The Imperial Coroner Season 2

Chapter 81 Spicy Cuttlefish Pot (Part 7)

At the sound of that voice, Leng Yan leaped up from her chair as if she had sat on a hedgehog. Before Leng Yue could recall whose vaguely familiar voice this belonged to, the door was gently pushed open from outside.

A woman in plain clothes entered, holding her skirts delicately. With her delicate features, almond-shaped eyes, and cherry-like lips, she carried the dignified grace of a noble lady despite her petite stature.

Though the voice wasn't familiar, Leng Yue recognized the face immediately - especially since this person had waved to her from afar when she passed through the courtyard earlier...

Leng Yue's heart sank. Without waiting for Leng Yan to pull her, she sensibly dropped into a curtsy.

"This humble officer spoke recklessly. I beg Your Highness's forgiveness!"

Regardless of when the Crown Princess had arrived at the doorway, she had certainly heard that last disrespectful comment clearly.

Besides Master Jing, who had served as the Crown Prince's tutor, no one had ever criticized the Crown Prince so bluntly in front of the Crown Princess before. Without any precedent to follow, Leng Yan had no idea how the Crown Princess would react to such a situation. Her heart leaped to her throat, and she was just about to say something in Leng Yue's defense when the Crown Princess curved her lips into a smile, narrowed her eyes, and waved dismissively at Leng Yue.

"No kneeling, no kneeling. Weren't you saying there's still a child in your belly? Rise quickly, that looks terribly heavy..."

"......"

Neither sister understood where the Crown Princess got this idea of "heaviness" from, but they both understood one thing clearly - the Crown Princess wasn't angry.

Not only was she not angry, she seemed to be in rather good spirits.

Leng Yue stared fixedly at the Crown Princess's smiling face, rising to her feet in a daze. So dazed that she accidentally stepped on her own cloak and stumbled rather dramatically, like some starstruck youth gaping at a beauty on the street. The sight made Leng Yan shoot her a sharp sidelong glance.

Before Leng Yan could straighten her reproachful gaze, the Crown Princess reined in her smile somewhat and called out to her properly, then issued a serious instruction: "I need to speak with Constable Leng. You should pretend to be one of those people who always looks very busy."

Leng Yue looked utterly bewildered, but Leng Yan nodded in understanding and replied with equal seriousness, "Yes... Then this humble officer will go out and busy myself for a while."

"Go on, then."

After Leng Yan withdrew and closed the door behind her, Leng Yue remained standing where she was, wearing a complicated expression and feeling completely discombobulated. In all her years of service, this was the first time she'd encountered a superior who could utter the most common dismissal phrase with such frank sincerity...

When the Crown Princess spoke again, it was with the same directness - neither asserting authority nor exchanging pleasantries. She smiled with elegant magnanimity and went straight to the point.

"His Highness told me that Cat's Cradle was something Lord Jing Yi taught him."

Leng Yue froze, nearly slapping her own forehead in realization.

Right... That sense of familiarity she'd felt when glancing across the courtyard and seeing the Crown Prince and Crown Princess playing Cat's Cradle by the window came from having done the same thing with Jing Yi.

It had also been on a chilly, snowy day, sitting opposite each other by the window. Except back then they were just tiny children - so young that she could only twist the strings randomly while Jing Yi just grinned, showing a row of little white teeth, letting her mess around without stopping, correcting, or getting annoyed.She hadn't played such childish games for many years, yet Jing Yi always seemed to retain a childlike spirit, occasionally pulling out a red string to twist and weave between his fingers alone.

In her memory, Jing Yi always seemed to be smiling - sometimes deeply, sometimes faintly, sometimes passionately, sometimes gently. But when she saw him tonight, he hadn't shown her even the slightest smile. It wasn't that he didn't want to, but that he couldn't. It seemed all the smiles of his lifetime had been worn away by these days of living like neither human nor ghost, leaving only what remained of a broken life that could be seen clearly from beginning to end - devoid of any more joy.

A sour bitterness spread through Leng Yue's heart, reaching around her eyes and turning into two faint red circles. "Your Highness..."

The Crown Princess acted as if she completely failed to notice the unspoken words behind Leng Yue's address. She continued smiling brightly, "Official Jing said that when people are pondering serious matters, they always need to fiddle with something in their hands to avoid detection. Just like women..."

The Crown Princess paused briefly, her gaze falling on Leng Yue's official uniform before correcting herself, "Just like ordinary women - if they sit by the window stitching shoe soles while planning how to elope with their lovers, they're much less likely to be discovered than if they stand scratching their heads by the wall. As a female constable, you might not relate deeply to women's affairs, but you can still understand the wisdom in Official Jing's analogy, can't you?"

"..."

As she spoke, the Crown Princess gave Leng Yue a smile as warm and substantial as freshly steamed meat buns, making Leng Yue want to cry but unable to shed tears. She could only brace herself and nod in response, "This humble officer... can."

Jing Yi's analogy was actually quite simple - if you want to ponder matters you don't want others to know about, it's best to occupy your hands with some inconspicuous small task as cover. For someone of the Crown Prince's status, the usual methods like playing musical instruments, chess, calligraphy, or painting that generations of scholars have used when contemplating matters were no longer effective. To deceive the sharp-eyed people around him, he needed to engage in genuinely trivial activities, like Cat's Cradle.

The Crown Princess simply wanted to tell her that the Crown Prince was indeed thinking of ways, and using methods her own man had once taught him. If she disliked this method, she could take it up with her own man...

Leng Yue sighed silently in her heart. If the usually unprofessional Crown Prince had ever done only one proper thing in his life, it was that he had seriously chosen himself a very capable wife.

Seeing that Leng Yue genuinely appeared to have understood and comprehended, the Crown Princess nodded with relief, "Constable Leng truly isn't an ordinary woman."

Hearing this now, Leng Yue couldn't help feeling this didn't sound much like a compliment.

Before Leng Yue could decide whether to respond with "Actually, Your Highness isn't an ordinary woman either," the Crown Princess had already turned and left, walking away with evident ease.

Before Leng Yue could figure out the purpose of the Crown Princess's special visit, the door opened once more. This time, a young man slightly younger than Jing Yi entered - with red lips and white teeth, a heroic posture, his innate royal nobility undiminished even by solemn mourning clothes and an innocent, harmless smile.

Leng Yue was startled and quickly knelt in obeisance, "This humble officer pays respects to the Crown Prince!"

"Seen, seen..." The Crown Prince smiled with genuine warmth, "We just saw each other outside the window moments ago.""......"

The Crown Prince smiled as he placed the pastries he was holding onto the table, making a gesture of invitation to Leng Yue with the air of a host. "We haven't been receiving guests at home lately, so there's nothing freshly prepared at this hour. I searched around and only found these that are somewhat palatable. Constable Leng, please make do with these and don't stand on ceremony."

Leng Yue had to admit that for a moment earlier, she had indeed considered pressing her sword against this person's throat. But now, it seemed as if he had invisibly placed something against her neck—not sharp, yet enough to make her face him calmly.

Leng Yue stood up in a daze, and when her eyes fell on the pastries on the table, she was even more stunned.

In her earlier panic, she hadn't noticed it, but the white object the Crown Prince had been holding when he entered the room was actually a white porcelain brush washer, filled to the brim with pastries. Red Bean Cakes, White Bean Rolls, and all sorts of other treats were piled haphazardly inside. If this weren't the Crown Prince Manor, and if he weren't the Crown Prince, Leng Yue would have suspected that he had sneaked into the kitchen and hastily stolen these pastries.

Leng Yue hesitated for a moment as she looked at the brush washer full of pastries. But since the Crown Prince had personally invited her, it would be improper not to take one. Steeling herself, she picked up a piece of Red Bean Cake, holding it as carefully as if it were a life, and said almost aimlessly, "Your Highness... Her Ladyship was here earlier."

"Hmm..." The Crown Prince elegantly reached into the brush washer, took out a piece of Peony Cake, and brought it to his mouth for a delicate bite. As he savored it, he replied, "I asked her to come."

Leng Yue was slightly taken aback and replied dutifully, "Her Ladyship didn't mention any instructions from Your Highness."

The Crown Prince shook his head while eating and said nonchalantly, "No instructions... I just asked her to come and persuade you first, to calm you down so you wouldn't be shouting and threatening to kill me when you saw me. That way, no one with ulterior motives would overhear. Also, I had her send Constable Leng away so no one would stop you if you wanted to hit me."

"Your Highness..."

"After all, whatever I owe Jing Yi, you'll eventually collect in full," the Crown Prince lightly licked the crumbs stuck to the corner of his lips and gave a faint smile to the stunned Leng Yue. In his calm, almost roguish expression, there was a flicker of Jing Yi's shadow. "Eat, don't stand on ceremony. It's not good for someone with child to go hungry. Eat your fill first, then we can talk. I won't run away."

Among the court officials, there were always those who whispered behind his back that the Crown Prince had been thoroughly corrupted by Jing Yi. Leng Yue had once thought so too. But now, it seemed that even if Jing Yi had led him astray, it was only away from the inherent coldness and ruthlessness of the imperial family and toward a direction with more humanity.

For a moment, Leng Yue's heart was filled with mixed emotions. As a subject, she didn't know what to say in response. All she could do was raise the Red Bean Cake to her lips, lower her head to take a bite, and chew slowly.

Somehow, the more she chewed, the more familiar the taste seemed. This sense of déjà vu brought with it an inexplicable tension. Leng Yue couldn't quite place it, so she couldn't help but take another bite.

Seeing her take two bites in a row and savor it so intently, the Crown Prince couldn't help but feel a little proud. "How is it? Tasty, right?"

Leng Yue nodded.The Crown Prince grew even more pleased with himself, narrowing his eyes slightly as he examined the Peony Cake in his hand, which now had a small bite missing from it. He sighed, "How could it not be delicious? I went through great pains to poach this Tribute Chef from Grand Tutor Jing's residence."

Tribute...

Yes! That's it!

She remembered now—she had eaten it at the Jing family ancestral hall. It was during her first entry into the Jing family mansion as a daughter-in-law that Jing Yi himself had taken this very Red Bean Cake from the offering table and handed it to her.

But the Crown Prince's tribute offerings...

Just looking at the Crown Prince's mourning attire made it clear whom these tributes were meant for...

Leng Yue froze with a mouthful of chewed Red Bean Cake stuck in her throat, unable to spit it out or swallow it, nearly brought to tears by the stifling sensation. Yet the Crown Prince, brimming with enthusiasm, picked up a White Bean Roll and offered it to her.

"Try this one too. Grand Tutor Jing loves this the most. I heard the chef's version used to be a bit too sweet, but after Grand Tutor Jing tweaked the recipe, it became this delicious."

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Leng Yue coughed violently for a long while, her face flushing red. The Crown Prince handed her a teacup and watched her belly with considerable concern, as if afraid she might cough the baby out.

The only benefit of this coughing fit was that the Crown Prince no longer hurried her to sample all the tribute offerings in the Brush Washer. Once her breathing steadied, he set down everything in his hands, spread his arms wide, and adopted a posture of complete submission. "If you don’t want to eat, then go ahead and hit me. But let’s be clear—you can only hit, not curse. If anyone hears, it’ll be trouble."

Leng Yue hurriedly straightened her posture, bowed her head, and said, "This humble officer wouldn’t dare."

"Opportunity knocks but once."

Leng Yue stood properly, pursed her lips lightly, and kept her head lowered in silence. She had indeed felt the impulse to give the Crown Prince a thorough beating earlier, but it turned out he had been deceived as well. Blaming him was pointless.

After waiting for a long while and seeing that Leng Yue truly had no intention of charging forward to thrash him, the Crown Prince didn’t stand on ceremony. He withdrew his outstretched arms, lowered his clear voice slightly, and said, "If you’re no longer angry with me, I’d like to discuss something with you."