Huo Qinghe propped herself up from Pei Yuanhui's embrace, but did not go to pick up the cup of locust flower tea as he wished: "Your Majesty, my hands are a little weak..."
Upon hearing the sound, Pei Yuanhui raised his hand and grabbed a section of Huo Qinghe's arm.
Her arms were indeed trembling slightly at this moment: "So you want me to feed you?"
Huo Qinghe naturally replied, "This concubine would not dare to overstep her bounds or offend Your Majesty. Please do not make fun of this concubine."
Pei Yuanhui chuckled, took Huo Qinghe's hand, picked up the cup of locust flower tea, and squeezed her palm with his large hand: "Alright, I'll drink it myself."
What kind of "drinking by oneself" is this?
Huo Qinghe suppressed her inner grumbling, unable to suppress her shyness and blush, so she lowered her head and let the official feed her locust flower tea with his hand.
"Hmm, it does have a better flavor than regular tea. And your hands aren't shaking anymore?" Pei Yuanhui smiled.
The Emperor released her, and she was finally freed from his restraints: "I'm not afraid of being laughed at, but I was really afraid of not serving you well in your presence. My hands were shaking because I was afraid of not serving you well. Now that Your Majesty has drunk the tea, I'm naturally no longer afraid."
Pei Yuanhui laughed quite a few times today: "Well, you've certainly learned to shirk your responsibilities, even managing to shirk them right in front of me."
Huo Qinghe moved her lips, the words of explanation already on the tip of her tongue, when that girl, Lü Huai, just walked in again.
"Your Majesty, Your Highness, lunch has been laid out outside."
Yes, because of His Majesty's arrival, Consort Zhou has already had lunch in the main hall, so the imperial kitchen will have to be a little less attentive to Huo Qinghe's place.
That's perfect, Pei Yuanhui hadn't touched a single bite of food in the main hall earlier.
"Let's set out the meal," Pei Yuanhui said, waving his hand dismissively.
Huo Qinghe was carried off the bed by the official like a child. She felt really embarrassed and kept her head down again, not daring to raise it.
Pei Yuanhui leaned on her shoulder to stand up, without using much force. He patted Huo Qinghe with his free hand, saying, "If you're worried about not serving me well, I'll make sure you serve me at the meal later."
Huo Qinghe blushed even more, her voice barely audible: "Yes, Your Highness, I will respectfully comply."
Lunch was naturally a feast of delicacies. When they went to fetch the food, the imperial kitchen was unaware that the Emperor was coming, so the lunch was prepared according to her usual rations.
However, in addition to her allotted portion, there were several other nourishing dishes, which Huo Yiyun had arranged in advance.
Huo Qinghe spotted it immediately. She didn't say anything, but silently picked up her silver chopsticks and waited to serve the dishes.
Pei Yuanhui saw it when he sat down, his sharp eyes scanning the food on the table, his expression inscrutable.
"What are you standing there for?" His tone was anything but pleasant at that moment.
Huo Qinghe seemed frightened and remained silent for a while.
The Emperor is truly capricious. Just now, he clearly told her to serve the food, but now he's asking her what she's standing there for.
Huo Qinghe naturally couldn't refute him. She couldn't figure out what the emperor was thinking at the moment, so she simply pretended to be afraid and kept quiet.
She didn't speak. After Pei Yuanhui sat down, he glanced at her sideways and asked, "Are you mute?"
Huo Qinghe pursed her lips: "As expected, I still haven't served you well enough."
Pei Yuanhui's brows furrowed, his gaze falling on the silver chopsticks in Huo Qinghe's hand, and he instantly felt a bit annoyed.
"Is this all you eat every day? Sit there and serve me food. I'm not that heartless."
If Jin Yang were standing nearby at this moment, he would probably be utterly astonished by the Emperor's words.
Huo Qinghe bowed her head: "Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty."
She made sure to follow all the rules before standing up.
"Thank you for your concern, Lady Yi. You said that I had just recovered from a serious illness, so you ordered the Imperial Kitchen to send me many tonics. Please have some while serving Your Majesty."
As she spoke, she stood up again and added a bowl of black chicken soup for Pei Yuanhui.
Pei Yuanhui stared at her leaning back as she got up to serve soup, his gaze deep and unfathomable: "I had forgotten that you had just recovered from a serious illness. I won't have you serve me today. I'll make up for it another day."
Huo Qinghe immediately thanked His Majesty and sat down next to Pei Yuanhui.
Normally, Huo Qinghe wouldn't need many chopsticks, but with the Emperor by her side, she was distracted and ended up using more chopsticks than usual.
The servants, Green Locust, were somewhat surprised, but they served him even more attentively.
During the meal, neither of them said much, but Huo Qinghe's appetite did indeed catch Pei Yuanhui's eye.
After all, Huo Qinghe looked so thin, as if a gust of wind could blow her away, but unexpectedly, she had a surprisingly good appetite.
“You’re young, be careful not to overeat.” Pei Yuanhui raised an eyebrow.
The tone of voice when speaking was more like coaxing a child.
Huo Qinghe swallowed the fish in her mouth first: "It's all thanks to Lady Yi's kindness, and I dare not let her down. Besides, the Imperial Kitchen's cooking is indeed excellent. I was just being greedy."
Pei Yuanhui didn't mind at all. Looking at the table full of delicacies, he could easily understand Huo Yiyun's intentions.
He could see it clearly, and hearing Huo Qinghe speak in a tone like a little girl, he felt a little uncomfortable.
"Tell the imperial kitchen to make more of whatever you like to eat." Pei Yuanhui's tone softened instantly.
Huo Qinghe smiled shyly, but didn't use it again.
She couldn't eat anymore even if she tried.
After lunch, Jin Yang finally emerged from the main hall.
"Your Majesty," Jin Yang bowed as he entered.
"What is it?" Pei Yuanhui finished rinsing his mouth and took the handkerchief that Huo Qinghe handed him to wipe his mouth.
"An urgent report has arrived from the front lines, from General Yu Lin," Jin Yang said hastily.
Huo Qinghe silently took two steps back.
Upon hearing this, Pei Yuanhui's brows furrowed even more: "When did this happen? Return to Funing Palace."
Before Jin Yang could answer, Pei Yuanhui had already wiped his hands and walked out.
Huo Qinghe quickly bowed and said, "Respectfully seeing off Your Majesty."
Pei Yuanhui then turned around and said, "Take good care of yourself. I will come to see you when I have time."
Huo Qinghe was taken aback by the Emperor's words and thanked him again.
Huo Qinghe escorted His Majesty to the entrance of Yanliang Pavilion, and only turned around after the Emperor's figure disappeared from sight.
"Prepare some water, I feel a little...nauseous." Huo Qinghe covered her mouth with a handkerchief.
Green Locust hurriedly brought over some warm tea herself. Huo Qinghe had eaten a bit too much for lunch and felt a little tightness in her chest.
I didn't vomit after drinking warm tea, but I still felt very uncomfortable.
Just when things had calmed down a bit, they heard that Yuzhi, who served Consort Zhou in the main hall, had arrived.
Huo Qinghe covered her mouth: "I'm not feeling well, so I can't call her. Let Granny Wang deal with her."
Green Locust quickly agreed. Still feeling uneasy, she asked Green Cloud and Green Willow to serve inside, and then spoke with Granny Wang and Yu Zhi.
Huo Qinghe leaned against it for a while, and then Green Locust returned quickly.
"What did Consort Zhou send someone to say?"
I reckon it's not a good thing.
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