I started as a concubine, and I made the crown prince cry with my delicious food.

Aunt Fang arrived at the gate of Tinglan Water Pavilion.

To be precise, she was Aunt Fang, the head palace maid serving the Empress.

"Your Highness, the Empress requests your presence." Aunt Fang smiled kindly. "She says she has acquired a rare item from the West and would like you to come and take a look."

Ye An'an was researching new snack recipes in the small kitchen when she heard this and paused in her work.

To be honest, she didn't really want to go.

It wasn't that she had any issues with the Empress; on the contrary, the Empress had always tried her best to make amends to her. Ever since that incident, the Empress had been sending things to the Eastern Palace every few days—rare medicinal herbs, precious tonics, exquisite jewelry—she practically wanted to move the entire storeroom over.

That's precisely why Ye An'an felt somewhat uncomfortable.

She dislikes owing favors, especially those that carry a sense of guilt and a desire to compensate.

But then again, the Empress is an elder, a mother-in-law. If she refuses someone's kind offer, she would seem petty.

"Alright, I'll trouble Aunt Fang to lead the way." Ye An'an put down what she was holding and asked Fuyun to straighten her clothes.

Phoenix Palace.

As soon as Ye An'an entered, she saw the Empress sitting in the main seat with a smile on her face, with an exquisite sandalwood box on the table in front of her.

"An'an's here, come and sit down." The Empress patted the seat next to her. "Come and take a look at this," she said, pointing to the exquisite rosewood box on the table, as if presenting a treasure. "It's a new tribute from the West, they say it's called something... uh, what was it again? Anyway, it's an object for display and enjoyment. I find it quite novel, the patterns on it are very delicate, and I thought you would definitely like it, so I specially called you over to take a look together."

She leaned closer, her gaze falling on the sandalwood box. The box itself was a work of art, carved with intricate lotus scroll patterns, and its edges were inlaid with tiny gemstones, understated yet luxurious.

As Ye An'an approached, the Empress eagerly opened the box.

Seeing her curiosity, the Empress excitedly opened the box herself.

"Look—"

As the box was opened, rows of neatly arranged ivory-white nameplates immediately came into Ye An'an's view.

The plaques were about an inch high and half an inch thick, warm to the touch, and had a delicate texture, clearly made of the finest ivory. Each piece was carved with patterns she knew all too well, in both vermilion and jet black.

Strings of round cakes shaped like copper coins, bundles of strung bamboo sections, and flamboyant "万" (wan) characters. Next to them are neatly categorized "East, South, West, North, Center, Prosperity, White"...

Ye An'an was stunned after just one glance.

This... isn't this mahjong?!

She leaned closer for a closer look and saw that all the tiles—the "ten thousand," "circles," "east," "west," "north," "middle," "fa," and "white"—were there!

She forced down the turmoil in her heart and picked up a "Red Dragon" and a "One of Bamboo" tile to examine them closely. Yes, all 144 tiles—characters, dots, bamboo, winds, and honors—were there, not a single one missing!

Seeing her pick up the plaque and examine it closely with a look of astonishment, the Empress assumed she was impressed by its exquisite craftsmanship and chuckled smugly, "How about it? Isn't it unique? I've never seen such small plaques, made so delicately, each one different. I just don't know what they're for. Those Westerners can't explain it either, they just say they're for decoration."

Upon hearing this, Ye An'an finally snapped out of her shock and couldn't help but burst out laughing.

An object for display? Something that looks nice when arranged?

What a waste! This is a national treasure, a great invention that has made countless heroes bow down and countless virtuous wives and loving mothers stay up all night!

"Your Majesty, this is called mahjong tiles." Ye An'an couldn't help but laugh. "It's not something for decoration; it's for playing."

"Play?" The Empress's interest was piqued, and she leaned forward. "How do you play? Tell me quickly. I usually play chess, backgammon, and leaf games in the palace. I'm getting tired of them."

Judging from the Empress's listless appearance, life in the palace is clearly too monotonous. Giving her something to do will distract her and prevent her from focusing on her daughter-in-law's belly all day; it's better for both of them.

Ye An'an simply sat down and briefly explained the rules of mahjong.

"Mother, look, this is called 'Wan', this is called 'Tong', this is called 'Tiao'..." She explained the basic rules of mahjong in the simplest and most understandable language.

"Four people play together, and each person starts with thirteen cards. Then we take turns drawing cards and discarding one that we don't want. Our goal is to combine the cards in our hand into complete sentences. For example, three of the same kind is called a 'triplet', like this, three 'eights of characters'." She picked out three "eights of characters" from the deck and put them together.

"Or three in a row, called a 'straight,' such as 'one ten thousand,' 'two ten thousand,' and 'three ten thousand.'" She then laid out another straight.

"Whoever first arranges all their cards into these combinations, plus a pair of 'generals,' wins; that's called 'winning hand'!"

The Queen seemed to understand, but her eyes grew brighter with curiosity. She picked up a green "get rich" card and asked curiously, "What about this one? It doesn't have numbers drawn on it, it's a character."

"This is called 'Fortune'! There's also 'Red Dragon' and 'White Dragon', these are called honor tiles, they're even more powerful, you just need to form a set of three." Ye An'an got more and more excited as she spoke, "And, if someone else plays a tile and you happen to be able to form a set of three, you can shout 'Pong!' and take it!"

"Bang?" The Queen found the word amusing and repeated it.

"Yes! If you have three of the same card, and someone else plays another card, you can call 'kong'! You can then draw an extra card!"

Ye An'an spoke vividly, giving a brief introduction to impressive-sounding hand combinations like Pure One Suit, All Pungs, and Thirteen Orphans. The Empress listened with shining eyes, as if she had opened the door to a new world.

She picked up two cards and tapped them together, making a crisp sound, then asked with great interest, "Now that you mention it, this thing seems even more interesting than backgammon or leaf cards?"

"It's more than just fun, it's addictive," Ye An'an laughed.

"Alright! Let's play a game then!" She looked around and felt that it wouldn't be lively enough with just the two of them, so she immediately instructed Aunt Fang, "Aunt Fang, go and invite Consort Li and Consort Shu over. Tell them I've come across something fun and I'd like them to come and play cards with me!"

As soon as the Empress gave the order, the palace servants of Fengyi Palace sprang into action. Aunt Fang personally led a group to invite them, while the young maids quickly brought over a square, low table made of rosewood, and placed four soft cushions embroidered with peony patterns around it.

Ye An'an looked at the scene and felt a little amused. She had a premonition that the entertainment life in the harem might be completely overturned from today onwards.