Chapter 418: Chapter 268: Follow
“Is there still soone in the kitchen of this mansion?” Lady Xiao asked.
Duke Song and Xiao Song were poles apart yet there were so similarities, naly, they both lived the life of an ascetic monk—not because they were frugal, but because of self-discipline and their absorption in politics. After experiencing many complex events, they both felt that the simpler the life, the better.
“No, when Jiulang was displeased with , he was displeased with the kitchen staff as well,” Liu Qingsong said with a sense of grievance.
Ran Yan held her silence. It wasn’t difficult for her to prepare als for a few people, but she did not know Lady Xiao’s thoughts nor how noble won viewed cooking. Moreover, given the recent embarrassing incident, would volunteering now be considered to be currying favor?
Thinking this, she nonetheless said, “If Lady Xiao does not mind, I can make so ho-cooked dishes.”
Concealing the truth wouldn’t work forever. If Lady Xiao found out about this in the future and rembered that there was no lunch provided today, what would she think of soone who knew how to cook but was unwilling to do so?
After much deliberation, she decided that acting decisively might be better.
Mrs. Luo’s hand trembled slightly as she held her cup, already exhausted from the day’s events! To her, Ran Yan’s approach to matters was still lacking in finesse; so issues could have been resolved more effectively, yet Ran Yan opted for clumsy solutions. Mrs. Luo was secretly anxious, wondering why a usually clever girl like Seventeenth Miss always ended up doing foolish things.
“Oh?” Lady Xiao asked with interest, “You can cook?”
“Yes,” Ran Yan answered truthfully, without modesty or arrogance.
Lady Xiao nodded, “What made you decide to learn cooking?”
It was customary for won to manage the kitchen after getting married, yet the matriarch of a great family didn’t need to cook herself, only to have an understanding sufficient to oversee the household’s food managent.
What made you decide to learn cooking? This question brought back distant mories. When Ran Yan’s grandmother was on her sickbed, nobody in the family knew how to cook, and her grandmother had casually ntioned that food from restaurants always seed unsatisfactory. Consequently, Ran Yan had endeavored to learn cooking. Before her grandmother passed away, she enjoyed the als Ran Yan prepared, bringing a lifelong sense of solace whenever she thought of it.
Ran Yan replied, “Simply to take care of soone I wanted to look after.”
Hearing this sowhat ambiguous response, Lady Xiao looked thoughtfully at Ran Yan and said, “Go ahead, take the maid with you, and make sothing simple.”
As Ran Yan left the room, Mrs. Luo turned to Lady Xiao with a smile, “This child has always been straightforward.”
Lady Xiao rubbed the carved handle of her cane and narrowed her eyes, smiling enigmatically.
Mrs. Luo, although experienced in reading people, failed to understand Lady Xiao’s intention at this mont; she only showed a fleeting surprise and displayed neither fondness nor displeasure.
“I heard Seventeenth Miss understands dical skills?” Lady Xiao’s tone was as gentle as ever.
Mrs. Luo’s heart skipped a beat, thinking it might concern the Xiao family’s qualms about Ran Yan performing autopsies. Thoughts flashed through her mind like lightning, and she softly replied, “Yes, A-Yan was frail as a child. They say prolong illness turns the patient into a doctor; she later followed a master and learned dical skills, which actually cured her.”
With those words, Mrs. Luo subtly implied that Ran Yan’s frailty was a thing of the past and that her good health now wouldn’t hinder childbearing. She also clarified that Ran Yan’s study of dical skills was for a reason, not because she wanted to pursue it as a career or out of an affinity for dical practice.
“Mrs. Luo is indeed a clever woman,” Lady Xiao said with a slight smile.
“You flatter .” Mrs. Luo could actually be more versatile, but in front of absolute power, she dared not act too freely, adhering instead to the attitude that less is more, mulling over each sentence several tis in her mind.
Liu Qingsong understood Lady Xiao quite well, yet at the mont he could not grasp her intentions, uncertain whether she was satisfied with Ran Yan.
In discussions of marriage, it is common for n and won to be intimate, but it was sowhat improper that right after Lady Xiao left, things turned chaotic. Originally, only Xiao Song looked disheveled, and he even explained he was rely napping, which wasn’t a major issue. Unfortunately, Ran Yan happened to ntion sothing about “indecent” behavior.
Liu Qingsong had heard everything clearly, but he did not know if Lady Xiao had heard it, too.
Mrs. Luo and Liu Qingsong talked with Lady Xiao for over half an hour, and then a maid ca to ask if they wished to eat.
It was precisely lunchti, so Lady Xiao let them serve the al. Having once been a daughter-in-law herself, she had naturally overseen the midday al; preparing food in the kitchen usually took at least an hour or two. Given that the estate had no dedicated cooks and likely scant ingredients, she was curious to see how Ran Yan would manage to prepare a full lunch.
Mrs. Luo was also on tenterhooks. She had tasted the porridge made by Ran Yan before and found it quite good, but Lady Xiao, at her advanced age, had seen all manner of fine foods—what wouldn’t she have already experienced?
The maid helped the three of them in the hall to wash their hands. Shortly after, Ran Yan led the others to bring in the ready-prepared lunch and set it on their respective tables.
The dishes Ran Yan prepared were very ordinary, but they were all made with sincerity.
Lady Xiao ate without a word.
The elderly have small appetites, and she put her bowl down after eating just under half a bowl of rice. Ran Yan and the others had no choice but to also lay down their chopsticks.
Lady Xiao set down her mouth-rinsing cup and picked up her tea cup, but instead of drinking, she placed it directly on the table, “I heard that the Cui family has also gone to Suzhou to propose marriage. What does Seventeen think?”
How should she respond? Ran Yan quickly reviewed the question in her mind. By asking this, Lady Xiao might want to know why she had beco involved with the Cui family, or perhaps through her attitude towards this event, further assess her temperant.
Regardless of the reason, the best she could do was to answer with a clear conscience! Ran Yan sighed in her heart and gave a noncommittal answer, “I do not know why the Cui family would do this, but I believe that neither the Cui family nor other gentry families should arbitrarily obstruct this matter.”
Why exactly such obstructions should not be arbitrary was left to individual interpretation. Each person’s perspective and thoughts differ, and so would their answers.
Only then did Lady Xiao slightly nod her head, giving a faint comnt, “She is indeed thoughtful.”
This evaluation was still unclear whether it was good or bad, but based on Ran Yan’s analysis, it was likely not derogatory. After all, soone like Lady Xiao, if she disapproved of soone, would hardly bother to spare even a word of disdain—there would be no need for her to go out of her way.
“I am old and fear this may be my last effort. Once this snow stops, I do not know if I can return to Qi State.” Lady Xiao abruptly exclaid.
Liu Qingsong was montarily stunned; he had watched the old lady manipulate situations as easily as turning her hand and saw her gradually relinquish her grip and attachnt to all power over ten years, and he had seen her sit lonely in the attic looking toward Lanling in the southeast. However, she had never voiced such a disheartened statent…
It is said that people have a peculiar premonition of their own death. A montary suffocation and dull pain in his heart suddenly made Liu Qingsong keenly aware that he was alive.
“Seventeen, co with .” Lady Xiao extended her hand for the maid to help her stand up. (
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