After selecting two plump chickens, buying a piece of pork, some seasonal vegetables, and stocking up on rice, flour, oil, and all necessary seasonings, Ye Ningxin thought for a moment and decided to buy two sets of bedding as well.
The quilts at home were so dark they no longer showed their original color, and they were also very thin. Not only were they uncomfortable to sleep under, but with the weather getting colder, they would surely freeze to death come winter.
As for clothes, when she rummaged through the closet in the morning, she found a few decent sets inside. Besides, she was planning to lose weight, so these oversized clothes would soon no longer fit. She decided not to buy any for now.
Although Gu Haoyuan didn’t have many clothes, buying fabric wouldn’t help since she didn’t know how to sew. It would be better to bring him to town later and have a tailor make two sets for him.
With everything almost ready, Ye Ningxin hired a horse-drawn cart and set off for home. She planned to showcase her cooking skills to Gu Haoyuan upon returning, aiming to win him over through his stomach first!
However, she never imagined that long before she arrived home, the Prince in her household had already learned every detail of what she had done that day.
When the Shadow Guard mentioned how she had told the crowd that her father and cousin were involved in a scandal, the Prince’s brow furrowed slightly. “Did she really say that?”
“Absolutely true!” The Shadow Guard dared not hide anything, describing every detail clearly, even including the idle gossip of the onlookers.
“Interesting.” The Prince’s brow gradually relaxed, and the corners of his mouth lifted slightly, carrying a faint smile.
Seeing this, the Shadow Guard was inwardly startled, thinking, “It’s been so long since the Prince last smiled. It seems he also enjoys hearing gossip from the streets. I must tell Xiao Ba and the others to collect more rumors and strange tales while out on missions and bring them back to entertain the Prince.”
“Did Shopkeeper Liu from the pawnshop give you the jade pendant?” the Prince suddenly asked.
“It’s here with me, Your Highness!” The Shadow Guard respectfully presented the jade pendant with both hands—the very one Ye Ningxin had pawned that day.
Clutching the pendant in his hand and gently rubbing it, the Prince fell silent.
The Shadow Guard beside him, however, couldn’t hold back. “Your Highness, forgive my bluntness, but this jade pendant was originally your cherished possession, yet that woman gave it away. Your Highness, that woman often speaks harshly to you and even withholds food. We truly cannot stand it any longer. Perhaps…”
The Prince: “Hmm?”
The Shadow Guard immediately knelt in fear.
“I was wrong, Your Highness.”
The Prince said, “I’ve told you many times that my current situation is exactly what those people in the capital want to see. The more miserable I am, the more at ease they will feel. Unless it’s an emergency, none of you should show yourselves.”
After a pause, the Prince turned to more serious matters. “How are things progressing with the canal transport?”
“Xiao Wu returned this time specifically to report on this. We have preliminarily uncovered the forces behind the canal transport authorities…”
Meanwhile, Ye Ningxin, riding the cart home, was completely unaware of what was happening there. Only for a moment did she feel a chill on her neck, prompting her to quickly tighten her collar.
“The sun hasn’t even set yet, so why is there such a cold wind blowing!”
The delivery cart driver was very considerate. He drove the cart to the foot of the mountain and, fearing she couldn’t carry everything, helped bring the items back to her home.
Only upon reaching the door did the driver realize that this was the residence of the Prince who had been exiled to the area.
Back when this Prince was escorted here, it caused quite a stir—everyone within ten miles knew about it.
In such a remote and impoverished place, who had ever seen such a prominent figure?
But soon, people realized that this so-called Prince lived even worse than ordinary commoners. It truly fit the old saying: “A phoenix that has fallen from grace is worse than a chicken.”
It was said that the local officials paid no attention to this criminal from the capital. Apart from sending someone regularly to check on him and ensure he didn’t leave the area, they completely ignored his living conditions.
And as if being down on his luck wasn’t enough, this Prince was also blind enough to marry a wasteful wife. In less than a year, this woman had moved all the belongings the Prince had brought with him back to her own family.
“Heaven have mercy, the Prince is so handsome, with delicate skin and tender flesh. Back in the capital, he lived in luxury, but here, he can’t even get a full meal.” The Cart Driver recalled how Matchmaker Wang from the east end of the market had said this while wiping her eyes with an embroidered handkerchief.
After moving the things into the house and arranging them, Ye Ningxin quickly took out fifteen coins and handed them to the Cart Driver.
“Brother Zhao, thank you. I’ve added five extra coins as a token of appreciation for helping me carry the things up.”
In their line of work, helping others move things was common practice—a way to secure repeat customers for future jobs. He hadn’t expected this “Princess Consort” to be so generous, giving him five extra coins right away.
“This Princess Consort doesn’t seem quite like the rumors say.” Zhao Zhiping was pleased. He glanced around the room but didn’t see the legendary Prince.
“The Prince isn’t home.”
Ye Ningxin wasn’t at all surprised that others knew her identity. After all, her husband, the Prince, was quite famous around here.
“He might be in the backyard,” she said casually, seeing no need to explain anything to a stranger.
“Oh, I’ll be on my way then. If you need a cart to go to town in the future, remember to call me.”
Ye Ningxin: “Take care!”
After seeing off the Cart Driver, Ye Ningxin did go to the backyard to look around, but she didn’t find anyone.
Where could this blind man have gone? She searched carefully through the original host’s memories, but there were very few recollections about the Prince’s whereabouts. The original host had wished every day for the Prince to disappear so she could ransack the house for valuable items.
However, in her memories, the Prince did often vanish for the entire day, only returning in the evening.
It’s fine—as long as he doesn’t get lost.
Killing the chicken, cutting the meat, washing the vegetables—Ye Ningxin began to showcase her culinary skills.
She killed one of the two chickens, keeping the other in a cage to lay eggs.
After putting the rice in the pot, she simmered the chicken and Chinese yam in a clay pot over low heat to make soup. She used half of the pork to make a plate of brightly colored braised pork.
The meat here was all from local farm-raised pigs. She deliberately chose a piece with a good balance of fat and lean meat, cut it into small cubes, blanched it to remove the blood foam, then stir-fried it in a pan to render out the fat from the pork. The skin of the meat became slightly crispy and very elastic. She added soybean paste, salt, chili, and other seasonings, making it anything but greasy.
Finally, she stir-fried a plate of bok choy to cut through the richness.
The aroma of the food made her mouth water uncontrollably.
What a sin! The original host had accumulated so much excess weight, and now controlling her appetite was incredibly difficult. Ye Ningxin inwardly groaned.
But why hadn’t this delicious smell attracted the Prince back?
Ye Ningxin waited for a while but couldn’t resist the temptation of the delicious food any longer. She simply stood up and went to the back hill to look for the person.