Chapter 368 Flower Cake
The headmistress of the girls' academy appeared once when the study tour group returned, but never again.
As a court official, she should have made a formal appearance upon returning from out of town, but one cannot judge her by the standards of an ordinary person.
It seems that Yuan Hongqu disappeared from the world after the study tour group returned.
People from the palace searched from the Lin family's residence to Yuan Hongqu's official residence, and even looked for her at the estate, but they couldn't find her.
Strangely, Princess Lin was not with Yuan Hongqu this time.
Where did Yuan Hongqu go?
After returning from the palace that day, Daiyu went to the Rongguo Mansion the next day.
That was her maternal grandparents' home. Even though she had a good personal relationship with Wang Xifeng and felt indignant about the unjust misfortune that Wang Xifeng had suffered, she still had to go to the Rongguo Mansion to pay her respects to the Dowager Lady Shi after returning from her trip.
This time, the three young ladies of the Jia family also went to the grasslands with the study tour group. The men in the family were very envious, but they could not go with them.
For example, Jia Baoyu seemed to have lost his soul ever since the three sisters and Xue Baochai went on their studies abroad.
Jia Baoyu stopped reading books and refused to write properly.
Jia Zheng was busy plotting against Wang Xifeng with Jia She and had no time to pay attention to Jia Baoyu.
Therefore, he would go to Rongyue Courtyard whenever he had nothing to do, but he would not go in. Instead, he would squat under the brocade vine and look at the ginseng that they had planted together that year.
The three ginseng seedlings under the vine have been living well, although they do not look very robust.
Jia Baoyu didn't just stare at it blankly. In the first few days, he would first draw the ginseng on paper and then observe the changes in the ginseng based on the picture.
Later, on the day Wang Xifeng was imprisoned in the ancestral hall, he stopped painting and just looked at those three "weeds" and smiled every day.
To outsiders, those three ginseng plants were nothing more than weeds, with barely any leaves and barely alive. Only Master Bao considered them treasures.
Passersby said he was practically insane, wondering why he would stare blankly at a few "weeds" every day, grinning like a madman. Some even saw Master Bao talking to those "weeds" and reciting poetry...
However, neither the master nor the mistress cared about him. The old lady had gone out, and the mistress of Rongyue Courtyard was heavily pregnant and had to manage many things, so she had no time to pay attention to Jia Baoyu's thoughts.
For a time, apart from the servants, no one else paid attention to Jia Baoyu's changes.
It wasn't until Wang Xifeng went to the former residence of Hongqu that the Second Master and Second Madam discovered that Baoyu seemed to have been bewitched. He was only dazed when he saw the three ginseng roots, and otherwise he became silly.
The couple then realized the seriousness of the problem and sought out many famous doctors, but Baoyu remained the same.
In the end, the monks and Taoists also cleared out quite a few [items], but it was of no use whatsoever.
If they hadn't just offended Yuan Hongqu, they would definitely have wanted to ask her for help.
No one expected that the usually lazy Master Yuan would be so diligent, even going to the academy during his vacation and staying there.
Teachers tend to show some favoritism towards diligent, studious, and exceptionally intelligent students.
In particular, this student had already wasted many years, and she wanted to make up for the lost time. Therefore, she worked like crazy as soon as she came into contact with the academy, and her hard work moved Yuan Hongqu.
So Yuan Hongqu made an exception for her, and she actually worked overtime, even bringing back several teachers to work overtime with her.
Just to tutor Chen Yinduo!
Daiyu knew that the old nanny had been busy at the academy these days, so she didn't bother her. She took care of things herself, such as sending local specialties to relatives and friends and visiting the old matriarch at the Jia family mansion.
Although the two rarely met outside, they met online every day.
During her rest time, Yuan Hongqu cooked soup and made snacks for Daiyu in her space, without delaying Daiyu's health-preserving meals at all.
"Granny, someone from the palace came again today. They said the Tenth Prince's problem is very serious. He used to come only once every ten days or half a month, but now he cries almost every few days. If this isn't resolved soon, he'll probably become the laughing stock of the whole capital."
Daiyu held a soft flower cake in her hands. The cake was made so realistically that it looked exactly like a real flower, and the colors were also very lifelike. If it weren't for the slightly warm touch in her palm, Daiyu would have really thought it was a real peony and wouldn't have been able to bear to take a bite.
The bamboo basket on the table contained five or six flower cakes of different shapes and colors. At first glance, the basket looked like the flower basket that a fairy would hold when scattering flowers.
"The various colors on these flower cakes are extracted from the essence of fruits, vegetables, and herbs. They look fancy, but their actual function is quite remarkable," Yuan Hongqu advised Daiyu.
"Granny, so the book says I buried flowers. This time, it can also be considered burying flowers, except I buried them in my belly." Daiyu smiled, gently biting a petal. The moment she bit down, her eyes lit up.
"Granny, you didn't say that these flower petals had a flavor. I thought they were just the sweetness of ordinary pastries!"
One bite brings the sweet taste of pear, the next bite brings the flavor of peach, and each petal seems to have a slightly different taste.
“I told you I wouldn’t lie to you,” Yuan Hongqu said with a light laugh. “Our flower cakes are made entirely with ingredients from this place, and we even added the purest ginseng hydrosol. When you go back later, take some with you and have someone send it to the palace for the Tenth Prince to try. If it doesn’t work, there’s nothing I can do.”
Daiyu told her about it the first time the Empress sent someone to invite Yuan Hongqu.
At that time, she hadn't come up with a good solution. It wasn't until the last two days that she thought of this method. She didn't know if it would work, but she would give it a try for now.
Daiyu nodded, and before she knew it, she had eaten a peony flower. Paired with a delicious lean meat porridge, this meal was incredibly satisfying.
She didn't dare eat too much, lest she refuse to eat any of the cook's food after leaving, which would only give the cook more reason to worry.
Having learned Yuan Hongqu's method, Daiyu did not linger in the space. She took the food box prepared by Yuan Hongqu and left the space.
There was hardly anyone in the small kitchen at the moment. Daiyu went inside and made a show of preparing a meal. Then she called for someone to come and clean up, and asked Steward Lin to personally lead people to deliver flower cakes to the Tenth Prince.
No sooner had Steward Lin left than someone from the Jia family came to their door.
"Miss Lin, something terrible has happened! The old lady suddenly fainted today, and the imperial physician is currently examining her. He says he misses you terribly, and please, Miss Lin, go and see the old lady..."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
