This seemed to be a question well worth pondering, because Pei Qing actually began giving it serious thought after she asked.
Seeing him looking so conflicted, unable to reach a decision, Lou Yun suggested, "How about half and half?"
Pei Qing rubbed the cloth pouch at his waist twice. The note that read, "Remember, do not eat too much spicy food," kept surfacing in his mind, but in the end, his craving for
delicious food
won out.
"All right."
As promised, Lou Yun ordered three sweet dishes and three spicy ones:
sweet-and-sour ribs, candied sweet potatoes, garlic-honey chicken wings, fish head with chopped chilies, spicy chicken, and fish-fragrant shredded pork.
The young man first picked up a piece of sweet-and-sour rib. The deliciously tangy, sweet ribs had been stewed until tender, and his brows relaxed in satisfaction the moment he put it in his mouth.
Pei Qing ate slowly, as though he wanted to savor the flavor of every bite in detail. Every morsel he lifted to his mouth was treated with earnest solemnity.
It was Lou Yun's first time seeing someone eat like this, and she became rather absorbed in watching. But... hadn't he wanted spicy dishes? Why hadn't he touched any?
The thought had barely crossed her mind when Lou Yun noticed the conflicted look he directed at the fish-fragrant shredded pork.
Lou Yun did not disturb him. Propping her head on her hand, she waited with interest to see what he would do.
Pei Qing opened and closed his chopsticks several times before finally lowering them into the dish. With extreme care, he picked up a relatively small piece of meat and put it in his mouth with some rice.
This time, he ate very cautiously. Rather than chewing immediately, he held it in his mouth for half a second, looking tense and solemn, like a little animal checking whether its food was edible. Only after investigating it thoroughly did he swallow with confidence and begin feasting.
Perhaps the fish-fragrant shredded pork had given him too much encouragement. His chopsticks moved noticeably faster toward the spicy chicken, picking up a piece without the slightest hesitation and delivering it to his mouth.
His comfortably relaxed eyes instantly misted over. He poked out the tip of his tongue, thinking no one had noticed when it was actually glaringly obvious. Just as Lou Yun thought he would give up on the dish, he recovered, his eyes filled with the satisfaction of having tasted something delicious.
Could Pei Qing be unable to handle spicy food?
If that really was the case, he could not touch the fish head with chopped chilies. Words of warning had just reached her lips
when she saw that he had already put a piece of fish in his mouth.
This is bad, Lou Yun thought. Sure enough, the heat of the fish head with chopped chilies was nothing the other two dishes could match.
Pei Qing immediately began choking and coughing from the spice. Yet, constrained by his gentlemanly upbringing, he only dared cover his lips and cough quietly, unwilling even to make much noise.
Watching him gradually bend over, his neck reddening from coughing, Lou Yun hurried to his side to help him catch his breath.
But the tears clinging to the corners of his eyes made her freeze. Pei Qing was trembling all over from coughing. Sensing someone approach, he reached out, even his knuckles flushed crimson, a flush that seemed to spread to the corners of his eyes.
His fingers gently tugged her sleeve. Forcing his eyes open, he let crystalline tears slide down his cheeks. His misty eyes held an unmistakably reassuring look, as though telling Lou Yun not to worry.
Dark emotions churned endlessly, as though a dank swamp had caught hold of her. Violent impulses clamored for her to pin him hard against the table, to stain those lovely eyes with terror, leaving his jade-white fingers resting feebly against her lapels.
Lou Yun shook herself out of her daze and pressed her temple. How strange. The violent impulses she had developed after ascending the throne in her previous life had clearly ceased after more than twenty years of recuperation in this one.
Why were they so impossible to restrain around Pei Qing?
In that brief lapse of attention, the young man picked up the tea and gulped it down on his own.
Oh no! That tea seems to be hot.
As expected, tears streamed from his eyes like a curtain of rain. The hand that had been gently tugging Lou Yun's sleeve tightened, pressing against her wrist instead.
Though the heat and spice tormented him with unbearable pain, he still kept his head lowered, enduring it without a sound.
"Pei Qing, spit it out."
Lou Yun took a handkerchief from inside her robes and held it beneath the hand covering his mouth.
Now, however, Pei Qing grew stubborn. His grip on her hand tightened, but he refused to spit it out.
He had needlessly trapped himself between being unable to swallow and unable to spit.
"Pei Qing!" Lou Yun's voice involuntarily grew stern, but the sight of his distress softened her heart again. She coaxed him, "Pei Qing... Imperial Preceptor... be good and spit it out. It's all right."
Perhaps her coaxing worked, for he obediently spat the tea into her handkerchief.
By now, the heat at the corners of his eyes had spread to his ears and earlobes. He kept his head lowered without speaking for a long time, and even his hand on her wrist loosened.
Lou Yun understood. Was he embarrassed?
She was just about to reassure him when she felt another faint tug on her sleeve.
"Sorry." His cool voice was tinged with a rasp, like a voice in the aftermath of something unspeakable.
Turning to look, she found him still facing away from her, his whole body suffused with pink embarrassment. Like a spring flower bud on the verge of blooming, he quietly revealed glimpses of tender white beneath delicate pink petals, tempting someone to pluck him.
"Imperial Preceptor, you must not eat spicy food again."
Pei Qing shed his shyness, turned around, and raised his head, his eyes full of pleading. Tightening his grip on Lou Yun's sleeve, he said, "No..."
The drawn-out word lingered, softening her heart at the sight.
Yet his seamless series of movements made it difficult not to suspect he was a habitual offender.
"Ah
-" came an almost inaudible sigh. "Then you may only eat that dish."
Following Lou Yun's gaze, he saw the fish-fragrant shredded pork.
"Ah-"
The young man fell speechless. His half-open lips moved, ready to struggle a little more.
"Otherwise, you won't be allowed any of them. I'll have them taken away right now." Lou Yun's tone was stern, clearly leaving no room for negotiation.
Pei Qing drooped his head and silently withdrew the hand tugging her sleeve. His voice was mournful. "Understood."
With that pitiful look, when this was clearly for his own good, somehow I've become the villain? Lou Yun could not help feeling a little annoyed.
Perhaps sensing her displeasure at his attitude, he pleaded, "Having even one dish is already wonderful."
With him being so sensible, Lou Yun could no longer stay angry. She summoned someone to bring more sheep's milk, so it could offer some relief when the spice overwhelmed Pei Qing.
A faint smile appeared on Pei Qing's face. Neither spoke again, and they ate quietly.
After parting with Pei Qing, Lou Yun returned to the crown prince's residence.
Shutang had been waiting for some time. "Your Highness, this woman is extremely guarded. We couldn't draw anything out of her at all. But judging by her words and behavior, she seems to have come from the pleasure quarters."
"Oh?" Lou Yun turned the blue-jade thumb ring on her hand back and forth, her tone indifferent. "Then send her to the Imperial Preceptor's residence."
"Yes." Shutang led the woman away. As Lou Yun passed her, she met her eyes with something not quite a smile. The girl's pupils contracted, her back trembling as the shudder of being watched by a wild beast swept through her.
Not daring to look any longer, she clung to Shutang's hand and hurried out the door.
Lou Yun withdrew her gaze and shook her head with a laugh. She had thought the woman had some courage, but she still could not withstand a fright. It never occurred to her that her own presence was terrifying.
Although she had taken on official duties, that did not mean she could neglect her regular work of drilling soldiers at the military camp in the afternoon.
And as Imperial Preceptor, Pei Qing also had to teach at the Imperial Academy that afternoon.
Lou Yun changed into riding clothes and tapped the desk three times. A figure flashed into the room.
"Master."
"Go and investigate that woman's identity thoroughly."
"Yes."
The hidden guards Lou Yun kept close were not from her maternal family. Influenced by her previous life, she still felt uneasy without a force that belonged solely to her.
Since she was assuming Lou Ze'an's identity, she could not replace everyone in the crown prince's residence with great fanfare. But over the past half month or so, she had sent most of his trusted followers elsewhere, leaving only a few who could help conceal her identity.
Chapter 5
The next day, Lou Yun arrived early at the imperial censor's residence, hoping to see whether any clues had been missed. When she did not see Pei Qing, she merely assumed he had risen late.
Only when the investigation of the Li residence was almost complete did Lou Yun realize something was wrong. No matter how late he had risen, he should have arrived by now.
She rode to the Imperial Preceptor's residence.
Before she could knock, a jade-faced scholar in a crimson brocade robe patterned with auspicious motifs approached barefoot.
The young man leaned against the doorway, wearing a gold-thread magnolia forehead band, red-jade earrings threaded with gold, and a gold-thread necklace strung with eight treasures and clustered pearls. The gold bracelets around his wrists and jade-butterfly anklets hung with golden bells jingled.
Though everything he wore was either gold or red, an incongruous piece of blue jade shaped like a nine-tailed fox hung at his waist.
His face still faintly showed its original delicate features, but with lip rouge and a painted floral forehead ornament, he had become indistinguishable as male or female. He waved lazily at Lou Yun. "Only arriving now, Your Highness?"
An alluring smile curved his lips, but a cold gleam lurked in his eyes as he looked at her.
Raising a willow-leaf brow, he said mockingly, "I feared Your Highness might be a noble with a short memory. It's only been a few months, yet you've forgotten even A Zi."
A Zi's manner was hardly that of someone welcoming an acquaintance. He had probably long since realized she was not her imperial elder brother.
He had come with ill intent, and Lou Yun had no desire to press a warm face against a cold backside. She replied, "I fear more that, after only a few months apart, I've become an outsider barred from your residence."
A Zi examined Lou Yun closely before replying with a smile that never reached his eyes, "Then Your Highness had best not forget again that my master suffers stomach trouble if he eats too much spicy food."
Was he venting on Pei Qing's behalf? Understanding the reason for A Zi's insolence, Lou Yun's anger toward him faded, only for her anger toward Pei Qing to surge.
Twenty-two years old, and he had less control over his mouth than a child.
"In that case, sorry for the trouble, but please take me to the Imperial Preceptor."
With Lou Yun being so mild, A Zi also knew he was misdirecting his anger. The person before him was the imperial princess who had long lived deep within the palace, not his young master's close friend. How could she know Pei Qing could not eat spicy food? Ultimately, Pei Qing was the one who could not control himself.
He stepped forward to lead the way.
Even with Lou Yun's breadth of experience, she could not help being stunned by the residence before her, its lavish extravagance rivaling the tastes of the "newly rich," reeking of money.