In the Ci’an Palace, the Empress Dowager and the Empress were also eating. They especially loved the rose flower pastries—the floral fragrance filled the air, the crust was crisp and flaky, and they were incredibly delicious.
Every morning, the Empress would come to the Empress Dowager’s palace for breakfast. Today, she noticed three unusual dishes on the table and asked curiously, “Mother, these three dishes are truly rare.”
The Empress Dowager smiled and explained, “Zer sent them over in the middle of the night, telling us to try something fresh.”
Both of them each took a piece of rose pastry and bit into it. As they chewed, their expressions turned slightly puzzled. Only after seeing the filling did they realize it was made from flowers—no wonder it had such a floral fragrance.
As usual, Mu Jianxi went to the market early in the morning to see if there were any newly available ingredients.
An elderly man carrying a basket passed by her. She glanced casually and immediately noticed mulberries inside. She stopped him at once, crouched down to examine them carefully, and found they were of excellent quality.
“Old sir, how much per jin?”
“One wen per jin is fine,” the old man replied.
“I’ll take them all. Also, please deliver them to where I’m staying. How much in total?”
“Just twelve wen, miss.”
Mu Jianxi took out twelve wen from her sleeve and handed it to him, then gave him her address.
Continuing her walk, she soon saw someone selling shrimp—large, lively, and jumping around. She bought three jin for one tael of silver, then went to a beef stall and bought some meat before heading home.
As soon as she returned, the system issued a task:
“Please prepare forty mulberry jam cream puffs and one large barrel of mulberry lemon tea.”
She immediately understood—the system always assigned recipes based on the ingredients she purchased.
She washed all the mulberries thoroughly and removed the stems. She took half of them into the kitchen, added sugar, and mixed them evenly to draw out the juice, then set them aside to prepare mulberry jam later. The remaining mulberries were stored in the space and frozen by Bao Bao. She also boiled a pot of water and added jasmine tea leaves, letting it cool naturally.
Mu Jianxi suddenly thought of something.
“Bao Bao, if I’m making cream puffs, shouldn’t you at least prepare the tools? Like a mixer and piping bags? If I mix everything by hand, I’ll get exhausted.”
“Don’t worry, Master. Bao Bao has already prepared everything. You just focus on cooking.”
At noon, she ate fried rice made from leftover rice and eggs, then took a nap before continuing the task.
After waking up, she felt refreshed and full of energy again. She went to the kitchen and saw that the mulberries had already released juice. She lit the fire, poured everything into a pot, added a bit of lemon juice, and stirred continuously until it thickened into a jam. She mashed the mulberries with a spoon, then set it aside to cool. The mulberry jam was done.
Bao Bao cooperated from the side, taking out whatever tools she needed from the space. The two of them worked in perfect coordination.
Next, she began making cream puffs. She melted butter, water, and sugar in a pot, added a little salt, stirred until everything dissolved, then added flour and mixed quickly into a dough. She transferred it out to cool, then added eggs and mixed thoroughly with a whisk. She gradually incorporated the batter into a smooth consistency using a mixer until it formed ribbons when lifted.
Then came the most important step—the crust layer. She softened butter, added sugar, whipped it with a mixer, added flour, and formed a dough. She placed it on oil paper and rolled it flat. Without her even asking, Bao Bao stored it in the space for freezing. It was truly obedient.
She filled the batter into a piping bag, lined a baking tray with oil paper, and piped out the dough. The frozen crust was cut into circles with a mold and placed on top before baking.
While they baked, she whipped cream—after all, she was making forty cream puffs, so she needed a lot of filling.
Two hours later, forty freshly baked cream puffs were done. After cooling, she began assembling them. She made half sweet cream and half savory cream.
Next, she prepared another drink. She cleaned a large jar thoroughly, sliced lemons and placed them inside. Bao Bao brought out a bucket of ice and frozen mulberries from the space. She added them into the jar, then used a large wooden stick to mash everything together. After that, she poured in the cooled jasmine tea and added rock sugar for sweetness.
She checked the cream puffs—they were still not completely cooled. While waiting, she started preparing dinner using the beef and shrimp she had bought, planning to make beef noodles and dry pot shrimp.
While the beef was simmering, she assembled the cream puffs. She cut them open, piped in cream, added mulberry jam in the middle, placed a few mulberries on top, then closed them. A mulberry cream puff was completed. She took a bite—exactly the taste she wanted.
At night, just as she brought out the beef noodles and was about to eat, she subconsciously looked at the door, thinking they probably wouldn’t come again tonight.
But reality rarely went as she wished—speak of the devil, and he appears.
A familiar knock sounded again. When she opened the door, it was Gu Ruizhe again, with yet another different guard.
He still placed a gold ingot in her hand and walked in directly, sitting down in his usual spot, waiting for food.
Mu Jianxi suddenly felt like she had become his personal chef. And was this prince a dog? He always showed up right when she was about to eat dinner.
Still, she went to the kitchen and quickly cooked two large bowls of noodles—yes, large bowls, based on his appetite from before. She added several generous scoops of braised beef.
At that moment, Gu Ruizhe was casually eating a mulberry cream puff. The delight lay in its rich texture: crispy exterior, soft filling, sweet and tangy flavor, and layers of surprising taste.
Most people in this world didn’t eat mulberries—they were considered too sour and would stain the tongue. But in her hands, it had become something extraordinary. Looking at her busy figure, Gu Ruizhe silently made a decision.
Ye Li went into the kitchen to help carry the noodles out, already swallowing his saliva from the aroma.
Seeing him, Mu Jianxi couldn’t help asking, “How many guards does your prince actually have? He sends a different one every day just to freeload food from me.”
He answered honestly, “We are the Four Shadow Guards. I’m Ye Li, the third.”
“Figures. Bring it out and eat.”