Resplendent – Chapter 426

Chapter 426 — Picky Habits Are Hereditary

Since Jimin and Baicao Pharmacy refused to buy their herbs, they went to the neighboring county town and sold them to small medicine shops.

Li Xiuniang’s skill in preparing the herbs had been taught to her hand-in-hand by Gu Ye, and it was quite good. This allowed them to earn a bit more silver to help support the household.

Within a couple of years, Li Xiuniang married her cousin on her uncle’s side and had two sons and a daughter, becoming a proper mountain village wife. She handled all the household chores and farm work herself, and during the off-season, she would carry her children up the mountain to gather wild goods and medicinal herbs. 

Life was frugal but steady.

Occasionally, news came from Qingshan Village that Gu Lier and Li Xiu’er had been selected by the workshop to go to the capital, promoted to head the pharmaceutical’s branch there, and frequently interacted with wealthy ladies and noblewomen. 

Li Xiu’er married the steward of the capital’s Yinzhen Pavilion, living in a household with more than a dozen maids and servants, enjoying the life of a distinguished lady…

In the brief moments between her heavy household chores, Li Xiuniang sometimes wondered: if she hadn’t made that terrible mistake back then, would she now be like Li Xiu’er in the capital—having maids and housekeepers to serve her, carriages to take her out, and dealing only with prominent, influential people?

But life has no ‘ifs,’ and no medicine to undo regret. The sins one creates must be paid for over a lifetime. Rather than dwell on impossible dreams, it was better to live steadily and realistically. It was precisely because she hadn’t understood this at the time that she had fallen so low…

Far away in the capital, Gu Ye didn’t know that after his elder brother received letters from their father and brothers, he had rushed to Qingshan Village to back her up and stand up for her.

At this moment, she was facing her unforgettable first meal back at the Duke’s Manor. As for the manor’s cooks, aside from the imperial-trained chef who made decent rose-flavored pastries, the others’ skills could not compare to Aunt Yan’s. Gu Ye’s picky habits were well-known to his grandfather and brothers!

But the Duke and Duchess, as well as her brothers, didn’t know this. They eagerly served her food, piling her small bowl high with dishes like little mountains. She felt full just looking at it. How could she possibly eat it all?

The Duchess also stood by, tenderly stroking her little face, saying she was too thin and should eat more. A girl looked best when she was plump and healthy. 

Gu Ye didn’t know what to say.

Was this era suddenly making ‘fat is beautiful’ the trend? Why hadn’t anyone told her?  Was it meant to humiliate her for being uneducated?

 Even the three little girls at the Duke’s Manor had perfectly proportioned figures.

“Mother, I’m just in a ‘lean summer’ phase. Wait until after summer—watch! The meat will grow fast, I promise!” Gu Ye held her overflowing little bowl, sending a pleading look toward his grandfather and brothers.

It was Chu Mushan who noticed something was off. He stopped his father from serving another chicken drumstick to his sister and quietly asked, “Sister, you don’t like these dishes, do you?”

The Duke only then realized that after piling so much food onto his daughter’s plate, she hadn’t actually eaten a single bite. Lady Jun shot him a glare and said disapprovingly, “Look at you. You’re the father, yet you haven’t figured out what your own daughter likes to eat. You just keep piling dishes onto her. Bao’er, whatever you like, just tell your maids to serve it to you. This is your home. You don’t need to be so formal.” 

“I just had a bowl of milk in the kitchen and a few pieces of pastry. My appetite is small, and I’m already pretty full. Father, Mother, Brothers, eat your food. Don’t worry about me. Paying too much attention to me makes me uncomfortable,” Gu Ye said, glancing at the table piled high with dishes. She picked up a slice of candied lotus root with her chopsticks and nibbled at it slowly. 

Behind her, Yue Yuan lowered her head and pursed her lips. The girl’s words sounded so proper, but it was just her picky habit acting up again. She had always been fussy about food, and Aunt Yan had indulged her. 

Now it has escalated. She refused to eat anything not made by Aunt Yan, and even the dishes prepared by the chefs at Qingfeng Pavilion were riddled with faults in her eyes.

The food on the table was either too bland, tasteless, or too greasy, overly rich and heavy. Just looking at it made her feel full, so how could she actually eat?

The Duke watched his daughter gnaw at a single slice of lotus root for half an eternity, barely finishing one piece, and his heart ached with worry. He had no experience raising a daughter. His six sons ate like wolves at mealtime, and after a decade of hardship, their standards for food were minimal. They could eat anything ravenously.

He looked at the table piled with dishes, which were already the best the manor could prepare. Yet his daughter seemed completely uninterested, fixated only on that one slice of lotus root. He realized then. Out of all the dishes, not a single one caught her attention!

Just thinking about it made him anxious. What exactly did the little girl like to eat? Who could tell him? He couldn’t let his daughter go hungry. She was pitifully thin as it was, and if she went hungry any longer, it would be a disaster.

Chu Mufeng thought for a moment and said, “I think I heard Grandmother and Aunt say that our little sister is very picky about food. They also said that not only does she resemble Mother in looks, but her picky habits are a little like hers too.” 

Lady Jun smiled and nodded. “Back then, I was often scolded by your grandmother for indulging her picky habits. It’s not that she’s really that fussy. She just won’t eat what she doesn’t like. There’s so much good food, and we can afford it. Why force her to eat what she doesn’t want?”

Hearing this, Gu Ye found a kindred spirit! She nodded enthusiastically as she nibbled on the lotus root. 

Yes! Yes! Exactly! Why force yourself to eat what you don’t like?

“Daughter, tell me what you want to eat, and I’ll have someone make it for you!” the Duke said quickly. His daughter must have inherited it from her mother.  When Lady Jun first married into the Chu family, she had been extremely picky about food.

The Chu family were all military men; they had no particular standards for meals. As a new bride, Lady Jun had come in thin. At first, he thought she was just missing her family, but later realized she couldn’t get enough to eat at every meal. It took several batches of new chefs before she was satisfied.

But during the ten years she had been in exile, she had grown strong quickly. She had to take care of the whole family, old and young, and during the hardest times, she had even gnawed on cakes made from chaff and coarse grains. He had almost forgotten that his wife had always been picky about food… Thinking of this, the Duke felt a bit of a sting in his nose.

“Your Grace, someone has sent a banquet outside!” the chief steward of the outer courtyard rushed in. The delivery staff were wearing the familiar Qingfeng Pavilion uniforms, and the food containers were Qingfeng’s specialized boxes.

Who could be so generous as to send a Qingfeng banquet to the manor? Qingfeng’s tables were notoriously difficult to reserve. They didn’t normally accept deliveries…

Wait a minute! Qingfeng doesn’t do deliveries. Where did this banquet come from?

“A banquet? What banquet? Who ordered a banquet outside?” the Duke scanned his sons with a sharp gaze.

Seeing them all shake their heads, he frowned. “None of you ordered a banquet. Send it back!”

Steward Zhou hesitated before saying, “Your Grace, it’s a banquet from Qingfeng Pavilion!”