Chapter 59
The tree may wish to be still, but the wind will not cease. Lin Yi was willing to let it go, but the princess was unwilling to let the matter rest.
Seeing that Xie Chengnan and Lin Yi had a very close relationship, Princess Chun'an changed her address and started calling Lin Yi "sister-in-law" affectionately... which was strange.
The drawn-out ending of her "sister-in-law" was delivered with a mocking and affected tone, like a vengeful creditor with a deadline imposed on her, half-deadly squeezing out a bit of insincere flattery.
Lin Yi acted as if he hadn't heard a thing when faced with her offensive verbal skills.
So after many of her punches had been hitting cotton, Princess Chun'an's methods finally escalated to something tangible.
For example, put a huge, colorful spider in Lin Yi's wardrobe.
The moment the wardrobe was opened, an unidentified object, about the size of a palm and covered in tentacles, fell out.
Xueya's scream was deafening. Lin Yi covered her ears with one hand, grabbed one of the hairy legs of the seven-colored spider with the other, and carried it straight to Chun'an. She flattened it in front of Chun'an and threw it on the couch.
"It feels quite realistic. Princess, you might as well use a real one next time. It's perfect that the whole spider is dried and used in medicine; it's a rare and valuable medicinal material."
"You...!" Chun'an was taken aback that Qiu Qingye was completely unafraid. If she weren't worried about the live spider biting her, she would have used it long ago! Why would this person dare to swagger around and humiliate her to her face?
Princess Chun'an felt a little defeated, but more than that, she was unwilling to give up. So that night, she ordered her servants to find a small, grayish-white snake, over three feet long, and put it in Lin Yi's bed. The snake was specially found; it was non-venomous and didn't bite. After all, Princess Chun'an wasn't after money or murder; she just wanted to annoy Qiu Qing.
This time, Lin Yi was genuinely terrified. The sight of a cold, scaly reptile coiled up in her bed would surely frighten even the boldest noblewoman in the city.
She swallowed the gasp in her throat, her face cold, picked up the hissing snake, gripped its seven-inch mark, and carried it into the kitchen.
It was past midnight when Lin Yi respectfully invited the princess to the dining room and brought her a pot of freshly cooked snake soup.
Lin Yi smiled sweetly, resting her chin on her hand: "Your Highness's gift this time is quite nice. I'll accept the snake slough. I've made soup with the snake meat for Your Highness, please drink it while it's hot."
Xie Chengnan was also awakened in the middle of the night. He had been sleeping in the same room as Lin Yi these past few days, but not in the same bed. Logically, he should have known when Lin Yi discovered the snake, but with the palace banquet approaching, he had been preparing congratulatory gifts and had gone to bed late. Now, seeing this scene, how could he not understand what had happened? His face couldn't help but turn somewhat pale.
Having failed in her attempt to steal a chicken, Princess Chun'an only wanted to get as far away as possible, but Xie Chengnan held her down. "Drink it. Qing doesn't cook often, so don't let her good intentions go to waste."
Princess Chun'an was on the verge of tears, inwardly cursing the two despicable lovers! She refused to drink this stuff; who knew if Qiu Qing had poisoned it too!
But when you're under someone's roof, you have to bow your head. She was in the wrong, so she had no choice but to drink a cup before being allowed to go back to sleep.
The night was past midnight, and Princess Chun'an lay in bed, tossing and turning, feeling nauseous. Qiu Qing, in an attempt to disgust her, hadn't added a single grain of salt; there was no seasoning, only a fishy smell, and even now, that taste seemed to linger on her tongue. The more Chun'an thought about it, the more nauseous she became, until finally she vomited everything up.
When she woke up the next day, Princess Chun'an made up her mind to cause some real harm to this vicious woman.
As lunchtime approached, she approached Lin Yi, forcing a smile: "Sister-in-law's soup yesterday was quite good, but I really couldn't get used to the ingredients. How about you cook another home-cooked meal for your sister-in-law? It just so happens that Brother Chengnan is home too, so we can see your cooking skills."
Lin Yi isn't a very good cook, as evidenced by the snake soup she made yesterday. She rarely goes home in the mortal world, and her meals and lodging are all taken care of at school, so she rarely has the opportunity to cook for herself. At most, she might make a pot of porridge or some fried rice.
Knowing that the princess was deliberately setting a trap for him, Lin Yi refused without hesitation.
Unexpectedly, she turned around and approached Xie Chengnan, saying things like, "Poor Brother Chengnan, you've been living a life of luxury for over ten years. I wonder if you're eating well after you get married," "After getting married, you won't have anyone to take care of you, doing your laundry and cooking," and "Eating unclean food from outside all the time will damage your spleen and stomach," and so on.
Xie Chengnan didn't care about these things and wouldn't take them to heart. No matter what she said, he just laughed it off as a joke.
But Lin Yi got annoyed seeing her clinging to Xie Chengnan, so she finally agreed to cook them a home-cooked meal, and made it clear beforehand that no matter how bad it was, the two of them had to finish it all.
Lin Yi rarely cooks, but the food he does make isn't actually terrible. This was something Princess Chun'an realized when she sneaked into the kitchen to steal a bite.
A pot of seafood porridge was bubbling on the stove, its aroma wafting from the pot and wisps of white smoke rising to the roof.
The porridge needs to be cooked until soft and tender to taste good, and Lin Yi can't keep an eye on it the whole time.
Taking advantage of the absence of others, Princess Chun'an swaggered into the kitchen. She scooped up a spoonful, blew on it to cool it, and put it in her mouth. The rice grains softened slightly, but still retained most of their texture, perhaps because they weren't quite cooked enough. However, the taste was surprisingly good; the aroma of rice mingled with the sweetness of shrimp, flowing and spreading between her lips and teeth. Chun'an couldn't resist and served herself another bowl.
After she had eaten and drunk her fill and felt it was about time, she took out the Coptis chinensis she had prepared in advance from her sleeve and poured it all in.
After stirring thoroughly, worried that it wasn't bitter enough, she took another bite. It was so bitter that her facial features involuntarily scrunched up before she finally left satisfied.
At lunchtime, a steaming hot casserole was served, along with a dish of salted peanuts, a plate of cucumber salad, and a plate of braised beef from a time-honored shop. The meal was indeed home-style and clean.
Xie Chengnan, somewhat expectantly, rolled up his sleeves and personally ladled a bowl of porridge, placing it in front of Lin Yi, then ladled one for himself as well. Just as he was about to eagerly taste it, Lin Yi snatched it away, and he watched helplessly as his bowl was placed in front of Chun'an.
"The princess is a guest, so she should try it first."
An unnatural expression flashed across Chun'an's face.
Xie Chengnan nodded without saying anything, and went to get a third bowl, but Lin Yi pressed his wrist down.
"?"
Ignoring his dissatisfaction, Lin Yi urged, "Won't the princess try some?"
"Try it, of course you should try it." Chun'an forced a smile through his teeth, took a deep breath, picked up the spoon and put it in his mouth.
It was bitter, unbearably bitter.
The bitter taste was like a blow to her taste buds, the aftereffects of which shot straight to the top of her head.
Chun'an clenched his back teeth and kept his mouth tightly shut, afraid that if he loosened it even slightly, he would spit it out.
I should have known better than to put in so much Coptis chinensis!
She was struggling to hold back her tears, but Lin Yi blinked at her innocently and expectantly: "How is it? Is it good?"
Chun'an swallowed the mouthful of porridge hard, his voice hoarse: "Delicious...especially delicious."
Xie Chengnan was somewhat puzzled by her reaction, and turned his head to confirm again, "Really?"
"Of course...it's true."
Before she could say anything more to express her approval, Lin Yi clapped her hands happily: "That's wonderful! I haven't made it in a long time, and I was afraid I'd become rusty. Since it's delicious, Princess, please have some more!" As she spoke, she poured the portion of porridge that originally belonged to Xie Chengnan into Chun'an's bowl.
"...I've given them all to me, what would you like to drink, Brother Chengnan?"
"It's alright, one bowl is enough for us." Lin Yi said, pressing down on Xie Chengnan's hand as he tried to raise it.
"Then why don't you drink?" Chun'an got impatient when he saw that the two of them were not drinking.
Lin Yi remained unhurried, saying, "Of course we should drink. But the guests drink first; that's our family rule."
Chun'an frowned: "How come I've never heard of such a rule in the Yong'an Marquis's mansion?"
"This was a new order I made after I married into the family. It's normal that you don't know since you haven't been here for a long time."
Chun'an naturally didn't believe it, suspecting that Qiu Qing had also discovered something and was deliberately stalling for time. But she would never give up halfway, even if it meant inflicting eight hundred casualties on the enemy and a thousand casualties on herself!
So, Princess Chun'an closed her eyes, steeled her resolve, pinched her nose, picked up the bowl, and poured the contents into her mouth.
With a fierce determination, Xie Chengnan watched in utter shock, while Lin Yi felt a bitter taste rising in his mouth.
Chun'an finished the whole bowl of porridge, even letting out a satisfied burp. "Is that enough? It's really delicious. You guys hurry up, it'll get cold soon."
Lin smiled and finally picked up the bowl as she had wished.
Princess Chun'an stared intently at her movements, her eyes revealing the satisfaction of having avenged her great grudge.
Just as her lips finally touched the rim of the bowl, Chun'an suddenly felt a sharp pain in her abdomen.
The pain came suddenly, accompanied by intense dizziness and nausea, and soon my forehead was covered in cold sweat.
She still stared at Qiu Qingye, determined to see her drink it herself!
Lin Yi suddenly stopped what he was doing and made a gesture as if to feed Xie Chengnan.
Xie Chengnan can drink it, so he'll know that he married a pretty face who can't even cook porridge properly! Chun'an thought fiercely, enduring the pain.
Seeing the spoon already brought to her lips, Xie Chengnan waved his hand to stop it, looking at her with a puzzled expression, "Chun'an?"
Lin Yi leaned closer to her with anxious eyes and called out, "Princess? What's wrong, Princess?"
"I'm doomed, I'm doomed, there's no need for you to whine like that..." These were the last thoughts in Princess Chun'an's mind before she lost consciousness.
When Chun'an woke up again, she felt completely weak. She lazily opened her eyes and saw that it was already dark outside the window.
A cool, clear female voice suddenly spoke, "You're awake."
Chun'an then noticed that Qiu Qing was also in the room.
"What happened?"
Lin Yi shook his head and sighed softly: "The princess must have heard that I am not good at cooking and wanted to embarrass me so that Xie Chengnan could see that he chose someone else. He was blind to his own fault."
You were afraid my porridge would be too well-cooked and wouldn't achieve your goal, so you added coptis chinensis to it?
"However, the princess has never studied medicine and cannot identify medicinal herbs. She mistakenly added sophora flavescens to the porridge instead of coptis chinensis. Sophora flavescens contains alkaloids, and excessive consumption can lead to poisoning."
Lin Yi looked at her. Even lying in bed, this strong-willed princess refused to back down, her gaze fixed on Lin Yi: "I lost this round. Just you wait, I will definitely win next time."
Lin Yi laughed upon hearing this, his eyes narrowing slightly, his gaze cold and mocking beneath his lashes: "Do you have paranoia? Why should I agree to compete with you?"
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