The guard entered with his head lowered, trembling with fear.
In Prince Xian’s kitchen, Duoduo was sampling pastries with Lüdou, Nanny Li, and Qingliu.
Each pastry had been divided into four pieces, one for each of them.
Qingliu stared at the exquisite pastries, afraid to touch one.
“Qingliu, why aren’t you eating?” Duoduo asked, smiling as she picked up a small piece and took a careful bite.
Qingliu shifted uneasily. “Princess, this servant isn’t hungry.”
Lüdou glanced at her in confusion.
“We’re not asking you to fill your stomach. We want you to sample the flavor.”
Qingliu looked at Lüdou. “I don’t know how to sample flavors. The three of you can do it.”
Nanny Li understood Qingliu’s concern and picked up a piece of pastry.
“The Princess told you to taste it, so taste it!”
“Since when have you dared to disobey your mistress?”
Upon hearing Nanny Li’s words, Qingliu hurriedly picked up a piece.
“Princess, this servant wasn’t disobeying you!”
“I just thought the pastries from the palace were rare, so I wanted to leave them for you to eat!”
Duoduo smiled as she swallowed the pastry in her mouth.
“I understand!”
Lüdou shot Qingliu a sidelong glance. “Hmph!”
“You make it sound as though you’re the only one thinking of the Princess!”
“Do you know that if we can reproduce the flavor of these pastries, the Princess will be able to eat as many as she wants?”
“Besides, I can use these pastries to make even more money for the Princess!”
Seeing that Lüdou was upset, Qingliu quickly lowered her attitude.
“Good Lüdou, that’s not what I meant!”
“I’m clumsy with words and don’t know how to express myself. Good sister, please forgive me!”
“I’ll eat! Isn’t that enough?”
Only then did Lüdou smile. “That’s more like it!”
“The Princess trusts you, which is why she asked you to join us.”
“You must never betray the Princess’s trust!”
As soon as Qingliu heard that, she immediately felt the weight on her shoulders grow heavier.
She took a small bite of the pastry and carefully savored its texture and flavor.
Lüdou and Nanny Li also smiled and took a bite.
Duoduo watched the two maids bicker with a smile. She knew Lüdou wasn’t truly angry; she was simply trying to reassure Qingliu.
Lüdou and Qingliu were both maids who served her.
Nothing pleased Duoduo more than seeing the two of them get along harmoniously.
Nanny Li and Lüdou were already experienced at this sort of thing, so they were the first to describe the pastry’s flavor.
Lüdou guessed at the ingredients while Duoduo recorded them with a brush.
When Qingliu heard the two of them mention everything she had wanted to say, she grew anxious. Sweat began to trickle down her face.
Lüdou and Nanny Li continued discussing the ingredients, one adding to the other, and soon they had guessed most of them.
Duoduo wrote down the final detail. “Anything else to add?”
Lüdou and Nanny Li shook their heads at the same time.
“That’s all we could taste.”
Duoduo set down her brush. “Since there’s nothing else to add, let’s make a batch and test it.”
Lüdou nodded.
She picked up a sheet of paper from the table and began preparing the ingredients.
Some of the ingredients had to be ground into powder, while others needed to be crushed into granules.
Nanny Li also rolled up her sleeves and joined them.
“Nanny, you can sit there and cheer us on!” Duoduo said, pushing Nanny Li toward a chair.
Nanny Li hurriedly stood up again.
“How can a servant sit and rest while her mistress is working?”
“That’s right, Princess! You and Nanny can sit down. Qingliu and I can handle everything,” Lüdou quickly urged.
Duoduo shook her head. “It’s boring to sit around.”
“Besides, if I help, you’ll finish faster.”
Li Jin had been sent out by Xiao Yi to handle some business, so Duoduo had no lessons that day.
She had long since memorized everything in her books backward and forward.
Rather than sit around bored, she would much rather do something meaningful.
Nanny Li smiled and joined them.
“That’s right. This servant didn’t get enough to eat just now.”
“Lüdou, hurry up and make another batch so Nanny can have another taste.”
The four of them exchanged smiles.
“All right!”
Lüdou sped up her movements.
Duoduo handed Nanny Li a bowl of red beans.
“Nanny, you’re meticulous. Sorting these belongs to you!”
Nanny Li knew that the Princess was looking after her.
“Yes! This servant will do it well!”
Qingliu was naturally the strongest, so she took on the task of grinding the ingredients finely.
Duoduo and Lüdou prepared each of the ingredients they would need.
The four of them worked enthusiastically, completely absorbed in the task.
At that moment, a junior maid poked her head into the doorway.
“What are you doing? Why are you sneaking around like a thief? Have you no manners?”
Nanny Li spotted her at once and immediately scolded her.
The maid timidly stepped inside.
“This servant… this servant pays her respects to the Princess…”
She knelt down before Duoduo.
Duoduo was kneading dough, both hands covered in flour.
She was enjoying herself, so she merely glanced at the maid.
“Nanny, she was only curious. It’s fine.”
“Get up. The kitchen floor is dirty.”
Although the kitchen floor had been swept, all sorts of water stains, grease marks, soup, and other grime had seeped into it over the years.
No matter how much it was scrubbed, the stains could not be removed.
A maid only had a few sets of clothes to wear throughout the year.
If they became dirty, they were very difficult to wash clean.
Their masters might accuse them of being improperly dressed, and they could even be punished.
“Why aren’t you thanking the Princess?” Nanny Li snapped when the maid remained frozen in place.
The maid only reacted after being scolded.
“Thank you, Princess!”
She kowtowed and climbed to her feet.
“Now get out! Can’t you see we’re busy?”
Nanny Li gave the maid several more suspicious looks. Later, she would have a serious word with the steward.
The maid seemed terrified of Nanny Li. Her entire body trembled as she lowered her head and headed outside.
When she reached the doorway, she turned around and came back.
Duoduo found it strange and deliberately gave her another look.
“What is it? Is there something you need?”
Nanny Li was just about to reprimand her when Duoduo glanced at her.
Nanny Li quickly closed her mouth, though she still glared at the maid.
The maid shuddered in fright. Trembling, she pulled several items from her sleeve.
“Princess, someone gave this servant five taels of silver just now and told me to bring these things to you!”
The moment Lüdou heard that, anger flared within her.
“Qingliu, go summon the steward!”
Qingliu set down what she was holding and quickly ran outside.
The maid seemed to realize that she had done something wrong.
With a loud “Waaah,” she burst into tears.
“Please spare me, Princess!”
“This servant knows she was wrong!”
“Please spare me, Princess!”
Her cries grew louder and louder, and she wept miserably.
“Shut up!”
“If you can’t shut yourself up, I don’t mind helping you!” Lüdou said, shaking her right hand.
The maid immediately stopped crying in fright.
However, because she had cut herself off so abruptly, she let out a strange “hic.”
Duoduo picked up the note from the table and unfolded it.
“Great Buddha Temple, tomorrow at the hour of the Snake, Danyang.”
