The material of the girl's clothes was rough and dull. It was clearly the most ordinary attire, and if she were thrown into a crowd, no one would give her a second look.
But perhaps because of what had happened in the morning, the girl's back view seemed to carry a hint of grace and elegance in Xiao Jingcheng's eyes.
Xiao Jingcheng coughed awkwardly twice and shifted his gaze uneasily.
Qi Wen flattered his way forward. "Brother Jing, the dinner is ready. Please take your seat quickly."
Xiao Jingcheng responded indifferently and walked to the dining table.
Ye Wanmian was annoyed with him. She hadn't lifted her head since he showed up. Li Zhao sat on her right, looking equally calm. When he saw Xiao Jingcheng coming, he just nodded slightly as a greeting.
Seeing there were still two empty seats at the table, Xiao Jingcheng paused for a moment and then took the seat on Ye Wanmian's left.
The man was tall. After regaining his memory, he naturally assumed the posture of the crown prince. Sitting there, he had a strong presence and was hard to ignore.
He glanced at the dishes on the table and frowned slightly. "This is what we're having?"
The dishes on the table were extremely plain. There was a stir - fried lotus root slices, a wild vegetable soup, and another dish made of some unidentifiable ingredients. It looked black and unappetizing.
Ye Wanmian finally looked up at him quickly and said with a straight face, "Your Highness is of noble status. We are just ordinary people, so we can only entertain you with simple food."
What she didn't say was that during the time when he was "Goudan", they ate like this too, and he never showed any signs of dissatisfaction. Instead, he seemed to enjoy the food.
Xiao Jingcheng's disgust was obvious on his face. Ye Wanmian thought he would make some sarcastic remarks, but unexpectedly, he said,
"Alright, let's start eating."
Qi Wen filled a bowl of rice and offered it. "Brother Jing, please."
Xiao Jingcheng reached out to take it. Qi Wen subconsciously let go, but Xiao Jingcheng didn't hold it steady at all. The bowl of rice fell directly to the ground and shattered into pieces with a "pop".
"Oops!" Qi Wen exclaimed. Before he could say anything, he heard Xiao Jingcheng say,
"I hadn't held it firmly yet. Why did you let go?"
Qi Wen looked aggrieved. "I... I thought you had already caught it..."
Ye Wanmian's eyebrows twitched. She clearly saw just now that it was Xiao Jingcheng who let go by himself!
"You—"
Just as she was about to speak, Li Zhao said, "It's just a broken bowl. It's not a big deal. Just fill another bowl."
Ye Wanmian whispered, "Uncle Li, there aren't enough bowls..."
Before she moved in, only Doctor Wang and Qi Wen lived in this small courtyard. So there weren't many bowls and chopsticks. There were just enough for each of them.
After Xiao Jingcheng dropped the bowl, there was one less porcelain bowl, and they couldn't make up a complete set.
Li Zhao was also stunned. He hadn't thought of this.
Xiao Jingcheng cleared his throat and said, "Forget it. Let's just make do for today. We'll go out and buy some new ones tomorrow."
Ye Wanmian looked at him suspiciously.
Was he being so easy - going?
For some reason, this scene in front of Ye Wanmian felt both familiar and strange, but she couldn't tell exactly what was odd about it.
Putting aside the strange feeling in her heart, Ye Wanmian stood up, walked around to Xiao Jingcheng's side, squatted down, picked up the rice on the ground, and put it into her own bowl. Xiao Jingcheng's expression changed, and he grabbed her wrist.
"What are you doing?"
Ye Wanmian was so startled that she almost dropped the bowl in her hand again. She looked at Xiao Jingcheng. The man's face was terribly gloomy. "This rice has fallen on the ground. You still plan to pick it up and eat it?"
Ye Wanmian broke free from his hand and said, "Isn't this all thanks to Brother Jing?"
She deliberately emphasized the words "Brother Jing". Although her tone was calm, it was full of sarcasm.
"Brother Jing has been living a pampered life in the Eastern Palace. When you're sleepy, someone will offer you a pillow. When you're hungry, many people will rush to bring you delicious food. Naturally, you don't know how much things cost in the world or how expensive rice is. We are just ordinary people. We don't have mountains of gold and silver. We can't waste a single grain of rice."
Her words were like a heavy blow to Xiao Jingcheng's head, making him clench his fists subconsciously.
His purpose of traveling south to inspect the prefectures and supervise the officials this time was to uproot the cancer of corruption and bring peace and prosperity back to the people of the Great Sheng Dynasty.
But along the way, not only had he achieved little, but he had also encountered many obstacles.
It was said that a powerful dragon couldn't suppress a local snake. Local areas had their own rules of conduct, and there were many people involved in the web of interests. Things wouldn't change just because he was the crown prince.
It was only after realizing this that he had taken drastic actions in Ningzhou, investigating and dealing with a large number of unscrupulous merchants and corrupt officials.
At first, when he left the territory of Ningzhou and encountered the water bandits, he guessed that his actions in Ningzhou had offended someone. It wasn't until he encountered the third batch of assassins that he realized things were not that simple.
He had clearly seen the common people unable to afford the official salt and had to buy the cheap private salt, only to be poisoned to death by the toxic private salt. He had also seen the common people's fields being occupied and being forced to pay the grain tax that they couldn't afford to corrupt officials and local tyrants. They themselves could hardly make ends meet and had to sell their children.
How could he have forgotten?
Realizing that he had inadvertently done something wrong, but being constrained by his status and pride, Xiao Jingcheng sat there stiffly, with a tight - lipped face and refused to speak. The atmosphere became a bit awkward for a moment.
Li Zhao didn't miss the astonishment and the fleeting regret in Xiao Jingcheng's eyes. After some consideration, he said, "Mujin is right. I'm older than you all and have experienced more things."
Xiao Jingcheng looked at him.
"Nineteen years ago, the Chu Court was on the verge of collapse. In order to overthrow the Chu Court, the various princes and aristocratic families in different regions rose up one after another and proclaimed themselves kings."
"Tens of thousands of common people were forced to flee from their homes. Some people were forced to chew on tree bark and eat sand because they had no food. There were even cases of people exchanging children to eat."
Li Zhao said slowly. "It's only been more than a decade since that chaotic era. A peaceful life is hard - won. Compared with the farmers who work from dawn to dusk, our lives are already quite prosperous. We should cherish it."
He主动 reached out his bowl to Ye Wanmian. "Mujin, give me some too. You have a small appetite. You might not be able to finish it all."
Qi Wen carefully glanced at Xiao Jingcheng's face and then said to Ye Wanmian, "I want some too."
Dahuang ran over with its silver bowl in its mouth. It put down the silver bowl, pressed on the edge, and barked at Ye Wanmian.
Ye Wanmian laughed and rubbed Dahuang's head hard. "Okay, you'll get your share too."
Xiao Jingcheng tightened his face. Suddenly, he bent down and picked up a piece of the broken porcelain bowl.
There was still some rice in the piece of the porcelain bowl. It had inevitably been contaminated with some dust when it fell to the ground. After he picked it up, he put it into his mouth.
Ye Wanmian looked at him in astonishment. "Wait a minute. That's—"
Xiao Jingcheng endured the urge to vomit the rice out, swallowed it in one gulp, and then said coldly, "What? Can't I eat it? Didn't you say that not a single grain of rice should be wasted?"
His gaze was so cold and intimidating that Ye Wanmian subconsciously shrank her neck and whispered, "Of course not. What I meant was, don't eat the part that's contaminated with sand. I can take it to feed the chickens."
Xiao Jingcheng: "..."
Why didn't you say so earlier! Is it too late to vomit now!