Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Qiao Jinniang said to Fulu, “Sorry, Princess, but I didn’t seduce His Royal Highness.”
Princess Fulu thought about the sign that read “Lu Chen and dogs aren’t admitted”. Perhaps, she really wronged Qiao Jinniang. “Then what do you think of the Crown Prince?”
Qiao Jinniang didn’t answer, but asked Huixiang for salt and threw a lot of salt on one of the bowls of Magnolia Tofu.
This was a summer dessert. With so much salt sprinkled on it, it could be imagined how terrible the taste would be!
Although Princess Fulu hadn’t tasted it, she could imagine how salty this bowl of Magnolia Tofu would be.
Entering the room, Fulu saw Qiao Jinniang place that bowl of Magnolia Tofu in front of the Crown Prince.
Fulu: “…”
Now she believed that Qiao Jinniang must hate the Crown Prince very much.
Junior Duke Rong took the plate handed over by Qiao Jinniang and saw a plum tree painted on the porcelain plate. There was a plum blossom-shaped transparent cake on the blooming plum blossom pattern.
Some tiny gold foils were sprinkled on the cake, which looked like plum blossom stamens.
Junior Duke Rong gently touched the cake with a golden spoon and found that it was similar to fish jelly. “Is this the Magnolia Tofu that everyone in Chang’an praised?”
Qiao Jinniang nodded and said, “Exactly, you can take a taste, Your Highness.”
Junior Duke Rong scooped up a spoonful of the plum blossom-shaped tofu and said, “This is colorless like a crystal? Is it really edible?”
Xie Yun said, “Don’t worry, Your Highness. Eating this summer dessert can relieve summer heat. It is very popular in the South with officials, nobles, and from merchants to peddlers and menial servants. A penny can buy a big bowl of it.”
Junior Duke Rong said, “But you charge 0.5 taels of silver in the Tasty Pavilion per plate, and two plates cost a tael of silver. I am afraid that Miss Qiao can make a lot of money!”
Qiao Jinniang said, “This plate is troublesome to make, there are gold foils on it. Moreover, our Magnolia Tofu uses the best climbing fig fruit.
“Plus, unlike those sold on the street, our Magnolia Tofu is iced. Your Highness, I think you know how expensive the ice is in Chang’an, right?”
Junior Duke Rong thought that Qiao Jinniang was a profiteer. Even though she added gold foil and ice cubes, fifty cents would be enough. At such a piece, she was making ten times the profit.
However, as soon as he tasted it, Junior Duke Rong knew that he was wrong. The dessert was sweet and icy with a little mint sweetness, which dissipated the summer heat.
It was not expensive even if it cost a tael of silver per plate!
Junior Duke Rong smiled at Qiao Jinniang and said, “Pack up two more plates for me. I want to give them to my royal uncle and grandmother to taste.”
Fulu said, “How could I have not thought of such a good opportunity to apple-polish my royal uncle? No, Qiao Jinniang, you can’t sell it to him. Sell it to me! I’m going to the Imperial Palace now.”
Junior Duke Rong held his plate and said, “I’ll take my leave first.”
Fulu was annoyed, “Apple polisher!”
Qiao Jinniang replied, “Don’t worry, Princess. There are many other good summer desserts we sell. I’ll place them in an iced box, so they’ll still be cold when you arrive at the Imperial Palace.
“Even if Junior Duke Rong took the Magnolia Tofu to the palace, they’ll probably be no longer cold and won’t taste so good. ”
Fulu nodded. “Okay, come on, prepare it for me.”
Qiao Jinniang nodded and ordered Huixiang to prepare an iced box.
Xie Yun asked, “I didn’t see this dish in Myriad Taste last year. Did you develop it in Chang’an? But I don’t think you can draw so well.”
Lin Mo looked at the plate and said, “The plum blossoms painted on this porcelain plate have quite the style of His Royal Highness, which perfectly portrayed the characteristic of plum blossom. It’s thanks to this porcelain plate that the dessert can sell at such a high price.”
Lu Chen said, “It was drawn by me, but I didn’t expect it to be made into a plate.”
In fact, he painted it together with Qiao Jinniang.
The South rarely snowed, and after it snowed last year, Qiao Jinniang was very excited and wanted to paint the plum blossoms in the snow, but her painting skills were really poor.
After Qiao Jinniang painted for a little while, she gave up and went to pick plums, and while she was gone, he drew on the painting Qiao Jinniang made.
At that time, Qiao Jinniang really liked this painting and hung it in her room.
Qiao Jinniang said, “I drew this, but a Fairy Plum Blossom touched it up for me. What does it have to do with you?”
Lu Chen remembered that in order not to annoy her that day, he used this excuse to explain to her, but now she was using it to taunt him.
Fulu suddenly said, “My imperial cousin and you were both in Lin’an in the last three years. Jinniang, is the little imperial grandson your child?”
Qiao Jinniang nodded. “I had to keep it a secret. I’m sorry.”
Fulu was shocked. “Then why did you want to marry Li Yun? Oh my god, I even encouraged you to raise gigolos. What stupid things have I done?!”
Qiao Jinniang: “You’re not stupid. It’s not bad to raise gigolos. After all, all men in the world are jerks.”
Zhou Siming coughed. “I’m not.”
Lin Mo immediately said, “Me neither.”
Both of them looked at Lu Chen…
Lu Chen scooped a spoonful of Mangolia Tofu, which was horribly salty, but he ate it calmly and said to Jinniang, “Even if I was, I am willing to change.”
“Please tell me what you don’t like about me. I’m willing to change for you.”
When Lu Chen said these words, everyone was surprised. This was the first time that Lu Chen was this humble.
Qiao Jinniang only said, “It’s too late!”
Lu Chen held Qiao Jinniang’s hand. “Give me another chance, okay?”
“Can Your Royal Highness cancel the concubine selection ceremony that is in a few days?” Qiao Jinniang shook off Lu Chen’s hand. “Whether it’s for my cooking skills or something else, can you promise that you will no longer look down on me in the future?”
“You’ve never regarded me as your wife, so why should I give you a chance?”
“Your Royal Highness, you’re going to have your wife and a lot of concubines. You don’t need me anymore. Just let me go.”
Lu Chen said, “Jinniang, I didn’t know you cared so much about…”
Qiao Jinniang interrupted Lu Chen. “I don’t care about you anymore. Although I can’t marry Li Yun, I can marry someone else. Even if I am ridiculed by everyone, raising gigolos can make me happy.”
As soon as Qiao Jinniang finished speaking, there was a burst of laughter from outside.
“Have you heard about the scandal between Qiao Jinniang and Prince Mediocre? That woman is from the countryside and was not brought up by the Duchess, leading to her being so muddle-headed as to seduce Prince Mediocre.”
“No, that countryside woman is quite smart. Li Yun is just a scholar. It will take twenty or thirty years for him to become a high-ranking official, but Prince Mediocre is already highly respected by the officials!”
“Yes, although His Royal Highness has returned to Chang’an, he was outside the capital for more than three years. Maybe His Majesty is not as fond of His Royal Highness as before?
“Besides, the familial bonds in the royal family are weak, and the Crown Prince only relies on His Majesty’s favor, but now that His Majesty is in his prime. He may not want His Royal Highness to be too powerful.
“But Prince Mediocre has the support of the Empress Dowager, so he may be able to win the throne in the future.
“Being a concubine of Prince Mediocre is better than marrying a poor scholar, right?”
Hearing the chatter and laughter outside, Lu Chen gritted his teeth and asked Qiao Jinniang, “You said you would marry someone else. Did you mean you would marry Prince Mediocre?”
