Seeing that Su Cen had accepted the edict, the Empress Dowager smiled brightly and waved her hand: “You may go now, otherwise someone will soon be asking me for you.”
After bidding farewell, Su Cen withdrew with a bow. Just as he exited the main gate of Qingning Palace, he indeed saw Qi Lin coming toward him.
Su Cen was both curious and amused, asking: “How did you know I was here?”
Qi Lin replied: “My lord knew as soon as you entered the city gate.”
Su Cen suddenly remembered that the Northern Barracks Imperial Guards were under Li Shi’s command. Every movement in the imperial city and palace couldn’t escape Li Shi’s notice. No wonder the Empress Dowager was in such a hurry to send him away—someone really was coming to claim him.
“Where is the Prince?” Su Cen asked.
Qi Lin answered: “My lord is at Zichen Hall.”
Su Cen was puzzled: “What’s he doing at Zichen Hall?” It was an odd time—the morning court had finished a while ago, but it wasn’t yet mealtime. How could such a busy person as Li Shi have the leisure to stay in the young emperor’s chambers?
Qi Lin replied expressionlessly: “My lord said that if the Empress Dowager dared to bully you, he would bully the young emperor in return.”
Su Cen: “…”
Following Qi Lin, they first returned to Xingqing Palace. They had just arrived when Li Shi returned shortly after.
Passing by the Dragon Pool, Li Shi saw Su Cen sitting unharmed in the lakeside pavilion, feeding fish. The autumn light was pleasant, the breeze not too dry, and his person was waiting for him at home, enjoying a bit of autumn shade.
Only when the fish in the pond were startled by approaching footsteps did Su Cen turn around, smiling at him: “You’re back.”
Li Shi slightly narrowed his eyes but said nothing. The hand with the ring extended to Su Cen’s face, and Su Cen naturally leaned into it, rubbing against his palm like a small animal.
A flash of light crossed Li Shi’s eyes as he turned his hand to lift Su Cen’s delicate chin, making him look up. He bent down as if examining him, taking in every detail.
Beautiful eyes, a lovely nose, and thin lips like autumn-dewed begonia fruit, tempting one to taste them.
Li Shi thought this, and acted on it. With their faces close together, Li Shi captured those soft lips and savored them carefully. There was a hint of tea fragrance in Su Cen’s mouth, and Li Shi, like a thirsty person who had caught a whiff of sweetness, pursued it intently, determined to taste its essence.
Beneath the withered lotus leaves, fish swam with swishing tails. A few surfaced, hoping to find more food, but were scared back underwater by soft moaning sounds.
When Li Shi finally released Su Cen, satisfied, he had both enjoyed his person and tasted the tea—the cooled Biluochun sitting on the stone table in the pavilion.
Minister Su, with a flushed face, breathed softly, giving Li Shi a slightly resentful glare. Li Shi always liked to hold his chin up when kissing him, which made it difficult to breathe. At the end of a kiss, Li Shi would be composed, while Su Cen had to catch his breath for a long time. An uninformed observer might think Minister Su simply lacked self-control, easily aroused by a few touches.
Growing increasingly annoyed at the thought, Su Cen grabbed Li Shi’s hand and bit it hard.
This bite actually improved Li Shi’s mood. The little fox had sharp teeth, and when provoked, would bite. The mouth that was so eloquent in front of others didn’t hesitate when biting.
Though it hurt, it was a pain he had indulged.
The Prince of Ning, now satisfied, looked down at the person beneath him and asked: “Are you hungry?”
Su Cen suddenly realized it was already noon. After a morning of wits and strategy with Zhang He, followed by an unexpected summons to the palace, he was indeed quite hungry.
As the words reached his lips, Su Cen conceived a plan. He suddenly wanted to see how much Li Shi could tolerate from him. He shook his head: “I’m not hungry.”
Li Shi frowned: “Why not?”
“I don’t know what to eat,” Su Cen looked up with a furrowed brow, affecting a manner of affectation. “The same few dishes over and over, just thinking about them makes me feel nauseated.”
Li Shi lowered his gaze slightly, staring at Su Cen until he felt uneasy. After a while, he pulled Su Cen up from the stool. “Come with me.”
Su Cen hadn’t expected Li Shi to bring him to the kitchen, almost frightening the renowned chefs from across the land to the point where they could barely hold their knives. After sending everyone away, the Prince of Ning rolled up his sleeves and personally washed his hands to prepare a meal.
Su Cen watched anxiously as Li Shi moved among the pots and pans, his legs inexplicably trembling with fear that some unruly knife might injure the hand that controlled half of Great Zhou’s realm.
This wasn’t making a meal for him—this was shortening his life!
He was now just short of kneeling down and crying out, “My Prince, I was wrong!”
Yet reality proved that even peeling garlic looks pleasing when done by someone handsome. As Su Cen watched Li Shi move effortlessly between the chopping board and stove, he momentarily forgot the man’s identity. If Li Shi weren’t the regent prince, and he weren’t a court official, if they were just an ordinary couple, could they spend a lifetime amid oil, salt, sauce, and vinegar, whiling away their days in domestic matters?
Finally, Li Shi placed a bowl of noodles before Su Cen. Perhaps it was the steaming mist curling up, but Su Cen’s eyes suddenly reddened.
The first bite burned his tongue, yet Su Cen still praised it ceaselessly as delicious.
It truly was delicious.
The noodles were smooth yet chewy, the fried egg golden, and the few vegetable leaves emerald green. Even with no appetite, one would be tempted, let alone someone who was already hungry.
“Eat slowly,” Li Shi’s words were reproachful, but his tone was indulgent. “There’s more if it’s not enough.”
Su Cen finally raised his head from the bowl. “How do you know how to cook?”
“Is there anything I don’t know how to do?” Li Shi raised an eyebrow, then smiled and continued: “My mother passed away early. In my early years, I lived with Consort Cao, who also had my second brother. Insufficient provisions were common.”
Su Cen couldn’t help but frown. Within those vermilion walls and green tiles of the imperial palace, fraternal strife and bloodshed among kin had existed since ancient times. He couldn’t imagine how Li Shi had survived in that man-eating palace without his mother’s protection. A prince who had fallen out of favor was worth even less than a cat or dog.
Yet Li Shi spoke of these matters with a calm face, as if those days of hunger and cold had happened to someone else. “My second brother actually treated me quite well, though he was rather frail. Later, when Taining arranged a marriage with Zheng Qin, I left there.”
What happened afterward, Su Cen knew. Li Shi had volunteered to guard the border—a harsh desert environment that others avoided—and stayed there for more than a decade.
Suddenly, he recalled what Qi Lin had once said: Emperor Taizong had fourteen sons, so why was it Li Shi who stood above all? Nothing was innate. The unwavering loyalty of the Three Guards of Tuduo, half the court officials following his lead, and even Su Cen himself becoming deeply entangled, willingly submitting—all were forged bit by bit through those years of wind, sand, and bitter rain.
Su Cen finished the bowl of noodles, leaving not even a drop of soup. His stomach warmed, and so did his heart. With smiling eyes, he looked at Li Shi: “Did you go to the palace today specifically to rescue me?”
Li Shi washed his hands and slowly put on the thumb ring that Su Cen returned to him: “What do you think?”
Minister Su unhesitatingly indulged in his own importance: “Of course you did.” Then, realizing that since Li Shi’s return, he hadn’t asked about what happened in the palace, Su Cen frowned: “Aren’t you curious about why the Empress Dowager summoned me?”
Li Shi led Su Cen out of the kitchen, departing under the anxious gazes of the chefs. As they walked, he said: “If you want to tell me, tell me. If not, so be it.”
“Aren’t you afraid she might unite with me against you?”
Li Shi smiled lightly: “Would you?”
Su Cen suddenly stopped walking. When Li Shi looked back, their eyes met, and Su Cen said earnestly: “No, I wouldn’t.”
After a momentary pause, Li Shi laughed softly: “Well, there you have it.”
Su Cen told him truthfully: “She wants me to investigate Tian Pingzhi’s case, and from her attitude, it seems she doesn’t intend to shield Prime Minister Liu anymore.”
Li Shi, fingering his thumb ring, walked slowly without commenting.
Su Cen continued: “I’m not sure what her intentions are. Logically, Prime Minister Liu is her person, and a leading figure in their faction. The Empress Dowager wouldn’t cut off her own foundation by abandoning Liu Cheng. Moreover, with the Empress Dowager’s womanly compassion, I don’t believe she’s doing this for Tian Pingzhi’s sake, unless she knows this case has nothing to do with Liu Cheng, or… she’s found someone else to replace him.”
Li Shi asked: “What do you plan to do?”
“I must continue investigating this case. The biggest issue in this case has always been with Prime Minister Liu. Since she’s willing to help me, I’ll naturally obey. Whether Prime Minister Liu is involved or not, I will get to the bottom of it.”
Li Shi nodded. Although he didn’t know what the Empress Dowager was planning, since she had already spoken, she probably wouldn’t secretly sabotage Su Cen anymore.
After finishing the meal, Su Cen had to return to the Dali Temple in the afternoon. Just before parting, Su Cen suddenly said: “Do you remember the question you asked me during the palace examination?”
Li Shi stood still, thinking back to that time when this person was full of youthful spirit, every inch of him from his belt to his hair expressing his inherent defiance. Though kneeling before the hall, his back was straight as a rod. Li Shi had felt like teasing him and asked: “What are the nation’s ailments?”
Su Cen smiled gently, looking at Li Shi: “The nation’s ailments are accumulated poverty, strong neighbors, the imbalance of civil and military development, and factional strife that eclipses the sun and moon.”
“What factions, and what are they contending for?”
“There are two factions, contending for heavenly principles, for justice, for a prosperous peace and eternal national prosperity. If these are your thoughts and wishes, then I am willing to join you in this contention.”
(advanced chapters available on kofi)
