Ji Lingxue was wearing a simple plain dress and no makeup on her face. The look between her eyebrows and eyes was very similar to that of her mother Liu Mei'e, who had passed away many years ago.
Ji Baichuan was distracted for a moment, and then he coughed and said, "Xue'er, this is what's wrong with you. Why are you only buying things for yourself when you take your sister out shopping?"
Are you blaming Ji Lingxue for being selfish and stingy? Do you really think he is in the Ji Mansion, showing off his authority as the head of the family
Ji Lingxue smiled and said, "Daddy is right, but this is the Prince Chen's Mansion. I am the princess after all. It is wrong for you to say that. There are servants in the mansion to buy things. I am not buying cloth for my own use. It is almost the New Year. The cloth is distributed to each room to make new clothes. If you want, you can take it directly. I am not so stingy as to complain to the prince and daddy."
Ji Baichuan was speechless for a moment and turned to apologize to Xiao Yichen.
Xiao Yichen waved his hand, "Father-in-law, you have misunderstood Xue'er. Since Xue'er took care of Zhongkui in the mansion, she has been diligent and selfless. You and Qing'er haven't seen each other for a long time. Qing'er, please take your father-in-law around and have dinner together later."
Ji Yuqing glanced at Ji Lingxue unwillingly and replied, "Yes."
After sending Ji Yuqing and Ji Baichuan away, Yiyun also said goodbye and returned to the courtyard, leaving only Xiao Yichen and Ji Lingxue in the hall.
After the servants were dismissed, Xiao Yichen said, "Why did you take them out shopping today? Yiyun is considered a guest of the mansion, so you don't have to be wary of her."
Ji Lingxue twitched her lips, "Her marriage was granted by the Emperor, so that she could have children for Prince Chen's Mansion as soon as possible."
Xiao Yichen coughed and said, "It's not suitable for me to have children now." He is almost thirty years old, and Xiao Yimo's children are five or six years old, but he doesn't have any offspring. It's not that he doesn't want to, but that he can't. He will not let Ji Lingxue get pregnant until he has the ability to protect the people he wants to protect.
Ji Lingxue didn't understand Xiao Yichen's thoughts, and thought that Xiao Yichen had problems with his sexual orientation and didn't want children.
Ji Lingxue changed the subject and asked, "Why did my father come to the mansion?"
Xiao Yichen said, "You kept leaving messages some time ago, and the Ji Mansion was also affected. Now that the matter has finally passed, he is worried about you and Qing'er, so he came to visit you."
Ji Lingxue curled her lips and came to see Ji Yuqing, who was the one his father disliked.
Xiao Yichen added: "Your father asked me to arrange a position for your brother Ji Mingyang. Now that the cooking competition is approaching, I will let him follow me and do things."
Ji Lingxue tilted her head and looked at Xiao Yichen, "Just give him a judge." Speaking of the cooking competition, Ji Lingxue thought of the mysophobic scholar she met in Wangshan Tower today. With his sly tongue, there was no better time for him to be a judge.
Ji Yuqing took Ji Baichuan for a stroll in the palace. The father and daughter talked for a long time, and it was Ji Baichuan who gave Ji Yuqing advice.
Last time, he asked Ji Yuqing to ask for an official position for Ji Mingyang in the court, but several months passed and there was no news from Ji Yuqing. He had no choice but to go to the palace in person.
After this glance, he could see some clues. Ji Yuqing had mentioned in front of him how good Xiao Yichen was to her, and he didn't know if it was false or not. Anyway, it seemed to him now that Xiao Yimo cared about Ji Lingxue more.
Ji Baichuan said: "Qing'er, I know that you have been arrogant since you were a child and want to compete with your sister for everything. Now you have finally got your wish and married the Prince of Chen. In the future, you two sisters should get along well and give birth to a child for the Prince of Chen. Then your future life will be much better."
Ji Yuqing didn't take Ji Baichuan's words to heart at all. She just wanted to snatch everything from Ji Lingxue, but Ji Lingxue was like an indestructible cockroach, rampant everywhere.
Seeing Ji Yuqing keeping her head down and keeping silent, Ji Baichuan said a few words and then changed the subject.
After dinner, Ji Baichuan said goodbye and left. Ji Lingxue and Ji Yuqing saw him out together.
Ji Baichuan turned his head to look at Ji Lingxue. No matter how he looked at her, he felt that Liu Mei'e from the past was alive again, and he sighed in his heart.
Ji Baichuan said: "Xue'er, you and Qing'er should go back. It's getting cold at night."
Ji Lingxue nodded, but still stubbornly watched Ji Baichuan disappear.
As soon as Baichuan's figure disappeared, Ji Lingxue turned around and went back to the house, her skirt drawing a beautiful arc on the ground. Ji Yuqing's eyes flashed, and she raised her foot to step on it, but unfortunately she was a step too late and stepped on nothing.
Ji Yuqing gritted her teeth unwillingly, and quickly followed Ji Lingxue forward, saying with a smile, "Sister, the cooking competition will be held soon. What a pity, you can't participate in such a competition with your current status, otherwise with your ability, you will definitely win the first prize. I heard that the prize for the cooking competition is not small, it seems to be a thousand taels of gold, and you can also be nominated as a god chef by the emperor himself and be famous forever."
Ji Lingxue had heard about the prize of this cooking competition from Xiao Yimo a long time ago, so it was nothing surprising to hear it again.
Seeing that Ji Lingxue ignored her, Ji Yuqing continued, "Sister, you've already decided on your new year's clothes, but what about your new year's headwear? When can we ask the lady boss of the Liulifang to come to our house and pick out some beautiful headwear?"
Liulifang, this is the latest store opened in Beijing. I heard that the accessories inside are shining with colorful light, and they are snapped up by girls in Beijing. As more people like it, it will become popular. Unfortunately, Ji Yuqing's monthly silver is too little, not enough to buy rouge and powder, so she can only persuade Ji Lingxue, who is now in charge of the inner courtyard of the palace.
Ji Lingxue said, "Sister, you don't know how expensive firewood and rice are until you run a household. How about this, I'll let you take care of the expenses of the inner courtyard. Anyway, Xiao Yichen didn't say that I can't let someone else take care of it.
Hearing this, Ji Yuqing's eyes lit up and she nodded vigorously, "Okay, sister, don't worry, I will definitely manage the inner courtyard's accounts clearly."
Ji Lingxue nodded and asked Mo Xiang beside her to hand over the inner courtyard accounts and monthly interest to Ji Yuqing.
Ji Yuqing held the account as if it were a treasure and left happily.
Mo Xiang complained, "Princess, you are so generous that you dare to let Concubine Qing take care of the account. Aren't you afraid that she will embezzle it?"
Ji Lingxue disagreed, "Let her manage it, and I can do my own thing easily. If the prince asks, I will explain it to him myself. Okay, Mo Xiang, you are also suffering, go down and have a rest."
Mo Xiang pouted, said hello and left. Not long after, Lian Xin came into the room with toiletries to help Ji Lingxue wash up.
Xiao Yichen walked into the room, sent Lian Xin away, and said to Ji Lingxue, "Xue'er, your Qingfeng Yashe has also signed up for the competition. The cook's hand is injured, who are you going to let go?"
Ji Lingxue raised her eyebrows, "Keep it a secret. Why do you still want to get information from me? There are no fathers and sons on the battlefield, and no husband and wife on the competition field."
Xiao Yichen had been having a seizure recently, and he felt relieved after being teased by Ji Lingxue. He opened his arms and said to Ji Lingxue, "Princess, please help me undress."
Ji Lingxue said: "You still have two beautiful concubines, why don't you treat them equally?"
Xiao Yichen's mouth twitched, and he suddenly picked up Ji Lingxue and spun her around, saying, "No matter how beautiful I am, I am not as delicious as the princess."
Ji Lingxue patted Xiao Yichen's chest and said, "Put me down."
Xiao Yichen smiled evilly, turned around and carried Ji Lingxue to the bed and lowered the bed curtain. Ji Lingxue hurriedly pushed Xiao Yichen away, "Your Highness, I can't sleep with you today, I... I'm having my period..."
Xiao Yichen hugged Ji Lingxue and kissed her on the forehead, "I like to hold you while sleeping. Don't worry, I won't touch you."
Ji Lingxue: “…”
Unable to find an excuse, Ji Lingxue had to let Xiao Yichen hold her. Xiao Yichen had been sleeping at her place recently, and Ji Lingxue had tried all kinds of reasons to drive him away but to no avail.
Ji Lingxue opened her eyes and looked at the bed curtain, her thoughts a little distracted.
Xiao Yichen opened his eyes and glanced at Ji Lingxue, then raised his hand and extinguished the candle, and the room instantly fell into darkness.
Xiao Yichen said: "Ji Lingxue, go to bed early and come with me to the palace tomorrow."
Ji Lingxue asked: "Why are you going to the palace?"
Xiao Yichen said: "Xiao Yimo asked me to bring you to the palace. It's been a while since you came back. It's time to go to the palace to pay respects to the Queen Mother."
Ji Lingxue hummed, closed her eyes and forced herself to go to bed early.
The next day, Lian Xin and Mo Xiang brought the princess's formal dress and waited at the door. As soon as Xiao Yichen opened the door, the two of them quickly walked in to help Ji Lingxue wash and dress.
After Xiao Yichen finished washing up, he leaned on a chair beside him and waited for Ji Lingxue to wash and dress. At this moment, the guard knelt at the door and reported: "Your Majesty, there is someone outside the palace who wants to see you."
Xiao Yichen stood up and asked, "Who is it?"
The guard hesitated for a long time and said, "It's a scholar who came to apply for the job of cook..." He was also confused. It sounded strange for a scholar to apply for the job of cook.
Ji Lingxue raised her eyebrows. It was really rare and happened often. She met a mysophobic and interesting scholar yesterday.
Xiao Yichen stood up and said, "Let's go and take a look." After that, he flicked his sleeves and walked out.
Ji Lingxue looked at herself in the mirror and said to Mo Xiang, "Mo Xiang, don't stick anything on my head. It's too heavy."
Mo Xiang said in a frown: "Princess, you can go to the palace to see the emperor. You should dress more solemnly."
Ji Lingxue rolled her eyes and had to endure it, "Okay, stop inserting the hairpin and help me change my clothes. The prince is still waiting."
Lian Xin carefully put the princess' formal dress on Ji Lingxue and tied her belt. Ji Lingxue turned and walked out. Mo Xiang hurriedly followed, "Master, don't leave so quickly."
Ji Lingxue just wanted to go to the hall to see what the scholar who was applying for the job as a chef in the palace looked like.
In the hall, Xiao Yichen looked at the blue-shirted scholar in front of him and asked, "Can you cook?" Aren't these sour people talking nonsense all the time, saying something like "A real man should stay away from the kitchen"
The scholar in green shirt nodded vigorously, cupped his hands, and said with a subtle smile: "To be honest, my money was stolen when I first came to the capital. Now that the New Year is approaching, the academy is not recruiting teachers. Today, I heard that the Prince Chen's Mansion is recruiting cooks, so I came here to try."
Xiao Yichen nodded, "Then go to the kitchen and cook a special dish for me to taste."
The scholar in green nodded and went to the dining room under the guidance of the palace guards. As soon as he left, Ji Lingxue stepped into the hall. She didn't see any scholars around, so she guessed that Xiao Yichen must have sent him away, so she said, "I'm fine, let's go."
(End of this chapter)