Chapter 24.2

Linglong’s throat tightened, and she said in a strangled tone, “Your Highness, did this servant say something wrong?”

Pei Yan slowly lowered his head, carelessly playing with the delicate white porcelain teacup, pondering for a moment before saying lightly, “What was the Crown Princess’s reaction?”

Linglong’s brows twitched, and she said cautiously, “The Crown Princess… seemed rather interested.”

Seeing the smile on Pei Yan’s lips getting chillier and chillier, Linglong’s palms broke out in a sweat. She wondered inwardly, Could it be that the Crown Prince doesn’t want the Crown Princess to go out to the streets and marketplace, so he’s unhappy?

After a moment’s silence, she attempted to explain on behalf of the Crown Princess, “It should be because the Crown Princess grew up behind closed doors under strict rules since she was a child that she’s a little curious about the restaurants and music outside.”

“Restaurants? Music?”

Pei Yan’s delicate and well-defined fingers rubbed the wall of the teacup; his beautiful peach blossom eyes were slightly narrowed, and the depths of his eyes were as thick as ink. He said in a deep voice, “The Marquis of Zhenbei has really raised a good daughter.”

He had heard before that the Marquis of Zhenbei had raised his daughter to become foolish, vulgar, capricious, and reckless, and that all the noble ladies in the capital were unwilling to associate with her. Now it seemed that the rumours were not groundless… Which lady who knows how to behave would ask a married woman to go to a place like the Drunken Immortal Parlour?

His Crown Princess had only just become a little more obedient. If this Xu Wenchan brought her astray again… No way!

With a stern expression, Pei Yan called out in a low voice, “Linglong.”

Linglong answered immediately, ready to receive orders.

But after waiting for a while, she didn’t hear anything from above. Just when she was hesitating whether to ask, the cold and jade-like voice suddenly sounded, “Forget it.”

Linglong, “…?”

“You may return. By the way, tell the Crown Princess I’ll go to her place for dinner tonight.”

“Understood.” Linglong bowed and retreated.

After walking out of the main hall, Linglong’s brows furrowed involuntarily. The Crown Princess was only thinking of going to a restaurant, why was His Highness so upset? Didn’t he also say before that he would take the Crown Princess to a restaurant? How strange.

She walked out in puzzlement, and after a few steps, she saw Zhan Ping walking her way with his sword. Linglong bowed hurriedly, “Greetings, Lord Zhan.”

Seeing her frown, Zhan Ping’s mind whirled and he said softly, “Is Maiden Linglong going back to Yaoguang Hall?”

Linglong nodded, “Yes. Crown Princess had instructed this servant to deliver a dish to His Highness.”

Zhan Ping said, “Deliver a dish, huh? That’s a good thing, so why does Maiden Linglong look so vexed? Could it be that there’s something wrong with the dish from the Crown Princess and she has caused trouble for His Highness again?”

“……?” Linglong’s frown deepened. What nonsense was this?

Seeing Linglong not say anything, Zhan Ping thought he guessed right, and immediately said indignantly, “What did I say? Her previous virtuousness was all just an act. It’s only been a few days and the fox and revealing her tail. Seriously…”

“Lord Zhan!” Linglong interrupted him straight away, staring at him with dark eyes. “Please pay attention to the words you say. Putting aside the fact that the Crown Princess did not cause any trouble for His Highness, even if she did cause trouble, she is still the Crown Princess of the East Palace. It’s not your place to criticise her.”

At that, she harumphed angrily, ignored Zhan Ping, and walked away.

Zhan Ping raised a hand and scratched the back of his head. “What the heck?” he muttered, then continued forward.

It happened that the officials of the East Palace had also finished their lunch and were walking out in small groups, chatting away——

“The Crown Princess’s stuffed fried tofu looked so good. The fragrance alone is already unbearable. I don’t even know how many times I swallowed my saliva. I wonder what it tastes like…”

“It smells so good, it must taste even better! Didn’t you see how Grand Mentor Song and the others couldn’t even put down their chopsticks?”

“That’s true, if it wasn’t for His Highness, I’m afraid they would have fought over the last piece of stuffed tofu, hahaha. That said, I didn’t expect the Crown Princess to have such a skill. His Highness’s tastebuds are going to be blessed from now on!”

Listening to their conversation, Zhan Ping couldn’t help but ask, “Hello, gentlemen. What are you talking about so enthusiastically?”

“We’re talking about the Crown Princess’s cooking skills,” said an official. “The Crown Princess just sent an extremely delicious dish to His Highness. Sigh, it’s a pity you didn’t come at the right time. Otherwise, you could have tasted a piece.”

Zhan Ping’s face stiffened. He wanted to say “who cares”, but when he saw that the officials in front of him were all full of praise for it, he could only squeeze out from his throat with difficulty, “That’s… indeed a pity.”

The official next to him said comfortingly, “It’s okay. His Highness has always valued you, there will be other chances next time.”

Zhan Ping lifted the corners of his lips awkwardly. After talking a few more steps, he saw Grand Mentor Song, Grand Guardian Min, and the other senior officials in purple and red walking out with smiles on their faces, also talking about some kind of stuffed fried tofu.

It was just one dish— was it really worth so much fuss?

Zhan Ping’s little head was full of big question marks. Could it be that the Crown Princess was capable of some kind of sorcery? Otherwise, how did it come to be that in less than a month, everyone in the East palace was full of praises for her?

……

Pei Yan initially wanted to issue an order to forbid Xu Wenchan from being allowed to come to the East Palace again. However, after thinking about it, if Tao Ti knew about it and that caused her to have ill feelings towards him, it wouldn’t be worth it.

Forget it. If she really went out of the palace, he would just people to keep an eye on her.

Or, whichever gigolo she took a fancy to, he would just break all his three legs ¹ and see who else would dare to serve her.

With these countermeasures in mind, Pei Yan’s face cleared up a little. He stood up confidently and strode out. “To Chongwen House.”

Fu Xirui followed hurriedly after him. Out of the corner of his eye, he happened to glance at the table, and his pupils trembled violently—

The porcelain cup the Crown Prince was playing with had shattered into four petals like a flower in full bloom, silently announcing how much displeasure it had borne the brunt of just now.

……

Footnote:

¹ three legs: In C-novels, it’s a common saying to say them men have three legs. Two they stand on, and one that… *cough* can stand.

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