Chapter 31

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

Li Baojia and Taotao sat in the carriage.

Taotao asked, “Miss Baojia, you are not going to eat with Madam Huang today, right?”

After all, Miss Baojia’s acting skills outside were getting more and more perfect.

Li Baojia said, “Of course, eating with a man outside is always not very good, so I just casually find an excuse.”

Taotao nodded. “You are right to do so, Miss Baojia. However, I think Mr. Ji’nan is not reliable at all.”

She thought he was not even as good as the crown prince.

Li Baojia asked curiously, “Why do you have such a strong dislike for him?”

Except for when Li Baojia said she didn’t like a person, Taotao rarely took the initiative to say she didn’t like a person.

Taotao said, “Because I heard that although Mr. Ji’nan has a reputation for talent, he is dissipated and always hangs out in the brothels. He even has several lovers.”

If Zhou Ji’nan were here, he would have cried he was wronged. But instead, he just went to listen to the songs.

He even hadn’t touched other girls’ hands until now.

Besides, many men went to those places with him, so why was he the only one who was dissipated?

“Miss Baojia, you will suffer if you marry him. When the time comes, you will be at home every day to take care of his family affairs, and he will be out there having a good time…”

Taotao seemed to have seen the bleak future of Li Baojia and wrinkled her brows in anger.

Li Baojia soothingly patted her hand. “When looking at people, one cannot just look at the surface. We are in contact with him these days. Has he ever done anything bad? He even saved us yesterday.”

That was because she also heard some of his deeds in her previous life, so she did not believe that a real loafer would have that kind of achievement in the future.

Then Li Baojia said, “Besides, I was not with him. I have good judgment and will not make a decision easily.”

Hearing this, Taotao nodded heavily, looking very cute.

Suddenly a pleasant smell of food came from outside, smelling like something was baking with a thick sesame fragrance.

Li Baojia suddenly drooled and lifted the curtain to see a store by the roadside selling fried pies.

It was made of flour, sugar, and sesame, which was crispy and delicious on the outside and soft and sweet inside. In addition, it had a rich sesame flavor.

Many people in Imperial City considered fried pie an unpopular snack, and those noblewomen in Imperial City thought it was greasy and unpalatable, but Li Baojia liked it very much.

The streets were full of such fried pies when she was a child. Madam Huang had always forbidden her to eat the food sold outside, but the fried pie seller always carried a pole past the side door of the Li family’s house, so she always secretly bought it to eat.

Besides, the fried pie saved her life as a child.

She was playful as a child and often sneaked out from the dog hole to play. And once, she ran into a human trafficker, who thought she was cute and abducted her.

After walking for a few hours, they met a little boy lying on the ground, almost dead. He had fallen to the ground, and his body was covered with blood.

Seeing that the little boy looked cute and was still breathing, that person tied him up and locked him up with her.

But the boy was silent. She said a lot, but he only said one word, “Noisy.”

When the person tried to transfer them later, she secretly tore up the uneaten fried pies and threw them on the ground, thinking of using them as marks and wondering if they could be found.

And they were really so lucky that the army soon came to save them. Unfortunately, the boy was frail and about to die at that time.

She did not know if the little boy had arrived home safely that year.

Thinking about these past events, Li Baojia was slightly nostalgic.

She excitedly turned to Taotao and said, “I ate some cakes this morning, so I’m not very hungry now. Why don’t we buy some snacks and eat outside before returning?”

Taotao knew Miss Baojia wanted to eat the fried pie.

She said, “Miss Baojia, then I will go and buy some with you, but you can’t eat too much of this. It’s too greasy and not good for your health.”

Seeing Taotao, who was her age, nag like an old lady, Li Baojia felt a little funny. So she said, “Okay, just buy two.”

The two of them got out of the carriage to buy some snacks. And they continued to buy more things along the way.

Li Baojia wanted to try whatever she saw, and her hands were full of things after a while.

Taotao was holding three paper bags in one hand, and her mouth was also stuffed with two sugar-coated haws by Li Baojia, simply too busy to care about other things.

Li Baojia also stuffed two sugar-coated haws in her mouth, and her cheeks bulged, looking like she was having trouble chewing.

Then her eyes lit up when she saw a restaurant across the street.

It seemed to be newly opened.

The restaurant was huge and opened in this relatively busy area, so it was enough to prove that the owner of this restaurant must be wealthy and generous.

A banner hung on the top of the restaurant with the words “Good Luck with the Opening” written in large letters.

A large paper introducing the restaurant’s chefs was also posted near the entrance. It said that they were from all over the country and could make any local specialties at the guests’ requests.

Li Baojia thought, “They are really too arrogant!”

Li Baojia immediately wanted to try the food. “Taotao, let’s go there to have lunch today!”

Taotao opened her mouth wide. “It must be very expensive to eat there.”

Li Baojia calculated the monthly allowances and said, “Anyway, there are not many of us. So just order fewer dishes.”

Taotao lifted the things in her hand and suddenly said, with some concern, “Miss Baojia, are we really okay like this?”

Li Baojia put a piece of pastry into her mouth and asked vaguely, “What’s wrong? What is okay?”

Taotao said, “Only yesterday, we told His Highness that you were frightened and had to recuperate, and today we are strutting on the street…”

Li Baojia didn’t care and said, “What’s wrong with that? He is the crown prince. Will he keep an eye on where I am and what I am doing daily?”

Then she arrogantly bit the sugar-coated haws. “No one can know as long as you and I do not say. Haha.”

But Taotao looked behind her with some panic. “Miss Baojia…”

Li Baojia turned around while asking in confusion, “What’s wrong?”

Then she saw Zhao Yi standing in front of her with his hands behind his back, smiling.

Li Baojia froze and stood in place like an unmovable puppet.

Zhao Yi reached out and pinched her round cheeks with pastries. “Can’t eat in daylight?

“Can’t sleep at night?

“Quite serious?”

With each sentence he said, Li Baojia’s heart jumped wildly.

“Well…Mmm…” She couldn’t say anything as her face was pinched.

She thought, “Let go of me, bastard!

“Listen to my sophistry!”

So Zhao Yi dropped his hand. Li Baojia’s two cheeks were red with pinch marks. “Your Highness, here’s the thing. After Wei Jiang came to the door to apologize, I thought it was nothing, and I was fine anyway.

“So I got magically better.”

Under the gaze of Zhao Yi’s dark eyes, her voice became smaller and smaller.

Zhao Yi was wearing casual clothes today, obviously not wanting to disclose his identity.

He wore a moon-white robe, and his waist was tied with a simple silver line outline belt, on which hung a half-palm-size white jade of excellent quality. He looked very handsome with pink lips.

Although they both wore moon-white robes with similar colors, he looked totally different compared with Mr. Jinyang. One looked weak, delicate, and stunning, and the other looked gentle and elegant with a few hidden nobility.

But at this time, his face was not gentle and elegant. “You ate lunch with Zhou Ji’nan at the residence of Duke Jing’an today?”