Chapter 6

The Eldest Young Master’s two cryptic, disjointed sentences left Ye Ying pondering for a long while. Why had he suddenly asked her if she would continue picking night-blooming jasmine?

She could not make sense of it, so she simply stopped trying. She had not yet reached the level where she needed to decipher the intentions of her masters; such mental gymnastics were reserved for perceptive and clever figures like Sister Baishu and Sister Sangye. At the very least, when Chongyun came to deliver the message, he was all smiles, which proved the Eldest Young Master was not angry.

"Ying'er! That rouge the young lad from Nanny Fang’s family stuffed into your hands earlier—are you still using it?"

As Ye Ying was preparing to lie down on her bed, Yulu entered, her hair wrapped in a towel after a wash, still dripping wet. Her own rouge was running low, and having had no opportunity to go out and buy more recently, she intended to borrow some of Ye Ying’s.

Back when the two were learning etiquette in the Grand Mistress’s courtyard, the son of an old nanny who worked as a general laborer in the manor had seen Ye Ying while delivering items. Later, using the excuse of making deliveries, he had forced a box of rouge upon her.

Ye Ying replied without a second thought, "It’s right there on the table, go ahead and take it."

Yulu opened the vanity case with a giggle: "Ying'er, you’re the best!"

The next instant, Ye Ying bolted upright, giving Yulu quite a start.

"I am truly a fool," Ye Ying realized, suddenly enlightened. She slid into her shoes and hopped onto the floor.

Yulu clutched the rouge to her chest and retreated warily: "What’s the matter? You said I could have it!"

Ignoring her, Ye Ying threw on an outer garment, lit a lantern, and said before heading out, "Don't lock the door; I’m going to pick some night-blooming jasmine."

She really had been a fool. When someone asks you "Do you want to?" or "Do you like to?", the corresponding answer is clearly "I want to" or "I like to." Such a simple truth, and yet it had taken her this long to realize it! How silly!

The next morning at breakfast, a bowl of scrambled eggs with night-blooming jasmine appeared on Cui Yuan’s table. The eggs were a brilliant yellow, and the jasmine, complete with its tender stems and leaves, was fried to a fragrant perfection. It was a different flavor from the soup he had yesterday—this one seemed more pungent, so aromatically intoxicating that one could hardly resist, wanting only to finish it immediately.

"..." He summoned Chongyun. "What did you say yesterday?"

Chongyun had merely spoken the truth; he was not one to ponder the Young Master’s hidden thoughts. Cui Yuan felt that he had perhaps overestimated this simple-minded girl. It made sense; as a servant of Bamboo Garden, it was only natural for her to put effort into pleasing him. That he had thought otherwise was even more normal. The subtle awkwardness in his heart dissipated. Cui Yuan asked no more, picked up his chopsticks, and focused on eating a palatable breakfast, feeling refreshed in both body and mind.

Seeing the returned bowls and dishes, Ye Ying breathed a sigh of relief and laughed: "So it really was because of the old physician’s acupuncture yesterday, not a problem with my cooking."

Chongyun leaned against the stove, grinning: "How could that be! Sister Ying'er’s craft is comparable to the imperial chefs in the palace."

Ye Ying found the flattery deeply gratifying and added an extra piece of fragrant, roasted sesame flatbread to Chongyun’s bowl.

A period of peace followed, and with the days passing quickly, the Dragon Boat Festival was soon upon them. Living in the quiet, secluded Bamboo Garden, Baishu had lost the sense of the approaching holiday. However, Lingxiao, the Eldest Young Master’s personal attendant, bought some trinkets popular among young women from the marketplace and brought them to her.

Among them were silk sachets filled with mugwort, calamus, cinnabar, and realgar—herbs meant to repel insects and ward off evil—decorated with five-colored silk tassels. It was said that every year during the Dragon Boat Festival, whether officials or commoners, young ladies in the city loved to wear them. Baishu distributed them to everyone in Bamboo Garden; Ye Ying and Yulu each received one, tying them to their waistbands. As they walked, the sachets swayed gently, looking quite lovely.

With three or four days left before the festival, Ye Ying went to consult Baishu: "Sister Baishu, how are we celebrating the holiday in our courtyard?"

Baishu was currently busy with Cangwu, re-registering and cataloging the books in Baopu Hall and airing them out to get rid of the musty smell. It was a massive undertaking; the roof, corridors, and railings of Bamboo Garden were all covered in books spread out to dry. Ye Ying felt as though she was being marinated in the lingering scent of ink. Baishu and Cangwu were even more miserable, having worked for over a day and not even reaching the halfway mark. Cui Yuan was supervising from the inner room, and Baishu, terrified of any new instructions from him, saw Ye Ying as a savior. She happily took her arm and said, "Come, let’s go inside to talk."

Cangwu called out from behind, asking for help, but Ye Ying quietly asked, "Sister Baishu, won't it be bad if we just leave Cangwu like this?"

"Ignore him," Baishu said, holding a finger to her lips. "He’s been slacking off for the past two days, forcing me to do extra work. He deserves it."

Ye Ying chuckled and obediently agreed. The two ate snacks in the kitchen pantry—a plate of sweet dew cakes and a plate of dark plum candy—sipping tea that Baishu had brought herself. The tea had a long, lingering sweetness; it was truly excellent quality, likely the kind the Eldest Young Master drank daily. Ye Ying felt she was basking in his reflected glory.

"There is a family banquet in the manor for the Dragon Boat Festival. The Young Master will be dining with the Prime Minister and the Grand Mistress in the evening," Baishu explained. "I’ll give you all a half-day off that afternoon. Since the Young Master won't be here, you can eat in your own rooms or have someone buy food from the market; it’s all up to you."

She, however, had no such luck; she had to accompany the Young Master to the main hall, standing like a statue all night without being able to sit, hungry and exhausted.

Ye Ying was surprised. "Does the manor not even provide meals for the senior maids?"

Baishu replied, "We might get two flatbreads, but it’s so busy. We have to serve the Eldest Young Lady and the others, and the servants from each courtyard are the ones who get overlooked during these banquets." Including the family of the married Eldest Young Lady, there would be six masters dining.

Ye Ying thought for a moment and, feeling that Baishu was one of her own, leaned in to whisper, "Sister, does the manager of the main kitchen have some sort of connection to the manor...?"

Baishu let out a "pfft," nearly spitting out her snack. "How did you know?"

It was easy to guess. As the head of the kitchen, her cooking was... average? Her management was chaotic, and she seemed to lack any real talent. If she didn't have connections, how could she have become a manager? Ye Ying blinked and explained her reasoning.

Baishu suppressed a laugh and cautioned her, "Manager Yin’s foster mother is the Eldest Master’s wet nurse, and she holds quite a bit of status before the Grand Mistress. Oh, and she has a daughter in our courtyard—it's Nandina, who washes the clothes. Remember not to speak carelessly; she is a bit petty."

Ye Ying smiled, "Then I’ll make some *zongzi* (sticky rice dumplings) and save a few for you, Sister. You can just heat them on the tea stove when you get back."

"You must remember that!"

After slacking off for half an hour, Baishu had to return. The thought of the mountain of books waiting for her gave her a splitting headache. It was the first time Ye Ying had seen such a pained expression on Baishu’s face. "Should I have you teach me how to do it so I can help you guys?"

"You can read, right?" Baishu was tempted, but quickly declined. "Forget it. There are many rare editions among the Young Master’s books. If you don't know how to handle them and ruin one, selling both of us wouldn't be enough to pay for it. But thank you for the heart."

Under the strict upbringing of the old Prime Minister Cui, Cui Yuan had extremely high standards for himself and the people and things around him. Baishu said that around the Young Master, there was no such thing as "good enough." Things were much better now; after his illness, the sharpness in his temper had softened significantly—what it used to be like was truly strict. Now, he even allowed them to slack off!

Ye Ying found this quite rare. According to Baishu, the Eldest Young Master was once proficient in both literature and martial arts, a robust man who had lost nearly thirty pounds since falling ill. It wasn't just due to a loss of appetite; before Physician Zhang took over, there was a period when he often couldn't sleep all night—whenever he lay down, his bones would ache with a piercing pain.

This condition was the same one suffered by the late Prince Ling, the current Emperor’s eldest son, who had died young. Prince Ling had been a gentle soul, but after being tortured by the illness for half a year, he had become frantic, with screams and midnight weeping often echoing from his palace.

The Eldest Young Master did not torture his subordinates to vent his pain. Was it because he had a good temper? No. Intellectuals, to refine themselves, often visited mountain academies or traveled the four corners of the earth, only then realizing that reading was not just about seeking knowledge, but about cultivating character and virtue. Some had great learning and called themselves scholars, yet at the first sign of disagreement, they turned harsh and cruel. Others were consumed by greed, anger, and delusion, their inner peace shattered. Very few could achieve a state of few words, simple tastes, lack of anger, diligent action, and acting according to one's heart while remaining in harmony with the world.

Ye Ying had once followed online tutorials to learn Taoist heart cultivation, and her state of mind had indeed broadened, but facing endless medicine and medical bills, she still felt bitter. By comparison, the Eldest Young Master’s self-cultivation was quite profound.

After seeing Baishu off, another day passed. Ye Ying had Yulu tell the kitchen procurement staff to buy glutinous rice, bamboo leaves, dates, and several pounds of pork—enough to make at least a hundred *zongzi*.

The woman in charge of procurement was startled: "So many? Can the Eldest Young Master eat that much?"

Yulu glared: "Is the Eldest Young Master the only one celebrating the festival?"

The woman replied, "Manager Yin has also ordered *zongzi* to be made, and everyone gets two." She just didn't want them to waste the money.

Yulu waved her hand: "I don't even want to talk about your *zongzi*; the rice isn't sticky, and it’s stuffed with two shriveled dates—you call that celebrating the festival? One day, I really should make you taste the ones from our courtyard."

The woman dealt with Yulu every day and had eaten many of the snacks Yulu gave her, all of which were made by Ye Ying. Hearing this, she grew greedy and agreed readily.

As for the salted duck eggs they had pickled earlier, Ye Ying had tasted one yesterday and found it ready. She pried open two jars, finding exactly thirty eggs. She used only the yolks, wrapping them with the marinated pork to make salted egg yolk and meat *zongzi*. There were another twenty chestnut and chicken *zongzi*, and the remaining fifty were made into sweet red bean and honeyed date *zongzi*.

When wrapping the *zongzi*, Chongyun brought the young maids from the inner courtyard to help. Nandina came too—it was Ye Ying’s first time seeing her; she was plump and beautiful, with a round, egg-shaped face. Then there was Suhe, a maid Yulu said had many connections, with a pair of round, clever-looking eyes. It was the first time the kitchen had been so lively. Ye Ying sat at the table with them, showing them how to shape the bamboo leaves and fold the dumplings. The laughter and chatter were so loud they could be heard clearly in the inner courtyard.

"The fish are all scared away by them." Cui Yuan looked at the rippling water of the stream and shook his head. Several foot-long crucian carp were swimming by as if no one were there, while the basket prepared on the side remained empty.

Sangye laughed: "That monkey Chongyun, he’s the loudest of them all."

Cui Yuan’s lips twitched slightly.

"Are they disturbing you, Young Master? Should I go say something?"

Cui Yuan replied: "Let it be."

But after only a moment of silence, another burst of laughter erupted, startling the schools of fish into scattering.

Cui Yuan: "..."

Usually, because the Young Master preferred silence, no one in Bamboo Garden spoke loudly. Perhaps they thought the inner courtyard couldn't hear the kitchen. Sangye glanced at her master’s expression and, seeing it was still fine, added: "Ying'er is quite lively. When she first came, I thought she was quiet. I never expected her to get along so well with everyone."

Cui Yuan did not respond. Sangye kept watch, but saw no more fish biting the hook, and instead, she felt herself nodding off while standing. After a while, she suddenly heard the Young Master ask: "Is she very close with you all?"

Sangye jolted awake, trying to discern the meaning behind Cui Yuan’s words. Previously, the Grand Mistress had sent a maid born in the manor to be the Young Master’s concubine, but he wouldn't take her. That maid had become very close with the inner courtyard maids, prying out the Young Master’s preferences and habits from them, constantly creating "accidental meetings" that drove him to distraction. Later, those maids who "betrayed their master" were transferred away during the cleanup led by Baishu.

Sangye replied cautiously: "Not exactly. It’s just that since Ying'er arrived, the food in our courtyard has improved quite a bit, and everyone is very happy."

Cui Yuan raised his eyelids: "In your opinion, who is better, her or Manager Yin?"

Sangye watched helplessly as the Young Master missed a large fish that had eaten the bait and then brazenly swum away from the hook. "...Manager Yin serves the masters; having her take care of us would be a waste of talent. To use Chongyun’s words, it’s like ‘not being able to stomach fine grain.’"

Sangye had once been the gentlest among his servants, but now, corrupted by Chongyun, her speech was becoming increasingly unrefined. Cui Yuan shook his head: "My illness has really made you all sloppy." He re-baited the hook. "In the future, when you go out, don't say you are my people."

In the future—that would be after his time. Cui Yuan had actually already arranged the most suitable paths for them, just hadn't told them yet. Sangye didn't grasp the meaning, her lips tightening, thinking to herself that he came to fish every few days but showed no improvement at all.

Half a day passed, and the crucian carp looked stuffed, completely ignoring Cui Yuan’s bait. Cui Yuan wasn't annoyed; he just sat there basking in the sun until it began to slant. Finally, a fish slowly approached again. It was about to take the hook—even Sangye held her breath—when suddenly, they heard Ye Ying laughing loudly: "Chongyun, you’ve wrapped this one like a pig’s trotter!"

The fish flicked its tail and accelerated away from Cui Yuan’s line of sight.

Sangye swallowed, not daring to speak.

Cui Yuan reeled in his rod: "Let’s return."

By the end of the day, they had wrapped over a hundred *zongzi* of various sizes. The Cui manor had an ice cellar, and they stored most of them to be taken out whenever they wanted to eat. The rest were steamed in a large pot that evening and kept on low heat through the night. By the next morning, the rice was sticky, soft, and fragrant.

For breakfast, everyone was given two—one sweet and one savory—along with a tofu soup made from the leftover salted duck eggs, salty and rich, and a bowl of thin rice water—the layer from the top of the porridge. It was truly worthy of a festival.

For the gold-and-jade-precious Eldest Young Master, Ye Ying felt she should also offer something according to the season. Even if he had other *zongzi* filled with delicacies that night, it wouldn't hurt to let him try hers.

Baishu deftly peeled the bamboo leaves and placed two neat triangular *zongzi* on a jade porcelain plate in front of Cui Yuan, even thoughtfully cutting them into small pieces. "Young Master, please try the *zongzi* from our courtyard. They taste quite good."

Cui Yuan glanced at them and picked the one with the salted duck yolk first. The texture was sandy and tender, the sauce-marinated meat was half-lean, and the juice had soaked into the sticky rice. The taste was truly excellent—not a waste of the bait the fish had eaten. In previous years, Cui Yuan had received *zongzi* from the main kitchen and even rewards from the Emperor, but he felt that none were as good as this.

Eating such a breakfast early in the morning made one feel refreshed. Glutinous rice caused bloating if eaten too much, so Cui Yuan didn't eat much, just tasted a bit of both. Looking at what remained on the plate, he felt a rare, slight regret at not being able to finish. Baishu, very perceptive, said, "We wrapped quite a lot yesterday. If you want more, Young Master, just order them to be steamed."

After breakfast, Cui Yuan noticed the five-colored sachet hanging from Baishu’s waist. She was wearing a water-red jacket and a lotus-white gauze skirt, with pearls and jade in her hair—she looked as decent as a young lady from a wealthy family. All of this, naturally, was bestowed by Cui Yuan. Baishu telling Ye Ying that the Young Master was generous was no lie.

Cui Yuan was a young man with normal aesthetics, perhaps even a bit picky. Seeing his servants tidying themselves up did not make him feel, like some elders, that they were being pretentious. On the contrary, he felt pleased from his eyes to his heart. It was just like how he had personally planted a large patch of hibiscus in Bamboo Garden—it was vibrant and made one feel good just looking at it.

In fact, he had had this quirk of loving beauty since childhood. According to the Grand Mistress, since he was three, there wasn't a single ugly maid or servant in his courtyard. If a nanny had a mole on her lip, he wouldn't bother with her. As he grew up, this quirk seemed to have changed, but in reality, only those close to him knew it hadn't.

There was an official in the Censorate named Zhao who wanted to use Cui Yuan to connect with the Cui family, but Cui Yuan was always indifferent to him, turning down several invitations to banquets. This Censor Zhao couldn't understand why, thinking he had offended the Eldest Young Master, so he sought out Cui Yuan’s personal attendant, Lingxiao, to inquire. Lingxiao spoke very politely to reassure him, but the moment he saw Censor Zhao, he knew why: the Young Master just thought he was ugly. Censor Zhao had bull eyes, a chicken beak, and bad breath; let alone the Young Master, even Lingxiao couldn't eat a meal face-to-face with him.

There was another time when the servants in Bamboo Garden dressed very plainly, all in grey cloth. Cui Yuan found it inexplicable, later guessing that they didn't want him, a sick man, to feel that they were being ostentatious, so they dressed that way on purpose. After watching for two days, he couldn't stand it anymore, opened the storeroom, and rewarded everyone with several bolts of vibrant fabric.

Looking at Baishu’s jacket, he remembered it was a piece of fabric he had given her last summer; tailored into a dress, it looked exceptionally elegant. He thought of the little girl under the night-blooming jasmine; she looked a bit timid, and her clothes were overly plain—likely the standard-issue skirt and jacket from the manor. It didn't match her expressive eyes.

Cui Yuan’s picky streak acted up again. "How are you all spending the day?" he asked Baishu. In a good mood, he was willing to hear how his maids planned to spend the holiday; who knows, there might even be bonuses.

In previous years, senior maids like Baishu, besides the two meat *zongzi* from the kitchen, would receive a bolt of fabric—not very pretty, but decent material that could be traded for pocket money. But Baishu didn't really care for it. She held the keys to Cui Yuan’s storeroom and knew how much good material he had; just rewarding a little bit would make all the girls in Bamboo Garden happy for a long time. Baishu guessed what he was about to say; as she had told Ye Ying, Cui Yuan was definitely not a stingy person. Whatever he brought up now would surely be good news. Baishu had absolute confidence.

Sure enough, after she said she had given the others a half-day off, Cui Yuan said, "You should rest too. No need to follow me tonight."

Baishu happily agreed. Immediately after, he called out, "Baishu."

Baishu listened.

"Go to the storeroom, find some bright fabrics and trinkets, and distribute them." Cui Yuan paused. Perhaps being sick left him with nothing to do, so he added, "Draft a list and let me see it."

"Yes."

He didn't just look at it; he had the refined interest to change a few items. For instance, the sky-blue floral damask he had picked for Sangye was changed to a peacock-blue silk. He changed it, and then even commented that her complexion was too dark. Sangye, however, was not unhappy—among silks and satins, silk was the most valuable.

Who wouldn't like beautiful fabric and jewelry? Especially when it was bestowed by the "Top Scholar" himself. Yulu’s mouth was stretched wide with a grin. She received a bolt of fabric that felt smooth and fine, and a pair of silk flowers—the craftsmanship was far more exquisite than the two pairs she already had. Everyone received a pair of hair flowers and a bolt of fabric. Ye Ying got them too, though she couldn't help but suspect if Sister Baishu had secretly given her special treatment...?

Because what she received was a bolt of snow-purple soft satin with butterfly patterns and a pair of peony-red silk flowers. In the sunlight, it shimmered with brilliant colors. It was so beautiful she didn't know what to say.