Chapter 193 The morning light breaks, the sharp edge fades
At dawn, the first rays of morning light slipped through the cracks in Shufangzhai's window, gently falling on the rosewood dressing table. In a celadon-glazed porcelain vase on the table sat two newly blossomed sprigs of white jasmine, their petals still drenched in morning dew, emitting a sweet fragrance that, combined with the sweet aroma of osmanthus cake wafting from the kitchenette, dispelled much of the night's chill.
Xiaoyanzi sat at her dressing table, Mingyue brushing her hair. She wore a moon-white satin nightgown embroidered with magnolias, her dark hair cascading over her shoulders. Her fingertips unconsciously stroked the silver hairpin on the dressing table—a gift from her mother, brought from Jiangnan. Engraved on the head was a small Chinese character for "Ci," her name in the Fang family.
"Princess, how about a double bun today? It'll look great with your new lake blue cheongsam." Mingyue picked up the mahogany comb and gently combed her hair. Noticing the faint shadow of blue under her eyes, she whispered, "Didn't you sleep well last night? Do you want the kitchen to make some bird's nest porridge to nourish you?"
Xiaoyanzi paused, the coolness of the hairpin running up her fingertips. The sweet, greasy aroma of bird's nest from last night's nightmare seemed to linger in her nose again. She shook her head, her voice slightly hoarse from just waking up. "No, bird's nest is too greasy. Just ask the kitchen to make some millet porridge, and save a bowl of lotus seed soup for Ziwei."
Although Mingyue felt strange, she still replied "yes" and turned to give instructions to the small kitchen.
Xiaoyanzi looked at herself in the bronze mirror. The girl in the mirror had lively eyes and eyebrows, and the corners of her eyes and eyebrows showed the gentleness nurtured by the water villages of the south of the Yangtze River. But only she knew how many storms and waves were hidden in those sparkling eyes. She thought of the silhouette of the palace wall she had seen from the window last night. In the moonlight, it looked like it was covered with a layer of frost, exactly the same as what she had seen before her death in her previous life.
In her past life, she had always felt that the Empress's harshness and Madam Rong's sharpness were the most terrifying. The Empress punished her by making her kneel in the ancestral hall, and Madam Rong pointed at her and scolded her for being "unruly." Those challenges were direct and sharp, like sharp knives, painful yet tangible. But what about Concubine Gao? She always smiled across the crowd, offering snacks and gifts of fabric, and spoke as softly as cotton candy. Who could have imagined that beneath that gentle mask lay a deadly poison?
"Little Swallow, are you awake?" Ziwei walked in, carrying a gilded lacquer box. She was wearing a lilac-colored Manchu dress embroidered with plum blossoms, and a fresh crabapple blossom was pinned to her hair. "I just came back from the Empress's palace. The Empress gave me some freshly dried rose jam and told you to spread it on your osmanthus cake."
Xiaoyanzi took the lacquer box and opened it. The rose jam inside was bright red and fragrant. She plucked a little with her silver hairpin and tasted it, nodding with a smile. "The Empress's cooking is truly excellent. It's even sweeter than what you buy outside the palace." She then pressed a piece of freshly steamed osmanthus cake into Ziwei's hand. "Try it! The kitchen made it this morning."
Ziwei took a bite of the osmanthus cake, her eyebrows curved into crescents. "It's delicious! Oh, by the way, Yongqi and Erkang are waiting in the yard. They said they want to accompany us to the Imperial Garden for a walk."
As they entered the courtyard, they saw Yongqi standing beneath a crabapple tree in royal blue attire, clutching a freshly picked red rose. Seeing Xiaoyanzi emerge, his eyes lit up, and he quickly hid the rose behind his back, his ears blushing. Erkang stood nearby, his figure tall and straight in his slate-gray gown, a collection of poetry in hand, his head bowed as he spoke to Xiaodeng.
"What is Fifth Prince hiding? Is he secretly bringing good things for our Xiaoyanzi again?" Ziwei joked with a smile, with shallow dimples at the corners of her eyes.
Yong Qi scratched his head and handed over the rose behind him. The petals were still covered with morning dew. "I just picked it in the Imperial Garden. I thought...I thought it would look good with your Manchu dress."
Xiaoyanzi took the rose, her fingertips touching the cool petals, and her heart warmed. She brought the flower to her nose and sniffed it, deliberately raising an eyebrow. "Just one? Isn't that too stingy?" She said this, but carefully tucked the flower into her hair. The moon-white nightgown and the bright red rose made her skin look even whiter.
Seeing her accept it, Yongqi couldn't hide the smile on his face: "I'll have the kitchen plant a yard of roses for you later!" His eyes fell on the dark shadows under her eyes. He reached out to brush away the loose hair from her forehead, and gently touched her brow with his fingertips. "Didn't you sleep well last night? You have dark circles under your eyes."
Xiaoyanzi slapped his hand away, turned around and walked down the stone steps: "Who said that? I slept well!" But her steps slowed down a bit. The depression in her heart caused by the nightmare was dispelled a lot by his touch.
Erkang walked forward and handed Ziwei a collection of poems. "This is my father's new collection of Du Fu's poems. I thought you'd like it." He turned his gaze to Xiaoyanzi, his expression calmer. "Last night, Guard Zhou came to report that Nanny Li from Chuxiu Palace went to the imperial kitchen last night. She was acting suspiciously. I wonder what she was asking."
Xiaoyanzi paused, and when she turned around, the joking expression on her face had disappeared, and her eyes were sharper. "I see." She looked at the small table, "Did Concubine Gao send anything from the palace this morning?"
The little table quickly replied, "Princess, just at noon, the eunuch from Chuxiu Palace sent a plate of almond cakes, saying they were made by Concubine Gao herself. I want you and Princess Ziwei to try some."
"Handmade?" Xiaoyanzi sneered, taking the gilded food box from the eunuch and opening it. The almond pastry was delicately crafted and sprinkled with white icing sugar, making it look appetizing. But as her fingertips touched the edge of the food box, she remembered the bowl of sweet bird's nest in her dream last night, and her stomach tightened.
Ziwei came over to take a look: "It looks delicious, but..." She hesitated for a moment and said softly, "Should we let the people in the kitchen take a look first?" After what happened a few days ago, she became more cautious.
"Ziwei is so attentive." Xiaoyanzi handed the food box to the small table and said firmly, "Send it to the imperial kitchen and have Doctor Li personally inspect it. Don't let him miss a single bite. Tell the imperial kitchen that from now on, no matter who sends food, even if it's just a piece of cake or a cup of tea, it must pass inspection before it can enter Shufangzhai."
"I'll go right away!" Xiaozhuo held the food box and hurried to the kitchen.
Yongqi frowned and asked, "She came here openly? Isn't she afraid of being discovered?"
"What she wants is 'nothing to be found'." Xiaoyanzi walked to the crabapple tree, reached out to pluck a dewy leaf, and gently crushed it with her fingertips. "The almond pastry may not be poisonous, but maybe some 'calming' substances were added. It's okay to eat it, but it will make people feel weak after a long time. This method of boiling a frog in warm water is the most insidious." She was like this in her previous life. She always thought that Concubine Gao's "good intentions" were nothing, until she realized in the end that some gentleness can hurt people more than a knife.
Erkang nodded and said, "Princess Huanzhu is right. I'll have someone keep an eye on the imperial kitchen. If they find anything, we'll definitely be able to hold her accountable."
Ziwei held Xiaoyanzi's hand, her palm warm: "Xiaoyanzi, don't worry, we are here."
Xiaoyanzi turned around and looked at the people in front of her - the worry in Ziwei's eyes, Yongqi's tightly pursed lips, Erkang's steady gaze, and the little stool in the distance telling the little bug the story of "Sun Wukong recognizes the White Bone Demon", and the little mosquito making jokes and shouting "guaiguai long di dong". The morning light shone on their faces, warm like the spring in the south of the Yangtze River.
She suddenly smiled, the sharpness in her eyes fading a little, and a bit more determination appeared: "I'm not worried." She raised her hand to stroke the rose in her hair, the coolness of the petals making her mind clearer. "Some people want to play dirty, and I'll play along. But she shouldn't forget that a daughter raised by the waters of Jiangnan not only knows how to play music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, but also knows how to protect her own people."
The sun rose higher, filtering through the cracks in the crabapple leaves, casting dappled shadows on the ground. The morning at Shufangzhai was still bustling, but everyone was quietly on edge—they could handle the sharp edges hidden beneath the mask of gentleness. Far away, in Chuxiu Palace, Concubine Gao toyed with a jade hairpin, a faint smile playing on her lips, oblivious to the fact that her opponent was no longer the reckless orphan from her previous life.
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