After a while, Li Zhichen withdrew her hand, but her expression suddenly darkened.
Qi Lixiao's pulse was erratic and extremely weak. He was far more frail than she had expected.
If she wanted Qi Lixiao to stand up, she had to find a way to heal his arm first.
However, her special ability was only good for treating minor injuries. As for his arm...
Li Zhichen quietly channeled a little of her special ability into Qi Lixiao's body while observing his expression.
Seeing that Qi Lixiao looked normal, Li Zhichen withdrew her hand disappointedly. It seemed that she had to come up with some other methods.
Qi Lixiao felt a bit creepy under the girl's burning gaze. He asked doubtfully, "What's wrong, Zhichen?"
As soon as the words left his mouth, he saw Li Zhichen raise an eyebrow. "What did you call me?"
Only then did Qi Lixiao realize his mistake and quickly corrected himself.
"...Madam."
"Hey!"
[Health points increased by 2 hours!]
Hearing Li Zhichen's extremely loud response, Qi Lixiao finally couldn't maintain his cold and noble demeanor and coughed...
After hearing "Madam" twelve times, Li Zhichen happily ran to the kitchen and took out the two small copper hot pots she had bought at the market last time.
On such a snowy day, there was nothing more comforting than having hot pot.
There were no ready - made hot pot bases in this era, so Li Zhichen would make them herself!
Li Zhichen had a strong taste. During this period, in order to take care of Qi Lixiao, she hadn't put any chili in the dishes.
Today, with one small copper hot pot for each person, she could prepare a spicy hot pot for herself and a clear - soup hot pot for Qi Lixiao.
Li Zhichen put dried chili peppers into her pot, added water and boiled it until the water evaporated. Then she mixed them with the same amount of fresh red peppers, chopped them up, and that was done.
Qi Lixiao's clear - soup hot pot was a bit more complicated. Li Zhichen first put the pork shank bones into the pot with cold water, added onion slices, Chinese prickly ash, and cooking wine. After boiling it over high heat, she fished out the pork shank bones, then added seasonings and simmered it over low heat for an hour.
While the hot pot bases were cooking, Li Zhichen didn't idle. She lit the firewood and set up a stove around it. Immediately, the room became warm.
After finishing these, Li Zhichen started to make charcoal - roasted rabbit meat.
She skinned and cleaned the wild rabbit, then skewered it with a branch and roasted it over the fire made of dry branches and fallen leaves.
The fire gradually raised the temperature in the whole room. Before long, the surface of the rabbit meat was roasted golden brown. The alluring fat dripped from the rabbit meat into the fire, making a crackling sound, and the aroma filled the air.
Li Zhichen was concentrating on roasting the rabbit and didn't notice Qi Lixiao's gaze on her.
The steaming white mist rose. Qi Lixiao stared blankly at Li Zhichen's face.
He always paid extra attention to Li Zhichen's smile.
Her previous smiles were always wild and unrestrained. When one saw them, they would think of the vibrant spring. It seemed that all difficulties could be solved in front of her.
At this moment, Li Zhichen was smiling brightly. The sharpness around her had faded a lot, and her expression was filled with warmth. Her eyes curved into two crescent moons, and the happiness on her face seemed to overflow from the dimples at the corners of her mouth.
It was so soft and warm that Qi Lixiao couldn't help but curve his lips as well.
As he watched, a trace of loneliness suddenly welled up in Qi Lixiao's heart.
Since he had memories, he seemed to have never seen anyone around him smile like Li Zhichen.
At least his mother, who passed away early, never smiled like this. In Qi Lixiao's memory, most of the time, there was only a dignified and gentle smile on her face, but Qi Lixiao always felt that his mother was not happy.
His mother, Lady Yuan, was a noble lady cultivated by a prominent family. She valued dignity more than anything else. She was betrothed to King Qi by the emperor at the age of seventeen. Even though there was no affection between them, King Qi couldn't find any fault with Lady Yuan.
She was very proper. Most of the time, she either arranged flowers and did embroidery in her own courtyard or recited scriptures and worshipped Buddha in the Buddhist hall. She never inquired about King Qi's affairs at all.
Even when faced with the provocations of the concubines in King Qi's courtyard, she was always calm, without a trace of resentment or jealousy.
Thinking about it now, perhaps her reluctant virtue had started from the moment she married into the King Qi's Mansion.
As for Lady Qin, she loved to laugh and often did so. She even had a good reputation for being kind - hearted.
But Qi Lixiao always felt that her smile was empty, and there was always poison hidden in her seemingly kind eyes.
Lady Qin's smile when facing King Qi was different. If King Qi was like a boulder, then Lady Qin was like the waterweed clinging to it, showing obvious flattery and weakness.
In the King Qi's Mansion, everyone seemed to be wearing a mask.
In that dark mansion, Qi Lixiao could hardly breathe.
And now, although the days were so ordinary and simple, Qi Lixiao really wanted time to stop at this moment.
When the rabbit meat was roasted, Li Zhichen tore off the first piece, blew on it, and then handed it to Qi Lixiao, reminding him, "Be careful, it's hot."
Qi Lixiao watched Li Zhichen's every move. His heart fluttered slightly. He ate the meat in small bites from her hand.
The rabbit meat was marinated with seasonings, and the aroma instantly filled his nostrils.
When the rabbit meat got smaller and smaller, when Qi Lixiao opened his mouth to take another bite, his lips accidentally touched Li Zhichen's finger.
Li Zhichen had been staring at Qi Lixiao. When she felt the soft touch, her gaze suddenly shifted.
For some reason, she suddenly remembered that on their wedding night, when she was feeding Qi Lixiao medicine, Qi Lixiao's tongue accidentally touched her fingertip. It was so tingly...
Li Zhichen endured the warm touch on her fingertip and finished feeding Qi Lixiao the rabbit meat. Then she calmly withdrew her hand. She tore the rabbit meat into small strips and fed them to Qi Lixiao with chopsticks.
Before long, the hot pot bases were ready. Qi Lixiao watched Li Zhichen bustling around. She first moved the stone table into the room and then set up a small stove.
A moment later, a steaming hot pot was set up. There was a circle of fresh ingredients around the pot. He didn't know what seasonings were put in the pot, but it smelled extremely fragrant.
Li Zhichen fished out a piece of just - cooked sliced meat from the pot, blew on it, and after making sure it wasn't hot, she brought it to Qi Lixiao's mouth and explained, "You can eat the vegetables after boiling them in the pot. Then dip them in chili powder or oil sauce according to your preference."
Qi Lixiao was stunned. It was the first time he had tried this way of eating while cooking. He found it very novel.
Since he met Li Zhichen, she always brought him surprises and made the dull days worth looking forward to.
The room was filled with steam. The lotus root slices Li Zhichen had just put in were already cooked.
She picked up a slice and first offered it to Qi Lixiao, but the latter shook his head.
Li Zhichen didn't mind. After all, everyone had different tastes. If he didn't want to eat, he didn't have to!
Just as she was about to put the lotus root slice into her own bowl, she heard the system issue a task:
[Death warning. Please make your husband voluntarily ask to eat lotus root slices!]
Li Zhichen:........
Damn system, the tasks you issue are getting more and more targeted.
Li Zhichen glanced at Qi Lixiao's expression, picked up a chopstick of lotus root slices and put them into her mouth. After chewing a few times, a satisfied and happy look appeared on her face.