Ming Lingyi asked, "Were all those people just now asking about the pastries?"
Xiao Chun nodded, then said, "I told them the shop would be selling these... without getting your permission first, milady. Please punish me."
The moment Xiao Chun started to kneel, Ming Lingyi grabbed her arm.
She wasn't some grand Empress anymore. Xiao Chun had been with her, never leaving her side, ever since the Ming Family's misfortune. She had even told Xiao Chun to stop calling herself "this servant," but the little chubby girl had forgotten everything in her haste.
"Punish you for what? These were made to be sold. You did a wonderful job. Even though we didn't sell any, you've made sure plenty of people are thinking about them now." 'After I make these pastries a few more times,' Ming Lingyi thought, 'and the aroma wafts through the air, it'll be hard for anyone *not* to know about our little eatery.'
The thought of her neighbors on all sides being enticed by the aroma, their stomachs rumbling with craving, made Ming Lingyi feel it would be a bit unkind to laugh out loud. But the thought was fleeting, and she let out a laugh anyway.
Xiao Chun first breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing Ming Lingyi's words, but then asked in confusion, "Milady, why are we waiting until after the New Year to sell them?"
She looked at the iron tray of pastries. There were a full thirty of them. Even with her hearty appetite, she couldn't possibly eat so many at once.
Ming Lingyi glanced at the sky outside. It was still early; there was still another hour before the Imperial College let out.
"I only said our shop isn't open yet. But we can go sell them outside."
She had grown indifferent to that person in the palace. Even if she never saw Li Yun again in this life, she would have no regrets.
But Ming Lingyi knew what she couldn't let go of: the child she had nearly died to give birth to.
She admitted her cowardice back then. When her heart was like dead embers, she had been lost in despair, without even the will to fight to stay alive.
In truth, even before giving birth to Little Huachao, she knew she was sick.
It wasn't a physical illness.
No one knew. Not even the Imperial Physicians could diagnose it. They could only advise her to rest her mind and not to overthink.
But she couldn't help it. She would think about so many things, suffering from insomnia night after night.
Sometimes, even during the day, when she was sitting in the conservatory, Yu Yi and Yanxia would have to call her name several times before she heard and responded.
How to describe that feeling? It was as if her soul had left her body, and her movements had become sluggish.
Reborn into a new life, the shackles that had once bound her were shattered. She felt much more at ease.
She no longer grieved for the people of her past, but there were some she could never let go of.
Nor did she want to.
Xiao Chun was surprised by Ming Lingyi's words. "Sell them outside? Isn't that just setting up a street stall? Milady, you should leave this kind of thing to me!"
'It's already a grievance for my lady to show her face in public to do business,' she thought. 'How could I let her set up a stall on the roadside like some common hawker?'
Ming Lingyi chuckled. This was one thing she really couldn't entrust to Xiao Chun.
"It's fine. There's no shame in earning your own money, and it's not like we're getting it through dishonest means." Ming Lingyi was quite open-minded about it.
Unable to persuade her, Xiao Chun could only ask, "Then where are you going to sell these pastries, milady?"
As she spoke, Xiao Chun couldn't help but gaze at the cooled pastries.
The plum blossom cakes that came out of the oven looked completely different from before they went in.
What was once a pink ball of dough now seemed to have truly "bloomed."
A touch of pale yellow filling peeked through the center, like a frost-kissed pistil blooming atop the flaky pastry. A breath of hot air made the "petals" tremble, as if they might scatter on the wind like fragrant snow. Layer by layer, they were exceptionally delicate and distinct.
Ming Lingyi noticed her gaze, turned, and handed a plum blossom cake to Xiao Chun. "Here, eat," she said, before finally answering Xiao Chun's earlier question. "To the Imperial College."
"Huh?" Xiao Chun was startled.
Ming Lingyi explained, "Those who can study at the Imperial College likely come from well-to-do families. This plum blossom cake is a seasonal pastry, only sold during the winter, so the price won't be too low. If we only sell it in our own neighborhood, people will buy it for the novelty, but business will quickly die down. But it's different with wealthy families. For a pastry like this, I'm setting the price at twenty wen."
Outside, a plain steamed bun cost only one wen, and it was filling.
A single plum blossom cake for twenty wen... The price wasn't exorbitant, but it was by no means cheap.
An average family could afford it, but they wouldn't eat such a little treat regularly.
Xiao Chun had no doubts. Her entire attention was now focused on the plum blossom cake in her hand.
She had just taken a bite and was only now discovering how delicious the filling with the added mung bean paste was!
'But when I tasted the mung bean paste by itself earlier, I thought it was bland and tasteless!'
As she spoke, Ming Lingyi had been observing Xiao Chun's expression. When she saw the chubby girl's eyes light up as if in shock, Ming Lingyi smiled.
"Is it good?" Ming Lingyi asked.
Xiao Chun nodded frantically. Her mouth was stuffed with the plum blossom cake, but that couldn't stop her enthusiastic affirmation.
"So delicious!"
Ming Lingyi couldn't help but chuckle. She poured Xiao Chun a cup of water. "Slow down, don't choke."
'I'm not going to choke!' Xiao Chun thought. 'Who could possibly choke on something as delicious as this plum blossom cake? That would be just pathetic!'
The mung bean paste hadn't been sweetened with sugar, but the addition of plum blossom jam gave it a light, natural sweetness. In turn, the mung bean paste tempered the jam, making it less cloying and one-dimensional. The filling had a better, more substantial texture.
The outer pastry was so flaky it crumbled at a touch, and impossibly soft. The baked fragrance of the dough mingled with the sweet, clear scent of plum blossoms, leaving a lingering aroma in her mouth. Even someone who didn't care for sweets would probably find it hard to refuse a plum blossom cake like this.
Half an hour later, Ming Lingyi followed Xiao Chun to the lane where the Imperial College was located.
Xiao Chun set up a stall, and Ming Lingyi arranged the plum blossom cakes for display.
The crimson, flower-shaped pastries were placed on a wooden tray, surrounded by a few plum blossom branches. The sight was pleasing to the eye—absolutely beautiful.
Before long, classes at the Imperial College were dismissed.
Inside the Imperial College, regardless of whether they were imperial relatives, from prominent noble families, or commoners who had earned their place through their own merit, all students wore the same uniform.
Even Li Yan, the current Little Crown Prince, was no exception.
Ming Lingyi had set up her small stall not far from the main gate of the Imperial College, positioned so that the students would see it as soon as they came out.
Moreover, although the pastries had cooled and their aroma was not as rich as when they were baking, they still carried a sweet, clear fragrance that was hard to ignore.
What's more, it was currently the Cold Food Festival. Even if the students didn't pretend to observe it at home, they certainly couldn't eat hot food at the Imperial College.
In the depths of winter, with nothing warm to eat, they would only get hungry faster.
So when someone set up a stall at the gates of the Imperial College, it was only natural that a few curious students would wander over to Ming Lingyi's stall after class.