The Empress Arrives: Rebirth of Concubine Hua

Chapter 91 Plum Dance Fragrant Cake
The first and fifteenth days of every lunar month were important days for the women in the courtyard to get up early and pay their respects.

Although greetings are required on daily basis, they are more solemn on the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month.

It was the first day of September. Nian Shilan was lying in bed and didn't want to move. Songzhi came over with a plate of crab meat cakes, put the plate on the table, and walked to Nian Shilan's bedside.

Called softly.

"Master, wake up. Today is the first day of the new year. The kitchen has been making your favorite crab meat cakes since midnight. They are just right now, soft and delicious. I will help you get up. Please fill your stomach first and have breakfast after you come back from greeting. Is that okay with you?"

Nian Shilan had no choice but to be helped by Mangzhong to sit up.

"Crab roe pastry again, no fresh pastries?"

Songzhi was stunned. Didn't the master like crab roe cakes the most? Why did he seem annoyed today?

"Master, please forgive me. If you don't like crab cakes, I will go and change them for something else."

"That's all. No need to work. Just help me wash up."

Nian Shilan got out of bed, and Guyu Xiaoman helped her wash and dress. Songzhi first brought a bowl of fragrant tea, and after Nian Shilan had drunk half of it, she brought the crab meat pastry and let Nian Shilan eat some first.

Nian Shilan found the crab meat cake tasteless.

She also didn't understand why her favorite pastries became tasteless overnight.

When Nian Shilan arrived at Xingfuyuan, as expected, she was the last one.

Hu Gege, Shu Gege and Feng were already sitting in the living room drinking tea. Surprisingly, Duan was also there today.

Nian Shilan greeted Ulanara, took a seat, and looked at Duan carefully.

Duan had dark circles under her eyes and droopy eye bags, and it was obvious that she did not sleep well.

Duan stroked her belly, which was not yet pregnant, and looked at Nian Shilan with a smile.

"I haven't been out for a long time. Is Concubine all right?"

Nian Shilan looked at Duan's full-moon face and her figure that could no longer be described as plump, and a sense of sadness welled up in her heart.

It's not easy for a woman to come into this world, so why make things difficult for each other?

But she didn't want to do evil with someone who had nothing to do with her, but the other person insisted on coming up to her and asking her to hit him. She had never seen such an unreasonable request before, so she had to reluctantly satisfy that person.

"Thank you for your concern, sister. Of course, you are fine. I heard that my sister was punished by the master to be under house arrest a few days ago. I thought I would not be able to see my sister for a few months. I never thought that I would have the opportunity to sit here and chat with my sister today. After all, the concubine is virtuous."

After Nian Shilan finished speaking, she ignored Duan's expression and just turned her head to Songzhi.

"I had a pimple on my left cheek before I went to bed last night. I didn't notice it when I woke up this morning. Can you see if it's still there?"

Songzhi understood and spoke quickly.

"The concubine is naturally beautiful, and even if she occasionally gets a pimple on her face, she is sensible. That pimple appeared last night and saw your beauty, so it was so ashamed that it hid itself. Only those naive pimples will keep appearing, and the concubine just suppresses it with medicine."

"Yes. If this person is like a pimple, he should be suppressed."

Nian Shilan turned her head and looked at Duan. "Sister, tell me, am I right?"

Duan opened her mouth to speak, but Ulanara spoke in time.

"Sister Nian is wearing a beautiful dress today. It is eye-catching the moment you come in. Is this the Shu brocade that the master gave you last time? It is perfect for you."

Upon hearing this, everyone in the hall looked carefully at Nian Shilan's clothes.

Sure enough, the clothes were bright in color, brand new and beautiful.

Nian Shilan picked up the teacup and took a sip before speaking.

"Fujin has good taste, but she made a mistake in choosing this material. It is not the Shu brocade that the master gave me last time. How can such precious material be worn daily? I am not that extravagant. This material is from the master's private storehouse. The master said that he remembered that there was such a brightly colored material in the storehouse. After thinking about it, he thought that only I could wear it. He was so happy that he gave it to me."

Ulanara nodded with a smile.

"Yes. At your age, you should wear brighter clothes. When you came in just now, you brought in a breeze that smelled really good. It seemed to be the scent of plum blossoms."

Nian Shilan stood up, walked to Ulanara, bowed, pulled up her sleeves, and turned around twice in front of Ulanara.

"I specially asked the servants to use the spices that Madam Fujin gave me a few days ago, and added the spices that I like to them, and burned them together, so that the clothes are all stained with this scent. Madam Fujin, please smell it, do you like it?"

After saying that, Nian Shilan deliberately walked around in front of the other people.

"Sisters, please smell it. Do you like this smell? If you like it, ask Madam for some and wear your clothes after you have stained them with it. Wouldn't that be nice?"

Nian Shilan observed everyone's expressions as she walked.

Hu Gege looked indifferent, Feng smiled to suit the occasion, Duan rubbed her belly and lowered her head to cover her nose with a handkerchief.

Before Nian Shilan had the chance to look at Shu Gege, she heard Ulanara laughing.

"It's not my fault, my master. Sister Nian is still a child. I'd like to let all the sisters smell the spices, but Duan is pregnant and is a little sensitive to fragrance. Why don't you sit down first and wait until you've greeted me before letting all the sisters smell it."

Nian Shilan shook her sleeves gently again and sat back in her seat.

"I like this scent, and I can't wait to recommend it to you sisters. But I don't know what kind of scent is this that Fu Jin gave me? It smells so good. It shows that Fu Jin is also a fragrance lover. But why don't I see Fu Jin burning incense every day?"

"As long as you like it, sister. The incense I gave you is called "Plum Dance". It is shaped like a plum blossom and its scent is derived from the fragrance of plum blossoms. It doesn't have much meaning, it just smells good. This incense was given to me by sister Shu. Since I don't like burning incense and I saw that you like spices, I gave it all to you. If you like it, you can ask sister Shu to make some more. However, I heard that these plum dance spices are all made from the plum blossoms that sister Shu harvested last year. This year's plum blossoms will not bloom for some time. I'm afraid you have to wait a little longer."

Ulanara smiled peacefully. She guessed that Nian had already asked someone to look at the incense, so she simply pushed Shu out.

After hearing what Ulanara said, Shu Gege stood up, bowed to Ulanara first, then to Nian Shilan, and spoke in a meek manner.

"What the concubine said is true. I didn't know that the concubine didn't like burning incense until I brought this carefully prepared incense to you that day. If the concubine likes it, I have more. Or, if the concubine likes any incense, please tell me and I can try to prepare them one by one for the concubine to smell."

"Then I'll have to trouble you, sister Shu. If you need anything, I'll have someone tell you another day."

Nian Shilan looked at Shu Gege and saw that she looked calm, and she knew that she had achieved her goal today.

This Shu Gege was Ulanara's maidservant who came with her as a dowry, but after today's commotion, I'm afraid that the rift between them could be used to her advantage.

(End of this chapter)