"Yes," Rong Momo immediately placed the exquisitely made pea flour cake on the table next to An Ke from the tray. "Knowing that the princess wanted to eat it, we servants rushed to make it. We don't know if there's anything wrong with it, or if it's even to the princess's liking."
Anke raised her hand, picked up a spoon, gently scooped out a piece of pea flour cake, blew on it, and slowly put it into her mouth, closing her eyes in enjoyment. She chewed it slowly.
A moment later, she opened her eyes. Looking at Rong Momo was like seeing a walking meal card. Just say what you want to eat, and she'll come out immediately. "Hmm, Rong Momo, your cooking is as good as ever. I've had pea flour cakes before when I was outside the palace, but I always felt they weren't as good as the ones made by my aunt. It seems that Rong Momo's are still the best."
An Ke's words not only pleased the Empress but also flattered Rong Mama, warming Rong Mama's heart.
Granny Rong was so moved she didn't know what to do. Her eyes reddened and welled up with tears. She picked up a handkerchief and wiped her eyes. "Princess, please eat as much as you like. Whenever you want to eat, just tell Granny Rong, and Granny Rong will prepare it for you." After all, Granny Rong had watched An Ke grow up.
It wasn't just because An Ke was kind to the Empress, and the Twelfth Prince also liked her. It was also because of An Ke herself. In front of An Ke, she always referred to herself as "I." Everyone in the palace said that Princess Huanzhu was considerate of her servants, but that's because they hadn't witnessed how Princess Yong'an treated her servants.
Princess Yong'an loved the palace snacks and enjoyed experimenting with them. Each time she created a new dish, she would taste it herself first. If she thought it was good, she would then send it to the Emperor, Empress, and Empress Dowager. Even the servants around her could taste her cooking. She never called it a reward, but rather said that she, as a servant, had worked hard and asked them to taste it so she could see if there were any areas for improvement. In reality, the princess had already tasted the food before sending it out; how could there be anything that needed improvement? It was just a gimmick.
The princess never punished her servants while living in the palace; she was a truly good mistress. I've never seen her raise an eyebrow.
"That would really be a lot of trouble for Granny Rong! It's settled then. From now on, whenever I want to eat, I can come and bother you at Kunning Palace anytime." An Ke put down her spoon and said playfully to the Empress.
"It's no bother at all. Come often if you like it. Rong Mama won't find it troublesome." Rong Mama was one of the Empress's longest-serving companions. The Empress could tell what Rong Mama was thinking with just a glance. How could she not know her little schemes?
At this moment, a young palace maid tremblingly approached and reminded him.
"It's time for Her Majesty the Empress to go to school to pick up the Twelfth Prince." The young palace maid hesitated before speaking up, reluctant to disrupt the harmonious atmosphere, yet unable to leave the young master alone. She was caught in a dilemma; sticking her neck out meant facing the same fate.
"Oh, it's already time for the 12th graders to leave school so soon?" Anke noticed the little palace maid's hesitation, so she readily took over the conversation.
Rong Momo glared at the little palace maid, but when she turned to An Ke, she immediately changed her expression and said gently, "It's time for the Twelfth Prince to finish his studies."
"In that case, I'll go with Sister Qing to bring him back." An Ke picked up her handkerchief and wiped the tiny crumbs of pastry from the corner of her mouth. She then gave Qing'er a look.
Qing'er immediately understood, stood up and bowed to the Empress, "Yes, Your Majesty! When we came, An'an was carrying the Twelfth Prince. Now let us go and bring the Twelfth Prince back."
How could the Empress refuse Anke and Qing'er? She nodded and said a few polite words, "Then I'll have to trouble you two."
"How could we trouble you? Let's go then!" Anke took Qing'er's hand and walked straight out of the palace gate.
As soon as she stepped out of the gate of Kunning Palace, Qing'er let out an exaggerated sigh of relief.
Anke, standing to the side, simply found it amusing. "Is it really that exaggerated? Is it really that scary?"
"It's fortunate you're here, otherwise I wouldn't know how to bring it up with Her Majesty the Empress. Back then, Her Majesty the Empress was such a gentle and quiet person, but time has treated her so cruelly." Qing'er sighed again at the unpredictability of life.
"Oh dear, why think so much? Living in the moment is the most important thing. We've already completed the task the Empress Dowager assigned us! Cheer up!" An couldn't bear to see Qing'er sighing like this. Afraid that Qing'er was also feeling down, she stopped talking and directly tried to cheer her up.
"Alright, alright, we're in the palace! Be careful, you are Princess Yong'an!" Qing'er immediately stopped sighing, afraid that An Ke might trip over the stones on the ground.
"What's wrong with Princess Yong'an? You're still the famous talented Princess Qing!" How could An Ke not know that Qing'er was changing the subject? So she followed up on her words and returned to her original seat, casually making a few teasing remarks.
"I heard the Emperor has ordered Princess Huanzhu to attend school and appointed Master Ji to teach her. Does that mean we'll run into Princess Huanzhu again soon?" Qing'er didn't have a good impression of her. From An'an's injury to their visit to An'an, and even later when they pleaded for Princess Huanzhu, she had never seen her admit her mistakes or apologized for them. Instead, she always acted arrogantly.
[It's important to emphasize here that she's under house arrest! Although Xiao Yanzi is under house arrest, it doesn't mean she won't attend school. It simply means her school hours are cut off, and she's confined to the Shufangzhai residence.]
"Why think so much? We'll deal with whatever comes our way. You're a princess, and I'm a county princess. Are we afraid of her?" Although An Ke didn't advocate using power to solve problems, it would be quite convenient if power could solve them!
After all, when watching the TV series, An Ke always felt that she and Xiao Yanzi couldn't communicate with each other.
"You're right!" Qing'er seemed to have let go of her worries.
They chatted and talked about everything under the sun, enjoying the flowers and scenery along the way, until they arrived at the school.
It wasn't time for their class to end yet, so Qing'er and An Ke decided to wait outside. Listening to the clear reading voices inside, An Ke felt as if she had returned to her childhood, to the time when she met Master Ji and went to school by herself.
Inside the hall, everyone was reciting what they had learned that day, except for the group of people around Little Swallow, who seemed to be doing nothing.
After all, Little Swallow couldn't understand it, just as she herself said. The characters were familiar to her, but she couldn't read them. As for the Fifth Prince, he naturally stood in front to explain it to her. Benjamin was listening in, quite far from Little Swallow, but he didn't know much about Chinese characters either, and his understanding was only superficial.
On the contrary, Ertai, unusually, did not hover around Xiaoyanzi, nor did he recite his lessons. He simply looked at the words in the book, a faint smile on his lips.
At this moment, Yongqi seemed to come to his senses and looked at the strange Ertai beside him. "Ertai, what's wrong?" Yongqi peeked at him. The book, held upright, looked no different.
"It's nothing, it's nothing!" Ertai waved his hand guiltily, making it seem like he was trying to cover something up.
"I noticed you spaced out several times during this class. Just now, I saw you looking at your book, looking rather dazed, and I thought you were daydreaming again," Yongqi pointed out directly, expressing his doubts. Besides looking at Xiaoyanzi, he had also glanced at Ertai several times during the class. After all, Ertai had often covered for Xiaoyanzi, in addition to him doing so himself.
But today, not even once. It's really strange. And every time I look at him, he's lost in thought. The worst part is, not only is he lost in thought, but he also always has that weird smile on his face. Something just doesn't seem right.
"I probably didn't sleep well last night; my concentration is a bit off." Ertai touched his nose guiltily; lying was ultimately something he wasn't good at. But he really hadn't been studying properly; the image of the princess kept popping into his mind.
Unexpectedly, I was able to meet the princess again after I grew up.
"Oh, okay." Hearing Ertai say that, Yongqi wasn't bothered at all. After all, when he was a child, if he didn't sleep well at night, he really couldn't concentrate on the content of his books the next day. He had a deep understanding of that feeling.
When Ertai saw Yongqi turn his head towards Xiaoyanzi again, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief, relaxing his tense heart.
Outside the hall, Anke and Qing'er were discussing poems about spring. They were completely unaware that someone was approaching them.
Li Yu immediately recognized Princess Yong'an and Princess Qing at the school gate. Just as he was about to step forward to pay his respects, he saw the Emperor put his hand to his lips and gently shush. Li Yu suddenly had a flash of inspiration and gestured to the guards behind him to also slow their pace.
So, this large group of people quietly headed towards Anke and Qing'er.
But An Ke was a martial arts practitioner after all. Her hearing was exceptionally sensitive, and she instantly heard footsteps behind her. She immediately pulled Qing'er around and saw a large group of people quietly walking towards them.
Anke: This is the first time I've used the word "sneaky" to describe such a large group of people.
Qing'er: This? The Emperor's new quirk?
Qing'er was raised by the Empress Dowager from a young age and witnessed many of the Emperor's embarrassing moments.
"Yong'an (Qing'er) greets Your Majesty, may Your Majesty be well!" The two bowed simultaneously to the Emperor. Although the Emperor exempted Anke from the bow, Anke usually followed Qing'er's lead when they were together, to avoid appearing too eccentric.
"No need for formalities!" The Emperor wasn't annoyed that they had discovered him. He smiled and reached out to help An Ke up, nodding to Qing'er as well. "What brings you all here today? An'an, is your injury healed? The Empress Dowager has let you out?" The Emperor was quite amazed, after all, he couldn't compare to the Empress Dowager's affection for An'an.
"Of course An'an is fine, Uncle! Otherwise, Grandmother wouldn't have allowed An'an to come out!" An Ke patted her chest, indicating that she was very strong. "As for why we came here, I was supposed to visit Master Ji the day after I returned to the palace. But I kept putting it off until today, so I brought Qing'er along and also took Little Twelve back with me." An Ke's answer was impeccable.
"Oh? You've come here to pick up Twelfth Prince." The Emperor stroked his chin. "Picking up Twelfth Prince is one thing. You thought of coming to see Ji Xiaolan, but you didn't think of coming to see your uncle?" The Emperor's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"After all, we should respect our teachers. Uncle Huang wouldn't be jealous of Master Ji, would he?" An Ke fanned the air in front of her with her hand, feigning disgust. "It's so sour, there's a strong smell of vinegar in the air."
"You're the only one in this palace who dares to tease me! I think you've been corrupted by that scoundrel Ji Xiaolan!" The Emperor stopped talking nonsense and directly reached out and pinched An Ke's cheek.
"Ouch! Ouch! That hurts so much, Uncle! You used so much force! An'an's face is definitely going to have a finger mark on it." An Ke pretended to cry out in pain.
This is also the Emperor's fault. He has been fooled so many times, yet he still doesn't learn his lesson.
He immediately felt a pang of heartache and let go. Seeing his niece's face flushed red, he felt both distressed and annoyed. But he still wouldn't let it go, saying, "I think you deserved it, so you wouldn't be spouting nonsense in the palace all day."
"Hmph!" Anke had been pretending, but now she seemed genuinely angry.
The Emperor realized he had gone too far with his teasing. He inwardly cursed himself. Why had he provoked this little darling? Now that she was angry, he had to coax her himself. If this niece resembled anyone, it would definitely be his own unruly younger brother. Their expressions and actions when angry and throwing a tantrum were exactly the same.
"Alright, let the Imperial Uncle take a look." The Emperor immediately gave up the opportunity, leaving it to see if An Ke would take the next step.
But An Ke wouldn't respond or turn around. The Emperor immediately touched his nose and had no choice but to leave on his own.
He slowly walked up to An Ke. "In a moment. Your Imperial Uncle will have Physician Hu examine your face. I also have a newly acquired black gold inkstone, which I'll give to you." After saying this, the Emperor felt a pang of regret. After all, this black gold inkstone was extremely rare; even he himself only owned one. But there was nothing he could do; he was the one who had teased her too much first, and he had to use his treasure to appease his niece's pent-up anger.
"Really?" An Ke's anger came quickly but subsided just as fast; now the sky was clear as a cloud. "I knew Uncle Emperor was the best to An An. Then, An An will go with Uncle Emperor to get it later!" At this moment, An Ke smiled and took the Emperor's arm, affectionately calling him Uncle Emperor.
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