Page 50 of Markets & Mooncakes

I give her a curious look. I'm growing tired of the honorifics myself, but I didn't expect her to just blurt out her name.

"Perhaps when we are just the three of us, you might call me Veronica," she says to Lady Sun Jinglan.

She smiles. "Then I shall be Jinglan. I should very much like to have friends here."

"My friends call me Evie," I say, though in truth, only my siblings and Nate call me that. But it would be strange to have her call me Evelyn, or to keep using the honorifics now that she's offered us the chance to call her Jinglan.

"You made mooncakes for me, I believe that is an act of friendship," Jinglan says.

"If you listen to Veronica, then it's just because I enjoy baking and like to discover new dishes."

"Is that true?" Jinglan asks.

Veronica laughs. "It's definitely true."

"I like to bake new dishes," I say. "But my parents gave me a job to do in making you feel welcome in Falhaven, and I want to do it well. That's also why I made the mooncakes." Maybe I shouldn't be telling her that she's a job to me, but it's too late now. Hopefully, it won't ruin what Mama wants us to achieve by socialising with Jinglan.

To my surprise, she nods. "My father told me something the same. He wanted me to make friends with you both because it would be good for Shengda. He told me that I wasn't to talk about cooking."

"What have I gotten myself into?" Veronica mutters under her breath, but I ignore her.

"Mama told me not to talk about baking. I'm glad you asked about the mooncakes. We enjoyed making them. But I'm sorry, you were telling us about the...tea pet?"

"You give the tea pet the first taste of tea. May I?" She gestures to the teapot, showing off the beautiful sleeve of her robe.

"Please," I respond.

She flicks her arm, effortlessly moving the sleeve out of the way so that she can lean in and pick up the teapot by the handle. She splashes some over the clay dragon and then pours some into each of our cups.

"What does it do?" I ask curiously, examining it as if it's about to jump up like Ember and start flying around.

"It brings luck," she responds in a matter-of-fact tone that makes me think that really is it. I can appreciate something like that. "In truth, I do not know. It is tradition in Shengda, and we continue to honour traditions."

I nod. "We have many of those too."

"I look forward to taking part in them. I hope that I will have you both to help me to understand them. Perhaps Chef Matthews too?" she asks.

"He'll probably be joining us for teas like these soon," Veronica says, giving me a look that I think is supposed to be knowing.

I clear my throat. "I don't know when he'll be taking part in court functions, but he will gladly help. He knows lots of the food customs here, and from some of the other countries nearby. But I know that he's also interested in learning more about mooncakes. Would you tell me about them?"

"I shall." She picks up the knife and cuts one of the mooncakes into quarters. "You should try."

"I have been looking forward to it. I hope that we made them correctly." I pick up a quarter of the mooncake and bite into it. The flavour combination is nothing like what we have in Falhaven, but it's delightful. The skin is flaky and melts in my mouth, while the nutty lotus paste is a good sweet balance to the salty centre that comes from the egg yolk, which isn't overpowering at all.

Veronica takes hold of a piece for herself and bites into it. "That's not what I expected," she says, quickly following it by some tea. "Is there salt in this?"

"Salted egg yolks," I respond. "In the centre."

"Oh." She carefully takes another bite, nodding to herself as she gets used to the flavours.

Jinglan doesn't have the same reaction, a pleased expression crosses her face. "It tastes like home. Thank you."

I smile, glad that we seem to have made them right. "You said that they were for a festival?"

"Yes, for the harvest. It is when the moon is at its brightest and fullest," she says. "But there are also other legends, including one where the mooncakes included a secret message to start a rebellion against their oppressors."

"What kind of message?" I ask.