Qi Rong tightened his arm around Yun Xi's waist. His deep, black eyes stared straight into hers.
"Can't you eat when you look at me? Do you mean I'm as delicious as a beautiful view? Or... do you want to devour me?"
Qi Rong approached with a beaming smile, pretending to give her a kiss. But Yun Xi quickly raised her hand to cover his mouth and wriggled out of his embrace.
"Can we just have a peaceful meal?!"
Yun Xi was furious. If she let him continue showing off his shameless charm, she wouldn't be able to eat a thing today!
Looking at the mouth - watering dishes on the table, she'd been staring longingly for ages!
He had no sympathy at all!
"Moreover, food loses its soul when it gets cold. The taste will be greatly reduced! Don't you know that?"
Seeing Yun Xi's pouting face, Qi Rong smiled tenderly and indulgently. He grabbed her hand and pulled her back to the chair beside him.
"Shall I feed you?"
Qi Rong raised his eyebrows and asked. Yun Xi waved her hands vigorously in refusal.
"No need."
She had hands and feet. Why would she need him to feed her? Did food taste better when he fed it? If that was the case, she might actually consider it.
"Then you continue to feed me."
Qi Rong shrugged, not giving Yun Xi a chance to refuse.
"Do we really have to do this?"
Yun Xi gritted her teeth. Qi Rong nodded with a smile, looking dead - serious.
Yun Xi was conflicted in her heart. But since she was under his roof, she had to bow her head. In the end, she chose to compromise and opened her mouth reluctantly.
Seeing Qi Rong's silly smile, Yun Xi blushed and shot him a sideways glance. She let out a cold snort to cover her embarrassment.
"What are you standing there for? I'm starving!"
Qi Rong looked at her indulgently. He picked up a pair of chopsticks from the table and looked at Yun Xi.
"What would you like to eat?"
Yun Xi scanned the dishes on the table. Her expression was conflicted. It was hard for her to make a choice.
"This one, and this one. I want them all."
Yun Xi pointed to several dishes in a row. She picked up the empty plate in front of her and motioned for Qi Rong to put the food on it.
"No problem."
Qi Rong readily complied. He picked up the dishes in the order Yun Xi had specified and brought them to her lips.
Yun Xi hesitated for a moment. Smelling the aroma, she finally opened her mouth and took the food Qi Rong offered.
"How does it taste?"
Qi Rong smiled as he watched Yun Xi's blissful expression when she ate the food. He couldn't help but ask.
Yun Xi savored the delicious food. Her cheeks were puffed up, looking extremely satisfied. Hearing Qi Rong's question, she glanced at him distractedly and thought to herself:
The food wasn't even cooked by you. What are you taking credit for? She wasn't going to praise him!
"Except for the person serving the food, the taste is quite good."
Just like this, because of this meal, Yun Xi temporarily "ceased fire" with Qi Rong.
As for the "new rules" in the prince's mansion, she decided to come up with a countermeasure later. Fortunately, she could bend and stretch. She wasn't afraid to compromise for the sake of a living!
Yun Xi thought so, but she overlooked the fact that as the forces of good rise, the forces of evil rise even higher. She had her strategies, and Qi Rong naturally had his means.
Early the next morning, just as dawn was breaking, Yu Zhu shook Yun Xi awake from her bed.
Yun Xi opened her bleary eyes. She glanced at the sky outside the window and then burrowed back under the covers.
"Yu Zhu, it's still early. Let me sleep a bit more."
Yun Xi mumbled and turned over. She moved further inside the bed, out of Yu Zhu's reach.
Yu Zhu looked at the sleepy Yun Xi with an expression of helplessness.
Although she also wanted her young lady to sleep a bit more, thinking of the prince's order just now, she leaned forward and pulled the quilt off Yun Xi.
"The prince has ordered that you go to the martial arts field to practice with him now."
As she said this, Yu Zhu placed a stack of red clothes in front of Yun Xi's bed. This was just given to her by Ye Ying before she came.
Ye Ying said that this suit of training clothes was specially made for the young lady by the tailor. The young lady's usual dresses were beautiful, but they were too cumbersome, with long hems and wide sleeves, not suitable for martial arts.
Hearing Yu Zhu's words, Yun Xi thought she had misheard.
"Who said I'm going to practice martial arts? Tell him I'm not going!"
Everyone knew that practicing martial arts was hard, and many people started in their childhood.
Even Zhen Bao, the apple of the Zhen family's eye, had started learning martial arts with her elder brothers since she was seven.
Yun Xi had been a sickly child since childhood. A gust of cold wind could make her ill for half a month.
So, not to mention practicing martial arts, in winter, when the weather in Jiangcheng was much warmer than in the capital, her grandmother would keep her at home. She wasn't allowed to go out and play until spring.
So she had neither a foundation in martial arts nor good physical conditions. Was he just having a whim and dragging her to practice martial arts?
Maybe he was just trying to torture her in a new way!
Yun Xi was determined in her heart. She decided that no matter what Qi Rong said, she wouldn't be fooled!
But just then, Yu Zhu continued.
"Miss, I heard that the prince caught a lot of fish from the lake this morning. He said he'd make grilled fish for you to replenish your health after you finish practicing martial arts."
Yu Zhu told Yun Xi what Ye Ying had said, carefully observing Yun Xi's facial expression.
"Qi Rong said he'd make grilled fish for me to replenish my health?"
Yun Xi finally turned over on the bed. She stared at Yu Zhu with a skeptical look on her face.
"Is he really that considerate?"
Or rather, was Qi Rong such a kind - hearted person? It was so different from what she used to think!
"The prince really did say so. Ye Ying even saw the prince go into the lake to catch the fish himself."
Yu Zhu answered truthfully.
The Xian Prince's Mansion was very large. There was not only a natural hot spring but also an artificial lake that Qi Rong had someone dig. He had scattered fish fry in it and planted a large area of lotuses. In summer, when the lotuses were in full bloom, the air was filled with a faint fragrance, and the scenery was extremely beautiful.
Originally, such a thing as fishing could be easily left to the servants. However, Qi Rong had gone into the lake himself. Yu Zhu was also very surprised when she heard about it.
"What new trick is he up to?"
He was already so good at martial arts. Did he still need to practice every day?
Moreover, asking her to accompany him? What could she do? She wasn't being self - deprecating. If she wanted to be Qi Rong's opponent, she probably couldn't even withstand one of his fingers!
Or did he think he could tempt her with delicious food? How naive!
Then, thinking of the grilled fish Qi Rong had made for her before, Yun Xi couldn't help but smack her lips.
As the old saying goes, "It's easy to dodge a spear in the open, but hard to guard against an arrow shot from hiding!" Although a good woman should stay away from danger, if someone wanted to plot against her, she had to find out what was going on to avoid being secretly attacked!
Thinking of this, Yun Xi sat up quickly on the bed. She pointed at the stack of clothes Yu Zhu had just brought and said with a stern look in her eyes:
"Is this the training suit Qi Rong asked you to bring?"
"Yes, miss."
Yu Zhu nodded. For a moment, she didn't quite understand what Yun Xi meant.
But the next moment, watching Yun Xi quickly put on the red training suit, Yu Zhu was dumbfounded. She staggered on her feet, and a trace of disdain welled up in her heart.
At this moment, Yun Xi combed her hair into a simple braid in front of the copper mirror. Looking like she was going to face a great sacrifice, she let out a cold snort and said:
"Fine, I'll go. I'd like to see if he can actually eat me up!"