Chapter 32: Chapter 32: Rose and Red Date Roasted Milk Tea

Such a scene played out outside Kunning Palace every New Year.

It used to be considered something of a spectacle, but now, aside from the newly arrived little eunuchs and little palace maids, no one found anything novel about this former favored concubine’s fall from grace.

Xue Yi couldn’t die even if she wanted to. The Imperial Guard kept her in custody, and there were even people from the Imperial Hospital standing watch nearby.

The Imperial Hospital staff were also on edge, for everyone knew that if the former Chen Fei—now the Sinful Concubine—were to die, they would pay with their lives.

His Majesty’s anger hadn’t subsided after so many years; how could he allow the main culprit to die so easily?

The night the late Empress passed away, blood flowed like a river through the Imperial Palace.

And the place that suffered the most deaths was the Imperial Hospital.

With the sole exception of Hospital Director Sui Ziran, every single person employed by the Imperial Hospital was killed by the Black Armor Guards.

Those who survived were chilled to the bone.

Xue Yi was already numb. Five years ago, the first time Li Yun had personally forced her down at the gates of Kunning Palace, making her kneel and kowtow to the dead woman inside while a massive crowd looked on, she had been filled with shame and fury. She had even held on to the hope of turning things around, simmering with a vengeful thought: ’When I get back on my feet, I’ll have all these wretched slaves who’ve seen my humiliation dragged out and killed.’ But in the years that followed, she no longer had such ambition. All she wanted was a quick death.

Ordinarily, she lived in a doghouse built just outside the walls of Kunning Palace—a "house" that Li Yun had specially commissioned for her.

Every day, she was required to kneel inside, facing Kunning Palace in repentance. If she didn’t, she wasn’t fed.

At first, Xue Yi had indeed tried to starve herself to death, but only those who have experienced it can truly know what it feels like to be on the brink of death. The agony of starvation is excruciating, the process agonizingly slow. She had the courage to try it once, but that didn’t mean she would have the guts to do so again.

Otherwise, why would the common folk have a saying: "A miserable life is better than a good death"?

No matter how much her mind yearned for death, her body still feared it.

The drama in the palace never reached the outside world. Ming Lingyi and Xiao Chun had a very pleasant New Year.

On the seventh day of the New Year, Ming Lingyi had Xiao Chun hang firecrackers by the entrance early in the morning. After picking an auspicious time, Ming’s Restaurant was officially open for business!

Early that morning, the people of Huaided Fang were roused from their sleep by the rich aroma of pastries.

The milky fragrance of baking pastries mingled with the delicate scent of plum blossoms, irresistibly drawing people toward Ming’s Restaurant.

Just as Ming Lingyi and Xiao Chun were taking the warm plum blossom cakes out of the oven, a small figure came dashing over.

"Sister Ming! I want a Jade Plum Shocking Snow Cake!"

It was Little Hu Zi.

On New Year’s Eve, his parents had sent him to Sister Ming’s house again to deliver mutton dumplings. In return, Sister Ming had given him a plum blossom cake and told him the pastry had a beautiful name: "Jade Plum Shocking Snow Cake." Even though Zhang Hu didn’t care much for studying, he still found the name incredibly elegant.

He knew that the seventh day of the New Year was the grand opening of Sister Ming’s shop. Even if he didn’t have a sweet tooth himself, his parents would have sent him over to support her business.

Smiling, Ming Lingyi wrapped up a pastry for Little Tiger.

But just then, Little Tiger couldn’t help but twitch his nose. He had caught another wonderful, wonderful smell.

He looked up at the counter, which was much higher than he was, and saw several small ceramic pots making a GURGLE GURGLE sound. The enticing aroma seemed to be wafting from them, and Little Hu Zi’s eyes lit up.

"Sister Ming, what’s that? It smells so good!" Little Tiger squinted. ’I feel like I could get dizzy from this milky fragrance!’

Ming Lingyi followed Little Tiger’s pointing finger. In front of her were six ceramic pots with handles, each about the size of a grown man’s palm. She had them custom-made at the market during the New Year holiday.

Taverns often used similar small pots for serving wine, but Ming Lingyi didn’t need anything so refined. Even unpolished, unadorned earthenware would do, as long as it could withstand being heated over high temperatures.

These pots had a low failure rate during firing, weren’t difficult to make, and were very cheap. She had bought about ten of them at a wholesale price of three copper coins apiece.

However, she only had six of them on display.

Beneath the six small ceramic pots, a charcoal fire burned under an iron grill.

This part of the setup was relatively simple. The breakfast stalls in the market that sold steamed cakes all had something similar for boiling water and steaming their wares.

The station for the roasted milk outside her shop didn’t take up much space. She hadn’t even needed to hire anyone to build the heating platform; Xiao Chun had set it up all by herself.

Ming Lingyi pointed to the sign hanging beside her for Little Hu Zi, on which was written: "Rose-Gem Crimson Dot · Red Date Milk Tea."

Knowing that Little Hu Zi didn’t take his studies seriously and could barely recognize the characters, Ming Lingyi read it aloud for him.

Little Hu Zi was completely baffled. ’What kind of name is that?’

"What’s milk tea?" Little Hu Zi asked blankly.

Ming Lingyi explained, "It’s something made by simmering milk and tea together. I also add rose, red dates, goji berries, and longan, which is why it smells so sweet and fragrant."

Little Hu Zi only half-understood, but that didn’t matter to him. The important thing was that this "Rose-Gem Crimson Dot · Red Date Milk Tea" smelled absolutely incredible!

It had the aroma of milk, but also the sweet, caramelized scent of toasted sugar, with none of the unpleasant raw-milk smell. On a cold winter’s day, the constant sound of the milk bubbling in the small clay pots was simply delightful.

"Sister Ming, how much is it?" Little Hu Zi was already swallowing hard.

Ming Lingyi replied, "Fifteen copper coins for a cup."

"So expensive!" Little Hu Zi blurted out, stunned. He immediately glanced guiltily toward Sister Ming. Most shopkeepers wouldn’t appreciate such a blunt exclamation from a customer. But he saw that even after hearing his thoughtless remark, Sister Ming’s smile never wavered. She didn’t look angry at all.

And indeed, Ming Lingyi wasn’t angry. She knew the price for her "roasted milk tea" was not cheap.

After all, a regular cup of tea in Shangjing City usually cost only three to five copper coins. At a simple roadside stall in the suburbs of the capital, you could probably get a cup for just one or two.

"The name ’milk tea’ has ’tea’ in it, but it also has milk. Milk is a little expensive, so the milk tea is naturally going to be pricier than other drinks," Ming Lingyi explained, not dismissing him or trying to trick him just because he was a child.

Little Hu Zi nodded as if he half-understood. "Then I’ll have a cup!"

Ming Lingyi beamed. "You got it!"

Normally, she poured the milk tea from the small pots for customers to drink in the shop. But seeing that Little Hu Zi was probably taking it home to share with Brother Zhang and his wife, Ming Lingyi instead grabbed a large bowl and poured the roasted milk into it. She gestured for him to hold it steady, telling him he could just bring the bowl back when he was finished.

They were neighbors within the same fang, after all; it was a small convenience she was happy to provide.

From the moment Ming Lingyi had used a thick, padded cloth to grip the handles of the small ceramic pot and pour out the roasted milk, Little Hu Zi’s gaze had been fixed, unable to look away.