Li Yu bowed and replied with a smile, "That's right."
He didn't say what it was about, but waited for Gao Gege to come out before he lowered his head and reported, "Gege, Your Highness. Fourth Master said he wanted to eat snow plum blossoms and asked Su Gege to make some for him. When I heard that Su Gege had come to your place, I came to look for her, but I didn't know what Su Gege had done to deserve kneeling in the courtyard."
Again because of this matter, Gao Xiuwen had no energy and was too lazy to say much, so she gestured for Cui Ning to speak. Cui Ning then told Li Yu the whole story.
Li Yu already knew the truth, so she followed the Fourth Master's instructions and said, "The plum blossoms in the snow are tomato with sugar. This is a new dish that Su Gege developed herself. The Fourth Master tasted it once and liked it very much. Su Gege picked the tomatoes for the Fourth Master's sake."
Upon hearing this, Kim Min-jung was stunned and quickly looked at Go Soo-wen.
Li Yu's arrival was so timely; he must have received an order from Hongli. Gao Xiuwen, naturally, couldn't refuse Hongli's request, so she went along with it and replied with a smile:
"It was originally prepared for Fourth Master. Sister Su didn't say so earlier, which caused the misunderstanding. Since it was Fourth Master's intention, there is no need to punish her. Please help Princess Su to get up."
Su Yushan remained kneeling outside, unaware of what the people inside were saying. When the nanny came to help her up, she was still wondering how she had been pardoned as soon as Li Yu arrived.
After kneeling for a long time, her legs went numb and she could barely feel anything. It felt like she was walking on cotton, and she could hardly move. Her calves and soles felt like they were being pricked by countless needles.
Chang Yue held her tightly from the side, and it took her a while to feel a little better.
Upon learning that Hongli wanted to eat tomatoes, Su Yushan found it rather strange. Wasn't he angry with her? What was he up to now?
The two were still arguing! She didn't want to talk to Hongli, but since his request had conveniently solved her predicament, she should be generous and send him the few tomatoes she had left.
So Su Yushan went back to Tingfeng Pavilion and asked Li Yu to wait a moment while she went into the tea room to prepare some side dishes for Hongli.
Jin Minjing was unwilling to accept that Su Yushan had been forced to kneel for only half an hour before being taken away. "Sister, Su Yushan has broken the rules. It would be too easy to let her go like this."
Although Gao Xiuwen was in charge of managing the household affairs, she couldn't do as she pleased and still had to be mindful of others' opinions.
"Fourth Master has already said he wants to eat her cooking, so he obviously already knew about the existence of the private kitchen. Since Fourth Master has given the order and sent Li Yu over, it's clear he wants to protect Su Yushan. If I don't release her, wouldn't I be embarrassing Fourth Master?"
“But…” Jin Minjing wanted to say more, but Gao Xiuwen frowned and tactfully gave her the order to leave, “I’m not feeling well today, and I want to go back to my room to rest. I won’t keep you for dinner, please go back!”
Kim Min-jung was very unwilling. Before leaving, she turned back one last time and whispered:
"Forgive my bluntness, but this Su Yushan is not as harmless as she seems. Fourth Master may tolerate her giving him special treatment today, but who knows how much more outrageous she might become in the future. Sister, you should take precautions early, lest she one day climb over your head!"
Watching Princess Jin leave, Cui Ning helped her mistress into the inner room and whispered, "Princess Jin has a conflict with Princess Su, but she wants to use you, mistress, to avenge her. When that fails, she tries to sow discord. She's truly insidious!"
This was a trick Jin Minjing often used. Gao Xiuwen had never taken it seriously when she said similar things in the past, but today she took it to heart. This incident made Gao Xiuwen realize that Hongli's favoritism towards Su Yushan far exceeded her imagination!
They all became wary of Su Yushan, but Su Yushan was thinking about giving the last tomatoes to Hongli; she felt so sorry for him!
Such delicious fruits and vegetables, once they're gone, there won't be any more. We'll have to wait until next year to enjoy them again, so she naturally couldn't bear to give them to anyone else.
However, as the head of the family, Hongli could not disobey him in front of outsiders; she could only go along with him and do as he asked.
After finishing, she took advantage of the moment when no one was looking to sample a couple of bites, enjoying the delicious taste, before reluctantly packing the plate into the food box and handing it to Li Yu. Li Yu, however, smiled and said:
"Please send it over, Lady Lao."
"Isn't it the same who delivers it?" She didn't want to go; if the two of them met, they would inevitably argue again.
"Fourth Master instructed that the Princess should personally deliver it." In reality, Hongli did not say such a thing; it was Li Yu who made it up. His master was in a bad mood because of this matter, so he wanted to take this opportunity to bring the two together.
Hongli's words were orders, and Su Yushan could not refuse. She could only obey. She pouted and slowly walked to his study, carrying the red lacquered and gold-decorated food box.
Upon catching sight of the familiar figure, Hongli was secretly delighted, but remained outwardly calm, continuing to look down at the book in his hands, as if she didn't exist.
Li Yu led her to the door and then tactfully left. Su Yushan forced herself to go in and reluctantly said, "Fourth Master, the tomatoes you ordered are here."
While the gesture was heartwarming, Hongli wasn't blind; he could see there wasn't a trace of a smile on her face, and she was clearly reluctant. It was likely not that she had come of her own accord, but rather that Li Yu had said something.
Hongli put down his book, stood up, walked around the desk, and stood in front of it. His gaze towards her was meaningful. "You don't really think I'm just after a bite of tomato, do you?"
"What else?" She didn't know the inside story until he told her. She then realized that it was Chang Yue who came to deliver the message, and Hongli found an excuse to look for her, thus saving her from punishment.
Upon learning the truth, Su Yushan was deeply moved. "Chang Yue is a very clever girl. She's so good to me."
He only needed to deliver a message to receive her praise; how could Hongli bear this? "Am I not good to you?"
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