Chapter 649 - Being Promoted Forcefully (1/2)

Yu Xiaocao watched as the two faces, which quite resembled each other, revealed simultaneously an expression of longing and thirst. She felt quite tickled by it. If they were in any other place, who would have believed that these two, who were regarding her quite pathetically, were actually the two most important personages of the Great Ming Empire?

“This subject was idle at home, so I came out with a few new mousse-type cakes. I thought that they tasted quite good, so I brought some over to show my respect to Your Imperial Majesty! Children all love to eat mousse cakes, so I hope that Your Highness, the crown prince, would like to try some too.” Yu Xiaocao stood up and placed the box of cakes onto the study table. She lightly lifted the lid to the box, revealing the tiny adorable pieces of cake within to the father and son pair in front of her.

Zhu Hanwen originally wanted to protest, “This prince isn’t a child anymore…” However, once he saw the beautiful and delicate cakes in front of him, he immediately forgot the rest of his words. He only had eyes for the pastries.

As soon as the Yu’s Dessert Shop’s western-style pastries came out, it caused a huge sensation within the capital and instantly became famous. The cakes were soft and bouncy, sweet without being overwhelming, so they obtained everyone’s approval. However, these pastries could not even compare to the legendary chocolate mousse cake, Black Forest gateau, and tiramisu that had been made by Royal Princess Jinan.

Unfortunately, the western-style pastries made by Royal Princess Jinan weren’t something that could be eaten whenever one had the desire to. Those legendary pastries weren’t for sale anywhere. Only the people closest to her were lucky enough to eat them on occasion. Last time, the matrons and n.o.ble maidens who had been invited to partic.i.p.ate at Imperial Prince Jing’s Estate for a banquet were all given the opportunity to try her hand-made desserts. When they left, the rumors spread throughout the capital about how amazing her cakes were. Thus, the chocolate flavored desserts had reached another level of fame within these n.o.ble circles.

The imperial palace naturally was given desserts made by Yu Xiaocao. Once, when Zhu Hanwen was at his imperial mother’s palace, he had the chance to try some. He immediately fell in love with these chocolate flavored desserts. However, his imperial father told him that as the heir the empire he needed to learn how to endure hards.h.i.+ps before pleasure, have a backbone as strong as steel, control his appet.i.tes, and strive for enlightenment...so how could he indulge in gluttonous pleasures? Then, all of the pastries that were later sent into the palace had mostly gone into his imperial father’s stomach. Zhu Hanwen secretly wondered if his father’s teachings were merely an excuse for him to stop fighting for sweets with him!

There wasn’t a second person within the Great Ming Empire who could make pastries that could compare with Official Yu’s. Unfortunately, she was way too busy. She had to manage the tasks that the court tasked her as well as keep her own businesses afloat. Thus, she very rarely had the time to bake pastries. Zhu Hanwen could never forget the memory of those unique flavored desserts. When he saw the box full of a variety of mousse cakes, it immediately brought to his mind the taste that his memory savored.

“Imperial Majesty, please wait a bit. This subject will first taste these pastries for poison…” Under the usual state of things, in order to keep the palace safe, it was forbidden for outsiders to bring food into the palace. All of the food served to the emperor first had to undergo tasting by his eunuchs for poison. This was the usual custom, so Eunuch Su Chi’s reminder wasn’t out of the ordinary.

However, the emperor kicked his b.u.t.t forcefully and growled in a laughing matter, “Screw off! You’re such a sly servant, coming over when you smell delicious food. We haven’t even had the chance to try La.s.s Yu’s food before you b.u.t.t in to have a taste. Go stand where it is cool. There are only a few cakes in the box, so there’s definitely not enough for you to get a share. So dream on!”

“Imperial Majesty, food brought in from the outside of the palace normally can’t be…” Su Chi now had a visible footprint on his clothing but he didn’t dare to dust it off. He had an aggrieved expression on his face as he recited the customs.

“Customs were all made by people! If we can’t trust La.s.s Yu then who is to be trusted? That’s enough, stop looking for an excuse to fight for pastries with us. Aren’t you going to back down now?” Why did this fellow not have any eyes for the situation? If it were Su Ran here instead, he absolutely would not have made such a fuss.

Yu Xiaocao stopped herself from laughing and took off of the lids from all of the boxes she brought with her as she quietly said, “Imperial Majesty, this official has brought over four types of mousse cakes. Each cake came with nine pieces. How about you let Chief Steward Su Chi let you taste test them first?”

“No need, no need! Each cake only has nine pieces, which is barely enough to satisfy us. How could we possibly allow someone else to try a piece of paradise?” Zhu Junfan protectively brought the food boxes towards him and impatiently took out a piece of mousse cake that had been crafted in the shape of a lychee.

“Imperial Father…” Zhu Hanwen noticed that his father seemed to have forgotten that he was here, so he pitifully cried out. He felt like this was deliberate. His imperial father didn’t seem to want to share these cakes with him.

“Hmph! Look at you, do you even have the demeanor of an heir to the empire at this point? If you can’t even restrain your desires for food, how can you possibly keep the empire in your hands in the future?” As Zhu Junfan spoke, he shoved the cake that was in his hands into his mouth. He revealed an ecstatic expression on his face.

Zhu Hanwen silently cursed, ‘Imperial Father, you also have a hankering for good food but isn’t the empire flouris.h.i.+ng and doing well under your hands? There isn’t a conflict between the two, alright ah? Do you truly intend on enjoying these pastries alone, letting me, your son, to just watch you pathetically?’

Zhu Junfan felt a sliver of guilt enter his heart when he saw the despondent and pathetic look on his son’s face. He dryly coughed and said, “Alright ah! Since you’ve been working hard on both your studies and martial arts, I will reward you with one piece!”

“Thank you, Imperial Father!” Zhu Hanwen’s face immediately lit up in joy as he carefully picked a piece of cake and delivered it into his mouth. He savored it in small bites as he exclaimed, “Wow! It’s so incredibly delicious ah! It has the flavor of fruit and the spongy texture of cake. Official Yu, what is the name of this cake?”

“In reply to Your Highness, this is called ‘fruit mousse cake’. Within the smooth texture of mousse is the flavor of fresh fruit, which restores the original essence of lychee within it. The taste is very rich.” Yu Xiaocao noticed that the father and son pair had the exact same joyful expression on their faces. She suddenly realized that it seemed like the ‘foodie gene’ could also be inherited. The emperor emeritus was an old glutton, the emperor loved to eat good foods, and, now, even the crown prince was a tiny little foodie!