Marriage to the Emperor's Daughter, Part II

A delectable scent wafted through the dining hall. This evening’s dinner was called edible bird’s nest. It was created by edible-nest swiftlets, also known as white-nest swiftlets, which was a small bird of the swift family. The bird nests were prized in the Shang Kingdom for their high nutritional value and rich Qi, but they also had a very robust flavor and were bursting with umami.

“I had no idea your chefs knew how to prepare edible bird’s nests,” Emperor Hou Jun said as he ladeled some of the soup on his spoon and took a sip. He sighed contently and slowly set the spoon back in his bowl. “Delicious.”

“I remember the first time you had me try it and fell in love with the taste. Once I became the head of the Wu Clan, I ordered my chefs to begin work on replicating that dish,” Father said. He was smiling. A genuine, full-faced smile.

How rare.

“They did a good job. The flavor is slightly different from what I’m used to in the palace, however.”