Chapter 6: Ten-Grade Flower Crisps

Everyone disagreed. No matter how good-looking a child was as a child, they would eventually grow out of shape, let alone become disfigured.

While everyone was making their own plans, Cui Fufeng came over to summon all the gentlemen to come in for selection.

He unfolded the album in front of the hall and glanced at the candidates: "Mr. Meng Lanxi, please come in."

Meng Lanxi nodded, brushed her skirt lightly, picked up her box containing tea sets and was about to walk inside, but suddenly she smelled a fragrance next to her and frowned slightly.

"Oh no! Tea leaves have a very pure scent, and they can't be mixed with other flavors." He saw Shi Jingning's food box next to the box and asked hurriedly, "Brother Shi, is the food you brought strong?"

Shi Jingning subconsciously lifted the lid to show him and said, "No, it's just some snacks."

Seeing that there were indeed fancy dim sum inside, Meng Lanxi felt relieved and helped him close the lunch box again. She said embarrassedly, "I'm sorry, but the aroma of the dim sum is so rich."

Shi Jingning then lifted his food box a little further away and said with a smile, "Yes, I made snacks with fresh flowers, so they have a floral scent."

Meng Lanxi entered the inner hall with her elegant demeanor, carrying the tea set. After putting everything down, she bowed across the screen and said, "My name is Meng Lanxi, currently residing in Chang'an. My ancestral home is Taihu Lake. I am honored to meet the Lady of Qi and the Princess of Lingling."

The lady looked at his tall and graceful figure and couldn't hide her smile of satisfaction.

Aunt Xuanji also smiled and said, "Just like the first sprouts of spring trees and the new growth of bamboo, the clear sky and the empty space after the rain before the dawn."

Meng Lanxi knelt before the tea stove and bowed to the people behind the screen. "My family has a tea garden and is good at making tea. I brought the tea set here today. I respectfully invite you to taste my tea."

The box he carried didn't look big, but it contained everything: a gilded, hollowed-out silver stove basket, a complete set of silver troughs, a millstone, a tea sieve... and even a small jar of water.

"This is the plum blossom snow I collected at the beginning of the year. It's the most fragrant when brewed into tea. The plum blossoms bloomed late this year, so this is all the snow left in the center of the flowers..."

His technique was elegant yet swift, and soon the fragrance of tea filled the hall. Secret-colored porcelain teacups were arranged in a cluster on a lacquered tray, like plum blossoms in full bloom, and carried behind a folding screen.

The Crown Prince, not wanting anything from outside the palace, simply took one cup to smell its fragrance. The others each took a cup to try. As the tea took its first sip, the slightly astringent fragrance spread across their tongues and throats, instantly relaxing their muscles and bones and refreshing their spirits.

The mother was full of praise and smiled at Qian Deng, saying, "The tea is good, the water is good, and the person is good."

Aunt Xuanji also echoed: "The three virtues are all present, and seeing them makes people forget worldly matters."

Qiandeng looked at the handsome and clear-minded young man outside the screen, and he nodded at her through the screen and smiled slightly: "County Lady, this tea is good for clearing the intestines and stimulating the appetite. You can have some snacks after drinking it to enhance the flavor."

When he smiled, a pair of round and deep dimples appeared on his cheeks, adding an intoxicating charm to his delicate face and doubling his elegance.

"Master Shi's flowers are fragrant and pleasant. When we were waiting in the side hall, we were already longing for them just by smelling the scent. Shangluo is young, so he is even more greedy."

In front of this charming smile, Qiandeng responded subconsciously, and her heart couldn't help but be shaken for a moment.

"Speaking of this Young Master Meng, his only shortcoming is..." After Meng Lanxi politely excused herself, Aunt Xuanji flipped through the scroll and said, "His father died young, and he has been fostered in his uncle's home since childhood."

His mother frowned with regret. His biological father had not lived long, and the prince's family only had the princess as their bloodline, so the lifespan of their offspring had to be carefully considered.

After Meng Lanxi left, Shi Jingning came in with a lunch box.

The mother was very surprised when she saw him: "Is this child Jingning, Shi Xiaoqi's child?"

Shi Jingning's father was a soldier under the command of the Crown Prince of Changhua. After he died in battle at a young age, the King of Changhua awarded him the rank of Cavalry Captain and also took in the young Shi brothers and sisters to live in the manor for a while.

Qiandeng looked at the young man with gentle eyes and eyebrows outside the gauze screen, thinking of the little brother who played with her when she was a child. Those sedimented memories are still beautiful when she thinks about them now.

But... she and her mother both knew the reason why Shi Jingning was a candidate.

After his father's death, Shi Jingning's family fell into poverty. His mother was often ill, he had many siblings, and he was ostracized upon entering the Imperial Household Department. His in-laws, disapproving of him, forcibly broke off the engagement, creating a scandal that made him a laughingstock and made it difficult for him to find a husband.

Shi's mother came to the palace and tearfully pleaded with Madam to allow Shi Jingning to enter the preliminary selection. After all, as long as he had been a candidate for the county lord's husband, he would be recognized as a top talent by both the court and the public. Not only would he have swept away the shadow of the broken engagement, but he would also have no worries about his future marriage.

The preliminary list had over a hundred names, so it was easy for the Changhua Palace to add one person. But whether it was out of respect for the palace or because Shi Jingning was truly outstanding, he actually made it through the numerous selections and finally stood before the county lord, much to the surprise of everyone.

His mother spoke with Shi Jingning in detail, and learned that he was now the Minister of Cuisine in the Guanglu Temple. When asked about his daily hobbies, he looked shyly at Qiandeng's hazy figure behind the gauze curtain and said, "It's still a hobby I've had since childhood, like carving things. Now I can carve tofu and turnips."

As he spoke, he presented the food box and asked the maid to take it behind the screen.

When everyone saw the food box, they immediately understood why Meng Lanxi praised him specifically.

Inside the food box sat a set of ten flower-flavored pastries, with a carved turnip leaf at the bottom, rendered vividly in varying shades of green using vegetable juice. In the center of the leaf lay a vibrant, bowl-sized peony, surrounded by other delicate, duck-egg-sized floral arrangements of tea, lotus, chrysanthemum, and plum blossoms.

Perhaps Meng Lanxi's tea was indeed appetizing. Qiandeng, who had just finished her meal, couldn't help but take the largest peony in the middle, broke off two petals, handed it to her mother first, then split the peony and shared it with her aunt and maids.

This peony is made of crispy candy with a soft pink color. It melts in your mouth and is sweet and crispy. Each petal is extremely delicate and everyone praises it and is amazed.

The Crown Prince naturally wouldn't eat such fancy snacks outside. He just smiled at Cui Fufeng, who was standing quietly beside him, and said, "Such excellent cooking skills. I heard he is from the Guanglu Temple?"

"Yes, Shi Jingning is very clever and skillful. He is now in charge of the imperial flower snacks. Your Highness should have tasted them too."

The prince praised: "No matter what school or path one goes through, if one can master one field, he is a wise and intelligent person."

Furthermore, the Guanglu Temple was considered a close official of the emperor. If they received assistance, though their chances were slim, they could one day become the Guanglu Temple Minister, a high-ranking official of the third rank in the imperial court, a position also considered among the highest among officials. (Note: During the Tang Dynasty, positions of the first and second ranks were mostly honorary or posthumously awarded, and the prime minister was only a third rank official, with some even holding only the fourth rank, replaced by Tongzhongshumenxia Pingzhangshi.)

This child is gentle and well-behaved, and has a childhood sweetheart relationship with Qiandeng. Moreover, she has four younger siblings at home. Her mother is very satisfied, thinking that it will be a great family to raise.

Qian Deng thought of Meng Lanxi's words and smiled at Shi Jingning, "The snacks are indeed wonderful. I heard that the fragrance makes all the gentlemen salivate. I can't finish them all and I'm afraid they will be wasted. You can take them out and share them with the gentlemen."

Shi Jingning agreed and went out with the food box. Except for Xue Xiyang, who was carrying a pipa into the hall, the rest of the people took some snacks from the box.

Meng Lanxi took the camellia, Shangluo asked for osmanthus cake, the chrysanthemum was taken by Ji Linyou, and the lotus belonged to Yan Penglai...

"What kind of flower is this?" Shangluo asked curiously, pointing at a golden flower on a green leaf.

Shi Jingning explained: "This is Inula flower, also known as money flower."

Everyone looked at Jin Tang on the brocade mat at the same time and smiled knowingly. Shi Jingning came to Jin Tang with a food box.

Jintang took out a handkerchief and used his hand to pick up the soft and sticky cake. He ate it while muttering, "It's not bad. My chef's cooking is not bad either."

While they were sharing the flowers here, the sound of Xue Xiyang's pipa could be heard from the main hall. He was playing the famous Kucha song "Su Mu Zha". This song originally had three tunes, but he chose the most lingering and sad water tune.

Shangluo stuffed the osmanthus cake into his mouth and leaned over to the door to look.

As expected of Xue Lecheng, the man who was famous all over the world and whose music and dance moved the capital, the soft and delicate melody even stunned a young man like Shangluo who was still ignorant of the world.

Holding the pipa in his arms, Xue Xiyang leaned sideways with his head lowered, but the eyes on his drooping face were raised and looking at the county lord.

Those two glances, because of their unbiased angle, seemed particularly moving. Although clearly separated by a thin gauze screen, they seemed to be able to see through the shimmering waves, and combined with the graceful melody of "Water Tune Su Muzha", they seemed to contain a myriad of emotions that were left unexpressed.

In the inexplicable atmosphere in the room, Ji Linyou pinched the chrysanthemum cake in his hand, looked at Xue Xiyang's seductive appearance, and with a sharp judgment, he said, "Fox spirit."