Early in the morning, Yun Jiao headed to the kitchen in the front. As she passed through the courtyard, she saw Ruru and Qi Er practicing sword fighting again.

Recently, Ruru had been practicing alone; the master Dao Xiong found for her hadn’t arrived yet. She could only practice by herself early in the mornings.

You Er wielded a small sword, practicing on the side by himself. Yun Jiao paused to watch for a while; he looked quite convincing.

She cheerfully entered the kitchen, where the breakfast chefs had already prepared everything.

Yun Jiao began directing them in preparing the ingredients needed to make the cake.

She planned to whip milk to make cream, uncertain if she would succeed.

However, she didn’t have to do it herself—just giving instructions was enough, and it wasn’t much trouble.

By the time the late morning arrived, Xie Heng came over.

It was Yun Jiao’s first time seeing Xie Heng; although he was merely a child of about ten years, he exuded a bamboo-like aura—upright and resilient, yet handsome, making him immediately likable.

Qi Er was just over a year older than Xie Heng, and their personalities matched well, allowing them to quickly become familiar with each other.

Yun Jiao let them play for a while, and after she was ready to make bookmarks, she called them over.

A few curious children came over to gaze at the leaves soaking in the water.

Xie Heng inquired, "National Lady, is there some kind of herb added to this water?" He knew the National Lady was a divine doctor.

Yun Jiao laughed and said, "No herbs, just water with wood ash."

Xie Heng tilted his head, looking at Yun Jiao, evidently not understanding what wood ash was.

Yun Jiao explained, "In rural areas, people who can’t afford soap use straw and stalks burned into ash; the filtered water is alkaline and can clean well for bathing and laundry."

She pointed to the basin, "This is water filtered with wood ash, soaking overnight will largely corrode the leaves."

"If you’re in a hurry, boiling it over a fire for about half an hour will have a similar effect."

Xie Heng listened intently; some words Yun Jiao used were unfamiliar to him, but he didn’t ask further and instead quietly recalled them.

Yun Jiao used tweezers to take out the leaves, rinsing them in clean water, and then took a small brush, gently brushing off the leaf pulp.

Ruru, her hands itching, said, "Sis-in-law, let me try."

Yun Jiao handed her the brush, "Be careful, if you use too much force, the veins will break."

She then pointed to the several small brushes on the table, "You all make your own; let’s see whose looks best later."

The children, possessing a bit of competitive spirit, instantly got enthusiastic, each mimicking Yun Jiao’s actions and used tweezers to pick out the leaves.

Ruru brushed the fastest, but she was careless, leaving much of the leaf pulp on and breaking some parts.

Xie Heng was the most meticulous and cautious; when finished, his leaf was almost entirely the veins.

Yun Jiao taught them how to dye, then to absorb the excess color with paper, and set them aside to dry.

The children clustered together, and Yun Jiao let them judge for themselves who made the best one.

Of course, Xie Heng came first, You Er and Qi Er were about equal, both tying for second, while Ruru’s work was rough and far from delicate.

By the afternoon, the cream the chefs had whipped had finally formed; Yun Jiao spread it over the cake and simply decorated a circle of small flowers.

The simple cake amazed the children.

Especially the cream—the light, airy, fragrant, and sweet taste was something the children adored immensely.