Chapter 280 – Rare And Exquisite Pastry
In the study, Wei Luowen’s eyes fell on Wei Yuewu. His expression was complicated. This was the daughter she had risked her life to give birth to for him. How could he not cherish her! Nevertheless, he had no choice but to do so. He had no choice but to ignore her existence…
“Father!” Seeing that Wei Luowen did not speak for a long time, Wei Yuewu called out softly.
Wei Luowen suddenly woke up and coughed softly. “I heard that you are going to the imperial palace accompany the Third Princess to pray?”
“Yes, a decree has already been issued before. Originally, Third Elder Sister was also going. But today, when we entered the palace, grandmother said that if the four of us were all selected, the honor would be too great for the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang. Therefore, she asked the Empress Dowager to keep only two.” Wei Yuewu specifically mentioned Wei Yuejiao.
“It has nothing to do with your Third Elder Sister.” Looking at Wei Yuewu’s slightly cautious gaze, Wei Luowen felt a wave of sorrow in his heart. He clenched the hand that had been placed on the side, and only after a long while did he slowly loosen it. “When you are in the palace, be careful. The palace is not the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang, and there are many things that are out of your reach. Also…”
Wei Luowen paused for a moment. “As for the Empress, don’t disturb her for no reason. In the past, when your mother was alive, the Empress didn’t like her!”
His words of concern were more direct than what the Madam Dowager had said in her courtyard just now. Wei Yuewu was shocked.
Could it be that Empress Tu, the birth mother of the Crown Prince, was related to mother in some way? Then what about the Crown Prince?
After the matter of her entering the palace was settled, not only did the Madam Dowager implicitly ask her not to get too close to the Empress, but even her father had specially called her over to give her the same suggestions. Wei Yuewu would never believe it was merely a coincidence.
“Father, did the Empress and my mother know each other?” Wei Yuewu’s face was full of surprise. Her long eyelashes fluttered twice, and her clear eyes carried the curiosity of an innocent young daughter. However, this kind of gaze made Wei Luowen feel even more uncomfortable.
Suppressing the sorrow in his heart, Wei Luowen answered, “They don’t know each other, but your mother went into the palace to see the Empress a few times.”
“Then why did the Empress dislike my mother if they were not familiar with each other at all?” Wei Yuewu continued to ask. She had seen Empress Tu several times and did not find anything unusual.
Moreover, when the wives of high-ranking officials had an audience with the Empress, they only greeted and spoke to her as per the etiquette. There were so many ladies, and Empress Tu might not have time to speak with Marquise Hua Yang. How come the Empress disliked her? Moreover, judging from what the Madam Dowager and her father had said, this kind of dislike was likely to continue and target her.
Although Wei Yuewu was not clear about Empress Tu’s character, as the Empress of a country, she didn’t lack the necessary magnanimity. It was impossible for her to dislike the daughter of an official simply because she disliked his wife. There must be something that she did not know about.
Moreover, it was impossible for a person like her father to seriously mention the Empress.
“What if the Empress wants me to go over and see her?” Wei Yuewu asked tentatively.
“She won’t!” Wei Luowen shook his head and said.
“But…” Wei Yuewu refused to give up and wanted to ask more, but she was interrupted by Wei Luowen. “Yuewu, you just need to do your best to accompany the Third Princess. Don’t cause any trouble. The Empress is the noblest woman in the country. Even if she doesn’t like your mother, she won’t do anything to you!” Wei Luowen’s words became increasingly vaguer, and even slightly contradicted what he had said before, which made Wei Yuewu more confused.
But this also showed that Wei Luowen had become cautious!
“Yes, father!” Wei Yuewu knew that it was impossible to obtain any useful information from Wei Luowen at this time. She changed the topic and her eyes fell on a bowl of sweet soup and a few pieces of delicate pastry in front of Wei Luowen. “Father, is this pastry made by Concubine Dong? Concubine Dong is really clever and can make such delicate and beautiful pastry.”
“The pastry made by Concubine Dong is really nice. Yuewu, try it!” Wei Luowen saw that Wei Yuewu’s eyes were happily landed on the pastry. He smiled and pushed the plate of pastry to Wei Yuewu. “But this is the first time I have seen Concubine Dong make such exquisite pastry.”
“Hasn’t Concubine Dong made such exquisite pastry before?” Wei Yuewu’s heart skipped a beat. She reached out to take a piece of pastry and asked as if casually.
Such exquisite pastry was indeed hard to see. When Wei Yuewu was in the imperial palace, she noticed the pastry in Empress Dowager’s palace. However, it was still a little inferior compared with the pastry in front of her. In other words, the pastry that Concubine Dong made was actually better than the pastry made by the cooks in Empress Dowager’s palace?
This was really hard for Wei Yuewu to believe.
She picked up the pastry and took a bite. It was extremely fragrant. Apparently, the pastry was not inferior to the ones made in the palace in terms of both appearance and taste.
Concubine Dong’s cooking skills were actually so good?
“Concubine Dong has been living with me at the border. How can there be any exquisite pastry at the border? This should be what she learned to make after returning to the capital!” Seeing Wei Yuewu was so impressed by the pastry, Wei Luowen couldn’t help but take a few more glances at it. Although he had seen it before, he didn’t take it seriously.
“This seems to be made with the help of a mold. There’s actually such a delicate mold!” Seeing the several pieces of pastry that were exactly the same, Wei Yuewu could not hide the joy in her eyes. It was obvious that she really liked the pastry.
“Ask Concubine Dong later where her mold is. If you like it, you can borrow it from her!” Wei Luowen said casually. He didn’t care about the pastry at all.
“Then I’ll go find Concubine Dong in a while!” Wei Yuewu covered her mouth and smiled.
Seeing that Wei Yuewu really liked the pastry, Wei Luowen could not help but reveal a smile and suggest, “Well, how about letting my lad servant go and get it for you now?”
“That’s good. Thank you so much, father!” Wei Yuewu put down the pastry in her hand, stood up, bowed towards Wei Luowu, and said with a smile.
Seeing his innocent and lovely daughter’s carefree expression, Wei Luowen felt inexplicably sour. He waved his hand and ordered the lad servant beside him, “Go to Concubine Dong’s place and bring the pastry mold over. Tell her that the Sixth Young Lady likes it! Take the mold here and then send it to the Sixth Young Lady’s courtyard.”
“Yes!” The lad servant answered and retreated.
“Father, how many times has Concubine Dong made this kind of pastry?” Wei Yuewu sat down again. She took another bite of the pastry and praised, “It’s really delicious!”
“If you like it, then take it with you!” Wei Luowen laughed.
“Oh, father, then I really won’t be polite.” There was some crumbs hanging on the corner of Wei Yuewu’s mouth, but she seemed to be eating happily. Seeing his little daughter was so happy, Wei Luowen’s gloomy mood also improved a little, and his eyes were filled with unconcealable tenderness.
“There’s no need to be polite with your father. But you have to go to the kitchen in a while and take a few plates of pastry for me to treat my guest.” Wei Luowen laughed.
“Father, is there a guest coming?” Wei Yuewu put down the pastry in her hand, wiped her hands with a handkerchief, and asked curiously.
Ever since Wei Luowen returned to the mansion, he hadn’t received any guest. It was said that he was scheduled to have an audience with the Emperor. He had been staying in the mansion to recuperate. Everyone in the mansion knew that no matter who came, he would not see them.
He was supposed to receive guests only after meeting the Emperor.
“Yes, a special guest is coming.” Wei Luowen smiled and nodded.
“What kind of guest is so special?” Wei Yuewu looked puzzled. “Father, how about I accompanying you to meet the guest in a while? I want to see what kind of special guest he is that even you treat him differently.”
Seeing that Wei Yuewu had completely abandoned her usual cold image, Wei Luowen felt much better. He reached out and caressed Wei Yuewu in the head. “It’s not a different treatment. He has been father’s friend for many years. He happens to be in the capital and therefore we meet today!”
Well, the relationship between this guest and father must be very unusual. Otherwise, father would not see him at this time. And Concubine Dong’s pastry happened to appear on father’s desk. Whoever saw the pastry would be attracted.
Plus the complacent look on Concubine Dong’s face just now, from whichever perspective, this matter was not as simple as it seemed on the surface.
Fortunately, this pastry now belonged to her!
“What kind of good friend is he, father?” Wei Yuewu looked like she was really interested in this guest.
“He was born in an aristocratic family and went through a lot of hardships. But now, things have changed!” Wei Luowen sighed. He thought of his good friend and sighed about his fate.
“What’s wrong, father? Did something happen to this person?” Wei Yue became even more curious.
“There are indeed some things, but they are all bygones. Whichever aristocratic family doesn’t experience some difficulties?” Wei Luowen did not want Wei Yuewu to get involved in such a political battle, so he only said half of the sentence.
Wei Yuewu knew that was as much as Wei Luowen would like to say, so she smiled and asked for leave.
Since the guest was coming soon, Wei Luowen did not keep Wei Yuewu. He let Shufei take the pastry for her.
Wei Yuewu came out of the study with Shufei but did not go away. Instead, she rested at an artificial hill outside the courtyard. The artificial hill was not big, but it was big enough for the two of them to stand there without being found.
When Shufei noticed that Wei Yuewu kept saying that she liked the pastry in the study, she had already found out something unusual. She looked at the pastry in her hand and asked, “Miss, is there something wrong with the pastry?”
“No problem, it’s very delicate. Have you seen it at grandmother’s place?” Wei Yuewu smiled slightly, the corners of her lips curving up.
“No. The Madam Dowager likes this kind of delicate pastry the most, but I definitely have not seen it at the Madam Dowager’s place!” Shufei carefully looked at the pastry in her hand and shook her head with certainty.
The Madam Dowager was getting old. She didn’t eat much, but she liked eating pastry. In order to please her, everyone in the mansion tried to make nice pastry for her. Last time, Wei Yuejiao also made some new pastry. After that, she took the pastry to please the Madam Dowager and set up Wei Yuewu.
How could Concubine Dong, who had always been very good at pleasing the Madam Dowager, forget this? Instead of sending the pastry to the Madam Dowager, how come she sent it to Wei Luowen, who was not very interested in pastry?
“Just wait. It seems that this person should be a very important person, or someone very important to Concubine Dong!” Wei Yuewu looked thoughtfully at the entrance of Wei Luowen’s courtyard and blinked her eyes calmly.
A lad servant was leading a person over, and it was impossible to see clearly from afar…
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