Chapter 245 Deliberate
Listening to the ghosts and wolves howling in his ears, Xiao Jingfan raised the corner of his mouth inexplicably in a good mood.
At this moment, Xiao Anzi came in with a small food box, saying that it was the Eight Treasures Cake presented by the imperial kitchen.
Zhou Yuande frowned: "Who sent it?"
"The eunuch who delivered the meal said that it was Miss Liuzheng's order." Xiao Anzi looked at Chu Liuzheng who had his head lowered.
Upon hearing that it was Chu Liuzheng who sent it, Xiao Jingfan asked with great interest, "Why did you ask the imperial kitchen to present the Eight Treasures Cake at this time?"
"Your Majesty, Eunuch Zhou said you didn't eat much for dinner, and ginger dew tea can increase your appetite. Since the night is long, I asked the imperial kitchen to prepare Eight Treasures Cake," Chu Liuzheng replied calmly. "Eight Treasures Cake is easy to digest, so even if you eat a few pieces, you don't have to worry about indigestion and sleeplessness."
[Listen, listen! I've been so thoughtful and considerate. Tyrant, if you send me to Jingming Palace, you'll be completely blind!]
Xiao Jingfan, who originally wanted to take the opportunity to praise her, swallowed his words and waved to Xiao Anzi to bring the Eight Treasures Cake over.
"Try it." He picked up a piece and handed it to King Rui without mentioning the matter of transferring Chu Liuzheng to Jingming Palace.
Prince Rui took it and slowly put the Eight Treasures Cake into his mouth, without asking for Chu Liuzheng again.
Looking at this harmonious scene of brothers being friendly and respectful to each other, Zhou Yuande breathed a sigh of relief and turned to wink at Chu Liuzheng.
——What are you still standing there for? Back off immediately.
Chu Liuzheng hurriedly bowed and retreated. When the cold wind outside the hall blew, he found that he was sweating all over.
[I was almost kidnapped by the counterfeiters, but luckily the Eight Treasures Cake arrived just in time.]
She rubbed her chest and hurried to the tea room.
[Next time the imposter comes, I'll pretend to have a stomachache and ask Yuzhui and the others to bring tea, so he won't be reminded of this. If the tyrant agrees, I'll have no place to cry.]
[Masters of the Imperial Guards, please quickly find the real Prince Rui and stop this imposter from causing trouble!]
*
After two games of chess, King Rui saw that it was getting late, so he stood up and took his leave.
Xiao Jingfan gently reminded: "Don't stay up late to read, go to bed early."
"My royal brother, you should rest early." Prince Rui smiled and nodded. Zhou Yuande sent him out and watched him get on the sedan chair before returning to the palace.
Under the oil lamp, Xiao Jingfan lowered his eyes and stared intently at the chessboard, the light in his eyes flickering with the candlelight.
You can tell a person’s character by watching him play chess. Even if they look alike and behave similarly, their chess styles are ultimately different.
After two games of chess, Xiao Jingfan was extremely certain that the person sitting opposite him was indeed an impostor, and an impostor who had been tricked by the real King Rui.
Xiao Jingfan reached out and picked up the chess pieces one by one.
The witch forced Lao Jiu to teach the fake guy how to play chess. Lao Jiu did teach her, but he also kept a trick up his sleeve.
That is, no matter whether he wins or loses, King Rui is accustomed to placing the last chess piece on the edge of the chessboard and not making any move.
The counterfeit didn't know about King Rui's habit, and he didn't do this in the previous two games.
He called out into the empty space, "Eleven."
A dark figure appeared in the hall and said with a bow, "Please give your orders, my lord."
"Where is Xiao Jiu?"
"In the camp," Xiao Shiyi said. "After taking the fake death drug, he will be weak for half a month. The leader asked him to recuperate well and didn't assign him any tasks."
Xiao Jingfan nodded: "Tell him to come see me tomorrow. I have something for him to do."
"Yes." Xiao Shiyi accepted the order. Seeing that Xiao Jingfan had no other instructions, he withdrew on his own and went to the Dark Guard Camp to deliver the message.
Xiao Jingfan slowly put away the chessboard, wiped his hands with a handkerchief, sat cross-legged on the couch, drank ginger tea and ate eight-treasure cake, and soon he had finished half of the plate.
Zhou Yuande was delighted to see this, thinking that this ginger dew tea was so useful. It would be better to offer a cup of it every day so that His Majesty could eat more and avoid the Empress Dowager glaring at him every time he returned to Wanshou Palace.
In the tea room, Chu Liuzheng, who was chatting with Yuzhui, suddenly felt a chill on his back and raised his hands to rub his arms.
Yuzhui smiled and pushed her: "If you are cold, go to the stove and warm yourself up. Don't catch a cold."
Chu Liuzheng moved the bench closer to the stove and sat down. Xiao Anzi ran in and said, "Your Majesty has arrived at Yaohua Palace. The two girls can go back now."
[Yeah, time to get off work!]
Chu Liuzheng took the big teapot off the stove, picked up the still burning charcoal pieces one by one with tongs, and put them into water to extinguish them.
Yuzhu checked each cabinet to see if anything was missing and locked them one by one.
The two men closed all the windows, and after making sure that there was nothing wrong in the hall, they blew out the lights, closed the door and left.
*
Ninghe Hall of Zhaoyang Palace.
Mianmian squatted on the ground, rubbing the bruises on Aidaer's knees with medicated oil. Her face wrinkled with heartache, and she blew air upwards with her pouty lips, complaining softly:
"Have you ever been treated like this when you were at home? It's all Concubine Xie's fault. Why is it that only you are punished and not her? It's not fair at all."
“Fairness is not given by others, it is fought for by oneself.” Aidar grabbed the charcoal-grilled lamb chops that had just been delivered from the kitchen and gnawed on them until his mouth was covered in oil.
Seeing her nonchalant look, Mianmian couldn't help but pout, "Princess, did you deliberately fight with Concubine Xie?"
"No." Aidal drank the wine in the jade cup in one gulp. He felt that the cup was too small and not satisfying enough. Just as he was about to hold the pot to drink, a resentful look immediately shot over at him.
Aidal withdrew his hand awkwardly.
Mianmian looked at her: "Princess, you lied, you did it on purpose."
"Tsk, you've grown smarter after just a few days in the palace." Aidal poured the wine in the pot into the jade cup and drank it all again.
"I am not stupid." Mianmian wiped the medicinal oil off her hands with a handkerchief and stood up to pour her wine.
"Yes, yes, my Mianmian is the most considerate." Aidal handed her a piece of grilled lamb chops. "It tastes different from the ones at home. Try it."
"Thank you, Princess." Mianmian took it but had no appetite. She looked at her careless princess and sighed, "Princess, you promised me not to cause trouble when I entered the palace."
"I didn't cause any trouble. She provoked me," Aidaar said, feeling wronged. "I don't know what was added to that cup of tea. I can't really drink it, right?"
Mianmian nodded. It’s true that you can’t drink anything carelessly. What if it’s poisonous?
Aidaar patiently coaxed her: "When I'm at home, if someone hits me once, I hit them back at least ten times. I only hit her twice, which is very restrained. Please don't nag me."
Mianmian: “…”
With your strength, wouldn't you kill him if you hit him ten times?
"Princess, you have plenty of ways to not only restrain someone without hurting them, but why did you deliberately injure Concubine Xie and get punished?"
Aida: "..."
After all this time, how come you still remember this?
Mianmian stared at her with wide eyes, as if she would keep asking questions if she didn't answer.
Aida was most afraid of her nagging... no, her seriousness. She raised her hand and threw the cleaned bone into the slag bucket opposite. While wiping her hands with a handkerchief, she said, "If I do something wrong and annoy the emperor, I won't have to sleep with him anymore, right?"
No emperor would like a woman who loves to stir up trouble and has nothing to do with gentleness, right?
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