Concubine Yun was someone who had navigated the inner court for over a decade, naturally able to see things. This young lady and the Madame were playing good cop, bad cop—this was not something they had disagreed on. But there were countless beautiful young women of suitable age; with a word about the Shi’an Gu family name, many would eagerly flock to them. Why did they insist on finding her unremarkable niece…
This matter seemed strange no matter how she looked at it.
However, this wasn’t something she needed to consider. From any perspective, this matter was all benefit and no harm to her. She wasn’t currently in favor, and her days weren’t easy. If she helped the young lady arrange this marriage, the Madame would certainly reward her, and the Second Master would treat her well. If anything happened in the future… the Gu family’s young lady would also lend her a hand in consideration of this matter.
Concubine Yun stood up and respectfully said, “Madame, Young Lady, please rest assured. Being a concubine in the Gu family is also this child’s good fortune. Why don’t I depart today and make a trip to Taihe County?”
She was obedient; Gu Jinchao nodded slightly to herself. If she wasn’t afraid that among this group of maids and servants, there might be people loyal to Concubine Song who would return early to give warning and allow Concubine Song to prepare, she would have preferred to go personally.
But with Matron Song accompanying, this trip should proceed without issues.
Ji Wu’shi went to the reception area of Sherxian Tower.
More than ten stewards and shopkeepers were already waiting there, each holding account books or land and field rental agreements. Accountant Mr. Zeng stood beside her grandmother, ready with an abacus. If any shopkeeper’s expenditure of silver was questionable, he could immediately verify it.
Seeing Gu Jinchao arrive, Mr. Zeng also smiled and greeted her.
Jinchao sat watching from the side as her grandmother dealt with these matters with clear and measured speech. No matter how complex or thorny the issue, her grandmother could always grasp the key point first and provide direction, allowing the senior stewards to quickly discuss and form opinions.
She remembered when she was young, her grandmother would handle affairs while she climbed into her lap making mischief, and even insisted on playing with the accountant’s abacus.
Mr. Zeng had passed the county-level examination in his early years, but after attempting the provincial examination several times without success, he simply relied on his exceptional abacus skills to work for the Ji family. He was also a favorite of her grandmother, earning several hundred taels monthly. His abacus was pure gold, yet little Jinchao would take it apart to play with like beads, and he wasn’t annoyed. After Jinchao finished playing, he would put each bead back one by one.
After the stewards withdrew, Ji Yao brought Ji Yun, Ji Can, and Gu Jinrong to pay respects to their grandmother.
Grandmother smiled and asked Gu Jinrong what he had done with his cousins last night.
Gu Jinrong smiled wryly, “…I played Go with my cousins. Unfortunately, no one could beat Second Cousin; his Go skills are truly formidable!”
Ji Yao smiled, “Just luck.”
A senior steward standing nearby laughed, “Don’t be fooled by our Second Young Master’s gentle demeanor; he has many clever strategies. Anyone who secretly offends the Second Young Master will certainly suffer for it!”
He spoke of Ji Yao’s early management of the Hangzhou silk shop: “…When our Second Young Master was managing the Hangzhou silk shop in Xianghe, there was a shop across the street specializing in Shu brocade. That shopkeeper saw our Second Young Master was young and easy to bully and repeatedly instructed his assistants to solicit customers outside our shop… Our Second Young Master wasn’t angry but returned and ordered the shop assistants to buy up all the woad in the market and store it in the warehouse… We were puzzled, but a few months later, the price of woad increased several times over, yet our Second Young Master remained unmoved, with no intention of selling.”
Gu Jinrong found it strange, “What is this woad used for? Why stockpile it?”
Ji Yao smiled and explained, “Woad is a blue dye. One precious type of Shu brocade, Blue Tai brocade, must be dyed with woad. At that time, Shu brocade merchants were coming to Tongzhou to sell goods. Sichuan doesn’t produce woad, so those merchants supplying Shu brocade must purchase this raw material when they come to Tongzhou.”
The steward continued, “Exactly so. Those who came to sell Shu brocade couldn’t find woad anywhere, and hearing that our Second Young Master had large stocks, they came begging to buy… Our Second Young Master agreed to sell to them. However, they needed to pay with Shu brocade of equal value. Those merchants could only give all their Shu brocade to our Second Young Master… Later, the shopkeeper across the street couldn’t find inventory, was anxious daily, and finally had to swallow his pride to apologize to our Second Young Master and beg him to sell Shu brocade.”
Ji Can patted Ji Yao’s arm, laughing, “I find it troublesome. Wasn’t the Shu brocade shipped to Tongzhou on our Ji family’s merchant vessels anyway? Second Brother only needed to give an order to the ship’s steward, and they would naturally offer up the Shu brocade. Why go to such trouble?”
Ji Yao thought for a moment: “That’s truly a good method!” Everyone burst into laughter.
Grandmother smiled, “Yao is quick-witted, suitable for such matters. Tomorrow is your eldest nephew’s first birthday ceremony. Why don’t you take your cousins to Baodi today to look around and buy some small toys for your eldest nephew.”
Gu Jinchao saw Ji Yao’s smile fade slightly, his eyelids lowering.
But he nodded in agreement, saying, “Going to Baodi now is good; it’s the time for the lantern festival, and Yucheng Ward should be especially lively.”
Gu Jinchao didn’t want to put him in a difficult position, and at this moment, she also didn’t want to go to Baodi. She was worried whether Concubine Yun could handle things properly.
She said to her grandmother, “…It’s cold, and a large group would have to endure the journey. Why don’t I keep you company in the warm room and talk? I want to spend more time with Grandmother!”
Ji Wu’shi had thought Jinchao might go outside to clear her mind, but seeing she wasn’t interested, naturally let it be.
Back at Qidong Pan, it had just started snowing. Ji Wu’shi looked at the increasingly heavy snow through the latticed window and said to Jinchao, “Fortunately we didn’t go, otherwise with such heavy snow, the carriages couldn’t return…”
Jinchao looked at the blazing stove fire, remembering when she used to live with Wan Su, and how she loved to make crab shell yellow pancakes by the stove. Back then, they didn’t have enough charcoal for winter, so this way they could both keep warm and make pancakes. She said to her grandmother, “Heavy snow has its advantages too; nothing beats eating hot pancakes! Why don’t I make some for you to try.”
Grandmother was somewhat curious, “When did my Jinchao learn these things? You used to refuse to even set foot in the kitchen.”
Jinchao smiled without answering, instructing Qing Pu to fetch proofed dough from the outer courtyard kitchen. She prepared preserved mustard greens in Qidong Pan’s small kitchen and chopped filling ingredients. After wrapping the pancakes, she placed them on a large blue-and-white porcelain plate and brought them back to the warm room.
Grandmother didn’t find Jinchao’s actions improper at all. Seeing her enter with a plate of pancakes, she smiled and helped lift the stove lid.
The pancakes were quickly placed inside, and soon the aroma began to spread.
Matron Song said from the side, “…Even I can smell how fragrant it is!”
The maids and servants all stared wide-eyed at the pot. None were skilled in cooking, and they had never seen pancakes baked in the warm room before; it was all new to them.
Jinchao held a pair of long jade bamboo chopsticks. After lifting the stove lid, the pancakes inside were already golden brown, with the sprinkled sesame seeds emitting a fragrant aroma. She picked up the pancakes and placed them on a plate, first serving her grandmother: “Please try and see how they are.”
She also distributed them to Matron Song, Qing Pu, Cai Fu, and the little maids standing outside.
Qing Pu had already witnessed Jinchao’s culinary skills, so naturally didn’t find it surprising. Cai Fu, however, was delighted: “They’re both flaky and fragrant, very delicious!”
Ji Wu’shi tried a piece; the pastry flaked layer by layer, melting into crumbs in the mouth, filled with the savory flavor of preserved mustard greens—the taste was indeed very good.
While the warm room was abuzz with activity, a servant announced from behind the curtain: “Madame, the Second Young Master, Third Young Master, Fourth Young Master, and young master cousin have arrived together.”
Ji Wu’shi smiled and said, “What perfect timing! Quickly invite them in!”
Ji Can lifted the curtain and entered first. “Grandmother, what smells so good here! I could smell it from far away.”
Ji Wu’shi pointed to the stove fire: “Your cousin baked crab shell yellow pancakes for us using the stove fire. Come try some; the taste is excellent!”
Everyone entered, and Ji Yao immediately noticed Gu Jinchao.
Jinchao was still leaning attentively by the stove, watching. The firelight cast a warm yellow glow on her face, her eyes clear as if pooled with spring water. Her dense eyelashes had a layer of faint yellow light surrounding them, making her appearance even more captivating. She wore a tea-white jacket with blue intertwining branch borders. As she tilted her head, one could see her neck skin as lustrous as jade, also emitting a faint glow…
Ji Yao quickly turned away, thinking that regardless of Gu Jinchao’s low character, her appearance was the most beautiful he had ever seen… He hadn’t noticed before, but now somehow she seemed even more enchanting…
Jinchao looked up at the group and smiled slightly: “This batch will be ready soon.” She lowered her head and continued baking the pancakes, completely focused.
“…We came to bring Grandmother sweet pear soup.” Ji Yao put down the food box he was carrying. “After showing Cousin Rong around the manor, we dug some frozen pears from the cellar and had the kitchen prepare it for you.”
Ji Wu’shi was very pleased: “Today everyone wants to bring me food.”
Jinchao finished baking this batch of pancakes, but the young men were about to take their leave. Great Uncle was calling them to meet a renowned scholar from Tongzhou to discuss essay writing. Jinchao had Qing Pu find a food box to pack this batch of pancakes for them to take back and eat.
She went in with one food box and came out with another. Ji Can eagerly pick one out to eat: “It smells really good. I didn’t expect cousin to have such skill.”
Ji Yun shook his head, disapproving of Ji Can: “Look at you, truly a glutton… But Gu cousin is indeed an interesting person, actually baking pancakes in the warm room, with even the maids and servants getting to eat!”
Ji Can laughed heartily: “As long as I get to taste something delicious, I don’t care about that!”
Ji Yao smiled, “If you dared to bake pancakes in the warm room, Grandmother would punish you to kneel in the ancestral hall for several days.”
Gu Jinrong, however, remained silent.
He was thinking of that plate of cloud-pattern sesame leaf pastries.
Seeing her so focused on baking pancakes today, he remembered that day when Gu Jinchao had made pastries only for him. But he had only questioned her about Qing Pu’s matter; would she have been disappointed then, her carefully prepared treats wasted…
When he looked at Gu Jinchao, he felt she wasn’t the kind of person Gu Lan described, yet the facts were just as Gu Lan had said…
Gu Jinrong pondered for a long time, staring at the heavy snow alone at night.
Qing Xiu came to call him to sleep, and he asked, “Qing Xiu, tell me, can you judge a person’s good or bad from their appearance…”
Qing Xiu thought for a moment: “This servant feels that bad people don’t have words written on their faces; perhaps those with kind faces often have the most vicious hearts. Don’t they say that when traveling the jianghu, one should be most wary of the elderly, children, and monks?”
Gu Jinrong nodded thoughtfully.