“My sister always comforts us, saying that this is how it will be for us for the rest of our lives. After the eldest princess gets married, I will come and help my sister take care of her children, okay?” Madam Song said. She never imagined that the Fourth Prince would one day ascend the throne, because the Crown Prince had been established for more than twenty years. Who could have imagined that it would be our Fourth Prince in the end?
Lanqin could only smile, coughed a few times, and then said, "Sisters, let's watch the show instead. We're getting off-topic."
Seeing that Lanqin coughed every now and then, Geng said with concern, "What did Doctor Wu say? Why does your cough not seem to be getting better?"
Nianxue quickly brought hot tea to Lanqin, and after she took a few sips, she felt a little better.
"I just caught a cold, it's nothing serious, it's just that my cough is a bit hard to get better," Lanqin said. She added, "Why don't you two sisters write to your families and ask them to come to the capital and visit the mansion when they have time? I'll speak to the Fourth Master on your behalf."
Since she couldn't possibly push Fourth Master into their room, helping out elsewhere could be seen as a small consolation to Madam Song and Madam Geng.
Madam Song and Madam Geng exchanged a glance, then said gratefully to Lanqin, "It's probably too late to call them now, so let's not trouble ourselves."
Geng hesitated for a moment before saying, "My father is a military officer. He will be coming to the capital to continue his duties during the New Year. It would be really good if I could go out and meet him."
Upon hearing this, Lanqin quickly said, "When is it? Let me mention it to Fourth Master. After all, Sister has been in the household for several years now, and it would be good for her to see Father now."
Madam Song nodded and said, "Since your father has come, he really can meet him. Unlike me, they are far away in Huzhou and are just minor garrison commanders. They have no right to enter the capital."
After hearing what they said, Geng was actually tempted.
The Monkey King play has progressed to the point where Sun Wukong has ascended to the Heavenly Court, and people outside are starting to set off fireworks.
"Let's go outside and watch the fireworks," Lanqin suggested.
"No, mistress, you can't afford to catch a cold. It's freezing outside, you need to take care of yourself," Cui Niang immediately stopped her.
"Cui Niang, I've really brought back a powerful woman! Look at her, she's keeping me completely under her thumb," Lan Qin said with a smile. She was just saying it, though she knew the children were too young and it was better for them not to go out in this cold weather.
“She’s right. If you want to see, just stand by the window and look. It’s freezing cold outside, so don’t go out. But I don’t know what it’s like inside the palace. The eldest and second princesses are both quite frail, so don’t let them catch a cold,” said Madam Song.
"Don't worry, the Fujin wouldn't dare neglect their orders on such an occasion. The Consort De is watching; she now has adopted sons and daughters, and if she doesn't take care of them, she might tell the Consort. Besides, what she fears most these days is people saying she's not good to her illegitimate children," Lanqin comforted her.
“That’s right. Wasn’t it her who started those rumors about my sister a while ago? If she dares to treat the eldest and second princesses badly now, she’ll be slapping herself in the face,” Geng Shi said.
“What my two sisters say makes sense.” Madam Song agreed and felt relieved.
"Reporting to Consort, Chef Niu says the dumplings are all cooked and ready to eat," Si Hua reported.
"Come on up, the shadow puppet show is over, that's about it. It's not really New Year if we don't eat dumplings," Lanqin said with a smile as she turned around.
After the shadow puppet troupe left, Nianxue and Xicha carried in a round rosewood table and placed it under the heated couch. Then, dumplings served on a large porcelain plate were brought out.
Lanqin, carrying Wuxiha, Songshi, holding Xichen's hand, and Gengshi all got off the warm couch and sat around the round table.
"Oh, these are dumplings? Why are they green?" Geng asked in surprise when she saw a plate of green dumplings being served.
"There are purple ones too, little sister! Tell me quickly, how are these made?" Madam Song was also attracted by the uniquely colored dumplings. After Cui Niang and several maids got into the sedan chair, they brought in another table for themselves, and even invited Granny Wang and Master Niu to sit down. This was also at Lan Qin's special instruction.
"Let's eat! It's only New Year's if we eat dumplings. Chef Niu, tell Song Gege and Geng Gege how these colorful dumplings are made?" Lanqin turned to Chef Niu, who was sitting at the table.
"It was all the concubine's idea. The green dumplings were made by squeezing out the juice from leafy green vegetables, mixing it into flour, and rolling it out to make green wrappers. The purple ones were made by steaming purple sweet potatoes, mashing them into a paste, and mixing it into flour to make the wrappers," Chef Niu said with a chuckle as he stood up.
"My sister is really clever; these dumplings look different now," said Madam Song.
Everyone started eating dumplings. Wuxiha couldn't eat any, but Xichen could. Seeing how pitifully Wuxiha was craving them, Lanqin fed him a little bit of the minced meat from the dumplings.
"Oh dear, I found a golden melon seed!" Song spat the dumpling in her mouth into the bowl, and sure enough, there was a bright yellow melon seed inside.
"Next year, your fortune will improve, sister," Lanqin said with her blessing. "I instructed them to put the golden melon seed inside. Whoever finds it today will keep the good fortune."
"Hurry up and eat! The concubine has spoken, so this is your good fortune. I must also cherish this little bit of good fortune." Madam Song picked out the golden melon seeds with her fingers.
Upon hearing this, everyone's enthusiasm for eating dumplings increased even more.
Before long, Nianxue ate one, then Gengshi ate one, then Xicha, Cuiniang, Granny Wang... and finally Lanqin didn't get one.
"There's one last one left, let's see who can get it! There were ten, right?" Lanqin asked Nianxue.
Nianxue nodded and said, "Our master instructed us to put ten golden melon seeds in the dumplings when we made them. We've already found nine, and there's one left."
Madam Song laughed and said, "Look how anxious she is. If she doesn't get to eat this one, it will be terrible."
Lanqin laughed and said, "Sister's good fortune will surely be abundant next year, but what about mine?" After saying that, Lanqin glanced at the dumplings on the plate and really didn't know which one to pick up.
"My sister is always so lucky, it doesn't really matter if she can't eat it," Geng said with a smile.
Lanqin pouted, looking at the round dumplings with resentment, unable to bring herself to eat them. Then she saw Cui Niang give her a wink, as if telling her that the last dumpling with the golden melon seed was inside the purple dumpling.
It turned out that Aunt Cui had specifically instructed Nianxue to place the ten golden melon seeds into three green dumplings, three purple dumplings, and four white dumplings. Aunt Cui noticed that of the nine dumplings that had been eaten, only the purple dumpling was missing one color.
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