Chapter 20 This bowl of rice is really delicious

Chapter 20 This bowl of rice is really delicious

Dinner time.

The atmosphere in the side hall of the Regent's Palace was strangely tense.

As usual, the same few dishes that evoked despair were laid out on the table:

Boiled vegetables in plain water, steamed tofu, and steamed egg custard without any oil.

Tang Li sat at the table, holding ivory chopsticks in her hand, staring intently at the white rice in her bowl.

"Tap, tap, tap."

She didn't eat it; instead, she treated the bowl of rice like the face of a robber, stabbing it viciously.

Each bite was made with deep hatred, as if to stab the grain of rice to death.

My gold...

My heavy, golden gold could buy half of the pork shops in the capital!

Just like that, it's gone!

It's been confiscated!

Tangli grew angrier the more she thought about it, her cheeks puffed out like an angry pufferfish.

She was frantically making voodoo dolls in her mind:

Pei Yunjing, you skinflint!

Those evil capitalists!

Exploiting class!

You even steal the hard-earned money that rats dig out!

Are you even human?!

Pei Yunjing, sitting in the main seat, slowly took a sip of warm water.

He glanced sideways at the sulking little woman beside him.

In the past, anyone who dared to make such a "thump-thump-thump" noise while he was eating would have had their hand broken long ago.

But at this moment, looking at Tang Li's angry yet speechless, frustrated expression that was about to explode, he actually felt...

It goes very well with rice.

He was much more pleasing to the eye than his usual timid and hypocritical demeanor, which seemed to be feigning obedience.

"Stop poking it."

Pei Yunjing put down his teacup and said lazily, "If you poke it any more, that bowl of rice will cry foul."

Tang Li paused, muttering under her breath in an annoyed tone, "I'm not hungry. I'm just... helping the rice loosen the soil."

"Aren't you hungry?"

Pei Yunjing raised an eyebrow, looking at her with a half-smile: "I was originally thinking of using that pile of dirty gold to exchange for something to feed you, but since you're not hungry..."

He gestured for his servants to remove the table.

"that……"

Tangli's ears twitched, catching the key words.

Dirty gold? To trade for something?

Before she could react, Pei Yunjing clapped his hands lightly.

"Slap, slap."

Two crisp sounds.

Immediately afterwards, a line of maids wearing pink vests filed in.

Instead of plain vegetarian dishes, they were now holding gilded red lacquered trays.

The lid was lifted—

boom!

An intensely rich and irresistible aroma of meat instantly filled the side room!

Tang Li's eyes widened instantly, like a hungry wolf eyeing meat.

The original vegetables and tofu on the table were quickly removed and replaced with:

A bright red, fatty but not greasy crystal pork knuckle.

Squirrel-shaped mandarin fish, deep-fried until golden brown and crispy, and drizzled with a sweet and sour sauce.

Eight-treasure duck, stuffed with glutinous rice and ham, with an irresistible aroma.

There was also a large bowl of crucian carp and tofu soup with a milky white broth and goji berries floating on top...

This is a full-course meal of imperial quality!

It's a carnivore's paradise!

"Gulp."

Tang Li swallowed a mouthful of saliva with an extremely loud sound.

She felt her soul was elevated at that moment.

She stared blankly at Pei Yunjing, her eyes filled with disbelief: "Your Highness? This is... a last meal before execution?"

Pei Yunjing: "..."

What's going on in this woman's head?

He glanced at her disdainfully, picked up his chopsticks, and said casually:

“I told you, that gold is too dirty. It smells like rats and dirt. It’s an eyesore.”

"Therefore, I had them all melted down and replaced with this table of food."

Pei Yunjing tapped the crystal pork knuckle with his chopsticks, a faint, wicked smile playing on his lips:

"Since the princess enjoys digging pits in the middle of the night, which is physically demanding, I need to feed you first so you'll have the energy... to dig up more gold for me, right?"

Tang Li: "..."

Although this sounds like feeding pigs to fatten them up, and although the logic of "digging up more gold to confiscate" is very thuggish.

but!

What's dignity compared to a crystal pork knuckle!

"Your Highness is wise! Long live Your Highness!"

Tang Li's expression instantly changed, and she smiled like a flower.

Without further ado, she grabbed her chopsticks and charged at the pork knuckle.

He picked up a trembling, reddish piece of flesh and stuffed it into his mouth.

Waaah—!

The soft, chewy pork skin melts on the tongue, and the rich sauce instantly coats the taste buds.

That's the most primal pleasure that comes from the combination of fat and carbohydrates!

"Delicious! So delicious!"

Tang Li ate until her mouth was greasy and her cheeks were bulging, her eyes were so happy that they were almost closed.

The resentment in her heart vanished instantly.

What kind of gold?

What Zhou Bapi?

In her eyes, Pei Yunjing is now a "caretaker" who exudes holy light!

Pei Yunjing originally just didn't have an appetite and wanted to watch her eat for fun.

But gradually, he sensed something was wrong.

The pears tasted so delicious.

That heartfelt sense of satisfaction and joy, along with her unique calming aura, was like a warm spring breeze, silently blowing into Pei Yunjing's closed and barren sensory world.

It smells so good...

Sweet...salty...so satisfying...

These pure emotions were transmitted to him through the magnetic field.

Pei Yunjing watched her eat with great relish, and his Adam's apple involuntarily bobbed.

The nausea he had always felt towards food (the smell of blood/wax) actually faded considerably at this moment.

As if possessed, he reached out with his chopsticks and picked up a piece of squirrel-shaped mandarin fish, which he usually hated the most.

This sweet and sour fish used to taste like rotten, fishy meat to him.

He hesitated for a moment before putting the fish in his mouth.

The next second.

Pei Yunjing's pupils dilated slightly.

It has no fishy smell.

There is no rotten smell.

Beneath that crispy outer layer, the tenderness of the fish and the sweet and sour sauce burst forth on his tongue for the first time so clearly and vividly.

This is... umami?

Is this the original taste of the food?

Pei Yunjing was stunned.

He looked at Tang Li, who was eating a duck leg without any regard for her image, and a deep sense of shock flashed in his eyes.

She was his cure.

Not only could she cure his ear and eye ailments, but even his long-lost sense of taste could be temporarily restored under her influence.

"Your Highness? Why aren't you eating?"

Tang Li, amidst her busy schedule, looked up, a drop of sauce still on her lips, and enthusiastically recommended, "This fish is absolutely delicious! You should try it!"

Pei Yunjing snapped out of his daze.

"……Um."

He responded softly, showing no disdain for her unseemly eating manners, and instead naturally picked up another piece of pork knuckle.

"It's good."

That night.

The old butler, Uncle Zhao, who had been waiting outside the door, listened to the clattering of bowls and chopsticks coming from inside the house, as well as the princess's occasional exclamations of "Wow, this is delicious!" He was so moved that tears streamed down his face.

He peeked through the crack in the door.

Tonight, the regent, who never indulged in gluttony and treated eating as a chore, surprisingly had his servants serve him a second bowl of rice!

Moreover, the prince's eyebrows and eyes were relaxed. Although he didn't say much, he kept putting food on the princess's plate (although he put on fatty meat that he didn't like).

Where is this the cold and desolate Yama's Palace anymore?

This is clearly the everyday life of ordinary people!

"May our ancestors bless us... The princess is truly a lucky star..." Uncle Zhao wiped away his tears and silently set up a longevity tablet for Tang Li in his heart.

Meanwhile, the "lucky star" Tang Li was burping as she looked at her empty plate, a pang of pain beginning to pierce her heart again.

This meal was delicious... but it cost me my gold!

That's equivalent to me spending a thousand taels of silver on a meal!

What a loss!

We still lost money!

She secretly vowed: I'll go dig again tomorrow night! This time, if I find anything, I'll bury it right under the bed in the side room, and I'll never let that bastard see it!