Despite her reluctance, An Ran had no choice but to accept it. Sure enough, the taste was different; a peculiar sweetness ruined the original flavor. It seemed the small kitchen's attempt to please Ding Shi had backfired.
An Ran had never experienced hardship. Although her food, clothing, and daily necessities were much better than An Mu and An tide's, they were far less exquisite and rare than those of the Chen family. She wouldn't care whether the taste of the food suited her taste.
She still vividly remembers the humiliation she suffered at the time.
Those were the days she was menstruating, feeling unwell and with a upset stomach, so she couldn't eat anything. But when she refused, Ding threw down the bowls and chopsticks, shards of porcelain grazing her face and falling to the ground.
She looked like she didn't know what was good for her. If she didn't eat, Ding might have someone force-feed her the food.
Knowing that Ding was deliberately trying to humiliate her, An Ran had no choice but to swallow her tears one bite at a time.
"Ninth Sister, why aren't you eating?" Third Sister asked, noticing An Ran staring blankly at the bowl of steamed sweet cheese in front of her. "If you don't like it, just have them take it away. Or if there's anything you'd like to eat, I'll have them make it right away."
An Ran then came to her senses.
Seeing the worry in Third Sister's eyes, she felt a lump in her throat and almost burst into tears. She quickly blinked, managing to hold back her tears for a moment.
An Ran quickly shook her head, picked up her spoon, and was about to eat.
The moment An Ran smelled the aroma, she felt a strong sense of familiarity. Was she still haunted by that past trauma? How could this steamed sweet cheese taste exactly like the bowl that Ding had forced her to eat?
Perhaps she's overthinking it!
Seeing that Third Sister had stopped eating and was looking at her, Anran didn't want Third Sister to worry, so she scooped up a spoonful and put it in her mouth.
After taking only one bite, An Ran's eyes widened in astonishment. She then pushed away the bowl and chopsticks in front of her, got up, and ran out. She spat out the piece of steamed sweet cheese she had just eaten into the spittoon in the corner of the wall. Afterward, she vomited until she was almost dizzy and coughed violently.
An Ran's unusual behavior terrified Third Sister. The servants, including Hua Ping and Qing Mei, rushed to get hot water and handkerchiefs. Third Sister patted An Ran's back gently and repeatedly told someone to go and fetch the imperial physician.
"Third, Third Sister." An Ran hadn't recovered yet when she grabbed Third Sister's sleeve and said weakly, "Please don't ask anyone to go yet, I'm fine."
This time, Third Sister wouldn't listen to her and insisted on sending someone. "You're in this state, and you still say you're fine?"
An Ran panicked, coughing even more violently, her gasping for breath completely frightening Third Sister. "Alright, alright, don't worry, I'll do whatever you say!"
Finally, her cough subsided, and Qingmei quickly brought her some water to rinse her mouth. Once her breathing had calmed down, San Niang helped her to bed and let her rest against a large pillow for a while.
"Who made this steamed sugar-coated cheese today?" Third Sister vented all her resentment on the dessert, and said to Huaping, "Bring this person here!"
Hua Ping had just agreed to go when An Ran's weak voice rang out. She called out to Hua Ping and said to Third Sister, "Third Sister, don't let anyone go."
"Have someone pack this dish up immediately and find a suitable person to deliver it discreetly to the Marquis's residence." An Ran was extremely uncomfortable from the ordeal just now, but she still forced herself to say, "We must find a reliable doctor to examine it thoroughly and find out what's in it."
San Niang was taken aback at first, but then realized the importance of it.
"Don't worry, I'll have someone take care of it right away." She said to An Ran, "You should rest well. Don't worry, not a word of what happened today will get out of this courtyard."
An Ran nodded.
Third Sister left in a hurry with her people. Anran asked Qingmei and Qingxing to clean up the dishes and make some light porridge and candied fruit, while leaving Zhimo and Rulan to serve her.
She didn't trust Zhimo and Rulan.
Even though they were handpicked by the Zhao family, the knowledge she had just gained made her unable to trust anyone, except for Qingmei and Qingxing, who had stayed by her side until her death in her previous life—
All of this is because of my past life!
The moment An Ran tasted that spoonful of steamed custard, she realized that it tasted exactly the same as the bowl that Ding had forced her to eat in her previous life!
That unique fragrance was so distinctive that it was unforgettable.
and……
An Ran remembered clearly that she had miscarried twice back then. She had never been pregnant again since. At first, she thought it was because she had damaged her body and could not get pregnant again. Whenever she was seriously ill, Qingmei, Qingxing, Anxi, and Anmu spent a lot of money to bribe the people at the second gate of the Chen family and secretly invited a doctor to come in to treat An Ran.
She remembered clearly that the doctor mentioned that she could no longer get pregnant because she had accidentally eaten something inappropriate, not because her two miscarriages had damaged her health.
It seems that this thing is a very rare kind of supplementary writing (literary work).
Chapter 64
Upon hearing this, Colin quickly stepped forward.
Lu Mingxiu whispered a few words, and Colin's expression changed.
It wasn't that the task was particularly difficult; as one of Lu Mingxiu's confidants, whether it was following Marquis Pingyuan through life and death on the battlefield or navigating the cutthroat world of officialdom after returning to the capital, despite Marquis Pingyuan's favor with the emperor, some things were unavoidable. His abilities were absolutely beyond question.
He just hadn't expected that the Marquis would assign him such a strange task.
Obeying orders is a must for soldiers. Since Lu Mingxiu has given the order, he has no choice but to carry it out and has no room for questioning.
Colin agreed and left, leaving Lu Mingxiu alone in the study.
As the sun set, the afterglow filtered through the carved window lattice, dappling the surface of the rosewood table covered with paper. Lu Mingxiu picked up his brush, dipped it in ink, and as he was about to put pen to paper, his usually fluid movements faltered. He hesitated for a moment, and then a drop of ink fell onto the snow-white letter.
Lu Mingxiu put down his pen and simply crumpled the ruined letter into a ball.
He got up and walked to the window, opened it, and stood with his hands behind his back. His tall and slender figure almost melted into the afterglow of the setting sun, and the warm light seemed to soften his cold and hard features.
He noticed Colin's question, not that he didn't want to explain, but that he didn't know where to begin.
He never imagined that he would fall for a young girl he had only met a few times. He had intended to give her a hint at the last time at the Marquis of Qingxiang's residence, but he didn't have a suitable opportunity and had to give up.
Although passing a note was easy for him, he didn't want to be abrupt with her. He also didn't want to give anyone leverage over him, because if it came to light later, it would always be the young girl who suffered.
At the Marquis of Qingxiang's residence, he begged the Marquis of Nanxiao for help to get out of the predicament. However, upon returning home, Lu Mingxiu found that he still couldn't let go of the matter. He then arranged for his capable subordinate, Ke Lin, to follow up on the matter and report any unusual developments to him.
I might as well help them all the way through.