XH 120
During their carriage ride back to the manor, the Third Prince told her that General Tang and Ping Shui had fled from the Second Prince and was currently hiding in the Summer Courtyard. Even if Long Lian had changed the courtyard's name, everyone was used to the old and convenient name.
Tian Chi had healed their physical wounds and their mental fatigue would be healed as long as they take the time to rest. Using her inner energy to heal was pretty rare and useful in this world, but it could not be compared to the heroine's cheat, which was the spring water that could heal any injury, even neutralizing the strongest poison in the world. But Heise had not written if the spring water could regrow a limb back.
When they finally returned to the Third Prince's residence from the palace, An Jing and An Wan were waiting for them at the gates.
"Welcome back, Master. Welcome back, Elder Sister Hua."
"Yes, I'm back, Sister An Jing, Sister An Wan," Xiao Hua replied their greeting.
"Your Highness, Grand Tutor Ping wishes to speak to you. He had returned from the mountains and had arrived earlier to visit Madam Ping Shui. Right now he's at Summer Courtyard, waiting for the master to return to discuss the matter," An Jing informed.
The Third Prince nodded. "I will meet with him now. Xiao Hua, go and have some rest before night meal."
Xiao Hua nodded obediently. "Yes." She needed some time alone to reflect on her behaviour. The guilt of making the Empress angry until she fainted finally surfaced!
The Third Prince rubbed her head. "Don't think too much about it. Mother Empress isn't a weak person."
Xiao Hua tried her best to school her face to calmness. Is her face that easy to read?
To her surprise, An Wan accompanied the Third Prince to meet with Grand Tutor Ping. Turning to An Jing curiously, she received a gentle smile from the elder woman.
"Elder Sister Hua, I've prepared snacks and tea for you to enjoy in Spring Courtyard."
Xiao Hua smiled. "Thank you, Sister An Jing. Will you join me?"
"I would love to."
So... An Jing wants to talk to her?
Following An Jing to Spring Courtyard, she saw Tian Zi standing under the pavilion with snacks and tea ready on the table. When Xiao Hua saw what was today's dessert, she could already feel her saliva gathering and threatening to escape from her mouth.
Egg tarts! And they were not small-sized and the egg custard was more than the pastry!
Le XiaoTing loves egg tarts very much and often eats them when she was younger. But the shop that sold the delicious egg tarts had closed down a few years ago. She did found egg tarts in other shops but the taste was still not as tasty as she used to eat during her childhood.
It might be her memory making the egg tarts from her childhood more delicious than in reality, but she still could not accept how tasteless the egg custard tasted from most shops. Her favourite was Portuguese egg tart, as the pastry was crispy and there was more egg custard filling.
She had not thought that egg tarts would already exist in this era! Perhaps she should not use the historical record in her original world to compare to this world as she found some items already exist in this era when it should only have been created in her original world years later.
Easily noticing the eagerness in Xiao Hua's eyes, An Jing smiled softly. "Please take a seat, Elder Sister Hua. Have a cup of tea to moisturize your throat."
Sister An Jing! You are the gentlest and caring lady I've met! ( ' ∀ ')ノ～ ♡
"Thank you." Discarding her manners, Xiao Hua greedily drinks a cup of tea, suddenly realizing her throat was relatively dry. It must be all talk she did earlier in the palace that dried up her throat.
Tian Zi giggled and placed a small plate with an egg tart on it in front of Xiao Hua. "Tian Chi baked some egg tarts earlier and I manage to save some for us before she finishes eating them. Taste one, Elder Sister Hua. Tian Chi is good at baking!"
"Then...I won't be polite and help myself to it." Xiao Hua used her fingers to reach for the egg tart but was quickly stopped by An Jing.
"Elder Sister Hua, please use the chopstick provided to eat it."
"Oh yes, of course! Thank you for reminding me." Xiao Hua laughed awkwardly before picking up the chopstick. She was too used to eat dry pastry using her hands and the large size of the egg tart make one feel intimidated to pick it up using a chopstick without risking it falling down. She could already imagine the mess once the egg tart falls on the table if it missed the plate during its fall.
Fortunately, she managed to avoid embarrassing herself as her chopstick managed to lift up the egg tart with one try. Without holding back, she took a large bite from it and let out a satisfied hum at the delicious taste.
"Elder...Elder sister Hua." Tian Zi could not bear to continue looking and called out. "You should cut it to smaller pieces to eat."
Xiao Hua: '...' That was the first time she heard cutting an egg tart into pieces.
But she followed what Tian Zi suggested and put the egg tart on her plate. Wielding her chopstick like a knife, she strikes it down and cut the tart into two. Just like she expected, the plate was filled with scattered pastry crumbs and the egg custard have cracks on the surface.
An Jing and Tian Zi were rendered speechless at Xiao Hua's crude way of cutting the egg tart. Seeing that Xiao Hua had already picked up one of the sliced egg tarts and eating it, they choose to turn a blind eye over it.
"Hmm~ this is so good!" Xiao Hua praised happily and An Jing took out a napkin to wipe away the crumbs around her mouth.
"T-Thank you," Xiao Hua looked embarrassed. Her mom only helped her to wipe her mouth until she entered kindergarten.
Tian Zi took an egg tart to eat as well. As a sweets lover, for being able to resist eating the egg tart despite being teased by the delicious aroma while waiting for Xiao Hua to return was amazing.
As an excellent maid that picked up the skills to consume her food in a short period of time, Tian Zi was quick to finish the egg tart when Xiao Hua only started eating the second half of the egg tart. An Jing calmly drinks her tea, not at all interested in the egg tarts.
"Elder Sister Hua, are you alright?" Tian Zi asked worriedly. "We heard the Empress invited you for tea."
"You heard about it?" That was surprisingly quick for the news to reach their ears.
"Da Liu told me," An Jing explained. Her husband was always beside their master so he knew everything.
As their master does not mind, Da Liu would often tell his wife about things, except for truly important matters such as Xiao Hua and Heise being transmigrators. This time, he quickly told his wife about Xiao Hua meeting the Empress was so to find out if Xiao Hua was truly alright and did not suffer any mental damage.
"Did the Empress do anything to you?" Xiao Hua shook her head and explained to them what happened.
Tian Zi and An Jing were once again rendered into speechless. The Xiao Hua they knew was different from the Xiao Hua that socialized with the Empress!
"Elder Sister Hua, are you not afraid for your life?" Tian Zi finally asked frantically.
Xiao Hua lowered her head, feeling guilty. She angered the Empress, disregarding her safety and those that worried about her. "I'm sorry."
An Jing rubbed her head just like how the Third Prince did to her. "Just don't do it again."
Xiao Hua nodded like chicken pecking rice. "I won't!" If the Empress made trouble again, she promised to hold most of her opinion back, unless it was for self-defence!
Tian Zi sighed tiredly. "You scared everyone when we heard you are meeting the Empress. Elder Sister An Jing's face was pale when Sir Da Liu told us you had angered the Empress! Elder Sister Hua is truly brave, daring to talk back to the intimidating Empress!"
Xiao Hua blushed as she mumbled softly, "She's just like Long Lian."
An Jing and Tian Zi were cultivators, hence they easily caught Xiao Hua's words.
"The Empress is just like Princess Long Lian? Princess did inherit the Empress' beauty after all," Tian Zi said.
"No, that's not exactly what I meant," Xiao Hua explained. "It's the way the Empress had acted. Her attempt to show off her power is just like how Long Lian does it and it's cute so I'm unable to stop myself from teasing her."
Truthfully, Xiao Hua felt that the Empress was acting like a love rival instead of a mother towards her son's maid. It was until the Empress suddenly fainted did she becomes aware that she was flirting with danger!
...They will need to teach Elder Sister Hua the dangers of society!