Chapter 78 Rouge
Daiyu nodded her little head several times, quite affirmatively.
“Granny Yuan wouldn’t lie. She was right at the door and happened to see it.”
Grandmother Jia only knew that something happened at the gate on the day Daiyu returned to the Lin family's old residence. Neither of her two sons said anything specific when they came back; instead, they both looked ashamed.
She summoned Jia Lian to ask, but Jia Lian only said it was a misunderstanding, and that after the mediation of the eldest and second masters, they had made up.
Grandmother Jia did not believe it, but seeing that Daiyu returned without any abnormalities, she did not ask any further questions.
In the last two days, I've heard gossip from the old women downstairs. They say that the eldest master and the second master are arguing at home. The second master said that the eldest master is all bravado and has no strategy, while the eldest master said that the second master is a bookish idealist who talks nonsense and is a complete coward!
The two brothers had argued more than once in the study in the front yard, but the servants could only hear the noise and couldn't see it from the sidelines. When the two came out of the study, they were all smiles and laughter, showing no sign of their previous sibling rivalry.
If what Daiyu said is the truth, then perhaps Grandmother Jia would know why the two brothers were arguing.
From childhood, the two looked down on each other. Later, Jia Zheng studied hard and was well-liked by the old master, while Jia She was unruly and mischievous.
Grandmother Jia then completely sided with Jia Zheng.
The two brothers, however, drifted further and further apart.
Perhaps this encounter with the chief steward of Prince Zhongshun's mansion has given Jia She and Jia Zheng a better understanding of their current situation, which might actually be a good thing!
Furthermore, the more they make a scene, the more rumors spread, and everyone knows that the Jia family brothers are at odds. I'm afraid that's what the higher-ups want to see.
A glint flashed in Grandmother Jia's eyes. Let them make a scene, the more they make a scene, the better.
"Grandma, unlike this time, I'm not making so much. I'll just make one thing. Come to think of it, this is my first time cooking!" Daiyu looked up with a smile, her little face showing that she really wanted to show off and get praise, which brought Grandmother Jia back from her thoughts.
"My dear, Grandma can't bear to see you suffer. You brought so much today, I can't eat it all, so I'll just take it to them." Saying this, she called Amber over.
"Amber, send this lotus root starch and osmanthus cake, in rouge color, to Baoyu. Doesn't he love rouge? Let him eat his fill now." Grandmother Jia laughed, and Daiyu covered her mouth and laughed, defending Baoyu.
“Brother Bao is not like that anymore.”
"You're the only one who'll speak well of him. If you see him doing that again, you should slap him across the face for me." Ever since Grandmother Jia learned that Baoyu had been led by the maids to have a habit of eating rouge, she had a moment of doubt that Baoyu had gone astray. But then she thought that in her family, as long as he didn't disgrace the family, it wouldn't matter if he did something so harmless.
Thinking that Baoyu was just a little child, he would naturally grow up and behave himself, so they didn't discipline him too much.
It was only once that Daiyu saw it and mocked Baoyu, but Baoyu remembered it. Now, if anyone tries to get him to eat rouge, he will refuse.
Baoyu still remembers the look of disgust in Daiyu's eyes when she saw him eating rouge, as if he were eating something dirty.
"Brother Bao, is the rouge delicious?" Daiyu couldn't believe that anyone would eat such a thing.
Baoyu was completely bewildered. No one had ever told him that this stuff couldn't be eaten. The rouge was made by crushing and filtering out impurities from red petals such as rouge flowers and rose petals, and then adding osmanthus oil. It was fragrant and sweet, so how could it not be eaten?
"If it's delicious, why hasn't any famous person recorded that such a thing is edible from ancient times to the present? Shennong tasted hundreds of herbs, so why didn't he discover that something so delicious was edible? Sigh, this is the first time in my life that I've ever heard of rouge being a food. Brother Bao, you've really broadened my horizons." Daiyu looked at him with a half-smile.
Baoyu was momentarily stunned. He felt that Lin Daiyu was wrong, but he really had never seen or even heard of such a book. He loved reading miscellaneous books, but there was no such record in any of them.
Baoyu suddenly realized that when the maids coaxed him to eat rouge, they were all smiling, with expressions as if they were watching a play.
He then realized: the girls who taught him to eat rouge when he was little were actually teasing him! He, a perfectly good young master, was being played with like a toy by them, and he even thought it was because those older sisters loved him that they shared good things with him.
After that, he could help his sisters make rouge, but he absolutely refused to eat rouge anymore, not even to apply some to his lips.
If I were to give this rouge-colored lotus root starch and osmanthus cake to Baoyu today, I wonder what his reaction would be. Daiyu had a mischievous thought and decided to personally deliver the rouge to Baoyu later.
Grandmother Jia continued pointing at the pastries,
"Give this plate of Longjing tea to the eldest master. I've noticed he's been irritable lately, so I'll let him eat something bitter to calm him down. Give Yuehua to the second master, Jixue to Lian'er and her husband, and Handan to the three young ladies. I'll keep the rest of the soup for myself to enjoy slowly."
Amber received the order and, accompanied by two old women, delivered the pastries to each courtyard.
Daiyu also took Zijuan to deliver pastries to Baoyu.
Sure enough, when Baoyu saw the lotus root starch and osmanthus sugar cake, which was soft, glutinous, trembling, crystal clear and lovely, and its color was like rouge, his expression was somewhat indescribable.
Then I saw Daiyu speaking softly and charmingly, her words tinged with teasing.
"Brother Bao, this is the first time your sister has cooked. It tastes perfectly fine. Brother Bao, just eat it."
"My sister is so talented. She worked so hard to make these things and even remembered to bring them to me. Thank you so much. But..."
"Is this rouge?" Baoyu asked in confusion. "Is rouge edible?"
Daiyu said in a very serious tone,
"Yes, it's rouge. It's fine to eat. I just came from the old lady's place, and she ate some too!"
Baoyu looked at the pastry, which looked very tempting, but it was rouge, which made him somewhat troubled.
"Miss Lin, please stop teasing Master Bao. You're making him want to eat but dare not." Qingwen watched anxiously from the side, feeling sorry for Baoyu's predicament.
"Then Qingwen, take a look and see what this is, so that your Second Master Bao can be at ease," Daiyu said with a smile.
Qingwen actually looked at it carefully, and after a moment she said,
"This is osmanthus honey on top, and the pastries below look like they're made with lotus root starch and glutinous rice flour. Did Miss Lin dye them with rouge? How come the color is even more intense than rouge?"
"If it's dyed with rouge, can it still be eaten?" someone at the door asked. Looking up, I saw that Baochai had come over at some point.
Baoyu, as if seeing a savior, hurriedly asked,
"In your opinion, Sister Bao, why is this pastry rouge-colored?"
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