I was a queen in ancient times, no, a maid!

Cheng Yu was waiting in the small kitchen. She made pancakes with the remaining batter.

A dish was cut into two pieces. She ate one piece and gave the other piece to the crying little maid, who didn't dare to eat it.

Cheng Yu didn't care about her and ate it all.

After waiting for a long time but Dingxiang didn't come to question me, I thought that the mistress must have eaten it.

Cheng Yu was full and even burped. Although the sauce was simpler this time, it still tasted good.

Just as she finished eating, Dingxiang came back.

Looking at Cheng Yu, he smiled and said, "The mistress ate a whole piece, and the young master happened to come. He was curious and tried it too. Unexpectedly, he liked it. The young master ate the remaining half."

"My dear, you stayed in the mistress's room for a long time this time. The mistress seemed very happy."

Cheng Yu cursed in her heart, "What a scumbag."

She was cooking it for the mistress, so she didn't want the scumbag to get away with it.

But she didn't dare to say this, "As long as the mistress likes it, I'll make some other food next time. As long as the mistress likes it, we maids will be happy."

Ding Xiang tapped Cheng Yu's forehead and said with a smile:

"Finally I figured it out. OK, you've been busy for a long time, go back and take a rest later."

Cheng Yu smiled happily, and then handed the prepared pancake to Ding Xiang.

"Sister Ding Xiang, try it too and see if it tastes good..."

Ding Xiang didn't refuse politely. She took it and took two bites. Her eyes widened and she praised, "Not bad. I didn't expect you to have such a skill."

Cheng Yu smiled and said softly that it was a snack from his mother's hometown.

Cheng Yu's mother was a maid bought by the palace. She was good-looking, but was also a pitiful person when she first entered the palace. Cheng Yu's grandmother, Madam Cheng, was kind-hearted. She would often see her crying and would secretly give her some food.

As time went by, Cheng Yu's mother saw that Nanny Cheng had a son who was honest and loyal, so she took the initiative to propose that the son follow Cheng Yu's father.

Nanny Cheng begged her master for mercy and arranged the marriage. The couple gave birth to a big fat son the following year, and Cheng Yu was born a few years later. Later, when she was giving birth to her third child, she had an accident and died.

As for what the original owner's mother looked like, Cheng Yu had no impression. The original owner's mother was not a local, but came from another place, and her accent was different from the locals.

So when Cheng Yu said it was a snack from his mother's hometown, Ding Xiang didn't doubt it.

After eating the pancakes, Dingxiang went to the front yard to busy herself. After listening to Dingxiang, Cheng Yu went back to the house to rest.

She was a maid in the outer courtyard. Normally, she was not allowed to come near the mistress unless she was called.

When Zhu'er came back after finishing her work, she saw Cheng Yu tinkering with things in the house.

"Yu'er, what are you doing? Someone in my front yard just said that you made some pancakes, and the mistress ate them and liked them very much."

"But did you get rewarded?"

Cheng Yu shook his head, "Of course we are happy if the master gives us reward money, but we can't say anything if he doesn't give us any."

"Zhu'er, come here. I made some hot pot. Do you want to try it and see if it's delicious?"

Cheng Yu is a blogger who likes to study food. She can cook anything and she especially loves hot pot.

She helped the cook and the little maid who had committed a crime in the kitchen today, and they were very grateful to her.

Cheng Yu took the opportunity to ask for some ingredients.

This small clay stove was broken and thrown in a corner of the kitchen. Cheng Yu took a look at it and found that it was still usable, but it didn't look that good from the outside.

Even if she didn't take it, it would be thrown away.

"I was saying that I smelled a delicious aroma at the door just now. So you are preparing food here."

The small kitchen is specially used to prepare meals for the mistress, because she, Zhao Rulan, is pregnant.

The ingredients in this small kitchen are more numerous and more precious than those in the big kitchen. They are all the best ingredients.

The legitimate daughter of Prince Jing married into the Lu family, which was a marriage of low status.

Especially in the Lu family, as old master Lu passed away many years ago, leaving only old lady Lu and the wife of the first wife. The old master of the first wife died of illness while serving as an official outside, and now the Lu family is supported by Lu Zhaowen.

Lu Zhaowen is very good at studying, has good knowledge and good looks.

When this marriage was arranged, the old man of the Lu family was still alive. Later, seeing that the Lu family was not as good as before, everyone thought that the daughter of Prince Jing would not marry into the Lu family.

But Zhao Rulan still got married.

She and Lu Zhaowen have known each other since childhood and can be considered childhood sweethearts.

There will never be a better man than Lu Zhaowen around Zhao Rulan.

She is willing to marry even if it means marrying a lower class.

Therefore, after entering the Lu family, all the items in Zhao Rulan's small kitchen were purchased with her own money.

Zhao Rulan was very strict with the maids and servants who came with her as a dowry, but she also doted on them.

As long as you don't make mistakes and don't do anything to hurt her or damage her interests, like eating some leftovers from the small kitchen, it's all fine.

Maids like Cheng Yu and Zhu'er who worked in the outer courtyard received half a pound of money every month.

Those with lower wages, such as those working as kitchen helpers, were only given two cents of silver per month, which is about two hundred coins.

I have to save this money to help my family, so I don’t want to spend it.

Therefore, if you want to eat something good, you still have to be sneaky.

But fortunately, all the people in this orchid garden belong to the mistress, so no one would say anything if they saw it. As long as it wasn’t too excessive, they could just keep it for themselves and take it out.

Zhu'er squatted on the ground and watched Cheng Yu cooking the vegetables.

"What is this made of? It smells so good."

Cheng Yu smiled and whispered, "I asked for some of the bone soup that Wang's mother made for my wife. I added some water and some mushrooms. I drank the soup first and then ate the hot pot dishes. I also specially prepared the dipping sauce."

The two of them are roommates, so they must share good things.

Zhu'er originally came back early to ask Cheng Yu if she was rewarded for cooking for the mistress and getting praised.

When I saw the delicious food, I forgot all about it.

Zhu'er drank two bowls of soup and ate a lot of dishes.

"Yu'er, what is this crunchy thing? I've never seen it before."

Cheng Yu took a bite and said casually, "Duck intestines."

"What? Duck intestines, can this thing be eaten?" When Zhu'er heard that it was duck intestines, she immediately stopped eating.

Cheng Yu said calmly, "You ate it even though you couldn't eat it. I processed it very cleanly, and you ate it yourself, too. It didn't have any smell at all, and it was still fragrant after being boiled in the hot pot."

That’s what they say, but who would eat duck intestines?

Those were thrown down to feed the dogs and cats.

"We didn't eat this before." Zhu'er said, looking at the cooked duck intestines, and whispered, "But after this is cooked, it tastes really good, and it's crispy when you bite it."

Cheng Yu smiled.

"The whole duck is a treasure, and a lot of it can be eaten. It's just that it's very troublesome to handle."

There are two cooks in Lanyuan's small kitchen. Madam Wang, who is on duty today, is the second cook, and above her is Madam Li.

Because Mother Li had been feeling unwell these past few days, and they were afraid that she would pass her illness on to the mistress, they let her go back to rest.

Cheng Yu had just finished half of his meal when he heard someone shouting.

She hurried out the door and saw that it was Dingxiang calling her. After seeing Cheng Yu, she stuffed half a tael of silver into her arms.

"It's the reward my wife gave me. I came here to ask you..."

Before Dingxiang could finish her words, she smelled the delicious scent of food on Cheng Yu.

Then he asked, "What are you thinking of eating? This smells really good."