The air in the woods was fragrant.
Wafting in waves, it stimulated the taste buds.
"Fu Ning's cooking is surprisingly good," Feng Qihe said, thoroughly satisfied.
He had quickly devoured half of the large pot of dishes by himself.
Fortunately, Chu Qianli's appetite had always been small; otherwise, it truly wouldn't have been enough for him to eat.
Fu Ning refilled Chu Qianli's bowl, put down the serving chopsticks, and whispered, "It's not my skill, it's the ingredients themselves. I just processed them casually."
The ingredients prepared by the young lady were already semi-finished products; she was merely responsible for cooking them.
There were beef cubes, ribs, smoked sausages, followed by various vegetables like enoki mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, potatoes, and fried tofu. Finally, some greens were added, and even the greens were of several varieties.
Many of these ingredients, Fu Ning only had the opportunity to taste when she was around Chu Qianli; they couldn't be bought elsewhere.
Unexpectedly, this haphazard stew, steaming hot and fragrant, was so delicious on such a cold day!
"Add another bowl of rice for this prince." This was Feng Qihe's fourth bowl of rice.
As Fu Ning served him rice, and he lowered his head to start eating again, he looked at the pot of dishes and suddenly felt a pang of sadness.
A kind of inexplicable melancholy.
As a prince, of noble status, he had never experienced much hardship since birth.
With fine clothes and jade food, his mother would not allow him to eat anything less than exquisite meals.
This was the first time he had eaten such a jumbled assortment of food.
But whether it was because the night was too cold, the food too warm, or for some other reason, with each bite of food, he felt a sense of happiness.
If, in the future, he could always sit with this girl and eat from the same pot, would he be able to remain this happy and joyful?
"I don't want to be a prince anymore..."
"Can you make a living? Can you earn money? If you cast aside the identity of a prince, how would you earn money to support a family?"
Before he could finish, Chu Qianli interrupted his "dream."
"Do you know how much this pot of food costs? As a prince, do you know the feeling of having to earn every single copper coin with your own hands in the common folk?"
"Tell me, besides plotting schemes, playing with power, and leading troops into battle, what else can you do?"
Feng Qihe glared at her, with an extremely angry look.
This girl looked down on him too much.
"This prince can be a laborer..."
"Heh, do you know how long a laborer has to work to buy the ingredients for one pot like this? Three days? Five days? Or ten days?"
Chu Qianli sneered.
In the common folk, laborers were the most abundant.
How long could a pampered prince like him endure being a laborer?
Imagination was always beautiful, but in this moment, it was bound to be despairing.
Feng Qihe continued to glare at her, with an extremely angry look.
But gradually, the light in his eyes faded.
Finally, he just lowered his head and continued eating.
Fu Ning looked on with a hint of helplessness.
Although the young lady's words were hurtful, they were also the truth.
Finally, Feng Qihe muttered a few words, "Can't this prince bring enough money and then go into seclusion?"
"..." Fu Ning looked speechless.
Chu Qianli was also stunned for a moment.
Afterward, Chu Qianli couldn't help but let out a soft laugh.
When this Prince He wasn't plotting schemes, he actually had a cute side.
"Is that not allowed?" Feng Qihe didn't understand why she was laughing, but this was the most perfect solution he could think of.
He had money!
Why wouldn't he bring his money when going into seclusion?
Seclusion still required money.
With enough money, he could live a carefree life forever, so why would he need to be a laborer?
Was he wrong?