I slowly squatted down and picked up a piece of rain-soaked paper. Written on it in crooked handwriting was the following: "Liu likes to eat stinky mandarin fish, which must be pickled with rotten ginger to remove the fishy smell." Looking at this ridiculous content, I couldn't help but laugh out loud. This was exactly the "Kitchen Notes" I had deliberately asked Mozhu to copy, and I had deliberately emphasized the words "rotten ginger," just waiting for Liu to take the bait.
Mo Zhu also came over and pointed at the traces of pepper powder left on the corner of the paper. With a cunning glint in his eyes, he whispered, "Miss, do you think Liu will be so angry when she sees this that she will destroy the kitchen?"
"I'm afraid it's more than that." I gently shook the water droplets off the manuscript paper, my thoughts drifting to the oil-paper package Jiang Yan had sent tonight. Inside, besides the lifelike sugar-painted phoenix, its wings seemingly fluttering, there was also a note that read, "Three clever tricks to prevent thieves, hidden under the paperweight." I hurriedly opened the paperweight and, sure enough, found three cheat sheets underneath. The third one read, "Mix pepper with paste, and thieves will sneeze." At the end, there was a crooked smiley face, as if Jiang Yan's mischievous yet clever self were right before my eyes.
The next morning, sunlight finally broke through the days-long haze, illuminating every corner of the Prime Minister's residence. However, the sound of shattering porcelain echoed from Liu's courtyard, shattering the morning's tranquility. I took Mo Zhu with me, pretending to "visit." As soon as I entered the courtyard, I saw Liu furiously grappling with the "Kitchen Notes" scattered across the floor. Her pearl headband was tilted to one side, making her look disheveled. The red gold hairpin on her head nearly stabbed her. She looked like an angry lion, stripped of her usual dignity and grace.
"I'm so angry! 'Liu likes to eat rotten ginger'? Who the hell dares to make up such a story about me!" Liu screamed and waved her hands wildly, as if trying to get rid of this inexplicable humiliation.
I pretended to be surprised and bent down to pick up a piece of manuscript paper, with a puzzled look on my face: "Oh, isn't this the recipe I wrote down a few days ago? How come it is here with my aunt?" I looked up at Liu, my eyes full of innocence and confusion.
When Liu saw me, she panicked and hurriedly stuffed the paper ball into her sleeve. The tassels in her hair swung violently with her rapid movements, making people dizzy. "What do you care?" She glared at me fiercely, trying to mask her guilt with a tough attitude.
"If you like, Aunt, I also have a 'Compendium of Pastry Recipes'." I smiled, handing over a blue cloth-bound booklet, a subtle sly flicker in my eyes. This booklet contained rouge recipes meticulously collected by my eldest sister, not pastry recipes at all. "But I advise Aunt, you'd better change your habit of stealing." I paused, then looked at Liu with a sharp gaze. "Look at the storybook about Aunt Liu, who stole her dowry and was eventually turned over to the authorities." I reminded her with a half-smile, hoping she would understand the folly of her actions.
Liu's face flushed crimson, then paled, like the sky before a storm, uncertain and uncertain. She suddenly raised her voice, trying to overpower me with her power: "Su Jinli! Stop making insinuations! It's just a crappy book, isn't it? What's so great about it?"
"A tattered book?" I raised an eyebrow, my gaze fixed on the latest chapter of "The Story of a Concubine's Counterattack," peeked from the sleeve of the maid behind her. This was the bait I'd deliberately placed on the study desk, waiting for Liu to fall into my trap. "But Boss Wang said the Empress Dowager sent someone to buy the complete set yesterday, praising Ms. Jinxin as a prodigy among women," I said slowly, a hint of pride in my tone.
"Empress Dowager?" Liu's pupils suddenly constricted, as if she had heard something unbelievable. The Kitchen Notes in her hand fell to the ground with a thud, ruthlessly crushed by the tip of her shoe, embroidered with lotus flowers. It was as if all her pride and calculations had been completely crushed in that moment.
Mo Zhu was trying to suppress his laughter and muttered quietly, "Miss, the servant from Jiang Zhuangyuan's residence sent a sugar painting, saying that there will be a 'reader exchange meeting' under the old locust tree tonight, and also attached a painting..."
I quietly gazed out the window at the newly cleared sky. Sunlight, like golden threads, pierced the clouds, shimmering on the damp banana leaves, refracting a dazzling array of colors. I recalled the last words on Jiang Yan's note: "If you have some free time, would you like to enjoy the sugar paintings with me?" My fingertips unconsciously caressed the bamboo-carved orchid Jiang Yan had given me in my sleeve, a surge of sweet anticipation welling up in my heart. Suddenly, I felt that this post-rain sunshine was three times sweeter than the honey described in the storybooks.
Liu was still fuming at the scraps of paper on the ground, but I knew I had once again won this battle fought with brush and ink. I just wondered what new and interesting tricks the top scholar, who always loved to compete with me for sugar paintings, would come up with at the "Readers' Exchange Meeting" under the old locust tree tonight. Mo Zhu said that the wings of the sugar-painted phoenix would tremble, just like the stars in Jiang Yan's eyes when he looked at me. That look, full of love and tenderness, always made me feel endless happiness and warmth. In this prime minister's mansion filled with wisdom and love, every confrontation with Liu was like a small episode in life, and Jiang Yan's companionship and support, like warm sunshine, illuminated my path forward and made me believe that no matter what challenges we faced in the future, we could overcome them together and create more beautiful memories.
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