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

Fried stinky tofu.

When Ye An'an uttered those three words, a crack appeared on Xiao Jingshi's handsome face.

Stinky tofu?

He strongly suspected there was something wrong with his ears.

He knew about tofu. Whether fried or boiled, it was light and refreshing, making it a good vegetarian dish.

What exactly is "stinky" tofu?

Just hearing the name made his extremely fastidious and picky palate feel intensely uncomfortable.

"What...did you say?" He frowned and asked again, as if to confirm.

"Fried stinky tofu, of course." Ye An'an said with a matter-of-fact expression. "Your Highness, don't let its unpleasant name fool you, and its smell might be... a bit unusual. But when you eat it, it's incredibly crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, and absolutely delicious! It's a true delicacy!"

"..." Looking at her blissful expression, Xiao Jingshi had his first strong doubt about her cooking skills.

Could this woman have a problem with her sense of taste?

"Don't mention this matter again." He coldly uttered these words, then closed his eyes and ignored her.

Ye An'an looked at his icy demeanor, which kept people at arm's length, but she wasn't angry.

She knew that getting this pampered, germaphobic prince to accept something like "stinky tofu" would be as difficult as climbing to the heavens.

However, the word "give up" does not exist in Ye An'an's dictionary.

You won't let me mention it? Fine, then I'll do it and let the facts speak for themselves!

Back at Tinglan Waterside Pavilion, Ye An'an immediately began her "odor-making" plan.

The most crucial element in making stinky tofu is the jar of "stinky brine".

In this era, there was no readily available stinky brine for sale; she had to figure everything out herself.

She recalled a food documentary she had watched before and asked Chenzhu and Fuyun to find a huge earthenware urn and clean it thoroughly.

Then, she made a long list of strange and unusual items and asked Changting to go outside the palace to buy them.

The list includes: fresh amaranth, bamboo shoots, pickled mustard greens, as well as various mushrooms and spices.

Changting looked at the list with a puzzled expression, but still faithfully carried out the order.

After buying the items, Ye An'an locked herself in the small kitchen, and no one was allowed to enter.

She chopped amaranth stems, bamboo shoots, and other ingredients, put them into a jar, added salt, spices, and cooled boiled water, then sealed it and placed it in the most inconspicuous corner of the small kitchen to let it ferment naturally.

Over the next few days, the atmosphere at Tinglan Waterside Pavilion became somewhat strange.

Ye An'an was like a mysterious alchemist every day, frequently running to the small kitchen to bang on the large earthenware jar while muttering incantations.

And the earthenware jar began to emit an increasingly strange smell.

At first, it only had a slightly fermented sour taste.

Gradually, the smell became stronger and more complex, eventually evolving into a truly pungent odor.

It was a peculiar smell, a mixture of rotten and fermented vegetables, extremely penetrating, carried by the wind and filling the entire Tinglan Waterside Pavilion.

"Your Highness, what...what are you doing in the kitchen? Why does it smell so bad?" Fuyun was the first to be unable to stand it. Every time she went to the small kitchen, she had to pinch her nose, feeling like she was about to suffocate.

Chenzhu also looked worried: "Yes, Your Highness, the smell is too strong. If it drifts to His Highness's side, it might not be good."

"Relax, relax, this is the taste of success!" Ye An'an found the taste sweet and delicious. She knew that her stinky brine had been successfully made!

However, this "taste of success" was an absolute disaster for the rest of the Crown Prince's family.

The first to suffer was Jingming Hall.

Xiao Jingshi was handling official business in his study when a faint, unpleasant odor drifted in through a crack in the window.

He frowned, thinking that something was rotting somewhere.

"Long Pavilion".

"Your servant is here."

"Go and find out where the strange smell is coming from in the East Palace."

"Yes."

Changting accepted the order and left. He circled around the East Palace for a long time, and finally, following the smell, he stopped in front of the small kitchen of Tinglan Waterside Pavilion with a look of horror.

The source of this flavor is right here!

He reluctantly went back to report.

"Your Highness... the smell... seems to be coming from the concubine's small kitchen."

Xiao Jingshi paused, his hand holding the pen still.

It's her again.

The three words Ye An'an had said a few days ago instantly flashed into his mind—stinky, bean, rotten.

His face instantly darkened.

This woman... she's actually doing that!

Over the next two days, the stench not only did not disappear, but intensified, threatening to engulf the entire Eastern Palace.

The palace maids and eunuchs of the Eastern Palace were full of complaints.

"Oh my god, what is this flavor? It's so addictive!"

"I heard it's another new trick from the Crown Prince's concubine. What on earth is she up to?"

"His Highness is a germaphobe, how can he tolerate this? I think this concubine is not far from falling out of favor."

Rumors and gossip have resurfaced and are rampant once again.

Xiao Jingshi's mood has been at its lowest point these past two days. He's been surrounded by that pervasive stench every day, making it impossible for him to concentrate on his official duties.

Several times he wanted to rush to Tinglan Water Pavilion and make that woman throw away that jar of "biological weapon" immediately.

But when he thought of her confident demeanor that day, and her words about "turning stone into gold," he inexplicably held back.

He wanted to see what kind of trouble she could come up with!

Finally, just when everyone was about to be driven crazy by the smell, Ye An'an announced that her stinky tofu could be fried!

She cut the prepared tofu into small pieces and put them into the jar of fermenting brine that had been fermenting for several days, soaking them for half a day.

When she took the soaked tofu out, the once white and tender tofu had turned grayish-green and had completely absorbed the "essence" of the braising liquid, emitting a foul stench.

Ye An'an set up a wok in the yard.

She was going to complete this "Midas touch" dish in front of everyone.

The oil in the wok was scalding hot. She picked up a piece of stinky tofu and, amidst the horrified gazes of the crowd, slowly placed it into the wok.

"Sizzle—"

The tofu made a loud sizzling sound the moment it came into contact with the hot oil.

An odor a hundred times stronger than before, described as "explosive," mixed with cooking fumes, instantly shot into the sky!

At that moment, the entire Eastern Palace seemed to be completely overwhelmed by this aroma.

Everyone who smelled this odor felt as if their skull had been opened.

At the entrance of Tinglan Water Pavilion, Xiao Jingshi, who had rushed over upon hearing the news, had a face so dark it could drip ink.

He stared at the woman in the courtyard, who was smiling broadly at a pot of "poisonous gas," and the veins on her forehead throbbed.