Lord Yang grew even grumpier when he thought of how even the shameless censor who had submitted a petition against him had gotten to eat a longevity peach bun, while on the other hand, he could only imagine what it might’ve tasted like.
Nothing had gone his way today; was it because he had skipped out on eating one of those lucky buns?
Lord Yang coughed lightly and said, “Send them to the parlour. I’ll bring them to the missus later when I visit her in the inner court.”
Lord Yang didn’t like sencha either, so he had his manservant pour him a cup of warm water instead as he took a seat in the parlour to rest. When his line of sight fell upon the brocade box innocently positioned next to him, Lord Yang reached out and opened it.
The vision inside made his half-shut eyes fly wide open.
Eight pastries were arranged inside the small, exquisite green bamboo basket. They each had different shapes, and the blooming red peony nestled to the side made them extremely eye-catching.
When Lord Yang breathed in, he could smell a faint fragrance of flowers mixed in with the buttery aroma of the pastries.
Lord Yang couldn’t resist. He gulped and picked up a bat-shaped pastry, looking it over curiously before he bit off a mouthful. Mm, there was even stuffing inside. Were those raisins? Refreshing, crisp, and sweet without being too greasy… Delicious!
Lord Yang took out a second piece shaped like a peach. Oh? This one tasted like chestnuts. A novel, sweet taste, with the aroma of chestnuts lingering in the mouth long after the pastry was eaten.
The third piece was shaped like a hand and had the aroma of roses. Despite eating so many already, he wasn’t sick of them yet. This one had an elegant, light flavour, which was very much suited to his tastes.
……
By the time Lord Yang came back to his senses, he found that there were only two pieces left in the entire box of confections. The hand he had extended towards the leftovers awkwardly retreated.
The manservant next to him had been watching the whole time with his eyes twitching. Inwardly, he was thinking, ‘My lord, those were meant to be a return gift for the mistress! How could you eat so many of them, just like that?’
“Bring these along, we’re going to the inner court to visit your mistress.” Lord Yang coughed to hide his embarrassment as he relayed his order to the manservant.
On the way to the inner court, Lord Yang kept a constant inner monologue of complaints running.
That House Jing’an was being way too petty. How could they send such a small box — only eight pastries! — as a return gift? There was only one of each flavour, too! So when he finished one pastry in two bites, that meant he couldn’t have another of the same flavour.
They arrived at the inner court’s main courtyard to the sight of Lady Yang speaking to her daughter-in-law.
Lady Yang turned her head and immediately spotted her husband. She stood up and welcomed him with a smile. “Dear, why are you back so early today?” she asked. When she noticed the brocade box that the manservant was carrying, the smile on her face grew even more pronounced. “Why, you even brought me a present today?”
Lord Yang’s face stiffened a little in his embarrassment. “This is a return gift from House Jing’an.”
The manservant set the brocade box on the table before retreating.
Lady Yang raised an eyebrow in inquiry. Upon remembering the girl she had met at Marquis Dingyuan’s longevity feast, she walked to the table without bothering to give a second thought about Lord Yang’s expression.
“House Jing’an’s return gift? What could it be? I’ll have to show it to my daughter-in-law too.” Lady Yang’s eldest daughter-in-law hadn’t been able to make it to Marquis Dingyuan’s longevity feast that day, so upon hearing her mother-in-law’s words, she stepped forward.
Lord Yang couldn’t possibly stop her, so he pretended as if nothing was wrong and sat to one side.
The moment Lady Yang opened the box, she was greeted with the two lonely pieces left in the strangely empty box.
She turned to Lord Yang in surprise, “This…”
“I was a little hungry just now, so I ate two pieces.” Lord Yang stiffly explained.
There was such a huge empty space in the box; are you sure you only ate two pieces?
The corner of Lady Yang’s mouth twitched. She closed the lid of the box.
Her eldest daughter-in-law gaped a little when she saw the contents, or more specifically, the lack thereof. However, she still remembered to close her mouth to avoid making a faux-pas in the midst of a delicate situation. “Since Father has returned, Daughter-in-Law will go to the main kitchen and instruct them to add more of Father’s favourite dishes.”
Lady Yang only managed to restrain herself until her daughter-in-law left. Afterwards, she burst out laughing. “Was this sent by House Jing’an’s Third Young Madam?”
Lord Yang nonchalantly nodded as he sipped his tea, keeping up his innocent pretense.
“I can’t say I blame you; that girl makes the most delicious food.” After saying so, Lady Yang opened the box and picked up a pastry. The moment she tasted it, her eyes lit up. “That girl… What did she make this time? It fits my tastes even better than those longevity peach buns she made before. Mm, it’s actually salty!”
Lord Yang licked his lips. A salty pastry? What a pity he hadn’t been able to taste it.
“There were only eight pastries in this box. So it seems like each one has a different flavour.”
Lady Yang was surprised. There were such finely made desserts?
She quickly ate the very last one and confirmed that the two pastries she had eaten had completely different tastes. It was only after she was done eating that she picked up the smaller box at the side. When she saw that her coral bracelet was inside, the corners of Lady Yang’s lips curled up. “It looks like there’s more to this girl from House Ying than just being more fertile.” They finally had someone who had brains amongst them!
Lady Yang immediately wrote a reply and sent one of the Yang Family’s most trusted manservants to the Jing’an Estate with the letter.
Ever since Lord Yang had eaten the Eight Confections that Chu Lian had sent over, he had fallen in love with rose-flavoured desserts. He instructed the chefs in his estate to make some, but none of them could compare to the ones that Chu Lian had made that day, causing Lord Yang to become even pickier about his food. He even lost a few kilograms of weight after that! Of course, the birth of the gourmand Lord Yang was a later story.
……
The same return gift had been sent to Prince Wei’s estate.
Royal Princess Duanjia opened up the brocade box without any hesitation. Her big eyes were shimmering when she saw the desserts within. In order to enjoy them all by herself, she carefully brought them back to her own courtyard. Not even her second brother received a single piece when he came over looking for snacks. Seeing his little sister acting like a puppy guarding her food, the royal prince was extremely amused.
He immediately ran off to his mother’s room to tattle on his sister. “Mother, Third Sister found something really delicious, but she’s so stingy she wouldn’t let me have a single bite!”
“Oh? Has she?” Princess Wei raised an eyebrow. Royal Princess Duanjia’s personality was haughty and aloof, and it was rare to find something that could move her. Princess Wei found it interesting that something like food had managed to make her daughter act out of character.
As mother and son were talking, Royal Princess Duanjia entered the room. “Brother, how old are you? What are you doing snitching to Mother about me at your age!”
The royal prince sat next to Princess Wei and retorted, “I’m just trying to find out exactly what kind of food has bewitched my darling little sister!”
Royal Princess Duanjia glared at the royal prince and moved to Princess Wei’s other side. “Mother, in a few days, I want to invite someone to our estate.”
Princess Wei was sitting in the master’s seat. Brimming with an aura of elegant luxury, a faint smile appeared on her lips. “Is it the person who gave you those desserts?”
Royal Princess Duanjia smiled mysteriously. “I’m not telling Mother yet! Mother will know when she comes!”
Princess Wei lovingly poked her only daughter’s forehead. “Mother won’t stop you from making friends, but don’t forget your status.”
……
Back in the Jing’an Estate, the main steward in the outer court had already ordered a senior servant to bring over two letters to Songtao Court before dinner. One of the letters was even accompanied by a gift.
Chu Lian received the letters and glanced at the contents within.
One of the letters was from Lady Yang and the other was actually from Royal Princess Duanjia.
Lady Yang had sent the coral bracelet back again, saying that it was a gift for her anyway, and that she couldn’t possibly take it back. She also said to keep the bracelet properly, and if they met in the future, she could make a few more different kinds of pastries as gifts instead.
Although Lady Yang didn’t state outright if they were on visiting terms with each other, this was already a great concession for Chu Lian, and could be counted as a good connection.
What Chu Lian had found strange was Royal Princess Duanjia’s letter.
Royal Princess Duanjia had actually invited her over to Prince Wei’s estate for a small gathering.
Chu Lian remembered seeing Royal Princess Duanjia’s mysterious goodwill towards her in the Dingyuan Estate. She frowned; the novel had only mentioned Royal Princess Duanjia a few times, and she hadn’t even properly made an entrance in the scenes that Chu Lian had read. She didn’t know much about Royal Princess Duanjia’s personality or Prince Wei’s estate.
However, since it was a royal princess who had sent her a proper invite, it wouldn’t be good if she rejected it.
There were many noble ladies in the capital who would love to get connected to Royal Princess Duanjia, but weren’t able to. Besides, Chu Lian didn’t hold any ill will towards her.
After accepting Royal Princess Duanjia’s invite, Senior Servant Gui and Senior Servant Zhong were happy as well.
Royal Princess Duanjia was famed for being detached from the social circles of the nobility. At most, she would occasionally mix with some of the ladies from the imperial family, but she didn’t have any known close friends amongst the nobility. Prince Wei was someone that even the most favoured courtiers would have to pay respects to, so if Chu Lian could form a connection with Royal Princess Duanjia, even House Jing’an’s prestige would rise a level.
Dinner was at Qingxi Hall tonight. When Chu Lian arrived at the entrance, she could hear laughter coming from within.
Chu Lian walked in curiously, and Matriarch He waved her over. “Sanlang’s wife, come over, we were just talking about you!”
With the exception of Madam Zou’s two daughters, Chu Lian was the youngest amongst them. She obediently greeted all her seniors before she was pulled by Matriarch He to sit on a soft chair just one step below hers.
“Grandmother, what were you talking about me?” Her inquisitive wide eyes made the matriarch smile again.
“Your eldest brother was just talking about those longevity peach buns you made at the Dingyuan Estate! Grandmother tried them today as well; they’re really tasty!”
Chu Lian smiled back and replied, “It’s good that Grandmother likes them! I’ll make more interesting ones for Grandmother’s birthday!”
“Look at this, so those longevity peach buns weren’t even the best ones. There are more interesting ones to be had!”
Everyone in the parlour laughed together. Chu Lian’s sharp gaze swept over each member and picked out some unhappiness in Madam Zou’s eyes, so she quickly changed the topic. “Second Brother has come back early today. I heard that we’re having venison for the banquet! Granddaughter-in-Law can’t wait!”
After Chu Lian changed the topic, she glanced at Madam Zou again and noticed the lightening of her expression.
However, He Changqi just had to add fuel to the fire at this moment. “Third Sister-in-Law, since you know how to make those fine pastries, do you know how to cook a better dish of venison?”
Chu Lian cried out in her heart. Madam Zou was already starting to dislike her, but her eldest brother just had to add that line.
“Venison’s quite rare, so Sister-in-Law doesn’t have any secret recipes for venison.”
When Chu Lian finished speaking, He Changqi’s face practically radiated disappointment.
Following that, the family ate their dinner together. Chu Lian didn’t want her eldest sister-in-law to feel like she was taking the spotlight, so she didn’t speak much during the meal, except to reply the matriarch.
When she returned to Songtao Court afterwards, Chu Lian patted her chest in relief without minding her image one bit.
She had been scared to bits! She hadn’t thought that just making some desserts would be enough to draw her eldest sister-in-law’s jealousy. It looked like her journey to become a peaceful layabout in the inner court wouldn’t be that easy.
Chu Lian hadn’t even mentioned Lady Yang’s gift of a coral bracelet and Royal Princess Duanjia’s invite to her estate in front of the family. She wondered if Madam Zou might misunderstand if she had spoken of it just now.
After she had thought it through, Chu Lian decided to tell the matriarch alone when she made her morning greetings at Qingxi Hall the next day.
Royal Princess Duanjia had invited her to meet at her estate on the twenty-sixth of the month; there were still two days left to prepare, so it wasn’t too urgent.