“When I was young, I told my mother consort that my wish was to become a God of War. After that, on my fourth birthday, she gave me a small suit of armor and a small silver bow and arrow, and told me that if I wanted my wish to come true quickly, I should bury my wish under a small tree, and let it grow with the tree. I was young then and believed my mother consort’s words. The next night, I secretly put the small armor and silver bow and arrow my mother consort gave me into a small wooden box and buried it under this willow tree. Later, I forgot about it, so it has remained buried until now.”
Jun Mohan recalled.
“Hehe! Jun Mohan, you must have been very cute when you were little. Your mother consort must have doted on you very much.”
Leng Ruoli smiled sweetly at Jun Mohan, revealing a mouthful of white, neat teeth.
Jun Mohan turned his gaze and saw Leng Ruoli’s sweet smile, which immediately melted the sorrow in his heart.
“Let’s go. Since it’s still early today, I’ll take you somewhere,” Jun Mohan suddenly said to Leng Ruoli.
“Where are you taking me?” Leng Ruoli asked in surprise.
“You’ll know when we get there,” Jun Mohan said mysteriously again.
Leng Ruoli: “……”
“Why are father and son so secretive today?”
Although Leng Ruoli was full of questions, she still followed Jun Mohan out of the palace.
Afterward, they took a carriage and smoothly arrived outside a small courtyard outside the city.
Leng Ruoli followed closely behind Jun Mohan as she got off the carriage. She looked up at the house in front of her and felt it was very familiar.
“Jun Mohan, haven’t we been here before?” Leng Ruoli asked with a smile.
“Yes, we came here last time we went to Nanzhao. However, we came here through a secret passage from the hot spring pool in our room,” Jun Mohan explained to her.
As the two were talking, an old man with white hair walked out of the small courtyard. His back was straight, and his body looked very sturdy. This person was Liang Bo, the owner of the house.
As soon as Liang Bo walked to the doorway, he saw the King and Consort of Leng standing outside the bamboo fence of the courtyard. He immediately hurried to the courtyard gate, opened the bamboo fence gate, and invited the King and Consort of Leng in.
“Your Highness, Consort, why have you come? And why did you take such a long detour by carriage to get here?” Liang Bo asked them with a smile like an aunt.
“Liang Bo, you’ve been married for so long, it’s time you brought the Consort to meet the Eldest Miss,” Liang Bo said in agreement.
At this moment, Leng Ruoli realized that Jun Mohan wanted to take her to meet his mother consort.
Afterward, Liang Bo invited Leng Ruoli and Jun Mohan into his small courtyard.
It was early summer, and the vegetables and flowers planted in Liang Bo’s small courtyard were growing exceptionally well. There were also several peach and pear trees planted on both sides of the small courtyard, their branches and leaves lush.
“Your Highness, Consort, it’s already dusk. This old servant will cook you dinner. After eating, we can go see the Eldest Miss,” Liang Bo suggested to Jun Mohan.
“That’s fine. Thank you for your trouble, Liang Bo.”
Jun Mohan spoke to Liang Bo with great politeness.
“Then this old servant will go pick vegetables to cook for you now,” Liang Bo said, turning to pick the vegetables.
Leng Ruoli quickly said, “Liang Bo, let us help you.”
“Can you?”
Liang Bo turned his head to look at them, a doubtful expression on his face.
“Yes!”
Leng Ruoli nodded with a smile.
“Alright then! You can come and help me pick vegetables,” Liang Bo casually agreed.
To his surprise, the young couple worked with a semblance of skill and moved efficiently, which astonished Liang Bo.
However, what impressed Liang Bo even more was that Leng Ruoli could also stir-fry, and her cooking skills were top-notch. In a short while, she made four dishes and one soup.
Liang Bo was not just surprised but utterly dumbfounded as he watched Leng Ruoli skillfully chop vegetables, prepare ingredients, and stir-fry. He stood there, staring blankly.
But he immediately thought of something else and his expression turned wistful. The Consort was the Eldest Miss of General Leng’s mansion. She should have lived a life of pampered luxury, with her fingers never touching coarse work. Yet, she was doing such manual labor, which showed that her childhood was not good.
“Consort, you must have suffered a lot when you were little, right?” Liang Bo looked at her with a heart full of concern.
“It was alright. My father was not at home when I was little, and I lived with my concubine mothers, so I would inevitably suffer some grievances.”
Leng Ruoli explained simply. In fact, these were all things that had happened to the original host, and she didn’t have a deep understanding of them.
“Alas, you don’t need to say it. This old servant can see it.”
As he spoke, Liang Bo sighed softly.
Hearing Liang Bo’s words, Leng Ruoli suddenly felt a little amused. Perhaps he thought it was unbelievable for someone from a high-ranking official’s family to do such manual labor, so his mind had conjured many scenarios.
“Alright, Liang Bo, let’s eat first. Tonight, I’ll let you taste my cooking.” Leng Ruoli said, and then she introduced the dishes to Liang Bo: “This dish is refreshing wood ear fungus, this is garlic stir-fried cabbage, this is braised chicken pieces, and this is stir-fried shredded pork with green pepper, and a clear vegetable and meatball soup.”
After Leng Ruoli finished introducing the dishes, she added, “Let’s start eating quickly! Everyone taste their flavors?”
As she spoke, she picked up her chopsticks and put a piece of chicken into Liang Bo’s bowl first.
“Okay, this old servant is already salivating at the aroma of these dishes. Your Highness, Consort, this old servant will not be polite.”
After speaking, Liang Bo also picked up his chopsticks and slowly ate the piece of chicken that Leng Ruoli had given him.
“Mmm, Consort, the braised chicken pieces you made are really delicious. The chicken is tender and flavorful, perfectly suited to my taste.”
Liang Bo praised Leng Ruoli as he ate.
“Liang Bo, you must eat more tonight. My Consort’s cooking is first-class. Even my father and grandmother like the food she makes.”
Seeing Liang Bo praising Leng Ruoli’s cooking, Jun Mohan felt extremely proud.
After speaking, he also picked up his chopsticks and started eating heartily.
After dinner, Liang Bo took out a black stone, ground into a triangle, from his small storeroom.
Then, he asked Jun Mohan to release the Flood Dragon to prepare to leave, but Leng Ruoli stopped him.
“Liang Bo, using Your Highness’s mount once consumes a lot of his internal energy. Let’s use my mount instead.”
Leng Ruoli explained concisely.
Hearing Leng Ruoli’s words, Liang Bo was slightly surprised. Had this little girl’s internal energy become so formidable that she could transform shape into spirit and unify person and object?
As a result, he saw Leng Ruoli take out a small white snake from her sleeve pocket.
Then, she whispered a few words to it, and the small white snake flew out, spun twice in mid-air, and transformed into a snow-white flood dragon, landing in front of them.