Chapter 33 Part 2

The stall’s business wasn’t booming, but there were a few scattered customers inside.

Seeing guests arrive, a girl at the food stall ladled noodle soup with a spoon while smiling and waving at them, calling out: “Ladies and sirs, come in and sit.”

Xiao Jin nodded, thinking: Truly, no matter the era, the way to attract customers is always “come in and sit.”

There were other customers inside, which ordinarily wouldn’t be an issue. But Xiao Jin glanced at Chu Shao and ultimately decided to sit outside.

After all, the owner of this stall looked quite kind. In case some customer inside inadvertently offended Chu Shao, a bloodbath might erupt today, and the business would be done for.

She ordered three bowls of water tofu. Sitting in her wheelchair, Xiao Jin waited boredly, her hands growing a bit cold from the chill.

She had wanted to lift a cup to warm them, but the moment she touched it, she discovered it was ceramic. The heat conduction was slow—completely useless for warming. So she could only dejectedly put it down.

Chu Shao noticed Xiao Jin picking up the cup and setting it down again, and stared at the ceramic cup with considerable curiosity, wondering what profound mystery it held.

She stared for a long while but couldn’t discern any trick. Yet as she raised her head with a smile, she found a hand had already appeared before her, along with a steaming bowl of water tofu.

Inside the blue-and-white porcelain bowl was tofu pudding, pure white and bright, as smooth as warm jade.

It was topped with a spoonful of savory gravy, drizzled with some chili oil, and garnished with scallions and salt. Though not refined, in the snowing winter day, it was edible.

Delicious food was right before her eyes, yet Chu Shao seemed to freeze.

Observing the other’s dazed expression, Xiao Jin abandoned the idea of having Chu Shao hold a hot bowl to warm her hands. She directly placed the porcelain bowl in front of the other. “Eat it while it’s hot.”

Xiao Jin had great confidence in this tofu pudding shop.

Because in the original novel, the male lead had brought the female lead here to eat water tofu. From the author’s description, it was clear the male lead found it extremely delicious.

One had to know, the male lead was the Crown Prince of Qi, who ate the finest delicacies daily. If he found it delicious, it had to be good.

What she didn’t expect was Su Tan, looking at the bowl of tofu pudding on the table, slightly frowning in surprise. “So, Qi’s water tofu is actually savory?”

Xiao Jin: “…”

She fell silent, because she recalled the internet debate of “sweet or savory tofu pudding” between north and south.

So that’s how it was. Qi was in the north, Yao in the south—people from Yao only ate sweet tofu pudding?

Xiao Jin had calculated everything but hadn’t expected such an old-school fictional novel to have such strong regional characteristics. So the question was: when the male lead took the female lead to eat tofu pudding, did the female lead actually enjoy it?

Recalling the passage from the original novel, Xiao Jin vaguely remembered it was written as follows:

“

It was a snowy day. Xiao Yu brought Chu Shao to Goat Horn Alley.

It was his favorite little alley since childhood. No matter spring, summer, autumn, or winter, he would always come here for a walk, drink a cup of clear tea, and eat a bowl of water tofu.

Today, beside him sat Chu Shao, the woman destined for him by fate, the future Empress of Yao, the future Empress Consort of Qi.

So Xiao Yu placed his favorite dish before Chu Shao.

Her brows and eyes looked exceptionally beautiful under the snow lanterns. She nodded gently and began eating the water tofu.

The snow in Northern Qi fell heavily.

Chu Shao listened to Xiao Yu recount stories of his childhood while eating the tofu pudding in her bowl. Only when the bowl was empty did she set down her chopsticks and wipe the corner of her lips with a white handkerchief.

Xiao Yu finished his story and asked: ‘Was it delicious?’

Chu Shao looked at the thin layer of snow on the lantern and smiled as she answered: ‘It was very delicious. But I am more curious about the story Your Highness told, and the final fate of that person.’

Xiao Yu shook his head: ‘There is no ending, only a heavy snowfall.'”

To this day, Xiao Jin still didn’t know what story the male lead told. But she now knew that the female lead probably found that meal hard to swallow and felt like a fishbone was stuck in her throat.

Truly tough for Chu Shao. She finished a bowl of food that completely didn’t match her palate and could still smile while making conversation.

Back then, she didn’t understand just how fake the relationship between the male and female leads was. Now, Xiao Jin finally understood.

After understanding, she felt embarrassed not just for the male lead, but for herself.

Just as she was thinking about how to get the shopkeeper to switch the savory tofu pudding for sweet, unexpectedly, Chu Shao came back to her senses and actually started eating it with a smile.

The Clamping Voice’s duration hadn’t passed yet. Xiao Jin could only use a cough to mask her awkwardness and said to Chu Shao: “If you are not used to it, you do not need to force yourself.”

The spoon was still laden with soft, tender tofu pudding.

Hearing this, Chu Shao raised an eyebrow, a smile curving her lips.

Perhaps feeling that because there were other people in the shop, it was inconvenient to use forms of address, she deliberately leaned close to Xiao Jin’s ear and whispered: “Why does My Prince think this humble wife is forcing myself?”

The voice she spoke with was very soft. Yet in the depths of winter, such a breath inevitably seemed somewhat scorching.

Xiao Jin felt somewhat uncomfortable, so she shifted sideways and coughed again. “Tastes vary. If you do not like it, you can change it to a different flavor.”

Chu Shao looked at Xiao Jin and laughed. “But this humble wife seems to quite like this flavor. It is very novel. And it makes this humble wife very expectant.”

Xiao Jin, however, was wondering whether Chu Shao had changed nationalities or whether the person inside the shell had changed.

Su Tan took two spoonfuls, her expression growing somewhat complicated.

She would defend the dignity of sweet tofu pudding to the death. So she said to Chu Shao: “If you eat a few more spoons, you probably won’t be expectant anymore.”

Xiao Jin deeply agreed. “Perhaps we should just change it to sweet.”

Holding the bowl of tofu pudding, Chu Shao smiled and refused. “No. This humble wife likes eating it savory.”

Xiao Jin: “…”

She stopped struggling and could not understand Chu Shao’s train of thought either. In the end, she only said one line: “As long as the Princess Consort is happy.”

The girl ladling tofu pudding at the side was all smiles, thinking today’s customers were so strange—she couldn’t quite understand what they were talking about.

The sky had completely darkened. Outside the food stall, the lanterns also began to bloom with candlelight one by one.

After finishing the tofu pudding, Xiao Jin felt warmth returning to her entire body. For the moment, she pushed aside thoughts of her remaining lifespan of less than a day, as well as the still-active Clamping Voice.

Snow began falling at night. Perhaps because the New Year was approaching, the girl from the food stall carried a small stool over and hung a brightly colored lantern on the bamboo pole.

The colorful lantern nestled close to the several snow lanterns. Although unlit, its vibrant colors were beautiful enough.

Wiping the corner of her mouth with a brocade handkerchief, Xiao Jin looked up at that unlit, colorful lantern and casually asked: “Miss, when will this colorful lantern be lit?”

Standing on the stool, the food stall girl smiled and told her: “That one? It only lights up for the New Year. But it won’t be long now. On New Year’s Eve, everywhere will be lit with these kinds of lanterns. Then you can go up the mountain, miss, and look down. It will look like the Starry River spilled down from the heavens. It’s a beautiful sight.”

As a transmigrator, Xiao Jin also felt a sense of longing for the scene the food stall girl described.

It was just a pity. In the original novel, even the lanterns in the Northern Qi Imperial Palace had to be decorated with tassels. And they were grand, heavy palace lanterns traced with gold—not these simple, colorful lanterns.

Moreover, the original host’s identity was a prince. When the New Year came, she would certainly have to spend it in the palace.

That colorful lantern must look very beautiful when lit. But she probably wouldn’t have the chance to see it again.

Xiao Jin felt a twinge of regret. As she averted her gaze, she discovered Chu Shao was still staring intently at that dim, unlit lantern.

The moonlight and the candlelight from the lanterns merged into one. Chu Shao turned around, the corners of her lips still curved in an arc, but her brows and eyes held an illusory beauty.

As Xiao Jin was lost in thought, Chu Shao smiled gently. “It’s time to return.”

Xiao Jin came back to her senses and nodded. “Let us return.”

Only, as Chu Shao grasped the wheelchair’s cold bamboo handles, Xiao Jin calmly said one thing to her: “There will be another chance. Come see it next time.”

The wheels paused for a moment.

A moment later, a voice laced with a smile came from behind the wheelchair: “Very well. This humble wife believes you.”

Chu Shao knew this was a lie. So she spoke another lie.

This was very fair.

…

At night, the snow in the capital fell even heavier.

Palace maids and eunuchs shivered as they stood outside the imperial palace. Their hands were frozen stiff, yet they could not return indoors to warm up. Because the Eldest Princess Zhaohua was still standing ahead, draped in a fox fur coat. What courage did they have to leave first?

They were waiting for two people to return.

One could say, the entire capital was waiting for one of them to return.

It wasn’t until the snow was about to pile onto the eunuchs’ umbrella surfaces that the sound of horse hooves finally came from outside the palace gates.

No one could count how many galloping steeds there were. The palace maids and eunuchs dared not raise their heads to look at the Eldest Princess Zhaohua’s smiling face.

They knew that the canopies of those two horse carriages were both crowned with a gleaming, silver-bright pearl. That was power and glory they could never reach in this lifetime.

So the only thing the palace maids and eunuchs could do was kneel on the snow-covered stone bricks and shout toward those two palanquins:

“Respectful welcome to Princess Zhaoyang, returning to the palace! Respectful welcome to Consort Shu, returning to the palace!”