Chapter 116: Chapter 116: Living in the Imperial Palace

"The people aren’t foolish," Yu An said, looking the Beast Emperor straight in the eye. "You’ll see for yourself in a few days whether or not it’s a lie."

"Also, I’ve already found a place to live. I won’t be staying in the palace."

Both the Tiger Clan and the Merfolk Clan had residences in the Imperial City. After Feng Xuan and Lan Yin squabbled for a while, both openly and behind the scenes, they ultimately decided to stay at the Tiger Clan’s estate.

The Beast Emperor frowned. "You must stay in the palace. That is not up for negotiation. Also, you must inform me whenever you leave."

Yu An shrugged. "I’m not staying."

With that, she turned to leave. Her husbands followed her lead, and Mo Yan’s group of five, along with the Zaizai, fell in right behind Yu An.

Cui Su was just about to reprimand Yu An, but he saw the Beast Emperor signal him to be silent.

The Beast Emperor’s gaze was grim. "Since you’ve made up your mind, so be it. But you’ve only just returned to the Imperial City. You are to stay in the palace for the first ten days, and only then may you move out."

"Furthermore, in the future, whenever your Mother Empress summons you to the palace, you may not make excuses to refuse."

Yu An looked back and smiled sweetly. "You are my elder. Of course I wouldn’t refuse."

"But ten days is too long. As the Beast God Envoy, I cannot delay the mission given to me by the Beast God. Let’s make it five days."

The Beast Emperor said nothing, simply waving her hand to dismiss them.

The Beast Emperor’s Beast Husbands on the dais were each lost in their own thoughts, but they all shared one sentiment: they were relishing Cui Su’s humiliation.

’So what if he has a pair of twin daughters? The elder one openly defies the Beast Emperor and has no future, while the younger is naive and dull, completely useless. Our sons still have a chance to rise to power.’

The title of Beast Emperor has always gone to the most capable; it’s just that female heirs are given priority.

Yu An was familiar with the layout of the Imperial Palace, so she didn’t need a servant to guide her. As they walked, she pointed out the sights to the Zaizai.

This was where their Female Mother had grown up. The four little ones listened with rapt attention, and it wasn’t just them—Mo Yan and the other four men listened quietly as well.

But after walking for a long time, they still hadn’t reached Yu An’s quarters. Ao Wu couldn’t help but ask, "An’an, this area seems awfully remote. They made you live in a place like this?"

’Anyone with half a brain knows that the best residences are close to the Beast Emperor. We just passed the quarters of Yu Yun, the Eldest Prince, the Second Prince... so many people, and we still haven’t reached the place where Yu An used to live.’

’It was obvious that An’an must have had a terrible life here before.’

"It’s ’secluded,’" Yu An corrected. "It might be a little far, but my place is spacious."

Her words only made Ao Wu’s heart ache more for her.

’She has to console herself with "spacious" as its only good quality. The place must be incredibly crude and simple.’

Mo Yan and the other three men’s hearts ached for her too. Han Li was even tempted to go home and loot Han Fengyun’s entire collection of treasures for her!

Yu An had a feeling she knew what they were thinking. ’In truth, "spacious" really is its only advantage, but... well, they can just see for themselves.’

Just then, they arrived. Standing outside the entrance, Ao Wu rubbed his eyes hard.

Yu An stepped inside and looked back. "Why aren’t you coming in?"

"An’an," Lan Yin stammered, swallowing hard, "th-this is where you lived?"

Xiao Yu covered his eyes with his little hands. "Female Mother, it’s too bright! Zaizai’s eyes can’t open!"

Da Hu and Xiao Hu did the same. Little Serpent covered its eyes with the tip of its tail, unwilling to look directly at the glittering golden structure.

"Yep," Yu An said, sounding a bit resigned. "My taste back then was, uh, a little strange."

She loved gold too, but the thought of actually living in a house made of solid gold was something even she couldn’t accept.

The slightest bit of light made the whole place as bright as day. Yu An had no idea how the original owner of her body had managed to live here, let alone get any sleep!

Thankfully, there were normal rooms as well. Yu An took the main building and told the others to choose their own rooms. Then, with her hands clasped behind her back, she began to inspect her "Golden House."

In reality, she was scouting out the best spot for cultivation so she could come back at night and absorb the energy from the Golden House.

Yu An estimated that she should be able to advance to Level 6. If she pushed herself, the Seventh Level might even be possible!

Her residence had its own kitchen, where a chef surnamed Jiao had been assigned to prepare her cooked meals. After Yu An was exiled, Chef Jiao had been transferred to the main kitchens.

Chef Jiao was the best chef in the Imperial Palace. He used an ancestral secret recipe when preparing cooked food, making his dishes exceptionally delicious.

Because of this unique skill, Chef Jiao had been incredibly busy before becoming Yu An’s personal chef. He cooked for the main husband, then the secondary husbands, then the princes... He dreamed of retiring every single day.

His happiest moment was when he was assigned to Yu An. He only had to cook for one person, and his life became peaceful and leisurely.

So when he learned that Yu An had been exiled, Chef Jiao’s whole world came crashing down.

Fortunately, his world was quickly set right again. The moment Yu An returned, without even waiting for orders from the Beast Emperor, he packed up his ancestral recipes and rushed back to her residence.

As was his custom, Chef Jiao had to confirm what Yu An wanted to eat and how many people would be dining before he started cooking each day.

"Princess, will it be just you for dinner tonight... I presume?"

He had assumed it would be just Yu An, but seeing the crowd of adults and children in the courtyard, Chef Jiao was dumbfounded.

He was completely devoted to the culinary arts and hadn’t paid much attention to Yu An’s recent circumstances, so he had no idea she now had Beast Husbands and Zaizai.

"Chef Jiao? Perfect timing."

Seeing the familiar face, Yu An beckoned him over. "About dinner tonight..."

"Princess," Chef Jiao said with a serious expression, "I understand. I will go to the main kitchens at once and get a few people to help me. I guarantee dinner will be served on time!"

’One, two, three, four, five... ten people in total, big and small. There was no way he could handle all that by himself.’

"No," Yu An said, waving her hand. "What I meant was, you don’t need to cook dinner. My Beast Husbands and I will prepare it."

Chef Jiao nodded instinctively. By the time he processed what Yu An had said, she and Mo Yan had already entered the kitchen.

He wanted to go in and stop her. ’A female’s status is noble; how could she possibly do such rough labor?’

But Han Li stopped him. "Don’t go in and get in An’an’s way. I hear you’re her personal chef, which means you must know a lot about her childhood, right?"

Surrounded by the four men, Chef Jiao hesitantly nodded, and then he saw their eyes light up.

"Then you have to tell us all about it," Ao Wu said, full of excitement. "Please, sir, come and sit down."

Tea, snacks, and fruit were prepared. Still in a bit of a daze, Chef Jiao began to recount stories of Yu An’s past.

Come to think of it, no one in the Imperial Palace knew Yu An better than Chef Jiao. The servants assigned to her were replaced every three months at most, but Chef Jiao was the one constant who had never been switched out.

Ao Wu asked curiously, "Why were they replaced so often?"

Chef Jiao paused. "Because they..."

Inside the kitchen, Mo Yan was asking the very same question.

"You know," Yu An said, touching the spot where her birthmark used to be. "My birthmark was hideous, frighteningly so. They wouldn’t say anything, but I could see the fear in their eyes."

"It wasn’t just fear. The original owner of this body had a volatile temper from being poisoned. And as luck would have it, she repeatedly caught people gossiping about her, saying she was as ugly as a demon and couldn’t hold a candle to her younger sister, Yu Yun."

Flying into a rage, she would drive them away and demand replacements, but she would invariably hear the new servants whispering about her as well.

So, she would drive them away and get new ones. Over time, her residence became the most dreaded assignment for the palace staff.

’In hindsight,’ Yu An thought, ’it was too much of a coincidence. How could she have ’happened’ to overhear them every single time?’