Chapter 96: The Ruthless Favorability Machine
After two cups of tea, the Bingxiao Water Pavilion was already filled with a table of dishes.
This is the western corner of the palace, with a white jade base and green tiles as eaves. It is surrounded by clear water on three sides, with gauze hanging down. The sunlight penetrates through the gauze and becomes unusually soft.
"Why is it so cool here?" Jiang Fei looked around as soon as she walked in.
Pei Jing had changed his clothes and tied his black hair into a crown, and he didn't look sick at all.
He followed Jiang Fei and explained, "There's a double layer of specially constructed walls under our feet. In the summer, cold water from the palace's ice cellar is pumped into it, and cool air seeps out from the cracks in the bricks."
Jiang Fei was astonished. Although ancient people did not have air conditioning, they had many ways to solve the problem. However, they were divided into luxury and civilian versions. For example, Jiang Fei had a cattail leaf fan.
When Jiang Fei turned around, there was a look of astonishment on her face, "You really know how to enjoy yourself."
Pei Jing hesitated to speak.
He would never tell her that he seldom came here, so there was no ice downstairs on weekdays. He only had someone make emergency arrangements when he saw that she was going to stay for dinner, and pushed in several buckets of ice just to cool down the water pavilion quickly.
Jiang Fei sat down without hesitation, blinked and looked at Pei Jing, "Can I eat now?"
Pei Jing lowered his chin and said, "Eat it."
Jiang Fei picked up the chopsticks and poked at the braised lion head.
Fortunately, Pei Jing was mentally prepared. He got used to the way she ate and even felt that watching her eat was delicious.
"Eating is like snatching food. How did you develop this habit?"
"When I was a kid, if I didn't eat quickly, I would have nothing to eat." Jiang Fei said incoherently.
Pei Jing frowned, "The Jiang family doesn't give you food?"
Jiang Fei paused. She grew up in an orphanage. If she didn't eat quickly, the delicious food would be snatched away by other children. So she always ate like a whirlwind. After eating like this for a few years, it was difficult to change her habit.
"I grew up on a farm. There were a lot of kids there. They were unruly and liked to steal my food."
Pei Jing frowned even deeper and moved the dish closer to her. "No one's competing with you for it, why are you in such a hurry?"
Jiang Fei chewed and nodded, "It's delicious. Your Highness, you don't know that the food our chef cooks is terrible. Every day it's either steamed or boiled. Sometimes there's not even a few drops of oil. So I have to go out to eat."
Pei Jing frowned and picked up his chopsticks, "Do you have money to spend on a feast?"
"One thing is, at worst, I can sell two more pieces of jewelry and then say I accidentally lost them on the road."
Duan Jiu immediately received the prince's condemning look.
He failed to give out the 1,000 taels of silver, and instead forced Miss Jiang Er to sell jewelry to make a living. This was his dereliction of duty as a personal bodyguard.
Duan Jiu decided to demonstrate his usefulness once again. "The chef in the palace always complains to me that he has great skills but no one in the palace can appreciate them. If Miss Jiang doesn't mind, you can come to the palace whenever you want to have a meal. It will also be a place for the chef to use his skills."
Jiang Fei's eyes lit up, and she immediately looked at Pei Jing, "Is it okay?"
Pei Jing suddenly met those expectant eyes. There was a light in those almond-shaped eyes like a glass lamp, like the morning dew condensed on the branches in early spring.
The chopsticks in my hand suddenly became hot, and my heartbeat pounded against my ribs.
Pei Jing averted his eyes suddenly and said unnaturally, "Duan Jiu has already asked for this. If I don't agree, wouldn't it seem petty?"
"That's a deal, I'll come again next time."
Pei Jing coughed lightly, pretended to be calm, picked up a piece of fish and put it into his bowl, "It's up to you." But the tips of his ears turned red.
Duan Jiu was watching in amazement.
When will his prince change his arrogant habit? He was obviously very happy in his heart, but he had to pretend to be reluctant on the surface.
Jiang Fei was eating her meal happily. When she came here, she suddenly thought of a great idea. Couldn't the system exchange favorability for plot points?
10 points can be exchanged for key turning points in the lives of the characters in the book, and 66 points can be exchanged for the past between Wei Ciying and Pei Jing.
She might as well start by increasing Pei Jing's favorability. Once it reaches 66, she could just redeem it. Hey, wouldn't the favorability be gone in an instant? Why would she need to commit suicide?
Just treat Pei Jing as a scoring machine and redeem all the relevant people in the book, and she will become a complete God.
The more Jiang Fei thought about it, the happier she became. She picked up a piece of stir-fried yam and placed it in Pei Jing's bowl. "You've just recovered from a serious illness, so eat something light."
Pei Jing stared at the yam slices in the bowl, and his Adam's apple rolled unconsciously.
"What? You don't like eating yam?" Jiang Fei asked with her head tilted when she saw that he didn't move.
"Not bad." Pei Jing immediately picked it up and put it into his mouth.
Duan Jiu covered his face as he watched, and said, "Your Highness, can you be a little more promising?"
Seeing this, Jiang Fei's eyes curved into crescents, "Then I will often pick up food for you in the future~"
Has she thought about the future?
"That's not necessary." Pei Jing responded with forced calmness, but his heart was actually beating like thunder.
He clenched his fists, glanced at Duan Jiu again, and couldn't help himself. He stood up and said, "You go first, Duan Jiu, follow me."
Duan Jiu followed closely behind.
Walking to a secluded place, he could vaguely see the figure in the Bingxiao Water Pavilion. Pei Jing turned around suddenly, with a strange light in his eyes.
"What's wrong with her? Why is she so enthusiastic towards me all of a sudden? She's not even trying to hide it."
To be honest, Duan Jiu also felt it was strange. Miss Jiang Er seemed to become particularly enthusiastic after hearing that she could come to eat often in the future.
Duan Jiu speculated cautiously, "Uh, maybe she's grateful to the prince for letting her come here to eat and drink for free in the future?"
Pei Jing frowned, "Not really. The way she looked at me just now was a little strange, like... like she was looking at a piece of fat meat!"
Duan Jiu almost laughed out loud. Isn't this metaphor a bit too...
"No, there must be something wrong." Pei Jing narrowed his eyes. "Go and check. Has she run into any trouble recently? Or is she short of money?"
Duan Jiu was helpless, "Your Majesty, perhaps Second Miss Jiang was simply seduced by your beauty?"
Pei Jing thought about it, and his expression suddenly changed, "Could it be that she wants to eat me?"
…
When the two returned to the water pavilion, Jiang Fei had almost finished eating. She was sipping from the teacup, glancing at the snacks on the table from time to time.
Seeing this, Pei Jing immediately ordered, "Pack up the snacks and take them back. I won't eat anything this sweet anyway."
Jiang Fei was too lazy to be polite. Pei Jing was rich and didn't lack these little things.
After dinner, Jiang Fei was about to go back. Jiutao walked behind her with the lunch box, and the young lady and the prince were in front.
The sun was a little strong, and the prince was holding an umbrella with the umbrella slightly tilted towards the young lady, so half of his body was exposed to the sun.
What a perfect match, Jiutao thought, if only the Third Master Wei wasn't there, the young lady and the prince would always be very happy when they were together.
"Your palace is too big." Jiang Fei complained, "I just walked in from the side door and it took me half an incense stick of time."
Pei Jing glanced at her sideways and said, "Why did you enter through the side door? Next time, go through the main door so you can get into the carriage."
Jiang Fei certainly wouldn't say it was to avoid Wei Ciying. Her eyes flickered slightly, and she asked indirectly, "Are the prince and Wei Ciying very familiar with each other?"
Duan Jiu, who was walking in front, turned around and happened to meet the prince's eyes. The two of them exchanged glances quickly.
The look in his eyes is: Look, I can’t help it.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com