Untouchable Lovers

Chapter 141: Chapter 130: The Royal Descendant Can Stay by Himself_2

This sleep had been incredibly sweet and peaceful, leaving Xiao Bie feeling utterly relaxed and softened. Chu Yu lazily opened her eyes, glanced up at the gauze drapings above her head, and seeing that it was still dark outside, she rolled over and attempted to continue her slumber, only to be rudely awakened by the grumbling of her stomach a little while later.

Having slept so delightfully, Chu Yu climbed out of bed reluctantly, slipped her feet into her shoes, draped her outer garment over her shoulders, and, dragging her legs, she walked out the door. As she pushed the door open, a slight coolness seeped in, carrying the freshness of the air after rain, exceptionally vast and stretchy.

She thought it was dawn, but when she looked up, she realized the sky was sparkling with stars.

The high and distant inky blue of the heavens twinkled with the shimmering specks of countless stars. In an instant, thousands of celestial lights swelled into her field of vision, their radiant luminosity growing without end, giving her the illusion of floating in a sea of stars.

Chu Yu stood dumbfounded for a good while before realizing that she had slept through an entire day and missed the daytime entirely.

Looking around, she saw no one else; the row of rooms beside her were all empty, desolate without the scent of human presence. Puzzled, Chu Yu strolled along the building, and after a few steps, she faintly heard the sporadic sounds of people.

Only now did Chu Yu fully wake up, her mind still a bit foggy. Hearing the voices, without much thought, she followed the direction of the sounds and, after rounding a row of houses, she came upon a clearing in the woods by a spring. There gathered were Wang Yizhi, Rong Zhi, Xiao Bie, Tian Rujing, and even Yue Jiefei!

Stopping in her tracks for a closer look, Chu Yu saw a clay stove set up by the spring with a large iron pot on top. The pot boiled with some sort of broth, dark in color, wafting bursts of fragrance. Wang Yizhi and Rong Zhi occasionally added something to the pot.

Xiao Bie and Tian Rujing stood to one side, one holding a zither, the other with hands tucked inside his sleeves, both appearing somewhat at a loss and awkwardly standing as though they’d been dragged there.

Soon, a servant came over with a tray, passing Chu Yu without a sideways glance. Chu Yu recognized him as Wang Yizhi’s usual attendant. As the servant passed by Chu Yu, she caught a glimpse of what he was carrying. She saw that upon the two-foot-wide lacquered tray were neatly arranged four glossy celadon porcelain plates, and atop those plates were thinly sliced pieces of meat—pork, beef, mutton, chicken, rabbit—all of different colors and textures, even more tantalizing against the green plates.

This setup was… hot pot?

The first person to notice Chu Yu was Xiao Bie. Wang Yizhi and Rong Zhi were busy seasoning the broth, and since Xiao Bie had no culinary skills to contribute, he was merely glancing about awkwardly, not sure what to do, until his gaze landed on Chu Yu standing beside the houses.

Now that she was seen, Chu Yu did not linger any longer, and walked straight over. She first greeted Wang Yizhi with a raised hand, smiling, “Brother Yizhi, thank you for the hospitality.”

Behind the hot pot, two tables were set up. One table, apart from the meat slices the servant had brought, was covered with a variety of neatly cut fresh vegetables, neatly stacked in rows or circles. The freshly washed leaves glistened green in the firelight, compelling in their vibrancy. The other table, set a little farther away, had palm-sized white porcelain bowls and dishes that contained various kinds of seasonings. Due to the dimmer light on that side, Chu Yu could not see them clearly.

The spring water bubbled down the mountain rocks lively. It was early autumn, the bloom had faded, yet the weather was vividly animated. Wang Yizhi grabbed an empty small porcelain bowl, took a little of each seasoning from the various containers, mixing them together, then used chopsticks to briefly swish a slice of meat in the rolling boiling soup. The thin slice quickly changed color, and after swishing the meat, he dipped it into the seasoning and brought it to his mouth, “It’s about ready, everyone should help themselves. There aren’t many hands here, so just grab whatever you want to eat. Brother Zichu, you come too.”

Seeing Chu Yu, Wang Yizhi did not seem surprised, merely beckoning with a beaming smile.

Chu Yu didn’t stand on ceremony. Spotting a free space between Wang Yizhi and Rong Zhi, she went over and sat down. She automatically picked up some chopsticks from the table. Hot pot was something she often ate in her modern life; she just hadn’t thought of making it here, and no one in the manor did. Now faced with this sight, it was as if she remembered the time before she had come to this place, yet a thousand years later, when she would sit down with her family around a table for hot pot.