A few white lotus petals sat in a cracked porcelain vase. Jiang Songyi's fingertips brushed the petals, sending drops of water tumbling into the sour plum soup. Jiang Baichuan unfurled his folding fan with a swish, the ink bamboo pattern swaying gently in the breeze. "Four parts ice jelly, with plenty of chopped hawthorn."
Jiang Qingmo snatched the menu, his gold-inlaid jade armor poking holes in the paper. "I want the crystal pork elbow!" The young man pulled open his collar to fan himself. "It's as hot as a steamer today."
The chirping of cicadas drifted through the carved window lattice as Jiang Songyi scooped up a spoonful of ice jelly. A deep purple broth, coated with transparent jelly, created ripples in the celadon bowl. The moment the sour taste reached her nose, she suddenly remembered how her master always sprinkled osmanthus honey into the ice jelly at the bamboo house in Taibai Mountain.
"Where did you get the recipe?" she suddenly asked.
Jiang Baichuan snapped his fan shut. "This is..." He caught a glimpse of the familiar red knot around his sister's wrist and changed the subject. "My partner, Master Shuyuan, gave it to me."
The porcelain spoon made a dinging sound when it hit the edge of the bowl. Jiang Songyi stared at the new jade pendant with a dragon pattern on his waist. "Can I see it?"
"Difficult." Jiang Baichuan tapped his palm with the handle of his fan. "That mysterious dragon is always elusive, and every time he comes, he wears a veil." He suddenly remembered that when he was checking the accounts last month, he had noticed a dragon embroidered on the corner of the curtain of a carriage parked in the back alley. "But you, when did you start to care about the kitchen?"
【It’s him indeed.】
"Dang--" Jiang Baichuan's silver spoon fell into the bowl. The ice powder splashed on Jiang Qingmo's cuffs. The boy jumped up and shook his clothes: "Second cousin, have you seen a ghost?"
Jiang Songyi twisted the red knot that her master in her previous life always used to tie the sword tassel. She suddenly remembered the moment they first met on Mount Taibai, when the man's jaw was half exposed under the curtain, and how it overlapped with the glimpse she had caught in the incense in the Crown Prince's bedroom.
"Second brother." She scooped up a hawthorn soaked in plum juice. "Is the owner of this Treasure Pavilion surnamed Zhou?"
Jiang Baichuan's hand trembled, and the plum soup soaked his lapel. When the shopkeeper handed in his resignation last December, he did say he wanted to return to the Eastern Palace to work.
The chirping of cicadas suddenly exploded, and Jiang Yuyao rubbed the table with a handkerchief twisted in her hand: "Second brother, third brother's birthday is coming." The jade bracelet on her wrist slipped off at the right time and hit the blue bricks with a "clang".
Jiang Qingmo looked up, holding a crystal elbow in his mouth: "You want money again?" He rubbed his oily hands on the brocade handkerchief, "You still haven't paid me the two hundred taels you borrowed last month."
"Qing Mo!" Jiang Baichuan knocked him on the forehead with the handle of his fan. "Don't talk while eating and don't talk while sleeping." He turned around and saw Jiang Yuyao's eyes were red, and her fingertips drew blood marks on the broken jade.
Jiang Songyi suddenly chuckled, "Third brother is coming back?" Her fingertips unconsciously stroked the red knot, "I heard that Miss Bai has also returned to Beijing with the army."
Jiang Baichuan opened his fan with a swish. "That girl Lin Xi." He paused mid-sentence. The image of Bai Linxi falling off a cliff to save Jiang Yihuan in his previous life flashed through his mind, and cold sweat broke out on his back.
"Sister Lin Xi is the best!" Jiang Qingmo suddenly slammed the table, "Last time she taught me how to tie a wolf's neck." The young man gestured and suddenly fell silent, stealing a glance at Jiang Songyi's expression.
【Wolf. 】
Jiang Songyi dug her fingertips deep into her palm. In her previous life, when Xia Miao was in danger, Bai Linxi had used the same knot to pull her onto the horse's back. That day, blood trailed through the forest. Bai Linxi's sword was stuck between the wolf's fangs, the red knot on the sword tassel soaked in blood.
"Second brother." She stood up suddenly. "I suddenly remembered."
The door to the private room creaked open, and the waiter stood there in a daze, holding a plate of emerald shrimp dumplings. Jiang Yuyao took the opportunity to grab Jiang Baichuan's sleeve and said, "Just lend me five hundred taels, and I'll make a sword for my third brother."
"Sword fighting?" Jiang Qingmo jumped up. "The jade screen you decorated Peng Yuyan with last month."
"Qing Mo!" Jiang Baichuan rubbed his forehead with a headache, "Go to the kitchen and check out the new lotus cakes."
The young man angrily kicked the door open, startling the eyebrows in the corridor and sending them flying. Jiang Yuyao took the opportunity to push the broken jade towards Jiang Baichuan: "Look, second brother, this is something I picked out especially for third brother."
"Broken jade is a good omen for warding off disasters," Jiang Songyi suddenly interjected. She held a piece of broken jade up to the light. "I've heard Miss Bai is good at swordsmithing. Why not ask her to melt this jade and embed it in the hilt?"
Jiang Yuyao's face turned pale. In her previous life, Bai Linxi had used the jade dagger to carve three scars on her face.
The cicada's cry suddenly rose, rustling the window paper. Jiang Baichuan looked at the cold light in his sister's eyes and suddenly remembered the report from the secret guard last month - when Jiang Yuyao secretly met with the Peng family, she had hidden a poisoned silver needle in her sleeve.
"How much?" he suddenly asked.
Jiang Yuyao's eyes suddenly lit up: "Eight hundred."
"Go ask the shopkeeper for two hundred taels." Jiang Baichuan tapped the edge of the table with the tip of his fan. "Remember to write an IOU." He glanced at the golden hairpin swaying in Jiang Songyi's hair and added, "Three-tenths interest."
"Second brother!" Jiang Yuyao suddenly stood up, knocking over the sour plum soup. The purple-red liquid swirls across the green bricks, looking very much like the blood that spilled from Bai Linxi's mouth when he died in his previous life.
Jiang Songyi suddenly picked up a piece of ice jelly and asked, "Is this made with agar-agar?" She looked at the fine bubbles in the jelly against the sunlight. "Master said that the agar-agar from the north slope of Taibai Mountain is the most translucent."
Jiang Baichuan's folding fan clattered to the ground. Last year, the shopkeeper had indeed mentioned that the owner had specially shipped ten carts of agar-agar from Mount Taibai.
The cicadas suddenly stopped chirping. From outside the private room came the shopkeeper's voice, "Be careful! This ice jar was specially brought by the boss."
"Taibai Mountain Ice Cave?" Jiang Songyi asked. She looked out the window at the swaying curtains of carriages and horses, vaguely seeing the familiar dragon embroidery.
Jiang Qingmo rushed in holding lotus pastry: "Second cousin! A weirdo wearing a veil came to the kitchen and insisted on seeing ours." The young man suddenly fell silent and looked at Jiang Baichuan's pale face.
The red knot around Jiang Songyi's fingertips suddenly unraveled. Her master in her previous life had taught her to tie this knot, saying, "This knot is called 'One Heart' and is only given to the one I love."
The cicadas began to roar again, drowning out the sound of the carriage wheels departing at the corner.
The jade pendant on Jiang Baichuan's waist hit the edge of the counter with a crisp "ding" sound. When the shopkeeper came over with the mahogany box, Jiang Yuyao was tapping the ice-cracked teacup on the table with her nails stained with marigold juice, and the bottom of the cup reflected the pride in her eyes.
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