Tao Ti slept until noon. When she got up and asked, she found out that Pei Yanlin had asked her to burn some calming incense before he left so that she could sleep more soundly.

As for Pei Yan, as usual, he had already gone out with the officials of the East Palace.

After a simple lunch, Tao Ti asked about Xia Sang, the girl she brought into the mansion yesterday, "Linglong, where is she now?"

Linglong replied, "She is staying in the back palace chamber. Does the Crown Princess want to see her?"

Tao Ti thought about it and nodded, "Well, bring the person here."

Linglong nodded and turned to leave.

Not long after, Xia Sang followed Linglong in.

She changed into clean and simple clothes, and the redness and swelling on her face disappeared for the most part, revealing her original pretty face.

As soon as she saw Tao Ti, Xia Sang immediately knelt on the ground and performed a very solemn ceremony. "I bow to thank the Crown Princess for her kindness. I have no special abilities, only this life. If I can still live after this matter is resolved, I am willing to be a slave, a servant, and work like a cow or a horse to repay your kindness, the Crown Princess."

Tao Ti was slightly stunned, but after she reacted, she quickly asked Linglong to help her up and moved a stool for her.

"It's just a small favor. I didn't help much." Tao Ti's eyes curved and she said to her gently, "I asked you to come here today just to see how you are doing..."

Xia Sang said, "Thank you for your concern, Princess. I'm fine."

Tao Ti looked at her red and swollen eyes and the dark circles under her eyes, and knew that she must not have slept well last night.

Even a bystander like me needs sleeping incense to have a good sleep, let alone Xia Sang, a little girl who lost her loved ones.

Tao Ti sighed inwardly, then raised her head again, looking at Xia Sang with a gentler gaze, "I really admire your courage and strategy. You actually managed to get close to the prince... Aren't you afraid of being exposed? If there is even a slight flaw, you might even lose your life."

Xia Sang said, "After my sister's death, I have nothing to worry about in this world. As long as I can avenge my sister, even if there is only a glimmer of hope, I will do it."

Speaking of this, she looked grateful, "I am a fool. I didn't think of seducing that beast at first. It was a kind person who told me to do this. If it weren't for that kind person's guidance, I would still be a headless fly, confused and stumbling around."

Tao Ti became interested when she heard this, "A kind-hearted person?"

Xia Sang said, "It was an old lady who worked in Prince Mu's mansion. She was the one who told me that my sister got into trouble and her body was thrown into the well... Also, I was able to sneak into Yancui Tower because of her relationship. Her distant relative happened to be the manager of Yancui Tower. If I can avenge my great hatred, I will definitely thank that old lady in person. She and the Crown Princess are both my great benefactors."

Tao Ti thought it was really strange. She had never thought that there was such a kind-hearted old lady in Prince Mu's mansion. Listening to Xia Sang's description, it sounded a bit like the monk sweeping the ground in martial arts novels.

But she didn't think much about it, and just sighed, "There are still many good people in this world."

After a brief chat with Xia Sang, Tao Ti let her go downstairs to rest first.

After hearing that Prince Mu was already imprisoned and that Prince Mu's Mansion was currently very peaceful, Tao Ti breathed a sigh of relief, yet felt vaguely uneasy.

She covered her throbbing chest with her hands, and her beautiful eyebrows were slightly furrowed.

Linglong walked forward worriedly and asked, "Crown Princess, are you feeling unwell?"

Tao Ti pressed her chest, came back to her senses, smiled faintly, and said softly, "I'm fine."

It's just... since she came to this ancient time, I feel like she's become less and less courageous?

Alas, human life and body are too fragile. If it were her real self, with a near-eternal lifespan and powerful divine power... ahem, although her divine power is not particularly strong, it is more than enough to deal with small humans -

Taoti: Weakjpg.

Seeing her own Crown Princess shaking her head and sighing, Linglong thought that she was still angry about the evil deeds of Prince Mu's Mansion. After thinking for a while, she suggested, "Crown Princess, don't you always say that eating desserts can make you feel better? Then I will ask the kitchen to make some snacks for you?"

Speaking of food, Tao Ti held her cheeks with her little hands and thought for a while, what to eat in the evening?

It was approaching May, and the weather was getting hotter and hotter day by day. Add to that the trouble at Prince Mu's Mansion...she really didn't have much of an appetite.

Just when she was about to let the kitchen do it casually, Pei Yan's tall and straight figure suddenly appeared in her mind.

She felt that he seemed to have lost a lot of weight recently.

Last night he had just finished bathing and was wearing a snow-white nightgown. His skin was cold and pale, and he was tall and thin. He looked as if he was about to float away into heaven in the next second.

Yes, despite his frail body, he still insisted on understanding the people's sentiments, inspecting the dikes, and checking work every day, leaving home early and returning late. He can be called a model worker.

She can eat whatever she wants, but she can't let Pei Yan eat whatever he wants with her——

There’s a saying that goes, “No matter how poor you are, you cannot be poor in education, and no matter how hard your life is, you cannot let your children suffer… Ugh, what are you making up again!

Tao Ti raised her hand and patted her forehead, then stood up and said, "Let's go to the kitchen and make something refreshing and appetizing."

Linglong paused, and seeing that the Crown Princess had regained her usual energetic look, she smiled, "Yes!"

…

Soon, in the dining room of the palace.

Tao Ti scooped a large spoonful of flour and started to work.

Linglong asked curiously, "Crown Princess, are you going to make noodles?"

Tao Ti shook her head and said with a smile, "Being a cool girl."

Mix a large bowl of flour with clean water, knead it into a relatively hard dough, and patiently knead it until it is smooth. Then put the dough aside to rise for an incense stick, and then you can start the most critical step for cool skin - washing your face!

Tao Ti held the dough in her two fair hands and rubbed it repeatedly in a basin of clean water.

This process is actually quite stress-relieving, just like kneading a small toy to vent your stress. As you knead it a little bit, the dough becomes smaller visibly, and the originally clear water surface gradually becomes turbid and turns into a beautiful milky white. After all the starch in the dough is washed out, a small sticky and slightly elastic piece is left, which is the gluten.

Tao Ti covered the noodles and gluten, and told the chef to put a pot of sour radish and duck soup on the stove. After washing her hands, she turned to Linglong and said, "Let's go. Go back and take a nap first, and then we'll do it when you wake up."

If you want to taste delicious food, you need to wait patiently.

After waking up from a nap, it was not yet dark, and Tao Ti lazily lay on the couch and read a storybook for a while.

It was not until the sky was filled with rosy clouds and the sun was setting that she thought Pei Yan should be back, and then she got up from the couch.

Walking outside the palace, looking at the gentle afterglow that filled the courtyard, Tao Ti suddenly thought -

How come I look like a wife who has prepared dinner and is waiting for her husband to come home from get off work?

As soon as this thought came to my mind, my face turned red again.

She held down the crazy and agitated deer in her heart and said, "Wake up! He treats you as a trusted friend, and you actually want to sleep with him?"

Besides, he is a dying patient, you can't be so beastly!

Seeing the Crown Princess covering her chest again, Linglong became more and more worried: Should she find a doctor to check the Crown Princess's pulse tomorrow?

…

The night is dark.

When Pei Yan arrived at Jixian Temple, Tao Ti was sitting at the dining table with a serious expression, holding his head.

Pei Yan's eyebrows twitched slightly, and he glanced at Linglong calmly, as if asking: What's wrong with the Crown Princess?

Linglong looked embarrassed: I’m not quite sure either.

Pei Yan retracted his gaze and walked over slowly.

"Ati." He called softly.

Tao Ti was thinking about various plans on "how to tactfully propose sleeping separately" and was stunned when she heard the call, "Ah."

Pei Yan stood in front of her leisurely and leaned down slightly. Suddenly, a handsome and delicate face appeared in front of Tao Ti at a close distance.

Taoti, “……!”

She took a deep breath and fell backwards unconsciously.

Pei Yan's eyes flashed, as if he was afraid that she would fall if she wasn't paying attention, so he stretched out his hands to hook her slender waist and pulled her hard.

The next moment, Tao Ti fell directly into his warm arms.

Her forehead rested on his chest and abdomen, and her nose was instantly filled with his pleasant cool fragrance. Through the thin fabric, she could feel the firm lump under the fabric...

He really has abs!

She was thinking at an inappropriate time, and her eyes glanced down inadvertently. When she realized what that part was, her face instantly became hot.

It’s all over, it’s all over. I’m really hopeless because of this lust.

She struggled to get out of his arms, her head buried very low, and she mumbled, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it..."

A man's gentle voice with a smile echoed above my head, "Why are you apologizing? I was the one who pulled you first."

Taoti, "..."

However, she always felt that she had flirted with him and taken advantage of him.

After a moment of silence, Pei Yan walked over to the side and sat down as if nothing had happened, and asked softly, "What delicious food did A-Ti make tonight?"

Tao Ti still lowered her head and whispered, "I stewed a sour radish and duck soup, a smashed cucumber, and the staple food is liangpi."

After saying that, she turned her head and gestured to Linglong.

Soon, the palace servants put dinner on the table.

The sour radish duck soup is served in an exquisite clay pot with some wolfberries floating on the surface. The soup is light yellow in color, which is the boiled duck oil. It looks greasy, but because of the addition of secret sour radish, the sour taste neutralizes the greasiness, making the whole pot of soup not only not greasy, but also particularly fresh and fragrant. The sour taste mixed with the aroma of meat makes people swallow their saliva.

The plate of smashed cucumber, with its oily green skin and light green flesh, was coated with a bright red sheen under the sour and spicy garlic sauce, and sprinkled with a layer of fragrant crushed peanuts. It tasted sour, spicy and crispy, and chewed it slowly, with a mixture of the unique oily aroma of peanuts and the refreshing sweetness of cucumber. The more you eat, the more you like it.

There was also a large plate of liangpi, but the prepared sauce had not been added to it yet.

Tao Ti drank a large cup of tea to get rid of the blush on her face, then rolled up her sleeves and started mixing on the spot -

"This liangpi tastes better when it is mixed right before eating. If it is mixed too early, the flavor of the sauce will be completely soaked into it, and the liangpi will become sticky and not so refreshing."

When it comes to food, she doesn't stutter at all.

Pei Yan stroked the teacup in his hand and said with a gentle smile, "Everything made by A-Ti tastes good."

Tao Ti paused while mixing the jellyfish. "..."

The tip of his ear turned red again.

The mixed jelly skin was divided into two bowls. She pushed a large bowl in front of Pei Yan. She didn't dare to look him in the eye the whole time. She just hummed softly and said, "Your Highness, eat."

She took her bowl, sat opposite, and started eating.

The off-white, translucent jelly skin is mixed with green cucumber shreds, red carrot shreds, and golden gluten cubes, and then topped with a layer of fragrant chili oil and seasoning sauce. It's appetizing just by looking at it.

I picked up a piece of ice cream with chopsticks and put it in my mouth. The ice cream skin was slippery, slightly cool, tender and smooth. Each piece was evenly coated with sauce. As soon as I put it in my mouth, the fresh and fragrant spicy and sour taste stimulated my taste buds. I couldn't help but secrete saliva in my mouth. After chewing a big bite with satisfaction, there was still a refreshing numbness in my mouth.

Tao Ti ate one bite after another, and soon the bowl of liangpi in front of her was finished.

Pei Yan's gaze fell on her slightly swollen mouth due to the spiciness. After a moment, he put down his chopsticks and gently scooped a bowl of sour radish and duck soup for her and put it aside to cool.

Tao Ti pursed her lips, whispered a thank you, and added, "Your bowl is not as spicy as mine. I just added two spoonfuls of chili oil, which is why it is so spicy."

Pei Yan nodded gracefully and said calmly, "It's not spicy and tastes great. This liangpi is very suitable for summer consumption."

Tao Ti said, "Then eat more. If you like it, I will continue to make it tomorrow."

Pei Yan smiled and responded, and then said, "The weather is getting hot. I estimate that my work here can be completed within three days. By then, we can pack our bags and prepare to return to Chang'an."

Hearing this, Tao Ti blinked in surprise and looked at him, "Can we go back now?"

Pei Yan said, "Yeah."

Then, he raised his eyebrows and looked at her, "Are you homesick, Artie?"

Tao Ti was slightly stunned, her thick and long eyelashes drooped, and her dark pupils flashed with a bit of confusion.

Do you miss home?

I do think about it, but what I think about is not the Yongweihou Mansion in Chang'an, but my modern home.

But perhaps because she had lived in the East Palace for two months, she subconsciously began to regard the East Palace as her home in the Dayuan Dynasty.

She pursed her lips and said softly, "I kind of want to."

Pei Yan smiled faintly, stared at her deeply, and said, "If I can get back to Chang'an during the Dragon Boat Festival, I will take you to the Wei River to watch the dragon boat race?"

"Yes, it's already the end of April, and the Dragon Boat Festival will be here soon..."

Tao Ti suddenly realized and looked at Pei Yan with a pair of curious eyes, "Your Highness, is this dragon boat race very lively?"

Seeing her playful look, Pei Yan laughed hoarsely, "It's very lively, you must stay close to me when the time comes, and don't get lost."

"I'm not a child anymore, it's not that easy for me to get lost!"

Tao Ti smiled and half-jokingly said, "If it really doesn't work, tie our hands together with a rope, so that we won't be separated."

The smile in Pei Yan's eyes froze.

rope.

His hand unconsciously touched the collar of his shirt.

The two red ropes were still in his heart, and he hadn't found the right time to send them out yet...

After some time, when he had dealt with all the mess in Luoyang, he would find a good day to tie the red rope around her snow-white wrist with his own hands.

Linglong, who was standing by and waiting, asked, "???"

Why is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince also covering his chest? Is this thing contagious?