A piece of Japanese incense

Chapter 24: Diverting trouble to the east

I shook my head helplessly and picked up a piece of cake. The cake was emerald green and the fragrance of lotus wafted in my face. I took a bite and it had a dense texture. "Hmm~ It's really delicious! Let Ming'en buy this next time!"

"I want to try it too!~" Yuyi finally stopped arguing and picked up a piece and put it in her mouth.

Yutuan curled her lips and glanced at Yuyi with interest.

"Ah! Pah pah pah! What is this!" Yu Yi spat out what was in her mouth into her hands.

"Hey~ Yuyi, what are you doing? You don't have to spit it all out even if you don't like it... Hey! Girl! There's actually silver in here!"

Yuyi used a handkerchief to pick out a piece of silver the size of her little finger from the crumbled pastry in her hands.

After rinsing it with water, we carefully studied the silver piece, which was as thin as paper, with honeysuckle pattern as the base and two lotus pods without lotus seeds carved on it.

Yu Tuan asked in confusion, "Why put a piece of silver in this cake? Just like when we eat dumplings during the Chinese New Year, is it for good luck?"

Yu Yi retorted: "You are a brainless person! Who would put such exquisite silver for good luck? Look at the craftsmanship, which store can make such a product?"

I nodded in agreement: "Yuyi is right. Such a small thing has such fine lines engraved on it. The craftsman must have spent a lot of time and effort on it."

"Could it be that someone wants to bribe me?"

"Silly Yutuan, the money you usually give to the servants is probably bigger than this. Girl, the pattern on it, maybe someone wanted to communicate through cakes, but the person who delivered the food took the wrong food box and sent it to us, right?"

"Then let's go back quickly! Don't bring trouble upon yourself."

"I ate so much that it came out, how can I return it? Oh! It's an unexpected disaster~"

"I wouldn't have eaten it if I had known!" Yu Tuan burst into tears.

"It's all my fault! What I ate was caused by me! I caused trouble for the girl." Yu Yi's face was full of regret, and she hurriedly took out her handkerchief to wipe Yu Tuan's tears.

"What's the point of blaming it! I ate it, and now I'm trying to cover it up!" I was so confused.

I paused for a long time before saying, "Yutuan, don't you have friends in the imperial kitchen? Are they reliable?"

"Well, her name is Duorou. I get along well with her. Her master is Shang Shanfu, who treats her very well and always gives her special treatment."

"Okay! Take some money and go find her and ask her to make a few similar cakes. Be quick! Cover up this matter before anyone finds out. It's OK as long as the color and style are similar. Put this in one of the cakes. Remember! Don't let others see it. Keep it a secret! Do you understand?"

I handed the silver piece to Yutuan, and he was about to leave with the food box.

"Hey! Wrap it in a handkerchief, the food box is too conspicuous! Once you are done, come back quickly, Yuyi will come to pick you up."

Yutuan said "hmm" and ran out of the yard.

"Yuyi, help me dress up."

"What should the girl do?" Yuyi looked at me puzzledly as she opened the closet.

"Revenge for you!"

"Revenge? Girl, do you know who knocked me out?"

"I can't think of anyone else in this palace. Even if it's not her, there's nothing we can do. It's just her bad luck. It's her fault for always being so bossy!" I sighed helplessly.

After washing up, she changed into a red brocade dress made of golden pheasant fur, and a small water cloud jacket of the same color on the outside.

"Yuyi, go and take a look. When Yutuan reaches the entrance of the alley, go back to the house to get the lunch box. We will go directly to Fang Juexia's place."

Yuyi picked up Yutuan, who was running and panting. I asked her to go back to the courtyard to rest, and Yuyi and I went to Fang Juexia's courtyard calmly.

She was swinging on a swing in the courtyard surrounded by several palace maids. She was very surprised to see me coming. Her originally sunny face was immediately covered with clouds and an expression of contempt and disdain appeared.

"Zhi Yihe, what are you doing here?"

"Sister~ I asked someone to buy some cakes from outside the palace, and I wanted to share them with you."

“Who wants to eat your dirty stuff!”

"Sister~ You are the first beauty I met in this palace. It is said that if you make friends with good-looking people, you will also be beautiful. I also want to become white, beautiful and fairy-like like you~"

"Don't disgust me! I won't fall for it!"

"Sister, don't be so malicious~ I really want to be friends with you~"

Fang Juexia's face relaxed a lot, and she asked, "Do you know that I will be the Crown Prince's Consort in the future?"

I shook my head and looked at her pretending to be confused.

"Then I will tell you today that my brother is the best friend of the prince, and our Wanning Marquisate will be the prince's strongest arm in the future. The prince and I have been childhood sweethearts, and we have a long-lasting affection for each other. And Princess Yan, I am and will only be her best friend. Don't think that you, a daughter of a merchant, can interfere in our relationship. You! Are! Not! worthy!"

Fang Juexia pushed me aside and pretended to wipe his hands impatiently: "Get out of here! Anyone can step into my yard. I see that all of you are itching for trouble again!"

Everyone in the yard bowed their heads and knelt on the ground.

(This is not a good sale.)

I thought to myself that since I was already here, I had to sell this box of pastries anyway, so I gritted my teeth and grinned.

"Hey, sister..."

"You really take yourself seriously! I don't consider you as my best friend! If my grandmother didn't like you, I wouldn't play with you." Princess Yan said in a loud voice.

"Good luck to Princess Yan." Everyone bowed and greeted her.

I suddenly had an idea and came up with a plan: "Greetings to Her Royal Highness the Princess. May Her Royal Highness be healthy and beautiful!"

"Where do you get so many words every day?" The princess stepped onto the arch bridge, holding my hand and said.

"Ayuan! Why are you here?" Fang Juexia took the princess' arm skillfully.

The princess shook her off and turned to me: "My mother is right, you are so hypocritical and despicable! Don't even think about marrying my brother! You are not worthy of being my sister-in-law! Yihe, ignore her!"

The princess took my hand and was about to leave.

I thought, this is a good opportunity.

"Princess, don't worry. I'm here to bring some pastries to Sister Fang. How about this, Sister Fang's yard is quiet and elegant, why don't we sit down and have a taste together." After saying that, he took the food box from Yuyi's hand.

"Who are you? You are not allowed to sit in my yard!" Fang Juexia stepped forward to stop me.

I took advantage of the situation to touch her hand, leaned back, threw the food box in my hand into the water under the bridge, and threw myself on Yuyi. Yuyi quickly grabbed the railing with one hand and supported my body with the other to prevent my head from hitting it.

"Gudong", in the crystal clear water, the scattered cakes created ripples.

Only when I saw the food box and the pastries sink to the bottom of the water did I feel relieved and winked at Yuyi.

Yuyi stood up and steadied me, saying loudly: "Miss Fang, why did you push my girl?"

"Are your eyes on a dog? I didn't even touch her. She fell on her own."

"Fang Juexia, why are you so mean? No matter how precious your yard is, it belongs to my royal grandfather! If my grandmother hadn't told me that amaryllis flowers were blooming in your yard, I wouldn't have come! This princess will never come again!" The princess pulled me out of Fang Juexia's yard angrily.