Chapter 394: A Palm Strike, Split In Pieces
In fact, things were really not that complicated.
He had no other thoughts about Li Junyue. It was just that when she squatted behind him despite the dirt and quietly helped him turn over the plots, he was momentarily touched.
That was all.
Nothing more.
Since his sister didn’t like Li Junyue, he would say so explicitly the next time she visited.
Family harmony was the priority.
He would never allow any outsider to disturb the peace and happiness of the family.
In mid-February, Liu Zhixia and Fu Yuzheng finally returned to the capital after a couple of months of a long journey.
The weather in the capital was colder than in the south. It was still chilly at this time of year, making one’s breath turn misty.
However, despite such cold days, the streets of capital had resumed their hustle and bustle, and everyone was back to work for a living.
When the carriage sped through the street, passing her own store, Fu Yuzheng lifted the carriage curtain to look outside. There were few customers, coming and going. It was not that deserted, which was within her estimation.
Her dyeing workshop was newly opened, and it just needed an opportunity to gain fame.
But then again, with the Fu family’s dyeing workshop in place, there was no possibility of her store making a name for itself.
The Fu family had been entrenched in the capital for more than ten years and had accumulated a deep-rooted reputation in this line of business. Moreover, the fabric they sold in their dyeing workshops were exquisite and expensive, and only the rich could afford them. The rich changed their clothes frequently, so the cloth problems have not yet broken out, which was also the reason the Fu family could flourish till now.
Soon, it wouldn’t be long before the success of the Fu family would be gone.
At the end of February, the Royal Shangyi Bureau would begin the selection of special fabric merchants. By then, she and the Fu family would have a showdown on the battlefield to determine victory or defeat.
”There’s not much time left, are you confident?” asked the man sitting next to her.
They had a detailed conversation about her intentions during their journey, so he already knew them all.
She did not hide anything from him.
”I am.” She looked at him and smiled lightly.
”Are you not nervous?”
”I am. A tense ending is on the horizon.” How could she not be nervous? Even if she was confident in her craft, the Fu family had been in this business for so many years after all. There was a possibility that they had refined their skills.
Hence, the end would really be known only when the war started.
Liu Zhixia grasped the woman’s slender hand in her palm and said, “If you win, I’ll congratulate you. If you lose, I’ll give you a leg up.”
”How are you going to give me a leg up? You are still a scholar now.” A hint of teasing surfaced between her eyebrows, but she was trying to suppress the turbulent emotions in her heart.
”Maybe you need to wait for me to become famous. But if you can’t wait, then I’ll just have to go through the back door and seek help from Feng Qingbai.”
”Pfft!” Fu Yuzheng covered her lips and laughed. “There’s no need for you to go through the back door. I will approach Nannan myself and go through the back door. With her, is there still something that the King won’t agree to.”
”Well, if you go to Nannan, there is nothing that she will not agree to either.” The smile under his eyes was equally derisive, making her blush from his overtone. “When it comes to family, she will help you with everything.”
The carriage stopped in front of the King’s residence. Fu Yuzheng drew her hand back with a red face, but did not bother to refute the deep meaning of his words.
She only spluttered at him quickly as she got out of the car, “Cheeky!”
Immediately after, she heard the man’s low, deep, and soft chuckle.
Fu Yuzheng lifted her skirt and ran towards the royal residence, leaving his blush-inducing laughter behind her.
On the way, he had been teasing her like this.
He’s rotten to the core!
The concierge was a little dumbfounded.
In all these years, when has Miss Fu ever been so flustered and ill-mannered?
A woman who had always abided by the rules and etiquette in front of people, actually had a day she would run wild?
The carriage curtain was lifted again, and a gentle and handsome man followed down the carriage.
The concierge’s eyes trembled and immediately converged his expression to welcome him.
The reason for Miss Fu’s fluster was here.
It was just before mid-morning. At this hourm Liu Zhixia thought Feng Qingbai would not be in.
Who would have thought that he would see His Holiness, sitting inside, when he entered the hall.
”Shouldn’t you be at court at this hour?” If he wasn’t at court, he should be in the palace dealing with government affairs.
It would be a joke to say that Feng Qingbai knew that he was coming back and waited for him here.
Feng Qingbai got up, took the package hanging on him, opened it and slipped a glance, then frowned: “Didn’t Shengsheng ask you to bring me anything?”
”Yeah. Nannan is very busy and had no time to prepare gifts for you.” So he had been waiting here early in the morning and even skipped going to the morning court session just to see if he had brought something from Nannan? Liu Zhixia calmly added, “Grandparents did ask us to bring you a lot of food.”
In time with his words, servants came in, carrying several large packages. Liu Zhixia dug out something wrapped in an oil paper and handed it to him: “Taste it.”
When Feng Qingbai opened two layers of greaseproof paper, there were pieces of handmade cakes, mixed with sesame seeds and crushed peanuts inside.
Feng Qingbai picked one up, put it to his mouth, and bit it.
A crack echoed.
The cake was so hard that it almost broke his teeth.
”Pfft!” Liu Zhixia laughed for the first time without caring about his image. He clutched his own bag and left, saying, “There are several large bags inside the gifts. They are all for you and Xiao Feng’er. Take your time eating them.”
His tone reeked of the pleasure of delivering a small revenge.
He’d been upset for a long time when he stole their Nannan and acted as if it was for granted.
Feng Qingbai stared at the cake in front of him, his face as dark as the bottom of a pot, rewrapped it in the greaseproof paper and headed to the palace.
Soon, Feng Mohan was also wrecked.
Feng Mohan touched his teeth with his hand, and then looking at the shallow tooth mark on the cake, the corners of his mouth twitched wildly: “What is this made of? Is this stone cake? It’s so hard it can be used as a weapon!”
”Your grandma made it.”
”…” Grandma made it. The cakes were filled with her concern, so he had to eat them. Feng Mohan closed his eyes and used all his strength to gnaw on a piece of cake. “Imperial Uncle, will you eat with me?”
With two people eating them, they could quickly finish those big bags. How long would it take for him to finish them all alone?
”These are all yours. There are still more in the royal residence,” Feng Qingbai lowered his eyes and lied without batting an eyelid.
Feng Mohan had so much to eat he wanted to cry.
The next time he had a chance to return to Xinghua Village, he must advise Grandma not to make this cake for him in the future. It wasn’t delicious, and it hurt his teeth.
With how hard it was, could the grandparents even chew it?
”Hai——” With a sigh, Feng Mohan took out a small clean handkerchief and wrapped the piece of cake which he had only dented after gnawing for so long. With a snap, he brought a palm strike down. The hard cake shattered into pieces, the size of a fingernail.
Feng Mohan picked a piece and tossed it into his mouth. When he heard a click after chewing it, he beamed in surprise. “Imperial Uncle, so a bite size can actually make you chew it especially fast!
Feng Qingbai: “…”
Was his brain deteriorating? Did he believe he didn’t think of using this method to eat the cakes?
This day, Feng Qingbai’s ears suffered from click-click-click chewing sounds.
The little boy actually looked addicted to it.
”Feng Mohan, you are the Emperor. Can you pay attention to your manners?”
Notes:
- Shangyi Bureau – I think I translated this Shanyi Bureau in chapters before. I missed the g.
- Xiao Feng – Feng Mohan’s nickname. I’ve translated this Xiao Feng only before. I’ll occasionally use Xiao Feng’er onwards.
Peek-Aboo 
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