Startled by Nan Zhiyun's appearance, Yu Jingchen immediately wanted to summon the imperial physician.
"Summon the imperial physician!" Yu Jingchen shouted to Xing Lai beside him. Xing Lai was also startled by Nan Zhiyun's crying. This was practically the little princess, wasn't she? So he quickly went to fetch the imperial physician, but before he could, he heard Nan Zhiyun say, "No need..."
"What do you mean you don't need it anymore? Where do you feel unwell? Tell me, hmm?" Yu Jingchen frowned.
"It's really nothing... Your Majesty, I just cried while reading this book, I'm not feeling unwell." Nan Zhiyun was afraid that Yu Jingchen would really call the imperial physician, so she quickly began to explain.
"A book?" Yu Jingchen looked at the book in Nan Zhiyun's hand, then snatched it away and... neatly threw it away.
“You’re already crying, why are you still reading? If you don’t want to read anymore, just throw it away. Why do you have to see yourself like this? I’m not forcing you to read,” Yu Jingchen said.
Nan Zhiyun: "..." Your Majesty seems to have misunderstood something, but... how can I remind you? Besides... Nan Zhiyun looked at the book that Yu Jingchen had thrown far away, feeling a little reluctant. Actually... it was quite a good book.
"Your Majesty, I... was just crying over the story of the characters in the book..." Nan Zhiyun explained, forcing herself to speak.
Yu Jingchen frowned even more deeply, recalling the last time Nan Zhiyun had cried while reading a book.
"What's there to cry about in this book? Don't read these things again." Yu Jingchen didn't finish his sentence; he looked at Xing Lai again: "How did you choose these books? What's the point of picking these things?"
Xinglai: "...Yes, this servant knows his mistake, please forgive me, Your Majesty."
“Go down and receive your punishment in a moment,” Yu Jingchen said without any mercy.
Fortunately, he dared not plead for himself.
"Your Majesty... I really like this book..." Nan Zhiyun genuinely loved this kind of storybook.
"Then bring more in the future. I'll let you off this time; you don't need to go and receive punishment." How did Yu Jingchen manage to change so quickly?
Xinglai: "..."
"What are you standing there for? Pick up the book," Yu Jingchen said, looking at Xing kneeling on the ground.
“Yes…” Xinglai took the book back.
Nan Zhiyun picked up the book again.
"Even if you like someone, you shouldn't cry like this." Yu Jingchen tried to wipe Nan Zhiyun's tears, but Nan Zhiyun turned her face away and avoided him, causing Yu Jingchen's hand to freeze.
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, I..." Nan Zhiyun wanted to explain something, but in the end, she didn't say anything.
"Yes, I know, it's alright," Yu Jingchen withdrew his hand. However, the expression on his face looked somewhat strained.
"Keep reading, take a break when you're tired," Yu Jingchen said, then turned around and resumed reviewing the memorials.
Nan Zhiyun remained silent as she looked at Yu Jingchen, and the atmosphere in the room became somewhat strange. Xinglai felt a headache coming on looking at both of his masters.
Nan Zhiyun stopped reading after that, preoccupied with something on her mind, unable to concentrate. Yu Jingchen knew Nan Zhiyun wasn't reading anymore, but... he didn't know how to face her.
Just then, Qianxia walked in, carrying medicine in her hands.
"Jieyu, it's time to take your medicine." Qianxia put down the tray and then brought out the medicine.
"It's not hot anymore," Qianxia said, about to feed Nan Zhiyun the medicine.
Nan Zhiyun smelled the medicine and thought it was bitter, but Yu Jingchen was there, and he wasn't the Empress Dowager, so Nan Zhiyun simply picked up the bowl herself and drank the medicine down in one gulp.
Rather than taking it spoonful by spoonful, it's better to just eat it all at once. The bitter taste spread in her mouth, making Nan Zhiyun feel nauseous. The next moment, a pair of hands were stretched out in front of her.
"I had some candied fruit prepared beforehand. If you're afraid of bitterness, eating some will make you feel much better," Yu Jingchen said.
Nan Zhiyun carefully took it, but didn't eat it.
"Why aren't you eating? Don't you like it?" Yu Jingchen asked her.
"No," Nan Zhiyun replied, then slowly put the candied fruit into her mouth, dispelling the bitter taste.
"Do you like it? Is it any better?" Yu Jingchen asked her.
"Hmm," Nan Zhiyun nodded, then turned her face away. Yu Jingchen sensed something was wrong.
"What's wrong?" Yu Jingchen asked softly.
"I'm fine," Nan Zhiyun said, her tone slightly off. Yu Jingchen frowned slightly, then turned Nan Zhiyun around.
Only then did they notice that Nan Zhiyun had two more rows of small pearls on her face.
"What's wrong? Why are you crying again?" Yu Jingchen asked.
"Golden tears are welling up again. Why do you cry so much?" Yu Jingchen couldn't do anything about it.
The key point is that Nan Zhiyun neither answered his question nor offered any other explanation.
"Tell me, okay? How can I know what's wrong with you if you keep acting like this?" Yu Jingchen said helplessly.
No matter how Yu Jingchen asked, Nan Zhiyun would only answer "It's nothing," leaving Yu Jingchen at a loss.
"Do you not like this medicine, or is it too bitter? If you don't like it, then you won't take it anymore. If you think the medicine is too bitter, then I will have the imperial physicians prescribe a different medicine for you, and tell them not to prescribe anything too bitter, okay?" Yu Jingchen continued.
"No," Nan Zhiyun denied.
"Then tell me what's wrong? Is it some secret that you're so unwilling to tell me?" Yu Jingchen said half-jokingly.
"I've always wanted to eat this, but I've never been able to," Nan Zhiyun said, looking at Yu Jingchen.
"What can't you eat? Candied fruit?" Yu Jingchen was confused. It wasn't anything rare, so how could he not eat it?
Nan Zhiyun nodded. Although Yu Jingchen found it a bit strange, he still went along with Nan Zhiyun and said, "If you like it, just have them make more in the future, and you can keep some on hand every day."
Nan Zhiyun shook her head.
“They’re not the same anymore,” Nan Zhiyun said.
"Hmm? Why aren't they the same?" Yu Jingchen asked her.
“It wasn’t given by His Majesty,” Nan Zhiyun replied.
Yu Jingchen was taken aback. What did that mean?
"I hate bitter things, and I used to hate taking medicine. When I was little, the Empress Dowager would use candied fruit to coax me to take my medicine. She would also use candied fruit to coax me when I cried. But the first person to use candied fruit to coax me was His Majesty," Nan Zhiyun said.
Yu Jingchen was stunned; he didn't remember ever using candied fruit to coax Nan Zhiyun before.
“When I was little, I was playful and ran around the palace. I accidentally fell and scraped myself, and then I started crying. Just then, I saw His Majesty passing by, and he left me a bag of candied fruit,” Nan Zhiyun said.
Yu Jingchen remembered after Nan Zhiyun reminded him. Recently, he didn't know why, but anything related to Nan Zhiyun was gradually becoming clearer in his mind.
But... he remembered that at the time, he was just annoyed by Nan Zhiyun's crying and her clinging to him, so he casually gave her the candied fruit he had on him.
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