Chapter 22 The teacup; the water on her fingers was what he had drunk from.
"Qiao Xi, why did you stop?" Jin Lan, carrying a basket of strawberries, came over and followed Qiao Xi's gaze, which landed on Morax.
Jinlan looked at Qiaoxi with a puzzled expression.
Qiao Xi calmly withdrew her gaze and stared at Jin Lan expressionlessly.
Jin Lan seemed to understand something, and quickly realized everything. He was straightforward and asked Qiao Xi, "You actually—"
At this point, Qiao Xi looked at Jin Lan warily. She thought Morax was good-looking, and that she was just momentarily distracted. Surely Jin Lan wouldn't have noticed?
Wouldn't they laugh at her for the rest of her life?
Qiao Xi's lips twitched, and she even imagined the scene eighty years later, when Jin Lan, leaning on a cane, would come with her granddaughter and grandson to mock her.
They might even write this into their family stories, and it will be passed down for thousands of years, so that everyone will know that their ancestor Jinlan had a friend who couldn't resist someone who was good-looking.
Eighteen-year-old Qiao Xi began to consider whether she could preserve her reputation in her later years. In addition, what were the chances of getting rid of Jin Lan before he could speak?
Unaware of Qiao Xi's terrifying inner turmoil, Jin Lan continued with the rest of her words:
"You actually took a liking to the fruit platter on your master's table?"
Qiao Xi's rapidly thinking brain suddenly froze, and she almost fell over on the spot. She frowned as she looked at Jin Lan.
Jinlan was very confident. It was true that he was a shipper, but he knew what Qiao Xi was like. Shippers may be shippers, but in reality, the temptation of the fruit platter on the table was definitely greater for Qiao Xi than that of the Emperor.
Qiao Xi had never loved Jin Lan's bizarre thought process so much. She nodded sadly, "You actually figured it out."
Jinlan patted her chest and assured her, "Don't worry, I'll cover for you. You can touch whichever one you like and put it in your pocket for a midnight snack."
Qiao Xi slapped Jin Lan on the shoulder: "You're a good friend."
Jinlan chuckled: "Then tell me a story after we finish eating."
Qiao Xi readily agreed: "I'll make up whatever you want to hear."
"I haven't decided yet, we'll see when the time comes."
*
Morax only glanced at Qiao Xi before putting down his teacup. His gaze followed the teacup to the table, but was quickly drawn back to the whispers between Yi Xiao and Li Shan beside him.
They were supposed to be whispering, but they were actually communicating with each other using telepathy as a cover. They had talked like this before, but the content of their conversations was just ordinary things, and the wording was not very sophisticated. Morax never said anything when he heard them.
This has led to the fact that Yi Xiao and Li Shan are completely unaware that Morax can hear their conversation.
Then Morax heard Yixiao say to Lishan:
"Look how capable my Xiaoxi is, carrying a big bamboo basket on her back, which she wove herself."
Li Shan said, "The basket on Xiao Xi's back looks very familiar. Wasn't the basket that the Emperor brought not long ago also like this?"
Yi Xiao said, "The Emperor is also Xiao Xi's master, so it's normal for him to help his disciple carry something."
Li Shan frowned and glanced at Yi Xiao: "Is this normal?"
Yi Xiao: "Isn't that abnormal?"
Li Shan: "It's not normal that Xiao Xi didn't get blamed for disturbing the Emperor's rest by barging into the cave, is it?"
Yi Xiao: "Hey! I'm telling you, you old codger."
Li Shan: "We both know that when the Emperor is alone, he transforms into a dragon according to his mood. It's inappropriate for a mortal child like Xiao Xi to see this. Besides, there's a rumor that certain parts of a dragon, especially its horns and tail, have profound meanings and shouldn't be touched lightly—"
Before he could speak his thoughts, Yi Xiao interrupted him with his own thoughts, glaring at Li Shan: "Xiao Xi's mind is only on eating and playing. Don't you dare think about her, or I'll pluck every hair off your body."
Riyama: "...You have such a short temper. I only thought about it because I kept hearing that 'bride kidnapping' rumor."
Yi Xiao: "At your age, don't believe in such absurd things. Xiao Xi only has one year left before her final form is complete. Studying hard is the most important thing."
Riyama was about to say something more when Morax, who was standing to the side, couldn't stand it any longer and coughed lightly.
Yi Xiao looked over and asked, "Your Majesty?"
Morax stood up, and Yixiao and Lishan quickly followed suit.
Morax walked toward Qiao Xi, and before leaving, he turned back and said to the two immortals, "Don't have too many distracting thoughts."
His tone was extremely calm and ordinary, yet it was like a grenade thrown between Yixiao and Lishan. The two immortals looked at each other and instantly knew that the Emperor could hear what they were saying.
The two of them stared blankly, mechanically, and habitually at Morax, saying, "Understood."
But they all mentally reviewed the conversation they had just had, and even conversations from much earlier times.
Finally, they reached a consensus quietly: could they find a crack in the ground to crawl into?
*
When Qiao Xi saw Morax walking towards her, she handed the strawberry jam jar to Jin Lan without saying a word, then pulled the basket off Jin Lan and carried it on her own shoulder.
But as soon as she put one arm into the strap, Morax was in front of her.
Jinlan respectfully replied, "Your Majesty."
Morax glanced at him, nodded slightly, and then looked at Qiao Xi.
As Qiao Xi tilted her half-full basket of strawberries, she looked up and smiled, saying, "Hello, Morax."
Morax pursed his lips slightly, stepped forward, his voice flat, but his gaze fell on Qiao Xi's guilty face: "Thank you for your hard work."
Qiao Xi braced herself and carried the basket on her back: "It's no trouble, it's my duty."
Morax didn't respond to her, but simply gestured for her to follow. Then he turned around and, before leaving, added, "Practice horse stance for an extra hour tomorrow morning. I'll come and supervise."
His expression was indifferent.
Jinlan frowned as she pondered Morax's words, and suddenly realized that this was the "punishment" Qiao Xi had mentioned.
It's so uneventful, completely different from what he expected.
After Morax finished speaking, he took a step and was about to leave when Qiao Xi called out to him with a worried look on her face: "Can we do it tonight? I'm afraid I won't be able to get up tomorrow morning."
Morax turned back and took a few steps toward her. The two were quite different in height; Qiao Xi only reached his shoulder. He stood with his hands behind his back, slightly bent over, and looked into Qiao Xi's eyes with a relatively calm expression: "Tonight, everyone is gathered here, and I don't want to spoil your fun."
Qiao Xi blinked, feeling that something was off, yet it also seemed reasonable. For a moment, she couldn't find the right words, and after a long pause, she uttered two words: "Thank you."
Morax gave a soft "hmm," stood up straight, and said, "Follow me."
Qiao Xi tugged at Jin Lan, and the two followed behind Morax.
*
Based on the temporary design drawings, Liu Yun and Gui Zhong modified a fully automatic barbecue machine on site.
Upon seeing this, General Yingda, the Fire Rat, pulled Xiao down from the tree and started fanning the flames of the barbecue grill.
The ingredients were all cleaned and cut by Yixiao and Lishan, while the other Yasha simply placed the items on the shelf.
Fushe mobilized all four of his arms with surprisingly high efficiency. After Mi Nu and Fanan finished skewering the mushrooms that Morax had brought, they couldn't help but chuckle as they looked at Xiao, who was seriously fanning the flames beside them.
Jinlan handed out strawberries and jam one by one, while Qiaoxi sat next to Morax, her mind still a bit blank from practicing horse stance the next morning.
Yi Xiao waved his hand in front of Qiao Xi: "You little rascal, this is the first time I've seen you not enthusiastic about eating."
Qiao Xi looked up at Morax.
Morax glanced down at her, then picked up his teacup and took a leisurely sip, seemingly unconcerned about the problem.
As night fell, a bonfire was lit in front of the immortal's cave. People sat around it, and the table was full of food. They chatted and laughed, one after another.
The aroma was irresistible, and Qiao Xi didn't think about anything else when she saw the food. She could worry about tomorrow's punishment tomorrow; she just needed to eat her fill today.
She lived up to Jinlan's expectations by taking all the fruit from Yixiao's plate, putting half in her own pocket and the other half in Jinlan's.
These subtle actions blended into the lively scene, harmonious and hard to notice, but they couldn't escape Morax's eyes.
Morax is very particular about food. While enjoying the delicacies, he can still spare some attention for Qiao Xi and Jin Lan's sneaky behavior.
But Qiao Xi and Jin Lan didn't pay much attention; once they relaxed, their focus was all on the food.
Jinlan knew the mushrooms were brought by Morax, so he couldn't help but eat one skewer after another. Suddenly, his neck stiffened, and he choked.
Seeing this, Qiao Xi quickly picked up the teacup in front of her and wanted to hand it over, but her hand was stopped as soon as she placed it on the teacup. She looked at the two slender fingers covered by black gloves on the back of her hand, and looked up to see Morax looking at her.
She didn't know if the nerves on the back of her hand were sensitive, but the two points she gently pressed felt a little itchy.
"Jinlan is about to choke to death," she said.
Morax's fingers remained pressed on Qiao Xi's hand: "But this is my tea."
The sound was mixed in with the voices of others and was almost inaudible, but Qiao Xi subconsciously looked down and found that she was holding a Morax teacup.
Jinlan, who was standing nearby, had witnessed this scene between the two of them long ago. He was so excited that he swallowed the food in his mouth.
When Qiao Xi brought Jin Lan a fresh cup of tea, she was amazed to see Jin Lan completely recovered, and she frowned.
Jinlan took the tea from Qiaoxi's hand, downed it in one gulp, put the cup on the table, then pulled her over and said in a low voice, "I know what story to tell."
His voice was so soft that even Qiao Xi, who was so close, had trouble hearing it.
But Morax heard it clearly. He slowly picked up the teacup, and paused abruptly when his lower lip touched the edge of the cup.
Because this spot was where Qiao Xi had just touched it, there seemed to be some water stains on her fingers, which were from when he drank tea not long ago and had seeped into the rim of the teacup.
Thinking of this, Morax quietly put down his teacup.
Another voice came from Jinlan's side:
"Can we talk about the punishment for raising an older man?"
Qiao Xi frowned and pursed her lips: "The ingredients are a bit complicated, but I'll try my best since you helped me."
Morax gave him a look he couldn't understand.
A note from the author:
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See you tomorrow!
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