Chapter 7: Roasted Sweet Potato
She left home alone, and returned with three contracts. Mi Hongdou was basically certain that Qiao Rubai was 90% a reborn person, which was a difficult piece of news for Mi Hongdou to process. In her previous life, firstly, Qiao Rubai became her boss, and secondly, it was thanks to her that Mi Hongdou was able to legitimately get in touch with the already retired Ji Junxin. So, aside from the incident of falling from the wires, Mi Hongdou and Qiao Rubai had a pretty good personal relationship.
It’s just that the matter of rebirth was truly bizarre in the eyes of normal people. Mi Hongdou wasn’t sure if Qiao Rubai would be willing to have a “fellow time traveler,” nor did she know from what point in the future Qiao Rubai came from. Rather than rashly revealing herself, it was better to pretend to know nothing. Anyway, now she had a movie and a reality show to get in touch with Ji Junxin, which was already much better than her previous life. There was no need to take the risk of using Qiao Rubai as a shortcut.
Moreover, Qiao Rubai’s sudden collaboration with Mengguan, unlike her avoidance of Yang Lianyi in her previous life, showed a hint of indulgence, which further confused Mi Hongdou.
The filming of required a large number of palaces, pavilions, and ancient scenery. Filming had already begun at the Shudian Film City, which was a five-hour drive from Jiang City, where Mi Hongdou lived. was an urban drama, mostly with indoor scenes, and it had been decided long ago to film it locally in Jiang City. She didn’t know what kind of magic potion Qiao Rubai had given Yang Lianyi, but the final result was that this drama was also moved to Shudian for filming.
In any case, for Mi Hongdou, less travel was a good thing.
As it turned out, the good news was just beginning.
Two days later, Mi Hongdou received the revised script.
One of the main characters, Ji Junxin, plays Miao Qianye, the daughter of an official. She enters the palace through the talent selection and is granted the title of “Changzai,” a concubine of the seventh rank. Emperor Ji Yan and Empress Qin Muxue have known each other since they were young, and it has only been three years since their grand wedding. They are still deeply in love, and he mostly neglects the other members of the harem. Many of the women who entered the palace through the selection have not been favored for a long time, and Miao Qianye is one of them. Fortunately, Miao Qianye is naturally indifferent and not anxious about being favored. She closes her doors, stays in her own little corner, and lives as if she were still in her maiden home. However, the master may not be anxious, but the servants are. Several months after entering the palace, Attendant Miao hasn’t even seen the emperor’s face. Apart from the two personal maids she brought into the palace, the other servants have gradually become lax.
The weather is getting colder, and not only is the allocated charcoal insufficient, but even the daily meals are cold, meager, and not fresh. Miao Qianye can endure other things, but when it comes to food, she can’t stand to shortchange herself. Unfortunately, the Miao family’s official rank is not high, and they couldn’t provide much for Miao Qianye to bring into the palace. Miao Qianye’s rank is low, and her monthly allowance is also small. Even if she wants to buy some hot and delicious food from the imperial kitchen, she probably can’t afford it for long, perhaps not even enough to last through the winter. Fortunately, Miao Qianye is clever. Knowing that she can’t afford the special dishes from the imperial kitchen with her silver, she has the palace servants who go out to purchase ingredients buy her a pot, seasonings, and ingredients.
Miao Qianye’s rank is not high enough to have her own private kitchen. Originally, she only dared to stew some vegetable soup on the small brazier while warming herself by the fire, which was at least warmer and fresher than the food that was delivered. If the delivered meat was decent, she could also stew it all together. Fortunately, she lives in a remote area, and no one visits in the cold weather. She secretly cooks in her room, and apart from her two personal maids, she doesn’t dare to let anyone else know. After doing this for a few days, Miao Qianye’s courage grows. Today, in addition to stewing vegetable soup, she also throws a few expensive raw sweet potatoes into the charcoal brazier to roast.
Unexpectedly, Concubine Zhu, who lived in the adjacent side hall and entered the palace at the same time as her, had been waiting in the Imperial Garden from spring to summer, then to autumn, and finally to this day of winter snow. She finally encountered the emperor, who was strolling alone in the garden without the empress. Who knows what methods she used, but it wasn’t just a chance encounter. She actually managed to lure the emperor to this remote, probably long-forgotten small palace. The other side halls were also occupied by several low-ranking concubines, some of whom, like Miao Qianye, had never seen the emperor. They all rushed out to meet him.
Miao Qianye’s room was filled with the smoky smell of roasted sweet potatoes. She didn’t even dare to open the door, let alone go out to see the emperor. But even though she didn’t open the door, the emperor’s guards, with their sharp senses, noticed the smoky smell coming from this side hall. At first, the emperor thought it was a fire and almost left. Fortunately, they finally discovered that it was just a low-ranking attendant cooking in her room. Needless to say, the roasted sweet potatoes, which were common food for ordinary people, easily captured the stomach of the supreme ruler. The charming and beautiful Concubine Zhu lost to Attendant Miao, who still had a few streaks of charcoal ash on her face.
Two sweet potatoes, a night of favor, and a promotion of two ranks. Afterward, the emperor seemed to have become addicted to the taste, and his favor continued. In just half a year, Miao Qianye, favored but childless, was promoted to the rank of Zhaoyi, a concubine of the third rank, just below a consort. Even the empress, who had always been deeply in love with the emperor, began to take notice of Miao Qianye’s existence.
She still remembered the roasted sweet potatoes in the drama. They were probably specially chosen red-fleshed sweet potatoes. After roasting, a layer of caramel formed on the outside. When the emperor in the drama broke open the sweet potato, it even had strings of sweetness. Mi Hongdou could imagine the aroma even through the screen.
Two sweet potatoes, a night of favor, and a promotion of two ranks. Afterward, the emperor seemed to have become addicted to the taste, and his favor continued. In just half a year, Miao Qianye, favored but childless, was promoted to the rank of Zhaoyi, a concubine of the third rank, just below a consort. Even the empress, who had always been deeply in love with the emperor, began to take notice of Miao Qianye’s existence.
She still remembered the roasted sweet potatoes in the drama. They were probably specially chosen red-fleshed sweet potatoes. After roasting, a layer of caramel formed on the outside. When the emperor in the drama broke open the sweet potato, it even had strings of sweetness. Mi Hongdou could imagine the aroma even through the screen.
She couldn’t resist and went to buy two sweet potatoes to eat after watching. They were soft, sweet, and had a lovely caramelized aroma, but she always felt that the ones Ji Junxin roasted in the movie were more delicious. She wondered if she could get a few NG ones that were discarded during filming this time. She loved them so much she had no shame.
Up to this point, the plot was similar to what Mi Hongdou saw in her previous life. But what came after truly blinded her eyes.
In the previous life, the plot after this point was about palace intrigue. Both the favor and the rank that Miao Qianye received made her the target of everyone in the harem. She thought that she could live peacefully with the emperor’s favor if she didn’t fight for anything. Who knew that when she finally got pregnant, she wouldn’t be able to keep the child past three months. The emperor’s investigation into the loss of the child yielded no results. Miao Qianye didn’t believe it and became a different person. Not only did she no longer refuse the emperor’s promotions of her father and brother as she used to, but she also used the pitiful appearance of a grieving mother to secure even more important positions for them, so they could send more money and people into the palace to expand her influence.
She was no longer indifferent to palace affairs and changed from being gentle and not calculating to striving to hold onto the emperor’s heart. Miao Qianye put her heart into it, and the emperor pitied her for losing her child, so he made her Consort De. For a time, she was the most favored in the harem, and even the empress didn’t dare to confront her directly. Miao Qianye was determined to avenge her child. Although she didn’t want to harm others, she didn’t mind adding fuel to the fire and kicking people when they were down, so that the harem would become chaotic, and she would have a chance to find the person who harmed her child. Planning for her father and brother in the court and monopolizing the emperor’s heart in the harem, Miao Qianye’s efforts finally paid off. All the evidence pointed to the empress.
But unexpectedly, the emperor suddenly intervened and only punished the obvious culprit, Zhu Ronghua (formerly Concubine Zhu), to put an end to the matter. The emperor didn’t want Miao Qianye to continue investigating. Because of her persistence, he gradually distanced himself from her and never saw her again. Later, because she wouldn’t give up, the emperor demoted her from Consort De of the first rank to Attendant Miao of the fifth rank. Her father and brother were also suppressed in the court and lost the glory of being the most favored consort’s family. The emperor’s favor was fleeting. Miao Qianye had truly loved the emperor, but after this, there was no turning back. She was no longer innocent. She pretended to let go of her grudges, bowed her head, regained the emperor’s favor, and treated others kindly, gradually winning people’s hearts.
Half a year later, she gave birth to a son, and her father and brother returned to important positions in the court. Three years later, the emperor fell ill and passed away. The empress was infected while attending to him and, heartbroken, passed away after more than a month of treatment. Miao Qianye had been plotting for years. After giving birth, she had been giving the emperor a drug that made him infertile. Then, step by step, after her father and brother were firmly established in the court, she arranged for the emperor to contract an incurable disease. Since the emperor truly loved the empress, and could even forgive her for the death of their child, then he should go first and not stand in the way of her revenge. Afterward, her young son ascended the throne, and Miao Qianye ruled from behind the curtain.
Finally, her young son became a capable and wise ruler, and even had grandsons. Miao Qianye gradually grew old, withdrew from politics, and sat alone in the side hall where she first met the emperor. Recalling the day of her heart-fluttering favor, it felt like yesterday. In the end, a tear fell. She had truly loved him. Unfortunately, the one the emperor loved was never her.
But the problem now was that in the new script, from the point where Miao Qianye was favored but childless and promoted to Zhaoyi of the third rank, just below a consort, the plot was completely different! An external enemy invaded, and the border was breached. The emperor personally led the troops but failed to stop them. After the defeat, he disappeared, and no one knew if he was alive or dead. The court and the country were in chaos. The empress tried to step forward to turn the tide, but even in the face of national crisis, the old fogeys in the court were still concerned about a woman ruling the country, quoting classics and refusing to cooperate. Without a leader, even though the empress had the support of the Minister of State, she had no military power and only controlled the Imperial Guards of the capital, which was useless in the overall war.
The enemy advanced all the way to the capital. There was no time to resist, let alone escape. Some court officials surrendered, some committed suicide, and some forced the concubines who couldn’t escape to commit suicide to show their chastity. Just then, Miao Qianye was found to be pregnant. The empress wanted to preserve a bloodline for the emperor. Seeing that the situation was hopeless, she opened the gates of the capital and surrendered to the enemy, avoiding unnecessary bloodshed and saving the people in the palace. Afterward, the enemy emperor, firstly to keep his promise to the empress, and secondly because the emperor’s body had not been found, wanted to keep the harem as hostages.
The people in the harem were not punished, but they were only allowed to bring their personal belongings and were moved to a heavily guarded estate outside the capital. They were short of food and clothing and had to farm for themselves. They weren’t even allowed to bring many eunuchs or maids. The empress had to take care of Miao Qianye herself. Without the emperor, there was no more fighting for favor. The people in the harem could actually get along well in order to survive. Miao Qianye gave birth to a son, who became their shared secret. Naturally, those who wanted to betray them were secretly strangled by the eunuchs under the empress’s orders. They told the guards that those people couldn’t bear the hardship and committed suicide.
In the estate, with the empress as the leader, they gradually became self-sufficient and slowly began to forget how they used to scheme against each other for the favor of one man. The empress grew closer to Miao Qianye because she doted on her son. The empress came from a military family, was strong and decisive, and could stand on her own. Miao Qianye came from a scholarly family, was literate and talented. They had very different personalities, but because they worked together to raise the emperor’s last bloodline and depended on each other, they gradually became close friends. They thought that when the child was older, they could try to find a way to send him out so he could live an ordinary life.
Who knew that three years later, the remaining troops in the north would regroup. The emperor wasn’t dead and had reorganized the old troops from various places and was fighting back. While raising the army, the emperor also sent a small group of elite soldiers to raid the estate, hoping to rescue the people in the harem. Weapons are blind, and there were casualties. By the time they reached the north, half of the people who had depended on each other in the estate had died. Afterward, they followed the army into the capital, and the emperor regained the throne. Three years of farming and two years of military life felt like a dream. The war was won, but the harem was lost. Although the surviving members of the harem were promoted, the emperor no longer touched them. He only favored the beauties he had acquired in the northern army or the new beauties selected after the victory.
If that was all, so be it. But the emperor still had the empress in his heart. The empress became the only person from the old harem who could still spend the night with the emperor. The others didn’t matter, but the empress couldn’t bear to see the child she had raised suffer. She persuaded the emperor to go to Miao Qianye, and Miao Qianye regained his favor and was promoted to Noble Consort. Then, fearing that this would make the empress a target, the emperor also favored several other high-ranking concubines from the old days. After the external enemies were eliminated and the court was reorganized, just four years later, the emperor’s old injuries relapsed, and he passed away without leaving a will. The empress had no sons, and Miao Qianye’s son was the eldest, qualified to ascend the throne.
But some old officials brought up the fact that the empress had wanted to seize power in the past, saying that the eldest prince had been raised and taught by the empress and would be controlled by her in the future. The Ji dynasty would be replaced by Empress Qin. They suggested making Concubine Zhu’s (formerly Concubine Zhu) second prince the emperor instead. For a time, many important officials in and outside the court agreed with this, and a group of poor scholars, incited by who knows who, gathered outside the palace to stage a sit-in protest. The country was in the process of recovering from the war, and there were still other enemies eyeing the border. A single day without an emperor meant a day of instability for the country. Just as Miao Qianye was about to persuade the empress to give in and make the second prince the emperor, news came that the empress had committed suicide by taking poison.
The empress’s last decree was to tell the court officials that she had resolved their concerns. Since ancient times, the eldest should be established, not the youngest. She hoped that they would assist the eldest prince to ascend the throne as soon as possible to stabilize the foundation of the country. The empress’s move left no room for argument, and the voices supporting the second prince disappeared. The eldest prince successfully ascended the throne, and Miao Qianye became the empress dowager. At the end of the script, the country was peaceful and prosperous under the new emperor’s rule. The elderly Miao Qianye, now with white hair, was in a small dark room. Refusing the help of the palace servants, she personally fed a bowl of poison to Concubine Zhu.
Just a few drops were enough to kill, but Miao Qianye fed her very slowly, firmly, little by little, until the entire bowl of poison was finished.
She watched her struggle, scream, and vomit blood, just like the year she heard the news and rushed to the central palace, only to see the bright red by the bed.
The very end of the script showed the elderly Empress Dowager Miao returning to the estate where they had been held captive. She gently touched the old spinning wheel. In her eyes, she saw the scene from when they were still in the estate, herself spinning yarn, the empress on a bamboo chair next to her, coaxing the child, and a fat cat lying nearby. The setting sun slowly fell, and the orange light gently enveloped the estate. Those were the most difficult but also the happiest days of her life, days she could never go back to.
This wasn’t just a slightly modified script! More than half of the plot was different! And why did she feel like something was wrong! Why did she feel a little like crying! And!
Why does it say “Mi Hongdou as the Empress” in the cast list!
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