)

  Such a Qi Zhen, Hua Ru initially felt that it was somewhat different from the first time they met. Today's Qi Zhen was strangely lively, was it because of what Qi You said?

  After taking a sip of tea, Hua Ru suddenly threw away those things. It's only been ten days, wanting to change someone is not that easy, otherwise there wouldn't be the saying "it's easy to change kingdoms but hard to change one's nature".

  "Sister, am I making things difficult for you?" Qi Zhen looked at her pensive sister-in-law and couldn't help but feel anxious. Although she didn't think her sister-in-law could teach her, she believed everything her brother said. Since her brother said her sister-in-law could teach her, then she must be able to.

  At this time, Yun Shu walked in with a silver tray, and Hua Ruochi took the opportunity to get up and invited her to sit down and eat.

  Sitting next to her sister-in-law, Qi Zhen felt a bit embarrassed, but it really smelled so good, better than what she usually ate, and she almost drooled.

  "I don't know if you like sweets or not, but I'm not too fond of overly sweet things. The girls' cooking might also be biased towards my taste, so try it and see, if you don't like it, I'll have them redo it."

  Three dim sum, one green, one white, and one black.

  Qī Zhēn didn't dare to take the black dish, always feeling that it would turn her teeth black, the green one looked delicious.

  Following her line of sight, Yun Shu quickly picked up a piece and placed it in the empty dish in front of her, introducing "Miss Zhen, this is mung bean cake, try some."

  Qī Zhēn used chopsticks to pick up the pastry into several pieces of suitable size, and when putting them in her mouth, she wouldn't make a mess everywhere, maintaining her demeanor very well.

  Hua Ru nodded slightly, and even if she was no longer favored by the aristocratic family, these etiquette had been ingrained in her since childhood, and every move she made was elegant. Compared to their short training of a few months, it was simply incomparable.

  "How does it taste?"

  Qī Zhēn's eyes narrowed into a slit, with joy written all over his face. "Delicious! This is the best pastry I've ever had."

  "Jen likes it, just eat some other things."

  Qī Zhēn was overjoyed and picked up a white one, just thinking of using chopsticks to divide it well, when she heard her sister-in-law remind her that there was glutinous rice inside, and it's better to eat it this way.

  Qī Zhēn listened and pinched it to the edge of his mouth, took a bite, and the edges of his mouth were stained with a circle of white, as if he had grown a small white mustache.

  "This is also delicious, sister-in-law, can I learn how to make this without skipping any steps?"

  Hua Ru raised an eyebrow, "Want to learn this?"

  Qī Zhēn wiped her mouth, her face a bit red, "I like eating, in the future, I can also make it for...make it for..."

  "Is it made for husband to eat?"

  Qī Zhēn's face turned red and she didn't dare to lift her head, at the age of fifteen, it was the time when one's heart began to flutter with love, but unlike her, who had a completely mature soul inside, her youthful appearance couldn't hide the oldness in her soul.

  Facing a child who is pure in both body and mind, Hua Ruochu also put away her deceitful thoughts, hoping to let her have more self-defense skills as much as possible.

  "If you want to learn this, my daughter will teach you without reservation."

  Qī Zhēn lifted her head with a hint of shyness and timidity, her voice was not loud, but also firm, "I want to learn."

  "Xing, Xia Yan, you go and let the small kitchen prepare materials, soon Zhen will arrive."

  "Yes."

  She picked up the last black pastry from the plate and put it into her bowl, and said to the little girl, "Try some."

  She was worried that her teeth would turn black, but this was her sister-in-law's intention, and Qi Zhen felt that even if her teeth turned black, she had to finish eating them all.

  When pinched, it felt very hard, and Qi Zhen directly sent it into her mouth.

  Took a bite, hmm, so fragrant, so crispy, it's worth getting black teeth.

  "Does it taste good? No jumping characters."

  Qī Zhēn nodded repeatedly, "Delicious."

  "This pastry is called Thousand Layer Crisp, the black layer on top is black sesame. Although it looks dark, it won't stain your mouth. Yun Shu, hand her a small mirror."

  "Yes."

  Yun Shu took out a handheld mirror from the cabinet under the tea cabinet and handed it to Qi Zhen. Qi Zhen was startled by the clear reflection in the mirror, this must be a treasure, and her grip on the handle tightened slightly.

  "Are there black teeth in your mouth? No jumping words."

  Covered mouth and took a look, "None."

  "So, when looking at things, don't just look at the surface, don't assume things are as they seem. If it's a cake, you can try tasting it; if it's an issue, ask several people and gather more evidence. And if it's a person, don't be fooled by their appearance, like your brother - outsiders think he's aloof and always has a cold face, but do you think that's really true?"

  "It's not like that, my brother is most concerned about family members, in the mansion, my brother is the best person to me."

  Hua Ru pressed down the little girl who was so excited that she wanted to stand up, "Of course, I'm just making an analogy to make you understand. Your brother asked you to follow me and learn from me, but I can't teach you much. I can only teach you some small principles, or tricks. Or you tell me what you want to learn, if I understand it, I'll definitely teach you. However, don't think too highly of me either. I'm not from a noble family, and in some aspects, you might even know more than me."

  Qī Zhēn is not a foolish child, and her poor performance in front of her mother is largely due to her fear of her mother. Being scolded as stupid by her mother has made her feel stupid too. Her mother says she can't do anything right, without any ideas or plans, and the more she does, the more chaotic it becomes.

  It's possible that guiding her like Hua Ru Chun did might have an unexpected effect.

  Qī Zhēn thought for a moment with a puzzled expression, the more he thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed. His sister-in-law was really impressive, no wonder his brother asked her to teach.

  But it doesn't seem that way when sister-in-law is outside. Every time I see her in the main courtyard, I think she looks easy to bully and pitiful.

  She was looked at with such adoration that she couldn't help but laugh and cry, Hua Ru couldn't bear it and reached out to smooth her hair. At home, she was the youngest and had always been pampered, after marrying into the Qi family, she only tried to avoid trouble and didn't bother to interact with unnecessary people. It's rare for her to see someone younger than herself, and suddenly she felt a strong urge to protect her.

  No wonder big brother and second sister are so protective of her, it turns out they find a sense of existence and satisfaction from her! Next time I see them, I must tease them.

  Qī Zhēn was caught off guard by this sudden intimacy, dodging away yet unable to bear parting with it, for even her mother hadn't been so close to her in a long time.

  "This small mirror is for you, it's hard to get one outside, remember to put it in your dowry when you get married."

  Qī Zhēn didn't dare to accept it, and hastily put the mirror on the table, still afraid that it would fall to the ground. He pushed it back a bit and said, "Sister-in-law, this is too valuable, I cannot accept it."

  "It's not that it's extremely valuable, but rather hard to come by. Let me whisper a secret to you: this was exchanged for by my mother when people from the other side of the ocean came to Yangzhou to do business. I have a larger one in my room, and this smaller one is rarely used."

  Qī Zhēn's eyes widened in surprise, not hiding her astonishment at all. She leaned in closer and whispered, "I've heard that people from the other side of the sea look very strange, with many different colors of hair and eyes too. Táo Jiā Sān said there are even green-eyed people, how bizarre! Have you seen them before, sister?"

  Tao's third daughter? Tao Jia's maternal family member? Hua Ru Chu was very interested, "Did Tao San say she saw it with her own eyes?"

  "No, she said she's seen her. Ah, she's the concubine of the Second Prince, and is deeply favored by him. I've heard that she's not only beautiful but also very formidable."

  This Tao Jia, Hebei is not by the sea, if she has been living in Hebei all along, where did she see people of various colors? Nor is she worried that her boastful talk would be exposed and arouse suspicion.

  Qian Zhen gazed at Hua Ru with a face full of admiration and envy, Hua Ru smiled, "Does Qian want to be like Tao Da's imperial concubine too?"

  Qī Zhēn's face turned red as she twisted and turned, speaking softly: "I don't want to, brother said I'll be bullied, I can't fight others."

  This is indeed a true statement. If Qi You had been more pragmatic, he would have married off Qi Zhen to the Crown Prince as his concubine. The Crown Prince would likely be delighted to deepen his relationship with Qi You through this union, making it impossible for Qi You to betray him. It's possible that the Crown Prince had even brought up the idea before, but Qi You had dismissed it.

  With Qi Zhen's personality, she needs a wife's identity to suppress her.

  She lifted the lid of the teacup in front of her, revealing the flower petals floating on top. A faint floral scent wafted up, "Drink it and see, flower tea will make Zhenmei even more beautiful."

  Qī Zhēn straightened up and looked delighted, lifted the cup and took a sip, full of floral fragrance.

  "I'll have someone pack some for you, you can bring them later and just soak them in boiling water, don't boil them."

  "Will this... be difficult to handle?"

  "No, if you like it, I'll make it for you again next time."

  "Thank you, sister-in-law." Qi Zhen smiled so hard that her eyes narrowed into a slit, and added another sentence, "Sister-in-law is great, sister-in-law's maids are all capable and diligent, it must be because of sister-in-law's good teaching."

  Yun Shu poured tea for Qi Zhen and smiled in agreement, "Miss Zhen is right, it's because of good teaching."

  "Alright, you two. Zhenmei, aren't you interested in learning how to make pastries? Yunshu, take her with you and have dinner here tonight, your brother might come."

  "Is it okay if I don't jump words? If what was said earlier was just happiness, now it's surprise. It's been a long time since she had a meal with her brother."

  "Of course you can, and you can also give your brother the pastries you made. If he says they don't taste good, let him finish them all."

  "Is it delicious?"

  "It's delicious, let's eat it up."

  Qī Zhēn covered her mouth and laughed, "Sister-in-law, forget it, I don't want to cook anymore."

  "Well, then everything is not delicious, wait until your brother is gone and you make something delicious for your sister-in-law to eat."

  "Okay, hehe, Yun Shu, hurry up and take me to the kitchen."

  Yun Shu walked her out while softly correcting, "Lady Zhen, you are the mistress of Qi Manor, it's already polite to call me Yun Shu, don't ever call me slave, I'll be shortened in lifespan."

  "How could I? You are someone that my sister-in-law holds in high esteem, just like...just like our Qi Manor's steward, whom I address as Uncle Qi. Even Mother didn't say it was wrong of me to do so."

  "Miss Zhen, from now on, just call me a servant and address me as 'Yun Shu', otherwise I wouldn't dare to appear in front of you."

  "Alright, alright, Yunshu."

  Sounds like you're not quite satisfied? Hua Ru Chu propped up her head, picked up a piece of green bean cake and slowly chewed it, eating this to clear the heat in summer.

  P: Waaaah, where did this annoying feeling come from? Can't even suppress it. (If you like this work, welcome to subscribe and reward, your support is my greatest motivation.)

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