The ducal mansion was in complete chaos because of a little boy's wailing, and a group of servants had no idea what to do.
The Duke had gone to court that morning and never returned, and the Duchess and the wife of the heir had gone to Anfusi Temple to pray and hadn't come back either. They truly couldn't manage the young master.
Just as the little boy was crying and throwing things, a gentle female voice rang out, "Qian'er, don't make a fuss!"
All the servants breathed a sigh of relief at the sound. A woman in her early twenties walked in slowly from outside. She was gentle as water, with extraordinary bearing, and the little boy bore a fair resemblance to her around the eyes and brows.
"Mother, I want peach blossom pastries, I want them now!" The little boy ran over as soon as he saw her and clung to her leg, sobbing.
The woman bent down and scooped him up, but her gaze shifted to the nanny beside her. "Nanny Li, what's going on?"
Nanny Li quickly told her exactly what had happened.
"Your Ladyship, the young master wanted the peach blossom pastries from Wang Ji Bakery, but our people arrived too late. The pastries had been bought out by the princess's household. Many mansions in the capital didn't get any today."
"Princess's household? Which princess?"
The woman was puzzled. One shop's entire stock of pastries? Could they have bought them all just to feed the whole household?
But which princess was it?
Nanny Li hesitated for a moment before speaking. "Unknown, Your Ladyship. According to what we heard, it was two children who made the purchase—the elder was seven or eight, and the younger was two or three…"
She paused there, glancing at the woman, and only when she saw that her expression remained unchanged did she continue.
"They went into the shop and bought up all the pastries, then produced a phoenix-patterned jade pendant, saying that Big Sister Lu had told them to buy them. No one else knows anything more."
The woman's face was calm, but her mind had turned to another matter—the two children her husband was supposed to go and pick up were around those same ages.
At that thought, her expression soured.
"If they've sold out, just buy them tomorrow. If you keep fussing, you won't get any tomorrow either."
Hearing this, the little boy grew even more aggrieved, his tears streaming down without end.
When word of this reached the Duchess, she instructed the steward, "Go out and inquire—find out which princess's household bought up the pastries. Don't disturb the princess herself; just have a servant buy a box for us."
"Yes, my lady." The steward immediately sent people to handle it.
Many other households did the same. They all sent people around to various mansions to ask around, hoping to quietly acquire a box.
Except for a few princesses who were still too young and lived in the palace, all the other princesses' households were caught in the crossfire.
Before long, servants from every princess's mansion in the capital were being slipped silver to share information, and the matter soon reached the ears of each princess.
One by one, the princesses were furious. Being pestered by so many households asking questions at once—they had their pride too.
It was pastries this time, but what about next time? Who knew if people would start prying into their private affairs on a regular basis? That was intolerable.
So, led by the First Princess, all the princesses living outside the palace marched to the imperial court and wept to the Emperor, claiming their personal safety was under threat.
The Emperor was happily watching alchemists make pills when he was disturbed. He was deeply annoyed, even by his own daughters.
"Isn't it just a few boxes of pastries? What's the big deal? Whoever bought them, just share some with others. If you want more, have more made. Do you have to make such a fuss?"
"Father, this isn't about pastries! So many people are blatantly trying to bribe the servants of our households. Today it's for pastries, tomorrow it could be for murder. Father, you must do us justice!" The First Princess burst into tears, a pitiful sight to behold.
The other princesses followed suit and began to wail as well. The Emperor was getting a headache from their noise and kept rubbing his brow.
After half a quarter of an hour, he could take no more. He slammed his hand on the table. "Enough! Stop crying! After all this talk, you still haven't told me which of you actually bought the pastries!"
At that, the princesses exchanged glances. It seemed they had gotten so caught up in their outrage over the bribed servants and the nosy inquiries that they had forgotten that detail entirely.
They looked at each other, then all shook their heads in unison.
Seeing their reaction, the Emperor grew even angrier. "Outrageous! Someone dares to impersonate a royal princess?"
Suddenly, the First Princess slapped her forehead. "Father, there's still the Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfth, and Thirteenth! They don't live outside the palace, but they might have given their jade pendants to someone. And we heard the buyers were two children."
Hearing this, the Emperor's expression was hard to describe. The Tenth Princess was only twelve, and the youngest, the Thirteenth, was just five. All this uproar over something so trivial, keeping him from his alchemy—none of them were any use.
But on reflection, he saw the logic. If officials started bribing his palace eunuchs and maids, he wouldn't be able to sleep either.
He immediately sent for the younger princesses. When the Tenth and the others arrived, they looked completely bewildered, unsure why such a crowd had gathered.
The youngest, the Thirteenth Princess, was only five and was so timid she nearly burst into tears.
After questioning them, the Emperor found that none of them had given away any jade pendant or bought any pastries. His face darkened—someone really was bold enough to impersonate a princess.
Just then, the eunuch beside him whispered, "Your Majesty, there's also the Seventh and Ninth Princesses. Perhaps it was one of them who gave out the pendant."
At the mention of those two princesses, the Emperor's face turned even darker.
The Ninth Princess had gone to a foreign court for a political marriage and ended up killing the Northern Yue Emperor. The Seventh Princess had beaten the Fourth Prince so badly he couldn't get out of bed for three days, which is why she had been cast out to a Taoist retreat to reflect.
The Ninth was missing and presumed not to be in the capital—it couldn't be her. That left only the Seventh Princess. Even with her not in the capital, she still managed to stir up trouble.
He immediately gave the order. "Du Chun, send someone to Meixi Retreat with my decree—tell the Seventh to get herself back here at once!"
Then, scanning his daughters, he added, "As for all the households that sent people to the princesses' mansions today, every official involved will have three months' salary docked."
"Yes, Your Majesty!" The head eunuch bowed and withdrew.
Hearing that all officials would be penalized, the other princesses felt a bit more satisfied. Together, they thanked the Emperor.
"We thank Your Majesty, Father!"
After the Emperor left, the princesses lingered in the hall, discussing the matter.
The First Princess laughed. "Do you think sending the Seventh back is good news or bad for her? She was just sent to Meixi Retreat less than half a month ago."
The Second Princess grinned mischievously. "It's good news, I'd say. At least she's being called back to the capital. If the Fourth Prince finds out, he'll probably be furious."
The Third Princess rolled her eyes. "Father told her to 'get back at once.' How is that good news?"
The Fourth Princess shook her head. "That's not necessarily true. Father only told her to come back—he didn't punish her. By the time she arrives, he'll have forgotten all about this. She'll go back to doing whatever she likes."
Hearing this, the Eighth Princess muttered under her breath, "Why doesn't Father suspect the Ninth? She's not in Northern Yue anymore. Maybe she's on her way back now."
At the mention of the Ninth Princess, the First Princess let out a sigh. "Ah, the Ninth's fate has been a hard one."
Hearing the voices of the princesses, the young eunuch in the hall twitched the corner of his mouth. Just moments ago, this very group had been crying in utter misery, and now they were carrying on as if nothing had happened. Thank goodness the emperor had already left—otherwise, he would have left in a fit of rage again.
