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"Another bowl!"

"..."

"Didn't you hear me? I said I want another bowl!"

"...Your Majesty, that was your fourth bowl. Are you certain you want more?" Li Xiangfan asked respectfully.

"Yes! I want another bowl!" Eating one more bowl of the Li family's rice would make him feel better!

Li Chenjing rose without a word, took his empty bowl with both hands, filled it with rice himself, and set it before him.

"Little Jing and I really are worlds apart. I've eaten five bowls, yet you can't even finish half of one?"

"I'm saving it for you." Li Chenjing tossed out the answer and sat down again. He took a couple of listless bites, then set down his chopsticks and watched His Majesty eat his family's rice as though venting his anger on it.

"You'll escort His Majesty back to the palace yourself," his father instructed from beside him. Li Chenjing nodded, and his father added, "A good appetite is a good thing, Your Majesty, but how can a benevolent ruler know no caution? A little restraint would be wise."

"..." It's just a few bowls of your family's rice! I haven't even settled accounts with your son for refusing to leave the heart of the woman I love!

When the meal was over, he wasted no time. He had the Imperial Palanquin prepared and made ready to return to the palace.

Li Chenjing accompanied him, but Zhao Huangpu raised a brow with interest. "Why haven't you asked whether I want to see Rongrong?"

"Do you want to see her?"

He narrowed his eyes and smiled. "This seems to be the first time Little Jing has spoken to me about Rongrong so directly."

"I can be more direct still—you don't want to see her, but she wants to see you."