As for the more cunning Fujin, Li Shi, and Song Shi, they wondered if there had been any tampering with the food!
Instantly, the way the group looked towards Taoyuan changed, and they thought to themselves: Not bad!
Indeed, when faced with a choice between spoiled food and delicious, abundant food, everyone would choose the delicious, abundant food.
In their view, Hesheli would inevitably eat the food sent by the servants of Guarjia, and it was unavoidable that she would fall ill.
.
But Hesheri was no ordinary person; she was a reborn individual, and her endurance was actually quite remarkable.
Even after enduring a month of spoiled food, when she saw the stark contrast between the cold, spoiled food on one side and the sumptuous, delicious food on the other, she used immense self-control to suppress her urge to eat, forcing her to look away from the steaming, fragrant food.
"Master, eat quickly!" Li Xia was overjoyed, her eyes even turning a little red.
This food is steaming hot and doesn't smell spoiled at all!
Since her mistress was confined to her quarters and Lichun and the others were dragged away, she was the only person left by her mistress's side, someone she had brought from her maternal home.
Moreover, because of the women in the backyard who took advantage of his misfortune, the master had money but nowhere to spend it, and the people who delivered the food were simply taking money without doing anything.
So, the master could only eat spoiled food as usual, and she, as the personal maid, was of course not entitled to be an exception. Thus, she also ate spoiled food for a month.
With so much delicious, non-spoiled food available now, the master certainly can't finish it all. These leftovers are much better than spoiled food.
Meeting Li Xia's eager gaze, a hint of doubt flashed quickly in Hesheli's eyes.
In her excitement, Li Xia failed to notice that her loyal master had become suspicious of her.
"Could it be that Li Xia has been bribed?" It's no wonder that Hesheli had this thought in her mind. In the past month, she had been living a miserable and difficult life, and the people around her had been treated the same way. Under such circumstances, she couldn't believe that anyone could be so steadfast and loyal to her, and not be bribed by the women in the backyard.
Then, Hesheli thought to herself, "There's something wrong with urging myself to eat this delicious food so urgently."
Like the Fujin, Li Shi, Song Shi, and others, Hesheli Shi also felt that the sudden cessation of her torment, the restoration of her original treatment, and the provision of normal, non-stale food seemed abrupt and suspicious.
As a multitude of thoughts flashed through her mind, Hesheli once again turned her gaze back to the delicious food that had been brought to her. Inevitably, she saw the unsightly, foul-smelling, and spoiled food again, and her emotions stirred once more.
Even if the hot food was spoiled, she still wanted to eat it and didn't want to eat the rotten food again.
Thinking this, she could no longer control her inner desires. She reached for her chopsticks, her eyes burning as she looked at the steaming food, her throat moving constantly, clearly trying to swallow her saliva.
Upon seeing this, Lixia was immediately delighted.
Great, Master has started eating!
In her view, such good food was not even touched by her master, so how could she, as a servant, eat and use it at will?
Now that the mistress has picked up her chopsticks and eaten the food, the leftovers can be hers. How could she not be happy?
Unexpectedly, this joy caught Hesheli's eye out of the corner of her eye, but she misinterpreted it.
"There was definitely something wrong with the Beginning of Summer!"
"If I actually pick up my chopsticks and eat this hot food, I'll have done what she wanted!"
"So, is getting infected through this food one of her ways of showing loyalty to her new master?"
...One speculation after another extinguished Heseri's burning desire for hot, normal food. Even if the food was incredibly fragrant, masking the stale smell of the other side, and extremely tempting, her craving was completely extinguished.
.
So, her hand, which was about to reach for the steaming hot food, paused in mid-air. Then, she heeded her inner concerns and put down her chopsticks.
"Master?" Li Xia was confused. Why did she stop eating?
Hesheli skillfully concealed her suspicion towards Lixia, showing no sign of it. "Let's just eat the original, spoiled food!"
"What?!" Li Xia exclaimed in shock!
How could the master refuse good food and eat such rotten stuff?!
Is there a problem?
"Someone is trying to murder Master!" The thought flashed through Li Xia's mind in an instant, and her expression immediately changed drastically, filled with extreme fear.
However, Hesheli saw it as Lixia's fear of her, her former master, after her scheme was exposed.
Just as she was pondering how to deal with Li Xia, she noticed that Li Xia, who had been terrified, suddenly became determined. Then, with lightning speed, she picked up a plate of braised pork in front of her, grabbed a handful, and quickly stuffed it into her mouth.
Seeing this, Hesheli was somewhat bewildered. This situation was not what she had expected! Shouldn't she have simply reached out and swept the food onto the ground, destroying the tampered food?
Li Xia puffed out her cheeks as she chewed the braised pork in her mouth until it was crushed, then swallowed it down with a death-defying air.
Seeing Li Xia's behavior, Hesheli finally realized that this was not what she had expected. No matter how you looked at it, Li Xia was loyally tasting the dishes for her.
After eating for a while, Li Xia felt no abnormalities in her body and turned to Hesheli with a happy smile.
"My lord, there's nothing wrong with this braised pork. I didn't feel anything was wrong after eating it!"
Just as she was speaking happily and preparing to invite her master to eat this safe dish, she suddenly realized something was amiss. She had used this dish directly with her hands; to serve it to her master was extremely impolite, unclean, and inappropriate…
Li Xia was embarrassed and immediately apologized to Hesheli.
Hesheli didn't care about this. In her opinion, if you can eat spoiled food, why can't you eat this?
What she cared about most was that her personal maid, Li Xia, had not betrayed her; everything that had just happened seemed to be her own conjecture.
After that, Li Xia picked up her chopsticks and, without Li Xia's prompting, took the initiative to try each dish herself. This made Li Xia even more proactive in putting away her suspicions about Li Xia.
Especially in the days that followed, Li Xia risked her life every time she tried out the dishes for her. Moreover, she kept her close by and prevented her from acting alone. During this time, she did not find out that Li Xia had taken anything like an antidote.
In the end, the last trace of doubt in Li Xia's heart dissipated, replaced by unwavering trust.
Of course, that's a story for later. On the same day, shortly after what happened at the Pear Academy, Xiao Hezi at the Peach Academy received news about it.
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