The Legend of Zhen Huan: Year after year, we share the spring breeze

Zhen Huan was startled by An Lingrong's pale face. Noticing something was wrong with her, she smiled at the Emperor and said, "This is Sister Mei's birthday. Rong'er and I have been preparing for a long time. Sister, please have tea with the Emperor while we go downstairs to prepare."

Shen Meizhuang naturally noticed that something was wrong with An Lingrong. Alarm bells rang in her heart and she was on high alert to deal with it.

Zhen Huan pulled An Lingrong to the side room, "Rong'er, what's wrong with you? Why are you sweating so much?"

An Lingrong said bitterly, "Those things..."

Zhen Huan held her hand and said, "Don't worry, I'm here. Tell me in detail how to use these ingredients, how to prepare them, and how to eat them."

Seeing that she was confident, An Lingrong felt relieved.

Each person carried a cake into the hall and placed it on the table.

"This is a birthday cake."

Shen Meizhuang was attracted by this uniquely shaped cake decorated with flowers. It not only had her favorite chrysanthemums on it, but also had seven words carved on it using carrots: "Happy Birthday, Sister Mei."

"This is what you made for me. I like it very much." Shen Meizhuang's eyes were starry.

Yongzheng also looked at the cake with curiosity.

Zhen Huan picked up the candle, which was specially made by the Imperial Household Department at the request of An Lingrong. It was as long and thick as a little finger, with a long and thin tail.

"On your eighteenth birthday, you have to insert eighteen penises." An Lingrong added.

After lighting the candles, Zhen Huan ordered the palace servants to extinguish all the candles in the hall.

The bright and flickering candlelight, like stars in the night sky, illuminated the faces of the four people.

"Sister Mei, make a wish in front of the candles. Don't say it out loud, just make it silently in your heart." Zhen Huan controlled the process.

"It's OK."

"Blow out the candles and your wish will come true this year!"

"really?"

Really!

An Lingrong also made a silent wish in her heart: Sister, I hope you get what you want and have a smooth journey.

The candle goes out, leaving only a heart full of expectations and hopes.

The lights in the hall were lit again.

Zhen Huan held the wooden sword, hesitating who to give it to. Yongzheng probably knew how to eat the cake, so he nodded towards Shen Meizhuang.

Shen Meizhuang took the wooden knife and, following Zhen Huan's instructions, cut a piece of cake and handed it to Yongzheng.

Su Peisheng took a silver needle to test the poison, but Yongzheng waved him away. He picked up the small spoon on the table, scooped a mouthful, and put it into his mouth.

It’s sweet and soft, mixed with fruit pieces, and tastes surprisingly good.

Shen Meizhuang cut the cake and handed it to Zhen Huan and An Lingrong. After thinking for a while, she cut another piece and handed it to Su Peisheng.

Su Peisheng waved his hands repeatedly, "I dare not, I dare not."

"Today is Concubine Shen's birthday, so of course I have to listen to her." Yongzheng couldn't stop eating.

Su Peisheng took it and started eating it in small bites.

Shen Meizhuang gave her the last piece. After taking a bite, she saw An Lingrong asking with her eyes, "Is it delicious?"

Shen Meizhuang told her with her actions: It’s delicious.

She could only taste one flavor: sweet, sweet from head to toe, inside and out.

"Your Majesty, this is something I heard a Western merchant describe when I was still a child. I heard that Westerners eat this on their birthdays. Rong'er is good at making pastries, and she experimented many times before finally making this cake."

"It tastes delicious, thank you for your hard work!"

"This is called a thousand-layer cake. Your Majesty, look, isn't it a lot of layers? This one is much simpler. It's made of egg and flour crust with mango in the middle. It's a Chinese-style cake we came up with."

Yongzheng took a bite and said, "This is delicious too!"

"Thank you for the compliment, Your Majesty."

"Jinxi, bring the mango nectar."

"There are a lot of fruits left over from making the cake today. Rong'er couldn't bear to waste them, so we cut the fruits into pieces, mashed them into a paste, and then added milk. It actually tasted quite good." Zhen Huan legalized the cake and milk tea.

An Lingrong admired Zhen Huan's eloquence. According to her, the origins of these things were very reasonable. Zhen Huan even mentioned An Lingrong's contribution.

Zhen Huan was responsible for explaining, Shen Meizhuang was responsible for distributing, and Yongzheng, An Lingrong, and Su Peisheng were responsible for eating.

Yongzheng was still not satisfied.

An Lingrong was completely relieved.

Zhen Huan looked at An Lingrong sitting there without saying a word, wishing she could disappear. She felt a little disappointed. "Why don't you respond? Say a few more words to get the emperor's attention!"

Seeing that she still didn't speak, Zhen Huan could only change the subject to her, "Rong'er, aren't you still planning to sing for Sister Mei?"

If An Lingrong didn't know what Zhen Huan was thinking, she would have thought that Zhen Huan was pushing her into danger.

Sure enough, Yongzheng was very curious, "Oh, Rong'er can sing?"

What this sentence means is that you have to sing!

An Lingrong glared at Zhen Huan fiercely, leaving Zhen Huan a little confused.

"Why don't I accompany Rong'er?" Zhen Huan saw An Lingrong's reluctance and had to try hard to make up for it.

An Lingrong thought of something, "I've memorized the song you taught me, sister. How about I sing while I play it?"

"Okay, I'm all ears."

Zhen Huan secretly thought that this was not good.

"Liu Zhu, bring me my sister's zither."

Liu Zhu put down the zither and left.

An Lingrong sat on the chair and began to play.

"Boom~"

Yongzheng shuddered.

Who is breaking the wall?

"Happy…birthday…to…you, happy…birthday…to…you, happy…birthday…to…you~, happy…birthday…to…you."

An Lingrong played a syllable, sang a word, and finished with difficulty, "Your humble servant is here to perform!"

I'm not being polite, I'm really trying to embarrass myself!

Yongzheng's face turned as dark as the bottom of a pot. "Is this Chang Xiangsi?"

An Lingrong answered confidently, "I don't know."

Zhen Huan quickly replied: "Yes..."

"You're really disgracing this zither by playing such a sound with Chang Xiang Si." Yongzheng had never heard such unpleasant music in his life. "And that singing voice, can you sing?"

Shen Meizhuang had already seen through An Lingrong's intention and quickly said, "It sounds very nice. I like it. Thank you, Rong'er."

"Rong'er plays the piano very well." The trouble was caused by Zhen Huan, so Zhen Huan could only agree against her conscience.

"Is this the disciple you taught?" Yongzheng couldn't believe it.

"Yes, Rong'er has made a lot of progress."

"You guys..." Is there something wrong with your hearing?

Yongzheng turned away, but before leaving, he did not forget to hold Shen Meizhuang's hand.

Shen Meizhuang really didn't want to leave, she still had a lot to say to them.