Journey to the End of the Night-Chapter 1405 - 891: A Meeting Gift (Part 2)

At least in matters of state, Ying Ji has always been dedicated and responsible, never displaying the slightest negligence.

Hearing the footsteps, Ying Ji put down the carving knife in her hand and, through the faint candlelight, looked at the upright figure of the young man behind the beaded curtain, her brows slightly furrowed and said:

"I heard some days ago Ying Xiu caused a bit of trouble in the National Governance Hall?"

Though she hasn’t left the palace, as the Empress of Central Netherworld, how could she be completely unaware of Ying Xiu’s actions.

Not to mention, when Ying Xiu ascended the steps, the heart-wrenching call of ’Mother’ truly reached Ying Ji.

At that time, Ying Ji was suffering from a turmoil of the mind. Ying Xiu causing such a commotion indeed made her secretly endure a hardship.

Originally, given Ying Xiu’s nature, one would think she would persist relentlessly to escalate the chaos, but nothing further happened.

Ying Ji’s ears thus experienced peace, and it’s been rare to have a few days of tranquility.

In these days, Baili An, who was supposed to feed her, has not shown up yet, making Ying Ji vaguely surmise some reason.

Baili An casually lifted the curtain, placing the steaming chicken noodle soup and other foods on the table where she handles state affairs, calmly saying:

"Ying Xiu led an external rebellion, fortunately, the commotion wasn’t big, and has been suppressed."

To dare place meals on the Empress’s table as if normal, throughout Central Netherworld, none but Baili An would be bold enough to behave so recklessly.

Luckily, Ying Ji is long accustomed to her audacity, over time, she deemed it insignificant.

She picked up the silver spoon, intending to assume the Empress’s demeanor to scoop the noodle soup to soothe her throat, but before the silver spoon touched the soup, Baili An picked up the entire soup bowl.

Ying Ji blankly watched the bowl larger than her face, directly in front of her, with the chicken strips tender.

The soup was topped with mushrooms and spicy oil sauce, sliced egg pancakes, golden and enticing, she involuntarily swallowed.

Behind the large bowl, Ying Ji revealed half of her cold yet beautiful face, looking expressionlessly at Baili An.

Baili An smiled at her, teeth white, bright eyes carrying a layer of warm light:

"Soup noodles should be eaten hot, taking spoonfuls like this is bland, better to take big mouthfuls, ensuring even your tongue gets swallowed down with the flavor."

Looking at this little fellow, smiling like a blooming flower, stupid and silly, both sleeves dipped in the food, stained with oil, completely losing any semblance of demeanor, growing stupider by the day.

Yet it’s precisely with this silly boy that Ying Ji can feel a trace of relaxation and relief from this heavy world.

She slowly hid that half-cold enchanting face away, too lazy to maintain any regal posture.

Slightly stretching her neck, she slurped a large mouthful of noodle soup from the bowl Baili An held. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

The steaming rich broth enveloped the chewy, flexible noodles, each bite was a satisfying flavor.

Under the soup’s mist, her eyes were steamed warm, simply kicked off her shoes, gathered her white feet, tucked them into her dress, squatted lazily on her seat like a cat.

Hands resting on her knees, enjoying Baili An’s evening meal feeding.

Perhaps because Baili An hadn’t come in three days, tonight she was truly hungry, quickly finishing a bowl of soup noodles.

Eating until the tip of her nose was red, stained with spicy oil, squatting there, looking somewhat naive and foolish, staring intently at the jar of meat.

She licked her oily lips and asked: "Did you sprinkle crushed pepper, cumin, and Sichuan peppercorns?"

Baili An selected a few pieces of well-marbled meat and placed them into her bowl, without answering her question, but suddenly lowered his eyes and said: "Ying Xiu has died."

Ying Ji’s lip-licking action slightly paused, the warmth in her eyes diminished, her gaze reflecting the lamp’s light, slightly deep.

She picked up two pieces of meat with her chopsticks but didn’t bring them to her mouth, lowered her eyes and lightly said: "What a pity, that child, back then, clearly wanted to live so much."

Baili An straightened up, reaching to pat her soft head, saying: "Don’t be sad."

Ying Ji suddenly lifted her gaze, not minding Baili An’s impudent behavior: "I feel you are hiding something from me."

Baili An didn’t perceive the hidden danger in her gaze, his hand on the Empress’s head didn’t retract: "Your Majesty is overthinking."

God knows how careless that title ’Your Majesty’ was, because in Baili An’s heart she is a mother, not viewing this Empress of Central Netherworld as a ruler.

But such unregulated closeness, falling into Ying Ji’s eye who didn’t know the truth, naturally took on another flavor.

She lightly lifted her eyes, within them a deeply hidden intent: "Boy, are you learning from He Xingyun, harboring thoughts you shouldn’t towards me?"

Baili An’s head-patting action stopped abruptly, as if struck by thunder, nearly frightened under the table by this sentence.

Seeing him rarely losing composure, as if caught in his guilty thoughts, even if she were close to this younger generation, her gaze gradually cooled down.

Baili An almost swore to the heavens: "I wouldn’t stoop to such a beastly level, Your Majesty! You truly are overthinking this!"

Seeing his look of wishing to prove his sincerity, Ying Ji tentatively believed he didn’t have such brazen courage.

She nodded slightly and said: "Indeed, I heard that this morning you brought a young girl to Central Netherworld, the Netherworld Bureau is always so deathly cold, lacking in warmth.

If you have a girl you fancy in the Mortal World, keep her well here in Central Netherworld, considering your days of serving meals, I won’t tell your father about this."

Baili An replied weakly: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your thoughtful kindness."

Originally thinking the topic would end there, Baili An felt slightly embarrassed, wanting to tidy up the empty plates on the table and leave.

But unexpectedly, the Empress sipping tea on the other side grew curious and asked: "Looking at your decent appearance, the girl you fancy must be a beauty among beauties, perhaps bring her to the Empress Palace for me to see?"

Baili An had considered this thought early on, but can he bring her over now?

If Ying Ji saw Yin Baishuang, even with her brain marred by lard, she’d easily guess his identity.

Baili An could only respond in jest: "Three days later, I plan to leave Central Netherworld to visit her father in the Mortal World, afraid there’s no time."

Ying Ji was merely mentioning it casually, though she genuinely liked this young junior.

But after all, unrelated by blood, she wouldn’t stubbornly meddle in his romantic affairs.

She pondered for a moment, finally couldn’t remain indifferent, set down the teacup, and from the table took out a blue jade box.

She pushed the box to Baili An and said: "After all, you’re from the Netherworld Bureau, visiting elders shouldn’t be too shabby, on your way to the Mortal World, buy yourself a couple of good outfits, treat this as a gift for the elders."

Baili An received the box, opened it, and inside was a pair of exquisite small blue jade Ruyi, just knowing that anything inside the Empress Palace’s throne must be extraordinarily precious and rare.

Baili An felt a moment of disorientation, heart as if lightly struck by something warm, he lifted his gaze, watching the Empress elegantly sipping tea under the lamp, her features not particularly soft, yet at this instant, he seemed to see the image deep in memory of a woman gently coaxing him to sleep in a small bamboo cottage.

"Yes, I know." Baili An softly replied.

Ying Ji held her tea, glancing lightly, not knowing why, seeing that boy carefully putting away the box, inexplicably gave the impression of cherishing something deeply reserved.