Even after the fish tank was loaded onto the Regent's carriage, the little koi did not emerge from the water plants.
The carriage moved forward slowly. Qin Zhao sat in it, supporting his head with his hands leisurely, his eyes fixed on the bright red spot exposed among the water plants.
… Are you that scared
Qin Zhao's eyes moved slightly, and he raised his hand and tapped lightly on the wall of the fish tank with his fingertips.
The fish's tail trembled visibly.
It's quite cute.
The regent completely put away the cold and majestic look he had in front of the little emperor, and with a slight smile on his lips, he said slowly, "You can't even hide well, your tail is showing, silly fish."
The tail fin trembled, and quickly retracted inward and hid itself.
He really can understand what people say.
Qin Zhao suppressed his smile and poured himself a cup of tea.
He actually couldn't explain why he kept this little thing.
In recent years, Qin Zhao has put all his energy into handling government affairs, and has no time to take care of other things, let alone useless things like raising pets. He knows very well that people like him will most likely not have a good ending, and there will be no good results if he stays with him.
No matter whether it is a person or a pet.
But…
Qin Zhao rubbed it lightly with his fingertips, recalling the feeling of touching the little fish the last time. The strange feeling of familiarity made him confused, and when he came to his senses, he had already accepted the little fish.
This was the first time he changed his decision.
Qin Zhao took a sip of his tea and sneered in his heart.
He is really old now. Even such a small matter is worthy of him making a fuss and thinking about it over and over again.
It was just a small fish. He could just find a servant to take care of it when he got home. He still had a lot of things to deal with, so how could he have the time to take care of this little thing
Qin Zhao was thinking so and was about to pick up the letter beside him, but when he raised his eyes, he met the gaze of the little koi.
The little koi poked its head out from the water grass and looked at him cautiously.
Qin Zhao became interested: "Finally you're willing to come?"
As if it discovered that Qin Zhao treated him well, the little koi swam out a little, tilted its head to one side, turned its body back, and waved its fins at him twice.
Qin Zhao looked in the direction he was moving. The little koi fish was looking at the pot of tea and some snacks that he placed beside him.
Qin Zhao understood. He took a snack and waved it in front of the little koi: "Want to eat?"
The little koi fish followed his hand with its eyes and shook it, tapping it hard.
Qin Zhao thought this little fish was really interesting.
You were so scared just now, and now you come running here to beg for food so quickly
This fish is not only stupid, but also greedy.
Qin Zhao took the cake, broke off a small piece and threw it into the water. The little koi swam up quickly, took the small piece of cake away, twisted around and dived back into the water grass.
After a while, the little koi fish that had been hiding and eating all the cakes poked its head out.
Qin Zhao couldn't help laughing.
The regent of the time fed the fish in the carriage, and only when the carriage stopped did he realize that he had wasted his time along the way.
He didn't read a single word of the letter in his hand.
This is what it means to be distracted by trivial things.
Qin Zhao pressed his brows helplessly, suppressed the smile on his face, and got off the carriage.
The attendant then took down the fish tank and asked him, "Your Majesty, the fish..."
"Put it in the artificial lake in the backyard." Qin Zhao said in a light tone. He glanced back at the little koi swimming around in the fish tank to digest its food. After a pause, he couldn't help but order, "Send a few meticulous servants to take care of it. This fish is greedy, don't feed it too much at a time."
Follower: “…Huh?”
It was the first time that the attendant heard his own prince talk so much about things other than government affairs. He was stunned for a moment before nodding in response, "Yes."
The little koi stayed in the Regent's Palace.
The regent did not live in the capital, but built a villa outside the city. There was a huge artificial lake in the backyard of the villa, and the lakeside was full of green trees and flowers. The corridor went around the lake and connected to the pavilion on the lakeside.
It takes Jing Li a long time to swim around in this lake.
It’s much more comfortable than being in that small fish tank.
But Jing Li didn't feel at ease for long.
The problem still lies in diet.
He really couldn't eat the fish feed that the Regent's Palace fed him.
The fish feeds fed by the Prince Regent's Palace are made of the finest small fish and shrimps, so they are definitely not bad. But Jing Li is still a human being, and he can't convince himself to eat those things. When they were transported to Beijing a few days ago, those people always fed him feeds. If Jing Li wasn't extremely hungry, he would never eat them.
…began to miss the cakes that the Regent fed him.
That was the most delicious thing Jing Li had eaten since he came to this era.
But for several days, Jing Li didn't even see the Regent, let alone any cakes.
What a workaholic.
The little koi spit out a string of bubbles at the bottom of the water.
"Little Koi, come and have dinner!" When it was time for dinner, two maids stood by the lake and called him.
These two were the maids in the mansion who were responsible for feeding and raising the baby. They came once in the morning and once in the evening, and were very punctual.
The little koi floated to the surface listlessly, and a handful of food was thrown towards him, covering him. Jing Li shook his fins to shake off the food, picked and chose in the water, and picked up a few fried shrimps to eat.
"Huan'er, I think the little koi doesn't seem to like this kind of feed." One of the maids observed the movements of the little koi and said to her companion beside her.
"But this is the kind it eats the most." Another maid was also puzzled. "This koi is really different from other fish. I have changed so many kinds of feed these days, but I haven't seen it eat much. Why does the prince say it eats a lot?"
That’s because you didn’t feed them delicious food!
The little koi fish wagged its tail in the water in protest.
The two maids themselves could not understand this action.
Normally, the people in the Prince Regent's Palace have been very considerate of the little koi. In order to solve the problem of eating for the little koi, they have found various ways to change the feed for him with different flavors.
But no matter how you change it, it's still fish feed, not something for humans to eat.
This was the first time Jing Li wished he could speak human language.
"Okay, let's ask the kitchen to prepare some new feed tomorrow." After feeding the feed, the maid named Huan'er said to her companions, "Let's go and eat. If we are late, we will miss it."
The two maids quickly left together. Jing Li looked at them with eyes full of grievance.
He wants to eat too.
How great it would be if he could become a human.
Jing Li picked and chose, ate only half full, and sank back to the bottom of the water.
The man-made lake in this manor connected most of the courtyards. It was dinner time, and the faint aroma of rice wafted through the mansion. The little koi followed the smell and swam to the edge of a remote courtyard.
This is where the servants in the mansion live, and the kitchen is not far away.
The little koi fish lay on the bank of the water, looking at the servants in the mansion eating and chatting through the dense grass.
I want to eat...
The little bit of shrimp he had just eaten barely filled his stomach, but it couldn't satisfy his craving. The more Jing Li watched, the more greedy he became, and he even retracted his fins out of grievance.
The regent also said that he wanted to raise him. Is there anyone who raises fish like him
This is simply abuse!
Jing Li was thinking angrily, but suddenly he felt something strange in his body.
Seems... a little hot
It was like a stream of warm water slowly flowing through every part of his body. The little koi looked down in confusion, only to find that the scales on his body were also beginning to glow a faint red.
"Who's there?" A voice suddenly sounded from behind the bushes.
The person who spoke was a servant of the Prince Regent's Palace. He took two steps towards this side, but only saw the calm water surface. Someone behind him asked him, "What's wrong?"
"I seemed to see some movement in the water just now." said the servant.
"It must be a little koi," the man said. "It likes to play around here. I've seen it many times."
"Can… "
The servant wanted to say something but stopped.
What he just saw seemed to be... a figure
The servant looked carefully at the water surface and found that it was indeed empty.
That's right, how can a person stay in the water for so long
The servant didn't think any more and left soon.
It was getting dark, and the servants who had finished dinner had gone off to do their own things. The yard was cleared, and in the dim light on the lake, a figure emerged from the bottom of the water.
The man was naked, with wet hair down to his waist, half covering his porcelain-white skin. He struggled to climb up the bank, and if the light was brighter, you would see that he had no legs below his waist, but a long, beautiful fish tail.
As soon as Jing Li climbed onto the bank, the fish tail turned into legs.
He moved on his tiptoes and stood up unsteadily.
During the time he came to this era, he had tried to transform into a human several times, but all failed. Just now he just thought about it briefly, but he didn't expect that he would be able to transform smoothly.
Almost no one saw it.
Fortunately, he hid under the water in time. If someone saw him like this, they would probably think he was a monster and beat him.
But... why can I suddenly become a human
Jing Li lowered his head and looked at his hands, his stomach making a gurgling sound.
Jing Li: “…”
Let’s go find something to eat first.
Next to it was the courtyard where the servants lived, and there were a lot of washed clothes hanging in the courtyard. Jing Li randomly found a set of servants' clothes and put them on, then slipped into the back kitchen.
The kitchen of the Prince Regent's Mansion was much larger than that of an ordinary family. It was already past dinner time, and the candles were still on in the kitchen, but no one was there. Jing Li sneaked in and saw something steaming on the stove, with a faint aroma coming from inside.
Jing Li didn't dare to touch this thing. He looked around and soon saw a few leftover white steamed buns in the cupboard.
Jing Li's eyes lit up instantly.
He was about to walk over when he suddenly heard footsteps outside the door.
"What are you doing?"
The door to the kitchen was ajar, and Jing Li had no time to hide even if he wanted to. He turned around and saw the man in front of him. He looked young, wearing an apron around his waist, tall and big, with dark skin, and was obviously the cook of the mansion.
The cook looked Jing Li up and down and said, "This outfit... Are you new here? Can you help the prince get some refreshments?"
"Ah?" Jing Li was stunned and nodded quickly, "Yes... yes."
The cook said, "It's already steamed. Wait a minute and I'll serve it right away."
He walked forward and lifted the steamer from the stove.
The sweet fragrance of osmanthus fills the air.
Jing Li heard his stomach growl.
Fortunately, the cook was concentrating on taking the osmanthus cake out of the pot and did not notice it.
He quickly served the snacks, brewed a pot of tea, and placed it on the tray. Jing Li subconsciously reached out to take it, but the cook didn't let go and asked with a smile: "Are all the new Shuang'er in your house as pretty as you?"
Jing Li has never seen what he looks like now, but before he traveled to this era, he was often praised for his good looks.
However, it was the first time he heard someone praise a man in such a frivolous tone.
Jing Li frowned slightly, feeling a little uncomfortable.
The cook groaned, seeming to feel that his attitude was a bit frivolous. He loosened his hand and took a half step back: "You should take it to the study room first, don't delay things, we can talk again tomorrow when we are free. My last name is Yang, just call me Brother Yang."
Jing Li nodded vaguely and turned away hurriedly.
Jing Li didn't stop until he reached the courtyard where the kitchen was located.
Fortunately, no one discovered it.
Jing Li breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the thing in his hand.
This snack was the same one that the Regent had fed him a few days ago. It smelled better now that it was freshly steamed than when it had cooled down. Each of the pastries was small and exquisite, soft and sticky, and sprinkled with some osmanthus petals.
Jingli swallowed.
This thing... should I really send it to the Regent
If he just ate it, it seems no one would think it was him.
This thought only flashed through Jing Li's mind for a moment, and then he suppressed it.
Although the Regent didn't pay much attention to him, he was quite nice to him last time and even saved his life. He didn't want to steal other people's food.
But... there are at least seven or eight cakes on this plate. If he eats one secretly, no one will notice, right
Jing Li was thinking this, and seeing that there was no one around, he secretly took a piece from the plate.
Jing Li had been living in the mansion for the past few days and had already gotten to know the location of the mansion very well. He walked around the lakeside veranda with ease and came to the door of the study.
There were several guards standing in front of the study. They took a look at his attire and the things in his hands, then stepped aside to make way.
Jing Li knocked on the door and whispered, "Your Majesty, I'll bring you some refreshments..."
"Come in."
Jing Li pushed the door and walked in.
The study was simply furnished and filled with a faint scent of incense, very similar to the scent on Qin Zhao's body. The regent of the dynasty sat at the desk, knowing someone had come in but not raising his head, still concentrating on reading something.
The door had been closed again and Jing Li stood there, feeling a little helpless.
What to do next
Qin Zhao still had no intention of paying attention to him, so Jing Li stepped forward and carefully placed the thing in his hand next to the Regent.
Would you like me to help pour the tea
Or just go straight away
What should he say
Jing Li felt like crying but had no tears. Suddenly he felt that he should steal the plate of cakes back into the lake.
Why is there so much trouble? As a prince, does he still need to take stock of this? ?
Perhaps Jing Li had stood there for too long and finally attracted the attention of the Regent. Qin Zhao frowned slightly and raised his head.
When he saw this, he was slightly stunned.
The person in front of him was not very old, and looked like a teenager. His facial features were handsome and cute, but his expression was very nervous, and there was almost undisguised panic in his eyes.
It's a new face I haven't seen before.
Quite beautiful.
The young man obviously didn't expect Qin Zhao to raise his head suddenly. He panicked instantly and his voice was shaking: "I, I'll pour you some tea..."
It sounds like he's about to cry.
Is there some other agenda, or is this some blind man sending this beauty to please him
This was not the first time that Qin Zhao had encountered such a thing. He had climbed to this position at a very young age, and there were as many people who wanted to kill him as those who wanted to please him.
Which one will it be today
Qin Zhao suddenly became interested.
This handsome young man seemed to have no idea how to conceal his panic. His hands were shaking as he held the teapot as he poured tea for Qin Zhao slowly.
Qin Zhao watched his movements and suddenly asked, "Are you new here?"
Jing Li's hand shook and the tea splashed onto the table.