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

Upon hearing Xiao Jingshi mention his younger sister, Ye Feng's usually tense and serious face instantly softened.

He stopped eating the flatbread.

He glanced at Xiao Jingshi, then, as if remembering something funny, a big,憨厚 smile spread across his face.

"Her?" Ye Feng laughed loudly, his voice so loud it shook a few leaves off the trees. "Your Highness, you underestimate her. This thing is as hard as a rock; even we grown men would struggle for ages to chew it. With her precious teeth, could she possibly eat this?"

"If she were starving, she'd rather gnaw on tree bark than touch this."

Xiao Jingshi listened to his merciless "roasting" and instead of getting angry, he found it quite amusing.

He could picture Ye An'an looking at a hard, flatbread with a worried expression, then her eyes would dart around as she started thinking of other mischievous ideas to eat it.

"So what does she eat at home?" Xiao Jingshi couldn't help but ask again.

He found himself filled with curiosity about Ye An'an's past and her life before she entered the palace.

"What do you eat?" Ye Feng started talking as soon as he mentioned this, his rough face full of doting and helplessness. "That girl has always been different from other girls. Other girls like cosmetics and silks. But she's always eating or on her way to find something to eat."

"My father, the General Who Guards the North, was a renowned figure, wasn't he? Yet, she managed to carve out a vegetable garden in our backyard. She grows all sorts of strange vegetables in it and raises a flock of chickens and ducks. Every day before dawn, she gets up to collect the eggs and duck eggs, treasuring them like they're the most precious things."

"The rations that we all found too coarse in the army camp, she could always come up with a creative way to make them taste amazing. She could turn pancakes into scallion pancakes or meat pancakes. She could add red dates and wild vegetables to coarse grain buns and steam them until they were fragrant and sweet."

"And then there was the most daring one," Ye Feng said, then couldn't help but laugh again, "The winters in the North are cold, and there aren't many fresh vegetables to eat. She actually secretly took a few maids and ran to the back mountain to dig up a kind of wild vegetable that even we locals find smelly. She washed it, rinsed it, and stewed it with meat. At first, the whole General's mansion stank terribly, and my father was so angry he wanted to beat her. But when that pot of food was finally cooked, it smelled amazing! In the end, my father ate three bowls of rice with that pot of food all by himself!"

Xie Zhao and Lu Chengyuan listened with great interest, occasionally exclaiming "Wow!"

They thought that the concubine's ability to "turn the rotten into the miraculous" was a talent she had since childhood!

Xiao Jingshi was also engrossed in listening.

He could almost see a tiny Ye An'an with two little pigtails in the kitchen, acting like a little adult, directing the maids to make all sorts of strange, but incredibly delicious, foods.

That scene must be... very cute.

"So," Ye Feng concluded, "Your Highness, don't let my sister's usual boisterous and unserious manner fool you. When it comes to the art of 'eating,' I dare say you won't find another person in the entire Great Liang who is more proficient than her."

"When she enters the kitchen, she's like a general going into battle; her eyes light up."

Ye Feng's words gently touched a soft spot in Xiao Jingshi's heart.

He knew that Ye Feng was right.

He had seen Ye An'an shining in the kitchen.

That focused, confident, creative, and vibrant demeanor was more captivating to him than any elegantly dressed lady from a prominent family.

"By the way, Your Highness," Ye Feng suddenly leaned closer and asked in a low voice, as if he had just remembered something, "I heard that my sister... is a concubine of the Crown Prince in the palace?"

"Mm." Xiao Jingshi nodded.

"Um...that..." Ye Feng scratched his head, a rare hint of embarrassment and worry appearing on his rough face. "There are so many rules in the palace, and she's always been so wild...I hope she hasn't caused you any trouble? She...she hasn't been bullied in the palace, has she?"

Although he was away from the capital for most of the year, he knew that the imperial harem was a place where fame and fortune were so ruthless that it would devour people without spitting out their bones.

He was very worried that his simple-minded sister, who only knew how to eat, would suffer injustice inside.

Before Xiao Jingshi could answer his question, Xie Zhao, who was standing next to him, burst out laughing.

"Bully her?" Xie Zhao laughed until tears almost streamed down his face. "General Ye, you have no idea. Your sister is now the tyrant of our Eastern Palace! No, the tyrant of the entire palace!"

"We should be grateful she doesn't bully others! Who would dare to bully her?"

Xie Zhao vividly recounted how Ye An'an conquered the Empress with a teppanyaki meal, won over the Emperor with a pot of braised dishes, and made the entire Eastern Palace "tremble with fear" with a plate of fried stinky tofu.

Ye Feng was stunned, his eyes widening in disbelief.

He felt as if he no longer recognized his sister.

Is she...is she really that amazing?

As Xiao Jingshi listened to Xie Zhao's "praise," although his face remained expressionless, the suppressed, proud smile on his lips was impossible to hide.

He felt that Xie Zhao was right.

His cases are just that impressive.

That's it, unique and unparalleled in the world.

Meeting Ye Feng was like a refreshing breeze, dispelling the last trace of gloom in Xiao Jingshi's heart.

Through Ye Feng's narration, he seemed to see a more three-dimensional and vivid Ye An'an.

This did not diminish his longing for her; on the contrary, it made it more concrete and warmer.

All he wanted to do right now was fly to her side and see what delicious food she was making.

Look at her eyes; they light up whenever food is mentioned.