Chapter Thirty-Five: Jealousy Starts Again
The night breeze carried an enticing aroma up to the rooftops, and Yuan Ting's stomach growled for the third time. He clung to the eaves, gazing longingly at Ling Jin, who was feasting in the courtyard: "That kid's already on his fifth skewer..."
Zhu Zhi, who had been covering his nose to prevent himself from being lured by the tempting aroma, was on the verge of a breakdown: "What on earth did Miss Li put in the sauce? This flavor is even more ruthless than the enemy's decoy tactic!"
Feng Li swallowed hard, his face expressionless. The golden-brown pieces of meat on the grill were sizzling with oil, and the spices that Li Bao'er had sprinkled were like golden dust in the firelight.
"I can't take it anymore. At worst, I'll get twenty lashes from my master! I'm going to go down. Who's going with me?"
Feng Li silently raised his hand.
Yuan Ting's eyes widened: "You?"
"one"
"Wait! Master said to maintain strict patrols!"
"two"
"At least leave me two skewers of lamb leg meat."
"three!"
Three dark figures descended from the sky, startling Ye Yun so much that she spilled the fruit wine.
Li Bao'er looked up and saw three guards in black robes kneeling on one knee behind Mu Cenlin, their eyes fixed on the grill.
"master……"
Mu Cenlin looked up and saw his three most capable bodyguards staring longingly at the grill. Veins throbbed on his forehead. His carefully trained elites had actually lost their senses because of a few skewers of grilled meat.
Seeing this, Li Bao'er chuckled and gently tugged at Mu Cenlin's sleeve: "Your Highness, why don't you let them have some too? I've prepared a lot of ingredients." She winked, "Besides, it's more lively with more people."
Mu Cenlin looked at his bodyguards' greedy expressions and waved his hand helplessly.
The three of them felt as if they had been granted a pardon and immediately sat down around Ling Jin, their usual cold and aloof demeanor completely gone.
The three of them, acting as if they were old friends, grabbed Ling Jin and asked, "Which one is the best?"
Ling Jin was speechless. He didn't want to pay attention to these people. They could just wait and see how they got to eat the young lady's barbecue.
"Your Highness, would you like to try my grilled beef?" Li Bao'er handed over the beef skewers she had just grilled, the golden pieces of meat still sizzling with oil.
While everyone else had already eaten quite a bit, his first skewer was still slowly simmering on the grill.
Mu Cenlin wasn't putting on airs; it was just that the scene—the campfire, the laughter, and the sharing of food—was all too unfamiliar to him.
The last time we ate around a fire like this was on the battlefield in the North, amidst sandstorms and the stench of blood.
He was momentarily distracted, took the meat skewers she had personally grilled, and took the first bite. Even he, who had always been picky about food as long as it was edible, couldn't help but be surprised by the unique taste.
It tastes delicious; that was his only thought.
"Is it good?" Li Bao'er asked, turning her head, with a little sauce still on her lips.
Mu Cenlin nodded lightly, "Delicious." Under the moonlight, her bright smile touched his heart.
Mu Cenlin said in a low voice as if possessed, "There are similar ways of eating in the Northern Territory."
"Huh?" Li Bao'er looked up in surprise.
"The meat is skewered on sharpened branches and roasted, mostly wolf meat that has been hunted. A sprinkle of coarse salt makes it delicious."
"Although the northern border is bitterly cold, the desolate desert has a unique grandeur. In the future..." He paused, his voice lowering, "I'll take you there to see it sometime."
Mu Cenlin had a sudden urge to take her to see the place where he had always lived...
"No!" Li Yu's voice suddenly rose as if a cat's tail had been stepped on. "My sister's health is too fragile to withstand such a harsh and cold place! She can't go!"
The air froze instantly.
Mu Cenlin's smile hadn't faded, but his eyes had suddenly turned cold, and his gentle aura vanished, replaced by a chilling pressure that spread silently.
Ye Yun frantically tugged at Li Yu's clothes under the table. For the first time, she felt that her brother Yu was a bit dim-witted. It was obvious that Prince Jing wanted to involve Bao'er in his past. How could someone say that the other person's hometown was a barbaric land in front of them?
Li Bao'er gasped, wishing she could stuff a skewer of meat into her brother's mouth.
She hurriedly placed her hand on Mu Cenlin's hand and touched a thin layer of calluses.
"Your Highness, don't listen to his nonsense." She gently scratched her face with her fingertip, her smile warmer than a campfire.
"When I'm fully recovered in the spring, will you take me to see the sunset over the Gobi Desert?" He paused, then leaned closer. "I've heard the starry sky in the North is much brighter than in the capital?"
Mu Cenlin grabbed her mischievous fingers with his other hand, his icy gaze melting away: "Yes, the Milky Way is like a ribbon adorned with shattered jade."
Li Yu didn't understand why Ye Yun was looking at her with such disgust, but Zhang Chi covered her mouth and dragged her away, saying, "My goodness, please calm down for a bit!"
Just as the atmosphere was warming up, a discordant, cold sandalwood scent wafted in on the night breeze.
A gentle, smiling voice suddenly broke the warmth of the courtyard: "I was passing by the lake and saw that Qingfeng Manor was brightly lit. Bao'er, why didn't you send anyone to inform me about this gathering?"
Everyone's expression changed drastically.
Li Bao'er froze and turned her head sharply.
At the courtyard gate, the Third Prince, Mu Yuan, dressed in a moon-white robe, had been standing there for an unknown amount of time. A gentle smile played on his lips as his gaze casually swept across the entire area before finally settling precisely on the tightly clasped hands of Li Bao'er and Mu Cenlin.
Mu Cenlin sensed Li Bao'er's stiffness and intense emotional fluctuations almost instantly, through that damned empathy! A nameless fire suddenly surged up!
Isn't this manor some kind of secret base that Li Yu mentioned? What kind of secret base is it if even Mu Yuan knows about it?!
Mu Cenlin felt a burning rage within him, wishing he could burn this wretched place down.
Meeting Mu Yuan's ambiguous gaze, Mu Cenlin not only did not let go, but instead gripped Li Bao'er's fingers even tighter, his thumb even rubbing her hand possessively.
He looked up to meet Mu Yuan's gaze, sharp as a knife, a cold smile playing on his lips: "This is our private gathering. Unauthorized personnel are not invited. What brings you here so late, Third Prince?"
The invisible smoke of battle instantly filled the air amidst the smoky aroma of the roasted meat.
Ye Yun watched in horror and instinctively shrank closer to Li Yu.
She couldn't help but silently complain to herself, "It seems that His Highness Prince Jing also bumped into him on the way...?"
But this thought only flashed through her mind for a moment before she realized that His Highness Prince Jing had a possessive streak towards Bao'er!
Perhaps the men present couldn't notice, but as a woman, seeing His Highness Prince Jing's hand tightly gripping Bao'er's and his posture of completely protecting Bao'er within his aura, she realized that it was not the reaction of a man who "disliked" or "didn't care" about a woman!
Mu Cenlin's every move clearly carried an unyielding dominance that allowed no one to interfere... Ye Yun gasped sharply, an absurd yet incredibly clear thought crashing into her mind:
The way His Highness Prince Jing looked at Bao'er wasn't disgust at all. It was clearly... the suppressed and burning desire of someone who had longed for her but couldn't have her! It even carried a kind of obsession that had accumulated over the years!
OMG! Could it be that all those rumors in Beijing were wrong?!
Mu Yuan seemed completely oblivious to the tense atmosphere. He chuckled and found an empty seat to sit down, but his gaze remained fixed on Li Bao'er.
"Why be so formal, Second Brother? Bao'er and I grew up together since childhood, and our relationship is extraordinary. Her affairs are my affairs. I came to her gathering uninvited, and I'm sure she... won't really blame me."
Mu Yuan turned to Li Bao'er, his tone becoming even gentler, even carrying a hint of affectionate reproach: "Bao'er, you too. Even if you're forced to marry the Second Prince, you shouldn't forget your old friends, right? The other day you asked me to find that person..."
He paused there deliberately, pleased to see Mu Cenlin's eyes suddenly darken and his body radiate a chilling aura.
Mu Yuan smiled and offered this tempting yet extremely dangerous bait, "Wouldn't you like to hear about this privately?"
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