Palace Full of Delicacies

I would like to thank Beverly and Didigeorge for helping me complete my goal

Chapter 36 - Monthly Expenses

His Majesty, who was enjoying himself, was stunned, and the shrimp he was holding in his paws fell to the ground with a ‘smack’ sound. Then he struggled to jump back to the table and his eyes narrowed dangerously.

Stupid slave, if you have the guts, say that again!

“Aiya, why did you throw it away.” Su Yu picked up the shrimp that fell to the ground and blew on it.

Seeing that there was still some dust on it, he broke off the dusty area and gave rest to the kitten.

“Eat, ba. This one is enough for you to eat.”

“Pa!” His Majesty slapped away the steaming shrimp in Su Yu’s hand, his eyes were full of anger.

Wretched stupid slave, how dare you give Zhen something picked up from the ground to eat!

“Hiss---” The sharp claws caught the back of Su Yu’s hand and left a light red mark. Su Yu reflexively withdrew his hand and blew on the wound.

Just then, the golden kitten bit the butterfly shrimps in the lotus-shaped white jade tray one by one with lightning speed, and the wings of the “butterflies” that were about to fly suddenly turned into a tattered shrimp ball.

“Sauce!” Su Yu was really angry this time and picked up the kitten with one hand.

The golden kitten’s mouth bulged as it chewed and flicked his tail smugly. Hmph, no one can eat it except Zhen.

Then he found himself being held by the back of his neck by Su Yu, he immediately opposed and brandished his four paws. Stupid slave, quickly put Zhen down!

“Ai…” Looking at this small ball of fur baring its fangs and brandishing its claws, Su Yu really couldn’t lose his temper. He sighed helplessly, held the kitten in his arms, and lightly patted its fluffy little butt.

“Little rascal, I really can’t do anything about you”

His Majesty the Emperor’s buttocks were patted, and the fluff on his whole tail immediately exploded.

Stupid, stupid slave, how dare, how dare you…Deserving death! How dare you be so disrespectful of Zhen in broad daylight!

The thin cat ears became completely red, An Hongche felt that the fur on his ears was about to burn up. He suddenly struggled out of Su Yu’s embrace and glared at Su Yu angrily.

Wretched stupid slave, you wait for Zhen to sort you out!

“Hey, Sauce!” Su Yu didn’t hold on and the kitten in his arms ran away.

Thinking about the strength just now, it was almost like touching, it should not hurt. He guessed he was just embarrassed.

Shrugging his shoulders, Su Yu looked at the shrimps on the tray, they were all bitten. Some of them had not been bitten off, and there was a piece of meat hanging on that would not fall off.

Considering the price of goods in the palace, in the spirit that one cannot squander, Su Yu took out a knife and carefully cut off the place where the cat had bitten, uniformly cutting it into a crescent moon shape, then the food was re-cooked.

The fluttering butterfly wings had a crescent moon shape, which looked very elegant.

At noon, Wang Gonggong sent word that there was no need to deliver lunch today.

Su Yu, who was preparing to kill the fish, blinked.

Tired of eating so quickly?

Thinking about it, the Emperor asked him to cook three meals a day, but it was just a whim. No one would eat seafood all the time, and the imperial chef's cooking is the real deal.

He happily put down the fish-killing knife in his hand. Su Yu grabbed the fish on the cutting board, which was staring at him in horror, and put it in the water tank.

You could save a lot of money by cooking one less meal. After eating the dishes sent by the imperial kitchen, Su Yu, who was rarely free, asked Yang Gonggong to calculate his expenses.

A concubine’s monthly expenses were quite generous. Just for food alone, there were 15 plates of mutton every month, 10 chickens and ducks in total, and there were rice flour, white sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, and so on, which were quite enough.

There were also some things that were supplied on a daily basis, you could get nine jin of pork, ten jin of fresh vegetables, one fish, four eggs, two jins of tofu, four taels of gluten, and one kin of seasonal fruits every day.

If you wanted to eat other kinds of food, you had to pay with your own money.

Su Yu touched his chin. Without saying anything else, “fish, tofu, gluten, and eggs” can all be directly obtained without the need to buy from the imperial kitchen. At least the daily “one fish” can be settled. But shrimp, crab, and scallops still had to be bought.

If he cooks something for the Emperor to eat that’s enough, but that guy will order his own dishes. Before coming, he would tell me what he want to eat for the day, and would also specialize in eating those expensive dishes.

In addition to the monthly allowance for food and clothing, there were also eighty silver taels of pocket money, of which he had already spent nearly ten taels in the past two days alone.

If this continued this would certainly reach the point where the income is not enough to cover the expenses. Su Yu counted his possessions, all the royal gifts were jewels and brocades, but no silver.

The one thousand taels silver banknote given by the Marquis Changchun’s Shizi was in Mister Yuan's hands. The three thousand taels silver banknotes cheated from King Mu Jun were still there, but they were all large silver notes, which could not be spent in the palace.

After sadly putting away the box containing the silver banknotes, Su Yu looked at the sky. It was time to pay respects to the State Teacher.

The Anguo Tower belonged to the front palace, one had to pass through the imperial garden to get there from the rear palace. The carriage in the harem cannot go to the front palace, so Su Yu had to get off and change carriages in the imperial garden.

Su Yu thought it was troublesome, so he simply walked over.

“Zhaoyi Niangniang is really capable, even my little Cairen’s monthly expenses are embezzled.” There was a quarrel not far away, and the voices sounded familiar.

Su Yu glanced around and saw it was an old acquaintance, Cen Xiaojie.

“You think Bengong cares about your small monthly expenses!” Chen Zhaoyi was livid with anger.

Although she was a Zhaoyi, there was no Fei in the Chunhua Palace where she lives. Although she lived in a side palace hall, she was considered the head of a palace and had a higher status than other Zhaoyis.

This Cen Caiten has not calmed down ever since she entered the Chunhua Palace.

“If the monthly silver is deducted, then so be it. Our Marquis Changchun’s Fu is not short of this money, but in this hot summer, the ice chips that should be given to me can’t be any less.” Cen Xiaojie said arrogantly.

The weather was so sizzling hot that she was dizzy from the heat in the past few days. Not to mention the big cooling ice cubes, she just wanted to drink an ice chip soup.

“Aiyou, you still think you are at the Marquis’s Houfu? A little Cairen, how can there be ice in your monthly expenses?” Chen Zhaoyi was angry but also found it laughable.

The ice in the icehouse was so precious that let alone Cairen’s, even in her monthly expenses there was no ice.

Su Yu shook his head, it seemed that this Cen Xiaojie was really dim-witted. Once and twice, Chen Zhaoyi may have qualms about her family background and show consideration for her to some degree, but if things go on like this, she would definitely think of a way to bring her under control.

Thinking about the 1000 taels of silver he had received from Marquis Changchun’s Shizi, at that time he had promised to take care of his younger sister. Now it seemed that the money was not so easy to earn.

It would be better to find an opportunity to return this silver to Cen Xiaojie and let her buy ice chips.

Cen Xiaojie, with her back facing Su Yu, was still shouting, but Chen Zhaoyi no longer paid any attention to her. She just looked at Su Yu’s back as he left, coldly hooking up her lips and smiling.

“What are you doing here again?” The State Teacher today wore a light blue long-sleeved muslin gown.

It looked more real than the all snow-white appearance from before, but there was still an aura of immortality.

“Chen made some small snacks today and would like to ask for a cup of tea. ” Su Yu considered his words and phrases.

Facing the aloof State Teacher and avoiding red tape, he had to try his best to be as elegant and down-to-earth as possible, so the words came out a bit weird.

When the State Teacher heard this speech, he opened his lightly closed eyes, and after a while, he slowly spoke.

“Coming to the Anguo Tower to drink tea, you are really carefree.” The voice was like an ancient zither, soft and melodious, you couldn’t tell whether it was praise or mockery.

Su Yu secretly wiped away his sweat. He opened the food box and handed it over.

“Chen hopes the State Teacher will not dislike these unworthy snacks.”

The golden butterfly shrimp was placed in a white jade tray, and its luster was bright. You could tell it was delicious at a glance.

The cold and beautiful eyes moved slightly. The State Teacher slowly stood up and said: “Follow me.”

Su Yu held the food box and followed the State Teacher step by step up the revolving black stone steps. He blinked. Is this considered…success?

The author has something to say:

Small Theater:

Wang Gonggong: Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Xian Fei has made snacks for the State Teacher

Cat Gong: Wretched stupid slave, he will not be allowed to accompany Zhen to take a nap today（╰＿╯）#

Wang Gonggong: Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Xian Fei has given you something picked up from the ground to eat

Cat Gong: Wretched stupid slave, he will not be allowed to cook lunch for Zhen today （╰＿╯）#

Wang Gonggong: Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Xian Fei swatted your buttocks

Cat Gong: Wret, wretched… Zhen, Zhen will spank you back

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

jin -> weight equal to 500 g

taels -> unit of weight equal to 50 grams

rear palace -> where the harem lives

Fu -> official residence

Orluros's Vault of Secrets: Hi everyone, as you could see on chapter 34 and this one, we had extras from the author! I just recently found raws that include such extras and worked overtime to translate them, now you can find them on chapters->1, 2, 4, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 and 32. If you liked the chapter please donate :)