Chunnuan stepped forward warmly and chatted with Mingyue. "I've heard, Sister Mingyue, that you're an excellent cook. You've outshone all the kitchen maids in the mansion, and even the eldest young lady loves your dishes the most. You're truly amazing!"
Mingyue and Hanyue had been by Shen Li's side for about half a month. Usually, Shen Li would take Jiaoyue and Hanyue out on errands, leaving Mingyue to guard the courtyard and take care of Shen Miao's meals.
With her good cooking skills and Shen Li's favor, as the chief maid beside Shen Li, Mingyue had become quite well - known among the servants in the Shen Mansion.
Among the three first - class maids beside Shen Li, Jiaoyue was too fierce and highly vigilant, while Hanyue always had a cold face, clearly not easy to get along with.
On the contrary, Mingyue looked innocent, cute, and kind - hearted. After much thought, Chunnuan decided to befriend her.
After these days, Mingyue had a clear understanding of the situation in the mansion. She knew that this girl was Chunnuan, a maid beside Shen Miao, but not highly regarded.
Mingyue blinked her bright eyes and said with a slight smile, "Sister, you're overpraising me! I can just cook a few dishes. I'm just lucky to have caught the eldest young lady's eye. It's not something worthy of praise!"
Chunnuan still flattered her hard and finally turned the topic to Shen Li. "In my opinion, our eldest young lady is extremely kind - hearted! She's good to the servants. Unlike the one in our courtyard, who never treats us servants as human beings and beats and scolds us at will!"
Chunnuan said this in a low voice. She didn't want to be caught with a small mistake before successfully defecting. Now there were only her and Mingyue.
Even if Mingyue told others what she said, she could just deny it.
Mingyue asked with concern, "What's wrong, Sister Chunnuan? Have you suffered any grievances?"
Then, Chunnuan exaggeratedly told the story of the day when Shen Miao punished her to kneel. "Alas! As servants, if we meet a good master like the eldest young lady, we can have a good life. But if we meet a bad - tempered one, they don't treat us as human beings at all!"
"Alas! I'm just so unlucky that I can't serve a good master like the eldest young lady!"
Mingyue comforted her for a while and finally agreed to secretly send some burn - treating medicine to her at night. Then they "reluctantly" parted.
When Mingyue came back from shopping for ingredients, she told Shen Li everything about meeting Chunnuan today.
"She's coming to defect to me. Mingyue, first befriend her and keep her steady. Then observe for a while to see if she's useful."
Shen Li instructed Mingyue, "There will only be more such people and things in the future. They may not dare to approach Jiaoyue and Hanyue, but seeing that you're easy to talk to, they will surely come to you."
"In the future, when such things happen, just deal with them tactfully. If they want to betray the second branch, I'll surely welcome them. If someone can bring me news about the second branch, then report it to me."
Mingyue took the order and left.
On the other hand, the invitation cards that Shen Miao sent to Princess Heyuan's mansion were thrown out again and again.
At first, she thought that when her face was injured, she had refused Princess Heyuan's invitation, which had made the princess a bit angry and wanted to give her the cold shoulder.
So she sent invitation cards every day to show her sincerity. She thought that after a few days, when the princess calmed down, she would summon her again.
However, to her surprise, after seven or eight days, Princess Heyuan showed no sign of wanting to see her. Only then did she realize the danger.
She bribed a little maid beside Princess Heyuan with silver and found out that the princess was going to have lunch at Feilaiju today, so she planned to stage an accidental meeting.
Shen Miao led her people to the second floor of Feilaiju early and occupied a private room in the shape of the Chinese character "mei". Chunxi stood by the window, waiting to report to her as soon as Princess Heyuan's carriage arrived.
When the luxurious carriage with the emblem of the princess's mansion appeared at the door of Feilaiju, Shen Miao called the waiter and ordered him to serve the dishes.
Princess Heyuan entered the private room in the shape of the Chinese character "zhu" that she often went to. Next to it was Shen Miao's room.
The chef of Feilaiju had ancestors who were imperial chefs in the palace. He was good at cooking. The squirrel - shaped mandarin fish was a dish that Princess Heyuan always ordered every time she came.
Xiangyang, the princess's personal maid, skillfully ordered the dishes that her princess liked and told the waiter to cook them quickly.
The waiter nodded with a forced smile and left. A while later, he came back upstairs to report.
"Your Highness! In recent days, the mandarin fish supplied to our restaurant has been insufficient. Our chef has only made a few servings, and all of them have been reserved." The waiter lowered his head and replied in a low voice.
"Sold out? How is that possible? Don't you know that our princess always orders that squirrel - shaped mandarin fish every time she comes? Why didn't you prepare it in advance?" Xiangyang angrily waved the handkerchief in her hand and loudly blamed the waiter.
What she said was really arrogant and unreasonable. The squirrel - shaped mandarin fish had been reserved in advance. Princess Heyuan hadn't said when she would come. Did they have to prepare a serving for her every day?
So the waiter didn't know how to reply.
"Enough! You're giving me a headache! I came out to relax, but now I'm in a bad mood just because of this meal!"
Princess Heyuan frowned and said unhappily.
Xiangyang quickly shut up and apologized, then stepped forward to massage her.
"Tell me, is there really not a single serving of squirrel - shaped mandarin fish left in your restaurant now?"
The waiter hesitated for a few times before replying, "Your Highness, although all the squirrel - shaped mandarin fish have been reserved, there is still one serving in the kitchen. It was just cooked!"
"In that case, go and serve it to me." Princess Heyuan waved her hand and ordered.
"But... that dish has been reserved by the guest in the next room. It's about to be served!" The waiter said hesitantly.
"Our princess wants it. Just go and serve it to her! Who cares who reserved it? How can it be more important than our princess?" Xiangyang raised her head proudly and said.
The waiter left awkwardly. Then he knocked on the door of the next room. After a while, he came back with a beaming face.
"Your Highness, as soon as the guest in the next room heard that Your Highness was here, they voluntarily offered to give up the dish."
Hearing this, Princess Heyuan nodded in satisfaction. It was just a squirrel - shaped mandarin fish. She could just come back tomorrow.
But she had been spoiled since childhood. All her life, people had flattered and obeyed her. There was nothing she couldn't get.
So this was no longer just about a dish. It was about her dignity and face.
"Also, that guest wants to see Your Highness and pay respects to you."
Princess Heyuan was in a good mood at this moment and didn't care about such a small thing. After all, there were dozens if not hundreds of people who wanted to curry favor with her every day.
As soon as the door opened, Shen Miao stepped forward gracefully and bowed. "Your humble servant pays respects to Your Highness!"