Chapter 78
Chapter 78
Su Qinghe’s entire body stiffened, his heart nearly leaping out of his chest.
Why was the Second Prince here?
Had he planted a spy in the residence, or ordered someone to follow Su Qinghe from the rear gate of the Su Residence?
Or could the official Yiren had mentioned actually be one of the Second Prince’s men? Was that why Yiren’s invitation had arrived at the Su Residence at the same time as the one from Chenghuan Hall, even specifying that he had to be present?
Sheng Yiren strode over. Hearing Xie Chengze’s remark, she glanced in surprise at Su Qinghe, who was kneeling on the floor and trembling all over.
What was going on here?
She had been busy lately and had not invited Su Qinghe to meet, so she knew nothing of what had happened at the Su Residence. Judging by the present scene, had something taken place between Su Qinghe and the Second Prince?
It even looked as though Su Qinghe had deliberately been avoiding the Second Prince, only for the prince to finally catch him…
Her mind racing, Sheng Yiren immediately stepped forward to pour tea for Xie Chengze and asked with a smile, “It is just mealtime, Your Highness. Have you eaten? Would you like this commoner to have a meal prepared for you?”
Xie Chengze raised a hand and said lazily, “No need. I ate before coming here.”
Sheng Yiren’s gaze swept unobtrusively across Xie Chengze’s face. Seeing that he looked pleased and showed no sign of anger, she hurried to the redwood food box, removed the plates of pastries inside, and arranged them in the center of the tea table, angled toward Xie Chengze.
Each plate held several small, exquisitely shaped pastries. Arranged on white-jade dishes, they resembled flowers just beginning to bloom, a sight of breathtaking beauty.
Sure enough, they caught Xie Chengze’s attention. Wonder lit his face. “What exquisite pastries. Even I have never seen their like before.”
Not even the Imperial Kitchens made pastries this delicate. As Xie Chengze marveled inwardly, true masters really did dwell among ordinary people. Who would have thought a modest place like Moon-Gazing Tower could conceal such remarkable talent?
Yet although the pastries were exquisite, something about them looked strangely unnatural. He simply could not identify what was odd.
Sheng Yiren explained with a smile, “Second Young Master Su made these himself. You cannot buy them anywhere else. Would Your Highness care to taste one?”
Xie Chengze looked at Su Qinghe in astonishment. “Young Master Su possesses such a skill?”
Su Qinghe’s fist tightened slightly, distress clouding his face.
Sheng Yiren was a woman and had grown up alongside him. She had long since become accustomed to him cooking and thought only that he was highly skilled. Men in the capital, however, generally kept far away from the kitchen whether they pursued letters or martial arts.
This was especially true in a prominent capital family like the Su clan, where wasting time on food and cooking was beneath contempt. If word got out, he would become a laughingstock.
Thus, Su Qinghe was permitted to enter the kitchen and make these pastries only when meeting Sheng Yiren. Even that exception existed solely because Sheng Yiren was the legitimate daughter of the Vice Minister of Rites. The Minister of Rites was nearing retirement, and the Sheng family was certain to rise next. Su Qinghe’s father expected him to remain on good terms with Sheng Yiren, so he had granted this special indulgence.
The Second Prince already looked down on him. If the prince now learned that a member of the Su family neglected his “proper calling” this way, he would surely despise and humiliate him all over again…
Bitterness filled Su Qinghe’s heart, but he could blame no one. His own talents were poor. He could neither comprehend the books of the sages nor memorize the laws and statutes of the realm. The only skill he could claim was the craft everyone else scorned most.
Su Qinghe braced himself for humiliation. Yet after waiting for what felt like forever, he still heard nothing from Xie Chengze.
Unable to resist, he stole a glance upward. Xie Chengze was staring intently at the pastries, utterly absorbed as though searching for something.
Sheng Yiren also grew uneasy and asked softly, “Your Highness, is something wrong?”
He could not possibly think she had poisoned them, could he?
As the two of them fretted, Xie Chengze suddenly slapped the table, making them both jump.
Enlightenment struck Xie Chengze. He finally knew what was strange.
Every pastry on the plates looked ex-act-ly the same!
Not merely the general design. Every petal and blade of grass molded from pastry flour had virtually identical shape, curve, and size, as though all had come from the very same mold!
Even an imperial chef would leave tiny differences, no matter how similar the results. Most cooks, moreover, cared about the beauty of the arrangement and deliberately shaped the petals of identical pastries in different ways, making them appear more vivid and lifelike.
Su Qinghe’s pastries, however, were perfect one-to-one reproductions. Precisely because they were too identical, the arrangement looked both real and unreal, making its strangeness difficult to notice at first.
Could Su Qinghe… have obsessive-compulsive disorder?
Xie Chengze could not help glancing at Su Qinghe. By coincidence, he met the other man’s upturned gaze, so he smiled.
When the peerless beauty smiled, it was as though all the spring flowers contended in vain, unable to rival his splendor. Su Qinghe’s gaze blurred for an instant. Then he hurriedly lowered his head again, not daring to look directly at that kingdom-toppling face.
He had to admit that His Highness the Second Prince possessed beauty beyond compare, so exquisite that it transcended gender. He was also the exalted Second Prince of the Jian’an Dynasty. Compared with Su Qinghe, whose looks were mild and unremarkable and who possessed neither talent nor ability, Big Brother Shen would surely choose His Highness.
Seeing Su Qinghe kneeling there and once again radiating gloom and bitterness, Xie Chengze truly could not understand why the man looked so utterly miserable every time he saw him.
The original novel had barely mentioned him, but he had seemed perfectly normal there.
Could he truly despise Xie Chengze simply because he was the Second Prince?
Xie Chengze turned toward the uneasy Sheng Yiren and signaled with his eyes: *Young lady, could you help him up? He looks like he’s about to shatter.*
Sheng Yiren understood at once and stepped forward to pull Su Qinghe to his feet.
Su Qinghe looked frightened. He glanced at Sheng Yiren as though pleading for help, then fearfully at Xie Chengze.
“Sit.” Xie Chengze patted the small chair beside him, doing his best to radiate goodwill.
Su Qinghe hesitated, about to say it would violate propriety, when Sheng Yiren grabbed him and forcibly pressed him into the wooden chair. “His Highness told you to sit, so sit.”
Her childhood friend was far too given to watching people’s expressions, and he was quick to form preconceptions. That was why he failed to see that the Second Prince was not angry at all. In fact, the prince was watching *his* expression.
Su Qinghe sat rigidly in the chair, not daring the slightest movement. His hands rested properly on his thighs, and even his gaze did not shift an inch.
Only after Su Qinghe sat down did Xie Chengze reach for a pastry on a white-jade plate. It crumbled easily, scattering several crumbs onto the table. He quickly drew back his arm and popped the pastry into his mouth.
Fragrance instantly filled his mouth.
Xie Chengze’s eyes widened in amazement. *This is so, so, so delicious!*
They were not only tastier than the ones Shen Yuan had bought in Yizhou, but also far more delicious than anything he had eaten from the Imperial Kitchens. The difference was night and day. They were not even in the same league!
He could not help looking at Sheng Yiren, his tone peculiar. “Every time you two meet, he brings you these?”
Sheng Yiren: ?
Sheng Yiren answered honestly, “He does…” But how could His Highness possibly know that?