On the table were porridge, pickled winter mustard, stir - fried nuts in sauce, a plate of golden - thread steamed buns and a bowl of winter melon soup.
Caiyu turned her body sideways and craned her neck. She saw Song Yinghuai placing the food one by one on the bedside table.
Song Yinghuai said, "The little maid said you barely ate anything this morning and noon. Have some more."
Caiyu rubbed her flat stomach. Involuntarily, a trace of saliva welled up in her mouth.
However, she didn't want to show weakness in front of Song Yinghuai, nor did she want to eat the food he brought. So, still with a cold face, she averted her gaze, wrapped herself back in the quilt and curled up, saying,
"I'm not hungry, my lord. I just want to sleep."
Right after her words, a growling sound came from under the brocade quilt.
Caiyu pressed her stomach and pounded it twice, scolding her useless stomach in her heart.
A big hand quickly grabbed her small hand that was pounding her stomach.
Song Yinghuai tightened his grip on her hand with a straight face. His Adam's apple rolled twice. "Your lower abdomen was just hit. Keep hitting it and you'll be risking your life!"
Caiyu retorted instinctively without thinking, "Wasn't it your highness who hit me?"
Hearing this, the palm of Song Yinghuai's hand that was holding hers tightened suddenly. He suppressed the turmoil in his heart and said with a hint of bitterness,
"… It was my doing. So there's no need for you to be so hard on yourself. Eat more and recover quickly so you can torture me later."
Caiyu regretted what she had just blurted out as soon as the words left her mouth.
She had decided to be well - behaved in front of Song Yinghuai from then on. Who knew that old habits died hard.
She lowered her eyes meekly again and replied respectfully, "Your servant doesn't dare to torture your highness."
Looking at the little girl who had closed her heart again, Song Yinghuai moved his lips. His gentle voice carried a hint of helplessness,
"Since you don't dare to torture me, then eat. Eating means you're not torturing me."
Caiyu stubbornly held the quilt and refused to move.
Helpless, Song Yinghuai got up and walked out of the door. "Then I'll leave first. I'll come to see you later."
He knew the girl was sulking and wouldn't give him face to eat in front of him, so he had to leave first.
Sure enough, as soon as he closed the door, he heard the sound of someone getting out of bed and the clinking of bowls and chopsticks in the room.
An involuntary smile curved Song Yinghuai's lips, but then it faded because of Caiyu's attitude today.
Ji Ming, who was standing guard outside, stepped forward. He walked with a limp because of the beating last night, but still dutifully asked,
"Your highness, does the food suit Miss Caiyu's taste?"
Song Yinghuai rubbed the space between his eyebrows and hesitated. "Probably not…"
Caiyu liked meat. Before the meat ban in Yanjing was lifted, he often caught her secretly cooking meat in the kitchen.
"She may not be able to eat much," Song Yinghuai said. "Let her rest for a couple of days and then add some other dishes to coax her."
Ji Ming sighed. "It would be great if Qingqing was here at this time. That girl has so many tricks. She must be able to coax Miss Caiyu to eat more."
Hearing the name Qingqing, Song Yinghuai's eyes flickered slightly. "That girl chased Sheng Jiangli to the Ministry of Justice prison… She probably won't be out soon. Keep her situation from Caiyu for now."
Everything stemmed from Sheng Jiangli's imprisonment in the Ministry of Justice. That was why he and Caiyu had fallen out.
Qingqing went to the Ministry of Justice because of this as well. Caiyu was already fixated on this matter. If she knew that Qingqing had also been imprisoned, he would be tortured even more.
Han Fen followed behind with a worried face. "I wonder how long Sheng Jiangli will be imprisoned. Qingqing is stubborn and set in her ways. If Sheng Jiangli is imprisoned by the emperor for a year or two, will Qingqing stay in the Ministry of Justice prison for that long?"
"That prison is no place for a girl. An ordinary girl would be in a sorry state after just a couple of days there, yet she rushed in on her own. What if something bad happens to her and Miss Caiyu finds out, your highness…"
Han Fen glanced at Song Yinghuai worriedly, thinking that if something happened to Qingqing, Song Yinghuai would be in big trouble.
Song Yinghuai didn't stop walking. He turned towards the study. "Sheng Jiangli will be out soon. Besides, with him in the prison, Qingqing won't be wronged. Don't worry."
Han Fen and Ji Ming looked at each other, not understanding why Song Yinghuai was so certain that Sheng Jiangli would be released soon.
Song Yinghuai sat at the table, tapping his index finger on the desktop. Apart from the trouble Caiyu gave him, there seemed to be nothing in the world he couldn't predict.
He was so certain because the new Khatun of the Tartars would visit Daye next month.
As a sharp blade on the border and a capable general of the emperor, Sheng Jiangli had always been active on the border, dealing with the Tartars.
A man like him would surely appear when the Tartars visited.
So Song Yinghuai wasn't worried at all about how long Sheng Jiangli would be imprisoned. At most… he would be released before the Tartars' visit.
However, Song Yinghuai underestimated Sheng Jiangli's cold - heartedness. He didn't even take care of Qingqing.
Ever since Qingqing was thrown into the women's prison, Sheng Jiangli could hear the little girl's voice from the women's prison every day.
Sometimes it was about mice, sometimes about cockroaches, and sometimes she would complain that the prison food lacked oil and water.
The entire Ministry of Justice prison suddenly became lively. It was as if a sparrow had flown into the gloomy prison. The ears of the listless death - row inmates were filled with a buzzing sound.
Sheng Jiangli covered his ears and lay on the straw pile, closing his eyes to rest.
Occasionally, Xu Ziyi would come to see him and mock, "That girl has so much energy. I sympathize with you. How did you deal with her usually?"
Sheng Jiangli said, "Make her do more work. Tiring her out will do the trick."
Xu Ziyi nodded and left.
After three days, the little girl's voice suddenly disappeared.
The Ministry of Justice prison returned to its gloomy, empty and lifeless state.
Once people got used to the hustle and bustle and then returned to solitude, it was a very uncomfortable feeling.
Take the death - row inmates in the Ministry of Justice prison for example. After getting out of the daily chattering, they suddenly felt an extreme sense of loneliness as if they had fallen into the vacuum of the universe.
In less than a day, the group of death - row inmates couldn't stand it anymore.
The disheveled man in the iron cage next to Sheng Jiangli knocked on the iron railing and shouted at him,
"Hey! Is something wrong with your girl? Why don't you call a jailer to ask about the situation?"
Sheng Jiangli lazily opened his eyes and looked at the man in disbelief. "She just made some noise for a few days and you're all so concerned about her?"
He was really impressed by Qingqing.
That girl really knew how to win people's hearts.
The man said, "Hey! You don't understand… We've been locked up here for many years, some of us for over a decade. We may never get out. Don't say a little girl came in and chattered. Even if a sow came in and grunted a few times, we'd cherish it!"
"She's like a golden oriole. We like her no matter how she makes noise!"
Sheng Jiangli said, "… Hehe!"
He really didn't feel like talking to this group of people who had been out of touch with the world for so long.
But everyone was urging Sheng Jiangli.
"She hasn't made a sound for so long. Something must have happened to her."
"You made Lord Xu send her out to do more work a few days ago. Did she fall ill from overwork?"
"No no no. If she went out to work, she would have passed by our men's prison. We didn't see her at all… She must still be inside. I think she was bitten by a mouse and got the plague!"
"Hey, you should still find a jailer to ask. There's true love in the world. There are few girls who are willing to accompany their lovers through thick and thin. She dared to chase you to the Ministry of Justice prison… To be honest, if this girl were mine, I'd love her with my life in this and the next lifetimes!"
Sheng Jiangli's ears had finally been quiet for half a day, but now the surrounding was filled with the buzzing of a group of men. This was even worse than listening to Qingqing's noise.
However, one sentence worried him.
That girl, wouldn't she really have been bitten by a mouse and got the plague?
Sheng Jiangli thought for a while and finally stood up from the straw pile. "Fine, fine, fine. I'll go and check!"
Go and check?
How was he going to check?
Did he own this Ministry of Justice prison?
The group of death - row inmates stared at Sheng Jiangli in horror as he reached out and grabbed the iron lock of the prison.
"Click!"
The huge lock was shattered into two halves by the man!