Chapter One Hundred: Pastries

When Meng Yun arrived, Fubao had already been dressed up by Old Madame Bai in the prettiest shades of pink, and she was waiting outside the manor bright and early.

Meng Yun had not seen her daughter in a very long time. As soon as she stepped down from the carriage, she pulled Fubao into her arms and cried bitterly. Meanwhile, the Bai family were all gathered around Madam Meng, crying together as well.

Left standing outside and ignored, Meng Lang and Lin Sanlang exchanged a look: were they invisible?

Those who had come this time were Lin Sanlang and Meng Yun as husband and wife, along with Madam Meng and Meng Lang. As for Old Master Meng and Meng Xuan, father and son, they stayed home to keep watch over the house.

After returning here again, decades later, Madam Meng felt that everything was still as it had been in her memories, so familiar and yet not quite the same. Her mother’s hair had turned white, and even her nephew was already married. And then there was Fubao, the little round bundle who had once been fed so plump on her arrival here, now grown a little taller.

Fubao was passed back and forth between her mother’s and father’s arms, and she thought, oh dear, her mother and father were far too enthusiastic.

“Mother, did you miss me?”

Fubao lifted her little face and asked.

“Of course I did. I’ve been dreaming of you,” Meng Yun said, kissing her daughter’s cheek.

“What about Father?”

“He missed you too.”

“That’s good.”

That night, Fubao refused to leave Meng Yun’s room and squeezed herself between the couple, sleeping soundly and sweetly. If only she did not have to go to school, it would have been even better.

The next morning, Fubao was bundled off to the academy. At that moment, Madam Meng and the others were chatting with Old Madame Bai and speaking of Fubao. Fubao’s fate was unusual; when she had been sent to the capital, they had already written to Old Madame Bai and Bai Zhanshuang to explain everything. Old Madame Bai had spent her whole life devoted to Buddhism, so she naturally believed Master Wuneng’s words without a shred of doubt, and she doted on Fubao as if she were her own.

Meng Yun had come this time for two reasons: first, to see her daughter; second, to settle down here. With her daughter living here, as a mother she could not help worrying, and keeping the girl at another household all the time, even if it was her own great-grandmother’s home, was inconvenient in the long run.

Old Madame Bai had no objection to this. In fact, she even kept urging Madam Meng to move here as well, so they could visit each other from time to time.

Because his wife had been suffering from morning sickness, Han Hua had recently taken leave and stayed home. Bai Yulan had been cooped up indoors every day and was miserable. Somehow, when she learned that Madam Meng had come to the capital, she ate an extra bowl of rice at lunch, packed up her things, and headed straight for the Bai residence.

Han Hua: What was he supposed to do when his wife never stayed home?

“Cousin, why are you here? You’re in no condition for this. Be careful.”

When Meng Yun heard from the steward that Bai Yulan had come, she hurried out to meet her. Good heavens, the woman’s belly was already so huge, and she was only a few months along.

“It’s fine. Staying at home all day is so boring. I just came back to have a little look around,” Bai Yulan said slowly, one hand on her waist.

“All right, all right, I’ll help you inside.”

“Mm-hmm.”

Around the corner, Bai Yugu looked on as Bai Yulan, her belly swollen with child, laughed and chatted with Meng Yun. Jealousy bit so hard at her lips that she nearly tore them open. Why was it that both were daughters of the Bai family, yet their fates could be so different? Bai Yulan was nothing but a cast-off woman, yet she had Han Hua, an outstanding husband, holding her in the palm of his hand and cherishing her. Bai Yugu liked Han Ying, but he would not even spare her a glance. Why could Bai Yulan marry into the Han family’s duke household, while she herself had to scheme step by step?

The more Bai Yugu thought about it, the angrier she became. No, she could not sit still and wait. That little chubby girl would have to be dealt with, and the child in Bai Yulan’s belly must not be allowed to stay either. Hmph. Once there was no baby, let’s see how she planned to remain in the Han family.

As Bai Yugu’s venomous plans took shape, Fubao was busy at the archery range, shooting arrows with her little bow.

The archery instructor was a sturdy, imposing man who paced with his hands behind his back as he inspected the class. “Lift your little bows. You were born into nobility, so you must not only learn music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, but also etiquette, instruments, and horseback riding. Most importantly of all, you must learn archery. Once you know archery, you will have the ability to protect yourselves...” and on and on he went.

Fubao felt as though she had heard those words somewhere before.

“All right, do you see the red center of that target? Just shoot your arrows at the red center, and that will do.”

“You just have to hit it?” one little lady asked.

“Exactly, as long as you hit it.”

“Okay.”

The group of young ladies drew their little bows again and again, shooting over and over.

Fubao pulled back her bow as well. Whoosh—the tiny arrow flew crookedly and stuck into the ground.

Hm. Try again.

The stern instructor looked at the girls before him. Their arrows were all over the place, crooked and lopsided, not a single one having landed on the target. He shook his head.

“Come now, look here. That won’t do. Watch how I shoot.”

He took up the little bow and, with a whoosh, struck the bull’s-eye dead center.

“Oh wow, that’s amazing!” the girls exclaimed.

“Very well, take a break first. We’ll practice again in a little while.”

Seeing these delicate young misses secretly rubbing their wrists, the stern instructor sighed inwardly. They could not even bear this small hardship.

When Fubao heard the word “break,” her eyes lit up. Ha! She could eat the pastries her mother had brought her!

Meng Yun had prepared the pastries early that morning and told Fubao to take them to the academy.

“Delicious!” Fubao took a bite and swung her little feet in delight.

“Lin Cenbao, Master Yu is looking for you!” a young lady called from afar.

“Master Yu?” Fubao blinked in surprise. Wasn’t Master Yu on leave?

“All right, I’m coming!”

Fubao set down her pastry and covered it lightly before hurrying off to find Master Yu.

Not long after she left, Liu Feier came to the very spot where Fubao had been sitting. Seeing that no one was paying attention, she took a pastry from the paper parcel in her sleeve and placed it on top of the stack of pastries Fubao had left there, then quietly slipped away.

At that moment, Fubao had already seen Master Yu, whom she had not seen for several days, and the sight of him frightened her terribly.