Squeeze Her Face

Huang Gao did not take the soup. "I think you'd better bring it in yourself. His Highness is waiting inside."

Now that her plan had failed, Li Baojia had to bring the soup inside. Taotao tried to follow her but was stopped at the door by Huang Gao with a wave of his hand. "You might want to stay here until Miss Li comes out."

Inside the hall

Zhao Yi was flipping through and marking the folders in the hall and didn't look up when she entered.

Li Baojia put the soup gently on the table and tried to slip away.

"You came so early. Have you already had breakfast?"

Now plan B failed too.

Li Baojia bowed respectfully. "Your Highness, I have already eaten breakfast."

She knew she was lying because she had gotten up too early to eat anything.

The hall was silent for a while.

Li Baojia secretly raised her eyes and met a pair of dark eyes. Then Li Baojia's stomach growled in protest at the wrong time.

As a chuckle sounded, the man looked at her with interest. "Since you didn't eat, let's eat together."

"Damn it, not now!" she cursed her stomach.

Li Baojia stared at her small stomach in a reproachful manner.

Zhao Yi's smile deepened.

Not long later, the table was filled with dishes.

Breakfast should not be too greasy, so there was only mushroom congee, meatball and carp soup, and some other snacks suitable for breakfast.

Li Baojia gingerly sat down.

She was not a quiet person, but she had to be one now.

A rich fragrance of mushrooms and rice wafted up her nose as she gently stirred the congee in the bowl. She took two sips and squinted her eyes comfortably.

Zhao Yi quietly sipped the soup she had brought over. As his slender hands held the porcelain bowl, it seemed like it suddenly became invaluable.

However, Li Baojia was indifferent to him and only focused on the food on the table.

"The round pastry on the other side of the table must be delicious. The outer skin should be glutinous rice skin. It looks a little transparent, bringing out a little pink inside," she thought.

She wondered if it was red bean filling.

Li Baojia quietly swallowed her saliva.

"It looks so delicious. The outer skin should have a glutinous texture and be a bit chewy, and the filling inside should have a soft, sweet texture that is dense and delicate," she thought.

But it was impossible for her to reach over and take it. She could never bring herself to do it.

So she could only watch it silently and imagine how it tasted.

Another chuckle sounded. She could tell the man in front of her seemed to be in a good mood. The stack of red bean cakes was held by a pair of large hands and then placed in front of her.

She had not yet known what had happened.

She wondered if she had made her inner thoughts look too obvious.

"Have a taste." Zhao Yi had finished his soup by now and was staring at her.

Li Baojia tried to remain calm, reached out, took a piece, and took a bite under his gaze.

"Well...sticky and a bit chewy," she thought.

She took another bite.

It had just the right amount of filling inside. The red beans were sweet and soft and melted right in the mouth.

"So, so delicious!"

She thought so, but she didn't show it at all. When she finished eating, she took out her handkerchief and wiped her mouth to indicate she was full.

Zhao Yi took a small bowl, dished out some fish soup, and handed it to her. "Drink it."

Mr. Huang, who was standing behind her, was shocked.

He wondered if he had seen it correctly.

He couldn't believe the prince had just served Li Baojia a snack and soup himself.

He had been serving the prince for so many years. Although the prince seemed kind and friendly to all the noble ladies, Huang Gao knew very well that it was meant to be a warning.

It was a warning that told them not to get any closer.

He had never seen him take care of a girl and serve her soup before.

Li Baojia froze. "Your Highness, I...I'm full..."

Actually, she wasn't quite full yet.

The current trend in the Imperial City was that women should look slender and even weak to be recognized as beautiful and feminine.

She believed she couldn't even appear fat, even if she could be perceived as one.

Therefore, she used to refrain from eating too much to be completely full.

There was still a long way to go to lose weight.

Besides, the man across from her had been staring at her, which kind of reduced her appetite due to fear.

Zhao Yi read her mind and didn't mean to force her. Then he put the bowl down and said, "It's okay if you don't want to."

Seeing her look at him, he said indifferently, "You look just right. There's no need to lose weight."

Li Baojia choked when he brought that up.

She believed he was lying.

Li Baojia carefully recalled Su Ruhui's physical appearance.

She was precisely the definition of weak and slender.

It didn't occur to her that he would say she looked just right.

She wondered if he liked her soul and Su Ruhui's body.

The more she thought about it, the more unlikely she found it because he loved to fool around with her in her previous life, and it looked like he wanted to eat her alive.

So she silently spat in her heart. "Yuck! How shameless."

But when Zhao Yi read her mind, he immediately wondered who the 'she' was that she was referring to.

"What the hell?" he thought.

Zhao Yi didn't understand what her inner thoughts meant.

It sounded like he had a crush on someone.

Because Li Baojia did not use Su Ruhui's name and used 'her' instead, Zhao Yi didn't understand what she was talking about.

But he indeed heard her cursing him.

So he suddenly stretched out his hand and pinched her soft, pink cheek.

It felt pretty good. It was bouncy like rubber.

So he squeezed her face again.

Li Baojia instantly froze. When she returned to her senses, she flung her head back to get rid of his hand and said, "Your Highness, what...what are you doing?"

Zhao Yi put his hand away as if nothing had happened. But not for the fact that Li Baojia's fair face still had two red marks on it, he might have forgotten he had just squeezed her face.

"You've got something on your face."

Li Baojia touched her face. "Uh...thank you, Your Highness?"

"Hmm." Zhao Yi accepted her gratitude outright.

In fact, since the strange dream, he has always been a little depressed. Whether it was day or night, he always felt something blocking his chest.

It was very dry and irritating, and he could barely maintain his usual gentle and kind persona.

He felt annoyed at all times and wanted to destroy everything he saw.

Seeing her today, these feelings did not disappear either but were reshaped into something else.

They turned impatient and aggressive, eager to conquer. He wanted to reach out and pull her into his arms just now.

Then he'd...

He frowned. This feeling was somewhat strange for him, but from the beginning of the dream, strange things had happened to him, one after another.

"This soup is good. Come back tomorrow," he said indifferently,

Li Baojia stood up instantly. "Huh?"

She realized she might have to wake up early again.

She looked like a deflated balloon, not trying to act happy.

Zhao Yi then asked, "You don't want to?"

Li Baojia managed to put on a smile. "No, no, no. I do, Your Highness."

"Come here at 8 a.m., and we can have breakfast together."

Huang Gao was secretly shocked. Just when everyone underestimated her, she proved them wrong.

It seemed to him that the prince had fallen in love with Li Baojia.

When Li Baojia left, Zhao Yi took a piece of red bean cake that Li Baojia had just eaten, took a small bite, and then put it down.

He found it tasted a bit too sweet. He didn't know why she enjoyed eating it.