The Emperor’s Beloved Ugly Girl - Chapter 33

“Do you still want to drink now?” Ah Chou looked at the smile on his face, and somehow, she felt a pang of pain in her heart. This man was in his thirties, in the prime of his life, and yet he had fallen into such a state. No one would pamper him anymore, no one would dote on him. In this desolate and lonely place, he only had her now.

“No,” Zhong Mingwei shook his head, pursing his lips as he looked at her, his tone somewhat hesitant. “But I still want a bit of red bean porridge.”

“Ah?” Ah Chou clearly hadn’t expected this and looked bewildered.

“You just said there was half a pot of red bean porridge left, didn’t you?” Zhong Mingwei continued a rare hint of embarrassment in his voice. “I’d like to have a bit more.”

“Oh…” Ah Chou responded, then got out of bed, holding a slightly less than a half-filled bowl of red bean porridge, sitting on the edge of the bed. She stirred the red bean porridge gently with the spoon, saying, “When I was scooping the rice just now, I couldn’t resist and had… had more than half a bowl. So, this is all that’s left.”

Zhong Mingwei looked at the half-filled bowl of red bean porridge, and his lips suddenly tightened. He was burning with anger inside, but looking at Ah Chou’s dejected appearance, he couldn’t bring himself to vent his anger. After a while, his lips softened, and he said softly, “From now on, let’s eat together. It’s more enjoyable to eat together.”

“Oh.” Ah Chou’s voice was a bit hoarse, and she didn’t dare say anything more. She hastily scooped up a spoonful of red bean porridge and placed it in front of Zhong Mingwei. She watched him eat that spoonful of red bean porridge, and then she sighed with relief.

“You should eat too,” Zhong Mingwei said to Ah Chou. “Warm red bean porridge is better than hot.”

“Really?” Ah Chou took it seriously and quickly scooped up a spoonful to eat. As soon as she met Zhong Mingwei’s smiling eyes, she knew she had been fooled. She had let it cool down before eating. It wouldn’t taste any different. She scolded herself inwardly for being so gullible. She struggled to swallow the spoonful of porridge, which was neither too hot nor too cold, under Zhong Mingwei’s gaze.

“Is it delicious?” He asked with a smile.

Ah Chou ignored him. Instead, she scooped up a large spoonful of red bean porridge and fed it to the man. The porridge wasn’t hot, so she wasn’t worried about scalding him.

“Take another bite,” Zhong Mingwei swallowed the porridge in his mouth and looked at Ah Chou. “You clearly like sweet foods. Eat more.”

“Which eye of yours saw that I like sweet things?” Ah Chou muttered under her breath. But she still scooped up a spoonful of porridge for herself and ate it.

“I’m a grown man. How could I possibly like sweets?”

“Still being stubborn! Have another spoonful!”

…

In the dim twilight of the fifth lunar month in Ninguta, in the vast and simple house, on the large wooden bed, two people, like children, shared the little bit of sweetness they had left.

Fifth day of the fifth lunar month, 32nd year of Jiasheng

Capital City. Cining Palace.

Ever since the Crown Prince was dethroned, Empress Dowager Xu had been bedridden. Emperor Zhongzhi, being a filial son, had always gone to Cining Palace to attend to the Empress Dowager’s medicine. However, whenever she saw him, her condition would worsen, and she would relapse. Eventually, Emperor Zhongzhi stopped going there often. But today was the Dragon Boat Festival, and Emperor Zhongzhi still had to pay his respects to the Empress Dowager.