Chapter 495: Chapter 365: Cooking for Her
"Miss Ye is in the account room; maybe the Prince would like to go see her. This old servant shall go prepare the meal now." Housekeeper Mu glanced at the appearance of his own Prince and hurriedly led him toward the account room.
Dusk approached; outside the building, nightfall had already enveloped everything.
Feng Xun walked to the exterior of the account room and saw that the lamps inside had yet to be lit. Upon pushing open the door, he only caught sight of a small head bowed over the desk.
Behind the tall stack of account books, Ye Lingyue had already fallen asleep.
On the gauze, there was still some ink that had smeared, forming a comical black blotch.
She had never done things like overseeing account books before. Having looked at them all day, she was indeed tired and now slept soundly.
Feng Xun thought for a moment, then whispered a gentle instruction to the guard outside the door, asking him to tell Housekeeper Mu to delay the evening meal and not to disturb them in the account room for the time being.
With a casual motion, he closed the door.
The faint light from the corridor lanterns meekly shone through.
Feng Xun carefully approached Ye Lingyue’s side.
She was in deep sleep, and when Feng Xun stepped in, she shifted her neck slightly as if her sleep was not entirely comfortable.
Noticing the pile of account books she rested on, Feng Xun could not help but chuckle.
He remembered that in Xia Capital, although Ye Lingyue was the co-owner of both Drunk Immortal Inn and Immortal Restaurant, she was notoriously averse to hassle.
On several occasions, she even came to him with a frown, clutching the account books, asking him to help organize the inn’s finances.
However, even then Feng Xun had already noticed that Ye Lingyue had some innate talent for management.
Today, she was indeed having a tough time.
He gingerly tried to remove the stiff account books from beneath her, just having slid one out when his hand suddenly felt heavy—Ye Lingyue had turned her head again and used Feng Xun’s hand as a pillow, pressing it underneath her cheek.
Her face was still bruised, and through the gauze, Feng Xun’s hand could feel her warm skin.
Seeming quite pleased with this new pillow, Ye Lingyue shuffled her head upward a little more, her restless hand embracing Feng Xun’s hand.
"..."
Feng Xun couldn’t easily pull his hand away, so he could only stand there.
His figure was tall and lean, and to accommodate Ye Lingyue, he had to stoop down.
In doing this, his face was nearly touching hers; they were so close that he could feel her breath, warmly tickling his face.
Her sleeping position was far from refined; her long eyelashes occasionally fluttered, and she would occasionally murmur something.
But to Feng Xun, all of this was intriguing, so he simply stayed there, watching over her as she slept.
Observing her like that, Feng Xun even wished he could watch her for a lifetime; something deep within his heart felt as it was about to burst.
Even though they had only known each other for a little over a year, Feng Xun had an odd sensation that he and Ye Lingyue had been comforting each other for many years.
Outside the account room, Housekeeper Mu led several Maids, carrying food containers.
He looked into the account room and only saw the shadowy outlines of two figures.
The old housekeeper chuckled secretly to himself, mulling over his thoughts, then spoke softly.
"Take all the food containers back, and also, let the kitchen maids rest early tonight; there’s no need to keep any refreshments or soups ready."
Having said this, Housekeeper Mu led the other servants away.
Ye Lingyue slept deeply, thoroughly at ease.
Last night, perturbed by the incident with Xue Pianran, she didn’t have a restful sleep. Today, enduring her impatience, she had checked the account books for the entire day, and eventually, succumbing to drowsiness, she had fallen straight into sleep.
Little did she know that, upon waking, the sky had already turned pitch black.
When she opened her eyes, a dim lantern light flickered inside the room.
The light was a bit dim, and when she lifted her head, her forehead bumped into a chin.
She let out a soft exclamation, rubbed her forehead, and looked up to see Feng Xun sitting at the desk, with her in his arms.
At this moment, Feng Xun was holding an account book in one hand, while the other hand was firmly pinned under her face.
Hearing Ye Lingyue’s exclamation, Feng Xun looked down at her.
The lamplight shimmered in his eyes, like ripples on a pond under the moonlight, breathtakingly beautiful.
Ye Lingyue’s face flushed red in an instant.
"You’re back. Why didn’t you wake me?"
No sooner had she finished speaking than Ye Lingyue’s face burned even hotter, her words carrying an undertone of a long-married couple.
Her heart fluttered in disarray, as if a rabbit was leaping up and down inside.
She didn’t know how many hours she had slept; had she been resting on Feng Xun’s hand the whole time?
His hand must have gone numb by now.
Seeing her sleep soundly, I didn’t wake you. Are you hungry?" Feng Xun said with a smile, placing the account book aside and smoothing out Ye Lingyue’s disheveled hair with his hand.
Indeed, Ye Lingyue was hungry.
She had been so occupied with the account books today that she had skipped lunch.
Now taking a look around the room, lunch had long been cleared away.
It was past mealtime by now.
Ye Lingyue could tell from Feng Xun’s appearance that he also had not eaten while accommodating her.
"What would you like to eat? I can go to the kitchen and have someone prepare something for you," Feng Xun said, ever so easygoing.
"It’s late at night; let’s not bother too much. Just cook some porridge, and frying some eggs with cucumber would be fine," Ye Lingyue replied, her mind still groggy from sleep.
Feng Xun looked at Ye Lingyue, saw that she was still somewhat drowsy, told her to stay, and got up to order food.
After Feng Xun left, the accounting room felt empty and deserted.
With nothing to do, Ye Lingyue flipped through the account books she had been perusing during the day.
In the time she had been asleep, Feng Xun had already reviewed quite a few of the account books, leaving a line of beautiful seal script notes beneath each reviewed one.
After waiting for an hour, Feng Xun had yet to return.
Fearing something had happened to him on the way, Ye Lingyue followed her memory towards the direction of the kitchen.
As she walked along the dimly lit cloister, she approached the kitchen and heard a loud bang from inside.
It sounded like the noise of a bowl hitting the ground and upon looking inside, she saw a tall, large figure drenched in sweat, toiling over the stove.
It turned out that the fires in the kitchen had been put out for the night and the kitchen maids had all retired to bed.
Concerned that Ye Lingyue might be hungry, Feng Xun took it upon himself to cook the porridge and stir-fry.
Hearing movement behind him, Feng Xun turned around, his face slightly embarrassed.
"Just a little longer and it will be ready. Don’t come in, there’s nowhere to stand,"
he said, and his ears started to turn red.
On the floor, numerous pots, pans, and ladles had been defeated, along with broken eggs and cucumbers chopped beyond recognition. Come morning, the kitchen maids of Feng Residence would surely think a thief had broken in.
Ye Lingyue couldn’t help but chuckle. They say no one is perfect. Feng Xun was handsome, wealthy, and had an impeccable temperament. She thought he was flawless, but now it seemed he had one imperfection: his cooking skills were terrible.
On the other hand, Wu Zhong’s cooking skills were quite impressive. If these two could combine their strengths, they would truly be unbeatable. With this thought, Ye Lingyue startled herself, shocked by her own odd idea.