At the Princess's Mansion, Princess Li Niancheng was invited to cook.

It is said that the princess ordered people to pick fresh locust flowers early in the morning.

As soon as Li Nian entered the kitchen, the fragrance of fresh locust flowers hit her nose.

"Madam, these locust flowers were picked early in the morning by the princess' order. They are very fresh." The housekeeper of the princess's mansion introduced respectfully.

Hearing this, Li Nian looked at the bamboo basket full of locust flowers and asked politely, "Have you washed them?"

The chef from the Princess Mansion, who had been standing nearby, said hurriedly, "They are all clean."

Li Nian nodded, exchanged a few words with the housekeeper, and then started to work.

Originally, she had intended to make only some 'Acacia Flower Boxes', but unexpectedly, the princess had several baskets of fresh acacia flowers. Adhering to the belief of not wasting anything, she decided to use the remaining flowers from the 'Acacia Flower Boxes' to make some 'Acacia Flower Cakes'.

"Could you please help me find some sticky rice flour, glutinous rice flour, and flour? Oh, and where is the sugar?"

"Okay, please wait."

After a while, the chef brought everything she wanted.

To make the "Sophora japonica cake box", you first need to make the dough to wrap the Sophora japonica filling, and the dough must be thin. The thinner it is, the crispier it will be when fried.

Li Nian first kneaded the flour and set it aside to ferment.

Then mix the locust flowers, sticky rice flour and glutinous rice flour together.

Her slender fingers flexibly moved between the rice flour and the petals, blending them perfectly together. The sunlight filtered through the carved window lattice and fell on her drooping eyelashes, casting a gentle shadow.

After the princess finished her work, she came to the kitchen and saw this scene.

"Nian Nian's kneading technique is really beautiful."

A sudden sound was heard at the door, and the servants in the kitchen hurriedly bowed respectfully.

The princess dismissed them all with a casual wave of her hand.

Li Nian saw the princess in a lavender casual dress strolling in. She only had a simple jade hairpin in her black hair, which made her look more lazy and casual than when she usually dressed up.

Li Nian kept moving her hands. She turned her head and greeted her with a smile: "Princess, you are too kind. It's just practice makes perfect."

"My mother said the same thing," the princess replied casually.

He walked over to Li Nian and stopped, lowering his eyes to watch her movements, and then he started chatting with her with a smile: "But my mother always likes to try some strange methods, looking for ingredients that no one else has used to make food."

Li Nian heard her lively tone, which was something she had never heard before.

Chuckling: "Has Tongtong ever eaten it?"

"Of course I have!" The princess raised an eyebrow in mock seriousness, but her tone was playful and lighthearted. "That was made by my mother herself. But since then, every time I see her enter the kitchen, I'm both excited and dreadful."

Perhaps it was because the atmosphere was relaxed enough, or perhaps it was because Li Nian's serious look when cooking in the kitchen was too similar to her mother's, making her feel kind and warm.

The princess, who never talked about her mother with others, seemed to have opened up today and continued to talk with great desire.

The tone is light and cheerful.

"One time, she heard that orange peel is a medicinal herb and good for the body, so she made porridge with your orange peel. I happened to be young at the time and always had a cough, so she gave me the first bowl of porridge. It was so sour that it made me cry."

Li Nian listened with her mouth slightly opened in surprise and whispered, "It's definitely not tasty."

"Yes." The princess smiled and continued, "My mother found that orange peels were not tasty when used to make porridge, so she used them to make cakes."

When Li Nian heard this, he quickly replied, "That doesn't taste good either!"

Li Nian looked at her adorable almond-shaped eyes as she listened attentively, her eyes darkened, and she changed the subject and said, "But sometimes, I cook something surprisingly delicious."

Facing Li Nian's curious gaze, the princess said, "For example, there are wild vegetables that the country folk use to feed pigs. My mother didn't know what they were used for, but she only heard they were edible, so she found some and stir-fried them with meat. Unexpectedly, they turned out delicious."

After listening to this, Li Nian thought of many edible wild vegetables in her mind, but which one should she eat when stir-fried with meat?

Shepherd's purse? Water celery? Bamboo shoots... they wouldn't be used to feed pigs, right?

She has never raised pigs and doesn't know what wild vegetables people in the countryside use to feed pigs?

Seeing her face full of deep thought, the princess couldn't help but pinch her cheek and said with a smile, "If you're curious, I'll have someone bring it over to you someday."

"OK."

The princess was left in a state of confusion by her natural and straightforward response.

Do people who love cooking share some special hobbies?

While Li Nian was chatting with the princess, he had indeed never slacked off in his own work.

At this time, the rice flour mixed with locust flowers has been stirred evenly and become sticky.

She divided the kneaded dough into small pieces and began to press out petal shapes using molds.

The princess leaned closer to watch curiously, and her hair accidentally brushed against Li Nian's cheek, bringing a faint scent of pear.

"This mold is very delicate," Li Nian said, stroking the lines on it with her fingertips. "This locust flower cake will definitely be translucent and beautiful when it's made."

Hearing this, the princess spoke with considerable pride: "Then using this to make Sophora japonica cake today is truly perfect. It's well worth my personal visit to Fourth Brother's house yesterday to borrow it."

Hearing that this was brought from the Fourth Prince's residence, Li Nian once again sighed that the Fourth Prince had a strong collecting habit.

Li Nian put the prepared pastries into the steamer.

Suddenly, a sound of steady footsteps came from the yard.

She turned her head and saw a young guard in a black brocade robe standing at the kitchen door. The scabbard of the sword at his waist was wrapped with silver threads, gleaming with a low-key light in the sunlight.

Li Nian's gaze lingered on the man for a moment, and she felt that the guard's attire was somewhat familiar. It was like the two mysterious men in black she had met on the way out of Beijing with Sisi last year.

The two men in black were wearing robes embroidered with silver patterns, and their swords were also wrapped with silver threads. Their faces were also very handsome.

"Your Highness." The guard saluted respectfully, but his eyes swept over Li Nian vigilantly, as if he was worried that there were outsiders present and whether he could say his next words clearly.

The princess waved her hand: "No problem, go ahead."

Li Nian tactfully retreated to the stove and pretended to tidy up the kitchen utensils.

The guard stepped forward, moved a little closer to the princess, and spoke in a low voice.

Li Nian saw from the corner of his eye that the princess's expression changed from surprise to full of interest, as if she had heard some shocking secret.