A Figure on Jade Steps in the Wind and Snow 39

Chapter 39: Giving a Gift (Part 1)

…What kind of talk is this?!

Shen Zhishu glanced at her, then turned her head back.

She stared at the four jade boxes neatly arranged on the counter and suddenly asked her attendant with narrowed eyes, “Was I smiling very happily just now?”

The attendant nodded with a big grin, but after seeing the smile that did not reach Shen Zhishu’s eyes, she shook her head like a rattle drum.

Shen Zhishu was satisfied. She grabbed a bag from the side and stuffed the jade boxes into it, saying as she did, “You saw wrong. I was just thinking of a friend I just made yesterday. This gift is for her.”

“Are you giving her all four kinds of tea?” the manager asked curiously.

“Yes,” Shen Zhishu replied.

The manager said with an old-fashioned air, “Then you must not mix them up. The other three kinds of tea are all fragrant, but that pine bud tea is the most astringent. Be careful when you give the gift. In my opinion, you don’t have to give that one. It will hurt the harmony. When the other party drinks it, they will think you just grabbed some herbs and gave them to her.”

“That’s difficult,” Shen Zhishu smiled. “The one I want to give is this pine bud tea. The others are just for show.”

The manager’s eyes widened, “Do you two have a grudge!”

Shen Zhishu: …

Wait, what kind of nonsense is this?

Does this manager even know how to do business?!

**

It was unknown whether they had a grudge, but when Jiang Yu welcomed her in, her face was much gentler than usual.

Perhaps it was the lanterns hanging high under the corridor that added a bit of warmth to her, or perhaps she was really happy, and the corners of her usually straight lips actually had a slight curve.

Shen Zhishu had knocked on the door just now, originally thinking that it would be the doorman who opened it, but unexpectedly, the Eldest Princess was already standing by the door, and she almost bumped into her, who was carrying the gift.

She was dressed in plain white, and the white fox fur collar of her cloak billowed in the gentle breeze. Only a green jade hairpin was stuck in her smooth black hair.

The scent of cedar seemed to be stronger, with a subtle and heavy aggression.

Shen Zhishu lowered her eyes and met its owner’s.

Their gazes met under the lights, and then suddenly moved away.

Shen Zhishu lowered her gaze and shook the bag in her hand, “A congratulatory gift.”

Jiang Yu asked in a faint voice, “What is it?”

“How can you ask what a gift is as soon as you receive it?” Shen Zhishu smiled. “Guess.”

“A book?”

“Not a book.”

“Chess?”

“Not chess.”

“A painting?”

“Not a painting.”

“A zither?”

“…Do you think this bag can fit a zither?”

So Jiang Yu shook her head, “I can’t guess.”

“Then let’s put it aside for now,” Shen Zhishu stretched out her arm and handed the bag to Lantiao, who was peeking over her shoulder. “We’ll open it later.”

“Alright!” Lantiao held the bag as if it were the imperial seal.

Shen Zhishu was led by another attendant to a guest room to rest for a while.

There was no one around, and she estimated that everyone was busy. Her attendant had also been sent by her to play with the attendants in the Eldest Princess’s Manor.

Shen Zhishu sat on a chair, bored, and after drinking a cup of tea, she was about to go for a walk when she suddenly heard a rustling sound from the curtain behind her.

She wondered who would come at this time. Following the sound, she saw Jiang Yu’s plain-colored shoes.

Jiang Yu was clearly half-lifting the curtain, but she didn’t enter, as if someone had suddenly come from behind her, so she abruptly stopped her action of entering the room.

Shen Zhishu stood up and walked leisurely to the door, asking with a smile, “Why don’t you come in?”

Shen Zhishu loved to smile, and when she smiled, her emotions were clear, and it was easy for people to see whether she was really happy or just being polite.

A withered leaf was startled from a branch by the swaying north wind. Jiang Yu seemed to have suddenly come back to her senses and shook her head slightly, “It’s nothing.”

As she spoke, she stepped into the room.

She sat on a wooden chair with a soft pillow in her arms, without a word, which reminded Shen Zhishu of the white cat that her neighbor had when she was a child, quiet and proud, preferring to be alone rather than in a group.

Thinking this, Shen Zhishu asked casually, “Has Your Highness ever had a cat?”

“Hmm?” Jiang Yu shook her head, “No.”

“I’ll give you one another day,” Shen Zhishu said casually. “I’ll pick one that looks like Your Highness.”

Jiang Yu: ?

Shen Zhishu: …

How did I just blurt out what I was thinking?

Shen Zhishu cleared her throat twice and changed the subject, “Why did you come over? Didn’t you just say you were going to personally inspect the kitchen?”

“I’ve finished inspecting.”

“What’s the result?” Shen Zhishu asked.

“Extravagant,” Jiang Yu said. “A total of eighteen cold dishes, thirty-six hot dishes, and eight soups were made. I asked them who they were cooking for. I’m not a glutton.”

Shen Zhishu was amused, “And then?”

“And then I had them pick a little of each and put them on eight plates. The rest can be given to the servants. I don’t have the appetite.”

Shen Zhishu nodded, and suddenly remembered something, and asked again, “My congratulatory gift, has Your Highness opened it?”

“Not yet.”

“You can open it.”

“Open it now?”

“Yes,” Shen Zhishu said. “Isn’t there still a while before the banquet starts? Why don’t you call Lantiao and the others, open the gift, and we can all relax together.”

So, a quarter of an hour later, everyone had gathered, and they were boiling tea by the fire, their faces… ferocious.

“What kind of tea is this? Why is it so bad to drink?” Lantiao shouted. “Rongju, did you take out some old, damp tea and brew it?”

The attendant called Rongju lowered her head, carefully glanced at Shen Zhishu, and said stammeringly, “This tea… is the congratulatory gift from the General.”

Lantiao: …

Lantiao let out a dry “Ha” twice and said with clear enunciation, “But then again, the taste of this tea is very novel. Upon careful tasting, it actually has a unique flavor. This gift from the General is truly wonderful!”

Rongju: …

Shen Zhishu: …

Jiang Yu gracefully picked up her teacup, “Is it that hard to swallow? I don’t believe it.”

She took a sip with a blank expression and then put down the teacup with a blank expression.

…Jiang Yu’s face was unchanged, which meant that this tea was definitely acceptable to her!

After all, she had always had various strange quirks, and it was not impossible for her to have a unique taste.

Thinking this, Shen Zhishu’s gaze was filled with anticipation, “Your Highness, do you like it?”

Jiang Yu: “It’s bad to drink.”

Shen Zhishu: …

Her hopes were dashed. Shen Zhishu sighed and was about to apologize politely when Jiang Yu spoke again in a faint voice, “But I like it.”

“Hmm?”

“Didn’t I say before? I will like whatever the General gives me.”

…Was that not a pleasantry?

Thinking this, Shen Zhishu’s mouth wanted to tease her a little, “You like everything? Even if I give you a bag of air, you’ll like it?”

“Of course,” Jiang Yu nodded slightly. “This is the way to get along with friends that I learned from a book.”

“…Which book wrote these fallacies?”

“I wouldn’t dare to say it’s a fallacy,” Jiang Yu said. “It’s the words of a sage, it’s fine to listen to them. I’ve never had the experience of being on equal terms with a friend, but I’ve benefited a lot from this book.”

Shen Zhishu shook her head, “What is learned from paper is ultimately shallow, practice is the only way to true knowledge. Your Highness doesn’t know, the most important thing in getting along with friends is sincerity.”

“Oh? What do you mean by that?”

“If you don’t like something in your heart, you must say it. For example, Xie Jin once gave me a book of love poems that she had found somewhere for my twentieth birthday, saying that I should learn from it, otherwise I would be seventy or eighty and still not married.”

Jiang Yu’s body leaned forward slightly, “And then?”

“And then I threw that book out, along with Xie Jin, because I really didn’t like it,” Shen Zhishu smiled. “So if Your Highness doesn’t like it, it’s fine to say so, and I’ll improve next year.”

Jiang Yu nodded.

Shen Zhishu asked, “Then does Your Highness like it?”

Jiang Yu: “I like it.”

Shen Zhishu: …

Well, it seemed like it was useless to say anything.

**

Xie Jin, in Shen Zhishu’s mouth, was doing a good deed.

Half an hour ago, this General Xie had gone to the General’s Manor to find Shen Zhishu in high spirits, but had come up empty.

“Where is your General?” she asked.

The attendants shook their heads and chattered.

One said, “The General just went out with one person, didn’t say where she was going or why, just told us to tell Mistress He that she won’t be having dinner at home tonight.”

Another said, “The General was also not here last night. She took her trusted attendants with her, so we never know the General’s movements.”

And another said, “Since you’re here, why don’t you sit down, General Xie, and have a cup of tea before you go?”

Xie Jin muttered, “Why did she go out without telling me,” and waved her hand, “Since even you don’t know, she must have deliberately hidden it. It might be something important. Forget it, I’ll find her when she comes back.”

The sky got dark very early in winter, and at this moment, the night was already dark. Xie Jin was riding her horse on the road, feeling a little bored.

They say that when a person is suddenly free, they will always be at a loss, not knowing what to say or do. She deeply understood this.

She pulled on the reins, letting the horse run a little slower, and slowly looked at the small stalls along the street that had not yet been taken down.

…What was life like for an ordinary family?

After a busy day, they would go home at sunset, and the whole family would sit around the heated brick bed in harmony.

It was tiring, but there was always something to look forward to.

Thinking this, she pulled on the reins and stopped at a small stall selling griddle cakes, asking in a loud voice, “How much are these griddle cakes?”

“Twenty copper coins each.”

“How many do you have left here?”

“I’m not sure,” the stall owner said. “About one or two hundred?”

“Bake them all. I’ll take them all.”

The stall owner: ???

The stall owner thought he had misheard and raised his voice a little, “Can you say that again?”

“It’s the same if I say it again,” Xie Jin said. “I’ll take them all. You can go home and rest early. It’s so cold, and it’s not easy to be out here baking griddle cakes with a lantern.”

“This… can you eat one or two hundred?”

“I can, I can, I’m a glutton,” Xie Jin said. “Just bake them, how long will it take?”

The stall owner’s eyes lit up, and he said in a chorus, “It’ll be ready in a quarter of an hour!”

Xie Jin turned to signal her attendant to pay and then whispered in her ear, “Later, distribute the griddle cakes to the nest of children by the bridge pier. I’ll go first.”