"Snowy lava cake." The princess clapped her hands and smiled. "If Songyi likes it, just take two boxes back home. But..." She suddenly lowered her voice, "This is not the skill of a cook."
Jiang Shu froze, clutching half a cake, the frosting melting into sticky sweat in her palm. From outside the flower hall came the tinkling of bells and pendants. Su Sheng's crimson official robe swayed past a carved lattice fan, followed by a snow-white figure. Xinyi Daoyi wore no jade crown today, her long, dark blue hair tied with a plain silk ribbon, appearing even thinner than at the palace banquet.
"Prince cousin!" Jiang Songyi knocked over the celadon cup as she stood up, and the almond tea left a brown stain on the brocade tablecloth. As if completely oblivious, she took a half step forward, holding the jade pendant. "Look, this is..."
Xinyi Daoyi's gaze flickered over the trembling pearl hairpin in her hair, and she suddenly began to cough. Pale knuckles pressed against her heart, and her wide, moon-white sleeves slipped down, revealing three rings of bodhi beads on her wrist. Jiang Shu stared at the silver-threaded cloud pattern embroidered on his hem, recalling the rumor—the prince's cough stemmed from his time in the cold palace.
"It is indeed mine." As he took the jade pendant, his fingertips brushed the back of Jiang Songyi's hand, startling her and causing her to withdraw her hand. The mutton-fat jade spun in his palm, the dragon pattern reflecting the sunlight filtering in through the window. "Since the county lady found it..."
Jiang Songyi suddenly interrupted, "I dare not take credit for it!" The pearl flowers on her temples clattered against each other, "The window frame of the wing room was not closed tightly that day, maybe it was blown down by the wind." As she spoke, she was about to bow again, and the hem of her goose yellow skirt swept the ground with fragments of light.
Jiang Shu turned away, swallowing the last bite of the milk cake. The fishy smell of milk rose to her, mingling with the Princess's aloeswater fragrance, making her temples throb. She looked at Jiang Songyi's feigned composure, and suddenly remembered that last month, he had ridiculed the Shangshu Mansion's daughter for embroidering a purse for the third-place winner as "giving away money." Now, he was acting so genuinely.
"I am saying," Xin Yidao gently placed the jade pendant on the jade table in front of Jiang Songyi, "since this item is destined to be with the county lady, I will give it to her to play with."
The hall was suddenly so quiet that one could hear the sound of the night watch. Jiang Songyi stared at the shallow crack on the jade pendant—she had broken it with her own hands in a previous life. That day, when the crabapple blossoms in the East Palace were in full bloom, he had said, "This jade can be used to command the Imperial Guards," and she had thrown the jade pendant onto the white marble steps.
"Your Highness is joking." She heard her voice trembling, "Such a precious item..."
"Keep it," Xin Yi said, her voice wafting with the scent of medicine as she turned around. Su Sheng hurried forward to support her. Jiang Shu glimpsed the empty sash around his waist, and suddenly remembered the palace banquet that day—when Jiang Songyi knocked over the wine cup, her fingers had clearly hooked onto the tassel of the prince's jade pendant.
The eldest princess tried to smooth things over: "Songyi, take it quickly. The gift from the crown prince is a blessing." Then she turned around and scolded, "Daoyi, you are so stern even when giving gifts to others." Then she personally added a piece of milk cake to Jiang Songyi's plate and said, "Try this, it's covered with osmanthus honey."
Jiang Shu stared at the jade pendant on the table. The black jade inlaid in the dragon's eye suddenly flashed with a faint light, reminiscent of Nanny Jia's cloudy eyes before her death. She stood up suddenly and said, "Aunt, I...I'll go check on the almond cheese in the kitchen." As her pomegranate-red skirt swept across the threshold, she heard Jiang Songyi whisper, "Then I will boldly accept it."
Light filtering through the carved window lattice fell on the jade pendant, its dragon pattern shimmering in the sunlight. Jiang Shu's eyes twitched. This jade pendant was clearly a personal belonging of a royal man. She was about to speak when she saw Xin Yi Daoyi fasten the pendant around Jiang Songyi's waist, her fingers brushing the tassels as lightly as a feather.
"My cousin is quite generous." Su Sheng suddenly emerged from behind the porch pillars, his brocade boots crushing the crabapple petals on the ground. He stared at the jade pendant and sneered, "Last year, I wanted this for my birthday. Didn't my cousin say that the Queen's relics could not be given away by anyone else?"
The eldest princess's teacup clattered against the table. Jiang Songyi looked up, only to catch a fleeting glint of coldness in the crown prince's eyes. Xinyidao turned, her wide sleeves wafting sandalwood, and said softly, "If you like, cousin, there's another one with a dragon pattern in the storeroom."
"Who cares!" Su Sheng yelled, his neck stiff, his ears reddening. He had specially worn his newly tailored rain-soaked blue robe today, the silver-threaded cloud pattern on the cuffs wrinkled into a ball.
Jiang Songyi suddenly remembered what Su Sheng said when he was drunk in his previous life: "I always wanted to get your attention back then. I was so stupid that I was not even as good as a peacock spreading its tail." The anger and shame in the boy's eyes at this moment overlapped with what he had in his memory.
"Sheng'er!" The eldest princess rubbed her temples, "Didn't you make an appointment with the son of Minister Li for a horse race?" The gilded armor scratched fine marks on the table, startling the parrot under the eaves and flapping its wings.
Su Sheng stood there like a nail, staring at the jade pendant on Jiang Songyi's waist. "Some people don't think they can climb up the social ladder just because they have a piece of jade. My cousin hates that the most."
"I really do treasure this." Xin Yidao suddenly cut off his words, his white fingers stroking the edge of the jade pendant. "Before my mother died, she said she wanted to give it to the most important person." He paused, turned to look at Jiang Songyi, "To the person who deserves it most."
The handkerchief in Jiang Shu's hand suddenly fell to the ground. She clearly saw the prince's Adam's apple roll slightly when he said the word "most". This was not a gift of jade, it was clearly...
"Your Highness!" Jiang Songyi suddenly took a half step back. "I am a clumsy girl and I am afraid of damaging such a precious thing." Her hand that was trying to untie the jade pendant was held down. The prince's palm was slightly cool, but his fingertips were incredibly hot.
Su Sheng suddenly rushed over and pulled her sleeve: "Why are you pretending to be so noble! Why didn't you refuse when you accepted the jade pendant just now?" Jiang Songyi staggered as he pulled her, and the restraints on her waist made a crisp sound. Xin Yidao's face suddenly darkened: "Let go."
The two words came out so lightly that Su Sheng retracted his hand as if he had been electrocuted. He had never seen the prince look like this before. It was like a snowy mountain suddenly collapsing, revealing sharp icy ridges underneath.
The eldest princess suddenly laughed out loud: "Isn't Songyi's favorite snow skin milk cake? The prince made some the day before yesterday, it's not as good as this." Before she finished speaking, Xinyi Daoyi turned around and said: "I'll ask the county lady to make it."
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