Royal Feast

In the Ming Dynasty Yongle Era, a young girl called Yao Zijin goes to the palace to attend selection of Table Maid in the Foods Office supervised by the Imperial Food Bureau.

Zijin is assigned the task of delivering food to Zhanji. She gives him an extra side of drunken dates, which delight Zhanji’s taste buds, as a gesture of gratitude.

The chef nervously prepares dishes for Crown Prince, who nods his head towards the dishes as a gesture of appreciation.

Yin Ziping wants to strangle Zijin with a rope. Fortunately, her attempt fails as Zijin reacts quickly.

Yao Zijin runs into Zhu Zhanji in the palace, causing her to recall the situation when she first met him in her childhood days.

Ziping is disappointed as she is not promoted to Manager of Foods in the Foods Office. Qianqing Palace is set on fire.

Prince of Han sees You Yifan paying his respects to his late mother. He recognizes him as his son, who has been missing for ages.

Zijin persuades Zhu Zhanji to forgive Consort of the Imperial Grandson. But the duo misunderstand each other even more.

Imperial New Year’s Eve banquet is an occasion when the Imperial Food Bureau and the Directorate for Palace Delicacies compete with each other.

Crown Princess makes Matron Meng step down. Matron Meng does not understand why Directress Wang kicks her while she is down. Directress Hu reveals the reason.

Zhu Di ignores officials and Crown Prince’s advice and launches a military operation in the northern region.

Palace chums are heartbroken as Consort Zhuang is buried alive. Zhu Gaochi ascends the throne. He wants to redesignate Nanjing as the capital.

Matron Meng returns to the Imperial Food Bureau. She also informs on Jing Quan to the Emperor that he is embezzling.

The Emperor really believes the Empress is pregnant. He tells the Imperial Academy of Medicine to conduct joint consultation.

Yuehua gets her hands on Wangchuan Villa created by Zijin. Yuehau shows off her artistry by using vegetables to reinterpret the Wangchuan Villa scene.

The Emperor’s favorite infant son Prince of Wei abruptly faints while eating. Matron Hu alleges pearl moss served up by Matron Meng is toxic.

Prince of Wei is wasting food. Zijin hopes he should learn to cherish food. Prince of Wei is not listening to Zijin, and he even wants to vent his frustration on her.

Consort Guo reluctantly gives in as Zijin begs her to give So Yuehua a chance. The Empress is worried about Zhanji not having any male offspring...

Although Yao Zijin’s hand is hurt, she still insists on participating in Lantern Festival Feast. Matron Meng grants her permission.

Zijin personally delivers meals. Her eloquence causes the Emperor to retain several dishes delivered by Matron Meng.

Imperial Guards find out the assassin’s agent used to be some rookie soldier who learned combat techniques from Zhanji.

To avoid wife of the Earl of Pengcheng, Zijin takes shelter in the study. Zhanji simultaneously shields her and makes fun of her trickery.

Ziping delivers meals to Zijin. She is annoyed as consorts and concubines are not showing up. After Zhanji offered gifts to Zijin...

The Emperor dies. The Empress keeps everybody in the dark as she waits for Crown Prince to return to the capital.

Consort Guo escapes live burial death sentence. But she eventually commits suicide by hanging herself from a beam. Zhanji formally ascends the throne.

At Mid-Autumn Festival Feast, Ziping wins the admiration of Empress Dowager as she serves up rustic food, and she is designated as table maid for the time being.

Zijin is designated as Noble Consort, and Miaoxian promptly apologizes to Zijin. Shanxiang falls ill.

Zijin wants to punish Su Yuehua. Matron Meng comes forward to be redeemed for Yuehua’s sin by hurting her own hands.

Zijin slyly lets Zhanji see banished famine victims. Dressed in plain clothes, Zhanji feels depressed as he goes out and sees people suffering.

Zhaoyi hates Zijin. She finds Su Yuehua and reaches an agreement with her that they are going to deal with Zijin.

The Empress is placed under house arrest for being implicated in plotting to harm Zijin. Zhanji also declares he wants to dishonor the Empress.

More and more victims rush to the capital, where food is scarce. Empress Dowager falls ill due to exhaustion.

Prince of Zhao and Yifan take Empress Dowager hostage and stage a coup. Zhanji simply exposes Yifan’s scheme.