At three quarters past the hour of the twilight, snowflakes pelted the window lattices of the blue velvet carriage, like a handful of broken jade. Su Jinli lifted a corner of the felt curtain and saw that the lanterns along Liulichang West Street had been lit one after another. The apricot-yellow glow reflected the lingering snow, casting a dim light on the bookstore's plaque. The golden beans in her sleeve pricked her palm. They were the ones the Emperor had forced upon her that morning. Twelve round, red-gold beans, each engraved with a tiny "Fu" character. She couldn't help but curl her lips as she recalled the Emperor's silver spoon-fighting with the Empress Dowager for food in the Qianqing Palace kitchen at noon.
"Madam, what are you laughing at?" The carriage door gently opened, and Jiang Yan, bending over, entered. The hem of his dark official robe brushed the snowy foam from his shoulders. The moon-white lining was stained with a few faint spots of ink, like plum blossom marks on rice paper. He had just emerged from Wenyuan Pavilion, and unmelted ice crystals still formed on his temples, but his eyes behind his glasses held warmth. "Did the Emperor steal your food again?"
Su Jinli poured the golden beans into his palm, the red gold gleaming warmly in the twilight. "The Emperor said that if the imperial kitchen doesn't have Ants Climbing Trees tomorrow, they'll have to use Eunuch Li's whisk as a spatula." She watched Jiang Yan caress the golden beans with his fingertips, remembering the warmth of his fingertips brushing against her earlobe as he fastened her cloak this morning. "He also said he'd reward me with ten jars of imperial wine, so you can drink with him."
Jiang Yan pinched the golden bean with a wry smile, his knuckles pausing at the notch on the bean: "If you go a few more times, I'm afraid you'll have to keep your wife in the palace as the head of the Imperial Food Bureau." He suddenly leaned in close, the scent of cedar mixed with the fragrance of ink enveloping her, his nose lightly brushing against the pearl flowers on her temples, "It's just... the plain noodles cooked for your husband are ultimately no match for your wife's ants climbing trees." There was an imperceptible sourness in his voice, like the limes he bought by mistake in Yangzhou last year. They were soaked in honey, but they were still so sour that they made his tongue tingle.
Su Jinli laughed and reached out to brush the snowflakes from his hair. "The other day, when you were cooking noodles, you mistakenly used sugar for salt. It made Lingge laugh for a long time." She thought of that bowl of sweet and salty noodles, and the way Jiang Yan had to push up his glasses in embarrassment. "But... the plain noodles with chili peppers have a unique flavor."
By the time the carriage had stopped at the bookstore's entrance, Princess Shou'an's pomegranate-red cloak had already swirled in a ball of flame on the steps. Ignoring the palace maids' dissuasion, the young girl, stepping on the snow-soaked bluestone, rushed forward, her gilded food box clanging against the carriage door. "Sister Su!" she cried, her face tilted upward, icicles adorning her eyelashes. "The Empress Dowager said that if you learn to cook, you can marry the number one scholar. Hurry up and teach me how to do the ant climbing a tree!"
The bookshop's bronze bell chimed softly as the door swung. Su Qingyao sat at her dressing table by the window, mixing rouge. Twenty-four kinds of floral dew lay spread in a rosewood box, and a glass bottle shone rainbow-like in the candlelight. At that, she tossed her brush into the porcelain washbasin, splashing the rouge onto the wall, creating a crooked camellia. "Nonsense!" She grabbed the freshly mixed rouge, and the beeswax box opened, releasing a blend of rose and camphor. "Marrying the number one scholar doesn't require wielding a sword or spoon. Look at this 'number one scholar red,' symbolizing Jiang Lang's unrivaled success. When applied to my lips, it's a hundred times more impressive than Su Jinli's chili pepper."
Princess Shou'an looked at the vibrant color of the cream and wrinkled her nose. "But Grandfather said Sister Su's chili peppers go well with rice, but can your rouge be eaten?" She pushed open the food box, which was empty, lingering only the faint aroma of soy sauce from last night's ants climbing a tree. "Brother Jiang Yan was reviewing the 'Yunlin Hall Dietary System' yesterday, and he said he'd make a note for Sister Su: 'Chili peppers are used in cooking, and are considered a first-class rank!'"
"How dare you!" Young Marquis Su rushed in, carrying a broadsword with a copper hilt. The hem of his dark formal attire was still stained with mud from the training grounds, and the ruby on the scabbard shone eerily in the candlelight. "I've memorized every English word the emperor learned!" He imitated the tone of an editor at the Hanlin Academy, pronouncing "confiscate" like chewing a raw carrot. "Sister! Brother Jiang Yan asked me to tell you that the emperor sent three groups of people to Wenyuan Pavilion, saying that if you don't start cooking, he'll 'confiscate' all his hidden chili peppers!"
Su Jinli, in the process of untying her snow-stained cloak, smiled and held onto her dressing table. Her brother's razor blade brushed against the antique display case, sending a shiver through the plum blossoms in the celadon vase, sending golden petals cascading down onto Su Qingyao's newly prepared rouge box. "Got it. I'll go get some chili peppers for your brother Jiang Yan right away." She looked at Princess Shou'an's expectant eyes, then at Su Qingyao's irritated face, and suddenly remembered how her sister had hidden in the embroidery room, mixing marigold juice, years ago in their Jiangnan home, while her mother was teaching her to pickle mustard greens.
Jiang Yan brought out a stack of account books from the inner room. A note still wet on the rice paper, held down by a black jade paperweight, read, "Madam, wait a minute." He placed the books on the rosewood table. The light from the copper lamp shone on the black iron wristband on his wrist—it had been made to protect him from the cold during the imperial examinations, but now he often used it to hold down papers. "Just now, Eunuch Li handed over a sign saying that the Empress Dowager has prepared 'Seven Star Peppers' from Shu at the Cining Palace, and asked you to bring the princess along."
Princess Shou'an immediately grabbed Su Jinli's sleeve and said, "I knew the Empress Dowager loved me the most!" She shook her little head, and her scarlet-golden and jadeite hairpin brushed across the back of Su Jinli's hand. "Sister Su, how about we bring some freshly pressed sesame oil from the oil mill? Brother Jiang Yan said that sesame oil makes the minced meat the most fragrant!"
Su Qingyao snorted and closed the rouge box heavily: "What a loser! He even gave up his phoenix crown for a stutter." She took out an engraved silver box from the depths of her dressing table. Inside was dried rose petals. "Mix this with chili powder. It's spicy and sweet, even better than the sugar-steamed cheese in the imperial kitchen." As she spoke, she stuffed the silver box into Princess Shou'an's sleeve pocket, but her fingertips accidentally rubbed the gold foil on the edge of the box, leaving a light red fingerprint.
Young Marquis Su leaned his sword against the wall, shaking the dust off the beams. "I'll go get the carriage ready!" He suddenly remembered something and pulled a note from his boot. "Brother Jiang Yan asked me to give it to you, sister. He said it's something more important than chili peppers."
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