Chapter 361 Your Majesty, this steamed bun is not poisonous!

That excited and expectant "Wife, where shall we go first?" marked Emperor Xiao Che's official switch from the "concerned about the world" supreme ruler to the "just want to play" Xiao Da Guanren mode.

Lin Wanwan looked at him, who seemed eager to explore every morning market in the capital, and shook her head with a smile.

She knew that for someone who had always been exposed to a world where even the air she breathed was carefully selected, the bustling, vibrant atmosphere before her was both novel and incredibly tempting.

"Food is the most important thing for people," Lin Wanwan tugged at his sleeve and pointed to a stall not far away that was steaming with heat. "We've been running around all morning, let's fill our stomachs first."

Xiao Che looked in the direction she was pointing and saw a small steamed bun shop. The stall owners were a kind-looking middle-aged couple who were deftly picking out plump, steaming white buns from a huge steamer.

A rich aroma of meat, mixed with the fragrance of noodles, forcefully entered Xiao Che's nostrils.

In his haste to leave the palace that morning, he barely ate any breakfast. But the aroma of this food instantly awakened the dormant craving in his stomach.

"Great!" His eyes lit up, and he almost couldn't wait to pull Lin Wanwan along and squeeze into the steamed bun shop.

"Boss, two meat buns, please!" Lin Wanwan smiled and took out a few copper coins from her sleeve pocket.

"Alright! Here you go, sir!" The proprietress deftly wrapped two freshly steamed meat buns in oil paper and handed them over.

The steamed buns were warm and soft when I held them in my hands.

Lin Wanwan handed one of them to Xiao Che, while she took the other and prepared to start eating.

However, she had just taken a bite when she noticed that Xiao Che beside her was acting strangely.

He was holding the plump white bun in his hand, frozen in place. He didn't eat it; instead, he frowned slightly, his deep eyes shifting back and forth between the bun in his hand and his own sleeve with an extremely cautious, even wary, gaze.

His expression was so serious, as if he were analyzing some important military or national matter.

Lin Wanwan understood instantly after just one glance.

She silently rolled her eyes in her mind.

Alright, His Majesty the Emperor's first lesson in "incognito travel" has now begun.

What is he doing?

He hesitated, wondering whether he should take out a silver needle from his sleeve and prick the bun to see if it was poisoned.

This was an instinct ingrained in his bones, cultivated over more than twenty years as an emperor. In the palace, every dish and every cup of tea he ate had to undergo two rigorous tests: a silver needle test for poison and a personal taste test. For him, to take food directly from a stranger and put it in his mouth like this was an extreme challenge that risked his life.

Seeing his conflicted expression, wanting to eat but not daring to, Lin Wanwan felt that she needed to help him "overcome" this psychological barrier.

So, while Xiao Che was still hesitating whether to give up the food for "safety" or "risk his life" for the food, Lin Wanwan, right in front of him, took a big bite and directly bit off half of the bun in her hand!

"Hmm..."

Not only did she eat it, but she also deliberately chewed it with a "smacking" sound, making muffled sounds of satisfaction as she ate.

"Mmm! Delicious! The meat filling is so fragrant and tender, and the dough is so soft and fluffy, it's so good!"

Xiao Che: "..."

He watched as Lin Wan-wan, like a little hamster, ate until her cheeks were bulging and she looked blissfully happy.

She... just ate it like that?

Without even hesitating?

While he was still in a daze, Lin Wanwan had already devoured the entire bun in a few bites. She even licked her lips with lingering satisfaction, and then looked at him with a "why aren't you eating yet?" look.

"Gurgle—"

An untimely, crystal-clear rumbling sound rang out from His Majesty the Emperor's abdomen.

He was hungry.

He looked at Lin Wanwan, who was unharmed, and then at the steamed bun in his hand that was still emitting an enticing aroma. The defense line in his heart called "court rules" finally collapsed under the fierce attack of "mortal physiological needs".

never mind!

Even if it's poison, it's worth it with Wanwan by my side!

Finally, under the strange look of the steamed bun shop owner that seemed to say "there must be something wrong with these two," Xiao Che closed his eyes and, as if going to his death, took his first bite of "mortal" food since leaving the palace.

The next second, his eyes snapped open.

A burst of rich, savory meat juices, unlike anything he'd ever experienced before, exploded in his mouth! The taste was completely different from the elaborately prepared dishes of the imperial kitchen, which had undergone countless processes and were almost unrealistically refined. This was a rustic, direct, and down-to-earth deliciousness!

tasty!

It's so delicious!

Xiao Che's eyes lit up instantly.

He didn't care about imperial decorum anymore, and in a few bites, he devoured the bun in his hand.

After finishing one, he smacked his lips with lingering satisfaction, staring intently at Lin Wanwan, his meaning clear—he wanted another one.

Lin Wanwan was amused by his hungry look and went to buy several more.

The two stood on the bustling street, eating steamed buns like an ordinary couple, without any regard for their image.

Xiao Che felt that this was the most delicious breakfast he had eaten since he ascended the throne.

Just as the two were enjoying their meal and preparing to continue strolling around, Xiao Che's gaze was suddenly drawn to a stall next to them.

It was a sugar figurine stall, run by a skilled old man. His small shovel flew up and down, and the amber-colored sugar syrup was quickly transformed into lifelike birds and beasts.

What attracted Xiao Che was the most complex and magnificent sugar figurine displayed in the very center of the stall—a long, majestic golden dragon with bared teeth and claws!

As the Son of Heaven, Xiao Che has an innate possessiveness toward the "dragon" totem.

Almost instinctively, he pulled Lin Wanwan over, pointed at the golden dragon candy figurine, and said in an unquestionable, somewhat habitual tone:

"I... cough! I want that dragon!"

The moment those words were spoken, the air seemed to freeze.

The old man who was making sugar figurines paused in his movements, looked up, and sized Xiao Che up and down with an expression as if he were looking at a fool.

Several passersby who were buying candy figurines around him also turned their heads in unison, their gazes focusing on him with strange expressions.

For a moment, an eerie silence fell over the entire sugar figurine stall.

Everyone's eyes conveyed the same message: Who is this person?

He was dressed plainly, with two comical little mustaches, looking like an ordinary commoner, yet he dared to call himself "this official"?

Even more outrageous, he wants to buy a "dragon"?!

The dragon is the totem of the emperor. Ordinary people, let alone buying one, have to be extremely careful even when discussing it in private. This guy, however, just wants to buy one! Is he afraid the authorities won't come and arrest him?

The moment Xiao Che uttered the word "朕" (I, the imperial "I"), Lin Wanwan thought to herself, "This is bad."

When she heard the last sentence, "This official wants that dragon," she felt a wave of dizziness and wanted to disappear into the ground.

It’s over!

This man's "emperor's occupational disease" has kicked in!

She secretly raised her head, looking at the way the people around her were looking at her as if she were crazy, and then at her own emperor, who was still completely oblivious and had a look on his face that said, "Hurry up and give me the dragon," and felt a wave of despair.

She reached out and silently, weakly, touched her forehead.

Lesson One of Traveling incognito: Be cautious in your words and actions.

Your Majesty, you failed the exam!