Chapter 748 Snacks
Upon hearing this news, Shang Ruyi was also taken aback.
But she reacted quickly, immediately got up, and had Tushe'er help her wash up and dress. Then she went to the outer hall, where Changwan had already led people in. It was Panqing, the head maid of Chu Ruoyan.
Shang Ruyi sat upright in front, watching Pan Qing slowly walk in holding a box, and then looked behind her.
There was no one else, only her.
Shang Ruyi's brow furrowed slightly, but she didn't say anything. Pan Qing stepped forward and respectfully bowed to her, saying, "This servant greets Your Highness."
Shang Ruyi said, "No need for formalities."
Pan Qing then slowly stood up and said, "Hearing that the Princess is pregnant, my master and mistress are very happy. They specially sent me to bring the Princess some delicious snacks, hoping that the Princess will take good care of her health and give birth to a son soon."
After saying that, he handed the food box to Changwan, who was standing to the side.
Chang Wan carried the box over and placed it on the table in front of Shang Ruyi. Shang Ruyi looked down and saw that it was an exquisite red lacquered carved food box. The lid was decorated with a large openwork carving of bamboo, and there seemed to be two figures among the bamboo. The scene looked somewhat familiar to Shang Ruyi, but she couldn't just stare at the box at this moment, so she reached out and lifted the lid. Inside the box were four bright red hawthorn cakes, sprinkled with a layer of finely ground sugar powder. As soon as the box was opened, the wind stirred up the sugar powder and dispersed it.
At first glance, it looks like bright red flowers covered with snow, dazzling and beautiful.
However, upon closer inspection, it was discovered that although these pastries were bright and pleasing in color, they were not as exquisite and well-made as the pastries sent by the Imperial Food Bureau before.
Shang Ruyi couldn't help but exclaim, "This is—"
Pan Qing said, "These are all pastries made by Madam herself."
"oh?"
Upon hearing this, Shang Ruyi immediately looked up at her, only to see Pan Qing nod very solemnly.
Shang Ruyi immediately understood why Jin Yuyuan had set up a separate small kitchen. It turned out that Chu Ruoyan had personally made pastries for her.
She smiled and said, "Go back and tell them you've gone to a lot of trouble."
As she spoke, she was about to close the box, but Pan Qing stood still and said to Shang Ruyi, "These were made by the madam herself. Please, Your Highness, taste them. Whether they are good or not, I will have an explanation to give you when I return."
"..."
Upon hearing this, Shang Ruyi hesitated for a moment as she held the lid.
So, Chu Ruoyan specifically instructed that Panqing watch her take a bite before she would stop. However, she didn't have much of an appetite for snacks right now, since she had eaten quite a bit at noon and had just woken up from her nap, so she wasn't hungry.
He then smiled and said, "Nests made by Madam Chu herself are naturally of good quality."
After saying that, he was about to close the box.
Seeing this, Pan Qing said, "Does Your Highness dislike the pastries my lady sent, or... does she dislike the pastries my lady made herself?"
"..."
Shang Ruyi's brows furrowed slightly.
These days she has received many pastries and delicacies from people in the palace. Sometimes she would open them and eat them as soon as she received them, and then invite the other person to share. Other times she didn't have an appetite, so she would put them away, but still thank them. But whether she ate them or not, she always followed the host's lead.
However, Pan Qing's words were a combination of overt and covert, soft and hard tactics, forcing her to take a bite at this moment.
As a palace maid, Pan Qing would never dare to force herself like this; it was clearly Chu Ruoyan who had given the order beforehand.
But she did this—
Just then, Tushe'er, who had been unable to contain her temper, stepped forward to scold Panqing. Fortunately, Changwan noticed and pulled her back. She then stood in front of Tushe'er and smiled at Panqing, saying, "The princess's favorite food is hawthorn cake. The reason she is not eating it now is that she wants to save it for His Highness Prince Qin to enjoy together when he returns."
Then, he smiled and said, "I wonder if Your Highness has ever tasted Madam Chu's cooking?"
Upon hearing this, Pan Qing hesitated for a moment, then looked at Shang Ruyi before saying, "So the Princess Consort wishes to enjoy this with His Highness. This—actually, my wife just learned how to make this dessert and sent it to the Princess Consort; the Prince of Qin hasn't tried it yet."
Shang Ruyi smiled and said, "Then I must taste it with Your Highness."
After saying that, she gave Tushe'er a wink, and Tushe'er stepped forward and slipped a silver ingot to Panqing, saying with a smile, "I'll take Sister Panqing back."
Pan Qing had no choice but to bow and then turn around and walk out with Tu She'er.
Shang Ruyi breathed a sigh of relief, looked up at Chang Wan, and smiled, "It's all thanks to your quick thinking. If I had spoken up, I'm afraid I would have offended someone again today."
Changwan said, "I cannot bear to see the Princess suffer."
As she spoke, she walked over and saw that Shang Ruyi's teacup was almost empty, so she went to add some hot water. Then she picked up the lid of the food box to close it and put it away. Just then, footsteps sounded outside again. Obviously, it wasn't just Tu She'er who had returned. Both of them looked up and saw that Tu She'er had seen Pan Qing off, but then came in with another person, who was none other than the Imperial Physician Su Qinglan.
As usual, she carried a medicine box on her back and walked in, bowing respectfully to Shang Ruyi. Shang Ruyi immediately smiled and said, "Lord Su, there's no need for such formalities."
Having said that, he instructed Changwan to prepare.
Su Qinglan came to take her pulse as usual. As always, Changwan took out a small hand pad prepared by Qianqiu Palace and placed it under Shang Ruyi's wrist, while Su Qinglan put her hand on the heater to make sure it was not cold before stepping forward to apologize. Then she held Shang Ruyi's pulse and carefully examined it for a while before smiling and saying, "The princess's pulse is steady and there is nothing wrong."
Shang Ruyi smiled as she lowered her sleeves and said, "Thank you for your trouble, Lord Su."
Su Qinglan hurriedly replied, "This is my duty."
She then looked around and said, "Not many people have come to Qianqiu Palace today."
Shang Ruyi said, "There were so many people the past two days that I was busy all day. Today is better, only people from Jinyuyuan came to deliver some snacks."
"oh?"
Su Qinglan raised her eyebrows slightly.
She wasn't one to meddle in other people's business, but because she was ordered by the emperor to take care of Shang Ruyi's pregnancy, she had to listen to and observe the affairs of Qianqiu Palace. In addition, the matter of the Prince of Qin's concubine couldn't be kept secret, so she had always known that Chu Ruoyan and Shang Ruyi weren't very close. She also knew that Chu Ruoyan hadn't made any statement about Shang Ruyi's pregnancy all these days.
Unexpectedly, today, they took the initiative to break the deadlock.
Just—a complimentary snack?
Su Qinglan thought for a moment and said, "May I be so bold as to ask Your Highness to show me the pastries that Madam Chu sent?"
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