Your Majesty, I need to use the restroom

Pei Zhuang ran outside, feeling out of breath and soaked with sweat.

Back in the days when she was working in the lab, she could have run long-distance without feeling tired.

And now, with a chubby body, even a little bit of running could exhaust her.

“Definitely, I still have a long way to go before achieving my weight-loss goal!”

She then seized Lan’er and murmured something to the maid.

“What are you up to, madam?” Lan’er gazed at Pei Zhuang in astonishment, “While some of the materials you are asking for can be found in your own collection of herbs, the rest might only be available in the imperial kitchen...”

“Just do what I said. Ask others to buy some If you can’t find any in the kitchen! She who fails to do so doesn’t deserve to be my personal maid! Don’t come back until you have everything I need!”

Pei Zhuang flicked her sleeves, trying to act like a spoiled concubine although she felt uncomfortable with that.

It was rare to see Pei get angry, so Lan’er immediately decided to have a fellow maid make a purchase outside the palace.

On second thought, however, she changed her mind. This chapter is updated first at novelceo . com.

It would be a shame to Xuanji Palace if others were to know what Pei Zhuang was after. To keep it a secret, she had better do it with her own hands. Therefore, after leaving Pei to other maids, she rushed out, with her flab shaking under her skirt.

“Lan’er needs to lose a few pounds as well,” Pei Zhuang murmured while watching Lan’er’s receding figure.

On a tree nearby, a guard in black was watching everything silently.

Meanwhile, Pei Zhuang was thinking about some prickly ash trees she came across somewhere in the palace.

Then she led her maids into the royal garden.

“Prickly ashes are valuable, pick some for me before we get back to Xuanji Palace,”

Said Pei, who had already formulated a recipe for the nourishing stew in her mind.

“The stew can turn every man on, and that guy is no exception!”

After a while, a strong fragrance spread from Xuanji Palace to almost half of the whole imperial palace.

“Jujube, female ginseng, dang shen, tian ma, poria cocos, longan, astragalus mongholicus...” Pei Zhuang mumbled to herself while putting the medicinal materials into an improvised pouch. New chapters come out on n⁠ovelceo.com first.

Lan’er fanned the flames to brew the tonic which also comprised squab, pork bones and ribs, her mouth watery.

Meat had been extremely rare in Xuanji Palace ever since Pei Zhuang went on a diet. Lan’er herself could at most have some fish as a kind of consolation.

That is why she suffered weight loss after only a couple of months!

She might reduce herself to skin and bones should this keep going.

Madam was finally getting back to normal, Lan’er thought.

However, she was quickly disillusioned with Pei’s words.

“Two more hours are needed to make the soup,” said Pei Zhuang, “I have some salad prepared for your dinner. If you keep gaining weight, no men will fancy you in the future. So you should also practice Yoga with me starting from tomorrow. After all, we must maintain the good image of Xuanji Palace!”

Pei Zhuang then focused back on the nourish soup, grinning like Cheshire cat.

“That guy has always been frigid. I can’t wait to see his response after having the soup!”