"Hmph, well, someone has to eat it."
"Then you don't need to worry too much. We pickle just enough every year. I'll bring some back for you. I'll have to skip a couple of meals."
Yuan Ruo curled her lip and said with dissatisfaction, "Why is your mouth getting more and more vicious, making it impossible for anyone to refute you?"
Upon hearing this, Lin Ziwen felt something was amiss and asked doubtfully, "Could it be that everything I said wasn't true? When did I ever deliberately say something that you couldn't refute?"
"She's sharp-tongued and still denies it, she's not giving in to me like she used to."
"Alright, alright, from now on I'll just give in to you a little more." Then he muttered under his breath, "I'm acting all girly from the start."
Yuan Ruo heard him chattering away: "What did you say?"
Lin Ziwen waved his hand and stood up: "It's nothing, hurry up and pack up after you finish eating. Such a nice day, shouldn't we play some chess? Yesterday, Ali taught me a new way to play, I'll teach you in a bit."
"Ah Li?" Yuan Ruo didn't react for a moment: "Oh, her? Okay, wait a minute."
As she spoke, Yuan Ruo began to tidy up the table, putting the bowls and chopsticks into the food box.
After setting up the chessboard, Lin Ziwen demonstrated how to play Gomoku to Yuan Ruo, and Yuan Ruo said she had learned it in no time.
"This is much simpler than Go. It's amazing that the princess could come up with this way of playing."
"It may be simple, but there are many rules involved. Don't be fooled by appearances."
Yuan Ruo rubbed her hands together: "Hey, let's see if we can do it or not, come on."
“Okay, Blackie goes first.” Lin Ziwen gestured for him to begin.
Yuan Ruo picked up a chess piece and placed it in the center, and Lin Ziwen followed closely behind, placing it next to him. A battle of revenge against the scumbag began.
"No, no, I made a mistake. I meant to place it here." Yuan Ruo said, moving Lin Ziwen's piece aside and taking out her own piece that was stuck inside.
Lin Ziwen quickly stopped him: "Hey? You haven't learned any other skills, but you're quite good at cheating."
"No way, I just accidentally put it in the wrong place. You were following me so closely, I couldn't change it." After saying that, Yuan Ruo had already changed the position.
Lin Ziwen shook his head helplessly, then chuckled, "Oh dear, then this young master really has to thank you properly." With that, he placed one piece, completing the set of five.
Yuan Ruo quickly tried to move it away again: "Oh? I forgot, I forgot, I forgot it was supposed to be a five-in-a-row, this doesn't count, it doesn't count."
Lin Ziwen crossed his arms in front of him: "At this moment, aren't you just cheating?"
Yuan Ruo curled her lip, put down the chess piece in her hand, and said, "Alright then, you win."
Lin Ziwen scoffed dismissively, "Why should I bother with your calculations?" and began to collect the chess pieces.
"Don't put it away yet, okay? When the princess wakes up, I want to play a game with her too."
Upon hearing this, Lin Ziwen laughed loudly and said, "You can't even beat me, yet you dare to dream of playing against the princess?"
"So what? You have to learn from the best players to improve, don't you think?"
Lin Ziwen raised an eyebrow: "If you think it makes sense, then it's fine."
Meanwhile, Su Lixia was still fast asleep, with one leg sticking out and her mouth slightly open, her sleeping posture quite fierce.
It was raining, and Xiaolian felt cold outside, so she and the three cooks huddled together in the small kitchen to keep warm.
The cook who tended the fire last time asked, "The princess made something that looked quite appetizing last time, what was it?"
"That thing is called a crab, and it's delicious."
“We know it’s called crab, but how did the princess know how to make that dish, and how did it taste so good? We never knew the princess could cook.”
Xiao Lian laughed smugly: "Let me tell you, that dish was created by the princess herself. It's called Spicy Crab. There's a lot you don't know about it. Follow the princess closely, and she'll broaden your horizons even more."
Upon hearing that it was a dish created by Su Lixia herself, the three became even more excited: "The princess invented it herself? Is it really delicious?"
Xiao Lian hummed in agreement: "You probably wouldn't believe me if I said it was delicious, but there were hardly any crabs left yesterday. That outsider even tried to take them from me. The young master asked him to give them to me, but he wouldn't. What a pity, I didn't get to eat the last bite."
The three looked at each other, and one of them said, "Putting aside the taste, just the fact that she can create her own dishes and cook them so well shows that the princess must be hiding her true abilities. I'd like to have a friendly competition with her."
"Then you probably won't have a chance, because the princess rarely cooks. If she cooks again, it might just be because she feels like it on a whim."
"That doesn't matter, as long as there's an opportunity."
Xiao Lian shrugged: "Then you all just wait and see if the food is ready. I reckon by the time the princess wakes up it will be almost noon again, and we'll have to eat two meals at once."
"It's good to be together; it's more interesting to do it this way."
Xiao Lian frowned: "Pah, pah, pah, that won't do. The imperial physician said that breakfast is of utmost importance. Even if you skip lunch, you can't skip breakfast."
The cook slapped his mouth, indicating that he had made a mistake, and then went back to his work.
Meanwhile, at the Regent's Palace...
Xue Yurou had been waiting at the entrance of the Prince's Mansion with an umbrella for quite some time before Yi Zexuan returned.
"This straw hat is still no good. Although the rain is light, it is still heavy, and the prince still got soaked."
As soon as Yi Zexuan dismounted, he went straight to his study, saying as he went, "From now on, don't greet me at the gate of the palace. I only wear this straw hat when I leave the palace. It got wet on the way, so it's fine."
Yi Zexuan walked fast, and Xue Yurou tried to catch up with him, sometimes walking quickly and sometimes jogging, but she accidentally stepped on the mud.
"Ah!" Xue Yurou accidentally fell to the ground.
Yi Zexuan frowned, turned around and glanced at her, then stepped forward to help her up, saying, "I have urgent business to attend to. Go back and change your clothes first. I'll come find you when I'm done."
"Yes." Xue Yurou's soft voice had barely faded when Yi Zexuan had already walked away.
"Miss." The maid caught up and, seeing Xue Yurou standing there in a daze, advised, "Miss's dress is already dirty, and the back is covered in mud. It's not only unsightly, but it's also easy to catch a cold. You should go back and change quickly. It seems that the prince has something important to say."
Xue Yurou lowered her eyes: "Let's go, let's go back."
"yes."
The two walked back as they talked. Xue Yurou sighed softly, "I still prefer the time when the prince was not yet the regent, when he could handle some simple affairs and had plenty of time to spend at the mansion."
"It's a good thing that Your Highness is now shouldering heavy responsibilities. The situation in the court is unstable. Perhaps once things stabilize, Your Highness can be back to normal."
Xue Yurou hummed in agreement: "I hope so."
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