Lü Baiwei was listlessly playing with the corner of the quilt. "Isn't it good to test the poison on myself? You can't catch a wolf without sacrificing a child."
"As long as I can control Xuan Yao, why not take a risk?"
...
It took Caiyu great effort to cook this vegetarian meal. When she carried it into the meditation courtyard, it was already Shenshi (3-5 p.m.).
Lü Baiwei was sipping the white congee that Aunt Mei had fetched from the kitchen of the front temple.
When Caiyu carried the food in, Aunt Mei frowned tightly and scolded her:
"Look at what time it is! I told you to cook lunch, but you went off to be lazy! You didn't come back until Shenshi! Her Highness is so hungry that her stomach is sticking to her back! You're so lazy. I'm going to tell His Highness the King about this and ask him to send you down the mountain!"
Caiyu gritted her teeth and swallowed her anger. She put the food on the table and said:
"The kitchen at the back temple hasn't been used for a long time, and the firewood hasn't been chopped. That's why it took so long."
"You're so good at making up excuses for being lazy. His Highness the King of Yan and General Sheng have brought a good bunch of soldiers."
Caiyu was not the kind of person who could hold her tongue. After being bullied by Aunt Mei again and again, she could no longer hold back.
She slapped the table hard, making a loud "bang" that startled Lü Baiwei and her servant!
They saw her face turn ashen, her expression cold. She pointed at the food on the table and said coldly:
"Don't use His Highness the King to threaten me all the time. If you push me too hard, I might as well just be sent down the mountain. What can he do to me?"
"More and more people on the mountain are getting sick. If I'm sent away, you'll be the one who's busy, Aunt Mei. If you're willing to serve Her Highness and chop firewood and light the fire yourself, then go ahead and tell His Highness the King!
"If you don't want to do anything, then shut your stinking mouth! If you want to have extra dishes, then you'll have to rely on me to chop firewood and light the fire to cook slowly in the kitchen of the back temple... As for when I can finish cooking, it depends on my mood!"
"If I'm late, you can either drink the white congee or go hungry and wait!"
"I've cooked the food. You can either eat it or not! If you've already had your fill of white congee, then I'll take it away! Food on the mountain is precious. If you don't eat it, there are plenty of people who will!"
Caiyu's scolding left Lü Baiwei and Aunt Mei stunned. They couldn't say a word in rebuttal.
After scolding, Caiyu picked up the food on the table and was about to leave.
Lü Baiwei called out in a hurry, "Wait! Wait!"
Caiyu stopped and looked at her haughtily.
Lü Baiwei met her gaze, and a hint of hatred flashed in her eyes.
She was just a lowly maid. How could she have the guts to confront her, a concubine of the Crown Prince!
Wasn't she just relying on Xuan Yao's love for her?
Lü Baiwei gritted her teeth and forced a smile. "... Brother has spent so much time cooking this meal. How can we waste it? Put it on the table. I'll eat it later. You're right. Aunt Mei is being too harsh. I'll have to trouble you to continue taking care of us for the next few days. You'll still be in charge of cooking the food!"
Caiyu snorted and put the food back on the table. Without saying a word, she turned around and left.
She was spoilt!
Looking at the door that had just been slammed shut, Aunt Mei's face twisted with anger. "Lowly maid! Lowly maid who doesn't know her place!"
"Your Highness, look at her lawless look. If we don't teach her a lesson, if we don't get her to leave His Highness the King, then when you need His Highness the King's help in the future, she'll just say a word and stop him. How can that be allowed?"
Lü Baiwei smashed the chopsticks on the table to the ground and said angrily, "I know! Let her show off for a few days first!"
"We can't let anything happen to her the moment she enters our courtyard. Xuan Yao will suspect something!"
Caiyu stormed out of the door. The wind blew on her, and her anger gradually subsided.
She had been busy for half a day and cooked a delicious meal, but she hadn't eaten a single bite herself.
Her stomach was already growling with hunger.
She went to the back mountain where the clothes were washed and looked around, but Qingqing wasn't there. She must have gone looking for food.
She had no choice but to go to the front temple, but it wasn't mealtime, so there wasn't a single bit of leftover food.
Of course, she still had Song Yinghuai's token. It would be no problem for her to go to the food storage area to get some more ingredients and cook for herself.
But she was so tired and hungry that she didn't want to move at all.
Caiyu leaned against the wall and slowly squatted down. Her eyes were in a daze.
She remembered seeing Song Yinghuai and Lü Baiwei together several times these past few days.
She remembered how Song Yinghuai had made things difficult for her and scolded her after they had gone up the mountain.
She remembered how Song Yinghuai had taken care of Lü Baiwei.
She stretched out her hands and held them above her head. A small shadow covered her forehead.
The sunlight shone through her fingers, making her face look bright and dark.
Caiyu saw the blisters on her ten fingers that had been burnt, and in the light, they looked like they were filled with water. The pain was searing through her flesh.
At this moment, the pain gradually accumulated and became irreparable despair. She sat there numbly. There was no scolding, no crying. She just sat there quietly. Tears silently slid down her face, and her eyes were completely dead.
A handkerchief appeared in front of her.
Caiyu was stunned for two seconds and slowly looked up.
Sheng Jiangli's tall back blocked all the hot sunlight. He was holding out a handkerchief to her with one hand. His eyes were gentle and pained as he looked at her.
He didn't ask Caiyu why she was crying, and he didn't tell her to wipe her tears.
He just silently held out the handkerchief in front of her.
Caiyu looked at him through her hazy vision for a long time before she shakily took the handkerchief.
"Brother A Li!" Caiyu didn't wipe her tears, but she tightened her grip on the handkerchief. She suddenly threw herself into Sheng Jiangli's arms and hugged him tightly.
The tears quickly wet the man's front.
"What should I do? What on earth should I do?"
She grabbed the front of Sheng Jiangli's clothes and sobbed intermittently.
Suddenly being hugged by the woman he loved, Sheng Jiangli didn't feel happy. Instead, he felt a surge of anger.
He naturally knew who and what Caiyu meant by "what should I do"!
He had just given the order for the "cableway" to be pulled up when he heard that Caiyu had been transferred to serve Lü Baiwei.
He angrily went to Song Yinghuai to argue with him, but all he got was a nonchalant reply:
"What identity does General Sheng have to argue on her behalf?"
"If it's as her superior, then she's a soldier now, and I'm the commander-in-chief of the epidemic prevention. I'm deploying a soldier to do something. What reason do you have to interfere?"
"If it's because she's Caiyu... Let me ask you this. Between going to the meditation courtyard to take care of a patient and patrolling day and night at the front temple, moving bricks and building walls, and doing duty in the intensive care area, where would you like her to go?"
Sheng Jiangli was stunned for a long time. Finally, he gritted his teeth and left with a sentence:
"Your Highness the King of Yan! Maybe what she wants isn't an easy life, but respect!"
Sheng Jiangli closed his eyes and reached out to hug her back. He pulled her into his arms and felt her thin shoulders trembling constantly. The wetness that had seeped into his neck was scalding him.
"If you really can't take it anymore, just tell me. I still have the power to send you down the mountain." Sheng Jiangli hugged her and said, "I'm your last backing. Don't be afraid."
Under the setting sun, two shadows overlapped.
The man's tall figure completely enveloped the woman's thin shadow. From behind Sheng Jiangli, Caiyu's body was completely blocked.
Even Song Yinghuai, who was standing on a high place, couldn't see Caiyu's expression.
He could only hear Caiyu's sobbing, which was broken in the wind.
His expression was gloomy, and his eyes were filled with anger. He stared fixedly at the two people hugging under the setting sun.
Sheng Jiangli's words made him realize that perhaps Caiyu was unhappy about being transferred to serve Lü Baiwei.
Although the big plan that he and Lü Baiwei had planned was too earth-shattering to be revealed to Caiyu, lest she be involved too deeply, he could at least go and comfort Caiyu and let her know that he had other plans.
So he also went around looking for Caiyu, but he didn't expect to see the two of them hugging!
Song Yinghuai's expression was gloomy. He lifted his leg and was about to go up and separate the two of them.
But Han Fen rushed up from behind and said, "Your Highness! The Princess of Nanan is here!"