Chapter 242: Chapter 242: Her Movements Are Deft
Qu Fulan just regretted for a moment, then accepted the fact that her purse was lost.
It only contained a little money, so if it’s gone, it’s gone.
The key point is that her name wasn’t embroidered on the purse, so even if someone found it, they wouldn’t know it was hers, preserving her reputation.
When she initially embroidered it, Hai Xia suggested she add her name.
Qu Fulan understood Hai Xia’s feelings; after all, when you painstakingly create something, you naturally want to add your name to it for a sense of completeness and belonging.
It’s like how modern essays or paintings need a signature, right?
She watched too many TV shows of women embroidering their names on underwear and purses, only for them to fall into the hands of ill-intentioned people and become scandalous articles, severely affecting one’s reputation. That’s why she insisted on not embroidering her name.
Looking back, it seems not embroidering was more reassuring.
The princess went hunting, but on the other hand, Consort Zhang didn’t go.
She couldn’t ride horses, but insisted on following to showcase her favored status.
At this moment, ladies from the noble families associated with Consort Zhang gathered together to chat and pass the time, inevitably bringing up matters related to the Grand Princess and involving her closest sisters.
Princess Rui, the Duchess of Han, Madam Pei, among others.
In truth, Consort Zhang had considered recruiting these noble ladies to her side; this way, she could suppress the princess and provide an additional bargaining chip for her son.
But even as a Noble Consort, she couldn’t just pull anyone over, and these noble ladies were hard to sway.
"I heard Madam Pei has a girl with her, said to be a relative of the Pei Mansion, and her beauty is flawless, surpassing even Miss Su, the recognized beauty of the Capital City," a lady commented.
"I heard Madam Pei is quite fond of this relative; perhaps Your Grace could use this to gradually drive a wedge between the princess and Madam Pei."
Where to start? Naturally, through marriage alliances—by marrying the girl into the family, they become relatives, become one of us?
Consort Zhang’s son is post-ceremony and ranks as the Seventh Prince among the Emperor’s sons, and there is already a princess consort in the residence.
So, if it’s an alliance, it would only be as a concubine, and if she were a proper miss of the Pei Mansion, Consort Zhang wouldn’t even consider it, but since she’s just a relative, it wouldn’t be an imposition.
At any rate, it’s best to see the person first.
"Someone come and invite her over so I can take a look," Consort Zhang commanded.
However, quite unfortunately, the Grand Princess returned from hunting at that very moment, scaring Consort Zhang’s people out of their wits.
The Pei Mansion’s tent was close to the Grand Princess’s, and once the Grand Princess returned, Madam Pei and the others went over, so how could they pass on the message? Given the animosity between the Grand Princess and Consort Zhang, delivering this message now, to summon the Grand Princess’s companion, would likely result in being beaten to death on the spot by the Grand Princess.
They promptly and sheepishly reported back to the Noble Consort.
Consort Zhang couldn’t force it, otherwise the Grand Princess, that madwoman, would come bursting in for a fight.
That’s not unprecedented; previously, Consort Zhang took action against a maid by the Grand Princess’s side, and when the Grand Princess found out, she barged into her bedchamber, disregarding the crowd of servants, and directly grabbed her face and hair.
Women’s fights are always so straightforward and brutal.
Later, when the matter reached the Emperor’s ears, the handling was tactful.
So for her dignity’s sake, Consort Zhang needed to endure, as there would be plenty of opportunities.
At this time, in the Grand Princess’s tent, she had brought back hares, pheasants, and more, "Tonight we’ll roast them!"
Barbeque? Qu Fulan was most skilled at it, and outdoor barbeque was even more thrilling.
She had also caught a hare, perfect to use.
The servants spent the entire afternoon dealing with the pheasants and hares.
Doing this right outside the princess’s tent also intentionally annoyed Consort Zhang across the way.
Sure enough, Consort Zhang couldn’t stand the various gamey smells and came out to see a servant plucking a rabbit, while another gutted a cleanly plucked rabbit...
Consort Zhang couldn’t help but retch, "So cruel, rabbits are so cute, and you treat them like this?"
The Grand Princess in the tent heard Consort Zhang’s words, came out immediately, and said boldly, "Later we’re going to put the cute rabbit on the fire to roast, roasting it until its oils sizzle out, until it’s deliciously fragrant, yum, it’s so tasty!"
Consort Zhang kept a white rabbit, particularly cherished, carrying it around like a fairy; she never ate rabbit meat.
Once, the Emperor ate rabbit meat in front of Consort Zhang, and she had a teary expression, "Your Majesty, rabbits are fluffy and so cute, why eat them..."
The Emperor had to consider his beloved consort’s feelings, so later avoided eating rabbit meat in her presence.
But the Grand Princess was different, always aiming for the Achille’s heel.
Consort Zhang was indeed disgusted, storming back inside in a fury, but before leaving, she saw a beautifully featured girl, thinking to herself that she was indeed more beautiful than the renowned beauty of the Capital City.
During the barbeque, everyone still sat at the entrance, barbecuing, and Qu Fulan took out her already prepared items, all sorts of small canisters.
"What are these?" the princess asked.
Qu Fulan, "Seasonings."
Various things like salt, sugar, garlic powder, pepper, cumin, totaling over a dozen kinds.
For Madam Pei and the princess, she prepared seasonings in proper containers for convenience, though normally, paper packets would have sufficed for her.
"Why no labels?"
"...I can tell them apart." Because there were also some custom seasonings she’d mixed with traditional medicine, it’s her secret barbeque recipe, and posting names would mean exposing her secret to others.
A business-minded person wouldn’t be this careless.
A few rabbits were set on wooden frames, placed on already burning wood for roasting; direct fire is no good, as the outside would char before the inside cooked, so they’d wait for the wood to burn down to embers and roast above them.
The pheasants, on the other hand, could be wrapped in lotus leaves, buried under the embers, covered with ashes, and stewed to eat.
Clearly, it was efficient use of one fire two ways.
Qu Fulan flipped the meat while deftly adding various seasonings.
The rabbit meat in her hand was almost done, its fragrant aroma spreading far away.
Consort Zhang inside her tent couldn’t help but swallow, then asked her attendant, "What’s that smell so appetizing?"
The maid was embarrassed to speak but had to, "Your Grace, they’re roasting rabbit across the way..."
This time Consort Zhang didn’t feel nauseous, it was simply too enticing; she hated her own reaction while subconsciously glancing at the rabbit in her arms.
Xiao Shiqing returned to this scene.
The man’s gaze remained fixed on Qu Fulan’s deft hands.
He clutched the purse in his hand.
He had returned to retrieve something; tonight, the Emperor was in high spirits, holding a bonfire with all the hunters, while the ladies remained at the camp.
Qu Fulan felt a strong gaze and looked over, seeing only Xiao Shiqing’s departing figure.