Chapter 4: Plum Blossom Soup Cakes PART 1
The study wasn’t bright. From the open doorway, Zhao Yiyi could only glimpse a hazy figure.
A buzzing sound filled her ears; she lost all strength and slumped back into the armchair.
The tinnitus lingered; her body remained stiff for a long time before she felt the blood slowly returning to her limbs. Zhao Yiyi murmured, “The lights are out? When?”
The wind howled outside. Through the dim candlelight, Yunzhu saw the empress’s pale face and said softly, “It was two quarters of an hour ago.”
Purple Palace wasn’t far away. Standing at Su Zhang Gate and looking into the distance, one could catch a glimpse of the eaves of Purple Palace.
She had noticed it two quarters of an hour ago, but worried about getting her hopes up for nothing. She waited until now, finding that the emperor showed no sign of coming to Jiao Fang Palace, before daring to report it.
Zhao Yiyi felt terrible. She wanted to cry, but couldn’t. Her nose and eyes were blocked, and it took a long time before she said, “Since His Majesty has already rested, let’s go back and rest as well.”
She had been waiting since dinner, for a long, long time, until the moon was high in the sky, and she received the news that he had already rested.
Yunzhu gently consoled her, “He must have been busy with state affairs today, so he hastily rested in Purple Palace.”
“Hmm.” Zhao Yiyi lowered her head in response, but then thought, he has so much to do every day, perhaps he forgot?
She tried to tell herself not to mind, but a dull ache spread through her chest, unsure whether it was heartache for herself or for him.
Even after changing into her nightclothes and lying on the bed, smelling the faint fragrance from the silver incense bag in the tent, Zhao Yiyi was still dazed, staring blankly at the tent top.
Curled up on the soft quilt on the bed, the tears she had been holding back suddenly flowed down, wetting the brocade on the pillow.
It was just a small matter, not worth being so upset about, but the events of the past few days had combined, making her emotions unbearable.
She didn’t know how long she had been sobbing before Zhao Yiyi finally closed her eyes and fell into a hazy sleep.
In her daze, she saw herself when she had just married into the East Palace. Thinking back, it was the happiest time in her recent years.
She had escaped her vicious stepmother and married her long-awaited beloved. Her joy was indescribable.
Back then, the crown prince simply smiling at her, saying “Thank you” when she sent him pastries, could make her happy for days. The East Palace wasn’t large, and the palaces weren’t numerous, so their distance was exceptionally close.
This vast Purple Forbidden City, with its towering palaces, made their distance extraordinarily great.
After that incident, Gu Zhen hadn’t come to Jiao Fang Palace for several days. Usually, Zhao Yiyi would have been concerned about his health and made pastries to send to him.
Because he didn’t come, Zhao Yiyi felt stifled and even felt a little angry.
She didn’t know who she was angry at.
Because Gu Zhen didn’t come to the harem, the Empress Dowager’s tonic soup also stopped, no longer being sent to Jiao Fang Palace.
Zhao Yiyi was quite happy. The tonic soup smelled terrible, and she always pinched her nose to finish it.
Not having to drink that soup was truly the best thing.
Through the half-open window, Zhao Yiyi accidentally caught sight of a few scattered red plum blossoms outside the palace. She said softly, “Yunzhu, have someone pick some plum blossoms later. This is the last batch of the year. Let’s make some plum blossom soup cakes.”
Yunzhu responded crisply, then covered her mouth and smiled, softly asking, “If Your Majesty makes them, will you send a portion to His Majesty?”
Zhao Yiyi paused with her jade comb, glared at her, and scolded softly, “Mind your own business!”
The beauty in the bronze mirror had a face like a lotus flower, her eyes sparkling. Looking at her own face in the mirror, a dazed expression crossed Zhao Yiyi’s face. She suddenly lost interest, handing the jade comb to the little palace maid beside her, and said softly, “Do a reverse bun today.”
Her cloud-like hair was tied up, revealing a section of snow-white neck. On her delicate neck were faint red marks.
The little palace maid’s face flushed instantly, remembering that the marks were more severe a few days ago, a deep color like cinnabar, which had gradually faded in the past two days.
After dressing, Zhao Yiyi finally put on a dark reddish-brown patterned long jacket to cover the faint red marks on her neck.
Looking at the time, she said softly, “Before His Majesty has breakfast, let’s hurry and send it over when it’s done.”
She had been feeling unwell and sulking for several days. There was a drought in Henan, and spring ploughing was difficult. Hearing that the lights in Purple Palace burned until midnight every day, she finally felt sorry for him.
Zhao Yiyi had never done housework at home. After becoming the crown princess, in order to proactively send things to Gu Zhen, she gradually began to study cooking. After much study, she finally saw some results.
Plum blossom soup cakes were not difficult to make. With the maids helping her, it didn’t take long for the steaming plum blossom soup cakes to be served from the pot.
Yunzhu used small celadon bowls to serve some, saying, “These soup cakes smell delicious!”
Zhao Yiyi pursed her lips but couldn’t help but slightly curl the corners of her mouth. Watching Yunzhu pack the soup cakes, she hurriedly urged her to put them in the food box and have someone send them to Purple Palace.
Besides the drought in Henan, there were also many matters left over from the late emperor, all weighing heavily on Gu Zhen, making him extremely irritable.
He sat at the imperial desk, expressionlessly eating the breakfast on the desk. He saw Wu Mao, the superintendent of the inner servants, sneak in and raised his eyebrows, asking, “What’s going on?”
Wu Mao had a smile on his face and happily took a bowl of soup cakes from the food box and placed it not far from Gu Zhen, “Empress sent Your Majesty plum blossom soup cakes. Your Majesty, would you like to try them?”
Gu Zhen’s eyebrows moved slightly, “Sent by the Empress?”
“Yes, Your Majesty, the Empress made them early this morning. They’re still warm,” Wu Mao replied, observing his expression, moving the celadon bowl to his side.
He hadn’t noticed before, but seeing the bowl of soup cakes, Gu Zhen remembered that Zhao Yiyi hadn’t sent anything to Purple Palace for some time. He picked up a spoon and chuckled, “The Empress must have thought of me.”
When they were still in the East Palace, Wu Mao had angered the crown prince, and it was Zhao Yiyi who had interceded for him. Having received the empress’s kindness, it wasn’t difficult to speak a few words of praise. He quickly said, “Your Majesty, how could the Empress be angry with Your Majesty? There’s been a lot of palace affairs recently, and Your Majesty has been very busy too. I guess that Your Majesty must have made food for Your Majesty as soon as she had free time.”
As Wu Mao expected, Gu Zhen did remember the last incident.
That night, after reviewing the memorials, he had simply rested in Purple Palace, and only the next day did the attendant subtly remind him that he seemed to have told the empress the previous day to save what she wanted to say for the evening.
After all, among the many things he did every day, this was just a small matter, and Gu Zhen hadn’t taken it to heart.
Only after so many days passed, when he didn’t go to the harem, Zhao Yiyi didn’t send anyone to ask, and didn’t send anything, did he gradually realize something was amiss.
He had a faint suspicion but didn’t want to spend the energy on it—after all, he knew the Empress’s feelings for him and didn’t need to say anything more.
Stirring the soup cakes in the bowl, a smile appeared in Gu Zhen’s eyes. He knew that the Empress was just occasionally throwing a little tantrum, nothing serious.