Just How Many Cakes Does the Crown Prince Have?

My sister served ten years as a maid in the Royal Kitchens. She was careful, cautious, and never once made a mistake. The Abbott granted her thirty silver taels and gave her leave to depart the palace and find a good family to marry into. But the day before she was to leave, my sister was suddenly torn apart by execution. The charge was that she had stolen and eaten spiced cakes. Weeping, I asked my sister why, when she was so close to seeing her hardship come to an end, she would ever commit such a foolish mistake.