Chapter 23 The Concubine's Heartwarming Chicken Soup
Ever since he caught the Empress Dowager in Cining Palace, life at the Regent's Palace has been like a dream come true, peaceful and serene.
As the "local tyrant" of the Prince's mansion, Jiang Mianmian spends her days counting money and researching food and drink.
However, this peaceful period was eventually disrupted.
In the west courtyard of the Prince's mansion lived a concubine named Su Rou, who was always claiming to be ill and rarely left her quarters, and whose presence was almost nonexistent.
She was bestowed upon Shen Jin by the Empress Dowager three years ago, nominally as a concubine, but in reality, she was just a decoration used to annoy Shen Jin. Shen Jin had never set foot in the West Courtyard, and had almost forgotten her name.
But in the past few days, as the Empress Dowager suffered setbacks in the palace, Consort Su seemed to have received some instructions and suddenly "recovered from her illness," becoming active in the mansion.
Noon, in the study.
Shen Jin was engrossed in official documents, while Jiang Mianmian was sprawled on a soft couch not far away, peeling pine nuts and reading a storybook.
"Your Highness~"
A sweet, enchanting voice called out from outside the door.
Immediately afterwards, a rich aroma of cosmetics mixed with the smell of food wafted in.
Consort Su, dressed in a light pink gauze dress and carrying an exquisite food box, gracefully entered. Her face was adorned with delicate peach blossom makeup, and her eyes, like silk threads, seemed to draw silken threads from her gaze upon Chen Jin.
"This humble servant greets Your Highness and Your Highness's Consort."
Su Rou curtsied gracefully, her movements fluid and flawless.
Shen Jin didn't even raise his head, his pen still twirling, his voice indifferent: "What is it?"
Su Rou was not annoyed. She got up and stepped forward, placing the food box on the table. She said softly, "I heard that Your Highness has been working hard on state affairs lately, and I feel very sorry for you. I specially went to the small kitchen and personally simmered a 'Ten-Ingredient Tonic Ginseng Chicken Soup' for three hours to help Your Highness recover."
As she spoke, she lifted the lid.
A rich aroma of chicken soup instantly filled the air.
Jiang Mianmian was reading a storybook when she smelled this scent, and her nose twitched instantly.
[It smells so good! It smells like old hen soup! And it has ginseng, goji berries, and red dates... This flavor is just right!]
[Is this the legendary "heartwarming chicken soup"? Even though the person who delivered it is a scheming person, the soup itself is innocent! It looks golden and shiny; it must taste delicious!]
[Chen Jin, drink up! If you don't want to drink, I'll give it to you! I won't mind!]
Shen Jin heard the craving in her heart and his lips twitched slightly.
He finally raised his head, glanced at the bowl of steaming chicken soup, then at Jiang Mianmian's expectant face, and finally his gaze fell on Su Rou.
"Did you brew it yourself?" Shen Jin asked.
Su Rou was overjoyed, thinking that the prince was moved, and quickly nodded: "Yes, I got up very early this morning, and my hands are all red from being burned..."
As she spoke, she deliberately stretched out her fair and delicate hands, without even a red mark, and tried to tug at Chen Jin's sleeve, "As long as Your Highness is willing to drink, what does this little bit of suffering matter..."
It looked like her hand was about to touch Shen Jin.
Shen Jin moved slightly, and instantly retreated three feet along with his chair, his movements so swift that it seemed as if he were avoiding some kind of plague.
Su Rou's hand froze in mid-air.
“Shadow One,” Shen Jin said coldly.
"Your subordinate is here." Shadow One emerged from the shadows.
"Open the window." Shen Jin took out a handkerchief and covered his mouth and nose in disgust. "What's that smell in the room? It's too strong and it's giving me a headache."
Su Rou's smile froze on her face: "Your...Your Highness? This is my 'Hundred Flowers Dew,' the most fashionable spice in the capital..."
"Dew of a Hundred Flowers?"
Shen Jin frowned. "I only smelled a pungent, tacky odor. Don't come to the study if you haven't washed yourself properly in the future."
"puff--"
Jiang Mianmian, who was standing next to her, couldn't help but laugh out loud.
[Hahaha! "Chickened to a tacky taste"? Shen Jin, is your mouth blessed? That's so venomous! That's a million times more hurtful than directly calling someone "stinky"!]
[Look at Consort Su's face, her powder is practically falling off! This isn't Hundred Flowers Dew, it's clearly Embarrassing Dew!]
Su Rou's eyes instantly reddened, tears streaming down her face: "Your Highness... how can you say such things about me... I only meant well..."
"Thoughts?"
Shen Jin pointed to the bowl of chicken soup, "Since it's a token of your goodwill, then put it down."
Upon hearing this, Su Rou thought there was still hope, so she quickly wiped away her tears and brought out the chicken soup: "Your Highness, drink it while it's hot..."
"I will not drink."
Shen Jin interrupted her, "Didn't the princess just say that it was incense? It was given to the princess as a reward."
Jiang Mianmian: ? ? ?
Wow! You really gave it to me? Shen Jin, you're like a brother to me! Even though this soup was a gift from my rival, it's chicken soup! I don't mess with food!
She immediately sat up straight, looking "reluctantly" and said, "Since Your Highness doesn't like to drink it, then I'll do it for you. Thank you for your skill, Sister Su."
Su Rou was furious when she saw that the chicken soup she had simmered for three hours, which she had originally intended to use to win Jiang Mianmian's favor, had ended up in that gluttonous Jiang Mianmian's stomach.
But with Shen Jin present, she could only force a smile and say, "I'm glad you like it, sister..."
Jiang Mianmian picked up the bowl, just brought it to her lips to smell it, when she suddenly stopped.
As a superhuman who had survived the apocalypse, her senses were several times more acute than those of ordinary people. This soup… besides the aroma of chicken and herbs, seemed to also contain a very faint, almost imperceptible… bitter almond flavor?
Hmm? Something's not right. There's something in this soup.
Although it's not highly poisonous, the smell... it's like a muscle relaxant or some kind of drug that makes a man... unable to perform?
Good heavens, is Consort Su driven by love turned to hate, wanting to turn Shen Jin into a eunuch? Or is she planning to take advantage of his weakness and force herself on him?
Upon hearing the words "makes a man impotent," Shen Jin's face instantly darkened.
Why are all the people in this palace staring at his lower body?
"Why aren't you drinking anymore?" Shen Jin asked knowingly, but his eyes turned dangerous.
Jiang Mianmian put down the bowl and sighed, "It's too hot. And... this soup is too oily. I'm on a diet recently, so I can't drink it."
[Just kidding, this soup will make you weak and spiny! I want to eat chicken, but I don't want to get poisoned! Su Rou looks delicate, but she's ruthless!]
“In that case,” Shen Jin sneered, “Consort Su, since the Princess Consort won’t drink it, then you can drink it yourself. Don’t waste your ‘good intentions’.”
Su Rou's face changed drastically: "Your...Your Highness, I...I'm not hungry..."
"drink."
The word "calm and cautious" alone conveyed an imposing aura.
Su Rou stared at the bowl of soup laced with something, her hands trembling. The medicine wasn't fatal, but drinking it would cause extreme weakness and persistent diarrhea!
But under Shen Jin's murderous gaze, she dared not refuse to drink.
She picked up the bowl with trembling hands, closed her eyes, and, with a death-defying resolve, gulped it down.
"Get out." Shen Jin waved his hand.
Su Rou clutched her stomach and scrambled away. She figured she wouldn't be able to leave the west courtyard's outhouse for the next few days.
The study is finally quiet.
Shen Jin frowned as he looked at the pile of things Su Rou had touched on the table: "Throw all of these away. Wipe the table three times."
"Yes." Yingyi accepted the order.
Jiang Mianmian shook her head as she looked at Shen Jin's obsessive-compulsive disorder about cleanliness.
[Tsk tsk tsk, this level of germaphobia is unbelievable. They just left a food container there, they didn't poop on the table, is it really that big of a deal?]
[But speaking of which, I got thirsty from shelling pine nuts.]
Jiang Mianmian picked up a cup of tea from beside her; it was half-finished tea from earlier and had gone cold.
"Gulp, gulp."
She downed the tea in one gulp with gusto, then put down the cup. "Ah—so refreshing!"
Plain water is definitely the best thirst quencher.
She was about to get up and go back to her room when she saw Shen Jin suddenly reach out and take the empty teacup she had just drunk from with remarkable ease.
Jiang Mianmian was stunned: "Your Highness? It's empty..."
Shen Jin didn't speak, but picked up the teapot and poured a cup of water into the cup that still had Jiang Mianmian's lipstick mark on it.
Then, to Jiang Mianmian's astonishment, he slowly took a sip from the cup, still bearing the lipstick stain.
"This water really quenches thirst."
Shen Jin put down his cup and said calmly.
The entire room fell silent.
Yingyi, who was wiping the table, almost ate the rag.
The butler, who had just reached the door and was about to come in, slipped and almost fell flat on his face.
Jiang Mianmian was completely dumbfounded; her eyes almost popped out of their sockets.
[Holy crap?!]
[Am I seeing things? Shen Jin? The Shen Jin who's such a germaphobe, wiping the table three times if Consort Su even touches it? He actually... actually drank from my leftover cup?]
[And that's my lipstick mark! Don't you understand indirect kissing?!]
This double standard is so blatant! Consort Su is the virus, and I am... am I the vaccine?
Shen Jin looked at her as if she had seen a ghost and felt inexplicably pleased.
He gently traced the red mark on the rim of the glass with his fingertips, his eyes deep and unfathomable.
"Why is Your Highness looking at me like that? We are husband and wife, sharing the same cup. What's wrong with that?"
Jiang Mianmian's face flushed red instantly.
[A couple living together? Sharing cups?]
[Shen Jin, you've changed. You're no longer the aloof regent. Now you're just... a repressed, lecherous old man!]
[But...why is my heart beating so fast? Oh no, I must have been bewitched by this jerk's good looks!]
Jiang Mianmian clutched her chest and fled in panic: "This concubine...this concubine will go check if dinner is ready!"
Watching her hastily departing figure, a smile spread across Shen Jin's lips.
He glanced down at the cup in his hand, then raised it again and drank the rest of the tea in one gulp.
It really is... very sweet.
It tastes a million times better than that "heartwarming chicken soup" soup.
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