In recent days, Jiang Ning couldn't shake the feeling that she was being targeted.
Targeted by the Crown Prince, who was only ten years old.
Every time Jiang Ning bowed and greeted him, the Little Crown Prince would pretend not to see her and walk right past. Whenever she tried to speak to him, he would dodge away.
If he hadn't puffed out his cheeks, pursed his lips, and let out a disdainful "hmph" each time, she might not have thought much of it.
Taking advantage of Ji Ke feeding the fish on the veranda, Jiang Ning quietly approached the Little Crown Prince and handed him an oil-paper package tied with a note.
The Little Crown Prince looked up to see Jiang Ning smiling at him, blinking and gesturing with her lips for him to open it.
"Hmph."
The Little Crown Prince pulled out the note, but instead of reading it, he set it aside and opened the oil-paper package himself, taking out the walnut cake with raisins inside to eat.
He took a bite right in front of Jiang Ning, his dark grape-like eyes brimming with smugness. But halfway through, he frowned and pulled out a slip of white paper from the cake—
"Do you have time lately? One more stamp, and we can make milk tea."
Liar! She already made milk tea before! She just wants to trick him into helping her practice witchcraft.
The Little Crown Prince's brows furrowed into a frown. He finished the walnut cake in a few bites, then tore the note into tiny pieces.
"Hmph!"
Jiang Ning glanced at him a few times, trying to recall what she had done, but she couldn't remember anything.
She couldn't afford to lose an ally.
Jiang Ning crouched beside him, glanced at Ji Ke outside the door who was diligently scattering fish food, and whispered:
"What's wrong? Don't you want milk tea anymore?"
The Little Crown Prince, his mouth full of walnut cake, covered it with his hand and mumbled indistinctly, "Stay away from me. From now on, let's pretend we don't know each other, you liar!"
"Liar?" Jiang Ning searched her memory but found nothing amiss. She asked earnestly, "What did this subordinate deceive you about?"
To the Little Crown Prince, her tone sounded like evasion and provocation, making him even angrier.
"You know perfectly well!"
But she didn't. Jiang Ning grew anxious—she was still counting on the Little Crown Prince to help her with the stamp!
"If this subordinate has done something wrong, just tell me, and I will definitely correct it."
"Stay away from me!"
Ji Ke returned with the fish food and saw Jiang Ning crouching there, muttering something he couldn't make out, while the Little Crown Prince looked indignant and remained silent, lips tightly sealed.
"…"
Ji Ke knew that the Crown Prince had always been close to Jiang Ning, secretly regarding her as a friend. For him to be angry with Jiang Ning now was indeed unusual.
Ji Ke walked back to the desk, knelt beside it, lifting the hem of his robe, and picked up a letter from the table to read, his tone indifferent.
"What happened?"
The sandalwood incense on the table burned slowly, its thin wisps of smoke making the Little Crown Prince feel uneasy.
"Jiang Ning keeps hanging around here. I can't concentrate on my reading."
Jiang Ning looked at Ji Ke, slightly panicked. Who in the palace would dare disturb the Crown Prince's studies?
"I—this subordinate certainly didn't."
Ji Ke looked up at her, his gaze cool and clear, like a snow lotus atop a mountain peak.
His thin lips parted slightly, but before he could utter a sound, Jiang Ning interrupted him.
"Understood." Jiang Ning immediately stood up, bowed to both of them, and said, "This subordinate takes her leave."
She grabbed the lunchbox and hurried away, leaving the two of them sitting in the waterside pavilion—Ji Ke slightly puzzled, and the Little Crown Prince even angrier.
Ji Ke didn't quite understand why she had run off. He had only intended to have the Crown Prince explain the matter clearly, but she had vanished in an instant.
"Your Highness seems somewhat distracted lately. Why is that? Is it because of her?"
"She lied to me!"
Ji Ke set down the letter and lowered his gaze to look at him, his tone carrying a hint of pressure: "Lie?"
The Little Crown Prince abruptly straightened his back, blinked a few times, his eyes drifting toward the flowerpot before he nodded.
"She said she would make milk tea for me first, but she gave it to the attendants of Zheyue Palace first."
Hearing it was such a matter, Ji Ke shifted his gaze away, picked up the letter, and spoke in a clear voice: "You are the future Son of Heaven. You should weigh carefully in your heart whom to contend with and whom not to."
"Yes," the Little Crown Prince replied dejectedly, lowering his head and continuing with his daily studies.
After finishing his lessons, he left with Eunuch Fu, his mood low and his steps heavy.
Ji Ke placed the reviewed memorials on a wooden tray, tidied the items on the desk, and then rose unhurriedly to walk over to the potted evergreen tree.
His slender fingers parted the green leaves, revealing some charred ashes on the soil. He looked at these thoughtfully.
Jiang Ning returned to Zheyue Palace carrying a food box, quite impressed with her own cleverness.
With just one glance from her boss, she immediately understood the unspoken meaning behind his signal for her to leave, without a moment's delay.
For such a subordinate, not increasing her monthly salary would truly be unjustifiable.
While musing over this, Jiang Ning carried a flower basket to the imperial garden, her eyes fixed on the small rose garden.
In this lonely, deep palace, no one seemed to appreciate the beauty of roses. Seeing their blooming period about to pass, they could only wither away alone.
Looking at these delicate, vibrant roses, Jiang Ning couldn't help but shed tears of pity—from the corner of her mouth.
Since their fate was to become flower mud, rather than falling into the soil, why not sprinkle them with sugar and turn them into jam?
Jiang Ning grasped the rose blossoms and plucked them without hesitation, as skillfully and lightly as picking cotton.
To be able to experience the joy of harvest in the imperial palace—truly touching—
"…Greetings, Your Highness."
Locking eyes with Consort Zhou Shu, who was crouching in the rose garden, Jiang Ning twitched the corner of her mouth and bowed to her.
Consort Zhou Shu held a small hoe, her willow-like brows slightly furrowed. Her gaze toward Jiang Ning still carried a trace of melancholy. Her peach-pink palace dress, draped with white gauze, was stained with mud, and the pit in front of her held many rose petals.
…Was she burying flowers?
Jiang Ning looked awkward and moved the flower basket behind her: "Your Highness has refined tastes. This subordinate will not disturb you."
"Ahem, wait a moment."
Hearing this, Jiang Ning stopped and began wondering whether she should hand over all the flowers to Consort Zhou Shu for burial.
Consort Zhou Shu stood up, her figure as slender as a willow, her eyes seemingly filled with endless sorrow.
"Once the blooming period passes, what has faded is gone. How can it be preserved?"
The question came suddenly. Jiang Ning looked at the fresh roses in her basket and tentatively replied, "Pick and preserve them while they are still vibrant?"
Consort Zhou Shu pondered these words carefully, then tossed the small hoe aside and looked at her.
"What do you plan to do with these?"
"Make food."
Consort Zhou Shu stepped out of the rose garden, her white gauze torn in several places, but she paid it no mind: "May I come and see?"
"Of course."
The attendants of Zheyue Palace were momentarily stunned when they saw Jiang Ning entering with Consort Zhou Shu.
Aside from Consort Qin Xiang, no other consorts ever came to Zheyue Palace. It was like another forbidden area within the palace, a place everyone avoided.
They stepped forward to pay their respects to Consort Zhou Shu, hesitated for a moment, but ultimately did not stop her.
Consort Zhou Shu followed Jiang Ning into the courtyard. Having moved around too much today, she couldn’t help but cough twice.
Jiang Ning poured her a cup of tea. “If Your Highness is coughing severely, I will make some loquat paste another day and send some to you.”
Consort Zhou Shu looked up at the loquats on the tree, then glanced at Jiang Ning, who was going in and out of the kitchen to fetch ingredients.
“Is this loquat paste for Ji Ke?”
“Yes,” Jiang Ning replied, having gathered all the materials and placed them under the tree. “You and Lord Ji are quite similar—when worries weigh on your heart, it’s easy to harm the internal organs. Drinking some loquat paste is very beneficial.”
Consort Zhou Shu curved her lips slightly and shook her head gently. “Ji Ke and I are different. His worries are for the nation, while mine are merely personal matters of the heart.”
This wasn’t a topic Jiang Ning should respond to, so she remained silent and shifted the conversation instead.
“Has Your Highness ever tried rose jam?”
Consort Zhou Shu shook her head. “I’ve had sweet osmanthus wine-fermented glutinous rice balls before, but I didn’t know roses could be used for food.”
“Then I’ll share a jar with Your Highness today.”
Looking at the small basin of roses piled in the courtyard, Jiang Ning plucked one and twisted it casually. Purple-red petals fluttered down, layering and accumulating in the wooden basin—a truly beautiful sight.
After rinsing them with sweet well water, droplets rolled on the petals, trembling as they slid from the edges before being absorbed by a towel.
In this scene that even a young girl would find dreamlike, Jiang Ning decisively lifted an earthen jar and poured in a layer of white sugar. After a moment’s thought, she added another half layer until the petals were mostly covered.
After all, it was taken from the System, and there was no limit—might as well use it freely.
The purple-red petals looked as if snow had fallen upon them, obscuring most of them in a flurry. The red and white intertwined, exuding a faint sense of temptation.
She grabbed a wooden spoon nearby and began pressing and squeezing. The hard sugar made crunching sounds, and fresh rose petals dripped with juice. The sweetness of the sugar and the astringent fragrance of the petals intertwined, soon blending into a deep red hue.
Once the sugar and petals were roughly processed, Jiang Ning began kneading the petals with her hands, squeezing out the deeper oils.
The originally broad petals shrank abruptly, revealing a deep red from the kneading, tightly clinging to the sugar. They were almost mashed into a paste.
Jiang Ning let out a sigh of relief, shook her sore arms, and took a small ceramic jar nearby. She scooped the rose paste into it, poured in plenty of honey, and sealed it for preservation.
Noticing Consort Zhou Shu’s fixed gaze, she smiled and scooped a bit of the rose jam from the basin, offering it to her.
“Why not try some now, Your Highness?”
Consort Zhou Shu hesitated for a moment before tasting the small amount of jam, then frowned slightly.
“There’s a rose fragrance, but the taste is still somewhat astringent.”
“That’s because it hasn’t been cured yet. In a few days, it will be both sweet and fragrant.”
Consort Zhou Shu looked at the small basin of rose jam and recalled Jiang Ning’s earlier words, feeling as if she had been enlightened.
Memories were like these roses—preserved at their happiest moments, savored carefully in the mind. As time passed, what remained should be sweetness.
Perhaps she shouldn’t be so distressed, after all, back then, they were so happy…
Seeing Consort Zhou Shu with tears in her eyes, seemingly enlightened, Jiang Ning fell silent for a few seconds before quietly lowering her head to pack the rose jam for her.
The world of the sentimental—she didn’t quite understand it.
As if her heart had been somewhat unburdened, Consort Zhou Shu looked at Jiang Ning with slight gratitude and accepted the jar of rose jam.
"I never expected you to be such a wise person."
Jiang Ning: "?"
Consort Zhou Shu smiled faintly, took the rose jam, and left, her steps noticeably lighter.
"How strange."
The crown prince who got angry for no reason, Consort Zhou Shu who praised her wisdom out of the blue—Jiang Ning sighed as she packed the remaining roses into jars.
Another day of finding the people in the palace utterly baffling.
Author's Note:
Starting today, I'll resume daily updates. This story is heading in a healing direction. As mentioned in the synopsis, it's not just the male lead who finds healing, but also the female characters mentioned there, so they'll have their moments too.