So the Princess was staring so intently because she was thinking about how to cook them?

For a moment, Zhenzhu was startled and found it somewhat amusing, even feeling that this side of the Princess was particularly endearing. “This servant will take them to Ziyu right away.”

“After they’re prepared, remember to send half to the Eastern Palace,” Shen Xihe couldn’t help but instruct.

Zhenzhu could barely contain her smile, deciding to deliver it personally as she wanted to see the Crown Prince’s reaction.

Wild geese were essential items in engagement gifts for noble families. Of course, not everyone could capture wild geese themselves, and those who couldn’t would ask others to catch a pair just for appearance’s sake.

Wild geese couldn’t be domesticated, so naturally they couldn’t be kept, and usually ended up as dishes. However, for a bride-to-be to personally specify how to cook them and provide cooking instructions was truly unprecedented.

After Shen Yueshan reviewed the engagement gifts, he felt somewhat melancholic, as it meant his daughter was one step closer to marriage. When he returned to the inner courtyard with a dejected expression, he was greeted by Biyu, who bowed and said, “Your Highness, the Princess requests your presence to taste some soup.”

Even the prospect of his daughter’s delicacies couldn’t lift his spirits. Though unenthusiastic, Shen Yueshan still went to the inner courtyard. As he sat at the table, Shen Xihe placed the prepared wild goose soup before him, while others served sliced roasted wild goose meat. “Father, please try it. How does it compare to the wild geese from our Northwest?”

Shen Yueshan’s tiger-like eyes suddenly brightened as he turned to look at Shen Xihe. “Wild geese?”

Pressing her lips together in a smile, she nodded: “Wild geese, two of them.”

The source of the wild geese, and there being two of them, went without saying. Shen Yueshan’s gloom instantly vanished, and his hearty laughter immediately filled the small courtyard as he began to eat with great relish.

“Mmm, the soup is rich and the meat is fragrant…” he commented while eating.

Shen Xihe sat beside him, watching her father’s face light up with joy, and couldn’t help but smile herself. She knew that seeing the engagement gifts today had made him melancholic, and even though he had long accepted the fact that his daughter would marry, he still felt sad about it. That’s why she had done this to cheer him up.

Whether it was the magical effect of eating the wild geese sent by his future son-in-law or something else, Shen Yueshan chose to selectively forget about his daughter’s impending marriage and remained cheerful for the entire day.

Unlike Shen Yueshan’s delight, when Xiao Huayong heard that a food box had been sent from the Princess’s mansion, he was initially overjoyed. However, when the platter of roasted meat was served, beautifully arranged with the goose wings and head still intact, he felt something was amiss no matter how he looked at it.

“Tianyuan, come look, what kind of roasted meat is this?” Xiao Huayong could hardly believe it. The wild geese he had sent had only been gone for one morning, and they had already become a dish.

Tianyuan shrank his neck. He and Xiao Huayong had wandered for many years and had eaten virtually everything edible in the world, including roasted wild goose. He recognized it at a glance but didn’t dare say so.

“Your Highness, Miss Zhenzhu is still waiting outside. This servant’s eyes are poor, perhaps we should ask Miss Zhenzhu to come in and explain?” Tianyuan promptly deflected.

Xiao Huayong gave him a cool look: “Invite her in.”

Zhenzhu entered with a formal bow: “This servant pays respects to Your Highness…”

“Rise,” Xiao Huayong impatiently interrupted her and asked, “What kind of roasted meat is this?”

“In response to Your Highness, this is roasted wild goose meat,” Zhenzhu answered truthfully.

Xiao Huayong’s face immediately stiffened. He had recognized it already but hadn’t wanted to believe it. Even after hearing Zhenzhu’s words, he still held onto a glimmer of hope: “Where did these geese come from?”

“They’re from the engagement gifts Your Highness sent this morning.” Zhenzhu completely shattered Xiao Huayong’s last hope.

For a moment, Xiao Huayong was speechless, unsure what expression to wear or what to say.

Zhenzhu boldly snuck a glance up and saw the Crown Prince staring blankly at the plate of roasted wild goose, his expression rather pitying. Just when she thought Xiao Huayong was about to say something, the Crown Prince unexpectedly picked up his chopsticks and began eating.

As soon as the meat touched his mouth, he nodded with a light “mm,” his face brightening with pleasure from the delicious food. The more he ate, the more fragrant it became, causing Tianyuan to swallow repeatedly as he stood to the side. This wild goose was different from what they had eaten before, with an increasingly rich aroma.

Zhenzhu could smell it too, but having tasted Ziyu’s cooking before, she maintained her composure. She poured Xiao Huayong a bowl of soup to accompany his meal, which he ate with great satisfaction.

When Xiao Huayong reached the wing, he discovered that its skin had been cut open. Using his chopsticks to probe the opening, he pulled out a small bamboo tube. Opening it revealed a small rolled paper, which, when unfolded, showed Shen Xihe’s handwriting:

“The wild geese cry at dawn’s first light. As a gentleman takes a wife before the ice has thawed.”

This explained the custom of wild geese as engagement gifts. Xiao Huayong couldn’t help but smile as he held the paper.

He didn’t even finish the remaining food, casually wiping his hands before standing and walking to his study. He wrote a letter in return and gave it to Zhenzhu: “A message carried by wild geese – I’ve received the geese, please deliver this letter to Youyou for me.”

After Zhenzhu accepted the letter and bowed, she left the Eastern Palace.

Shen Xihe had just finished cheering up Shen Yueshan when Zhenzhu returned with Xiao Huayong’s letter, which contained a story about wild geese.

The reason wild geese became engagement gifts was because they were among the most devoted of birds. They mate in pairs, and if one loses its partner, the remaining goose will remain faithful for life, never seeking another mate – representing eternal partnership.

Many people sent geese as engagement gifts, yet none had ever explored the true meaning behind the wild geese.

It was not merely a symbol of status and face, but rather a pair of geese represented a promise of faithfulness. Laughably, many people sent geese merely as a formality.

From the tale of Pan and Yang to the story of the wild geese, he was tirelessly expressing to her that she alone was enough for his lifetime.

Even Shen Xihe’s iron heart had its moments of softening. She carefully put away the letter.

Zhenzhu noticed that the Princess had finally treasured something sent by the Crown Prince. Previously, similar items or ordinary letters that weren’t specifically given as gifts were casually disposed of.

For a long period afterward, Shen Xihe and Xiao Huayong communicated only through letters. As the wedding date approached, they couldn’t meet in person due to customs, which said that meeting before the wedding was highly inauspicious. Shen Xihe, who believed in neither Buddhism nor Daoism, scoffed at this.

But Xiao Huayong was exceptionally concerned about it. The saying goes that meeting before marriage meant not meeting after marriage.

He was so nervous about this marriage that he preferred to believe it than not, carefully following every step of protocol. This was probably the most rule-abiding Shen Xihe had ever seen Xiao Huayong.

In the second month, the wedding preparations were in full swing. One day, for unknown reasons, Princess Yaoxi and Prince Li Xiao Changying got into an argument, and she was accidentally pushed into the palace lotus pond, which happened to be witnessed by Emperor Youning.

Later, news came that Prince Li was punished with twenty strokes by Emperor Youning, and the next day, Emperor Youning issued an edict conferring the title of Noble Consort Shu upon Princess Yaoxi. She became one of the four consorts and the only concubine with an honorary title.

Princess Yaoxi became Emperor Youning’s first foreign consort, entering the inner palace in mid-second month, and was reportedly greatly favored.