Chapter 215 The Plate She Could Never Forget
After coming out of the Madam Dowager’s courtyard, Qin Wanru went to Shui Ruolan’s courtyard..
Shui Ruolan looked increasingly pregnant. Even she dealt with affairs, she often did that in her courtyard. The Madam Dowager had exempted Shui Ruolan from saluting her in the morning and at night, but Shui Ruolan still went to see her from time to time.
Shui Ruolan was brought up by the Madam Dowager, so they naturally had a closer relations.h.i.+p.
When Qin Wanru came over, Shui Ruolan was leaning against the window and reading an account book. On hearing Qin Wanru’s voice, she looked up with a smile, about to sit up.
Qin Wanru hurriedly stepped forward to stop her, “Mother, I am not a visitor. Just continue leaning against the window!”
“How was your visit to the Mansion of Rui’an Great Elder Princess today?” Shui Ruolan did not refuse. She pushed the account book aside and asked with a slight smile.
“It’s fine. Rui’an Great Elder Princess is very nice!” Qin Wanru asked Yujie to put a few pieces of cloth on the table. “These are all sent by Rui’an Great Elder Princess. Mother, pick four pieces of cloth for yourself!”
Hearing that Qin Wanru had gotten the gifts from Rui’an Great Elder Princess, Shui Ruolan smiled joyfully. Everyone in the capital knew the significance of being rewarded by Rui’an Great Elder Princess. Shui Ruolan gently patted her hands and said, “I don’t need new clothes, since I’m pregnant now. You should have all of them. They were originally given to you by Rui’an Great Elder Princess.”
With her ident.i.ty, Rui’an Great Elder Princess would certainly not grant the Qin’s Mansion any reward for no reason. Naturally, she did that for Qin Wanru. Shui Ruolan was a sensible person and could see into Rui’an Great Elder Princess’s mind, so she was naturally unwilling to take things originally belonging to Qin Wanru.
“Mother, even if you make new clothes for me now, they will become unsuitable soon. The new clothes won’t fit me well,” Qin Wanru raised her sleeves and said. The sleeves, which were neither too long nor too short, had been longer before. When Shui Ruolan made new clothes for Qin Wanru, Shui Ruolan intended to make them suitable, but Qin Wanru specially told the old maids of the sewing room to make them a little longer.
Now the clothes fit her so well.
Looking at her sleeves that were neither too long nor too short, Shui Ruolan immediately thought of this. She couldn’t help smiling. “Even so, you can’t stop making new clothes. You grow fast during this period, but that will slow down later!”
“Mother, I want to make new clothes for you first. The clothes from before don’t fit you now, so you should have a few sets of new clothes. I have enough clothes and am not in urgent need of new clothes. I specially told them to make several sets of clothes bigger before, so they fit me well now,” Qin Wanru said.
“Well, leave them here. Have you sent some of them to Yuru’s courtyard?” Seeing that Qin Wanru insisted on giving the cloth to her, Shui Ruolan no longer refused. She thought that she could keep the cloth now. When they were about to make clothes later, she could ask someone to take Qin Wanru’s measurements and make clothes for Qin Wanru.
Regarding Qin Yuru, she was at least the First Miss of Ningyuan Army General’s Mansion. Shui Ruolan should be impartial on the surface.
Shui Ruolan had different att.i.tudes toward Madam Di and Qin Yuru. She didn’t need to care about Madam Di, but had to take care of Qin Yuru. After all, Qin Yuru was the only child of Qin Huaiyong.
“Big sister has picked, and grandma has asked Big Sister to pick two pieces for Madam Di. Nevertheless, Big Sister was very angry when she left, saying why Madam Di had only two pieces but Mother had four pieces!” Qin Wanru blinked her eyes and said.
.
“Yuru even argues with you on this sort of thing now?” Shui Ruolan said in astonishment. She had watched Qin Yuru grow up and considered Qin Yuru very generous before, but Qin Yuru seemed to have changed into another person since her reputation was ruined in Jiangzhou. Qin Yuru was not only mean, but also very vicious, exactly the same as Madam Di.
Now she could be considered the future Princess of Duke Yong’s Mansion, but she was still so petty, which really made Shui Ruolan speechless.
“Of course she got angry. She wanted to pick first, but Grandma asked me to pick first. I picked all the cloth she wanted!” Qin Wanru smiled slightly and said shrewdly, seemingly indicating something.
“So she got angry and quarreled with you?” Shui Ruolan frowned, softly telling her, “Wanru, be careful. Yuru won’t suffer losses without getting even.”
“Mother, rest a.s.sured. I know!” Qin Wanru smiled, lifting the corners of her mouth slightly. She originally intended to provoke Qin Yuru. With her temperament, Qin Yuru would inevitably vent her anger to Di Yan…
Despite knowing that Qin Wanru was not as weak as she looked, Shui Ruolan was still not a.s.sured. She deliberately exhorted Qin Wanru to be careful, and Qin Wanru promised and then left.
After that, Shui Ruolan asked the maids to send some pastries in her courtyard to Qin Wanru.
Recently, she had eaten little. The servants around her tried hard to make some pastries appealing in taste, aroma, and appearance for her. She originally wanted to send some to Qin Wanru. She happened to come over, so she asked Qin Wanru to take them back.
These days, every time the servants made something delicious, Shui Ruolan had always reserved some for Qin Wanru.
The maid followed Qin Wanru and Yujie to Zhifang Pavilion. They suddenly met Meiyan, Qin Yuru’s maid, on their way.
Seeing Qin Wanru coming over, Meiyan stood by the road with a soup cup, respectfully bowing to Qin Wanru.
“I pay you my respects, Second Miss!”
Qin Wanru glanced at the soup cup in her hand, and then nodded slightly and pa.s.sed by. Yujie pa.s.sed by her with two pieces of cloth and also curiously glanced at Meiyan.
When the little maid pa.s.sed by Meiyan, Meiyan was about to turn and leave. As a princ.i.p.al maid, Meiyan certainly didn’t need to give way to an ordinary maid.
However, there was an accident. Meiyan seemed to step on something, then slipped and fell toward the maid. The maid subconsciously retreated in an attempt to escape from Meiyan.
Unexpectedly, Meiyan wanted to stabilize her body, so she reached out to grab the maid’s hand and the soup cup in her hand fell directly onto the maid.
The soup in the cup was still very hot, and it was poured onto the maid.
The maid screamed out in pain, threw away the stuff in her hands, and reached forward to grab Yujie’s hand.
Yujie responded very quickly. When the maid grabbed Yujie’s hand, Yujie ferociously shook her off. The maid staggered and then fell heavily to the ground, with the pastries in her hand scattered all over the ground. Meiyan, who was beside her, was also in a mess. Some of the soup was splashed on her, and a few pieces of pastry hit her in the head.
Qin Wanru stood firm and turned around to glance lightly at the two people who fell to the ground, with unknown intention in her eyes.
Yujie walked over and vigilantly stood in front of her.
It was such a coincidence!
“Meiyan, what’s wrong with you?” Yujie said vigilantly.
“Sorry, Second Miss, I slipped and b.u.mped into the maid. It’s all my fault. Please forgive me!” Meiyan sat up in a panic. With no time to care about her messy situation, she hurriedly knelt to Qin Wanru and begged for mercy.
Qin Wanru frowned, glanced at Meiyan, waved her hand, and turned around to leave.
“Second Miss, the kitchen has made this kind of pastry. Let me go there to get some for you!” Meiyan seemingly wanted to make up for it. She glanced at the pastries scattered on the ground and said with a sparkle in her eyes.
“There is this kind of pastry in the kitchen?” Qin Wanru stared at the exquisite pastries on the ground, which were originally made in Shui Ruolan’s small kitchen.
“Yes, there is. Seeing that Madam Shui liked them, our Madam asked the kitchen to make some. There are many in the kitchen,” Meiyan said.
“No need!” Qin Wanru shook her head and turned away.
“Thank you, Second Miss. Thank you, Second Miss!” Seeing that Qin Wanru did not intend to blame her, Meiyan was overjoyed. She kowtowed to Qin Wanru, and then got up with the help of the maid beside her after seeing Qin Wanru leave.
The maid was dressed in thick clothes in the winter and her face was not burnt. Even though the maid felt uncomfortable, she didn’t dare to get angry with Meiyan and had to pull Meiyan up.
“You are Madam Shui’s maid, right? Change your clothes, and then go to the kitchen to get some other pastries for the Second Miss.” Meiyan wiped the sc.r.a.ps from her face with a handkerchief.
“Yes!” The maid did not dare to refuse. She instantly picked up the pastry sc.r.a.ps on the ground and turned to leave. If she could get other pastries for the Second Miss, it would be the best solution. Otherwise, she would cause a delay in the task ordered by Madam Shui.
When the maid reached the big kitchen after changing her clothes and cleaning up, there were pastries already made there. They were similar to those that Shui Ruolan ate, but several kinds were even more exquisite than the ones Shui Ruolan ate. The flower-shaped pastries were more beautiful.
The maid had never seen such beautiful pastries, so she involuntarily asked a few more questions. Knowing that they were made with a set of new models in the big kitchen, she naturally wanted to please Madam Shui. Madam Shui didn’t eat much now. If she could get the set of models in the big kitchen, she could definitely make Madam Shui eat more.
After inquiring, the maid sent the pastries to Qin Wanru’s courtyard, and then went back to the kitchen and took more pastries. She wanted to take them back and show them to the old maids in the small kitchen. If they considered the pastries to be good, she could take the models from the big kitchen and make the pastries by herself. The ingredients in the big kitchen were basically not required to make the pastries Shui Ruolan had been eating!
When the maid sent the pastries over, Qin Wanru asked Yujie to take them and then sent the maid back to report to Shui Ruolan.
The pastries did look good. Besides their good appearance, the plates were also exquisite. The fragrance aroused her appet.i.te and made her really want to have one.
Such a strong fragrance could be attractive to people and even other creatures!
At the thought of it, she looked down with her increasingly deep eyes. She heard that Madam Di had brought a cat from Duke Yong’s Mansion and recently raised it in the mansion.
This plate seemed to be a bit familiar, but she couldn’t see it clearly with the pastries on it.
After careful inspection, Qin Wanru reached out, but was stopped by Yujie. “Miss, these are the pastries from the big kitchen!”
“I want to see this plate!” Qin Wanru smiled slightly, reached out to push away Yujie’s hand, took away the pastries and piled them up on the side, and then a side of the plate under the pastries was exposed.
The plate with exquisite painting brightened her eyes. A blooming peony was accompanied by green leaves, and b.u.t.terflies fluttered about among the flowers in pairs. She reached out to touch the pattern printed on the plate, with a trace of deep rage suddenly rising in her eyes. She had seen this set of exquisite pastry plates and was deeply impressed by them.
She could never forget this plate in her life…