Morning light spilled gently into the Empress's courtyard, soft and warm, chasing away the lingering tension of the previous days. For once, the palace felt calm—not the fragile calm before a storm, but the steady kind that came after hard work began to bear fruit.
The Empress sat at the low table with her friend, the twins, and the new man. Tea steamed quietly between them.
For a moment, none of them spoke.
Then Yao Qing leaned back, folding her arms with a satisfied sigh.
"Who would have thought," she said, smiling, "that a month ago we were just opening a small restaurant… and now we're talking about branches across the kingdom?"
The Empress curved her lips. "The Whisper Bowl is no longer small."
The twins grinned proudly.
"Queues start before sunrise."
"People argue over seats."
"Some even bribe the servers."
The Empress raised a brow. "And?"
The twins coughed in unison.
"We rejected the bribes."
"Strictly."
