Yu Mei arrived at the Empress's Golden Butterfly Palace. In the main hall, everyone was already seated with a full set of tea in front of them. In the front was the empress in her elegant red peony tunic. On the right sat Fei Ning and Consort Wan Ming Yan. On the left was Ji Er. The seat on the left side of the empress was empty. Specifically for Yu Mei. It could only mean one thing. The empress wanted to keep a close eye on her.
"Consort Pan greets mother." Yu Mei greeted.
"No need to stand ceremony." she waved her hand casually.
"I thank mother," Yu Mei was about to walk to her seat when her mother-in-law spoke. "Do you know how long we've waited? Consort Pan should be more considerate in the future. My time is very precious." 100% annoyance in her voice.
"I shall remember." Yu Mei smiled. This only irritated the empress more. She wasn't the only one to feel irritated, Yu Mei herself was getting irritated. No more than a minute since entering and yet she was already being called out. If it wasn't for Pei Nan's sake, she would have been sharp tongued like usual. She almost said, "It's actually afternoon right now. If I'm not mistaken, the tea class starts right now. I wasn't late but it was mother who was too early. How can it be my fault?"
Yu Mei looked at Ji Er and smiled when the two met eyes. The other side was throwing knives with their eyes. Yu Mei wasn't too bothered with their glare. She found it rather amusing.
"It's been a while since I've last had my daughter-in-laws in one room. I've specifically requested that we all enjoy this time to appreciate the oolong tea the emperor brought back from Xian." The empress was back to her sweet and motherly side.
"Mother, this tea is too precious. Mother is too generous to us." Fei Ning was the first to kiss up to her.
"Fei Ning is right. This tea is given by his majesty, how can we just casually use it. It would be an insult to this tea, considering some people here don't know how to appreciate it." Ming Yan indirectly insulted Yu Mei. Ji Er wanted to say something to defend Yu Mei but the empress was a second faster than her to speak.
"That's enough Yang'er. Not everyone can appreciate the beauty of tea. I will not blame them. After all, not everyone is as well versed in the art of tea making like Ning'er (Fei Ning (." The empress was clearly comparing Yu Mei to Fei Ning. Once again, Yu Mei was not fazed by this sudden attack.
The empress picked up the plate of tea leaves. The rest naturally followed. "Ning'er, what do you think of these oolong tea leaves?" the empress asked sweetly. Fei Ning lightly smelled the tea in front of her.
"Replying to mother, this is naturally very good tea. It has a lively and clean smell."
Everyone around the room spoke eloquently about the tea. Ming Yan said it smelled subtle and fresh while Ji Er said it was light yet earthy. Finally it came to Yu Mei. She had been confused the whole time. Where are these women getting these descriptions from. Light? Lively? Earthy? All she smelt was bitter herbs and leaves. They smelled like leaves. Just pure leaves.
The Empress gave a smug look when she saw the confused look on Yu Mei's face. "Consort Pan, what about you?"
"It smells like grass and leaves." She honestly spoke. Ji Er almost laughed from the wild answer given. The other side smiled arrogantly.
The Empress's face darkened. How could her precious tea be compared to grass? "Grass and leaves? You compared my tea to ordinary things?" the empress asked annoyed.
*Clap* *Clap*
Everyone turned towards the door. "Consort Pan is not wrong. Of course tea leaves should smell like leaves." Spoke the cheery Prince Shao. This left everyone speechless. It did make sense but only because it came out so natural from Prince Shao.
"Shao, what are you doing here?" The Empress got up to greet her son.
"I came to play some chess with you but I see that you are busy." He lied. Earlier he had bumped into Chu'mei and she told him that the empress was having a tea class with her daughter-in-laws. Why wouldn't he take this chance to come see her.
"You came all the way here to visit me, how can I have the heart to chase you away. Come, come join us for tea." His mother urged him.
"Good! I haven't seen mother make tea in a long time. I miss it."
Fei Ning couldn't help but smile sweetly as he passed by.
***
The tea class continued.
"Oolong tea has a very earthy taste. For this tea, we must measure out one spoon of tea leaves for every two quarters of water. They watched as the empress calmly yet elegantly scooped a spoon of tea and placed it into the teapot. Then she poured the hot water into it.
The empress watched them all carefully. Gu Shao who was sitting right next to his mother couldn't help but secretly look at Yu Mei. He didn't know why he wanted to laugh every time he sneaked a glimpse at her. Her lips were pursed just slightly and there were small creases between her eyes. She was not enjoying herself one bit. Gu Shao felt bad for her but at the same time it was quite cute.
"Consort Pan, the art of tea making is not simply just about mixing the right amount of tea leaves and water. You must also be calm and composed. You are too stiff. Take note of Ning'er and learn from her in the future."
"I dare not take mother's compliment." Fei Ning humbly refused.
"Mother is right; I will take note of it." Yu Mei grit her teeth as she spoke. [One punch for you, and one punch for two-faced Fei Ning.] Yu Mei calmed herself by picturing herself hitting them.
Tea class felt like eternity for Yu Mei. All her mother-in-law did was point out her flaws and compliment Fei Ning. She almost lost it. If it wasn't for Ji Er placing her palm on top of her hand, reassuring her that everything was going to be okay, she would have lost it.
Finally it was coming to an end. Last thing was having the empress taste their tea. One by one, each woman went up and placed their hard work in front of the empress. Everyone was complimented.
Yu Mei was last to get up. No matter how good her tea was, she knew this woman wouldn't let her off. She was ready to say something. She really couldn't tolerate it anymore. Even when the tea was in front of the empress, Yu Mei was beginning to feel frustrated.
Yu Mei blinked twice.
Gu Shao had grabbed the cup in front of the empress. "Mother, let me have this one. I can't bear to watch as you drink these delicious teas by yourself." He jokingly said.
"Drink a cup of Ning'er's." The empress said.
"It's okay. I'll just have this one." With his mind set on it, his mother could only let him do as he pleased.
Gu Shao took a small sip. This was the first time Yu Mei has ever made tea and the first person to drink it was Gu Shao. She could only hope he likes it.
Each second that went by only made her more anxious. Gu Shao finally put down the cup. "It's refreshing. Quite nice." His eyes sparkled and smiled at Yu Mei.
Everyone in the room became silent from horror. Did Prince Shao just say it was good? Surely he was being considerate. The empress took a sip and was left speechless. It was good. In fact, it was really good. It was as if the amount of tea and water was perfectly measured. Not too light nor bitter but enough to taste the earthy flavor. Of course she couldn't say anything nice. "You've passed." she casually said.
"Thank you mother." Yu Mei went back to her seat.
That evening when she returned, she was quite proud of herself. Even if the empress didn't say it, she could tell that she was quite surprised by her tea. Yu Mei herself was surprised. All those years of making medicine with her master paid off. To be able to exactly measure out every ingredient by memory was all thanks to her master.