Chapter 16

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

On the other side, Ye Kang had gone back and taken off the curtain rod end cap. He sat dumbfounded in the house, and no one knew what he was thinking.

He was a first-class guard. Although he was not as good as the crown prince’s personal guard, he still had his own house.

The house was not large and only had some simple furnishings. There was a bed and a table, on which were some teapots.

Next to the room was a compartment, inside of which was a small desk covered with a miscellaneous pile of things.

In addition to some books and bamboo scrolls, there were some scattered leaves, and a few of them were still intact. These leaves were all carved with beautiful figures, and next to these leaves was a carving knife. However, all those leaves were not as complete and smooth as the one Su Ruhui received.

Ye Kang walked into the compartment and cleaned up the miscellaneous leaves on the table.

He touched the leaves as if wanting to smash them.

But finally, he kept one of them. He pulled out a box from under the table, opened it, and then carefully put the leaf in.

If Su Ruhui were here, she would have recognized that those things in the box were the letters she had written in a happy mood during those days and nights.

Ye Kang looked at the letters and did not hide the infatuation in his gaze.

He looked at them as if he were looking at Su Ruhui and murmured, “Huihui, my Huihui…”

The Li family’s house.

Li Baojia and Taotao had just arrived at the house and met the guard of the East Palace.

Judging from his clothes, he was the crown prince’s personal guard, not an ordinary one.

Li Baojia thought, “Why would the crown prince send someone here at this time?”

Anyway, Li Baojia thought he was not here for her, so she glanced at him and turned around to go in.

“Miss Baojia.”

However, the guard stopped in front of her and bowed. “His Highness wants to ask how the soup you sent before was made?”

He repeated Mr. Huang’s words with a serious face. “No matter how often they tried, the East Palace’s people could not make the soup taste the same. And His Highness wanted to drink it so badly that he sent me here to ask.”

If Mr. Huang had seen this scene, he would have hated himself for sending such a stupid one here. Of course, those who didn’t know would have thought he was reporting on official business.

Li Baojia thought, “The crown prince wants to drink the soup?”

She thought it was really strange.

Besides, that soup was nothing special. Although the ingredients were expensive and rare for ordinary people, they were nothing unusual for the East Palace.

Li Baojia considered for a while and said, “That soup is nothing special…Since His Highness wants to drink, I will have someone copy the recipe and send it to his residence. Please wait.”

The guard nodded. And when he thought of Mr. Huang’s instructions to do the job well, he added, “What if the East Palace’s people can’t make the soup even with the recipe? Which chef in the house made that soup?”

He seemed to be trying to take the person who made the soup away.

Although the cooks made this soup in Li Baojia’s kitchenette, she told the public that she made it herself, so she couldn’t change it now and say that it was all made by the cooks.

Li Baojia said, “I made the soup for His Highness.”

The guard looked a little disappointed because he couldn’t take away the person who made the soup.

But then Li Baojia added, “But I am also taught by the cook. So she can make the soup taste exactly the same, and there will be no discernible difference.”

Anyway, there were many cooks in her place, and she did not like soup, so going to the East Palace was also considered the cook’s promotion.

For this kind of trivial matter, she was happy to be helpful.

The guard was satisfied. “Then bring her to me so I can go back and report on my task.”

Li Baojia nodded. Then she turned her head and ordered someone to bring the cook over, although she was baffled by the matter.

Mr. Huang’s true intention was ruined by their confusion.

Li Baojia bowed and took Taotao to the house.

On the way, Taotao said, “Miss Baojia, is the soup really so good? Even His Highness, who is so well-clothed and well-fed, can’t forget it.”

Li Baojia carefully recalled and said, “It seems…not bad.”

The East Palace.

Mr. Huang looked at the guy standing before him with a bright smile while the cook bowed with a frightened look on his face behind him. He was speechless. “You…who told you to bring her back?”

The guard smiled innocently. “Since His Highness wanted to drink the soup, I brought the cook here for fear that those in the East Palace would not be able to make it taste the same even if they had the recipe.”

Seeing Mr. Huang’s darkened face, he hurriedly said, “Mr. Huang, don’t worry. Miss Baojia told me that although she made the soup, her cooking skills were taught by this cook. So how can the teacher be worse than the student?”

He patted his chest as a guarantee because he was afraid Mr. Huang would not believe him. “Don’t worry. His Highness will definitely like her cooking!”

Mr. Huang did not know whether to cry or laugh and kicked the guard in the buttocks. “Take her away. Don’t let me see you again, you stupid bastard!”

Looking at the guy covering his buttocks and grimacing, Huang Gao sighed and regretted. “What kind of fatheads have they raised in the East Palace?”

At the hall.

Zhao Yi, who was just done with his lunch, finished reading the documents, which were mostly about various matters in Jiangnan. He had not rested for a moment from morning to just now.

Seeing Zhao Yi place his fingers on the corner of his forehead, looking slightly tired, Mr. Huang gave a wink to the imperial palace maid before she gently lit up the tranquilizing incense in the hall.

Soon, a pleasant fragrance gradually filled the hall, and smoke circled all over.

Zhao Yi held his head, and in a daze, it seemed like he was out of the hall. A woman in a yellow dress was standing at the door, pulling on his clothes, and asked, “Didn’t you promise me that you would take me to pick lotus seeds today?”

He kissed her intimately on the forehead and smelled a sweet, fruity scent, which calmed his somewhat restless heart.

They were in a canoe and got to the middle of the lotus pond. He chased away all the people around them and tilted his head to look at her, not interested in the pond of lotus seeds.

They were not even as distracting as a strand of her hair.

She was happily picking lotus seeds with a pile of lotus seedpods around her feet. But she was still greedily reaching for the largest one in the center of the pond.

Unfortunately, because her hands were a bit short, she had to prop herself up against the side of the canoe with one hand, and her body almost pressed against the hull while the other hand struggled to reach the lotus seed pod.

Just when she was about to reach it, a big hand reached out next to her and grabbed the lotus seedpod deliberately, pushing it further away.

She turned her head with some annoyance and stared angrily at the owner of the hand. She had been picking lotus seeds for so long that some water droplets had splashed onto her face.

The water droplets slid all the way down from her fair cheeks to her slender neck and then hid within the collar of her coat, making him fall into a trance.

The man’s throat, which was almost leaning over her body, moved imperceptibly. “Want it?”

She curled her lips and muttered, “I can get it myself if you don’t push it.”

She kept saying. Zhao Yi held her shoulder and pressed her with the other hand, using his mouth to cover her chattering little mouth.

The girl below was dizzy from the kiss. But before she returned to her senses and tried to push him away angrily, he had already let her go.

She turned her head in some panic to look around. “You…how can you do this in public…?”