With Jiang Shi's unconcealment and Danqing's deliberate publicity, the news that Jiang Shi personally cooked for Yu Tanqi quickly spread.

Now the entire court and harem knew how much Prince Jiang loved his fiancée.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, there were many people in the palace. The ministers gathered together to talk about the country, and the female relatives gathered together to talk about the latest news.

I don't know which palace maid started the conversation, but it was heard by a noble lady. People gathered in groups of three or four, and the news spread quickly.

"Prince Jiang, he is a truly gentle and kind young man. Although he is a little weak, his appearance and figure are much better than that brat in my family."

There were also many noble ladies in the crowd who had a good impression of Jiang Shi.

They all met the Marquis of Wu'an and his wife when they were young, and were impressed by their heroic demeanor. Even after many years, they still could not forget the heroic couple who amazed their youth.

"My daughter can't even cook. I didn't expect that a handsome young man like Prince Jiang could actually cook, and he made a delicious eight-treasure cake for his fiancée."

They were amazed and very envious of Jiang Shi's gentle care for Yu Tanqi.

Compared with the smiling faces of others, Lady Kangle couldn't smile at all, and her face looked like she had aged ten years in an instant.

Yesterday on New Year's Eve, although the emperor finally let her go and did not issue an order to punish her, when Duke Kangle found out, he severely reprimanded her.

Duke Kangle said coldly, "If the Duke Kangle's Mansion is implicated because of you, I will definitely divorce you!"

The wife of Duke Kangle looked at him in disbelief and had a big quarrel with him. Duke Kangle even slapped her hard.

Her face was still red and swollen when she woke up today, and she had to apply a heavy layer of powder to barely cover it up.

Listening to the people around her praising Jiang Shi, Lady Kangle looked at her with resentment.

Why is her son suffering in the Dali Temple now, while Jiang Shi is being praised by so many people just for making Eight Treasures Cake for Yu Tanqi?

She couldn't help but say, "A man actually cooks and makes cakes like a woman in the harem. He doesn't have the dignity and respect of a prince at all."

Hearing this, the people around couldn't help but look at her.

Everyone knows that the son of Lady Kangle has been sent to the Dali Temple, and those who dislike her have been mocking her these days.

Some people couldn't help but ridicule her: "The eldest son of Duke Kangle is very respectable, and he is still in the Dali Temple."

"These parents didn't educate their children strictly, and they ended up hurting themselves."

Lady Kangle was so angry that her face turned pale and blue. Finally, she couldn't stand it anymore and left.

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became, and she couldn't help but go find Gao Xianyue.

Gao Xianyue was also feeling annoyed at this time. She had thought that Jiang Shi was an easy person to seduce, but she had never expected that he was even more rigid and cold than the monks in the temple. She wondered if it was because he was too weak since childhood and had never tasted a woman.

Gao Xianyue did not meet the wife of Duke Kangle.

She didn't want to meet Lady Kangle now, for fear that the Emperor and Jiang Shi would suspect that she was related to the assassin last night.

Although the assassin did not know who killed him.

Gao Xianyue seemed to be lost in thought.

There seems to be an invisible hand behind the scenes, controlling all this.

She was very unhappy, but there was nothing she could do.

…

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, Yu Tanqi and Jiang Shi were finally able to leave the palace and return to Wu'an Marquis Mansion.

Other families would visit relatives to wish them a happy new year these days, but the Jiang family had been exiled, and Jiang Shi no longer had any close relatives in the capital.

Yu Tanqi also had no relatives to visit during the New Year.

Red lanterns and couplets are hung in the streets and alleys of the capital, creating a joyous New Year atmosphere.

January 6th is Jiang Shi’s eighteenth birthday.

In ancient times, men were considered adults at the age of 20, but in the 21st century, both men and women are considered adults at the age of 18.

Yu Tanqi still thinks in the 21st century and feels that her 18th birthday is a very important day. She wants to give Jiang Shi a surprise.

However, Jiang Shi seemed to have everything he needed.

Before the Lunar New Year, Yu Tanqi quietly approached Danqing and asked him, "Is there anything your master particularly wants?"

Although she has been with Jiang Shi for more than half a year, Yu Tanqi still doesn't know what to give him as a birthday gift. He seems to have everything he needs, and the treasures in his warehouse are more than her dowry.

Danqing's eyes flickered, and he instantly guessed her intention. After careful consideration, he said, "The master doesn't have anything he particularly likes or wants, but if it's something the young lady gives him, the master will definitely like it."

Yu Tanqi was not happy with his coaxing. She just wanted to give Jiang Shi what he really needed, otherwise she would not have specifically asked Danqing.

The plot of the original novel also failed to give her any clues. Jiang Shi is a person with very low desires. Apart from peace in the world, he has no other desires in his heart.

He is perfect, almost like a saint.

Danqing looked at Yu Tanqi's distressed expression and felt helpless and unable to help.

He was telling the truth. The master really didn't have anything he particularly liked or wanted. If he had to say there was one, it would be Miss Yu.

He had some frivolous thoughts in his mind: if Miss Yu gave herself to the master, the master would be very happy.

As the days passed, Jiang Shi's birthday approached, and soon it was January 6th.

Jiang Shi's birthday was never celebrated with great fanfare. When Old Madam Jiang was still alive, she would instruct the servants to prepare a sumptuous meal for him and then personally make longevity noodles for him.

After Mrs. Jiang passed away, no one would prepare a bowl of steaming longevity noodles for him on his birthday.

The post-New Year sunshine gently shines on the snow, and the pure white snow begins to melt, creating a particularly moving scene. Water droplets flow down the branches, like a crystal-clear painting.

Yu Tanqi remembered the osmanthus wine that she and Jiang Shi made and buried with their own hands on her birthday last year. Today, she specifically mentioned it to Jiang Shi and wanted to take Jiang Shi to dig them all out.

Jiang Shi did not refuse. He took the tools with his slender jade-like hands and went to dig out the osmanthus wine buried in the shade under the osmanthus tree.

The ground was wet, and he was worried that Yu Tanqi's skirt would get dirty or she would accidentally trip, so he asked her to watch from a distance.

Yu Tanqi looked at him and inexplicably felt that he was very much like the elegant scholar who was forced to work in the fields in farming novels.

Those slender white hands looked elegant, but they were very powerful when they swung the hoe.

It was as if one hand could carry her whole body on the shoulder...

Her eyes fell casually on Jiang Shi's waist and abdomen, and the thoughts in her mind became more and more uncontrollable.

Will there be abdominal muscles?

Although Jiang Shi lowered his eyebrows, he could still feel a pair of eyes moving back and forth on his body, finally landing on his waist and abdomen.

Such a gaze was too intense for him to ignore.

The fingers holding the hoe tightened slightly, his long eyelashes trembled slightly, and finally he couldn't help but look up at her.

Yu Tanqi didn't expect Jiang Shi to look at her suddenly. She felt guilty as if she had been caught peeping. She pretended to be calm, but her slightly evasive eyes and the blush on her face betrayed her uneasy heart.