On the fifth day after the new regulations were implemented,
the Imperial Kitchen received its first unexpected visitor.
Not summoned.
Not announced.
But arriving in person—
Consort Shen.
Her timing was impeccable.
She arrived in the mid-afternoon, just after the busiest hour in the kitchen had passed—the moment when exhaustion was most visible.
She wore a soft smoke-blue palace robe.
Her hair was styled simply, with only a single white jade hairpin.
She did not look like someone arriving to investigate.
If anything, she looked like she had come to offer sympathy.
"I've heard that the kitchen has been unusually busy these days," she said gently as she stood in the courtyard.
"I thought I would come see whether everyone has been working too hard."
The courtyard instantly filled with kneeling servants.
The lower palace workers all lowered their heads.
Even their breathing became careful.
They were far too familiar with scenes like this.
Every act of "kindness" from someone powerful was usually followed by a reckoning.
Qing Tian stepped out from the main hall.
She did not perform a deep ceremonial bow.
Instead, she gave a simple greeting appropriate to her office.
"Your Highness."
"The Office of Provisions is currently on duty. We dare not complain of hardship."
Consort Shen paused slightly.
She noticed it.
Qing Tian had not referred to herself as "your servant" in the way palace women normally did.
She had said "the Office of Provisions."
"Director Qing is still as cautious as ever."
Consort Shen smiled softly.
"But people are not machines."
She glanced at the kneeling workers.
"These children deserve rest."
She lifted her hand.
A palace maid immediately stepped forward carrying a brocade box.
"I had this tonic prepared."
"If they are working for the palace, they should also nourish their bodies."
The box opened.
Inside were expensive medicinal ingredients—
ginseng and deer antler.
Powerful tonics.
Fast-acting.
The eyes of the palace workers flickered briefly with surprise—
then lowered again.
They understood.
This was not truly meant for them.
It was a test.
A test of who would dare accept it.
Qing Tian didn't even look at the box.
Instead she asked calmly,
"May I ask, Your Highness—"
"Is this to be incorporated into the kitchen regulations?"
"Or distributed as a separate reward?"
One sentence.
And the supposed gesture of kindness was forced directly into procedure.
Consort Shen's smile stiffened.
"It is only a gesture of care," she replied softly.
"Why write such things into regulations? That would be too rigid."
"Then it would violate the rules," Qing Tian replied immediately.
"The regulations state that all additional supplies, rewards, or outside food provisions must be recorded."
"Otherwise…"
She paused slightly.
"…the people below would not dare use them."
The phrase "the people below would not dare use them" fell heavily across the courtyard.
Suddenly, the silence of dozens of kneeling workers seemed to press directly onto Consort Shen.
She finally realized the most frightening thing about Qing Tian.
Qing Tian never placed herself in opposition.
Instead—
She forced everyone
to stand inside the rules.
Consort Shen slowly closed the brocade box.
Her smile returned, gentle as ever.
"Director Qing is indeed meticulous."
"I simply worry that the investigations have become too strict."
"The people below may grow… frightened."
The blade had finally appeared.
"Frightened?"
Qing Tian raised her eyes.
"Or harmed?"
"We are investigating accounts, not people."
"If the accounts are clean—"
"No one will have reason to be afraid."
A sudden gust of wind swept through the courtyard.
Consort Shen looked at her.
For the first time—
she did not smile.
"Director Qing," she said quietly,
"do you know whose path you are blocking?"
Qing Tian's voice remained calm.
"I only know this is the road I must walk."
Consort Shen stood in silence for several breaths.
Then she sighed softly.
"Very well."
"If you insist on these regulations…"
"I will not interfere."
She turned to leave.
But just before stepping through the gate—
she paused.
"There is one thing you should think carefully about."
She glanced back over her shoulder.
"In the palace…"
"Not every road is written on paper."
Then she left.
The brocade box was taken with her.
The courtyard felt colder than before she arrived.
That night,
the Office of Provisions received an anonymous report.
The message contained only one sentence:
"Director Qing uses regulations as a cover to build her own faction.The lower ranks of the Imperial Kitchen now obey her alone."
There was no signature.
But the seal ink—
came from Consort Shen's palace.
Qing Tian read the report.
Then slowly closed it.
She understood what it meant.
Consort Shen's attempt at reconciliation had failed.
Which meant their conflict was now open.
And Qing Tian had finally reached the point
where she would have to borrow
the Emperor's power.