Qi Jinrui’s dinner was a table full of carefully prepared medicinal dishes[1]A form of Chinese dietary therapy that combines food and medicinal ingredients according to traditional medical principles; the story depicts its effects within its fictional setting. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3717372_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3717372_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });. The whole family was present, and Nan Ling’er had taken the place where Song Shi usually stood.
This was Nan Ling’er’s first time meeting Qi Jinrui. The instant she saw him, her heart began pounding, and her face quickly grew hot.
How could anyone be so handsome and yet so fragile?
She would take good care of him from now on, until he could move around like a normal person—even ride freely at a gallop!
“Ling’er pays her respects to Your Highness.”
Qi Jinrui merely lifted his eyelids a little and gave a quiet “Mm.”
But that single “mm” brushed over Nan Ling’er’s heart like a soft feather, sending ripples through it.
“Your Highness, would you like Ling’er to feed you?”
“Ling’er heard you enjoy hearing how each dish is made…”
“No need.”
Qi Jinrui drank a spoonful of soup without changing expression. Its faint medicinal taste would have been negligible to most people, but to someone who had been drinking medicine for years, it was hard to bear.
Usually, he only had to gulp down his medicine in one go, then use the various flavored fruit candies Song Shi made to cover the taste. That would bring the ordeal to an end.
But today…
Qi Jinrui glanced at the eight medicinal dishes laid out for him. His expression grew colder by the moment.
Listening to the person beside him explain how each dish had been prepared only made him feel that she was unbearably noisy.
Prince Li, the Princess Consort, and the Young Lord’s Consort were eating various nourishing medicinal dishes.
“Indeed, there isn’t the slightest medicinal smell. They’re as pleasing to the eye and nose as they are delicious. Prince, you’ve found a treasure.” Princess Consort Li sipped her nourishing soup. A few mouthfuls in the early winter chill warmed her from head to toe.
Prince Li only smiled without replying.
The Young Lord’s Consort joined in with her praise. The better this female doctor-cook was at cooking, the longer Song Shi could stay at Moonlight Courtyard.
Nan Ling’er was delighted by the praise, though she remained modest on the surface. “Master Yao is still young, and her internal organs are delicate. Medicinal dishes that are too nourishing aren’t suitable for her, so Ling’er prepared a different dinner for her.”
“No need! Sister Song has already made dinner for Yaoyao. It’ll be here any minute!”
As soon as Qi Chuyao finished speaking, she darted out to meet her personal maid, her eyes fixed on the food box in the maid’s hands.
“What delicious things did Sister Song make? Hurry and bring them out! Yaoyao’s tummy is so hungry!”
There was a small portion of glossy, bright-red sweet-and-sour spareribs, a little bowl of tofu and meatball soup, vegetable rolls with three kinds of filling, and orange milk cake. Each piece of milk cake was decorated with orange flesh, and their aroma made mouths water.
Qi Chuyao wanted to gobble down the soft, sweet orange milk cake right away, but it was dessert. Sister Song had said she had to eat her meal and let it settle for a while before she could have any. She had to be patient!
Qi Chuyao’s eyes lit up as soon as she tasted the sweet-and-sour spareribs.
“Wow, the meat’s sweet and sour and so delicious! Yaoyao’s never had this before!”
“Oh, there’s egg in the vegetable rolls, too! The vegetables are so crisp!”
“The soup is so good! Huh, these aren’t fish balls—they’re meatballs! They’re so soft and tasty!”
“Yaoyao, why are you being so ill-mannered? Don’t talk while you eat. Hasn’t Mother taught you that every day? And already you’ve forgotten?” The Young Lord’s Consort scolded her, but the tenderness in her eyes could practically have been squeezed out.
Qi Chuyao mischievously stuck out her tongue, then quieted down. Still, her expressions changed with every bite, making everyone laugh and whetting their appetites at the same time.
Qi Jinrui put down his spoon and silently watched Qi Chuyao eat.
It was one thing that Song Shi hadn’t made dinner for him. Hadn’t she even made him dessert?
“Your Highness, are you tired of eating? Would you like Ling’er to help?”
Qi Jinrui raised his eyes to Nan Ling’er.
Nan Ling’er’s face grew even hotter under his gaze. He wore no particular expression, but she still couldn’t look away.
“You may leave.”
Nan Ling’er froze where she stood. The heat in her face vanished at once. Was he displeased with the medicinal dishes she’d made today?
“Go on. The long journey must have tired you. Get some rest early.”
Since Princess Consort Li had spoken too, Nan Ling’er could only withdraw reluctantly.
“Jinrui, are you unhappy with today’s medicinal dishes?” Prince Li glanced at the eight dishes before Qi Jinrui. He had taken only one bite of each and then left them untouched.
Qi Jinrui lowered his eyes and said nothing.
Princess Consort Li couldn’t bear to see her son looking so pitiful and aggrieved. She had planned to have him try the medicinal dishes for three days, but it seemed he couldn’t even get through one meal. Never mind, then.
“Guanyue, go ask Song Shi to prepare dinner for Jinrui.”
Qi Jinrui did not refuse.
Prince Li sampled each of the eight medicinal dishes. He had assumed the medicinal taste was too strong and Qi Jinrui disliked it, but after tasting them, he found that wasn’t the case. The faint herbal fragrance complemented the food beautifully, and the dishes were delicious. So why couldn’t Jinrui eat them?
Prince Li sighed inwardly. If he didn’t like them, he didn’t have to eat them.
If only he hadn’t angered the Princess Consort back then and caused her to give birth prematurely…
Princess Consort Li had clearly thought of it too. It had only been a woman; he blamed her for not keeping her temper. In the end, it was Jinrui who had suffered.
The mood grew quiet until Song Shi and Guanyue arrived carrying a food box, and it eased a little.
The moment Qi Jinrui saw Song Shi, he turned his head away, his displeasure written all over his face.
Song Shi: “?”
What had she done to upset him?
“Your Highness, it’s time to eat.”
Qi Jinrui’s dinner was the same as Qi Chuyao’s, except without rice. She had added noodles to the tofu and meatball soup.
Song Shi had guessed Qi Jinrui would end up in this situation, so she had made an extra portion.
After all, every time he drank medicine, it was like being put on the rack. The herbal fragrance rising from the medicinal dishes covering the table must feel like torture to him now.
At the sight of the food, the trace of displeasure in Qi Jinrui’s heart vanished. So she had prepared something for him after all.
“I want rice.”
Song Shi followed Qi Jinrui’s gaze to Qi Chuyao, who was mixing the sweet-and-sour sauce from the spareribs into her rice and eating with relish. This little glutton certainly knew how to eat.
When she noticed them both looking at her, Qi Chuyao opened her mouth to speak, but remembered her mother’s lecture. She could only chew while gesturing wildly, trying to tell everyone through “sign language” that rice mixed with the sauce was incredibly delicious. It made them all laugh.
“You little thing, you can’t even sit still through a meal.” The Young Lord’s Consort chuckled and wiped the grease from her daughter’s mouth.
Song Shi didn’t go to fetch rice. Instead, she fished the noodles out of the tofu and meatball soup, poured in the sweet-and-sour sauce from the spareribs, stirred it, then picked up a bite and held it to Qi Jinrui’s lips.
She didn’t even need to say anything. He obediently opened his mouth and ate it.
The noodles coated in the sweet-and-sour sauce had a flavor all their own. This was what he should be eating. Qi Jinrui’s eyes narrowed slightly; a single mouthful of noodles had cured his foul mood.
“Sister Song, feed Yaoyao a bite too—just a tiny one.”
The little girl was eating what was in her mouth while eyeing what was in Song Shi’s hand. How could she be so adorable?
Song Shi smiled and fed her a bite. Qi Chuyao’s already-bright eyes shone even brighter once she tasted the noodles.
“That girl…”
Prince Li and Princess Consort Li both shook their heads, laughing.
In the end, more than half the huge spread of medicinal dishes remained, while everything Song Shi had prepared was eaten up. The portion Qi Jinrui couldn’t finish ended up in Princess Consort Li’s stomach.
The medicinal dishes were delicious, but these days her body had grown accustomed to the food Song Shi made. After eating it, she felt comfortable all over.
As for the food Qi Chuyao left behind, the Young Lord’s Consort finished that too. When she was done, she sat there in a daze. When had she become so gluttonous?
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