At midnight, Mu Jianxi suddenly smelled the fragrance of roasted sweet potatoes. She used a wooden stick to dig through the ashes, and the roasted sweet potatoes slowly emerged.
Gu Ruizhe, who had been asleep, was awakened by the movement. He opened his eyes and saw someone crouching by the ash pile digging at something. Then he remembered that Mu Jianxi had buried a few sweet potatoes there earlier. He turned his head slightly and noticed that, indeed, she was gone from where she had been lying.
Mu Jianxi dug out all the roasted sweet potatoes and turned around, only to see that he was awake.
“You’re up? Want some?” she asked softly.
He nodded.
She wrapped two pieces in oil paper and walked over, handing him one before sitting down.
She peeled off the skin, revealing golden, tender flesh. One bite melted in the mouth—sweet but not greasy, with an irresistible flavor.
Seeing her eat so happily, Gu Ruizhe also peeled his and took a big bite. He couldn’t help but glance at her again—no wonder she was enjoying it so much.
The others were also awakened by the smell of roasted sweet potatoes. They sat up and saw Mu Jianxi and Gu Ruizhe eating something golden and fragrant.
Mu Jianxi pointed at the ground, signaling them to help themselves.
By noon, they had reached their destination.
As soon as she stepped off the carriage, Mu Jianxi looked up at the plaque above the gate. The three gilded characters “Princess Residence” shone brilliantly. She couldn’t help but admire it—truly a princess’s residence, even the plaque looked so luxurious.
On the way in, she asked Ye Yu, “Who exactly is this princess?”
Ye Yu lowered his voice and explained, “She is the Prince’s elder sister. This is her fief, and His Highness came to visit her.”
“Oh, I see!”
She followed them to the entrance of the main hall and, very sensibly, chose not to go in. Instead, she stood outside with the four dark guards, waiting for Gu Ruizhe to come out.
Just as she was chatting with Ye Yu, her hand was suddenly grabbed and she was pulled forward.
Seeing that it was Gu Ruizhe, she tried to pull her hand back.
“What are you doing? You siblings are reuniting—why are you dragging me in? Am I some kind of extra in your ‘plus one’ arrangement?”
Ignoring her protest, he pulled her straight into the hall.
Inside, a man and a woman sat in the seats of honor.
The woman wore a red gauze dress embroidered with golden phoenix patterns, elegant and noble. The man beside her had refined features and a dignified air, but his gaze kept turning toward her, full of affection.
“Elder sister! Brother-in-law!”
“Greetings, Your Highness the Princess and the Consort,” Mu Jianxi said politely.
Princess Gu Yunlan covered her mouth and laughed lightly. “This is the first time I’ve seen a young lady willing to come close to him—and even be dragged in by him.”
The consort, Lu Jin’an, also chuckled and nodded.
Mu Jianxi’s expression stiffened in embarrassment. She glared at Gu Ruizhe from behind his back.
Just then, the princess suddenly felt unwell and retched softly. The consort immediately stood up and gently patted her back, his face full of concern.
A thought crossed Mu Jianxi’s mind, and she spoke up, “Your Highness seems to be pregnant. Morning sickness like this is common in early pregnancy.”
The hall instantly fell silent.
Even the couple themselves froze.
The consort immediately called for a physician.
Soon, the doctor arrived at the princess’s residence and took her pulse. After a while, he nodded repeatedly and joyfully announced, “Congratulations, Your Highness, Consort—it is indeed a pregnancy pulse.”
“Really?!”
The couple was overjoyed and quickly thanked Mu Jianxi.
“If it weren’t for Miss Mu mentioning it, we wouldn’t have known. This is our first child.”
Mu Jianxi waved her hand casually, saying it was nothing.
The princess then smiled warmly. “Since you’ve just arrived, don’t stay elsewhere. Stay here in the residence. There are plenty of rooms, and it will be livelier.”
“Then we’ll trouble you, Sister. We’ll stay here.”
The princess ordered, “Han Yan, take His Highness and Miss Mu to rest.”
“Yes.”
In the afternoon, Mu Jianxi couldn’t sit still and went out to explore for ingredients. Seeing Ye Yu was also free, she pulled him along so someone could carry things.
They arrived at the market, where stalls were filled with a wide variety of goods—no less lively than the capital.
She crouched in front of a stall and picked up the wild fruits in a basket, examining them carefully. No wonder she hadn’t seen hawthorn candied sticks here—they didn’t even know how to use hawthorn properly.
“How much are these fruits per jin?” she asked.
“Miss, these are wild fruits I picked myself. I’ll sell them for two wen per jin,” the seller replied nervously.
“I’ll take them all. How much is it in total?”
“Twenty wen is enough.”
“Alright. Ye Yu, pay him.”
Ye Yu settled the bill and instructed someone to deliver the goods to the princess’s residence, then casually picked up one fruit and bit into it. The sourness made his face twist instantly, saliva almost overflowing.
After that, Mu Jianxi bought a fat-headed fish, tofu, two jin of pork belly, three jin of pork kidney, a pig stomach, a chicken, and some grapes—planning to return and make something delicious, especially dishes featuring water bamboo for Ye Yu.
Back at the residence, they borrowed a stove from the kitchen. With Ye Yu’s help, things became much easier.
“Wash all the hawthorn and grapes. Remove the stems, wipe them dry with a clean cloth. Also, skewer half of them on bamboo sticks,” she instructed.
“Got it!”
Ye Yu’s eyes rolled as he thought he shouldn’t be the only one working, so he called over the other three dark guards. Soon all four of them were busily washing fruit together, looking unusually cheerful. The princess’s servants were stunned by the sight.
Mu Jianxi poured sugar and water into a pot. When the syrup bubbled from large bubbles into dense small ones, she tested it with chopsticks, dipped it into cold water, and tasted it—crisp.
She then poured it out, coated the skewered hawthorn and grapes, and let them cool on oil paper.
With the remaining ones, she decided to try something new—pulling sugar threads to make cotton candy-like candied fruit.
She rotated the skewers skillfully, creating shimmering strands of sugar that floated in the air. With a clever twist, she formed a delicate “sugar silk tanghulu.”
Thinking that the princess, being pregnant, might have a poor appetite, she decided to make something appetizing—sour-sweet hawthorn balls would be perfect.
So she began making them right away.