There were no other things scheduled for her today. After lunch, she took a stroll around the mansion to digest her food and then decided to rest for a while.
“You…you sleep by yourself,” Yun Lie forced himself to suppress his restless ambition and made this difficult decision, “otherwise I’m afraid you won’t be able to sleep at all.”
"Oh," Luo Cui smiled, her face flushed, as if afraid he would change his mind, and hurriedly went into the bedroom alone, "Then I'll sleep for half an hour."
In recent years, she has not often left Beijing. When she is at home, her daily routine is relatively regular. She doesn't need anyone to wake her up for her midday nap and wakes up on time after half an hour.
After she finished washing up and left her bedchamber, a maid told her that Yun Lie was in the study in the back hall, so she walked unsteadily toward the study with her hands behind her back.
As a result, he ran into Xiong Xiaoyi, whom he hadn't seen for many days, in the corridor leading to the study.
They were old acquaintances, so there was no need for formalities or small talk.
After exchanging greetings, Xiong Xiaoyi cautiously looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping before lowering his voice to say to Luo Cuiwei, "His Highness will treat you very well."
Luo Cuiwei didn't understand why such a simple sentence had to be said in such a mysterious, low voice. "I think so."
“We’ll be leaving right after midnight tomorrow,” Xiong Xiaoyi said seriously, as if asking for her help. “While he’s away from the capital, you’ll have to take care of many things, which will be very hard on you. But please be patient and wait for his return. Don’t listen to any sweet talk from others…”
"What 'other people'?" Luo Cuiwei was completely confused. "What kind of sweet talk is this?"
Seeing that she seemed completely unaware, Xiong Xiaoyi pondered for a while before deciding to reveal a little something to her: "'Some people' always like to steal things from His Highness."
"Huh?" Luo Cuiwei pointed to herself, "Brother Xiong, you mean, I'm Dong..."
Ugh, how can I say that? I can't exactly say I'm a worthless person.
"What exactly happened?" Luo Cuiwei frowned and looked at him. "I'm completely confused."
"Forget it, just ask him yourself," Xiong Xiaoyi scratched his head, a hint of indignation on his dark face. "Anyway, if anyone speaks ill of His Highness to you in the future, don't believe them! If anyone tries to trick you into remarrying, don't fall for it!"
Luo Cuiwei wanted to hit someone after hearing that.
If she hadn't known she couldn't beat this bear, she would have loved to pick up a rock and smash it into a pancake.
"My friend, the prince you're talking about and I are newlyweds. Can you please not provoke us?"
****
Luo Cuiwei had just reached the study door when the door opened first.
“I thought you overslept,” Yun Lie said with a smile, pulling her inside. “I was just about to go and wake you.”
Upon entering, Luo Cuiwei saw five large ice chests displayed on a long, narrow table under the window. She looked at Yun Lie with a puzzled expression.
"It's only early spring, and it's not hot yet. Why did you take out the ice chest?"
“The ice chest is naturally used to store things,” Yun Lie turned her head and hugged her from behind as they walked towards the desk. “Never mind the ice chest, look at this first.”
On the table was an exquisite pastry box. Luo Cuiwei's eyes flashed, and she turned her head with a smile, saying, "It's really rare that you know how to sneak off to Sanheju to buy pastries to coax people."
That's the unique pastry box from Sanheju.
Sanheju is a famous pastry shop in Beijing. It is a time-honored brand with hundreds of years of history. It produces a wide variety of pastries with unique flavors, which even the chef of the Luo family cannot compare to.
How stupid do you think I am?
Yun Lie smiled and reached out from her side to open the box of pastries for her.
When Luo Cuiwei saw the appearance of the pastries in the box, she was so shocked that she was stunned.
"Jade Rabbit Snowflake Cake..." Luo Cuiwei looked at Yun Lie incredulously, then pointed to the five ice chests on the long flower table, "Are they all in there?"
"Ten boxes." Yun Lie successfully presented his treasure, pursing his lips and raising his chin with pride.
"Jade Rabbit Snowflake Cake" is the signature product of Sanheju. Although the main ingredients are milk, chestnut flour, maltose, etc., it also has an ancestral secret recipe. It is made into the shape of a rabbit using a mold and rolled in a layer of coconut flakes. It looks fluffy and tastes sweet and soft. It is a weapon to win over little girls and naughty children.
Although Sanheju offers a wide variety of pastries, only the "Jade Rabbit Snowflake Cake" is made in a limited quantity of 300 boxes per day, and each customer is only allowed to buy one box, making it all the more rare and sought-after.
The long queues that form at the entrance of Sanheju before dawn every day are almost all for "this Jade Rabbit Snowflake Cake".
"It's already afternoon, where did you buy them?" Luo Cuiwei was extremely surprised. "You managed to buy ten boxes in one go?! Did you have everyone in the manor line up this morning?"
Yun Lie glanced at her indifferently: "There was no queue."
“Oh,” Luo Cuiwei murmured blankly, “was it bought by force through the power of ‘Prince Zhao’?”
Yun Lie's dark eyes held a hint of disdain: "Do you think I'm such an unreasonable person?"
Perhaps you are. Luo Cuiwei's eyes seemed to say something.
“Just an hour ago, I sent Xiong Xiaoyi with a few masked men to Sanheju,” Yun Lie said reluctantly, pursing his lips, “and put a knife to the neck of the owner of Sanheju.”
They forced them to sell ten boxes in one go, and they were freshly made.
Luo Cuiwei closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Did you pay?"
"Of course I gave it to them, they weren't real robbers." Yun Lie was extremely incredulous.
“This stuff isn’t cheap,” Luo Cuiwei turned around with mixed feelings, raised her hand to pinch his chin, and sighed softly, both amused and annoyed. “If you just give me one box, I’ll be very happy.”
Now I know why Prince Zhao's mansion is so poor; they have no idea how to manage their finances.
Amid her soft gasp, Yun Lie picked her up and placed her on the edge of the table, so that she could look down at him from a slightly elevated position.
His dark, unfathomable eyes flashed with apology, and perhaps also with a tenderness he himself was unaware of.
“I don’t know what you like,” he said, his voice sounding troubled. “I’ve heard that a lot of girls like this thing, so I thought I’d give it to you.”