The next day was still fine weather. It seemed as though all the rain and snow in Jiankang had been left in the old year. Once the New Year passed, there were consecutive days of warm sunshine. Today was the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, and whether in the south or north of the Yangtze River, there was the custom of viewing lanterns during the Lantern Festival. This lantern-lighting custom was related to the flourishing of Buddhism. Due to Buddhism spreading eastward and deeply influencing Jiangzuo, lighting lanterns to offer to Buddha became a folk custom. Every Lantern Festival, Buddhist lanterns spread throughout the common people, making it an extremely lively celebration. Only after this festival could the year truly be considered over.
Very early this day, Qi Ning and Qi Le came together to their second brother’s villa. When they entered, Qi Ying hadn’t yet had time for his morning meal.
These two had recently been confined by their father and eldest brother to study, making their days uncomfortable. Today their father finally relented and allowed them to come to their second brother’s villa for some fresh air. How could this not make them feel deeply happy? As soon as they arrived, they first strolled around the garden. Even in the dead of winter, both worked up a sweat before running into the main house’s flower hall to mooch a meal from their second brother.
Although Qi Ying had heard from Qi Le a few days ago that they would come to Fenghe Garden today, he hadn’t expected them to arrive so early—early enough to mooch breakfast.
Qi Ying glanced at his two younger brothers and asked, “Isn’t eldest brother coming today?”
“Eldest brother needs to accompany sister-in-law back to her maiden home during the day. He said he’d come join us after nightfall,” Qi Ning answered, “holding Hui’er together to go see the lanterns on the street.”
Qi Ying hummed in acknowledgment and asked again, “Are uncle-in-law and aunt also coming today?”
Qi Le picked up the conversation, answering, “Coming, coming, they’ll come later.”
Qi Ying nodded and walked to sit at the round table in the flower hall to prepare for his morning meal. Qi Ning and Qi Le also followed to join him. Qi Ying had Qing Zhu instruct the kitchen to prepare two more breakfast portions, and Qing Zhu received the order and went to prepare.
The two young masters came suddenly, but preparing the meal could not be done carelessly. Qing Zhu had always been capable in handling affairs, but being caught off guard made him somewhat flustered. When he directed the maidservants to serve breakfast to the three young masters, he actually failed to notice that only Qi Ying’s meal had one extra cup compared to the others.
It was Qi Le with his sharp eyes who discovered this matter, saying in surprise, “Huh? What’s that cup for second brother? Why don’t third brother and I have one?”
It was an extremely ordinary porcelain cup with a lid. Mixed among the many bowls and dishes, Qi Ying hadn’t noticed it either. Only after Qi Le mentioned it did he see it. Opening it, he found a bowl of steaming egg custard.
Egg custard was merely an ordinary thing, nothing rare. But when the lid of this cup of egg custard was lifted, there was an extremely fragrant and glutinous aroma, smelling much more enticing than ordinary egg custard. Qi Ning was hooked by this aroma, his appetite greatly stirred, and he joked, “Second brother is being too stingy—not even sharing a bowl of egg custard with fourth brother and me?”
Qi Ying usually ate light and simple meals. His food consisted of just a few types, and he had never had this kind of egg custard before. He glanced at Qing Zhu with questioning eyes. Qing Zhu was so anxious that sweat appeared on his forehead. He also didn’t know where this egg custard came from and was annoyed with himself for letting something of unknown origin onto the young master’s dining table, feeling quite self-reproachful.
Qi Ying didn’t blame him, only saying, “Go ask who made this egg custard and add some for the two young masters as well.”
Qing Zhu bowed in acknowledgment and hurriedly went down to investigate.
After making inquiries all around, neither the kitchen cooks nor the maids knew the origin of this egg custard. Only when he asked a little maid named Zijun did he finally get to the bottom of it.
This Zijun was a maid responsible for purchasing and preparing food ingredients in the kitchen, always the first to start work each day. But before starting work today, she had encountered Shen Xiling at the kitchen door. The young girl had been waiting there early just to find her. Zijun had only met Shen Xiling once before—that meeting at the door of Wangshi the previous night. They had only exchanged a few words, so she really couldn’t understand why she had sought her out. When she asked, the young girl said she wanted to borrow the stove to make a bowl of egg custard.
This was a small matter. Zijun was straightforward and agreed without hesitation.
She saw that although the young girl wasn’t old, she was skilled around the stove. The egg custard she made had an enticing color. She added some milk and laid a layer of tender tofu at the bottom of the bowl. After sprinkling chopped scallions, the aroma was overwhelming, making Zijun’s mouth water.
But after making it, she didn’t take the egg custard away. Zijun found this strange and asked her why. The young girl lowered her head and answered somewhat hesitantly, “This isn’t made for myself… This is for Second Young Master.”
Zijun was somewhat surprised to hear this.
She wasn’t very familiar with this young girl. She had only heard people say she was brought back by Brother Bai before the New Year. The young master initially didn’t favor her, and only after seeing her kneeling at the gate for so long she nearly froze to death did he have someone save her. Brother Bai even took a beating for her. The servants privately spread rumors that this little maid of unknown surname was Bai Song’s relative, and the young master gave Bai Song some face, which was why he later reluctantly assigned Yi Xiang to care for her, but sooner or later she would be sent away. However, Liuzi from the gatehouse said otherwise, claiming he personally saw the young master rush back to Fenghe Garden from the main family residence on New Year’s Eve for this young girl, and even swore he had personally seen the young master coaxing this young girl to take medicine, though no one believed him.
Zijun hadn’t gossiped much with others. She just thought this young girl was beautiful—more beautiful than any New Year picture doll she had ever seen. Because of her beauty, she quite liked her.
Although she had a favorable impression of this little maid, she didn’t dare casually send her egg custard to the young master’s table, feeling truly troubled. Seeing her hesitation, the young girl pressed her lips together and tentatively said, “Sister Zijun, do you think this would work? You help me send up this egg custard. If the young master doesn’t ask about it, that would be best. If he asks and thinks it’s good, you can say you added it. If the young master thinks it’s not good, then say I made it—would that work?”
Zijun was still undecided. The young girl’s slender fingers twisted together as she said softly, “The young master was unwell last night and also drank alcohol. This egg custard is nourishing and can relieve the effects of alcohol. I truly have no bad intentions—I just want to repay the young master’s life-saving grace…”
Seeing her sincerity, and that such a small person didn’t know what she had experienced before, completely lacking the childish willfulness of children, being careful and polite in her words, Zijun liked her even more. She also thought that she hadn’t even heard that the young master was unwell, yet this little maid knew about it, suggesting she must have some closeness with the young master. Sending up the egg custard she made probably wouldn’t cause any major trouble.
Zijun steeled her heart and nodded in agreement. The young girl was very grateful. Just as people from the kitchen arrived, she needed to quickly escape. Zijun suddenly remembered she hadn’t asked the little maid’s name yet and quickly called her back to ask her surname. The young girl was stunned for a moment, pressed her lips together, and answered, “…I’m called Fang Jun.”
Zijun thought this name sounded quite nice, but also felt it wasn’t quite worthy of her. She just smiled at her and nodded, then saw the young girl run off like a puff of smoke.
Today, unexpectedly, Third Young Master and Fourth Young Master suddenly visited, causing chaos in the kitchen. Zijun seized an opportunity to slip the egg custard in, then remained anxious and fearful, secretly regretting her decision. Soon enough, Qing Zhu entered the kitchen with an ugly expression and began interrogating about the origin of the egg custard. Seeing this, Zijun thought to herself that things had gone wrong—the egg custard had indeed caused trouble. When Qing Zhu’s questioning reached her, she couldn’t hold firm and gave the person away, telling Qing Zhu that the egg custard was made by the young girl called Fang Jun.
Qing Zhu’s expression had already been poor, but upon hearing the name “Fang Jun,” he first froze, then his expression became even uglier. Although he was young, he had always served at the young master’s side and was mature beyond his years. Most of the servants were somewhat afraid of him. Seeing his expression turn so dark, Zijun felt even more frightened, not knowing what trouble she had gotten into. However, Qing Zhu didn’t say much in the end. He just had the kitchen cook make two more cups of egg custard with an iron-blue expression, then hurriedly left without really punishing Zijun. Zijun felt like she had survived a disaster and was very relieved. After recovering, she couldn’t help but wonder what kind of divine being that little maid called Fang Jun was to make Qing Zhu so angry.
Here in the flower hall, when the two newly made cups of egg custard were brought up, the three young masters were halfway through their meal, but Third Young Master and Fourth Young Master were still very supportive. Second brother’s egg custard was fragrant and enticing, making their mouths water as they watched enviously from the side for a long time. Finally, their own arrived, and they quickly had the servants lift the lids.
The egg custard in the cups had a beautiful color and was also fragrant, but Third Young Master and Fourth Young Master looked at each other and felt it wasn’t quite the same as second brother’s cup. Looking carefully, their bowls had plum meat sauce added, while second brother’s cup didn’t, showing they were indeed different.
Qi Le couldn’t help but complain to his second brother, saying, “What’s with this sleight of hand? It’s clearly not the same as second brother’s.”
Qi Ying looked at Qing Zhu. Qing Zhu pressed his lips together, not knowing how to speak. Qi Ying raised an eyebrow and asked, “What is it?”
Seeing that the young master had asked this way, Qing Zhu had no choice but to bite the bullet and answer, “Third Young Master’s and Fourth Young Master’s egg custard was made by the kitchen cook. Young master’s cup was… was made by Miss Fang.”
Qi Ying was stunned and looked down at the cup of egg custard.
This was made by Shen Xiling.
His stomach pain had recently become commonplace. It was just that yesterday, because he had drunk alcohol, it was particularly uncomfortable. He hadn’t taken it seriously himself. Yesterday he had also stayed up until late at night before sleeping. When he woke up this morning, his stomach pain had become somewhat more severe again. Before his two brothers came, he had just taken medicine. He didn’t know why Shen Xiling had made egg custard for him today—perhaps Qing Zhu or Bai Song had told her something.
Qi Ying picked up the spoon and scooped another spoonful of egg custard into his mouth. It had a light tofu fragrance and milk fragrance, with just the right amount of lightness and sweetness. After entering his stomach, it warmed him in a gentle, soothing way, making him feel a faint sense of comfort. A trace of amusement flashed in Qi Ying’s eyes as he thought that although the little girl was so careless she could fall asleep outdoors in the dead of winter, her cooking skills were unexpectedly excellent.
At least, it very much suited his taste.
Here, Qi Ning sensed something was off and pursued Qing Zhu’s words, asking, “Miss Fang? Which Miss Fang? I haven’t heard of any family surnamed Fang in Jiankang—could it be that second brother is hiding someone in this Fenghe Garden?”
Qi Ning was sixteen this year, right at the age when he was interested in and sensitive about matters between men and women. Hearing Qing Zhu’s words, he immediately sensed there was something fishy. He thought, that’s right—second brother must be hiding someone in his villa. Otherwise, why would he often stay overnight here? Even when their legitimate mother urged him to stay, he still rarely spent nights at the main residence. The more he thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed. What kind of person was his second brother? In Jiankang City, from imperial princesses above to daughters of aristocratic families below, which family’s daughter didn’t want to marry him? His second brother had already had his coming-of-age ceremony, yet to this day there was not only no legitimate wife by his side, but not even a concubine or bed-warmer. How was this normal? Now it finally made sense—he was keeping a beauty in a golden house at Fenghe Garden.
Qi Ning felt he had glimpsed heavenly secrets and was eager to definitely see the true face of this Miss Fang today. But his second brother’s expression remained composed, and he even gave him a cool glance that immediately extinguished the flame of curiosity in his heart. Qi Ning firmly believed that if he persisted in pursuing this matter now, his second brother would definitely find a way to lock him in the study at home until next year’s Lantern Festival.
Beside them, the younger Qi Le was still somewhat confused, asking, “Hiding someone? Hiding what person?”
Qi Ning secretly glanced at his second brother and saw him calmly and methodically scooping up another spoonful of egg custard, not even casting a sidelong glance toward Qi Le. Qi Le was still chattering, so Qi Ning slapped the back of his head and said, “Just eat your food, fool.”
Author’s Note: At this time, Shen Xiling didn’t expect that ten years later, it would be Qi Jingchen sending her egg custard instead (and just as sneakily as she was doing now).