweetness could be discerned from its puff.

There was a bowl shaped as a gold ingot filled with something hot on the second layer, while the third layer was occupied by a delicate dish cooked with lotus roots.

Every one longed to see the bottom layer. It was beyond their expectation that rather than hot soup, there was merely a small black pottery can with red seal. The tiny word on it was already obscure which could be barely recognized as “Legendary”.

What was it on earth?

Though it seemed very familiar, An Rushuang couldn’t remember where she had saw it before.

Hong Yu asked in bewilderment, “Why did he send you alcohol besides the dishes?”

Alcohol? An Rushuang’s eyes lit up.

Exactly!

However, she remembered that this alcohol was the gift from the foreign countries. At Zhu Han’s party, the emperor was very fond of the legendary alcohol, so he presented all of them to his father at once. Since then, with the appreciation of the royal family, the price of the legendary alcohol all of a sudden soared to tens of thousands taels of gold...

The supreme status of the legendary alcohol could be observed from a popular poem then: the legendary alcohol wouldn’t make you drunk, but do good to my humble body. Its taste bitingly cold, its fragrance intoxicating. With my vision blurred and vague, I seemed to have arrived at a fairyland.

However, as the emperor passed away, the legendary alcohol had also disappeared without a trace.

Touching the cool pottery can, she couldn’t help trembling slightly.

“Miss An?”

An Rushuang didn’t regain her consciousness until hearing the sudden shout. Given Hong Yu’s confusion, she answered peacefully, “Nothing. Mr. Cheng is so considerate, but it’s not decent to take alcohol early in the morning. Go to the small kitchen and ask them to cook some soup for relieving the summer heat. I will bring them to the main chamber later.”

Hong Yu responded and left.

“Miss An, shall we put away the alcohol?” Silver asked then.

“No. Just set it here. I need it later on.”

Zhao Xiaotao was confused about her words. Silver responded submissively and put the alcohol on the table. Since the last event, she was much more mature and steadier than before.

When the soup was cooked after an hour, An Rushuang led her maids out of Liuxi Pavilion for the main chamber.

Mo Zhu just stepped outside the yard when they arrived at the entrance of the main chamber. “It’s such a coincidence,” Mo Zhu said with a smile, “Lady An asked me to invite Miss An to have breakfast with her. Since you didn’t take meals here out of illness, Lady An didn’t have much appetite, either.”

“Has my mum taken meal already?”

An Rushuang frowned slightly. Her mother did turn leaner recently.

Mo Zhu caught a glimpse of the room before shaking her head in upset. “Lady An only took a little and asked the servants to take away the dishes.”

“I see.”

She turned to Hong Yu and took the hamper. “I will visit her by myself,” She said as she entered the yard.

Lady An was faking sleep, leaning on the soft cushion. She thought Mo Zhu came back upon hearing the squeak of the door. “Mo Zhu, how is Shuang’er now?”

An Rushuang curled her lips at the familiar nickname. She put the red-paint hamper on the desk before shouting with a smile, “Mum!”

Lady An sat up hurriedly in happiness. It was until she finished touching An Rushuang’s hair and shoulder that she sighed heavily in worry, “How come you turned leaner again these days...”

With a bitter smile, An Rushuang seized Lady An’s hands as she grumbled coquettishly, “There are enough slim ladies in the capital city. If I become a fat girl following your instruction, Xianxian and Mingyue will surely laugh at me!”

Although knowing she changed the subject intentionally, Lady An couldn’t help laughing. She poked her forehead before pretending to blame her in anger, “How can you mock yourself like that?”

Given her mum’s joy, An Rushuang answered with a chuckle, “Since you haven’t taken breakfast, please have some food now. I happened to meet a good chief yesterday. Let’s enjoy them together.”

Given An Rushuang’s expectation, Lady An nodded when remembering that they hadn’t taken meals together for such a long time. “All right.”

The Yuanyang pancake was actually a combination of crispness and tenderness. As for the gold-ingot-like bowl filled with golden pumpkin, the one-of-a-kind fragrance of the pumpkin lingering in the air was attractive enough to make one’s mouth water.

“Who is the chief?”