Chapter 623 - Silly Son
After a while, Princess Consort Jing woke up from this addicting sensory overload. She let out a long sigh and said, “This lass’s talent is really surprising. As long as she wants to do something and does it with all her heart, she will be able to do her best. Once this chocolate is released on the market, it will definitely cause a commotion in the capital, no less than her greenhouse vegetables and fruits and her Blossoming Beauty. It’s a pity that the raw material is so rare that only the people closest to her can even have a taste of it.”
Zhu Junyang looked at the second piece of chocolate in her hand and quickly took it from her. He put the lid back on and put the box into Meixiang’s hands, letting her put it away. He told her to only let the princess consort have two pieces every day.
Seeing his mother’s discontented expression, he gently explained to her as if he was coaxing a young maiden, “Chocolate can make people feel energized and excited. Your health hasn’t been good, so if you eat too much of it, you might not be able to sleep well at night.”
“Also, you don’t have to worry about the raw materials being too rare. I already sent people to buy an island in the south to plant cacao beans. Not just cacao beans but coffee beans will also be planted. I reckon that these kinds of food will become popular in the capital next year.”
Zhu Junyang gradually shifted the topic to avoid giving his mother time to think about how to eat more chocolate. His lady mother had been spoiled by his lord father, so she was like a young girl who was ignorant of worldly affairs. Sometimes she was even more unrestrained than Xiaocao.
Upon hearing this, Princess Consort Jing's creased brows immediately relaxed, and she said with a smile, "There's a manor that was part of my dowry in the outskirts of the capital. It's not far from yours, so you can set up the chocolate workshop there. It would be more convenient for you and Xiaocao to take care of it. Do you have anyone under you who is suitable to manage this? Do you need your lady mother to help you take care of it?”
"Uh...Lady Mother, the chocolate workshop and coffee workshop belong to Xiaocao. Shouldn’t she decide the management and location?” Zhu Junyang didn’t doubt that his mother wanted to keep this workshop for herself, but his mother’s enthusiasm made him feel uneasy.
"My silly son! You don't even know how to make a girl happy. How could Xiaocao, that clever girl like you, a piece of wood?" Princess Consort Jing poked her slender finger at her son's head and snorted, "Xiaocao is alone in the capital, so it's not easy for her. Since you are interested in her, you should help her more. What's more, after the New Year's, your marriage will be set. Her matters will be your matters. Be more attentive and don't be like your father, who’s not romantic at all!"
"Ahem!” Imperial Prince Jing, who had just stepped into the room, happened to hear his wife say that sentence with a tone of hidden bitterness and quickly self-reflected, 'Have I been too busy lately and ignored my wife, making her feel unhappy? Should I take advantage of the New Year's Break and take her to relax at the hot springs nearby?'
"Don't interrupt me. I'm talking to your son about important matters!" Princess Consort Jing didn't seem to think there was anything wrong with what she had just said. She continued saying to her son, "You can take both the manor and the steward in charge. I'll have Meixiang find the title deed and send it over tomorrow. At that time, you can provide the manor, workers, and raw materials, and Xiaocao can invest with her technique. Then, you two can figure out how to split the income.”
Imperial Prince Jing finally understood and quickly nodded his head, saying, “Did that lass, Xiaocao, come up with a new way to make money?”
Princess Consort Jing took a look at the box in Meixiang's hand, took a piece of hazelnut chocolate from it, and put it into her husband’s mouth. The strong fragrance of chocolate made her lick her lips unconsciously, "Try this new food. With this delicious flavor, it will definitely sell well.”
"Mhm! Not bad!! Women and children must love it. Princess Consort, why aren’t you eating it? You don't like it?" Imperial Prince Jing, who had never liked sweets, finished the piece of chocolate. His ‘not bad’ was rare praise.
Princess Consort Jing immediately frowned, glared at her youngest son, and said with resentment, "It’s because of your good son. He’s only allowing me to eat two a day. Wait, I’ve only had one today, so I can eat one more!”
"Lady Mother, you’ve just eaten a lot of pastries, which also contain cocoa. If you eat more, what will you do if you don't sleep well at night?" Zhu Junyang hurriedly explained when he saw his lord father, who doted on his wife, glare at him without any reasoning.
As soon as Imperial Prince Jing heard this, he immediately sided with his son and said, "Yang'er is right. No matter how good things are, there should still be restraint. It won’t run anywhere, so let’s eat it slowly!"
"By the way, you just said to invest with the manor. In my opinion, why do you still need to invest? After the first month, the marriage of the two children will be settled and the manor can just be given as a betrothal gift!" When that girl married over, wouldn’t the manor and the workshop come back over as dowry? Why bother becoming business partners and making the relationship so distant? Although Imperial Prince Jing didn't say the rest of those words, his wife and son could understand him.
Princess Consort Jing naturally didn't covet her daughter-in-law's dowry. However, those noble-titled madams were not very optimistic about this marriage between her family and the Yu Family. They thought that their standings weren't a match. If her daughter-in-law's dowry was so amazing that it would shut their mouths, she would naturally be happy to see it.
However, her son, whose heart and mind already belonged to someone else, insensibly said, "But Cao'er already has so many businesses in her hands. If she wants to leave the chocolate production workshop to her family, it wouldn’t be appropriate to have the workshop at the manor in the betrothal gift we sent. How about... I’ll help her find and purchase some land nearby, and then build the workshop there."
Imperial Prince Jing and his wife glared at their son and inwardly sighed, ‘Who are we doing this for? This stinky brat is so ungrateful. We worried about him for nothing!’
As the days went by, New Year's Eve came quietly in the snow. The Yu and Fang families had a loud and noisy New Year's Eve dinner. Fang Haolin and his many siblings spent the New Year together. He was so excited that he couldn't bear to go to sleep for most of the night. Because they had to stay up all night on New Year’s Eve, the two families just let him. However, he was still too young and ended up falling asleep before dawn. Xiaocao left him to sleep in her room.
In the first month, when the two families were free, they would occasionally meet up to play cards and mahjong. On the sixth day of the month, Princess Consort Jing invited the opera troupe to the Prince Jing’s Estate and invited the Yu and Fang families to go to see the show. Not only these two families but almost all the influential figures in the capital had been invited. This was also a means to introduce their future in-laws, the Yu Family.
At first, Madam Liu was still a little stiff-faced when facing so many of the capital’s noblewomen. However, Princess Consort Jing acted very friendly and familiar with her, and she was accompanied by Lady Fang. Gradually, her appearance and behavior began to become more natural.
Madam Liu knew very clearly that at this moment, she was representing her daughter. Her daughter’s future in-laws would be high in power and her future mother-in-law was also of noble birth. There would be many wives of high-ranking officials waiting with critical eyes to see her become a joke. Her younger daughter made a living for herself in the capital alone and finally had a breakthrough. As her mother, even though she couldn’t help, she wouldn’t drag her down!
In her mind, the etiquette that the senior palace servant taught her gradually became clear. She became calmer and more comfortable. She even handled a few difficult questions the noble ladies threw at her. Of course, the most important thing was Princess Consort Jing's attitude towards her. Seeing her attitude, the noblewomen present dare not slight her. Lady Fang’s help from time to time had also prevented her from having many difficulties.
As for Yu Hai, Yu Hang and Yu Fan, who were in the outer courtyard, there was no need to worry about them. Not to mention the protectiveness in Imperial Prince Jing's words, but with the way that Royal Prince Yang took good care of them, no one would dare slight them and offend the death god.
It didn’t matter whether the opera was entertaining or not. The most important thing was that the aristocrats of the capital all knew about the marriage between Imperial Prince Jing's Household and the Yu Family. The Yu family, a small family of a peasant origin, would have a foothold in the capital.
On the other hand, the noble misses in the inner courtyard were happily enjoying the sweets and snacks served to them. Since the opening of ‘The Yu's Frozen Dessert and Pastries Store’, these proud women of the capital have instantly abandoned the so-called established brands and favored these novel foods. In particular, The Yu’s limited sales cakes were hard to buy every day. If anyone was lucky enough to grab one, she could show off among her sisters for a long time.
What could they do when ‘The Yu's Frozen Dessert and Pastries Store’ was able to satisfy these pampered ladies’ appreciation of beauty in terms of both appearance and taste?
When these noble misses, who thought they had tried all the delicious food in the world, tasted the cakes served at the Prince Jing's Estate, they realized how ignorant they were. They listened as the servants introduced ‘tiramisu’, ‘fruit tarts’, ‘matcha red bean cake’, ‘opera cake’, and ‘chocolate mousse’… Just the names alone seemed high class!
Not only were the names nice sounding, but the appearances of the cakes were also beautiful and attractive, which made them not want to destroy their art-like shapes. However, their attractive fragrance made people want to taste them.
As the daughter-in-law of the host, the wife of the Imperial Prince Jing’s heir gave each of the young maidens a small spoon, inviting them to have a taste of the cake.
Yu Xiaocao was pulled aside by several of her good friends, and they sat around a round table, forming a small circle. In this small circle, there was the high status Royal Princess Minglan, the two talented beauties of the capital, and the sisters with an impressive family background, Li Mengqi and Li Mengru. The person in the center was Yu Xiaocao, who was rumored to be engaged to Royal Prince Yang.
Although the composition of the members of the small circle was a bit complicated, everyone was envious of it, and it was impossible for them to get close to it. It could be said that if this small circle wanted to expand, all the noble maidens in the capital would wrack their brains to integrate into it.
Not to mention that there were noble maidens in this group that many want to flatter but couldn’t, but not just anyone could curry favor with Yu Xiaocao, this shining Buddha. It wasn't that she was arrogant and cold, but it was that she was usually too busy and didn't have many opportunities to get together with the noble maidens in the capital. She also often has a frightful 'big and loyal dog' guarding beside her, giving everyone a sense of alienation.