After running through the downtown area for an hour, the Jing’an Estate’s carriage finally arrived at the main entrance of Prince Wei’s estate.
Without waiting for Chu Lian to send a manservant over to the guard house with the invitation, a senior servant who had been waiting by the entrance led two younger maidservants over to welcome her.
Chu Lian had just gotten off the carriage with Xiyan’s help when the welcoming senior servant asked with a bright smile, “Excuse me, could this lady be House Jing’an’s young madam?”
Wenlan bobbed in greeting to the senior servant in front of her and replied, “It is.”
“Third Young Madam, we’ve been waiting for you. Our royal princess sent this old servant to wait by the entrance much earlier. Please, come in with us.” The senior servant was only about thirty years old. The combination of her round face, warm tone, and friendly smile gave off a good first impression.
“Then I’ll have to trouble momo.”
When Chu Lian entered Prince Wei’s estate, the senior servant had even prepared a sedan for her. With two menial servants hoisting it, they reached Royal Princess Duanjia’s courtyard in eight minutes.
Prince Wei’s estate was much more imposing than the Jing’an Estate. There were decorative mountains, pavilions, covered corridors, and drawing rooms all over the place. Everywhere she looked, there would be beautiful scenery awaiting her eyes. No wonder Prince Wei’s estate was considered the first amongst the top three estates in the capital.
Chu Lian looked at everything with wide, clear eyes. She openly admired her surroundings.
Although this behaviour couldn’t be considered dignified or elegant, her innocent and honest expressions made it hard to have a bad impression of her.
At least, it was much better compared to the ladies who would feign a reserved manner despite their curiosity, while their eyes were full of jealousy and envy.
Chu Lian sat on the sedan admiring the scenery in Prince Wei’s estate. She felt that this garden wouldn’t lose one bit to the Humble Administrator’s Garden in the modern world.
When she noticed a pavilion as tall as a decorative mountain in the distance, Chu Lian looked it over for a while longer out of curiosity.
The senior servant following next to Chu Lian kindly provided an explanation for Chu Lian. “Third Young Madam, that pavilion is called Buliu Pavilion. The signboard above it is a valuable piece of calligraphy, reportedly written by a great scholar from the previous dynasty, Chu Buliu! That pavilion is a great place to cool off on a hot day like today. When the wind blows, it’s very refreshing.”
Chu Lian nodded and smiled.
With her tender smile, pure gaze and honest personality, as well as the fact that she was someone that the royal princess had personally invited over, the senior servant’s gaze leant more towards goodwill.
When they reached Royal Princess Duanjia’s courtyard, one of the servants supported Chu Lian as she got off the sedan. When she looked up, Royal Princess Duanjia was standing in the corridor outside the parlour.
When she walked up to the princess, Royal Princess Duanjia raised an eyebrow and looked her up and down. The moment the princess noticed the box of food Xiyan was carrying, surprise lit up in her eyes. She strode up to Xiyan and took the box from her hands. Royal Princess Duanjia then raised her chin slightly, turning to Chu Lian as she said, “Chu Liu, this is for me, right?”
Chu Lian didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She hadn’t expected the precious royal princess she had met at the Dingyuan Estate to have such a tsundere personality.
She nodded, and with a forgiving tone, Chu Lian said, “I made these myself this morning. They’re for you, Royal Princess.”
Chu Lian’s voice was soft and kind. Although she was already a married woman, other than the difference in hairstyles from the maiden princess, she looked like a young lady who was still the same age as Royal Princess Duanjia.
While Royal Princess Duanjia’s status was much higher than hers, Chu Lian didn’t act differently in front of her. Instead, she treated the princess like a sister from the same family, without any of the usual fear or carefulness that others might have. This raised her evaluation in Royal Princess Duanjia’s eyes.
Without waiting for Chu Lian’s greeting bow, Royal Princess Duanjia took her hand and led her to the parlour.
After the two of them were seated, Royal Princess Duanjia ordered her handmaid to serve the confections that Chu Lian had brought.
When the confections were brought out in two little porcelain dishes, Royal Princess Duanjia stared at them in a daze.
There were six pieces of confections sitting on one of the exquisite blue porcelain dishes, and there were two pieces of every colour: milky yellow, light green, and light red.
The flat confections had somehow been made into cutely shaped cat heads. Every cat had a different expression, provoking amusement in the onlookers.
Chu Lian smiled a little as she watched Royal Princess Duanjia gape in surprise.
As expected, girls liked cute little confections the most!
She had made a set of cookies. The three different colours also signified the three different flavours of the cookies: milk, matcha, and red date. She had used a cat head shaped mould that she had prepared in advance to make them, and then used some natural food colouring to draw some simple, adorable little expressions on top. The cookies were done after a round of baking in the oven. It was much simpler to make these compared to the Eight Confections.
On the other plate was a display of sugared haw fruits. They were round and red, covered in a layer of white icing sugar. Though they weren’t as sour as eating the haw fruits by themselves, they weren’t sickly sweet either. In addition, the seeds inside had already been removed, so there was no need to spit out anything. They were both delicious and convenient, and were great for snacking.
Royal Princess Duanjia eyes were sparkling as she looked at the confections before her. Her handmaid was also absorbed in staring at the snacks, but she managed to regain her senses and hurriedly turned to serve some tea.
