Chapter 148: Something Might Have Happened
Zhi Wan had no idea that a single sentence of hers would lead her cousin to investigate her father.
Right now, she was pestering Nanny Fang to teach her how to make chicken congee.
Nanny Fang smiled. "Miss, the wontons you make are quite good. Why the sudden urge to make chicken congee? If you’d like to eat some, you could just have the servants make it."
Zhi Wan shook her head. "It’s not for me. I want to make it for my cousin."
Nanny Fang said in surprise, "Oh, so this is for the Princely Heir, Miss?"
Fearing a misunderstanding, Zhi Wan quickly explained, "My cousin has helped me so much, and I don’t know what I can do for him. Now that he’s injured, I just wanted to make something for him with my own hands."
"That’s very thoughtful of you, Miss." Nanny Fang didn’t read too much into it. "Making chicken congee isn’t difficult. Since you want to learn, I’ll go to the kitchen to fetch some ingredients. We can make it in the small kitchen in the courtyard shortly."
"Alright," Zhi Wan nodded.
Before long, Nanny Fang returned with the ingredients, but her expression had turned sour.
"What is it, Nanny Fang?" Zhi Wan asked with concern when she saw her.
"I just went to the kitchen and ran into Miss Jinglan," Nanny Fang said with a frown.
Zhi Wan asked, a little surprised, "What was she doing in the kitchen?"
"Cooking. Said it was for the Princely Heir," Nanny Fang scoffed, a hint of disdain in her voice.
Hearing this, Zhi Wan didn’t know what else to say. She felt a little hesitant. ’Since Lu Jinglan is also making food for my cousin, should I still make him congee?’
’My cousin can’t possibly eat that much by himself.’
"I wonder what’s happened to my lady in the Capital?" Nanny Fang said suddenly, her voice laced with worry.
Zhi Wan’s heart tightened. She quickly asked, "Nanny Fang, why do you say that?"
Nanny Fang didn’t hide anything from her, replying truthfully, "That Lu Jinglan has a filthy mind. She’s always trying to get close to the Princely Heir. The last time we came to Yangzhou, she wanted to tag along, but my lady stopped her. I can’t believe she’s still so shameless, following him all the way to Yangzhou again.
I can’t understand why my lady didn’t stop her this time. She didn’t even send a message to let us know. It must be that something has happened to her in the Capital, and she’s too preoccupied to deal with this.
It gives me a bad feeling." As she spoke, Nanny Fang’s face filled with worry.
Hearing her say this, Zhi Wan also began to feel uneasy.
Although her aunt had never said so explicitly, she knew her aunt disliked Lu Jinglan. Knowing that Lu Jinglan’s intentions toward her cousin were impure, her aunt would never have let her get anywhere near him.
It was just as Nanny Fang said: unless her aunt had run into some kind of trouble that left her with no time to worry about Lu Jinglan.
’But what could be so important that my aunt would let Lu Jinglan run off to Yangzhou to find my cousin, and not do anything about it?’
The more she thought about it, the more worried she became. She made up her mind. "We’ll return to the Capital City tomorrow. I’ll go tell my cousin in a little while."
She had originally planned to return to the Capital City after Liang Qixian was brought to justice anyway. Now that her aunt might be in trouble, it was best to go back as soon as possible.
Nanny Fang was also worried about Lady Wei and wished she could return to her lady’s side sooner to help ease her burdens. She nodded. "Alright. Let me teach you how to make the chicken congee first, Miss. You can mention it to the Princely Heir when you take it to him later."
Zhi Wan had been about to give up on making the chicken congee, but thinking of their return to the Capital City tomorrow, she reconsidered and nodded. "Alright."
The two of them went into the small kitchen.
Zhi Wan only knew how to make wontons, a skill she had learned from her mother when she was a child at home.
Back then, her father loved eating her mother’s wontons, and her mother would make them every few days.
Having been around it so often, she naturally learned how.
But making wontons was all she knew; she couldn’t cook any other dishes at all.
Nanny Fang took out a clay pot, filled it with some water, and placed it on the small stove.
While waiting for the water to boil, she taught Zhi Wan how to wash the rice.
After the rice was washed, she saw the water wasn’t boiling yet, so she taught Zhi Wan how to shred the chicken and prepare some ginger and green onions.
Zhi Wan was a very diligent student.
Under Nanny Fang’s guidance, she soon had a pot of chicken congee simmering and had also stir-fried a plate of pine vegetables.
Ouyang Zhenzhu smelled the delicious aroma from her room and ran out. "What are you making that smells so good?"
Zhi Wan was just tasting the congee from a small bowl. At the question, she smiled. "I’m learning how to make chicken congee from Nanny Fang."
"It smells amazing! I want some," Ouyang Zhenzhu said immediately.
Zhi Wan got a bowl, ladled some for her, and spooned some of the pine vegetables onto a small plate, handing them to her.
Ouyang Zhenzhu looked at the congee in her bowl and the small portion of vegetables on the plate, saying with dissatisfaction, "This is all you’re giving me? Don’t you have a lot more over there?"
"The rest is for my cousin," Zhi Wan explained.
Hearing this, Ouyang Zhenzhu started teasing her. "You’re not even married yet and you’re already acting so virtuous. Mr. Lu is truly a lucky man."
Zhi Wan’s face darkened. She said angrily, "What nonsense are you talking about? My cousin has helped me so much, and now his hand is injured. I make him something to eat, and you twist it into something like that. Don’t eat it then, give it back!" As she spoke, she actually reached out to snatch it away.
Ouyang Zhenzhu quickly protected her food and backed away a few steps. "I was just joking! You don’t have to be so angry, do you?" With that, she took her food and quickly ran off.
Zhi Wan was furious but could do nothing about her.
Nanny Fang smiled and comforted her, "Miss Ouyang has always been tactless, saying whatever comes to mind. Don’t take it to heart, Miss."
Zhi Wan’s expression softened slightly, but she was still upset. "I’ve always respected my cousin and see him as an older brother. But Zhenzhu is always teasing me. I don’t mind for my own sake, but I’m afraid it will damage my cousin’s reputation. It would be bad if his future wife misunderstood."
"Your concerns are not without reason, Miss. I will be sure to have a good talk with Miss Ouyang next time," Nanny Fang agreed. "Right, it’s getting late. You should hurry and take this meal to the Princely Heir."
Zhi Wan thought of Zhenzhu’s teasing words and hesitated. "But Little Aunt Jinglan made food for my cousin too. What if he can’t eat it all? Maybe we should just keep this for ourselves."
Nanny Fang saw her hesitation at a glance and smiled. "The Princely Heir definitely won’t eat anything Miss Jinglan cooked. If you wish to avoid suspicion, Miss, then let me take it to him. You can go later to tell him about returning to the Capital City tomorrow."
Zhi Wan thought for a moment and agreed, packing the dish and the congee into a food box.
Carrying the food box, Nanny Fang hurried to the adjacent courtyard, arriving just in time to see Lu Jinglan being blocked at the door.
"...Chen Jiu, this is the meal I made for the Princely Heir. I won’t go in. You can take it in to him." Seeing Chen Jiu blocking the door like a guardian statue and refusing her entry, Lu Jinglan was starting to lose face but still spoke with patience.
Chen Jiu was unmoved. "The Princely Heir is injured and has no appetite. Miss Jinglan, you should take it back and eat it yourself."
Having been publicly rebuffed again, Lu Jinglan’s chest heaved. She suppressed her anger and said, "Just take it inside first. Maybe Jinzhi will get hungry later and find his appetite. Then there will be a ready-made meal for him, won’t there?"
"There’s no need to trouble Miss Jinglan. The Princely Heir is injured and truly has no appetite. He can’t eat such greasy and spicy dishes. I have made some chicken congee for him, which is more suitable," Nanny Fang spoke up, having seen enough.
Lu Jinglan turned to see her, and her expression changed. She glanced at the food box in her hand, her voice laced with suspicion. "Jinzhi is injured?"
Nanny Fang ignored her. She walked past her, pushed the food box into Chen Jiu’s hands, and said in a low voice, "The Miss made this congee for the Princely Heir herself. She even accidentally burned her hand learning how to cook it."