Food Fairy Lord

Chapter 590 Zhu Jing sleeps at night (Part )

There was no water in the dead of winter, and the surface of the pond was covered with thick ice. Pei Ye watched the little red girl running around in the cold and lonely garden, squatting by the pond or stream, and enthusiastically asking the palace servants to break the ice.

Children do reach an age when they are very interested in other lives. Pei Ye's hobby of fishing started from that time. At that time, watching the little girl putting the net bag into the ice hole and fishing with her butt sticking out, it was inevitable that I felt a sense of intimacy.

Meng'er had said goodbye to him in front of the garden and went west to Qingsi Palace. Pei Ye stopped by the stream. The sound of water seemed to be clearer in winter. The little girl bent over and tried her best to fish. Several palace servants just looked after her and didn't say much. Pei Ye smiled and said, "You've scared away all the fish by stirring the water like this."

"Ah?" The little girl looked up.

"This stream is so narrow and shallow, there are not many small fish. If you keep swaying back and forth, you will definitely stir the fish further away."

"I'm blocking them here," the girl raised her head and said, "if there are fish swimming along... along the water, they will swim into my net."

This is really a case of waiting for something to happen. Pei Ye smiled and held out his hand: "Here, give me the net bag and I'll catch one for you."

"Ah? Can you?"

"Give it to me."

The little girl obviously didn't often meet adults who took the initiative to play with her, so she solemnly handed the net bag to him with both hands, then trotted after him.

Pei Ye took it and walked along the stream to the other side. He stopped after about three or five feet, used the jade tiger to poke a hole in the ice, turned around, broke off a branch, cut off the tip and handed it to her: "Just use this stick to put it in and stir it."

The little girl took it, not quite understanding it, and asked in confusion: "Can you catch fish this way?"

"Well, just stir it here. I'll call you when I catch something." Pei Ye carried the net bag back to the ice cave he had made at the beginning, put the net in, and waited for the fish to be driven over.

It is indeed difficult to have fish in such a shallow stream in winter because the water temperature is too cold and the fish are all in the deep part of the big pool. But this happens to be the water path connecting Zhuchi to Taiye Lake. A bend was made here, and some small pools were dug to form a garden.

Some fish in the small pond swam towards the big pond, passing through this cold stream. Pei Ye had just seen two shadows across the ice. After she urged them, most of them would swim towards this side.

"You, did you catch it!" the little girl shouted with her head raised.

"Don't be impatient, it's only been a short while, keep stirring."

The little girl lowered her head again, and after a while, she panted and asked again: "Did you catch it?"

Pei Ye didn't answer, but stared at the water surface. After a moment, he turned his wrist and scooped up a small fish several inches long, which jumped into the net bag.

"I got it, come and see."

The girl screamed in surprise, dropped the stick and ran over, jumping and laughing at the fish in the net bag.

"You, you, put it in the jar quickly!"

The palace maid next to her brought a porcelain jar filled with water. Pei Ye threw the water in. The fish was still very fresh. The little girl kept looking at it while holding the edge of the jar.

"How about it, isn't it amazing?" Pei Ye said with a smile.

"Great!"

"what's your name?"

"My name is Li Wuyan!"

The little girl looked at him for a while, then raised her head and looked at him with sparkling eyes: "Well, can you catch a red carp for me?"

"Where are the red carps?"

"In the pool."

Pei Ye smiled. It was the right age for a child to answer questions. Red koi were beautiful, but they were big fish. They would hide deep in the pond at this time of year. "You can't catch red carp at this time. You have to wait until spring."

"Hmm?" Li Wuyan was confused for a moment, but shook his head, "Yes, yes! I saw it that day."

"Where?"

"Under the ice."

Pei Ye smiled: "Okay, let's go look for it."

"it is good!"

She held his sleeve and ran forward, heading deeper into the garden, which was the same direction Pei Ye was going. Although the girl's short legs allowed her to jog, Pei Ye just had to walk.

“Have you ever caught a red carp before?”

"I have caught them! When the water was still fresh, there were lots and lots of red carp. I caught... well... quite a few, and one of them was particularly beautiful!"

“Are you still keeping it now?”

"I kept it...but then I couldn't find it."

"Oh."

"Why are you throwing my net bag?"

"If you don't shake out the water, it will easily form into clumps of ice, and once they freeze solid you won't be able to catch any fish."

"profound."

There were indeed several ponds deep down. Although they were all covered with thick ice, Pei Ye discovered that the girl was telling the truth. These ponds were connected to the Zhu Pond and were dug deep. Even in the depths of winter, it was inevitable that some big fish would swim in. It was just...

"Such a big pond, such thick ice!" Pei Ye said angrily, "You asked me to catch a red carp for you, how can I catch it? Should I just jump in and catch it?"

Li Wuyan just kept giggling and shaking his sleeves.

"Let's wait for the ice to melt. We can't catch it now." Pei Ye said.

"Well... let's go check on Big Sister then."

"It's the same no matter where you look. Look, the ice is so thick that it can't be broken." Pei Ye stepped on it and stomped on it twice.

However, the excited child refused to obey and jumped on the ice, causing several palace servants to gather around nervously. After jumping for a while, Li Wuyan led Pei Ye to the northeast, which was the direction of Zhujing Palace.

After leaving the garden, you can see the cold eaves and red walls in the distance.

It was indeed very deep and cold. The garden we just passed through was already the edge of the palace complex. There seemed to be few people in the deep forest. The stone tables and benches were covered with snow and dirt. The palace was even farther away. After leaving the garden, we had to cross a long and desolate path before we could reach it.

The vermilion palace stood there like a lonely and cold shadow. Even on such a cold winter day, it did not make people feel warm. I don't know if it was affected by the rumors, but Pei Ye also felt that kind of strange loneliness.

Several palace maids looked very embarrassed, so Pei Ye asked them to stand there and wait. Li Wuyan naturally didn't feel anything, and she skipped and held Pei Ye's hand as she ran towards the Zhuchi in front of the palace.

Arriving at the pond, Pei Ye looked back at the palace. The palace door was ajar, and it was as quiet as it looked from afar. There was no sound at all. He didn't know if the prince he had seen in the morning was here. Li Wuyan pulled him, and he turned his head to look at the pond, and couldn't help laughing: "Wouldn't it be even thicker here? How can we catch fish?" The little girl was a little disappointed, and said: "Well... then, let's go to Jingchi and have a look. There are also some there."

Pei Ye was about to shake his head when he heard footsteps behind him. He turned around and saw the woman with a golden face wrapped in a cloak. Her magnificent eyes were looking at them, as if... no, she was the owner of this place, looking down at the two intruders.

"What are you doing by the pool?" the woman asked.

Pei Ye suddenly realized what Meng'er said at this moment - if this princess really had been living in the palace in a lonely and hostile manner, and was a stranger to others, then she would most likely have a cold attitude towards anyone who entered.

Li Wuyan had turned around, stood up straight and politely said, "Hello, elder sister. Wuyan wanted to catch fish here."

"Really? What kind of fish are you catching?" Li Xizhou came over and stood in front of the railing, looking down at the little princess.

"Catch the red carp!"

"The pond has been frozen for quite some time. It's so cold today." Li Xizhou held her cold little hand. "Today is a school day. Why don't you study hard in the palace? You play in the water all day. Be careful not to get frostbite again."

Li Wuyan was slightly embarrassed, especially feeling a little embarrassed in front of a new friend, so he defended himself unconvincingly, "I studied hard... I will make up for it when I go back tonight."

The woman saw through her and asked, "Is your teacher not in the temple today?"

"Um……"

"What kind of red carp do you want to catch? Just let this guy catch one for you." Li Xizhou glanced at the young man. "Won't he catch one for you?"

Li Wuyan shook his head and said in a serious childish voice: "No, this... this brother has already helped me catch a small black carp, and I can't catch a red carp either, because the ice here is too thick."

"He lied to you, he's just lazy." Li Xizhou said calmly, "Didn't you call him Brother Pei? If you were polite and called him sweetly, he would have helped you catch him."

Li Wuyan opened his eyes slightly, looked up at the boy who also opened his eyes wide, and said crisply: "Brother Pei, can you help me catch a red carp?"

"..." Of course, it's not that Pei Ye can't catch a koi, but as the woman said, the true energy can't leave the body now. If he wants to catch a fish, he might have to make a hole and jump in, or he might have to cut a pole and fish for a long time, or he might have to...

He looked back at the kitten on his shoulder, but the kitten didn't look at him.

Pei Ye held the little girl's hand and smiled gently, "I didn't lie to you, it's just that it's really hard to catch - how about this, when you finish your homework later, come to me, I'll help you dig a hole, and then cut a small fishing rod for you, so you can fish it out yourself, okay?"

Li Wuyan opened his mouth wide, his eyes sparkling: "Give me the fishing rod?"

"Ah."

"Brother Pei, can you fish?"

"I can do it." Pei Ye smiled.

In the little girl's expectation and constant questioning of various details, the red carp seemed to have been thrown aside. It was getting dark, and the call of the female historian finally came from the other side of the hall. It was a figure in Taoist clothes of very light color. Pei Ye watched from afar and inexplicably felt that it was like a paper man without any emotions. When Li Wuyan saw it, her face turned pale and she turned around to say goodbye to Pei Ye and the others.

Pei Ye led her over. Li Wuyan felt a little depressed, and her reluctance was evident in her words: "Brother Pei, will you come to play with me tomorrow?"

"Well... let's see if we have time."

"Tomorrow, tomorrow I want to watch you make a small fishing rod." Li Wuyan muttered, "Can you come find me?"

"You don't have to be so nervous," Pei Ye smiled, "You can play with the other sisters in the palace first, kick the ball, jump on the grid... When you want to go fishing, we can play together."

"..."

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"No one in the palace wants to play with me." Li Wuyan said dejectedly in a low voice.

"How could that be? Aren't there many brothers and sisters following you?"

"Really, they... they are not my brothers and sisters." The girl frowned, her words were a little incoherent at such a young age, "They just followed me, they cut ice when I asked them to, made nets when I asked them to, and they didn't talk to me properly... Only, only Brother Pei, you will really go fishing with me... and my elder sister, will talk to me properly."

"But the teachers don't allow me to come to my eldest sister's place." She added with her head down.

The girl's words were confusing, but Pei Ye actually understood what she meant - the so-called "play with me" was nothing more than "talk nicely". Coaxing was not talking nicely, disciplining was not talking nicely, and kneeling down to fawn on every word was certainly not talking nicely either. If you just do whatever you're told, you're a tool, not a playmate.

But in this palace, such equality is indeed a luxury.

Pei Ye shook her hand and said with a smile: "Okay, I'll come find you tomorrow and help you cut a small fishing rod."

After handing the little princess over to the waiting female historian and bidding her farewell reluctantly, Pei Ye returned to the Zhujing Palace. As dusk fell, the woman in red was still leaning against the railing.

"Wuyan is also six years old." She said in a calm voice.

"……what?"

"Six years old is the age when the emperor's sons awaken the Qilin blood in their bodies. They will also take their first test of hearing the emperor's orders. This can be regarded as the first time they have a connection with the Qilin since they were born."

"..."

"Didn't you notice that Wuyan didn't mention the word 'mother' much during the whole day?" Li Xizhou said calmly, as if chatting casually. "Of course, the sons of the emperor with unicorn blood are more noble than their mothers. In the palace, mothers may not always be qualified to raise their own children."

"..."

Li Xizhou skipped the topic and turned to look at him: "How about you, how was your trip to Mingyue Palace?"

Pei Ye stood three feet away and bowed respectfully: "I have read it once and have some understanding, but I can't say what it is for now."

Li Xizhou nodded: "Don't worry, just take your time to investigate."

Pei Ye bowed again and said, "Your Highness, I will take my leave now. I will come to the palace to see you tomorrow."

Li Xizhou glanced at him calmly and said, "You can just live in Zhujing Palace. No need to bother."

"..."

"Please choose one of the left or right side halls and clean up yourself. If you are not investigating a case during these days, you can stay with me." Li Xizhou ordered calmly, looking at him, "Is there any inconvenience?"

"...I will obey your Highness' orders."

Li Xizhou nodded: "Breakfast and dinner will be delivered. Just report what you want to eat to the imperial kitchen in advance. My food is bland and may not suit your taste."

Pei Ye bowed again in response.

Li Xizhou said nothing more. He wrapped himself in his cloak and went back to the palace. The last ray of evening light disappeared in the sky. Pei Ye paused for a moment, followed the woman into the palace, turned around and closed the door.

(End of this chapter)