My whole family sucked my blood; after being reborn, the little cook went on a killing spree.

Xu Lingxi was still somewhat depressed, not like she was crying from the spiciness, but rather like she was genuinely heartbroken.

Su Wan Ning was a little confused. It wasn't just the hot pot today, but also the mille-feuille cake and boiled pork slices from before...

These novel foods were all told to her by Xu Lingxi. Every time she successfully made them, Xu Lingxi would eat them with a mixture of happiness and tears.

Why?

These things were clearly not told to her by her ancestors, so why would she know them and experience emotional fluctuations? And what about the chili peppers? She herself had seen them in ancient books in the palace, so why would Xu Lingxi know about them as well?

However, since Xu Lingxi doesn't intend to tell, I can't keep asking her without any restraint.

Su Wan Ning sighed, preparing to suppress these doubts.

He looked down and met Xu Lingxi's gaze.

Xu Lingxi's eyes were red.

Su Wan Ning's eyes were full of concern.

"..."

Xu Lingxi's tears, which she had managed to suppress, welled up again. She suddenly got up and ran to Su Wan Ning's room. "Li Jun, you go back by yourself. I'll sleep here tonight."

"Miss?"

Qingfang was stunned for a moment, then lifted her foot to follow.

Su Wanning stopped her, "Let her stay by herself for a while. You sleep with Tangtang tonight."

"OK."

It wasn't the first time Qingfang had stayed overnight, so she quickly accepted.

After the group finished their meal, Li Jun and Xie Yan took their leave and went back to their respective places. Mu Xun, however, was worried about leaving the Sixth Prince at the shop, so he went along to wait for him.

Su Wan Ning worked quickly and efficiently, preparing all the food the Sixth Prince wanted within an hour.

After seeing the two off, I went back to the room and saw Xu Lingxi. Her face was covered in tears, and she had fallen asleep by the bedside.

Qingfang took a hot water towel and gently wiped her clean, then took off her shoes and whispered, "Thank you for your trouble, Madam Su."

"It's alright. Has Xuancao arrived yet? Let her have something to eat and sleep with you."

Normally, Qingfang is always by Xu Lingxi's side, but Su Wanning thinks Xuancao should also be there, but since she's a bodyguard, she has to hide.

Qingfang nodded and smiled, "Thank you, Madam Su."

After everyone left and the door was closed, Su Wan Ning sat down on the edge of the bed and whispered, "It's just the two of us now, stop pretending."

"How did you find out?"

Xu Lingxi reluctantly sat up, letting out a heavy sigh. "Want a drink?"

"Forget it, you're already annoyed, drinking will only make you more annoyed. You might as well eat something."

Su Wanning took out the two small dishes of food she had just prepared.

A plate of fried shrimp, golden and crispy, with dried chili flakes sprinkled around the edge of the plate. It's made from a mixture of bird's eye chilies, Sichuan peppercorns, Sichuan peppercorn powder, sesame seeds, and crushed peanuts, and it smells fragrant and spicy.

The other dish contained five fist-sized white dumplings.

"Is this Snow Mochi?"

Xu Lingxi immediately perked up, holding the plate in one hand and taking a big bite with the other.

The chewy glutinous rice skin, the soft and fluffy cream, and the sweet and sour hawthorn filling—"It really is a mochi! You're amazing!"

"I just changed the filling."

Su Wan Ning also took one and started eating. "The name changed from Mochi to Snow Skin Mooncake? How strange."

"Yes, this should be called mochi."

Xu Lingxi was stunned for a moment, and suddenly felt that the name Xue Meiniang was a bit vulgar. Food is food, how did it get related to "Mei" and "Niang"?

However, being able to eat these delicious foods in this world evokes mixed feelings.

Su Wanning ate a fruit mochi.

They started eating fried shrimp again.

One bite at a time, crunchy and delicious.

Xu Lingxi stopped worrying about it and, while eating, suddenly looked at Su Wanning and said, "You're so smart, you wouldn't have missed it, would you?"

"Is it important?"

Looking at the moon outside the window, Su Wanning said, "I think it's already a blessing to be alive."

She raised both hands and showed Xu Lingxi her wrists. "Being able to live healthily and do whatever I want is already very good. As for the rest, it doesn't matter."

"You really are..."

Xu Lingxi swallowed the question that was on the tip of her tongue.

Since Wan Ning didn't ask him, it must be because she didn't want him to interfere too much in her life.

For a moment, only the crackling sounds filled the room.

On the other side, the Sixth Prince took the items, repackaged everything, added ice to the mountain delicacy soup and Huaiyu steamed cake, and then hurriedly rode towards the capital.

They changed more than ten good horses along the way and returned to the capital at top speed.

Upon entering the city, they went straight to the East Palace. "Where is His Highness the Crown Prince?"

"What's the matter that you're in such a hurry?"

At this moment, the morning court session had just ended, and the Crown Prince had just returned, running into him.

As the two drew closer, the crown prince smelled the stench of sweat on him. "Where have you been?"

"Isn't it all for you? Come on, let's go to your little kitchen, I'll make you something delicious."

The sixth prince raised what he was holding, disregarding rank, and dragged the crown prince away, since he actually knew the way anyway.

"cough."

The prince coughed as the wind choked him, and let him pull him along.

The two entered the small kitchen, where Lin Yuwei and the head chef, Wen, were arguing.

When Lin Yuwei saw that the Crown Prince had actually arrived, she looked as if she had suffered a great injustice, and said in a sweet, coquettish voice, "Your Highness~"

Wen Zhangshan took a deep breath and quickly bowed, "Greetings, Your Highness."

"Why are you arguing?"

The crown prince didn't want to adjudicate their case, but since they were already there, he casually asked.

The main reason was that he had only eaten something in the morning, so he was actually a little hungry, which made him sound impatient.

"Your Highness!"

Lin Yuwei immediately knelt down and crawled to the Crown Prince. With a sob in her voice, she said, "This servant wanted to make a hot pot for Your Highness, but no matter how I put together the ingredients, Chef Wen always disagreed with me and said that I was doing it wrong."

"Look at what you did! You put in so much Ophiopogon japonicus and dried tangerine peel! Too much Ophiopogon japonicus is bad for your stomach! And dried tangerine peel is spicy and abrasive to the intestines!"

Wen Zhangshan was also very angry. She would usually make some snacks, but today she went too far.

"Master Chef Wen, I am the true expert in medicinal cuisine!"

Lin Yuwei retorted, "His Highness ate everything I made before very well!"

"Ha, Chef Lin, if only you had read a few more books and learned more, you wouldn't have made such a childish mistake!"

Wen Zhangshan's face turned red with anger. Her fingers trembled as she pointed at the ingredients. "His Highness already has a poor appetite, and you still made so much greasy and heavy food. What are you up to? I even suspect that you didn't make that mountain delicacy soup back then!"

In fact, the Crown Prince had already suspected this problem.

He followed the direction of Chef Wen's finger and saw a table full of fatty meat, offal, and pickled vegetables. He wondered what Chef Lin was up to this time!

The Sixth Prince's eyes lit up as he looked at Lin Yuwei and said slowly, "Look up and come here."

Lin Yuwei's heart skipped a beat. Could it be that the Sixth Prince had taken a liking to her?

She's going to be the Crown Princess someday!