Chapter 84: Apology Considering that he has to eat, Qi Buchen is out today...

Considering the need for meals, Qi Buchen took the largest carriage in the mansion today, which could accommodate a dining table. However, the place was not as big as his home, so he did not bring many dishes. However, the combination of meat and vegetables was nutritious enough.

When Yinzhen arrived, the meal had already been served. Baohuan was waiting on the side to serve, but Yinzhen waved his hand and sent her out, leaving only the two of them in the carriage.

Qi Buchen handed him a wet towel. Yinzhen wiped his hands and asked, "Why did you come in person?"

Qi Buchen took the handkerchief and put it back where it belonged: "I'll ask the servants to come, can you use it on time?"

The people around her are not as good-looking as Su Peisheng.

Yinzhen was speechless. Qi Buchen picked up two pieces of his least favorite meat dish with his chopsticks and said, "There aren't many dishes, and the portions are small. You must eat at least half of each dish today."

Yinzhen frowned, about to say something but was interrupted. "Don't tell me about those rules about only eating three bites of a dish and only eating until you're 70% or 80% full. You're just too small a foodie. You don't eat enough to keep up with your body's energy needs, which is why you're so thin."

"Besides, I didn't let you eat much. It was just enough to satisfy your normal appetite. I didn't want you to become fat overnight, but you have to increase your food intake gradually."

Seeing Yinzhen seemed unconvinced, Qi Buchen provoked him, "Your appetite is about the same as mine. Have you ever seen a young boy eat as much as a girl? Even my tenth brother eats more than you. Besides, how can you grow taller if you don't eat? I've even asked my eldest sister-in-law. My eldest brother is so strong and tall, and he eats three times as much as you do!"

"You don't want to be taller than your fourteenth brother in the future, do you?"

Yinzhen's good mood, which had been caused by his wife personally delivering the meal, disappeared completely. He wanted to say how could he not be taller than the fourteenth brother, and he also wanted to say that the tenth brother ate more because he was greedy, and he also wanted to say how could you, as your sister-in-law, so directly praise your eldest brother for being so tall and mighty.

But because he was holding his breath, he couldn't say a word in the end. He could only turn his anger into appetite and started eating.

Qi Buchen didn't intend to say anything nice to ease the situation, he just ate his food slowly and leisurely.

In the end, Yinzhen ate half of each dish, exactly half, no more, no less.

"How long will we be busy like this?" Qi Buchen asked as he called Baohuan in to clean up.

Yinzhen shifted his sitting position uncomfortably. He usually only ate until he was 70% to 80% full, but this time he felt bloated after eating until he was 90% full. "It'll take another five or six days."

Qi Buchen winked at Baohuan to leave and advised him, "If you feel uncomfortable, just lean back for a while. Don't be so tense all the time. There's no one around right now. It might be a little awkward the first time, but you'll get used to it later."

As she spoke, she piled a few pillows in a corner to make them slanted. Yinzhen glanced at her, finally felt a little more relaxed, and leaned on them.

"Then I will come to deliver it to you every day in the next few days. You can go home and eat it after you are done with these few days, right?" Qi Buchen talked about the subsequent arrangements. She delivered it to you these days not for anything else but to let Yinzhen get back to the habit of eating on time. If she just asked the servants to come and keep the food box aside until it got cold, he would not eat it.

"Yeah." Yinzhen responded softly.

"What would you like for dinner?"

"It's all right."

"By the way, did you make good use of it earlier?"

"Hmm."

It was obvious from the vague words that it didn't work. Qi Buchen was about to say a few more words when he turned around and saw Yinzhen closing his eyes, with fatigue and sleepiness on his face.

…

"Wake up, wake up."

A sweet voice sounded in his ears, and then he felt his body shaking gently. Yinzhen frowned and slowly opened his eyes.

He was in the carriage.

Realizing this, Yinzhen sat up and rubbed his temples and brows: "How long have I slept?"

"A quarter of an hour." Qi Buchen handed over a new handkerchief, "Wipe your face."

Yinzhen took it, snorted on his face twice, and regained his spirit: "I'm going to the government office, you go back."

The weather was still cold, so Qi Buchen tied his cloak and hat on him, and stuffed a hand warmer in his pocket before watching him get off the carriage.

Dinner remains the same.

After three or four days, the news spread throughout the Ministry of Works. The Fourth Lady personally came to deliver meals to the Fourth Prince every day, regardless of wind or snow, which made others envious.

The frequency with which this topic was mentioned in the Ministry of Works was comparable to that of the newly minted Jinshi scholars.

Colleagues in the Ministry of Works could clearly see the smugness in the Fourth Prince's poker face, which remained the same all day long.

"A hero cannot resist the temptation of a beautiful woman."

"The land of gentleness, the tomb of heroes~"

Minor officials from the Ministry of Works often gathered together in private to lament that even the black-faced Fourth Prince could not escape the temptation of temptation, but they completely ignored the relationship between Yinzhen and heroes, and how could Qi Buchen have anything to do with beauties.

"No need to come for lunch, I'll go home after I finish my work." Yinzhen has been forced to eat a lot more these days, and now he doesn't feel uncomfortable sitting down after eating.

"Are you done?"

"Um."

"That's good. You don't have to get up so early in the morning anymore, right?"

"Need not."

"Then I'll ask the kitchen staff to restore the breakfast time to its previous state."

"good."

The conversation between the two became more natural and everyday.

From the moment Qi Buchen started delivering meals, she strictly required Yinzhen to follow the diet she set, drinking a bowl of milk every morning and evening without interruption. After more than a month, Yinzhen's appetite increased, he gained some weight, and his complexion improved a lot.

After feeling a little better, Yinzhen's old illness recurred. He felt that he was well enough and started to skip food. He didn't dare to do so openly when eating dinner with Qi Buchen, but there was more and more leftover meat in the breakfast sent from the mansion.

At first, Qi Buchen didn't know about it, because Yinzhen was no fool. He didn't eat it himself, so he let Su Peisheng eat it secretly. The leftovers he took back to the mansion were about the same as before, so the kitchen staff didn't notice. Later, Su Peisheng couldn't stand it anymore. He ate a portion of one and a half by himself, which was unbearable for a long time. But he didn't dare to complain to Qi Buchen directly, so he had to go around in circles and pretend that he accidentally let Qi Buchen know.

Qi Buchen was so angry that he wanted to die. You need someone to coax you to eat. You are not my ancestor. I don’t care whether you want to eat or not. You deserve to die!

"If you don't want to eat it, then don't eat it."

So when Yinzhen was hungry that day, he found that what Su Peisheng brought was not the food box from the mansion, but the food from the Ministry of Works canteen that he had not seen for a long time.

"What's going on?"

Su Peisheng trembled and said, "Maybe the mansion was busy today and forgot to send it?"

How is it possible? No matter how big the matter is, can it be more important than him as the master?

Yinzhen remained silent and lost his appetite after eating two bites. When he returned home from the yamen, he was about to go to the main courtyard to have dinner, but was stopped at the second gate.

Xie Hanshan knelt awkwardly at the second door, his head lowered. "Master, Fu Jin said...that since you're not hungry, there's no need...no need to force yourself to eat with her. Fu Jin can eat by herself. Please..." He didn't dare to utter the words "Wait wherever it's cooler", "...please help yourself."

It had been a long time since Yinzhen was stopped outside the second gate like this. The last time was almost a year ago. He thought he would never encounter such a situation again. After all, the relationship between the two of them had been visibly good recently. Who would have thought that he would be poured a bucket of cold water on his head so suddenly?

He didn't even know he had done anything wrong.

Yinzhen tapped Xie Hanshan's shoulder with his toes, his voice icy cold: "Tell me honestly what made Fu Jin angry again."

Xie Hanshan was groaning inwardly, but he still didn't dare to hide it: "Fu Jin knows... knows that you had breakfast..."

Before he could finish his words, Yinzhen already understood what was going on. He tilted his head slightly and said in a sinister tone, "Su Peisheng."

Su Peisheng knelt down immediately: "Master, spare my life. I definitely didn't leak a single word."

"Hmph!" If it's not this dog slave, then who else could it be?

Yinzhen did not mention any punishment, but just walked towards the main courtyard, ignoring the two people kneeling there.

After he left, Xie Hanshan raised his head furtively and said awkwardly, "Eunuch Su."

Su Peisheng lost his timidity in front of Yinzhen and said calmly, "Thank you, eunuch. We still rely on you."

"I dare not, I dare not, you are too kind." Xie Hanshan was still very self-aware.

Su Peisheng did not embarrass him: "Okay, why are you kneeling here with me? You should go to Fu Jin and serve her."

"Oh, oh." Xie Hanshan got up and ran away quickly.

Yinzhen walked into the main courtyard, found out that Qi Buchen was in the small study, then waved away the servants and went in.

Qi Buchen was finishing the homework left by Fei Jiade. He noticed someone coming in and thought it was Baozhu: "What's the matter?"

The person who came in didn't stand at the door to answer, but walked all the way to her side.

Qi Buchen raised his eyes and found that it was Yinzhen. He was too lazy to pay attention to him and just pretended that this person did not exist and continued to write his own work.

Yinzhen stood beside her for a while, but when he saw that she was still being ignored, he cleared his throat and said, "I'll do my homework later. It's time to eat."

Want to eat now? It's too late!

"I'm not hungry." Qi Buchen didn't even glance at him, and didn't stop his hands.

Yinzhen was silent for a while before he said, "Even if you're not hungry, you should eat some, otherwise it will be bad for your stomach."

Qi Buchen couldn't bear to see him act like he was doing nothing, so he simply put down his pen and raised his head to stab him: "I'm learning from you, so why did you learn it wrong?"

Yinzhen pursed his lips, his eyes averted: "I didn't, I just..."

"I just think I'm meddling too much!" Qi Buchen stood up with a bang. "Don't worry, I won't meddle in other people's business anymore." After saying that, he walked around the desk and was about to go out.

Yinzhen sighed, took two steps and held her back: "That's not what I meant."

Qi Buchen took a deep breath to calm his mind, turned around and brushed away Yinzhen's hand, and said calmly: "I understand that as a prince, you should do whatever you want in your daily life. I overstepped my bounds. Don't worry, I have reflected on myself and will not do it again."

"I hope you will forgive me for my inappropriate behavior these days."

Qi Buchen bowed and pleaded guilty.

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The author has something to say: Qi Buchen: I was wrong. I shouldn't have married into this family and become the Fourth Lady. If I hadn't married into this family, I wouldn't have been so sentimental. If I hadn't been so sentimental, I wouldn't have been so nosy... [Tong Xiangyu-style mumbling]

Yinzhen: Please, please stop talking, I was wrong... Why can't I use the Sunflower Pointing Technique...