No matter how wary, suspicious, or pained the Chu Emperor felt, Chu Yunge only felt delight in her heart: she truly was a genius.
According to her memories, the princess had a few people of her own in the palace through bribery and threats.
No need to let them go to waste, so Chu Yunge put them to use.
Her first strike had a pretty good effect.
The Chu Emperor’s schemes and tests against her were simple and crude, so her retaliation was equally simple and crude—who could blame him for having such a glaring weakness in her hands.
With a weakness like that, it would be a disservice to herself not to strike back.
Because of his wound, Yan Feng had been sent by Chu Yunge to rest in his new courtyard, the Flying Luan Courtyard. He took the medicine prescribed by the imperial physician and fell asleep.
On the other hand, Pei Ji stayed to accompany Chu Yunge for her meal under the pretext of protecting her.
Chu Yunge was in a good mood, and so was Pei Ji.
It was rare to have no one disturbing them, allowing a quiet meal.
But when he heard Chu Yunge instruct the kitchen to prepare Yan Feng’s favorite dishes at any time, so that he could eat them right away upon waking—and that she even knew a thing or two about what he liked—Pei Ji couldn’t help but speak up again.
“Your Highness, do you know what I like to eat?”
Chu Yunge: “I don’t know.”
Hearing her crisp and decisive answer, Pei Ji: “……”
So stifling.
“You…”
“Tell the kitchen yourself what you want to eat. Would they refuse to make it for you?” Chu Yunge cut him off.
Pei Ji: “……” So cold, so indifferent.
Why was she so cold only to him?
Feeling aggrieved, he asked, “You still haven’t forgiven me for my earlier loose tongue?”
Chu Yunge: “……Probably. For some reason, I just want to snap at you right now.”
Pei Ji: “……” How could he get Her Highness to fully forgive him?
Before Pei Ji could think of a way, Chu Yunge left.
The arrow that struck Yan Feng was unclean, and he came down with a high fever.
Yan Mengjun personally tended to Yan Feng, and Chi Haohao helped prepare the medicine, but they couldn’t get him to take it.
The imperial physician knew how much Chu Yunge valued Yan Feng and hurriedly notified her.
Yan Feng’s face burned bright red; he was even a bit delirious from the fever.
He refused the medicine because it was bitter and insisted on something sweet. He wouldn’t stay still, either.
When Chu Yunge arrived, Yan Feng was struggling to get up to protect her. Upon seeing her, he said he wanted to shell melon seeds for her and tell her some gossip.
Chu Yunge touched Yan Feng’s forehead with the back of her hand. “Why is it so hot?”
The moment she touched him, Yan Feng suddenly quieted down. His face flushed even redder, and he looked like a shy little boy who didn’t dare meet her eyes.
“Your Highness… I have no face left to see you.”
Even as he said he had no face to see her, his hand clutched her sleeve, his attachment plain to see.
Yan Mengjun’s heart nearly leaped out of his chest. How could the fever make him say such things? It was scarier than scaring someone to death.
Chu Yunge felt like Yan Feng had gotten thinner; even his baby fat had diminished a bit.
A high fever was most dangerous. She didn’t want Yan Feng to burn out his brain.
“Yan Feng, you have to drink the medicine, bitter or not.”
Yan Feng looked at Chu Yunge. Because of the fever, his eyes were watery; who knew if he even heard her.
Chu Yunge bent down and cupped his face. “Did you hear me? Yan Feng, you have to obediently take your medicine like a good boy. That’s the only way you’ll get better.”
“I’m good. I’ll drink.”
Chu Yunge hurriedly took the medicine bowl, and Yan Feng surprisingly drank it down obediently.
Yan Mengjun breathed a sigh of relief, then fumed bitterly.
This brat—earlier, no amount of begging or coaxing from him had worked, but the moment the princess arrived, he listened like a lamb.
After drinking it, Yan Feng’s face scrunched up like a bun. “Bitter.”
He even stuck out his tongue at the end, looking both pitiful and a little funny.
Clearly, in his delirium, he had dropped all pretense of being a serious adult.
“Wait, here are some honeyed preserves. Eat these, and the bitterness will go away.”
Yan Mengjun had prepared some honeyed preserves earlier to coax Yan Feng.
Chu Yunge picked one up and fed it to Yan Feng, but he wasn’t satisfied. “Not sweet.”
“How could it not be sweet?”
Thinking there was something wrong with the preserve, Chu Yunge picked up another one, bit into it, and tasted. “It’s pretty sweet.”
Yan Feng stared straight at the honeyed preserve she had bitten. “The one Your Highness bit is sweet.”
Yan Mengjun: “……”
Ahem. He awkwardly looked around for nonexistent things on the ground, then slipped away.
He hadn’t expected Yan Feng to be so… shameless, saying whatever came to mind.
This greedy little brat was terrifying once he wised up.
As Yan Mengjun left, he didn’t forget to drag away the curious Chi Haohao by the collar. He couldn’t let Chi Haohao pick up bad habits.
The imperial physician also hastily got up and slipped out.
Chu Yunge watched their flustered retreat. “……”
She glanced at Yan Feng, who looked utterly innocent.
“What nonsense are you saying?” She picked up a fresh one. “Eat.”
Yan Feng immediately looked aggrieved. “Why won’t Your Highness feed me the one you bit?”
He clamped his mouth shut to show he wouldn’t eat it otherwise.
Chu Yunge: “……”
This kid Yan Feng was acting a bit strange.
Just as she was about to speak, she heard a cold laugh. Turning around, she saw it was Pei Ji.
Pei Ji had followed her, originally wanting to take his own medicine, but instead he witnessed this whole scene.
While the others averted their eyes from impropriety, he barged right in.
“Is this real delirium from the fever, or fake?”
This wasn’t a fever; this was pure coquetry.
He had said Wen Xin’s methods were those of a little concubine, but now Yan Feng was the real little vixen.
With those thick brows and big eyes, yet so scheming.
Chu Yunge glanced at Pei Ji. “Don’t say such cutting remarks.”
When she turned back, she saw Yan Feng glaring at Pei Ji.
Pei Ji finally had something on him. “See? He’s perfectly fine, even glaring at me.”
Chu Yunge ignored Pei Ji and tried to feed Yan Feng again, but he kept his mouth shut, his face wrinkled into a pitiful bun face.
So pitiful and cute.
“Fine, fine. I’ll bite it. Will that do?”
Chu Yunge compromised; she wouldn’t argue with someone delirious from fever. She tentatively bit into one, and Yan Feng opened his mouth.
“What’s wrong with you?”
Chu Yunge fed it to him. This time, he ate it obediently and even grinned foolishly.
“Sweet. Want more, hehe.”
Yan Feng bubbled with happiness. Chu Yunge listened to his hehe laugh and worried he really had burned his brain.
“Ha!” Pei Ji’s voice came from the side again. He plopped down on the edge of Yan Feng’s bed and deliberately leaned over to block Yan Feng’s view.
The moment Yan Feng saw this ‘filthy thing,’ he stopped laughing.
“What are you doing?”
Chu Yunge pulled at Pei Ji. Pei Ji turned back with a smile. “Is it that tasty?”
Then, right in front of Yan Feng, he ate the honeyed preserve that Chu Yunge had bitten into and prepared to feed him.
Yan Feng’s face scrunched into a bun again. “Bad guy!”
He even reached out, trying to sit up and snatch the preserve from Pei Ji.
Chu Yunge: “……”
She raised her hand and smacked Pei Ji hard. “Why are you teasing him?”
Was he really this childish?
Why did she suddenly feel like she had entered a kindergarten?
In the end, it took the bitten preserve to finally soothe Yan Feng.
Once Yan Feng settled, the smacked Pei Ji felt a bit unhappy. Glaring at Yan Feng’s vixen tricks, something occurred to him, and he spoke up.
“Your Highness, I just tested it out. I might break through the 9th layer in a while.”
“Hm?”
“I’ve been stuck at the 9th layer for a long time. No matter how I trained, it didn’t budge. Many people get stuck there, unable to advance an inch. Same for me.”
“But when I saved you, maybe because I was too anxious, I pushed my internal force to the limit. Later, while dealing with the black-clothed men, I just felt the 9th layer loosen a bit. I think I’ve touched the 10th layer.”
He had been furious afterward and vented it all while killing the black-clothed men.
He hadn’t expected such a gain from breaking his limits.
“That’s great. Congratulations.” Chu Yunge hadn’t realized he had turned misfortune into fortune.
“Mm.” Pei Ji looked at Chu Yunge expectantly.
Once he broke through to the 10th layer, he would be free. No longer bound by that virgin cultivation technique…
He—could attend to bedchamber duties!