Chu Lian had reported the entire events of the Dingyuan Estate to Countess Jing’an upon her return.
Back then, the remaining longevity peach buns were sent to the banquet over at the outer court, and that was the last Chu Lian had seen of them. Since it was the male guests who had been the recipients, the female guests, who were in a completely different location, naturally had no idea what happened. Even the matriarch had only received the reward that Old Marquis Dingyuan had bestowed on Chu Lian, and no other information.
Countess Jing’an hadn’t thought that something like that had happened at the male guests’ side of the feast.
He Changqi had purposely come over to make his mother happy, so of course, he narrated the entire course of events to her. It was a funny story and involved one of their family members, so he gave a lively description of the whole tale.
Over on their side of the banquet, the feast hadn’t been going on for long; the crowd was busy toasting the old white-haired marquis. It was at that moment that a maidservant brought in a plate of realistic longevity peach buns, saying that it was Heir Dingyuan’s wife, Madam Huang, who had sent them.
After that announcement, everyone’s eyes had been glued to the plate. The old marquis had been seated the closest to the peach buns. Although his sight was fading, his sense of smell was still as good as ever.
Old Marquis Dingyuan sniffed and found that the peach buns actually carried the scent of fresh peaches. Finding it interesting, he immediately took one to have a taste, and gave his grand approval after one bite!
Since a man who had lived a long life had tasted and approved of the peach buns, the peach buns immediately became a lucky charm. It would be a good omen of fortune and prosperity for a young person if they managed to eat one.
The feastgoers’ curiosity was already piqued by the buns’ appearance. No one could have predicted that Heir Zheng, who was known for chasing after novel things, would stand up on the spot to congratulate the marquis before shamelessly asking for one of the longevity peach buns to eat.
Old Marquis Dingyuan had laughed three times in amusement. Having a young man request for one of his longevity peach buns at his own longevity feast spoke of how esteemed he was in their eyes. He naturally agreed to the request.
Heir Zheng didn’t stand on ceremony at all. He took two buns at once, and after biting into one, his eyes completely lit up.
Then, the usually tight-mouthed and silent Prince Jin actually spoke up to request a longevity peach bun from Old Marquis Dingyuan too. He was even more shameless than Heir Zheng and grabbed three buns at once.
Heir Zheng was famous for being picky with his food, so it certainly said something when he made such an expression of enjoyment. Since he and Prince Jin had already paved the way for the rest, only adding to the crowd’s curiosity, the plate of longevity peach buns had been completely swiped clean in a matter of minutes…
Two of the most influential and respected court officials were speechless upon beholding that scene.
When had so many of their peers turned into foodies? How had they missed this? What were their spies doing?!
Hey! Isn’t that the prideful old censor who likes to impeach others for fun, and turns all of his political comments into righteous preaching?! Who knew that you were someone who would do anything for food! Do you still have any face left?! What an eyesore! I hope you’ll choke on those longevity peach buns!
However, at the end of the day, the two court officials who couldn’t put away their pride to snatch some of those longevity peach buns had stormy expressions on their faces.
He Changqi’s vivid descriptions made Countess Jing’an break out into a wide smile.
She couldn’t resist smiling as she pretended to glare at her eldest son. “Keep this kind of talk inside our estate! Don’t speak of this outside, lest we draw trouble to ourselves. We can’t afford to offend those great officials!”
“Yes, Mother. I know. I’m just trying to make you laugh.”
“Alright, Mother understands. You still have some work to do after lunch, don’t you? Head out soon; don’t waste your time here with Mother.”