Ningsi Garden.
Lin Qingwan stared at the four dishes and a plate of steamed buns on the small table, unable to come to her senses for a long time.
These are wild vegetables that only come in spring, and only wealthy families with ice cellars can store some of them. The way they are prepared here is even more precious than delicacies from land and sea.
Spicy bracken salad, bracken stir-fried with cured pork, toon and tofu, and wild bamboo shoots. The steamed buns are made with wild scallions and meat, steamed thoroughly until the skin is glistening with oil. They smell absolutely divine.
Lin Qingwan's eyes lit up.
Seeing this, Jiang Su broke open a bun and fed it to him.
Lin Qingwan instinctively backed away, watching her father's hands, usually so used for writing, now holding a steamed bun. "Try it while it's hot, how does it taste?"
Lin Qingwan felt her insides burning from the steam of the buns, and her eyes were wet as she stared at him.
Jiang Su, however, seemed not to understand, a smile playing on his lips and in his eyes, and said, "Eat."
Lin Qingwan hurriedly lowered her head, took a bite of the bun from her father's hand, and then turned her face to wipe her tears on the pillow.
"How about it?"
She chewed slowly, swallowing down the surging emotions along with her, "Where would you find wild vegetables at this time of year?"
“There was a wealthy man named Zhuang in the town who spent a sum of money every year to buy ice to store wild vegetables. Fortunately, he knew I was the Prime Minister and didn’t dare to ask for an exorbitant price.”
"Otherwise, if people find out that I bought wild vegetables at a high price, the censor will mention it to His Majesty, and the Ministry of Revenue will have to check the Prime Minister's accounts."
Lin Qingwan was surprised, "You went to Shuiyuan Town?"
Jiang Su placed a little bracken and cured meat on the broken bun, saying, "Let's bury Butcher Lin."
Lin Qingwan was taken aback. Everyone in town knew how the Cheng family had treated her. So, was it because her father felt heartbroken that he specially arranged this meal to comfort her?
Or was it to alleviate their unease that they had never sought her out for fifteen years?
"There's hot water in the hidden compartment at the bottom of this plate, eat slowly," Jiang Su said, feeding it to the plate again.
Lin Qingwan lowered her eyes, hiding the myriad thoughts in her heart.
After she finished eating, Jiang Su said, "You don't need to worry about the Prince. I have already explained it to him, and I think he will understand."
“Your mother has always doted on Ah Lin. I plan to send him to the Jingbei Army for training after the New Year, so that he won’t keep causing you trouble.”
A hint of sneer flashed in Lin Qingwan's eyes. This meal was meant to prevent her from speaking ill of Jiang Zhenlin in front of Prince Jing.
But no matter what, the father put his heart into it.
Seeing that she didn't say anything, Jiang Su knew that she had tacitly agreed, and after giving her a few more words of comfort, he left.
Orchid Garden.
"She used to crave wild vegetables and wild scallion buns the most?" Lin was shocked and puzzled.
She had never experienced hardship and couldn't imagine what Lin Qingwan felt like, both hungry and cold. To her, delicacies were commonplace, and wild vegetables were something only uncultured people would gather.
Shuanghong nodded, "This servant did not mishear, that's what Sister Qiuhong said."
"My sister also said that wild vegetables are never in short supply in the countryside, and every household can find them, but Miss Qingwan could only watch others eat them. It is clear that she lived a very hard life in the past."
Madam Lin's expression changed slightly. "Compared to the Prime Minister's residence, it is naturally inferior in every way."
Upon hearing this tone, Shuanghong stopped speaking.
This matter naturally reached Jiang Yanwan's ears, and she immediately smashed her cup, saying, "She's using these wild vegetables to remind everyone that I've taken advantage of her wealth for fifteen years!"
She dared not complain about Jiang Su, "Knowing that my father dotes on me, he's always finding ways to sow discord among me."
Xia Yan's biggest fear was that several bad news items would come at once, and before she could finish speaking, her mistress would get angry.
"Young Miss, please don't be angry. There's news from the Prince's Mansion as well."
The worry in Jiang Yanwan's eyes dissipated, replaced by a hint of expectation. "Has the Prince replied?"
After her mother spoke with her yesterday, she tossed and turned and couldn't sleep. In the morning, she wrote a letter of appeal to Prince Jing, and also brought with her a pair of begonia earrings that Prince Jing had given her before.
Every word in the letter came from the bottom of her heart; she had even cried while writing it. She believed the prince would be moved. Even if he still found Lin Qingwan novel, he certainly wouldn't truly abandon her.
Xia Yan didn't dare to look at her. "No, no reply. It was the prince who sent the imperial physician to treat Miss Qingwan's injuries."
Jiang Yanwan's expectations suddenly darkened like a bottomless abyss. She had already disregarded her reputation to write a letter to express her feelings, so what more did she want from her!
Lin Qingwan, why don't you just die!
If you die, the prince will be powerless.
Seeing her gloomy face, Xia Yan weakly advised, "Miss, although the Prince is close to her, he has never revealed the slightest intention of letting her enter the Prince's mansion. Wasn't it the same when the Prince favored a courtesan in the past?"
"Everyone outside says he was just playing around with her."
Jiang Yanwan said coldly, "It's different. Those lowly women had no family background, and after following the prince, they gradually disappeared without a trace. Lin Qingwan is different; she is the daughter of the Prime Minister's family, and her father is willing to protect her. Plus, what my mother said..."
She paused for a moment, then said, "My father will promote her to a higher position."
Xia Yan then realized the seriousness of the situation, "Then Miss has no chance of winning?"
"This servant has misspoke, this servant deserves to die!"
Jiang Yanwan wasn't angry, but her eyes held a sinister coldness. "She lost Mother and Alin's hearts as soon as she came back. Father is nothing but a greedy person."
"These few times she seemed to have lost, but she didn't really win anything. In the end, she can't beat me."
"Go and call the imperial physician over."
The physician became nervous as soon as he saw Xia Yan. The young lady was actually fine; she had only pretended to be sick to avoid people after returning from the Minister's residence.
Now that the matter is over, calling him now will only bring trouble.
But he didn't dare not go.
Sure enough, after hearing Jiang Yanwan's instructions, the physician's mind was filled with thoughts of the old woman Lai who had been beaten to death.
"What are you afraid of?" Jiang Yanwan looked at the trembling imperial physician kneeling in front of her. "Anyway, the imperial physicians all said that her condition is unstable and she may not recover ideally. Isn't it very possible that she will be paralyzed?"
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