Chapter 261: Loving Hug
Yi Nan brought in the durian, Feng Qingcheng gave the durian to Li Xi’er, signaling her to try it.
“Durian?”
Unexpectedly, she could still see this fruit in this ancient era.
“Junior Brother, do you also know this fruit?”
Feng Qingcheng did not like the taste of this fruit; he was afraid the stench would bother Hua Can.
Seeing his puzzled expression, Li Xi’er quickly said, “Hehe! I was fortunate to see it before!”
She knew this fruit should grow in Southeast Asian countries in the modern era, right?
Durian likes places with tropical rainforest climate, so how could Feng Lan Kingdom have it?
Feng Lan Kingdom is in the subtropical region on Earth; one could tell from the leaves of their vegetation that it was not much different from Dongli Kingdom.
Right, Linglong was previously General Hua’s precious daughter, the pearl in his palm; as a general who campaigned year-round, what rare item had he not seen? It’s just that…
“But… didn’t you forget the past?”
“Oh, memories come and go; this fruit is quite special, with a strange taste, a hard spiky shell—anyway, I have an impression of it!” Li Xi’er secretly wiped her sweat; lying is not easy—one lie requires another to cover it!
Feng Qingcheng looked at her guiltily; she remembered things from time to time? Would she then remember that he had killed her with his own hands?
Would she then ignore him from now on? Would he lose her forever?
Many anxieties rose in his heart!
“Ah, look, the durian shell has burst open—it’s fully ripe and edible. God of War Senior Brother, your junior brother won’t stand on ceremony!”
“Good!”
Watching her wash her hands, split open the durian shell, take a piece and hand it to him: “Do you want to eat?”
Feng Qingcheng shook his head.
“It’s very delicious!”
Feng Qingcheng still shook his head. “You really don’t know how to enjoy life!”
Li Xi’er teased him and began eating contentedly! “Delicious, so delicious!”
Feng Qingcheng saw how she was always overjoyed by a little food, just like before.
He thought to himself, it turns out Hua Shidi also likes eating this strange fruit; next time, transport more back!
Seeing that her mouth was stained from eating, he took out the handkerchief from his bosom and gently wiped it for her.
“God of War Senior Brother, to be honest, you’re really good to your junior brother!”
“Hehe, you’d better know it!” Feng Qingcheng smiled indulgently at her.
“Tell me, why are you so good to me? Did you do something guilty toward me?”
Her half-smiling questioning made Feng Qingcheng choke.
“By the way, Senior Brother, when exactly is your wedding date?” Li Xi’er continued eating durian and asked casually.
“Mm, end of this month.” That is, March 30th—so soon!
“Doesn’t that mean the manor will soon prepare for the marriage?”
Feng Qingcheng nodded faintly; actually, the manor had already begun preparations, but she was staying in Zui Yue Pavilion and unaware.
This was the fundamental reason why Consort Li wanted to drive her away early.
“Mm, to repay you for taking care of this junior brother all along, I’m preparing to give you a gift—what do you like?”
Feng Qingcheng gazed at her intently, his eyes full of tenderness!
In his heart: He only wanted her to stay by his side forever, never to leave!
“As long as it’s from you, Senior Brother, he likes it all!”
Li Xi’er rolled her eyes at him; Feng Qingcheng, ah Feng Qingcheng, if you like men, just say so.
Her eyes darted around as she thought left and right; forget it, from now on she should try to act more like a delicate young woman!
It seemed she had to rack her brains again; she originally thought she could slack off a bit! “Alright, let this young woman think some more!”
Feng Qingcheng innocently: “Then I’ll look forward to your gift!”
“Right, Senior Brother, earlier I heard you say the Imperial Consort Dowager has loss of appetite?”
“Yes, she has no appetite recently; Senior Brother can only get the imperial physician to check her pulse and find cooks to adjust the flavors!”
“Doesn’t the Imperial Consort Dowager like eating durian? I can make a very delicious dim sum; later you can bring it to her—she’ll definitely like it!” Just wait!
He showed some doubt; his mother’s tastes were unusually picky.
“You’re not angry at her?”
“Senior Brother, I originally have no dealings with them; they are your relatives, and today’s incident was because they worried about you—I don’t want to cause discord between you and them because of me!”
Feng Qingcheng was a bit moved and suddenly hugged her; Li Xi’er felt his emotions came out of nowhere.
“Don’t move, let Senior Brother hug you!” There was still someone in this world who cared about his feelings!
The God of War was actually crying? No way?
Li Xi’er paused with her outstretched hands and then put them down; anyway, she would leave soon—let him hug if he wanted, no need to cause conflicts between them because of her!
From her memories, she knew how much he longed for his mother’s love, but from childhood to adulthood he never knew how to express it, so he never received true love from Consort Li.
It had finally eased, and from his mother’s behavior earlier, she also wanted to ease relations with him.
After all, Princess Luoning was her own daughter, and being hurt in the face like that surely left her uncomfortable.
“Right, does your mansion have an ice cellar?”
“Yes, what do you want with the ice cellar?”
“That’s good then; this young woman needs to borrow it for a bit.”
“Good, later I’ll have the butler take you there.”
Feng Qingcheng returned to his study to handle official duties; she, because the generator materials were damaged, temporarily gave herself a break and went to the kitchen to make food.
Earlier she had only eaten a small piece of durian; she took out the rest and had the kitchen old woman fetch milk, mashed the durian and mixed it with the milk, put it into utensils, and took it to the ice cellar to freeze!
After making durian ice cream, she used the remaining durian to make durian pastry and durian pancake; since there wasn’t much durian flesh left, she didn’t make much food, but it was enough for the old Imperial Consort Dowager.
In the afternoon, Feng Qingcheng went to Consort Li’s Jin Xi Hall, bringing these foods; Princess Luoning was still there with the Imperial Consort Dowager, and seeing Feng Qingcheng, her face showed some anger—after all, so many of her maids had been beaten until their skin split open, some already on the verge of death.
“Mother, this is a little dim sum I’m presenting to you in filial piety; since you haven’t had much appetite recently, I specially had someone make it for you!” Feng Qingcheng had the food served and said it just as his junior brother taught him.
Previously, when she was unwell, he would silently summon the imperial physician and cooks; when subordinates reported matters to the Imperial Consort Dowager, he would fix whatever the problem was!
What left Li Xi’er even more speechless was that this durian was something he had specially brought from thousands of miles away for the Imperial Consort Dowager to taste, yet he awkwardly claimed it was something he happened to obtain, that others didn’t want!
Consort Li’s face indeed showed some emotional change, and she said,
“Hmph! Fortunately you still remember this mother of yours. Tell me, your elder sister just went over to Zui Yue Pavilion to take a look, and you gave her such a warning—sigh, I’m old, probably won’t live much longer; your elder sister has only you as family, and you two are blood siblings after all—don’t grow apart!”
“Mother, what are you saying? You will surely live a long life!” Feng Qingcheng said solemnly.
Hearing her mother say this, Princess Luoning actually began sobbing and wiping tears!
“Mother, little brother only knows to bully me!”
“This matter was also your fault; your little brother has been busy with official duties recently and impulsively beat your servants!” Consort Li pretended to consider for him!
Feng Qingcheng said faintly: “Mother is absolutely right; in this matter, this son was indeed somewhat impulsive!”
“Good that you know; it’s not that Mother is meddling, but you’re someone who attends court—for such a woman, you turned back midway, setting a bad example; if His Majesty knew, wouldn’t he blame you!” Consort Li lectured him righteously.
“Mother, you’re right about this, but this son suddenly had urgent business and requested leave to return; His Majesty knows, and it’s unrelated to that woman!” Feng Qingcheng explained.
Feng Lan Kingdom also governs the world with filial piety; though Consort Li was his foster mother, the gratitude for upbringing was greater than the heavens.
Consort Li was stunned; after lecturing for half a day, it turned out she had been presumptuous.
