The eldest young master said the young lady likes to drink milk tea.
It wasn't that Jiang Xuesui judged people by their looks, but recently she had taken a keen interest in drawing portraits. She was sketching a pair of child door gods. The black-clad child already had a face, which she had drawn based on Wen Qiao's features. The white-clad child's face was still undecided. Jiang Xuesui thought of all the young masters in the ducal mansion, but none fit. Until this day, when Lady Sang was diagnosed as pregnant, and Imperial Consort Dowager Sang of Prince Duan's Mansion came to offer congratulations. Jiang Xuesui was called by Old Madam Wen to greet the guest.
Beside Imperial Consort Dowager Sang sat a young master with a Jade Qilin hanging around his neck. He was exceptionally handsome and refined, with a clear jade-like face, bright starry eyes, and a silver-threaded snow-white python robe. He perfectly matched Jiang Xuesui's imagination of the white-clad child.
"Is this the little girl from your family who wears the Golden Qilin?" Imperial Consort Dowager Sang's eyes lit up when she saw Jiang Xuesui. The little girl was full of childish innocence, her complexion rosy, her brows and eyes exceedingly charming, and her speech and mannerisms were generous and poised.
"This little monkey of mine is quite mischievous," Old Madam Wen said with a beaming smile.
"Little girls should be lively and spirited," Imperial Consort Dowager Sang said, just as she felt a tug on her sleeve. Turning her head, she saw it was her own son pulling at it. She immediately understood his intention. "Lin'er, take your little sister to play properly. Don't make her cry."
He Lanlin rose from his seat and led Jiang Xuesui to the garden lake for fishing.
Jiang Xuesui originally thought she talked a lot, but compared to He Lanlin, who was a chatterbox, she could barely get a word in and just listened as he talked incessantly. He Lanlin's speech was dense but not full of nonsense; it was all gossip about the noble and official families of Xuanjing City. It seemed that Imperial Consort Dowager Sang often took him visiting, and it was impressive that he could remember so many miscellaneous things.
"I actually should have come to the Duke Xiangguo's Mansion earlier, but Brother A Qiao always quizzes me on my lessons. Today, I crammed a few essays and came, but no matter what I memorized, Brother A Qiao just wouldn't ask about those," He Lanlin said with a wry smile.
If you could put as much effort into memorizing essays as you do into remembering gossip, why would you be afraid of Wen Qiao?
Jiang Xuesui muttered inwardly but, of course, she wouldn't say such a spoilsport remark out loud.
"You're already a little prince. You won't be taking the imperial examinations in the future, so it doesn't matter if you're a bit slow in your studies."
"Exactly, that's what I think too," He Lanlin resonated strongly. "Brother A Qiao doesn't have to take the imperial examinations either; he could rely on his family's merits for an official post. But he doesn't understand this principle. He studies hard day and night, and it only gets me scolded by my mother."
You won't study hard yourself, and you even hope others will follow your example and live off family inheritance. You'll definitely be a playboy prince in the future.
Jiang Xuesui muttered to herself again, inadvertently revealing a look of disdain.
He Lanlin misinterpreted her expression. "Do you also often get compared to Brother A Qiao? Do you disdain him for being too good at studying?"
Jiang Xuesui: "..."
We're different. I still know how to balance work and rest, unlike you who only knows how to rest, rest, rest... And my father gave me a good brain. I only need to use three-tenths of my effort in studying to achieve twelve-tenths of the results.
In order not to lose this good-for-nothing but pretty little friend, Jiang Xuesui perfunctorily agreed with him a few times.
*
Because she had played with He Lanlin, she arrived half an hour late at Fuxi Pavilion to teach Wen Yuan'ai character tracing. When Jiang Xuesui entered the room, Wen Qiao was already instructing his sister on how to write the character 'yong.' His thick, crow-black lashes cast two faint shadows on his porcelain-white face.
Jiang Xuesui made a mental note to add a few more lashes to the black-clad child in her painting when she got home.
She had brought a pot of milk tea, made from the Jingting Green Snow Wen Qiao had given her, mixed with milk and snowflake sugar cubes. She poured a large cup each for Wen Yuan'ai and Wen Qiao.
Wen Yuan'ai smiled. "Sweet, fragrant, delicious. Yuanyuan is amazing."
Wen Qiao only took one sip before setting the cup down on the tea table.
"Brother, is the milk tea not good?"
Jiang Xuesui had noticed Wen Qiao lightly furrow his brow when he drank the milk tea.
Wen Qiao sat down behind the tea table. After a series of fluid movements—preparing the tea, warming the utensils, adding the tea leaves—he gestured for Jiang Xuesui to take a cup of the Jingting Green Snow he had brewed.
The tea was clear, sweet, and mellow, with a lingering aftertaste. Truly worthy of the name Jingting Green Snow.
Wen Qiao asked, "Is this cup of tea better, or is the milk tea better?"
Without a second thought, Jiang Xuesui replied, "Of course, the milk tea is better. Next time, I'll roast the snowflake sugar cubes until they're slightly caramelized before adding them to the milk tea. It'll definitely be more flavorful."
Wen Qiao gazed at her silently for a few seconds, then lightly shook his head and sighed. Helplessly, he returned to his study.
His expression as he left was like an old master looking at a foolish student.
She... had she been looked down upon by Wen Qiao?
What right did he have to look down on her?
Baochan, who served Wen Yuan'ai, revealed the truth.
"Young Miss, the eldest young master is well-versed in the tea ceremony. Using such fine tea as Jingting Green Snow to make milk tea is, in his eyes, no different from burning zithers for fuel or steaming a rare pear. It's a desecration."
But Jiang Xuesui loved drinking milk tea. Even the finest Dahongpao would not escape her using it for milk tea.
She would use Jingting Green Snow for milk tea.
Next time, she would do it again.
*
After autumn began, various mansions that had dealings with the Duke Xiangguo's Mansion started hosting chrysanthemum appreciation banquets. The duke's mansion received at least a dozen invitations each month.
"Purple Xia Yunying, Ancient Temple Vajra, Phoenix Dancing Feather..." Jiang Xuesui flipped through her sketchbook. She had already drawn over thirty varieties of chrysanthemums she liked.
Chrysanthemums came in many species and were truly beautiful, but no matter how lovely the flowers, seeing too many made them lose their novelty.
However, the crabs served at the chrysanthemum banquets were something Jiang Xuesui never tired of.
But Hailan wouldn't let her eat too many. Each time she attended a chrysanthemum banquet, she could only eat one crab.
Yesterday, she had gone to her grandmother Old Madam Wen's maiden family, the Marquis Lin'an's Mansion, for a chrysanthemum banquet. The current Marquis Lin'an was Old Madam Wen's nephew, and the Marchioness Lin'an was the Grand Princess of Chu, daughter of the late emperor's second empress, Empress Jingwen. The marquis and marchioness had only one daughter, Princess Shanyang, Xie Nongyu.
Jiang Xuesui's impression of Xie Nongyu was not good.
Perhaps because she was a natural-born princess, Xie Nongyu was quite narcissistic. She would either find some little lady rustic or find another ugly. Since she couldn't find fault with Jiang Xuesui, she mocked Jiang Xuesui for loving milk tea and not understanding the tea ceremony.
Jiang Xuesui was very unconvinced. Was the tea ceremony that hard to learn?