Chapter 240

Chapter 240 The stewardess was so flustered that sweat poured down her forehead. "Miss Guiyuan, please don't tease this servant." "This 'overlord flower' you speak of—this servant has 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 the beginning of March now, and the snow has just barely melted. You couldn't find fresh peach blossoms anywhere in the entire Prince's mansion..." Guiyuan let out a cold snort, quite arrogant in her demeanor. "The new concubine Ye said she wanted to eat southern Fujian-style dishes, and you all scurried over to deliver them right away. But now that it's our mistress's turn, suddenly you're crying that you can't get things done." "Whether you truly can't get the ingredients or simply don't want to do the work—you'd better explain yourselves clearly, so I can go back and report to our mistress." Xie Run was curious as well. It was expected that Jiang Baobao would throw her weight around now that she was pregnant. But how had she managed to gather such a group of arrogant, reckless maidservants who had no regard for anyone else? Xie Run turned to ask Dantao: "These maidservants around Consort Jiang—this is the fourth batch that's been replaced, isn't it?" Dantao could barely hide her own astonishment and nodded blankly. The maidservants in the Prince's mansion were mostly obedient and gentle-natured. How was it that when it came to Consort Jiang, each one was more arrogant than the last, as if they'd been cut from the same mold as their mistress? The stewardess, cornered by Guiyuan, was just thinking of how to send her away when she turned and spotted Consort Xie standing at the doorway. The stewardess was both startled and delighted, quickly bowing in greeting: "Consort Xie, whatever brings you to this humble place!" "If you have any instructions, you need only send word through the girls of Spring Mountain Courtyard. Have we servants failed in some task? Please do enlighten us, Consort Xie." Xie Run glanced coolly at Guiyuan. "I was originally on my way to visit Consort Jiang when I passed by the main kitchen and heard a commotion, so I stepped in to take a look." She smiled. "The Princess Consort has put me and Consort Sun in charge of household affairs, so I was bound to come check on the main kitchen eventually. I didn't expect to run into this by chance today." Xie Run glanced at Dantao: "Dantao, ask Miss Guiyuan for me—what request does Consort Jiang have that the main kitchen hasn't fulfilled?" "If they truly failed in their duties, then someone must be punished, and I'll report it to the Princess Consort immediately. But if this is deliberate troublemaking, then it's the mistress who doesn't know her place, isn't it?" With that, Xie Run took Xiaoshu's hand and left the main kitchen. She was a mistress; bickering with a servant like Guiyuan in a place like the main kitchen would be beneath her station. Dantao was her personal maidservant—acting on her behalf was more than sufficient. Guiyuan had already felt a flicker of fear the moment she saw Xie Run. She was one of the people 'Jiang Baobao' had carefully selected to keep by her side—skilled only at flattery and sycophancy, useless at everything else. Now that she'd run into someone of higher rank than her own mistress, she immediately cowered and instinctively tried to explain: "Sister Dantao, you know my mistress is with child, and her appetite has grown rather particular—she craves specialty foods." "The main kitchen takes the mansion's silver and fills their own bellies all day long, yet can't even meet their mistresses' requests—aren't they just too useless?" Dantao smiled at her. "What you say makes sense." Guiyuan let out a small sigh of relief. Dantao continued: "Consort Jiang is pregnant, so if she wants to eat something, she simply says so—that's only natural. But you maidservants ought to advise her rather than just indulging her every whim and making things difficult for everyone else. That's rather useless of you, wouldn't you say?" Guiyuan was startled. "This servant hasn't—this servant has advised my mistress!" "Then you're saying Consort Jiang is set in her ways, relying on the child in her belly to act on her favor and grow arrogant?" "No!" "If it's not this and not that, then you must tell us what it is, exactly?" Dantao remained smiling throughout: "As it happens, my mistress is on her way to visit Consort Jiang. Why don't we go back together and compare accounts? Then we'll know whether you're lying, girl." Guiyuan was so frightened she was on the verge of tears, grabbing at Dantao's sleeve: "Sister Dantao, this servant is only following my mistress's orders. When my mistress wants something to eat, this servant wouldn't dare advise against it!" "Why are you crying? Since Consort Jiang sent you to deliver the message, surely she won't make things difficult for you." Guiyuan was left speechless, unable to say another word. She certainly couldn't say that her mistress was moody and unpredictable—that if she failed to procure the ingredients, her mistress wouldn't care about the reason and would blame everything on her regardless. Dantao then said to the stewardess: "The southern Fujian dishes that concubine Ye ate were all made from ingredients she brought with her from Fujian. Now that Consort Jiang wants to eat them, you in the main kitchen can swallow your pride and borrow some from concubine Ye, at least to satisfy Consort Jiang's cravings for now." "It's only March, and while the flower house has plenty of other flowers, peach blossoms simply can't be cultivated at this time—there's no helping that. See if you can find something with a similar fragrance to substitute instead." Dantao said this knowing full well that Jiang Baobao was deliberately causing trouble—she certainly wouldn't be able to tell the difference between cakes made with fresh peach blossoms and those made with dried ones. After all, even fresh peach blossoms had to be dried before they could be baked into pastries. When it came down to it, Jiang Baobao was holding onto old grudges. Now that she was pregnant, she couldn't wait to find excuses to torment the main kitchen. The stewardess could have handled it herself, but if she made those decisions on her own, whatever she sent to Jiang Baobao would inevitably be nitpicked and criticized no matter what. Now that she had Dantao's word and someone to vouch for her, she immediately said, "We'll go at once." Guiyuan, with tears in her eyes, followed Dantao forward reluctantly. After crying quietly for a while, she noticed that behind Xie Run followed two elderly women with stern, solemn faces, carrying an indescribable air of authority—even more imposing than the seasoned old matrons in the prince's residence. What did Consort Xie mean by bringing these two women to visit the mistress? When they arrived at Consort Jiang's courtyard, Xie Run spoke first: "Go announce me. Say that I've come to visit Consort Jiang." Having learned her lesson from the last time things were smashed, Xie Run no longer dared to enter anyone's courtyard without permission. Inside the room, Jiang Baobao was lying around bored, eating fruit, when she heard the news of Xie Run's arrival. Her expression changed instantly. "What is she doing here?!" Xie Run rarely took the initiative to visit anyone. The last time she came to Jiang Baobao's door, she had brought people to force-feed Jiang Baobao, nearly bursting her stomach. That incident had left Jiang Baobao with considerable trauma. Even now, she didn't dare eat her fill, or she would easily feel nauseous. Her maid Yangtao said softly, "Mistress, Consort Xie has likely come to visit you. After all, now that you're with child and she's in charge of household management, she naturally has to ensure your pregnancy goes smoothly." Hearing this, Jiang Baobao's expression improved somewhat. Her fears were suppressed, and the arrogance in her heart began to stir again. "Invite Consort Xie in." Though she said the words, her body didn't move. When Xie Run walked in, she heard Jiang Baobao half-reclining on the heated kang, complaining in a coquettish voice: "Why did it take Guiyuan so long just to fetch a meal from the main kitchen?" "Useless girl, can't even handle such a trivial matter." Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Xie Run's smiling, composed face and felt a pang of unease. She timidly sat up. "Consort Xie has arrived." She raised a hand to stroke her not-yet-visible belly. "This concubine isn't feeling well today, so I'm afraid I can't perform the proper greetings for Consort Xie. I hope Consort Xie will forgive me." The two palace matrons following behind Xie Run saw Jiang Baobao's arrogant demeanor—lounging without proper posture and failing to show respect to a Side Consort—and furrowed their brows in unison.