The ce fei and shiqie didn't think that they would see a beautiful play of brute force once they stepped into the zhengyuan. They looked suspiciously at wang fei and then at the servants who were at their limits due to pain but didn't dare show it in their twisted expressions. What had happened here?

Seeing that wang fei was walking into the room, the four didn't care whether if it was respectful or not and followed. Only Feng ce fei, when she passed, ordered for the people get carried back. However, when she saw that no servant in the surroundings moved, her expression changed and she didn't speak further.

At the front, Yin Liu and Jin Zhan lowered their heads as they guided the others along and held the curtains open for the four. From far away, they saw Mu Jin and Yu Zan coming over with meal boxes. They stopped walking and waited for the two to come close. Seeing that those two weren't clear as to what had happened, the four exchanged glances and looked at the servants who had suddenly become more obedient in the yard before lifting the curtain to enter the rooms.

The rooms had already been cleaned. The smell of meat had been covered by burning fragrance. But Qui Qing Ju didn't like the smell and couldn't resist looking at the flying cane and golden beast brazier.

Rui Xiang went forward immediately to extinguish the incense, changing it for a fainter, less fragrant one. Seeing wang fei's expression relax slightly, she breathed a sigh of relief as well.

"Look at how clever wang fei's yahuan is. No wonder that even wang ye complimented your yahuan," Feng ce fei said with a faint smile as she bowed slightly to Qu Qing Ju. She was laughing at the fact that a few days earlier, wang ye had taken one of Qu Qing Ju's yahuan as a tongfang.[1] She dared to do so because of wang ye's favour but no one else dared to follow.

Who knew that when she finished, Qu Qing Ju didn't even spare a look at her, as though she, a living breathing person, didn't even exist. The room settled into a heavy silence.

Holding Shu Kui's hand as she sat, Qu Qing Ju saw Mu Jin and Yu Zan entering with the meal boxes. She spoke: "Serve it up."

The boxes were opened. Various types of porridge were displayed out. A bowl of lotus and lily porridge, a goblet of Eight Treasures chicken soup, a few small vegetable dishes and desserts that were elegant yet light. Steam rose from each dish, just one glance was enough to see how much effort had been put in.

"It looks like there are at least some that have skill in the kitchen. Give those that cooked a reward of five taels[2] of silver each," Qu Qing Ju held a fine ceramic spoon and took a taste of porridge. She looked at Han Qing He, who was standing to one side. She was one of the shiqie in the wang fu. Her status was very low but she was very good at being obedient. Even if she wasn't very favoured, it wasn't that she wasn't favoured at all.

"I heard that wang ye said you were very good at service, so today, you can serve the food," The porridge was passable and Qu Qing Ju's mood seemed to have lightened. Seeing Han shi dawdling about, she wasn't irritated but asked in a slow voice, "Oh, Han shiqie isn't willing?"

"Nu[3] doesn't dare," Han shi's face showed a hint of humiliation. But the person in front of her was wang fei. She was only a shiqie, and it was in the natural order that she was to serve wang fei. Even if she didn't want to, did she dare do otherwise?

The other three looked in disbelief at Qu Qing Ju, who had lowered her head to drink porridge. Was wang fei crazy? Even though Han shiqie wasn't very favoured but she had been with wang ye for a long time and was the one that had taught wang ye. Wang fei, a not favoured wang fei, really dared to order Han shiqie to serve her food.

Not caring what others were thinking, Qu Qing Ju blocked the chopstick of shepherd's purse[4] and pheasant Han shi had picked up, "I don't like this dish. Remember to not serve this one next time."

Han shi's expression changed slightly, the hand that held the chopsticks tightened but she didn't argue. In the end, she only woodenly bowed: "May wang fei have mercy. Nu has served wang ye for a long time, and assumed that wang fei would like the same dishes as wang ye. Nu thought wrong."

This was telling her, that she had seniority with wang ye? Qu Qing Ju smiled but didn't speak, turning her gaze to a dish of lettuce stems and pig stomach.

Sometimes, silence was the greatest humiliation. Everybody could see that wang fei didn't even look properly at Han shiqie, as though this woman wasn't different from any other shiqie who had to hold curtains and serve food for the wife in other noble families.

Qu Qing Ju took a long time to use her morning meal. Feng ce fei and the others stood until their legs felt soft but they never received a word to sit, so they could only stand at one side, and look upon Qu Qing Ju elegantly ordering Han shiqie to serve her food.

"Is there something wang fei has called us here for?" Seeing Qu Qing Ju finally setting down her chopstick, the ce fei Feng Zi Jin couldn't resist any longer. Her face still held a warm smile, "Or did wang fei call us here just for conversation?"

Qu Qing Ju took the tea that Jin Zan held to rinse and used rose and lemon water to wash her hands. The smooth cotton fabric wiped away the droplets on her fingertips. Qu Qing Ju finally looked at Feng Zi Jin: "I've always heard that Feng ce fei's personality was as soft as water, but today I've seen that this rumor is true, your personality just as rushed and impatient as boiling water is."

Standing to the right of Feng Zi Jin was ce fei Jiang Yong Xu, who upon hearing this, buried her head deeper to disguise the smile at the corner of her lips. This Feng Zi Jin always loved using a warm and friendly façade to evoke the pity of wang ye, but wang fei purposefully said the exact opposite. It could be