Translated by Gumihou
Please read this at kitchennovel dot com
Su Nuan Nuan's reminder came just before Duan Tingxuan went mad and jumped up s.n.a.t.c.hing food from others. His entire body was rigid from trying to control himself, he turned to his 'good-hearted' wife and said in a trembling voice, "Nuan Nuan, I can't control myself anymore. I want to cry… what should I do? I… I've been looking forward to this for so many days… and never got to eat any…"
His voice grew even more choked towards the end, giving Su Nuan Nuan a shock. She never thought that this husband of hers would actually be defeated by a mere piece of cake. She hurriedly whispered, "Calm down, calm down, I have reserved 2 pieces at Spring Breeze Court. When the banquet is over, you can have both of them."
"But, I want to eat it now." the little marquis declared childishly.
"Don't try to grab a mile just because I gave an inch, otherwise I'll give both Cakes to Zhao Cai. I've already let him help me clean up most of the cake batter away, I'm sure he'll be more than happy to have the finished cake."
At the mention of his socially superior rival, the little marquis immediately sobered up. He managed to say calmly, "Hehe! How could I lose my composure over such insignificant matters? Nuan Nuan, you look down on me too much." with that, he flounced off to socialize with the crown prince.
"What did the lord want?"
Concubine Jing asked as she came up to Su Nuan Nuan. In fact, neither she nor Duan Xinqi had any Cake, luckily they already had a taste of it at Spring Breeze Court. Moreover, they realize that at this kind of banquet, most of these people were their social superiors and had eaten some first so that they wouldn't be too sad at not being given a piece. She had came over to Nuan Nuan after catching sight of her lord's grim expression, he wore a face like a warrior facing down an overwhelming battle with a broken arm, and was therefore concerned.
Black lines appeared all over Su Nuan Nuan's face as she looked at the direction Duan Tingxuan was marching towards. She gritted her teeth, "Please let me guess wrong. Surely he's not going to s.n.a.t.c.h food from the crown prince?"
However, it turned out that Su Nuan Nuan really deserved the t.i.tle as Duan Tingxuan's closest confidant. He really was going to do such a despicable thing.
The lord heir stopped next to the crown prince, and carefully placed his lips close to the man's ear, "Your highness, sweet food like this are the ones that make people fat. I think you've had enough, why don't I help you deal with the rest."
Heaven was just too cruel, because the crown prince loved eating, he held himself back and daintily ate his cake in tiny bites. He had been slowly ascending to heaven when a wild Duan Tingxuan appeared. He knew that this savage wolf was here to s.n.a.t.c.h his food and carefully backed away from it. Eyes on the alert, he said, "Don't joke with me, if you dare to s.n.a.t.c.h my Cake, I shall break off all relationships with you."
"Are you saying that our brotherhood cannot be compared to a piece of Cake?"
The little marquis made a pitiful face and clutched dramatically at his heart. However, the wise crown prince, who already saw through him, sneered, "Naturally, our brotherhood is more important than this Cake. That said, let me finish this first, and we'll talk again." without further ado, the rest of the Cake was swallowed down within three bites. The little marquis was so angry that he nearly exploded.
"Alright, my dear excellencies, we have all greet the old madam and tasted the sweetest and most unique dessert, isn't it time for us to enter the hall? To be honest, a single piece of Cake is not enough to satisfy me. In fact, I think my appet.i.te has been revved up!"
A scholar from the University Cabinet, Liu Mingyang, proposed with a smile. Thus, Duan Ni called his three sons over and together they led the male guests over to the large hall at the outer court, where dozens of tables had been set up just to accommodate these distinguished guests.
The inner court was where the women gathered, 15 tables were enough to accommodate them. However, all the little princes less than 10 years old were left to loiter around the women's area. Goodness knows whose idea it was to let them stay. The main problem was that they have now surrounded Su Nuan Nuan and were calling 'Cousin-in-law', 'Cousin-in-law' like a bunch of twittering birds. It was all just too intimate, ah.
Duan Maoming looked at them with narrowed eyes, that lady was his first mother, you know? Why are these royal princes so sticky with his mother, ah? Frowning, he recruited his elder brother, Duan Maofan, and together they collected their younger brothers, Duan Maochuan and Duan Maosen over to pester Su Nuan Nuan to hug them. The scene was incredibly chaotic and lively as Su Nuan Nuan was surrounded by children asking to be hugged.
Having dedicated her whole life to eating and cooking, Su Nuan Nuan never married or had children in her previous life. However, this did not prevent her from being the neighbourhood favourite. Perhaps it's because this auntie somehow always have some good snacks with her that children, young and younger, always surrounded her. Even wildest, snottiest brats would turned tame in front of her. Therefore, Su Nuan Nuan was absolutely fine when it came to dealing with children. However, there were just too many of them this time, furthermore there were actual princes in the mix. Even if she had been a nine-tailed fox, all nine tails and limbs won't be enough to control them, ah.
Luckily she has Concubine Jing and Duan Xinqi with her. At first, these two were still worried about social statuses and didn't dare to come forward, but at Su Nuan Nuan's obvious distressed at being surrounded by the tiny hooligans, they could not just stand by and not do anything. At first, they tried using words. Luckily, the children saw them as major contributors to the Cake and mistakenly believed that these were the correct people to fawn on (possibly to get more Cake). Thus, they ignored their own dignity and allowed themselves to be led away. Two little princes were led astray by Concubine Jing, who began telling stories, and never looked back at Su Nuan Nuan again.
Xu Ran Yun and Xue Zhi Lan had quickly busied themselves rubbing shoulders with the n.o.ble madams as soon as the opportunity rose. Both were daughters of aristocrats, and due to their good looks and talents, were famous even before they were married. They dove into the social interactions like fish into water, exchanging anecdotes and gossips, and laughing together most harmoniously. A while later, they deemed that it was time to show off their sons for inspection, after all, connections made now might be valuable commodities in the future!
However, when they turned to look for their children, not a single one was in sight. They were still surprised when a maid pointed out the location of the little young masters. At the sight of their sons begging Su Nuan Nuan for attention, fire flared within their hearts: These white eyed wolves, to think that you've all gone over to first mother's side. Don't you know that I, your mother, am bitter enemies with that woman? What are you doing currying favour and pretending to be sweet children there? Pei! A piece of Cake is enough to tame all of you? How are you going to grow up to become like your father?
Naturally, they don't dare to say anything. As the official wife, Su Nuan Nuan was for all intents and purposes, their 'real' mother. For children to become close to her was beneficial for their future, n.o.body would fault them for trying to curry her favour. Not only could they not say anything, they still have to force out a pleased and happy expression for their guests. When remarks like, "The children really got along well with their di[1] mother, ah", they had to nod and smile agreeably. Even with her high level acting skills, Xue Zhi Lan nearly cracked under the pressure.
As for their cursed 'Promiscuous as F**k' father, he was currently being treated like a common Chinese cabbage. After dashing about arranging socially appropriate seating for everyone, Duan Tingxuan was finally able to heave a sigh of relief. He was just about to find himself a seat when he spotted Duan Tingye hurrying over to him.
At the sight of his elder brother, Duan Tingye cast down his eyes for a moment before lifting them with renewed determination, if was as though this brother of his was girding himself for a fierce battle with a broken arm. Duan Tingye reached his brother's side and said in a low voice, "Brother, since there's some time before the official start of the banquet, this younger brother of yours have something to request."
Oho… can't hold it back anymore?
Duan Tingxuan sneered inwardly. He understood why this brother of his would suddenly make such a request. The Snow Cream from before had shaken his resolved, but had not yet conquered his head. However, the sight of this giant Birthday Cake today being unveiled in front of so many people was just too much. There was no way he was going to stand back and not make a move.
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Translated by Gumihou from kitchennovel dot com.
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