Ah Ruan smiled sweetly. She doesn’t have the snobbish air like other nobles have, which made Ye Jiayao like her immediately.
Little Jing continued, “She’s the owner of this restaurant, the Mobile Imperial Chef of the palace, the Second Young Mistress of the Jing An Marquis’ mansion, and the second granddaughter of the Helian Prince mansion. You can call her Ye Jinxuan, Second Young Mistress, or Yaoyao.”
Ye Jiayao let out a little chuckle at Little Jing’s introduction. She didn’t realize how complex her identity had gotten until he said it in such details.
Ah Ruan tilted her head and asked, “Are you older than Young Royal Highness Jing? I can just call you Big Sister!”
The people in Nanyue are straightforward, and once they like someone, they don’t beat around the bush. And Ah Ruan definitely liked this woman. She could cook well, has a pretty face, and doesn’t seem to be prone to brownnosing like most people are when they learn of her status. Plus, Yaoyao has deep ties with the Helian family. If she was to marry Little Jing, she’d be calling her ‘Big Sister’ anyway, so why wait?
Ye Jiayao and Helian Jing exchanged looks, both thinking that ‘Big Sister’ was too intimate for someone she just met.
“Sister Yaoyao, come sit. How are you so good at cooking so many great dishes? Have you been to Nanyue? Why does your food taste just like ours? No, actually, yours taste better…” Ah Ruan started questioning Yaoyao curiously.
Ye Jiayao lied smoothly, “I just happened to have the chance to meet some chefs from Nanyue and I really liked the food from your country.”
“Yeah? We have heaps of good food over there, like the bridge rice noodle, erkuai, flower cakes…”
“I like flower cakes too! I have a flower field so I’m going to wait until the roses blossom and I’ll try to make some. I’m not sure if you’re still going to be here then, Princess, but if you are, we can make them together.”
“Then I better stay here longer…” Ah Ruan glanced at Little Jing with a hint of shyness.
It was an obvious hint, but Little Jing, the daft boy that he was, simply complained, “Now that you girls are having a good time, you’re treating me like I’m invisible!”
Ye Jiayao laughed at him. “Stop making things up. I should be the one complaining that you didn’t tell me that you’ll be dining with the Princess! If I didn’t guess it, the Princess would’ve ended up disappointed!”
Little Jing waved her charge dismissively. “You are too smart to not have guessed that.”
“Sister Yaoyao, don’t call me princess. Just call me Ah Ruan, that’s what my family calls me,” Ah Ruan told her.
While they talked, Jiang Yue came in with the desserts.
Ah Ruan let out a little shriek of excitement. “These are the desserts? Wow! They look so delicious!”
Little Jing handed her the fruit cake. “Try this. This is so good and you can’t get this anywhere else.”
Ah Ruan couldn’t stop eating, but her stomach was already so full. She whined, “Young Royal Highness Jing, why didn’t you tell me there are so many desserts? I love desserts! I would’ve saved some room for them!”
Little Jing was surprised that she could eat that much. He had no idea how such a small body could fit so much food. Where does it all go?
Ye Jiayao smiled at her adorableness. “Ah Ruan, you can bring them back. If you want to eat more, you can always ask someone to get them here for you. We have nothing but good food here.”
Before Ah Ruan left, she took Yaoyao’s hands and said, “I’m so happy to meet you. I’ll visit you again soon!”
Ye Jiayao thought that she just said it out of politeness, but to her surprise, Ah Ruan did indeed come to the restaurant every day after that. Sometimes she’s with Little Jing, sometimes she’s just by herself.
The intermittent negotiation went on for half a month before they finally signed the agreement. Luckily for Zhao Qixuan and Su Yi, the agreement included the opening of the border trade. Those two were sure to make a fortune soon.
“God… this negotiation was more tiring than the war,” Xia Chunyu complained with a sigh.
Ye Jiayao handed him a cup of honey grapefruit tea and said, “Here. Drink this. It’s good for your throat.”
He patted the seat next to him and told her to sit down.
She obliged and immediately, his hand went around her hips and pulled her to him.
“Don’t! Others can see us,” Ye Jiayao protested shyly, trying to push him off to no avail,
was shy and tried to push him off, which was no use.
“Let them look,” he said before taking her lips in a deep, hard kiss.
Despite her reservations, she sank into the kiss, reveling in the feel of his arms around her and the way he teased her lips.
It felt like their kiss went on forever.
Chunyu only let her go when he was running out of breath. He smiled at the sight of her swollen lips and cuddled her to him, playing with her silky hair.
“I can finally spend time with you,” he said softly.
“The Nanyue envoy’s going back, right? What about Princess Ah Ruan?” Ye Jiayao asked.
“Princess Ah Ruan? I think she will stay. I know that she was sent here by her father to look for marriage prospects. His Majesty tasked Little Jing to escort her so I think he wanted the two of them to get together.”
“I think they’re a good match. Ah Ruan’s very innocent and adorable.” From her observations, Ah Ruan definitely has some feelings for Little Jing. She would always ask her about Little Jing’s and even Princess Yu De’s hobbies. Little Jing didn’t seem to dislike her either.
Suddenly, she remembered the trip that Ah Ruan mentioned. “Princess Ah Ruan’s inviting me to go with her to Qianman Field tomorrow. Do you want to come with us?”
“Do you want to go?” he asked her.
“We haven’t gone out this year. Spring is the best time for a field trip!”
“We’ll go then. Who suggested Qianma Field?”
“Ah Ruan. I don’t know why.”
“Qianma Field is too far,” he told her. “They have bumpy roads too. Let’s go to Puji Temple instead. I haven’t seen Reverend Ji Ren for a while.”
“Big Sister, are you going out for a trip tomorrow?” Jinyao asked as she walked in.
Ye Jiayao hurriedly moved away from Chunyu, blushing. Why did she just walk in like that?
Xia Chunyu sat up too, coughing out of embarrassment. “Yeah. I have been busy these last few months and your sister and I haven’t had any quality time together.”
Jinyao wrapped a hand around her sister’s arm and pleaded, “Big Sister, can I go too? I’ve been in Jin Ling for over half a month and I haven’t even been to the Qinhuai River!”
Ye Jiayao was speechless. Didn’t Jinyao hear Chunyu say that they haven’t had quality time in a while? Why would she third wheel? She’s going to spoil all the fun!
Xia Chunyu didn’t want her to come, but since she’s his sister-in-law, he could only say, “Of course.”
“Really? My brother-in-law is the best!” Jinyao exclaimed, the innocence of a little girl written all over her face.
He smiled. “Now go get some rest, we will leave early tomorrow.”
“Okay, I’ll go to bed now. Big Sister and Brother-in-law, you are the best,” Jinyao said and left the room.
Ye Jiayao called in Qiao Xi, a frown on her face. “Why didn’t you tell me that Third Young Lady Ye is coming in?”
“Apologies, Second Young Mistress,” Qiao Xi replied with a bit of fear. “I will remember that next time.”
Ye Jiayao’s good mood was ruined. She didn’t like how Jinyao simply walked into their room without any notice. It was a good thing that they were not talking about sensitive matters, otherwise, that would’ve been disastrous. Jinyao could come in if it’s only Ye Jiayao in the room, but not if Chunyu was with her. It’s highly inappropriate.
When Qiao Xi exited the room, Chunyu sat beside her and rubbed her shoulders comfortingly. “Let it go. Jinyao is still young and she’s close to you, that’s why she didn’t think too much of it.”
“You think she’s still young?”
“Isn’t she just a teenager?”
“Teenager? She’s 15 next year!” Ye Jiayao sneered.
Xia Chunyu was startled at the bite in her tone. She could understand what Yaoyao was feeling, though. Once bitten, twice shy.
He tugged her to him and said with an indulgent smile, “Even if you don’t trust others, you should trust me. I’m not Wei Liujiang.”
“If you ever cheat on me, I will leave and never return,” she said firmly.
She’s willing to stay, do all the work, and take shit from others because she loved him. She’s doing all she can to make him happy and make his life easier, but if he ever strays, she’s gone. She will never tolerate cheating.
Xia Chunyu’s heart skipped a bit at her words. This was the first time she said something like that to him. It got him worried. He hugged her tighter to him and vowed, “I will never do that. You have my heart. There will never be anyone else.”
Ye Jiayao didn’t say anything. He might mean that now, but what happens if their passion runs out and other thoughts started taking over? No promises beat the changing mind of a person.
“I just want to say that if we ever have any misunderstanding in the future, we have to communicate. We have to talk to each other,” he told her seriously. He knew that women are more observant than men so they tend to overthink a lot.
