Chapter 1006 - 429: Poisonous Hand (Part 2)
Yuehuan was in the middle of writing down the method for making pastries when she saw Hong Mei walk in with a pale face.
Yuehuan put down the brush and asked in surprise, "Hong Mei, what’s wrong with you?"
Hong Mei said tremblingly, "Miss, there’s someone out to harm you. Hawthorn has a cold nature; pregnant women can’t eat it as it can cause miscarriage." Hong Mei knew this because her sister-in-law was pregnant and had eaten something with a cold nature, which earned her a scolding from her mother. Later, Hong Mei’s mother told her many things women need to be cautious about during pregnancy. The fact that someone sent hawthorn cakes from the kitchen this time was clearly an attempt to harm the young miss.
Yuehuan was momentarily stunned. She knew that hawthorn was cold-natured, and it could indeed cause a miscarriage if consumed by pregnant women, but there was no one pregnant in their courtyard.
Seeing Yuehuan still in a daze, Hong Mei whispered, "Miss, your cycles have always been punctual, but this time it’s late by four or five days. You might be pregnant."
Yuehuan widened her eyes, "Are you saying I might be pregnant?" After saying this, Yuehuan couldn’t help but touch her stomach. She didn’t feel anything different.
Hong Mei nodded, "I’m just speculating. I was afraid of making a mistake, so I was going to wait a few days before telling you. But the timing of these hawthorn cakes is just too coincidental."
Yuehuan stroked her stomach and after a long while said, "Let’s not announce this for now." Even if she was sure about the pregnancy, she couldn’t just broadcast it. These pastries were a gift from the Old Madam. If she made a fuss about it, wouldn’t that be accusing the Old Madam of trying to harm her? If she angered the Old Madam, life would be much harder for her.
Hong Mei cautiously said, "Should we invite Maternal Aunt Su to come over once?" Hong Mei had a lot of faith in Maternal Aunt Su, and if her own mistress could learn even sixty or seventy percent of Maternal Aunt Su’s skills, she wouldn’t worry. Unfortunately, her mistress kept a distance from Maternal Aunt Su.
After thinking for a moment, Yuehuan said, "I’ll go back to visit my parent’s home in a few days." Maternal Aunt Su was just a concubine, and it would be inappropriate to have a concubine come over.
At first, Yuehuan thought it was a coincidence since the pastries were a gift from the Old Madam, who surely wouldn’t harm her own great-grandchild. But when it was time for dinner, she noticed the cooling nature of the dishes on the table like black fungus, barley porridge, and salted crab. It was clear someone truly wanted to harm her.
Yuehuan gave a bitter smile; she didn’t even know she might be pregnant, yet the women in the inner quarters seemed convinced she was. Before getting married, her aunt had told her that the waters of the Qian Mansion were very deep, but she hadn’t taken it seriously. Now, she completely believed what her aunt had said.
Hong Ling was so angry that her face turned bright red, "Miss, we can’t just let this slide."
Yuehuan shook her head and said, "Don’t announce anything yet. First, investigate who sent these dishes to me."
Yuehuan’s dowry had eighty-one burdens, but the attractive-looking dowry had properties like shops and land that were all mediocre. Luckily, she had tens of thousands of silver as her private savings; otherwise, life at the Qian Mansion would no doubt be difficult.
Early the next morning, Yuehuan sent the pastry recipes over.
Xiang Wei was the first to receive them and, after looking at several pastry recipes, exclaimed in surprise, "What are these cakes and cookies? I’ve never even heard of them, let alone tasted them." Xiang Wei was the most authentic foodie, and she had tasted all the famous delicacies in the Capital City.
Yueyao ignored Xiang Wei and instead had these pastry recipes sent to Doctor Li. Only after Doctor Li confirmed that Xiang Wei could eat these pastries did Yueyao have the kitchen maid make them according to the recipes.
The first pastry the kitchen maid made was an egg tart.
Xiang Wei finally got to try a new kind of pastry and ate an egg tart in two bites. After eating, she looked puzzled, "Miss, I remember Lian Yuehuan once made lipstick and other things. How does she know so many pastry recipes?" Xiang Wei knew all about Yuehuan’s background and had long thought that Yuehuan was peculiar. Imagine how a girl who rarely left the house suddenly came up with something as rare as lipstick, and now she also knows how to make these unusual pastries.
Xiang Wei was very sure that the people of Qian Mansion had no knowledge of these new-style pastries. Otherwise, given the Qian family’s shrewdness, they wouldn’t have let Yuehuan hand over these pastry recipes to their own young miss.
Yueyao trusted Xiang Wei and generally had no secrets from her, but the matter of borrowing a corpse to bring back a soul was certainly something she couldn’t mention. "Enough chatter, just enjoy the food."
Xiang Wei wasn’t in the mood to investigate Yuehuan further. Although she disliked the people from the Lian family, Yuehuan had no conflicts with them and she didn’t want to delve deeper, "Miss, I think Lian Yuehuan is a bit strange. You should interact with her less."