Chapter 13
Ling Huanchen blinked, not expecting Yu Xi to ask this question suddenly. "The king...did not summon me."
"You can come to see me even if I am not summoned." Yu Xi's face was calm and his tone was formal. If you ignore the fingers that he kept rubbing together, it really sounded like a solemn question and answer between the emperor and his subjects.
At the end he added, "If you want to come, come."
Ling Huanchen was stunned for a moment. Does this mean that he can come and go as he pleases without notifying?
Before Ling Huanchen could respond, Yu Xi immediately said, "Of course, if you don't want to..."
"I think so." Ling Huanchen interrupted him, "I think so."
The two of them were already very close, and now their eyes met, their breaths intertwined, making it even more ambiguous.
"Your Majesty, the rice dumplings are out of the pot."
Xiao Qi came in joyfully to report, but when he looked up, he saw his master quickly turning his head as if he had been burned, putting some distance between him and the king. Then he saw the king's face darken, and suddenly realized that he had come in at the wrong time.
"Your Majesty...that rice dumpling..." Should I serve it or not?
"Serve it up."
After receiving the order, Xiao Qi immediately went to serve the meal as if he had been granted amnesty. Not long after, the freshly cooked rice dumplings were served on the table.
The sweet date rice dumplings were placed in cold water to cool down, and the ones in front of the two people were all salty pork rice dumplings.
"Your Majesty, please try it."
Ling Huanchen methodically peeled open a beautifully shaped rice dumpling. His slender fingers untied the thin string, and the reed leaves slowly opened, revealing the snow-white glutinous rice ball inside, which looked fresh and delicious.
Yu Xi watched Ling Huanchen peeling a zongzi, and for some reason she suddenly remembered him in her arms the night before. The cloak wrapped around Ling Huanchen like reed leaves wrapped around a zongzi.
He still remembered seeing with his own eyes Ling Huanchen's mermaid tail transforming into legs, and his icy skin and bones wrapped in the black cloak, just like a freshly peeled meat dumpling.
Seeing that he hadn't touched his chopsticks for a long time, Ling Huanchen leaned over and asked, "How is it?"
Yu Xi came back to his senses and took a quick bite. "Excellent! This is the freshest rice dumpling I've ever tasted."
Ling Huanchen lowered his head and smiled, thinking that Yu Xi must be in a good mood today, otherwise with his cooking skills, he would never be able to match the imperial chef's.
On the other side, Xiao Qi slipped in from behind the palace servant in the imperial kitchen, and gently handed the ginseng soup to Ling Huanchen, signaling him to give it to the king.
When Ling Huanchen went to take it, the bowl of soup suddenly tilted. Although Yu Xi quickly pulled him to her side, half of the ginseng soup still stained his clothes.
"I deserve to die!" Xiao Qi fell to his knees with a thud.
Yu Xi confirmed that Ling Huanchen was not burned and said in a deep voice, "Someone come."
"Your Majesty." Ling Huanchen hurriedly looked at Yu Xi, and his intention was obviously to protect her.
Yu Xi glanced at Xiao Qi lying on the ground and said, "What are you doing standing there? Why don't you bring some clean clothes over?"
"I'll go right away!"
Almost in the blink of an eye, Xiao Qi slid down and knelt in front of the two of them, holding the clothes. His speed was so fast that it seemed as if he had prepared it in advance.
"I will help you change into it."
"Put down your clothes, and everyone get out."
Who dared to disobey Wang's order? Xiao Qi winked at Yun He at the door and hurriedly cleaned up the mess.
In a flash, Ling Huanchen and Yu Xi were the only ones left in the room.
"Please wait a moment, Your Majesty." As he said that, Ling Huanchen picked up his clothes and went behind the screen.
He took off his coat and looked up, and saw that Yu Xi had followed him without him noticing.
"Your Majesty, I will leave as soon as I am done changing."
Yu Xi took a few steps forward and said, "It's not easy to wear a human robe."
Ling Huanchen wanted to step back, but the person in front of him was Yu Xi. He stopped and stood still, whispering, "I can wear it."
"I will help you."
Yu Xi covered Ling Huanchen's hand that was already untying his inner shirt, put it on both sides, and turned to untie it herself.
Ling Huanchen stood straight, not knowing where to look. As his underwear fell to the ground, his whole body looked like it was cooked in a pot.
The imagined white rice dumpling turned into a red rice dumpling. Yu Xi's throat moved slightly, and his eyes wandered around unconsciously.
As Yu Xi put the clean clothes back on Ling Huanchen one by one, the temperature on Ling Huanchen's body continued to increase.
He might become the first merman to die from overheating.
The bamboo leaf green robe makes her look brighter and clearer.
Yu Xi looked at his masterpiece and was amazed. He remembered that the green robe was covered with snow-white, which looked like a fresh meat rice dumpling. He had just clearly experienced the joy of making rice dumplings.
"My king... My king suddenly remembered that I have official business to attend to." If he stayed any longer, he was afraid that he would not be able to resist the temptation.
After saying this, Yu Xi left at a brisk pace, as if there was really some urgent official business waiting for him to deal with.
As soon as he left, Xiaoqi and Yunhe came into the room. Seeing Ling Huanchen standing there neatly dressed, the two looked at each other with strange expressions.
"Xiao Qi."
When Ling Huanchen called out his name, Xiao Qi hurried forward and asked, "Master, what are your orders?"
Ling Huanchen looked at the two of them and said, "Tell me, what's going on?"
The ginseng soup was usually served piping hot, but today it was already lukewarm. Even though Xiao Qi was often aggressive, he still knew his limits. He was careful and quick, and he definitely wouldn't make a mistake like he did today.
There can only be one reason, and that is that the child did it on purpose.
Ling Huanchen deliberately frowned, "How dare you play tricks in front of the king? Aren't you afraid of being chopped off?"
Xiao Qi lowered his head and listened to the lecture obediently, "I was wrong, Master, please don't be angry with me."
Ling Huanchen looked at Yunhe again. With Xiaoqi's brain, it might take a while for him to remember to act so mischievously.
Yun He pursed her lips. "It was this servant's idea. Xiao Qi ruined the good things between the king and the master. He wanted to make amends and consulted with me, so he came up with this bad idea. He wanted the king and the master to stay in the same room alone..."
Xiao Qi took over and continued, "It was bound to be a catastrophe! But who would have thought that the king would leave without doing anything."
“Nonsense!”
Ling Huanchen's face turned pale and red at what they said, "If you do this again, you can find another master to serve."
The two men who had been very opinionated just now knelt down immediately after hearing this.
"I dare not."
"I know I'm wrong, Master, please don't chase me away."
Ling Huanchen said this on purpose, firstly to scare them, after all, he was reluctant to punish them severely, and secondly to make these two shut up quickly and stop saying inappropriate things all day long.
Is it possible that being immoral is also a disease and contagious? Otherwise, why have the people around him become like this?
"Okay, get up."
The two men looked at each other and shook their heads. They would rather kneel down as punishment than change their master.
Ling Huanchen ignored them and went back to the couch to rest his eyes.
Xiao Qi secretly said to Yun He, "Is our king suffering from any hidden illness?" Even at this point, he was still able to remain calm.
"Don't talk nonsense!" Although Yun He scolded on the surface, she couldn't help but think of several twists and turns in her heart. She had indeed never seen the king favor anyone for such a long time. Logically speaking, at this age, he should be full of vigor and vitality. Could there really be a problem?
The unsuspecting King Yu Xi of Youcheng suddenly couldn't help sneezing, and Fu Changshi was so frightened that he hurried forward with a cloak.
Yu Xi waved her hand and said, "It doesn't matter what month it is." Could it be that he caught a cold while taking a shower?
Fu Changshi stepped back awkwardly, glanced back at the figure at the door, and left the study very tactfully.
Just as Yu Xi was practicing calligraphy to calm his mind, he didn't even look up. He thought someone else had come in, and with the smell of food wafting in, he thought it was a palace servant from the imperial kitchen.
"From now on, meals will be brought in by the waiter Fu."
After bathing, Yu Xi changed into a black brocade robe with dragon patterns, which made him look more majestic as a king.
"Is it not possible for me to bring it here?"
Yu Xi suddenly looked up and saw that man's eyes were filled with smiles, and the corners of his lips were half raised. He stopped in vain, and forced himself to maintain his kingly demeanor. He cleared his throat and said, "Of course you can."
Ling Huanchen placed the snacks on the table and asked, "Is this minister not disturbing the king's official business?"
"No." Yu Xi casually picked up a memorial. "Huanchen, you've arrived just in time. Here's a memorial about raising funds for construction in the county. I want the money to come from the wealthy local families, but I don't want to force them in the name of Your Majesty. Huanchen, what should we do?"
In other words, they want both money and fame.
Ling Huanchen had a plan in mind, but he said, "This...it's not right for me to discuss political affairs."
"Just say whatever the king asks you to say." Yu Xi asked casually as if he was just chatting.
Ling Huanchen nodded. "I do have a way to get the local dignitaries to voluntarily offer silver, but it's not very kind."
Yu Xi was very interested, "Tell me about it."
"Your Majesty can first send people to disguise themselves as bandits to scare the local dignitaries, and then send people to protect them. Those people will definitely be grateful. First, for the sake of stability, and second, to show their loyalty, they will naturally take out money." Ling Huanchen sat next to Yu Xi and took the grindstone on his own initiative.
Yu Xi intercepted his hand and held it in her own palm, "Huan Chen and I are of the same mind."
The two people's methods were surprisingly similar. He originally thought that Ling Huanchen was only accomplished in music, chess, calligraphy and painting, but he never thought that he also had the talent of a strategist.
"I'm just trying to relieve the king's worries." Ling Huanchen had recently discovered that whenever he was near Yu Xi, his naturally cold body would vanish, and the condition seemed to be getting worse. "I... feel a little hot. I'd like to go for a walk in the Imperial Garden."
"The King is with you."
He stood up and took the person two steps, then suddenly remembered something, turned around and picked up the person horizontally.
"Your Majesty!" Ling Huanchen tried to get down, but accidentally fell back, leaning against Yu Xi's chest. The sound of Yu Xi's strong heartbeat filled his ears. "I'd better walk on my own."
He always hugs me. How long will this stop?
"Your legs are not in good condition. I will carry you over."
"I didn't..." Ling Huanchen said halfway, but his senses returned and he stopped for a moment.
Yu Xi lowered her head to look at the person in her arms, and patiently asked softly, "Nothing?"
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