She thought she was going to die.
She did.
But the next time she opened her eyes , she found out that she was living a whole new life, as a little girl who was going to enter a noble household as a maid.
However, a true pearl can never hide its lus...
During their stay in the Ji residence, the three princes and Zhen BuFeng had their meals together with the Ji family members. This night, however, Ji ChanFang was not present.
Zhen BuFeng's father, General Zhen YongWen, had left the residence a few days after Ji LanBai's birthday along with Ji ChanFang to the capital city of Da Lang for an urgent summon from Emperor Zhang. When he came to Ming town, Zheng YongWen had not merely accompanied the princes for their military tutelage, but also acted as the carrier of Imperial decree on behalf of the Emperor for Ji ChanFang.
The maids and servants were cleaning up the dishes from the table, their masters were still seated and quietly sipping their tea after the meal. Ji LanBai constantly darted her gaze towards the dining room's door, where she could faintly see the silhouettes of two of her maids, Xiao Lin and Xiao Han. The other two maids, Xiao Su and Xiao He, should be waiting in front of her bedroom, preparing necessities for her night rest.
But Xiao Hui and Ji LanBai's self-proclaimed sister, Bai YuLan, were nowhere to be seen.
Usually YuLan would wait upon her in front of the dining room as well. Although YuLan was very favored and Ji LanBai would very much like for her to join the family for meals, this was simply not hierarchically acceptable. The two Madames understandably forbade a maid to eat at the same table as the masters.
Everyone had only started to stand to leave the the dining table, when suddenly an enticing aroma drifted inside the dining room.
Soon, Xiao Hui and YuLan could be seen walking slowly towards them, each carrying a tray of something that emitted the most mouthwatering smell.
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Ji LanBai made a squealing sound when she saw what were on the plates. The two porcelain plates contained deliciously fragrant cake slices of some sort, row of peach-colored rectangular squares she had never seen before. However, she could tell these strange morsels would be wonderfully tasty. The squares were brown at the top and they emitted faint puff of smokes, slowly disappearing in the cold air. They seemed to have been freshly made.
"Young Miss," YuLan picked one slice off the tray, the best cut she could find with no bumps or defect, then placed it on a smaller plate Xiao Hui had tactfully handed to her. Then she put a stalk of orchid by the cake slice,
"Belated birthday wishes to you." She smiled at Ji LanBai, "My apologies that it took a long time. YuLan hopes Young Miss will like her present."
Ji LanBai was still staring at the peach-colored morsel in front of her. Her appetite suddenly surged again despite having just finished her meal.
"..... For me?" She slowly looked up to YuLan and muttered softly.
YuLan nodded, "Don't eat the flower. It's just for decoration."
"Until I learn how to pickle flowers to make them edible," YuLan silently thought. In fact, there was still room for improvement for YuLan. She could try incorporating edible flowers in her batter in the future to add to the final look. She should also try to measure more precise amount of firewood she need to bake the cake. In fact, for this first try, she had to cut a lot of burnt edges from the cake and could only end up with a few of somewhat-pleasant-looking slices.
