Chapter 2

The Fourth Prince was still waiting for Xue Jin'an to continue, but after saying "You ordered very well," the man squatted there silently, motionless, as if he were not a person, but an overly realistic and exquisite sculpture.

His breathing was so faint and weak that the Fourth Prince genuinely thought he was dead for a moment.

He's not usually like this. That little wolf cub Xue Jin'an should be glaring at him with fierce and sinister eyes, ready to pounce and bite off a piece of his flesh at any moment.

The same thing happened last time; it left a deep tooth mark on his shoulder that hasn't healed yet. Otherwise, why would he have gone through all that trouble to sit on the wall today instead of rushing into the yard to directly humiliate and mock him?

It's all because this little wolf cub is too vicious.

In short, Xue Jin'an shouldn't have remained so indifferent.

The fourth prince frowned, his mood irritable, and finally couldn't help but shout, "Hey! Stop pretending to be dead, get up and talk!"

Xue Jin'an lazily lifted her eyelids, finding this human too noisy, and simply ignored him, while also switching to super power-saving mode.

With only 1% battery left, I have absolutely no desire to waste it on this kind of human.

Once the super power-saving mode was activated, all of Xue Jin's senses were shut down, and the whole world instantly became quiet. After that, no matter what noises came out, he could neither hear nor see them. Only the food delivery was being made that could wake him up, and only the security software was still running in the background.

The fourth prince was so enraged by his dismissive attitude that he almost jumped off the wall to beat him up, but was pulled back by the eunuchs standing below.

"Oh my Your Highness, please sit still! What if you fall? It's no big deal, why risk your life?" The personal eunuch, Shunxin, earnestly advised.

Another eunuch, Shunyi, immediately chimed in, "Yes, don't you know what kind of temper that man has? He's using reverse psychology to deliberately provoke you. If you jump down and get hurt, wouldn't that just make him gloat? Besides, if you get bitten... Her Majesty will punish you if she finds out."

Upon hearing the young eunuch mention Consort Zhen, the Fourth Prince immediately felt a little guilty.

Last time, when he was bitten and bled, the Fourth Prince was carried into the Imperial Hospital crying. The incident caused quite a stir, spreading throughout the entire harem and even reaching the Emperor.

Fortunately, his father was lenient and only punished him by making him copy books for two days. However, his mother actually confined him to a side hall of Yihe Palace, forbidding him from going anywhere except to study in the Imperial Study. He was really bored to death.

If it weren't for the rule that boys and girls should avoid each other after the age of seven, the Fourth Prince thought his mother might have kept him locked up in Yihe Palace for another ten days or half a month. After being released, he behaved himself for two days. This time, he only came over to mock Xue Jin'an because he heard that Xue Jin'an had bitten him without being punished at all, and he couldn't help but feel indignant.

"I was just saying a few words, I didn't do anything." With Consort Zhen pressing down on him, the Fourth Prince reluctantly suppressed his anger, sat firmly on the wall again, raised his chin, and resumed his arrogant demeanor, beginning his sarcastic remarks towards Xue Jin'an once more.

However, Xue Jin'an, who had switched to super power-saving mode, was like a block of wood. He couldn't hear anything and naturally wouldn't give any response. In the eyes of the Fourth Prince, this meant that he was being ignored.

"Hey, Xue Jin'an, are you dead?" The Fourth Prince couldn't help but grab a branch sticking out from the wall and throw it at him.

[Beep! Object detected falling ahead. Safety software is taking over the system. Smart anti-fall mode activated. Trajectory and impact point have been predicted. Risk of injury determined to be 0. No need to be alarmed. Anti-fall mode is now off.]

His body, now under firewall control, slightly lifted his eyelids to glance at the branch flying through the air, then immediately looked away, turning back into wood, letting the branch fall listlessly to his feet.

The fourth prince felt he was being silently mocked.

"Xue Jin'an!" His anger flared up instantly. He immediately rolled up his sleeves and turned to look for a weapon. Seeing the stone in the yard behind him out of the corner of his eye, he pointed and ordered, "Go, bring that to me! Today, I'll teach him a lesson he won't forget. I'll change my surname to his!"

The young eunuchs, standing on this side of the wall, couldn't see what was happening on the other side and had no idea why their master had suddenly become so angry. Upon hearing this, their hearts skipped a beat, and Shunxin cried out in alarm, "Your Highness, this is unacceptable! This is unacceptable!"

The Fourth Prince was furious and wouldn't listen to these words. He kicked the person and yelled, "You dog servant, if you don't go, I'll make you die with him!"

Shunxin was afraid that his master would fall off the wall, so he didn't dare to dodge the kick. Fortunately, the fourth prince was only half a teenager, and because of his sitting posture, he couldn't exert much force. He just took two steps back and knelt down obediently. The other observant eunuchs also knelt down.

The fourth prince was even angrier, feeling as if the whole world was against him.

Seeing that he was about to jump down to get the stone himself, Shunyi had a sudden idea and quickly took out a steamed bun from his sleeve and handed it to him, saying, "Sir, use this to smash it, it won't kill you."

Shunyi was a teenager, growing up quickly. He would often get hungry and would always have some food in his sleeve. The steamed bun had been sitting for a while and was dry and hard. When you first picked it up, it really felt like a rock.

The fourth prince stopped causing trouble as soon as he got the weapon, turned around, raised his hand, and was about to throw it at Xue Jin'an's head.

Just then, a familiar-looking eunuch rushed into Chiffon Courtyard from outside, carrying a food box. He was sweating profusely and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Hello, your takeout has arrived!"

As if given a command, Xue Jin'an was immediately awakened, and he subconsciously replied, "Just leave it at the door, thank you."

This is a common phrase used by the reclusive protagonist when ordering takeout. Xue Jin'an, as his magical artifact, unknowingly picked up his habit.

"Okay, remember to take it." The little eunuch put down the food box and turned to leave.

The whole process was completed in one go without any delay. It wasn't until Xue Jin'an opened the food box and started eating that the Fourth Prince suddenly realized what was happening.

Eight-treasure duck, braised pork, jade-white soup... these are all his dishes!

"Shunde, you traitorous dog!" The Fourth Prince was so angry that he stood up from the wall and angrily threw the hard steamed bun in his hand at the back of the "deliveryman" eunuch.

Shunde turned around blankly, and after seeing the situation clearly, he instantly clutched his head in horror.

Shunxin, the best at martial arts, leaped up the wall in a few swift movements and grabbed his furious master. The quick-witted Shunyi immediately turned around and dragged the dumbfounded Shun away.

Shunxin, Shunyi, and Shunde were all young eunuchs specially trained and sent in by Consort Zhen's family. They had grown up together and had a deep bond. Shunde was the youngest among them, and they all treated him like a younger brother. Naturally, they didn't want to see him beaten to death like that.

Shunyi pulled him away while scolding him in a low voice, "What's wrong with you?"

"I, he—" The man from Shunde was still in a daze, unable to utter a complete sentence. He didn't know how he had been bewitched into giving the food meant for his master to the Seventh Prince. After a long while, he could only manage to whimper, "Second brother, is the master going to beat me to death? Waaah, I don't want to die..."

"It's alright, His Highness just has a bad temper. He won't really kill you for this, but you'll definitely be punished... Now you should quickly go to the Imperial Kitchen and get another meal to make amends." Shunyi lowered her voice and coldly instructed, "Don't make a mistake this time."

"I will protect the master's meals even if it kills me," Shunde firmly promised, then ran towards the imperial kitchen as fast as he could.

Shunyi rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on, and pondered how to exonerate Shunde. He decided to just make up a story and say that Shunde was possessed by an evil spirit. He claimed that the Seventh Prince had cast a spell on Shunde, and that the whole thing seemed very strange.

With that in mind, Shunyi quietly returned to the Fourth Prince's side.

Fortunately, the Fourth Prince was struggling in Shunxin's arms, his face flushed with anger as he pointed at Xue Jin'an, who was feasting below, in a fit of impotent rage. He had no time to care about Shunde's affairs.

The Fourth Prince's anger was palpable, and he roared, "That's my food! Xue Jin'an, shut up! You're not allowed to eat it!"

Xue Jin'an focused on cooking, turning on Do Not Disturb mode and ignoring the chattering noise.

Just as a phone needs to be charged when it's hungry, a person needs to eat when they're hungry. With each bite he takes, the battery level increases, quickly turning from red to green.

After finishing a bowl of rice, his battery level returned to 20%. He then cleaned up the vegetables, increasing his progress by another 5%. It seems that cooking rice is the fastest way to recharge.

Without saying a word, Xue Jin'an opened the Kangaroo app again and placed another order. This time, however, he calculated the amount of rice needed for a full charge and added several large bowls of rice.

So, once again forced to accept the order, the "deliveryman" Shunde quickly ran into the imperial kitchen, packed the food, and then, under the strange looks of the imperial chefs, carried a bucket of rice and ran away.

Shunde, who had vowed to be with the prince for life and meals, delivered the food box and a bucket of rice to the seventh prince again a quarter of an hour later.

The fourth prince stopped struggling. He pointed to the sordid transaction below and looked at Shunxin: "...What do you mean?"

Shunxin glanced at Shunyi, who replied firmly, "Shunde is possessed by an evil spirit."

Whether Shunde was possessed or not, the Fourth Prince did not know, but looking at Xue Jin'an showing off his rice, he felt that this person was also possessed.

He was no longer angry. Looking at the bucket of rice that was more than half gone, he couldn't help but ask Xue Jin'an, who had stopped eating, "Are you finally full?"

Xue Jin'an: "No."

The fourth prince stared in disbelief and couldn't help but exclaim, "Are you a pig if you're still not full after eating so much?!"

Xue Jin'an looked at his battery level, which was stuck at 50% no matter how much he ate, and frowned unhappily.

Clearly, this body's battery is faulty; it can't be fully charged, or more accurately, it can't be fully charged. Just like a person's stomach shrinks after prolonged hunger, you can't eat too much at once, as it won't be able to digest it properly and will cause stomach upset. You have to let it recover slowly.

Xue Jin'an touched his stomach, and the word "stuffed" popped into his mind.

He was a little stuffed, but his battery was only at 50%. Xue Jin'an was very dissatisfied; he wanted to change the battery.

Xue Jin'an looked at the Fourth Prince, who was cursing and swearing, and asked thoughtfully, "You must have a good appetite, right?"

The fourth prince choked for a moment, but out of some subtle unwillingness to lose, he nodded vigorously without thinking, "Of course! I can finish this meal in one go!"

Xue Jin'an's eyes lit up, and his burning gaze fell on the Fourth Prince's chest.

That's where the battery (the heart) is located.

He wanted to change it. Xue Jin'an's hands were itching to do so.