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

At dinner time, Cheng Mei came back.

Cheng Mei muttered that it was her grandmother who told her to come back, saying that Yu'er had returned. They had not seen each other for more than a year, and now that Yu'er was back, Cheng Mei had to go home for dinner.

Cheng Mei, who was originally complaining, changed her mind after seeing the sumptuous meal on the table.

"Are these dishes made by Sister Yu?"

"You are really good at this. Let me try the food you cook first."

Cheng Mei picked up the chopsticks and was about to eat, but Cheng Yu reached out and hit the back of her hand.

"Grandma hasn't eaten yet, how can you pick up your chopsticks first?"

After Madam Cheng sat down, she picked up her chopsticks and picked up a piece of fish. "Yu'er is sensible and knows how to be filial to grandma."

Nanny Cheng ate a piece of fish first. It was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with the slight chewiness of the fish skin.

"Yes, this fish is delicious."

Cheng Mei had already picked up a large piece of braised pork and started eating.

"This meat is delicious, better than the braised pork that the second girl had. If the second girl knew that I had eaten such delicious braised pork, she would be so angry that she would die."

Cheng Yu was curious and asked, "You eat yours, why is she angry?"

"What do you know? The second young lady is not favored, but the third young lady is favored. The second young lady wanted to eat braised pork, but the kitchen wouldn't let her make it. She had to help the third young lady and eat it for once."

The second daughter of the palace was also born to the princess, and was the first child born after the princess came to Prince Jing's palace. Normally, she should be loved very much.

But the princess consort loved the third girl, who was only one year younger than the second girl.

The third girl had already been given a dowry that was as much as three houses. However, the second girl, who was about to get married, not only had no dowry prepared, but also had very little food.

Because they don't take it seriously and their parents don't care, the people below just fool around and get away with it.

After a good meal, Cheng Mei started talking a lot, all she talked about was working in the Second Miss's yard. It sounded so good, but in reality, the Second Miss's life was miserable.

Cheng Yu has no sympathy.

She felt that no matter how badly the second young lady lived, she was still a master.

They are just servants.

A servant sympathizing with his master? How ridiculous.

After finishing the meal, Cheng Yu still had to go back to the servants' room arranged for him in the prince's courtyard.

If I don’t cook for the prince today, who knows if he will want it tomorrow morning?

If I live at Cheng's house, I might not have enough time to get to the big kitchen in the morning. It would be better to just live there.

Moreover, the beddings there are all new, so it is warm and comfortable to sleep on.

Seeing that it was getting dark, Cheng Yu went back by himself, and Cheng Bin was still worried.

"I'll take you there. I won't be back to stay at night."

The food was good, and the grandchildren were all around. Nanny Cheng was in a good mood, so she had a little wine and was now lying on the bed drunk.

Cheng Yu asked Cheng Mei to take care of him.

"If you don't care about grandma, I'll make something delicious next time and won't let grandma call you."

When she heard about food, Cheng Mei immediately compromised.

"I know, you will use food to control me."

Cheng Mei snorted, "I want to eat braised pork next time, don't forget to make it."

Cheng Yu and Cheng Bin walked out, and Cheng Bin was holding an old broken oil lamp from home.

The nights in winter were not only very dark but also a bit cold. The wind made a whistling sound. The palace compound, which was very bustling during the day, was frighteningly deserted at night. However, there were still some maids and old women keeping watch, and servants patrolling.

Seeing that the servants' quarters were in front of him, Cheng Yu said, "Brother, I'm here. Don't go any further. The women's quarters are in front of me. It's not appropriate for you to go any further."

Cheng Bin stood where he was and handed the oil lamp to Cheng Yu.

"The road is dark, hold the light."

If the journey was long, Cheng Yu would take it, but it was only a short distance ahead and there were no winding paths. On the contrary, it was Cheng Bin who sent her back. If he wanted to go back, he would have to turn left and right and it would be very difficult to walk.

Cheng Yu said, "It's just ahead. I don't need the oil lamp. Brother, you carry it and hurry back."

I was worried that the brother and sister would just refuse here and waste their time.

"Brother, please go back quickly. The rules in the prince's room are the strictest."

"I go first."

The oil lamp was not very bright, and it didn't seem very dark after getting used to the darkness. After Cheng Yu finished talking to his brother, he turned around and walked forward.

She had walked this road for several days, so she was naturally familiar with it.

Cheng Bin saw his sister turn around and leave. The women's quarters were in front of him, so he couldn't chase after her. He paused, sighed, and had to go back.

There was a little light just now, so Cheng Yu didn't feel anything. But now it suddenly became dark, and her eyes felt a little uncomfortable for a moment.

She walked a few steps forward and vaguely saw someone next to her. She was worried that she was scaring herself, so she couldn't help but quicken her pace.

Just as he turned the corner and was about to push the door open, he suddenly heard a rustling sound. Frightened, Cheng Yu quickly pushed the door open and walked in.

Fortunately, Zhang Sanjia and Mother Wu had not gone to bed yet and were sitting on the kang drinking.

Yes, drinking two cups in winter not only warms your body but also helps you fall asleep.

"Miss Yu'er is back. She came back a little late today. I just told Mother Wu that Miss Yu'er might not come back to stay tonight."

Cheng Yu felt for hot water on the stove and poured himself a cup. He didn't drink it but just held it in his hands to keep warm.

"It's very cold outside. I thought I might have to get up early tomorrow, so I came back to stay."

"Both mothers have heard about this. When are we going back to the Lu family?"

Cheng Yu also heard Fu Cui say that it would only happen in these few days.

But she didn't know the exact dates, thinking that if they left and went back, they would tell their two mothers.

Zhang San's family drank some wine and started talking more.

"Who knows? We can't even talk to the maids in front of the prince. Since you were not here today, Madam Wu and I only ate some leftovers for lunch and dinner."

Speaking of this, Zhang San's mouth clicked his tongue a few times.

Mother Wu laughed and said, "That can't be helped. We are no longer residents of the palace."

Cheng Yu frowned.

Normally, Zhang San's family never said such nonsense, but today, after drinking some wine and relaxing, they said a few words that were very disrespectful to their master.

Not to mention that there were no leftovers to eat in the palace, even if there were leftovers, you couldn't make a sound.

The eldest girl will also rely on her parents' family in the future.

Her subordinates came to the palace to visit her brother on her behalf, but were arranged to eat leftovers. If the two mothers went back and exaggerated the matter, wouldn't it create a rift between the eldest girl and the prince or the palace?

Cheng Yu didn't say anything either.

After warming up, I went to fetch some water and wash up.

When she woke up the next morning, she went straight to the kitchen.

She and Fang's mother prepared breakfast for the prince, but Cheng Yu also made fish porridge.

The prince's taste is similar to that of the eldest girl. They both eat mostly sweet porridge and rarely eat salty porridge. Cheng Yu cooked salty porridge thinking of adding one more dish to the breakfast prepared by Fang's mother.

Unexpectedly, the prince's taste changed this morning and he actually ate two bowls of fish porridge.

The prince also asked someone to call Cheng Yu over for questioning.

Cheng Yu wondered if the prince wanted to ask her how she made the fish porridge?