Chapter 91 Pastoral
Seeing that she ignored him, Jiang Rufei leaned close to Si Li's ear and whispered, "Brother, you are a liar."
"What?"
Jiang Rufei turned around and smiled, "Brother!"
The call was crisp and sweet. The words "I saved some hot pot for you" were on Si Li's lips, but when she turned around, she could no longer say them.
The prince stood in the courtyard in a black robe, his sleeves fluttering in the wind, with a bright moon behind him, as if he were a banished immortal in a dream. She couldn't help but fall into his eyes, which were so soft that one might mistake them for deep affection when they thawed like cold spring water, and was dazzled for a moment.
Fortunately, the Jiang brothers and sisters were both good-looking, and Si Li quickly regained her composure. Just as she was about to stand up and salute, she heard a long and loud whistle from behind.
Xiao Qi, the instigator, said with a chuckle what Si Li was thinking just now, "It's really beautiful!"
Si Li was so embarrassed that she didn't know what to say. She helped the slightly drunk Princess Jinhe to stand up and tried to cover up what had just happened with business. "Your Highness, please forgive me. Miss Xiao said it unintentionally. Did Prince Jiang ask you to pick up the princess today?"
"Yeah." Jiang Hengyun looked at her deeply. Jiang Rufei held Si Li's sleeve with one hand and her brother's sleeve with the other. Si Li felt that this action was very familiar, like the way the princess and Jiang Shizhi were together before. Jiang Rufei didn't give her a chance to think about it, and called out again crisply, "Brother!"
Jiang Hengyun's eyebrows softened and he touched her head. "Let's go."
Except for the drunk Xiao Qi, everyone in the courtyard stood up to see His Royal Highness the Crown Prince off.
"Spring is back, the ice and snow are melting, the silver bottle is breaking, and the horn is wailing~"
After Princess Jinhe and the guards who stayed in the courtyard left, the lively atmosphere slowly faded away. Faint voices blew into the kitchen window. Si Li found Xiao Qi's lyrics more and more strange. He paused and added some more vinegar to the sobering soup that Meng Taotao was holding, and asked her to give it to Xiao Qi first.
There was still some steam coming out of the small bowl of scorpions beside her. As soon as she turned around, she could see that the food left for Jiang Shizhi had never arrived. Si Li pursed her lips and suppressed the disappointment in her heart.
There happened to be an extra bowl of scorpion and tofu, so Si Li opened the system's tasting module and put the small bowl in. The bowl fell on the virtual shadow of the round table, and the moonlight simulated by the system was bright and no different from the moon in the sky.
When she was young in her previous life and recited the line "We are together at the end of the world", she found it difficult to understand why the following line was filled with longing and resentment. At this moment, she had an unnecessary thought of imagining what Jiang Shizhi was doing under the moonlight.
Si Li sighed, "It's good to eat hot pot alone, but it might be more enjoyable if two people eat it together." Unfortunately, Jiang Shizhi was not there.
It was just a casual complaint, but in a moment, the blue sky and moonlight on the system panel began to shake like water waves, and a piece of paper floated above the system panel, falling on the same position as the evaluation note given by the "senior" before, with the sigh just now written in neat print on the note.
Si Li was stunned for a moment, his face flushed. He reached out and tore off the note, tore it into pieces, and threw it into the still warm stove. Then he took the sobering soup out and distributed it to everyone.
She didn't notice that after being torn, the note reappeared beside the bowl and was then taken by the young man sitting on the top floor of Qiyun Tower.
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The alcohol content of osmanthus wine is not high. After a bowl of sobering soup, the hangover did not affect Xiao Qi and Xiao Que's classes the next day, and the reports on the exchanges between Jin and Princess. Si Li put the egg yolk puff pastry that Guan Zhiyu had sent to her into the steamer and greeted the brother and sister who entered through the small door.
"A Fei, did you sleep well last night?" Si Li carefully looked at Princess Jinhe's face. "You left early yesterday and didn't drink the hangover soup. Did you have a headache when you woke up today?"
Jiang Rufei shook her head and sat down next to Si Li. Jiang Hengyun said, "Are you not going to eat hot pot today?"
She had embarrassed herself in front of the prince yesterday, so it was good that he didn't come to cause trouble. She didn't intend to be the first to do so. Si Li glanced at the sky, "It's just past noon, isn't it too early to eat hot pot? Besides, eating mutton often causes internal heat, so it's best to eat it every few days as a warm tonic."
The words on the note he saw last night flashed before his eyes. Jiang Hengyun coughed lightly and changed the subject, "A Fei was very happy yesterday, not as well behaved as if she was drunk. Could it be that the mutton made her angry?"
He was just talking casually, but when Si Li heard it, her heart skipped a beat. My goodness, this is the Scorpio that has eaten someone badly, and the parents are coming to the house to question him?
Her heart was in turmoil but her expression remained calm. "Pepper is dry in nature, and mutton is warm in nature. Maybe you got a sore throat from eating it. It will be fine after some relief." Fortunately, she recognized these common ingredients and could make up an explanation. It was just that this explanation was a little thin. She hoped she could get away with it.
Seeing that Jiang Shizhi was still staring at her, Si Li had no choice but to continue making up stories. Her explanations went further and further away, to the point where she almost didn't know what she was talking about. "The spicy taste goes up, and the turbid air is dissipated..."
She got stuck and couldn't continue.
Jiang Hengyun chuckled, "If the food is spicy and warm, and the body is weak and cannot be nourished, it will accumulate in the heart, making people dry and unconscious..."
Someone came to the rescue, and Si Li heaved a sigh of relief. It was rare for Jiang Shizhi to speak so long. He spoke slowly and gently, his voice was calm, and his masculine voice lingered in her ears. Si Li felt a little warm for some reason.
"Isn't the prince at home preparing for the banquet?" Si Li stood up and took a step back, breaking away from the ambiguous atmosphere just now and forcing a topic to change the subject.
Jiang Hengyun brushed the tip of the girl's red ear, curled his fingers in his sleeves, lowered his eyes and stopped looking at her, pursed his lips, and said, "Let's stop admiring the plum blossoms. There's no need for me to do it myself."
"It is said that the green plum tree in the Prince of Yue's Palace is very rare. Other plum trees bloom in the coldest months of winter, but this one blooms early." Si Li talked about the rumors in the capital and glanced at Jiang Shizhi, whose childishness was weakened when he lowered his eyes, giving people a feeling of being as profound as the depths of the earth and as majestic as the mountains. She did not mention the other rumor.
I heard that the Princess of Yue intended to select a concubine for the Crown Prince of Yue at this flower viewing event, which was a disguised matchmaking event. Given Jiang Shizhi's age, it was normal for his mother to be anxious. The two most famous stores in Beijing, Zhinu Pavilion and Liuyuxuan, were crowded with guests these days. Even the Jian family sent a new set of clothes and headgear, which showed that the rumors were true.
However, the person involved seemed to be completely unaware of this purpose. When talking about the plum blossom viewing, the most interesting thing he mentioned was that last year someone deliberately put some beans in the snacks to harm people, and this year the Princess of Yue even asked the ladies of each family to bring food to the banquet.
With Daning's admiration for food, it's obvious that food will be given extra points when selecting a daughter-in-law. Si Li didn't think the Yue Princess's behavior was strange. Seeing Jiang Shizhi's calm expression as if he was talking about someone else's business, she couldn't help but say, "I heard that this is to select a concubine for you, Prince Jiang. If it wasn't specified that I wanted to make snacks myself, I'm afraid my residence would be broken down by people."
Si Li realized the bitter taste in the words after she said them, and was very upset for a moment. She met Jiang Shizhi's eyes, and the deepness in his eyes was gone, leaving only a smile and understanding. She wanted to explain but swallowed it back.
"I wanted to plant a grapevine and raise two rabbits." Jiang Hengyun seemed not to notice her embarrassment and suddenly talked about his childhood thoughts. "At that time, I hated summer. I would feel sleepy after reciting books for a while. I just wanted a rocking chair under the shade of a tree so that I could take a nap after reading for a while."
As he spoke, the beautiful countryside slowly unfolded before Si Li's eyes like a painting. The secluded life she had expected was not much different from this description. She seemed to be standing outside the thatched cottage, touching the rabbit, picking a bunch of grapes, shaking the person who was taking a nap in the rocking chair under the shade of the tree, and laughing with him.
And right in front of me is a pair of smiling eyes.
Si Li suddenly came back to her senses, her heart beating like a drum. She turned away her eyes and stammered, "Why are you telling me all this? The Prince of Yue's mansion should have enough manors for you, Prince Jiang, to sleep in."
She had to admit that Jiang Shizhi's shadow had been imprinted in her heart since she didn't know when, so much so that she had some absurd thoughts that it would be a good thing if she could retire to the countryside with him in the future.
Jiang Hengyun raised his eyebrows slightly and chuckled. His voice was sweet and clear like a cold spring, and it touched Si Li's heartstrings. Si Li rubbed her earlobe and said, "I'll go check the cakes in the pot."
Behind her, Jiang Rufei picked up the chess piece and threw it into her brother's arms, her eyes were very unhappy, "She is leaving."
"Well, Gu Zhixiao."
Jiang Hengyun supported his forehead with one hand and looked at the girl behind the kitchen window inconspicuously, with a faint smile on his lips.
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As time went by, Si Li adjusted the taste of Guan Ji's glutinous rice balls for the last time. Guan Ji's apprentices finally had a successful snack that they could show off, but because they had to coordinate with the promotion schedule of Wanglaiju, they could not put it on the shelves for a while. Guan Zhiyu didn't take Si Li's apology to heart, saying that it was a good opportunity for the apprentices to consolidate their basics and practice more, and it would be best if Guan Ji's old-fashioned snacks could be put on the shelves when the store reopened.
After he mentioned the matter of seclusion, Jiang Shizhi seemed to have turned on a switch, and from time to time he sent some snacks from other places or handwritten recipes and anecdotes, or invited Si Li to sit in the back kitchen of Qiyun Tower at night to watch the moon. The things were not expensive, and the matter was not special, but the thought was the best.
Si Li knew that she should refuse, but as soon as Jiang Shizhi frowned and asked, "I thought we were friends," she would be completely defeated.
Friends, friends are fine. Si Li comforted herself, the deep tenderness in her eyes was never spoken. She admitted that Jiang Shizhi appeared at the right time and was a perfect match for her. She even occasionally couldn't help but think about what small item would be placed on the table tomorrow, and would picture Jiang Shizhi's appearance in the void when it was late at night.
But marrying Jiang Shizhi in Daning? Si Li felt that she was not ready for marriage yet.
The secret emotions were just a layer of window paper away from being exposed, but no one took a step forward.
The complicated feelings were tangled into a thread that weighed on my heart. If I couldn't figure it out, I simply stopped thinking about it. Si Li picked up the newly delivered green plum branch and put it in the vase beside the bed. The edges were slightly white, and the green core inside was full of the faint fragrance of the plum blossoms floating in the air, making the two tasks on the system panel look lovely.
The mandatory mission "Ali's Wish" is still counting down. The next round of recognition mission "Great Praise" refreshed after the previous recognition mission is completed requires the recognition of 5,000 people. There is still a long way to go. Si Li glanced at the system and opened the letter in her hand again.
The letter came from the mistress of the Si Mansion. If nothing unexpected happens, the dawn of her completion of the forced mission will be tied to it.
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The author has something to say:
Lili: The prince is really good-looking. Hey Jiang Shizhi is not bad either. They are both good hehehe (laughing like a dog)
Prince: ...
Susu: Let’s interview you. How does it feel to be your own NTR?
【With a few words, the interview is over. 】
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Xiao Qi sang more obscure and erotic lyrics...
The moon is bright over the sea, and the world is full of this moment. Lovers complain about the long nights, and miss each other all night long. This poem by Zhang Jiuling should have been memorized when we were in school.