Staring at a certain someone who was usually so cool and collected in such an adorable state, Feng Zhi Wei couldn’t help but burst out laughing. 

“What are you laughing about?” Leaning against the door frame, Ning Yi asked leisurely. Unconcerned that his hands were covered with flour, Ning Yi was instead eyeing her up and down, seemingly trying to see where he could leave a handprint. Feng Zhi Wei took two cautious steps back before she smiled and said, “I was laughing that if all those girls who are ardent admirers of the famously charming Prince Chu of the imperial capital could see you now, what would their expression be?”

“They won’t see me like this.” Ning Yi smiled and tried to use his hand covered in white flour to brush against Feng Zhi Wei’s hair by her temple as it was his habit but had to give up on the idea when Feng Zhi Wei jumped away in alarm. “In this world, I will only let you see me like this.” 

Feng Zhi Wei let out an “Oh,” and said, “True, this current look does detract from Your Highness’ stunning beauty. It’s fine to show this humble servant but better not to frighten the beauties.” 

As she finished her sentence, she immediately felt something was off. Sure enough, a certain guy who was always quick to react immediately started to chuckle and said like a fox, “I seem to be smelling a strong vinegar smell?” (Jealousy in Chinese in its literal meaning is “eating vinegar” so smelling vinegar is often used as a way to suggest someone’s jealousy is so obvious that everyone around them can smell it.) 

“Perhaps the cook knocked over the vinegar bottle?” Feng Zhi Wei was afraid he would continue to dwell on the question so she squeezed past him and saw several pieces of dough on the chopping board, a basket of fresh and chopped wisteria vines, and several small bowls filled with such things as oil, salt, and sugars. The cook was standing to the side with a smile on his face but he was not the cook from her manor. Ning Yi probably didn’t quite trust the ones she had over here and decided to simply bring his own cook. 

“You came back too early.” Ning Yi stood behind her, waved his hand to signal the cook to leave, and said with regret, “I was planning to serve you freshly baked wisteria cakes as soon as you came back, but now Marquis Wei will have to wait a bit before you can enjoy the delicious food I will be serving.” (The last “I” he used here is one a servant would use, so a playful suggestion that he is her cook here.) 

“Forget it.”  Feng Zhi Wei couldn’t help but smile again, “Don’t flatter yourself. How can a man who never touched anything in a kitchen make something like wisteria cake? That thing might look simple, but it’s not that easy to make. I am afraid I won’t be able to eat even if I wait until tomorrow morning.”

“Why do you have so much to say?” Ning Yi didn’t argue with her but pushed her down to sit by the table, “Just watch.” 

Feng Zhi Wei sat by the table and smiled with amusement as she watched the magnificently dressed Chef Ning standing in front of the chopping board, kneading the dough in a very serious manner…even if no matter how she looked, the way he was kneading the dough seemed wrong. Worried that she would end up eating a lump of gummy dough, Feng Zhi Wei stood up and said, “Let me do it. You don’t look like you can get used to doing this.” 

“I am used to whatever I do for you.” Ning Yi refused to step aside but kept on slapping and hitting the dough on the chopping board all business-like. Left with no choice but to just let him be, Feng Zhi Wei saw that while Ning Yi’s technique was clumsy, his steps were good as he pulled and kneaded until he became more and more skilled. The dough pieces were big and small, uneven in size in the beginning but gradually they became very even. He was indeed a very smart person, able to do everything well. The last dough piece came flying out in even little pieces, falling like snowflakes on the cutting board as his long slender fingers swayed up and down in a beautiful rhythm, like a stunning mesmerizing dance. 

Obviously, Ning Yi must have asked about the method of making wisteria cakes in advance. As far as she can remember, her mother had it the same way back then.

Feng Zhi Wei sat at the table, rested her head on a hand, and quietly watched Ning Yi working busily at the chopping board. The water in the pot was bubbling, Ning Yi lifted the lid, and a large cloud of white steam rushed out, interweaving with the faint light of the oil lamp, creating a haloed moonlight-like yellow light, obscuring Ning Yi’s figure and Feng Zhi Wei’s eyes that are half-hidden behind her fingers. 

Something like water vapor gradually appeared in her eyes, swaying slightly…that cloud of white water vapor was floating around, like a thick cloud separating heaven and earth. The figure emerging from the thick cloud was straight and slender, with shoulders as thin as a knife. Facing the steaming vapors head-on, she lifted the lid of the pot, looked at the water, and ordered without turning her head, “Wei’er, the water is boiling, put the steamer on.” 

“Yes…mom.” In the floating clouds, seemingly in a trance, Feng Zhi Wei said in a low mutter. 

“What did you say?” On the other side of the vapor, a voice from reality came, shattering her illusion in an instant. 

Ning Yi was half-hidden in the white vapor and looked back with mild puzzlement. 

Feng Zhi Wei blinked, and her misty eyes sparkled for a moment, then she laughed, “I said, it smells so good.” 

“What smells good?” Ning Yi turned to look at her with amusement, “The water just boiled, I just put the cake on to steam, and you are already telling me it smells good?”

Feng Zhi Wei leaned back in her chair, crossed her arms, looked at him with a smile, and said nothing. 

Seeing her soft gaze, Ning Yi felt his own heart melting as if something warm was filling his insides and slowly spreading out into his limbs. It seemed wherever the warmth reached, spring flowers blossomed. 

He gazed into her clear sparkling eyes and couldn’t help but lower his head, leaned gently on her forehead, and said, “Zhi Wei, you smell good too…” 

Feng Zhi Wei chuckled and reached out a hand to push him but Ning Yi stopped her by holding the back of her chair with both hands. He closed his eyes and let his lips wander over her forehead, his voice gradually becoming a little breathless, “… and let me eat you too….” 

Feng Zhi Wei let out an “ah” sound and quickly leaned backward, but Ning Yi had already let go of her and stretched out his hand to tighten his hold on the back of the chair so she wouldn’t fall from leaving back too hard. Chuckling, he said “What are you afraid of? Afraid I would…here…hmm…ouch.” 

Feng Zhi Wei kicked him. 

“Truly, the most ruthless is a woman’s heart.” Ning Yi dusted off the big footprint on his robe and laughed, “Don’t worry, I am not that impatient yet.” 

He turned to look at the steamer, walked halfway, and suddenly turned back, leaned against the chopping board, and said with a serious expression, “Zhi Wei, even if some things I know in my heart are wishful thinking or perhaps you would laugh it’s a delusion, but I still want to tell you, what I really hope for is to marry you, with a formal wedding night, to be devoted only to you for life. I have ten thousand ways to possess you, but I would rather use the one thousand and one way to have your heart.” 

Feng Zhi Wei’s body shook slightly, her head was lowered, and said nothing, nor did she ask what that ten thousand and one way was. 

(I couldn’t find the proper words to convey the Chinese phrase Ning Yi used for marriage here so I had to just stick simply with “marry”. In ancient China, there were a lot of steps before a couple was officially married. It would usually involve a matchmaker or a very respected person who would come to talk to the potential bride’s parents on behalf of the hopeful groom. Once the bride’s parents agree, then formal documents (with the couple’s birthdates) and a token gift to symbolize the betrothal will be exchanged. Right before the marriage, the groom will send betrothal gifts to the bride’s family. Since Ning Yi is a prince, that would usually mean a procession of men carrying giant wooden boxes filled with all sorts of precious goods and jewelry. On the day of the marriage, the groom will come to escort the bride with formal carriages and the bride’s family will send the bride off with their own procession of men carrying the bride’s dowry (this dowry belongs to the bride and is for her to keep as her own). Since Ning Yi is a prince, we can assume there will be a lot more steps added to this. 

The particular phrase Ning Yi used here for marriage includes all of the above and is very important to the story because he is telling our heroine he wants her as his wife, not a concubine, or a plaything he keeps to the side, but his one and only wife that the whole world would know. (Back then, even being able to marry a prince as a lowly concubine is a great honor not only for the woman but for her whole family. When a woman marry a man as a concubine, the celebrations are kept very simple if at all, the woman is also carried in a small carriage to the side entrance of the house.)This is a big promise to make since in almost all instances, princes either have to accept whoever the emperor chose for them or they would try to marry someone whose family would help them get the throne. Our heroine obviously not only does not fit those two qualifications but would promptly put our hero in grave danger if the emperor ever discovered her real identity. My personal guess is that Feng Zhi Wei knew in her heart that Ning Yi knew her well enough to know he would not be crazy enough to ever imagine she would be willing to be his concubine or plaything. However, I think the thing Feng Zhi Wei had never been sure was that (and really, is smart and wise to doubt) if Ning Yi would choose her over his own ambition since choosing her might very well destroy his chance for the throne. Of course things are even more complicated now since our heroine’s current life goal is to fulfill Madam Feng’s life mission…which is to wipe out the empire of Tiansheng and rebuild the previous empire…which would pit her directly against our hero who still wants to be Tiansheng Empire’s next emperor.

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