The head guard, as if blind, said solicitously, "Your Highness, this is a nourishing soup specially prepared by the kitchen for you. Please have some while it's hot."
Zhuo Jin glared at him, then looked at a delighted Bai Li Chong Yan and said through gritted teeth, "Your Highness has also worked hard these days. Please have some too."
With that, she directly pushed the entire soup tureen in front of Bai Li Chong Yan.
Bai Li Chong Yan chuckled, "If you don't want to drink it, then don't. And don't make it anymore."
The head guard looked confused, "Why are we not allowed to make it anymore?"
Bai Li Chong Yan: "..."
Feeling as though he had kicked a rock only to drop it on his own foot, Prince Yan pushed the soup tureen back in front of him and said indifferently, "Since you like it so much, I bestow this tureen of soup upon you."
Although puzzled, receiving a reward was a fortunate event for them. The head guard immediately thanked him, "Many thanks to Your Highness for the bestowal."
With that, he carried the entire, untouched tureen of nourishing soup away.
With no one else in the room, Bai Li Chong Yan burst into laughter.
After laughing, he said, "He acts foolishly, Jin'er. Don't be angry. In the future, if he dares to have the kitchen make soup for you again, just bestow it upon him and make him drink it on the spot."
Zhuo Jin had no pleasant feelings towards the head guard, and she was also displeased with his smiling at her. She ate her meal in silence.
From then on, whenever the head guard personally delivered tonic, Zhuo Jin would bestow it back to him on the spot, making him drink it then and there.
After half a month of this, the head guard became so energetic and ruddy-faced that he even started to get nosebleeds in the middle of winter. Gradually, he stopped daring to deliver the tonics.
This is a story for later. For now, Zhuo Jin was thinking about something else.
She wondered why she, with her immortal body and spiritual physique, was inferior to even a mortal of flesh and blood.
She had long suspected that the little thing in her head was causing trouble.
However, her spiritual power was still intact and unaffected. When she asked the little thing, it feigned ignorance and she couldn't get any answers. Zhuo Jin had no choice but to let it go.
If this body wasn't hers, then eventually beauty would fade with age. After eight or ten years, she would know.
In any case, time was something she had in abundance, and now she even had someone she liked to amuse her. She could be patient.
---
Master Lingyun had left, and the Second Prince's illness had recurred.
This time, it was even more ferocious.
Because the monk had intended to extinguish Song Jin's soul, she had narrowly escaped. Now that he had returned, she harbored more resentment towards the Second Prince.
After a few more days, the Second Prince fell into a coma.
Perhaps Master Lingyun had spoken to the Emperor about Zhuo Jin, or perhaps those three had mentioned her. The Emperor sent an imperial decree via the Empress, ordering Zhuo Jin to enter the palace for an audience.
They had not entered the palace since their marriage. This should have been a cause for criticism, but Bai Li Chong Yan was still seen as the sickly prince in everyone's eyes, so there were no gossips.
When the imperial decree arrived, Zhuo Jin and Bai Li Chong Yan were nestled together for warmth in a cat's nest that Zhuo Jin had commissioned.
The cat's nest was based on an image from her mind, a gift from the little thing when they first met. It had originally been small, but Zhuo Jin had seen it and had someone make a large one.
It was a semi-circular funnel made of wood, with one half suspended from a beam by ropes and the other half open. The inside was lined with brocade and fox fur, suspended in mid-air. Two people could sit inside, swaying gently, in a rather leisurely manner.
The head guard looked on with great envy.
"Your subordinate greets Your Highness, the Prince Consort."
"Rise," Bai Li Chong Yan said, putting down his book, "Are there any messages from the Northern Frontier?"
The head guard produced an envelope. "Yes."
This envelope had been on a falcon that he had seen that morning in the prince's mansion.
They usually used carrier pigeons for communication. Pigeons flew low and were easily spotted, so sometimes messages required someone to deliver them in person.
People could also die on the way.
Using a falcon to deliver messages was unprecedented. So, when he saw it, he thought he was mistaken.
When he walked closer, he saw the envelope and provisions it carried, making it seem less like an animal and more like a top-tier messenger.
The guard said with a touch of flattery, "It must be that young girl who Your Highness gifted to the Prince Consort. She is dressed in colorful clothes and must be quite close to birds."
Zhuo Jin felt something was amiss.
"If you can't speak properly, then shut up!"
The head guard: "..."