Chapter 656: Chapter 656: Cooking for His Woman
Liu Ji sighed, "But the power of the officials in the Capital cannot be ignored. The civil officials can be really fierce, even if the Princess has a hundred thousand troops, she still falls slightly short compared to the Crown Prince. Besides, the rightful heir is the rightful heir; who has ever heard of a Crown Princess in all of history?"
These are treasonous remarks, Liu Ji muttered as if a mosquito was buzzing.
Qin Yao raised an eyebrow, "But that is a hundred thousand troops."
"Legitimacy is legitimacy," Liu Ji clicked his tongue, insisting.
Qin Yao’s mouth turned down slightly, as if murmuring or maybe proclaiming, "What is legitimacy? Legitimacy lies only on the edge of a sword! Only within the range of a cannon!"
Suddenly, she laughed, a bit smugly. It seemed she hadn’t chosen the wrong person after all.
After all, that’s a hundred thousand troops!
Liu Ji realized it: women just help each other out.
But with the smug, delighted expression on his wife’s face, could it be she’s already fantasizing about herself wearing the Yellow Robe?
Suppose, just suppose, if the woman in front of him really wanted the Princess to become the Crown Princess, then he wouldn’t mind entering the court to assist the Princess.
Thus, Liu Ji, without any psychological burden, ended this so-called legitimacy dispute. He waved the ribs and pork liver in his hand towards the Qin Mansion gate, with a pampering smile of ’I really can’t do anything about you,’ and said:
"As long as you’re happy, my dear."
Going home, to cook for his woman!
Qin Yao: "..."
Parents disappeared for a day and finally returned home. Qin Yao and Liu Ji had just stepped through the door when they felt the warmth of their children.
Liu Ji caught Ah Wang to go cook in the kitchen, while Yin Le led the children to the hall to hand over their apology letters to Qin Yao, each not less than two thousand words.
Qin Yao sipped on the snacks brought by her disciple while pretending to read the apologies seriously, putting on a stern, focused look, making Da Lang Brothers and Sisters quite nervous, fearing their reflection wasn’t deep enough to pass.
In fact, Qin Yao skimmed through them and thought to herself, Da Lang and Second Lang’s handwriting has greatly improved.
Second Lang even showed some fancy words, likely because he got too excited when writing deeply about his reflection.
Sanlang’s handwriting was as usual, as sloppy and casual as a chicken pecking at rice; however, the little one managed to finish a two-thousand-word reflection, which Qin Yao found very satisfying.
After all, for a child who’s mostly uninterested in anything but eating, finishing a two-thousand-word reflection with no repetition is already a huge progress.
As for Si Niang, she was average, like her usual style: she could do a bit of everything but never fought for first place.
In a household with a King of Quan brother like Second Lang, striving for first place would mean sacrificing precious sleep for a little girl.
She’s only just turned eight, still needs to grow. Her father says children need to sleep and eat a lot to grow taller and stronger.
Qin Yao put the reflection letters down, looked at the four pairs of anxious eyes, and nodded, "Okay, you passed, there’s progress."
Liu Ji came in with the food he cooked, placed it in the small dining room nearby, "Wash your hands and eat!"
The children looked at their mother, saw her smiling and nodding, and immediately shouted in joy, rushing to the courtyard to wash their hands with the water Yin Lexiong just fetched.
Ah Wang brought the last dish, and the family of eight sat down one by one. The food smelled so good, they just waited for the head of the family to take the first bite and then dug in voraciously.
Sanlang held a sweet and sour rib in his mouth, feeling so happy he almost cried.
After dinner, Liu Ji started preparing the things to bring to the teacher tomorrow, but everything he packed was sent back to the starting point with Qin Yao’s single sentence: "You can’t bring that."
But Liu Ji was an optimist; no setback seemed to defeat him. He continued to prep the ingredients for tomorrow morning’s cooking, washed up, and went to bed.
The family all knew they planned to meet with Gongliang Liao tomorrow morning and quietly cared, just waiting for their parents to bring back good news.
Mao hour, on top of the city gate tower at the South Market, the sound of the opening market drum was heard, marking the start of a new day.
The curfew across the markets lifted, and the vendors who had been waiting early under the archway, carrying the breakfast they were selling, rushed into the three major markets.
At this time, both civil and military officials, fully prepared, emerged from their homes. Those who lived nearby took sedans or walked, while those farther away took carriages, gathering on the moat bridge under the gate of Ziwei Palace to enter for the morning court session.
On the small bridge to the east, Qin Yao yawned, her eyes teary as she looked at the mistily filtered Ziwei Palace in front of her, reminiscent of commuting to work as a corporate drone.
"Dear, how should we go?"
After crossing the bridge, Liu Ji held a food box wrapped in cloth while discreetly observing and feigned a relaxed inquiry to his daydreaming partner beside him.
There were many early risers, and the North City to the east of Ziwei Palace was home to eunuchs and princes. When the palace gates opened, the crowd was like a tide of workers entering the great factory of Foxconn.
The couple stayed among the vendors selling breakfast, perfectly blending in.
Qin Yao looked up at the luxury gate of the State Preceptor’s mansion across the street.
The guards at the entrance had just changed shifts. The Imperial Guards who had stood vigil overnight saw the dawn and, thinking everything was fine, went off to rest.
Perhaps they wouldn’t return for duty until noon. Qin Yao thought silently. After all, when she came by yesterday noon, these Imperial Guards were already guarding the State Preceptor’s mansion entrance.
Before leaving the State Preceptor’s mansion yesterday, she had squatted in its bustling kitchen for a while, learning a lot about the State Preceptor’s daily schedule.
Sikong Jian was currently praying for the nation, performing a two-hour spirit-summoning ceremony from Mao hour to Si hour.
After the ceremony, he would have breakfast and then rest until noon, followed by some refreshments, and then start a three-hour offering ceremony.
When the ceremony concluded at You hour, he’d take a short break before dining.
At Xu hour, he’d burn incense and bathe, entering a state of meditation until early Hai hour, where he’d burn sending-the-gods incense to enter meditation, personally sending the gods wandering the Heavenly Palace.
Therefore, the morning was the time of day when the State Preceptor Mansion least noticed the Pu Courtyard.
Qin Yao signaled Liu Ji to follow, leading him as they dodged patrolling guards, weaving their way to the back alley they had scoped out yesterday.
By climbing over the high wall in this alley, they could directly reach the State Preceptor’s ’Peacock Garden,’ which was very close to the Pu Courtyard.
At this hour, the peacocks in the Peacock Garden were being fed breakfast by their caretakers. Qin Yao listened by the wall for a while, confirmed the people had left, and immediately tossed Liu Ji onto the wall.
Suddenly airborne, Liu Ji, who was completely unprepared, nearly rolled off the wall.
"Stay down!"
Qin Yao’s warning rang out from outside the wall. Liu Ji hurriedly steadied himself, obediently lying flat on the wall.
Like a cat, Qin Yao moved silently to his side, grabbed the back of Liu Ji’s collar, and the two of them leaped into the Peacock Garden, hiding behind a fake rock as they waited for a patrol of guards to pass by. Casually dodging the full-fed, sprightly Golden Peacock, they dashed towards the Pu Courtyard.
