Chapter 240

Chapter 240

The managing matron was so anxious that sweat beaded on her forehead. "Miss Guiyuan, please don't tease me."

"This 'Bawanghua'—I've never even heard of it. If it's a specialty of southern Fujian, how could it possibly be found in the capital?"

"It's only early March now; the snow has just finished melting, and there isn't a single fresh peach blossom to be found in the entire manor..."

Guiyuan gave a light snort, looking quite smug. "The newly arrived Concubine Ye said she wanted to eat Minzhou-style dishes, and you all rushed to send them over. But now that it's our Shu Fei's turn, you claim you can't manage it."

"Is it that you can't find the ingredients, or that you simply don't want to bother? You'd better explain clearly, so I can report back to our Shu Fei."

Xie Run was curious as well.

It was expected that Jiang Baobao would act entitled, relying on her pregnancy.

But how had she gathered such a group of arrogant, reckless maidservants who didn't care about the consequences?

Xie Run turned to ask Dan Tao, "This is the fourth group of maidservants serving Jiang Shufei, isn't it?"

Dan Tao's face also showed barely concealed surprise as she nodded numbly.

Most of the manor's maidservants were obedient and gentle-natured.

But those around Jiang Shufei were each more arrogant than the last, as if they were cast from the same mold as their mistress.

The managing matron, cornered by Guiyuan, was just thinking of how to dismiss her when she turned and saw Xie Cefei standing at the door.

The matron was both surprised and overjoyed, quickly bowing in greeting. "Xie Cefei, what brings you to this humble kitchen!"

"If you have any instructions, you need only send word through the girls of Chunshan Court. Have we failed in our duties? Please tell us what we've done wrong, Xie Cefei."

Xie Run glanced casually at Guiyuan. "I was on my way to visit Jiang Shufei and happened to pass the main kitchen. Hearing the commotion, I came in to see what was happening."

She smiled. "The Princess Consort has placed Sun Cefei and me in charge of the manor's affairs, so I was going to check on the main kitchen anyway. I didn't expect to walk into this today."

Xie Run glanced at Dan Tao. "Dan Tao, ask Miss Guiyuan for me: what request of Jiang Shufei's has the main kitchen failed to fulfill?"

"If they truly failed, then someone must be punished, and I'll report it to the Princess Consort immediately. But if it's intentional troublemaking, then the mistress is the one being unreasonable, isn't she?"

With that, Xie Run took Xiaoshu by the arm and left the main kitchen.

She was a mistress; bickering with a maidservant like Guiyuan in such a place would be beneath her dignity.

Dan Tao was her personal maid and could represent her.

Guiyuan had already felt a twinge of fear upon seeing Xie Run.

She was one of the people Jiang Baobao had carefully selected to keep close—good for nothing but flattery.

Now that she'd encountered someone of higher rank than her own mistress, she immediately backed down and instinctively explained, "Sister Dan Tao, you know my mistress is pregnant. Her appetite has become rather picky, and she craves specialty foods."

"The main kitchen takes the manor's silver, feeds itself well all day, yet can't even meet the mistresses' requests—aren't they utterly useless?"

Dan Tao smiled at her. "That's a fair point."

Guiyuan breathed a small sigh of relief.

Dan Tao continued, "Jiang Shufei is pregnant; it's natural for her to crave whatever she wants to eat. But you maidservants should know better than to spoil her. Only encouraging your mistress and making trouble for others—that's pretty useless of you, isn't it?"

Guiyuan was startled. "That's not true! I did advise my mistress!"

"Then you're saying Jiang Shufei is acting on her own, using her pregnancy as an excuse to act arrogant and spoiled?"

"No!"

"If it's not that, then what is it? You must be able to explain."

Dan Tao kept smiling throughout. "Since my mistress is going to visit Jiang Shufei anyway, why don't we go back together and get our stories straight? Then we'll know whether you're lying."

Guiyuan was so frightened she was on the verge of tears, grabbing Dan Tao's sleeve. "Sister Dan Tao, I'm only following my mistress's orders. When she wants something to eat, I don't dare talk her out of it!"

"Why are you crying? Since Jiang Shufei sent you to deliver the message, she won't blame you, surely."

Guiyuan was at a loss for words.

She couldn't very well say that her mistress was moody and unpredictable—that if she failed to get the food, Jiang Baobao wouldn't care about the reason and would blame her no matter what.

Dan Tao then said to the matron, "The Minzhou dishes Concubine Ye ate were made from ingredients she brought with her from Minzhou. Now that Jiang Shufei wants them, the main kitchen can swallow their pride and borrow some from Concubine Ye, at least to satisfy Jiang Shufei's cravings."

"It's only March now, and while our greenhouse has plenty of other flowers, peach blossoms simply can't be cultivated—there's nothing to be done about that. See if you can find something with a similar fragrance to use as a substitute."

Dan Tao said this knowing perfectly well that Jiang Baobao was deliberately causing trouble; she certainly wouldn't be able to tell the difference between fresh peach blossom cake and dried peach blossom cake.

After all, even fresh peach blossoms had to be dried first before being used in pastries.

When it came down to it, Jiang Baobao was nursing old grudges, and now that she was pregnant, she couldn't wait to find excuses to torment the main kitchen.

The matron could have handled it herself, but if she made those decisions on her own, whatever she sent to Jiang Baobao would inevitably be nitpicked.

Now that Dan Tao had given her the go-ahead and someone to back her up, she immediately said, "We'll get right on it."

Guiyuan, tears in her eyes, reluctantly followed Dan Tao.

After crying quietly for a moment, she noticed two stern-faced old women following behind Xie Run, exuding an air of authority that was somehow even more imposing than the manor's veteran matrons.

What was Xie Cefei's intention in bringing these two women to see her mistress?

When they reached Jiang Shufei's courtyard, Xie Run first said, "Go announce my arrival. Tell her I've come to visit Jiang Shufei."

Having learned her lesson from the last incident when things got thrown around, Xie Run no longer dared to enter anyone's courtyard without permission.

Inside the room, Jiang Baobao was lounging around eating fruit when she heard that Xie Run had arrived. Her face changed instantly.

"What's she doing here?!"

Xie Run rarely visited anyone on her own initiative.

The last time she'd come to Jiang Baobao's door, she'd brought people to force-feed her, nearly making Jiang Baobao's stomach burst.

That incident had traumatized Jiang Baobao considerably.

Even now, she didn't dare eat too much at meals, or she'd get nauseous.

Her maid, Yang Tao, said softly, "Mistress, Xie Cefei has probably come to visit you. After all, you're pregnant, and since she's in charge of managing the household, she naturally has to ensure your pregnancy goes smoothly."

Hearing this, Jiang Baobao's expression brightened a little.

Her fears were pushed aside, and the arrogance in her heart began to stir again.

"Please, bring Concubine Xie in."

She said the words but made no move to get up.

As Xie Run entered, she heard Jiang Baobao half-reclining on the warm kang, whining in a spoiled, coquettish voice, "Why did it take Guiyuan so long just to go to the main kitchen and pick up the meal?"

"Useless girl, can't even handle such a trivial matter."

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Xie Run's calm, faint smile and felt a twinge of unease. She timidly sat up, "Concubine Xie, you've come."

She raised a hand to touch her barely visible belly, "I'm feeling a bit under the weather today, so I'm afraid I can't perform the proper greetings for you. I hope you'll forgive me."

The two palace matrons trailing behind Xie Run both frowned at the same time at Jiang Baobao's slouching posture and her haughty refusal to pay respects to a concubine of higher rank.