The Marquis of Zhongyong's household has far more people than the Jun family. Sending too little would be impolite, while sending too much would be insufficient, especially since there are two children at home, Wu Hui and Jun Wei, who are eagerly asking for crabs. After much discussion, He Caiqiong decided to send only cooked seafood dishes back home, so that everyone would have a share during the meal, without showing favoritism.
“I’ll ask Mr. Lu to cook two dishes for Wushuang,” He Caiqiong said. “The sea cucumber soup that Wuyou made the night before her marriage was very good, and the orange-stuffed crab for the homecoming banquet was also very good.”
Lu Zhenniang was employed by the Marquis of Runan's household as a cook. The Jun family, being respectful and valuing teachers, couldn't possibly expect her to cook. However, Lu Zhenniang was kind and grateful, never forgetting the help Chu Yao, Wushuang, and others had given her and her son over the years. If anyone in the Jun family was unwell, she would always offer medicinal recipes to help them recover. After becoming acquainted with the Jun family's daughters, she didn't mind frequently cooking some of their favorite dishes and snacks to satisfy their cravings.
Therefore, after learning from Wushuang about He Caiqiong's earnest request, Lu Zhenniang did not refuse. Instead, she went to Gui'anju to find He Caiqiong herself and took the initiative to find out what her requirements were for the dishes and whether the people eating them needed to abstain from certain foods.
He Caiqiong said, "My family isn't very particular about food and drink, so Mr. Lu, just follow what you did the other two times."
"The orange-infused crab at the Second Miss's homecoming banquet wasn't made by me," Lu Zhenniang explained.
"Oh, I see. Oh, I made a mistake." He Caiqiong apologized. "I was so busy with Wuyou's wedding that I was completely overwhelmed and haven't realized what was going on yet. I was just thinking about sending some food to my stepmother to show my filial piety. I thought orange-stuffed crab was in season and looked and smelled delicious. By the way, Mr. Lu, would you mind taking on another student and letting me cook a dish for my stepmother myself?"
Lu Zhenniang naturally wouldn't refuse, and the two of them immediately went to the small kitchen to prepare.
He Caiqiong's cooking skills were lacking. Under Lu Zhenniang's guidance, she stumbled and struggled to make a dish of orange-stuffed crab. The remaining sea cucumber soup naturally had to be prepared by Lu Zhenniang herself.
Seeing the two delicious dishes steaming hot, He Caiqiong thanked Lu Zhenniang, then took the insulated food box, boarded the carriage, and headed to the Marquis of Zhongyong's residence.
It was right after lunch break, and all the men of the He family were out. As women, the aunt and her daughters-in-law naturally preferred things with novel shapes and bright colors, and food was no exception. The orange-stuffed crab was bright yellow and sweet. With it in front of them, the dark sea cucumber soup was completely ignored.
He Caiqiong saw this but did not urge everyone to try the sea cucumber soup. Instead, she chatted casually with her stepmother and sisters-in-law. Once everyone had eaten and talked their fill, she suggested visiting He Wenyan and his wife at the Princess's residence next door.
Although she was born out of wedlock, she had been raised by her aunt's side since childhood, so it was understandable that she was closer to her aunt's older siblings, such as He Wenyan. As for the bowl of sea cucumber soup, naturally no one would object to her taking it with her.
As luck would have it, the eldest princess was also not in the manor that day. The steward of the princess's manor saw that the visitor was the princess's husband's sister, so there was no need to avoid suspicion, and he led her directly to He Wenyan's study.
Throughout history, to prevent powerful maternal relatives and princes-in-law from seizing authority, those who married princesses were deprived of real power. As a result, He Wenyan held only a sinecure that made no difference whether he went to the government office or not. With his career stalled and nearing middle age, he had long lost the high spirits of his youth, so he simply stopped going to the government office altogether. He spent his days either engrossed in reading in his study or going out to eat, drink, and play.
The study door was slightly ajar, and He Caiqiong could see He Wenyan sitting at the table, engrossed in reading a storybook. She knocked several times before He Wenyan belatedly looked up: "It's Caiqiong. What brings you here to see your brother? Did you suffer some injustice at the Jun family?"
He Wenyan invited his half-sister into the house and then instructed the eunuchs to brew tea for her.
"If anyone bullies you, you must tell your second brother, and I will definitely find a way to get revenge for you."
"Oh, Second Brother, what are you saying? Who would dare to bully me?" He Caiqiong laughed. "I've been thinking about you all along. As soon as I tasted something delicious, I rushed to bring it to you to try."
As soon as she finished speaking, the maid who had come with her took the bowl of sea cucumber soup out of the food box and placed it on the table.
He Caiqiong scooped out a bowl of food with her own hands. He Wenyan took it, tasted it politely, and suddenly froze.
However, the eunuch was right beside him. He quickly concealed his embarrassment and kept praising, "Delicious! Really delicious! I never imagined that your husband's chef was so skilled." While praising, he quickly drank the whole bowl of sea cucumber soup to the bottom.
They are siblings after all. Even though they are quite far apart in age and don't see each other often, their natural understanding is still there. Without He Caiqiong saying anything, He Wenyan could guess that she had something to say.
He put down the bowl and instructed the eunuch, "It is impolite not to reciprocate. Today I ate my sister's sea cucumber soup, so I should return the favor with the best. Go and bring me that box of tribute Biluochun tea from my room."
Chapter List 110|6
Chapter 109:
The eunuch acknowledged and left. [80txt.COM]
With a single glance from He Caiqiong, the maid who had come with her also lowered her head and walked out of the house, not forgetting to close the door behind her.
Only the brother and sister remained in the room. He Caiqiong kept her voice low, as if afraid of being overheard: "Second brother, can you taste the flavor in it?"
He Wenyan no longer concealed his emotions, standing up agitatedly, his chest heaving with each breath: "Impossible? How could this be? Who did this? No one could have done something like this..."
Most homemade sea cucumber soup is seasoned with pepper and sesame oil to mask the fishy smell of the sea cucumber. However, He Wenyan's wife, Tan Xiaoping, said that this method would mask the freshness of the seafood, and instead used homemade honey wine with eggs. When Tan Xiaoping was still alive, He Wenyan and He Caiqiong had both tasted her cooking. The taste was unique, and they had never seen any other chef or restaurant cook it that way, so it left a particularly deep impression on them.
"Second Brother, keep your voice down." He Caiqiong warned him as he lost control, "Be careful, the walls may have ears."
He Wenyan slumped back into his original position in dejection.
He and Tan Xiaoping were kindred spirits, their marriage harmonious, and they never argued. Less than a year after their marriage, they had a son. Later, Tan Xiaoping took her one-year-old child back to her hometown to visit her parents, but they were robbed on the way. Mother and son, along with their guards, servants, and maids, almost all perished. When the Marquis of Zhongyong's family arrived after receiving the news, more than a month had passed since the incident. The local government had collected dozens of corpses at the mortuary, awaiting identification by the families. However, due to the hot weather, the bodies had long since decomposed, making their faces unrecognizable; they could only be barely identified by their clothing. After counting the bodies, they found a few maids and servants missing. They speculated that they had either escaped or been captured by the robbers, which was common and not surprising, so they did not investigate further.
Could it be... could it be that the corpse dressed in Tan Xiaoping's clothes that we saw back then was not actually her?
Thinking of this, a glimmer of hope rose in He Wenyan's heart: "Is it her? Where did you see her?"
"She said her name was Lu Zhenniang," He Caiqiong said. "The family says she came from a place where Wushuang saved their lives. Her uncle and aunt always wanted to repay her, and seeing that she was skilled in cooking, they arranged for her to teach several girls how to cook."
He Wenyan listened for a while, but felt that something was wrong. He pressed on and asked, "Whether it is or not, don't you recognize her?" He Caiqiong was already eleven or twelve years old when the incident happened. She was not old, but she was already sensible. She had spent every day with Tan Xiaoping, so there was no reason why she would not recognize him when they met again.
He Caiqiong sighed and said, "Second brother, of course I have never forgotten what sister-in-law looks like, but... Lu Zhenniang always covers her face with a veil. According to Wushuang, her appearance was disfigured in an accident, which is why she does that."
Anyone with manners might be curious about the true appearance of someone who covers their face with a veil, but if someone has already said that the person is ugly, they would not insist on lifting the veil to find out.
“However, Lu Zhenniang was with a boy named Lu An. The two addressed each other as mother and son, and in terms of age, he was about the same age as my nephew back then.” He Caiqiong added, “That’s why I felt there were so many coincidences. I thought about it for several days before deciding to come and tell you.”
One day, she pretended to go out to buy jewelry, and waited for Lu An in the back alley to return from the Lingguang Guard Office so she could take a good look at him. What she saw was astonishing: aside from being taller and stronger due to his martial arts training, and having darker skin, Lu An was practically a carbon copy of He Wenyan.
He Caiqiong was afraid that she might have her own thoughts and misjudge the situation, so she dared not mention it to He Wenyan, lest he be prejudiced and misjudge the situation.
“But back then… there were infants too…” He Wenyan still couldn’t believe it. “If Xiaoping could exchange clothes with a maid of similar size, there were no other infants accompanying her…”
“If Second Brother thinks it’s impossible, then forget it,” He Caiqiong said. She only knew that Second Brother had a deep relationship with his first wife and that he was greatly affected by the incident, so she felt she should say something. But more than ten years had passed, and Second Brother had long since become a prince consort. It was only natural that his feelings might have changed.
“No,” He Wenyan stood up abruptly, “regardless of whether it’s possible or not, I must go and see for myself.”
As the sun set, the eldest princess left the palace before the gates were locked and returned to her residence. The steward personally greeted her and, as they walked towards the main courtyard, recounted the events of the day.
When the eldest princess arrived at the main hall of the courtyard, she was surprised to see He Wenyan and others there.
Their relationship had been strained for a long time. Since He Yao was born, they rarely even shared a room. When they met, they would always quarrel after only a few words. Eventually, unless it was a holiday or a day when they had to go to the palace for a banquet, they simply avoided seeing each other.
However, the eldest princess heard good news when she entered the palace today: the crown prince had fallen from power and Emperor Deqing had begun to give the eldest prince important positions. This was truly encouraging news for Consort Yu and her group.