Chapter 805: Bestowed Marriage, Together until we are old (1)
Xiao Ruiyuan didn’t like to eat sweet pastries, no, it was that he didn’t eat pastries at all! Whether they were sweet, salty, or some other flavor, no matter how delicious, no matter how exquisite, he hadn’t touched them in over twenty years of his life.
Facing those certain gazes, Xiao Ruiyuan stopped Yan Junyu who was about to speak, and he himself couldn’t be bothered to explain. He reached out with his long fingers, as the crowd wished, and picked up a piece of sweet pastry sent by the Sixteenth Prince. He bit off a piece at his lips, but his gaze shifted to Mo Yan.
Mo Yan also happened to look up at Xiao Ruiyuan. She wasn’t very clear about Xiao Ruiyuan’s preferences and couldn’t remember if Xiao Ruiyuan ever had desserts whenever he came to her house. She didn’t know whether he liked sweet pastries or not.
At that moment, seeing that he had eaten, she figured that he must like them; who else could force him? Mo Yan unconsciously touched the jade bracelet on her wrist, and several recipes of distinct flavored sweets came to mind, but she didn’t notice Xiao Ruiyuan frowning and struggling to swallow the pastry.
The sweet fragrance of the pastry was too overpowering; just a small bite turned Xiao Ruiyuan’s stomach, and a sickly sweet sensation lingered uncomfortably in his throat. He poured a cup of tea and with it, under the disapproving looks of Yan Junyu and Chu Heng, he stoically continued to consume three more pastries, leaving a comment that the "flavor is nice."
The pastries at the banquet were often hastily prepared by the Imperial kitchen overnight and were naturally not as finely made as usual. While they looked as exquisite as always on the outside, their taste was not necessarily better than the pastries from the homes of the Ministers.
This was a common understanding among everyone in the hall. Hence, at each annual banquet, the pastries on the table were considered just for show, and hardly anyone truly tasted them. The Ministers didn’t mind, as most of them did not care for sweets; the Ladies, on the other hand, naturally adored them.