The maid's road to success

The wives of the prefects and other young ladies were so angry at An Yun's words that they stayed depressed at home for a long time. An Yun was indeed very happy.

She loves sweets the most, but in order to get revenge, she forced herself not to forget the pain she had suffered and not to eat sweets.

When the day came when she got her revenge, she ate a whole box of candy and her teeth ached for several days, but she was still happy.

Since coming here with Chen Luoxi, I haven’t eaten delicious pastries for a long time.

Soaking in the pile of herbs every day makes me feel bitter all over.

This pastry is simply a life-saving elixir.

An Yun was eating happily.

"This prefect's wife is really a good person. She thought of me when she had such delicious cakes. It's really rare."

Chen Luoxi glanced at him sideways and said nothing.

An Yun must have been protected too well by the old man of the Yuan family in the past, and she was not allowed to go out and have too much contact with those scheming ladies in the inner house.

Even the women of the Yuan family were not too involved.

That's why An Yun developed this character and devoted himself to studying the medical and poison classics.

She hadn't thought about how angry her words and actions today would make the prefect's wife.

"She is a good person? What are you thinking? If it weren't for the young master's face, you would not only not have cakes today, but also have to eat melons."

An Yun stopped chewing and looked at the bamboo sea.

"When the girl heard you ask her to send some snacks over, her face turned pale, and she had a gloomy face when she came to deliver the snacks."

An Yun was immediately unhappy.

"She said she had some delicious cakes for me to taste, so why is she unhappy when she gave them to me?"

Chen Luoxi said calmly.

"Because her main purpose was to meet you and establish a relationship with you. You repeatedly turned her down and even kept things from her so she wouldn't meet with you. Naturally, she's unhappy."

An Yun curled his lips and continued eating the pastry.

"I just don't like this kind of woman who has ulterior motives and always wants to scheme against others. It's a pity. Now I am relying on your title of Protector of the Country to bully her and not let her have her day. I want to piss her off to death."

An Yun ate the pastries in big mouthfuls and felt a little choked. He quickly took out a small porcelain jar, scooped two spoonfuls of honey sauce from it, and added water to drink it.

"Wait, bring me that can of honey tea."

As soon as An Yun put the tea to his lips and before he could drink it, Zhu Hai snatched away the small porcelain jar and teacup.

"What the hell are you doing? If you want to drink, why don't you just make another cup? I'm almost choking to death."

Chen Luoxi couldn't hear what An Yun said at all, his mind was filled with this sweet smell.

I couldn't help but think of something that happened in the past.

At that time, he was the fourth young master of the Marquis's Mansion, and he loved to go to Fushou Hall the most.

His father always liked to scold him for being naughty, but his ancestors protected him well and prevented his father from bullying him.

That was the honey tea from Fu Shou Tang that he and Luo Lan liked the most. Every time they went there, the old ancestor would ask Bihe to mix them their favorite honey tea.

I remember one time, he saw the adults talking in the main hall, and he felt it was inconvenient to stay there, so he hid in the tea room.

Wen Niang was the silly girl, guarding the fire in the tea room in a daze.

He liked to tease the girls in Fu Shou Tang. The other girls always liked to get close to them, but these girls would avoid him when they saw him joking.

He took the little honey tea left in the can and wanted to take it away, but Wen Niang refused to give it to him, saying that the old ancestor might need more tea and they would not be able to do anything else.

Just don't let him take it away.

Chen Luoxi was not convinced, so she was taken away anyway. She told the old ancestor about this matter. The old ancestor even boasted that all the girls around her were good.

He remembered very clearly that the jar of pomelo honey tasted exactly like this.

He never drank this sweet fruit tea again, but he never forgot its taste.

"Go check me, go check who made this honey pomelo tea, who sent it, go check it out."

Looking at Chen Luoxi's appearance, An Yun didn't dare to ask for her cup of tea anymore. At least he poured himself a glass of water and drank it, so that he didn't feel so choked.

Only Zhushan realized that Chen Luoxi might have noticed something, so he held down Zhuchuan who was about to leave and went to investigate on his own.

If the young master is not mistaken and this thing is indeed related to the girl, then he should not ask rashly, but should ask carefully to avoid being discovered.

"Madam, the guards accompanying the inspector are here."

Madam Liu was sitting there discussing with her eldest daughter how to suppress those concubines' daughters when she heard the maid come to report.

She immediately checked her makeup and clothes before going to the main room to invite someone in.

"I am Zhushan, the steward of the Huguogong Mansion. I am honored to meet the wife of the prefect."

Long before Chen Luoxi regained his identity, Zhushan had been promoted to the steward of the Duke of Huguo's Mansion.

"Is there anything I can do for you, Manager Zhushan?"

Madam Liu is usually confused but clear-headed on major issues. She has heard from her husband that the Duke of Protectorate has four personal servants, each of them is very capable, and Zhushan is the leader.

"It's not a big deal. Our Madam received the snacks and honey tea sent by Madam Liu and liked them very much. She specially asked her subordinates to thank Madam Liu. If it weren't for the rash on her face, I'm afraid she would have come here in person."

Madam Liu was still feeling depressed, but when she heard the capable subordinate of the Duke of Protectorate come over and say this, her dissatisfaction almost disappeared.

No matter whether the wife of the An family really had a rash or it was fake and she didn't want to see him.

The other party was willing to send someone to explain it specially, even if it was to save the face of the wife of the prefect.

"It's not a good thing, but it's hard to come by at this time, so I thought of giving some to Madam An."

Zhushan followed suit and flattered before getting to the point.

"Madam, you don't know. My wife loves sweets. Today's cakes and honey tea have improved her appetite a lot. The master is very happy and asked his subordinates to find out who made it. Our master is willing to hire him for a period of time at a high price."

When Mrs. Liu heard that they wanted a servant to make cakes, she became a little nervous. These were cakes sent from next door, and she couldn't tell anyone. If she did, wouldn't all the credit go to next door?

"This person is..."

The eldest daughter of the Wu family heard her mother's words and knew that her mother had fallen into her old habit again. She wanted to find the cook in her own house to replace the real pastry chef.

"This person is from the wife of the Tongpan. We don't know who he is. The cakes were also exchanged with the neighbors by my mother because she missed Madam An."

The eldest daughter of the Wu family knew that she had to stop her mother from bringing the matter to the prefectural government today, so she interrupted her mother and told her the source of the Zhushan dim sum, pretending not to see the anger in her mother's eyes.

"Is that so? The prefect is thoughtful and remembers our wife. I will ask the wife of the Tongpan about the cakes later. What about the honey tea?"

The eldest daughter of the Wu family said bluntly.

"It was also given to us sisters by the young lady from the Tongpanfu next door. We were reluctant to drink it, so we kept it to offer as a token of our gratitude."

Zhushan understood the origin of the things, so he naturally did not stay here for long, and left after a brief greeting.

"You are so bold now that you dare to make your own decision in front of outsiders?"

Mrs. Liu waited until Zhushan left before she dropped a teacup at the eldest lady's feet.

"Mother, this is all for our own good. We have done so much just to win over Madam An. It is a good thing that she likes those cakes. It will do us no harm."

"But if mother sends the cook to replace the real pastry chef, and people find out the flavor is not right, it will be bad for us. Our cook who can make pastries didn't come with us, and this cook is not good at making those pastries. If she is sent over, she will definitely be exposed."

Madam Liu's anger had subsided a lot, but when she thought about how she had tried so hard recently but had not been able to establish a relationship with Madam An, and now, because of those cakes, she had been able to get close to the wife of the Tongpan Mansion, wouldn't she be so angry that she would die?

"Mother, even if you find someone who can make snacks and send them there, firstly, that person may not be able to work for us, and secondly, if the taste of the snacks is not to Madam An's taste, who will she blame if she is unhappy?"

Mrs. Liu was not convinced.

"The lady from Chunyuan is the lady from Yufuzhai where Jin'er has been selling cakes. Those cakes are probably made by her. It's not too late for me to send someone to Chunyuan to bring her back now."

The eldest daughter of the Wu family had a severe headache.

"Mother, you and I don't have a good relationship with the ladies of Yufuzhai. On the contrary, they have a better relationship with Jin'er. If you force her to make cakes for Madam An, if she doesn't want to, I'm afraid it will leak out that you forced good people to serve the wife of the Duke of Huguo. If father finds out, he will definitely not let you go."

Mrs. Liu said aggrievedly.

"So let's give this good opportunity to the neighbor next door?"

The eldest daughter of the Wu family spoke only after she saw that her mother had finally calmed down a lot.

"Those next door who don't fight or compete with each other may not tell us who the pastry chef is. They are well-known for being nice people and don't want to do such things, so I guess they won't tell us either. However, they will probably give a lot of these pastries to Madam An. We sent them there first, but they were sent by the steward of Zhushan. Everyone can see who is more sincere."

Mrs. Liu felt much better after listening to her daughter's words.

When the wife of the magistrate next door and Jin'er heard the purpose of Zhushan's visit, they suddenly felt a little uneasy.

"I bought this cake from a half-grown child, but I don't know the child's name."

"We also learned to make grapefruit honey tea from someone, but that person left the mansion a long time ago."

The wife of the magistrate didn’t know whether today’s incident had anything to do with the lady from Yufuzhai.

But her intuition told her that it was not just because Madam An liked the cakes sent by the prefect's wife.

After all, she is the woman of the Duke of Protector of the Country, and she has seen all kinds of delicious food and drinks.

Why would he send someone to ask me and the prefect's wife just to order cakes and honey tea?

The disaster situation is serious at this time. Even if the Duke of Protectorate is unreliable and unreasonable, he would not go to such great lengths to find a pastry chef for Madam An at this time.

Besides, the pastries at Yufuzhai are delicious, but they are not unique or the best in the world. It’s just that they suit Jiner’s taste that she buys them often.

As she was just the wife of a magistrate, she did not think the cakes at Yufuzhai were anything special, and the women of the Wu family did not patronize the shop very often.

It's just that she is short of food and clothing here that she pays attention to these cakes. Madam An doesn't like these cakes which are only of average or above average quality so much.

Steward Zhushan has been following the Duke of Huguo, so it was not right for him to make this special trip, and Madam Tongpan could not help but be suspicious.

Jin'er had said that day that the lady from Yufuzhai was also called Wen Niang, and she observed that the two ladies' behavior, speech and actions did not seem like the daughters of ordinary families.

I always feel that it is better not to cause trouble to the lady of Yufuzhai, nor to cause trouble to myself.

So she wasn't telling the truth at all.

Zhushan lowered his head, concealing the thoughts in his eyes, and walked out with a smile.

He returned to Chen Luoxi and told her everything he had just found out.

"This lady of the Tongpan is not telling the truth."

Chen Luoxi analyzed it and came to this conclusion.

Zhushan thought so too, only Anyun and Zhuhai looked confused.

How do they judge that someone is not telling the truth?

"If it's pastries, it's easy to say. Maybe they really bought it from someone. But if it's honey tea, this is something Bihe researched herself when she was serving at Fushou Hall. Even if she told others about it, not many people would be able to make it."

"The most difficult thing about this honey tea is that it is difficult to store. It must be consumed within a month after opening. But do you see any honey pomelo here these days? What does she use to make the honey tea?"

Zhuhai still didn't understand, so Zhushan explained it.

"If there are honey pomelo now, the best ones will definitely be sent to us, but we don't have any, but Madam Tongpan has some, and she even asked her daughter to make honey tea."

"That's very strange. Besides, they have never been out of the house. Where did they buy the cakes?"

In order to demonstrate his character of sharing weal and woe with the people, the prefect would not bring fresh fruits here even if he could.

If it were only those people coming from Kyoto, it might not be the case.

But the Duke was also there. When faced with the flood, local officials indulged in pleasure, and the Duke had the power to deal with it directly.

The prefect would never allow such a situation to happen. Except for the female members of the family who could eat some fine food, the prefect and his colleagues had been eating steamed buns and pickles for many days.

This honey tea was definitely not made by themselves as they said, and those pastries were not bought from anyone.

"I asked a few maids in other mansions nearby. A few days ago, a child came to the Tongpan Mansion to deliver a lot of cakes. It was the Tongpan Mansion's task to receive the child and he sat for a long time."

Chen Luoxi tapped the table rhythmically with his fingers, looking at the porcelain jar on the table.

Wen Niang is indeed in Yuzhou.

"Sir, let your subordinates go and tie up the people from the Tongpan Mansion and see if they tell the truth."

As soon as Zhu Hai understood something, he decided to use violence to solve the problem.

"Stop, what if the people from the Tongpan Mansion are on good terms with the young lady? If you tie them up, aren't you afraid that the young lady will find out and blame you?"

Zhuhai immediately wilted when he thought of the master's protection of the girl, although he had good intentions in helping the master find the girl.

But if the girl gets angry and wants to blame me, the master will definitely not protect me.

"Then what do you say we should do? We finally have some clues."

Zhushan pulled Zhuhai back and stood still.

"I think the magistrate's wife coaxed me out of consideration for the girl's safety. If she had good intentions, she could have just told me who made the cake. That would have been a good way to please the master."

"But she lied to me and was afraid that I would have a chance to continue looking for that person. She made up a lie that the person had been gone for a long time, just in case I would find him."

Zhuhai looked at Zhushan gloomily, his eyes flashing with calculation.

"How do you know she's not trying to benefit herself?"

Zhushan slapped Zhuhai on the head.

"Stupid, you are just trying to get benefits, what are you talking about? The young lady of the Tongpan Mansion is only thirteen or fourteen, what can she do? People look at their daughter like the apple of their eye, what can she do?"

Zhushan is very disappointed with his son. He has now started to help the master deal with many private issues, and he will not have much time to follow the master closely in the future.

Zhu Hai is good at martial arts and has to serve the master most of the time, but he is simple-minded, strong-limbed, and acts impulsively without thinking.

He always tried to guide Zhuhai to think more and reflect more, but to no avail.

"Zhu Hai should go and infiltrate the wife of the Tongpan and listen to what she has to say. Whether it is to protect Wen Niang or to ask for more benefits, we will know after listening."

Zhuhai then realized that the young master had already made a plan. He looked at Zhushan proudly, changed his clothes, and went out when it was a little darker.