Chapter 21: Chapter 21: "This is Her Majesty’s Handiwork!

When Yu Yi heard what the Crown Prince said, her first instinct was to frown and look at Jianzhen.

Her meaning was clear. As the Crown Prince’s most trusted attendant, Jianzhen’s duty wasn’t just to accompany His Highness; he was also supposed to offer proper guidance whenever the young prince acted inappropriately.

Jianzhen didn’t dare to meet Yu Yi’s gaze. He had received a reward from the Crown Prince yesterday and thought the Jade Plum Shocking Snow Cake was absolutely delicious. Seeing that His Highness had brought back quite a bit more today, Jianzhen blinked. He was too busy wondering if his master might bestow some on him to remember anything about admonishing him.

Seeing Jianzhen’s guilty expression, Yu Yi couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. ’These little eunuchs around His Highness need stricter discipline,’ she thought. ’If they can’t be properly trained, I’ll have no choice but to go before the Emperor, beg his favor, and have the attendants serving the Crown Prince replaced.’

With this thought in mind, Yu Yi’s gaze fell upon the oil-paper package.

Li Yan had no idea that so many thoughts had just flashed through her mind. He was excitedly untying the string and called for a plate to arrange the Jade Plum Shocking Snow Cake.

But when Yu Yi’s gaze fell upon the pastries on the plate, which looked like plum blossoms blooming on a snowy mountain, all the emotions that had filled her mind just a moment ago vanished without a trace.

She took a sharp step forward, her hand reaching out instinctively, but her rational mind barely managed to hold her back, stopping her from snatching the pastries right out of the Crown Prince’s hands.

But her trembling eyes could not conceal the utter shock she felt.

Such a strong reaction from Yu Yi naturally caught Li Yan’s attention.

In Li Yan’s memory, both Aunt Yu Yi and Aunt Yanxia, who attended to him, were always exceedingly calm. He had never seen Aunt Yu Yi lose her composure like this.

"Aunt Yu Yi?" Li Yan tilted his head. "What’s wrong?"

Yu Yi knew her emotional outburst had been too extreme, but she quickly reverted to her usual self: the stern, unsmiling Chief Maid of the Eastern Palace.

"Your Highness, where did you buy these pastries?" Yu Yi asked. "I find them exceptionally exquisite. It seems even the Imperial Chefs in the palace lack this level of skill."

Li Yan pressed his lips together. He didn’t want to say.

When he didn’t want to answer, no one could pry a word out of him. And of course, in the entire Eastern Palace, no one would dare take advantage of the Crown Prince’s youth or force him to do anything.

Seeing his reluctance, Yu Yi could only suppress the turmoil in her heart. She wanted to calm down, but her mind was a tangled mess.

’I’m all too familiar with this pastry.’

Back when Her Majesty was still a young, unmarried lady, she loved to sneak into the kitchen whenever her parents weren’t looking.

Because she was born with asthma, the young lady never had any close friends, whether in Shangjing or in the Great Desert.

She was steeped in medicinal broths from a young age and had no friends her own age. The young lady must have read about cooking in some book, because after venturing into the kitchen out of curiosity, she became completely hooked.

In Yu Yi’s memory, their mistress could not only make these pastries that looked like blooming flowers, but many other kinds as well. There were pumpkin cakes shaped like little pumpkins, fortune cakes stamped with the characters for "Fortune, Prosperity, and Longevity," and fragrant green balls, among others. When their mistress was still alive, she had fed both her and Yanxia her creations many times.

"Yu Yi, do you think this is too sweet? My husband doesn’t like sweets. Maybe I should add a little less malt sugar?"

"My husband ate all the pastries I sent this time! Haha, it seems he likes them after all!"

"Spring is almost over. Why don’t we pick some more peach blossoms and make them into peach blossom honey? By the time autumn arrives, we might even be able to make peach blossom pastries."

Yu Yi sat in her room, the words Ming Lingyi had spoken when she was still alive echoing in her mind. The memory of her voice and her smile was so clear.

Just as Yanxia came in from outside, she saw Yu Yi with red-rimmed eyes and two tear tracks still wet on her cheeks.

She was startled. "What happened?"

Yu Yi was silent for a long time. Just as Yanxia was about to call a little palace maid over to ask what was going on, Yu Yi finally spoke.

But what she said made Yanxia freeze on the spot.

"Yanxia, do you think... our mistress might still be alive?"

The expression on Yanxia’s face froze. "What nonsense are you talking?"

’Outsiders might not know, but how could they, of all people, not know the truth?’

’Their mistress was never buried in the Imperial Mausoleum. The coffin in the funeral procession back then was clearly empty.’

’If the Empress were still alive, the first person to know would surely be the one in Taiji Palace.’

But not a single word of news had ever come. It was obvious to Yanxia that Yu Yi was spouting nonsense.

"But I just saw His Highness... he brought this back..."

As she spoke, Yu Yi slowly moved aside, revealing the pastries on the small table behind her.

She watched as Yanxia’s expression changed in an instant.

Yu Yi must have anticipated this reaction. She stood up and said in a low voice, "Don’t you think this plum blossom cake looks exactly like the ones our mistress used to make?"

After their mistress passed away, the one in Taiji Palace forbade any of the foods their mistress used to make from ever appearing in the palace again. That, of course, included these pastries.

It had been a long time since Yu Yi had seen a plum blossom cake like this.

Their mistress had always been exceptionally focused when she made these little things. Even the stamens of the flowers had to be meticulously crafted.

Only that kind of patience could make such a small pastry look so lifelike.

Yanxia asked, "Where did this come from?"

"It was a reward from His Highness," Yu Yi replied.

Yanxia was silent.

"He must have brought it in from outside the palace," Yu Yi added.

Yanxia frowned. She understood Yu Yi’s implication: His Highness was unwilling to tell them where he had bought the pastry.

"I’ll summon Jianzhen for questioning."

Yu Yi stopped her. "Jianzhen is His Highness’s man. He knows how to keep his mouth shut."

This was also why, earlier, when she was upset that Jianzhen had failed to stop His Highness from eating food from outside, she hadn’t immediately moved to report him to Emperor Jing’an.

For one, she held no fondness for the Emperor. For another, Jianzhen was tight-lipped.

The palace was full of people who couldn’t control their tongues, but such people rarely lived long.

In Yu Yi’s eyes, the ability to keep one’s mouth shut was a remarkable virtue.

Yanxia sat down. The pastry’s appearance was indeed identical to the ones their mistress used to make. She reached out, picked up a plum blossom cake, and took a bite.

As the familiar taste filled her mouth, tears suddenly began to stream down Yanxia’s face.

She finally understood why Yu Yi had been crying earlier.

The taste was like a switch for her tear ducts, and the tears fell uncontrollably.

"This is Her Majesty’s handiwork," Yanxia said with absolute certainty.