A Foodie Transmigrated into the Palace-Chapter 1061: Jealousy

Xia Ruqing internally felt a wave of delayed frustration.

A dignified modern woman from the 21st century, yet here she was, selecting two thousand concubines for her husband.

This was simply unbelievable!!!

She really wanted to return to the modern era, and even more so, she wanted to give Zhao Junyao a good beating.

This annoying man, what’s the point of being so good-looking?

Look at all the women, inside and outside the palace, who can hardly wait to pounce on him.

Clicking her tongue, she thought to herself, he’s truly a disastrous beauty!

As she ate, Xia Ruqing simmered in anger.

She noisily slurped her porridge by bringing the bowl to her lips.

Or she’d pick up a piece of food and crunch on it loudly.

Zi Yue was puzzled, but Zi Su covered her mouth, suppressing a giggle.

’The Empress is...jealous, isn’t she!’

At that moment, an announcement came from outside.

"The Emperor has arrived!"

Before the few of them could exit to greet him, Zhao Junyao had already strode inside.

Xia Ruqing quickly bowed.

"Greetings to the Emperor!"

"Qingqing!"

As usual, he prepared to take her hand and lead her inside.

Unexpectedly, Xia Ruqing deftly withdrew her hand and said politely with a forced smile.

"Thank you, Emperor!"

After speaking, she walked in by herself.

Zhao Junyao was left standing there, dumbfounded and unsure of what to do.

The palace maids tried to shrink into the background, lowering their presence.

Even Li Shengan kept his head low the entire time.

Desperately conveying, ’I’m blind, I saw nothing, I know nothing!’

Zhao Junyao gave two light coughs to cover his embarrassment, then waved his hand.

"You may all leave!"

"Yes!"

The servants quickly departed.

Inside, only he and Qingqing remained.

Zhao Junyao casually walked in, wearing a smile as he tried to coax his wife.

"Qingqing, what’s wrong?"

"Did I do something wrong again?"

Xia Ruqing responded vaguely.

"N-no, nothing!"

Having said that, she continued eating voraciously.

Zhao Junyao was left speechless.

"I’m also hungry!"

Xia Ruqing paused abruptly, looking at him coolly with a piece of lotus root in her mouth.

"You’re hungry?"

"Then I’ll call someone to make something for you!"

"What would you like to eat?"

Zhao Junyao glanced at the table full of dishes and grinned cheekily.

"No need to make anything extra!"

"This will do for me!"

Before he finished speaking, he pounced and bit off half of the lotus root from her mouth, pressing against her.

"Ah!"

"Cough, cough!"

Caught off guard, Xia Ruqing found herself at a disadvantage, not only was her food taken, but she also choked a bit, tears streaming down.

"Emperor!"

She flailed her slender arms in protest.

But the person on top of her remained as immovable as a mountain.

Try as she might, her efforts were in vain.

In the end, she had to give up, speaking in exasperation.

"Emperor, you’re hurting me!"

Zhao Junyao gave an innocent look.

"You hurt me too, right here!"

Saying this, he guided her hand to his heart.

Xia Ruqing had nowhere to run, her face flushed, and she burst out laughing.

"Alright, Emperor!"

"I admit I was wrong, okay?"

Zhao Junyao gave a mischievous smile.

"What were you wrong about?"

Xia Ruqing pouted and did not answer him, only complaining.

"Who told you to be the Emperor!"

"You have to marry so many concubines!"

"Do you know how many Fine Ladies there are this year?!"

The more she spoke, the angrier she became, her face puffed up as if about to burst with steam.

Zhao Junyao suddenly became interested.

"Oh?"

"I really haven’t been keeping track, how many?"

Xia Ruqing huffed.

"Two thousand! A full two thousand!" Her face turned red with anger.

Zhao Junyao chuckled.

"A mere two thousand, Qingqing, you needn’t..."

"A mere two thousand!"

She widened her eyes in shock.

Suppressing a smile, Zhao Junyao replied seriously, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes!"

"Qingqing, you should know, back when my father was forty, he still held such selections, every three years, with thousands at a time!"

"The Royal Family has always been this way, it’s not unusual for you to witness it for the first time. You’ll get used to it after a while!"

Xia Ruqing’s worldview was utterly shattered.

"Get used to it!"

"You really expect me to get used to it!"

She struggled out of his embrace, not even bothering to put on shoes, and ran to the bed, pulling the blanket over herself.

In a classic "I don’t want to talk to you anymore" pose.

Zhao Junyao mischievously smiled and leapt onto the bed, wrapping her tightly in his arms.

"Alright, Qingqing!"

"I was just joking!"

Xia Ruqing remained sulking.

"You weren’t joking! What you said is true!"

"Don’t even talk about choosing at forty, you could be selecting at sixty and no one would dare say a thing!"

"In my opinion, you might as well just take all two thousand without screening. Wouldn’t that be better?"

The more she talked, the angrier she became, her face flushing red like a ripe apple.

Zhao Junyao found her jealousy adorable.

His heart was sweet and glad, and he couldn’t resist giving her a gentle bite on the red apple.

"Alright!"

"I really was joking!"

"Qingqing, don’t be jealous anymore!"

"No matter how many people are in the harem, you’re the only one I cherish, okay?"

His tone was filled with unprecedented tenderness and dote, but Xia Ruqing did not notice.

She only heard the word jealousy, and her mind almost exploded.

"Jealous?"

"I’m jealous?"

Zhao Junyao, biting her cheek, said with a playful smile.

"You are, and quite happily at that!"

Xia Ruqing’s mind went blank.

"I..."

Uh...jealousy, it sounded like a child’s game.

Being jealous in the ancient Emperor’s harem was unbelievable!

She got up, with a red face.

"Emperor, I..."

Incredibly, she didn’t know what to say!

Zhao Junyao laughed at her flustered expression.

"Qingqing, don’t worry!"

"I won’t..."

Xia Ruqing quickly covered his mouth.

"No!"

"No need! I still want to live a few more years!"

The reputation of a jealous woman was not fun.

"You’d best share your affections evenly!"

With that, she took a deep breath and wandered over to the cool couch.

Zhao Junyao saw her acting as if nothing was bothering her while being visibly jealous.

He chuckled helplessly and followed her.

...

After dinner.

Xia Ruqing was busy looking over the register of Fine Ladies.

Zhao Junyao was busy reading.

Recently, some old ministers from Honglu Temple had gathered some information on Portland Country for him.

As the saying goes, "know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles."

Xia Jingfeng and the others were about to set out.

As an emperor, he must clearly explain everything that needs to be addressed.

The room was very quiet.

Zhao Junyao worked for over an hour, finally finishing reading the information.

When he looked up, he found that Qingqing had already fallen asleep on the table.

He felt a wave of tenderness, quickly wrapping her in his robe and carrying her to bed.

Watching her peaceful sleeping face.

A warm feeling passed through his heart.

’This little woman, so clearly jealous, yet trying to act magnanimous, it’s really tough for her!’

’Since that’s the case, let’s keep this selection minimal and choose the less appealing ones.’

’Save this little girl from being jealous again!’

Having decided,

Zhao Junyao took off his clothes and slipped under the blankets.

...

In the intense heat of June, the room with a basin of ice was refreshingly cool.

Covered with a silk quilt, it was just right for sleeping.

Once they lay down, both the Emperor and Empress quickly drifted off into slumber.