Chu Chu could shake her head at any other reason, but this one.
Chu Chu looked anxiously at the sleeping child in the cradle, then at Xiao Jin Yu's slightly furrowed brow, biting her lip. "Then... let's hand him to the wet nurse first. I'll take him back after the case is solved."
Xiao Jin Yu gave a slight nod. "Acceptable."
Chu Chu lowered her voice. "Is it about the Prince of Wu Commandery?"
Xiao Jin Yu shook his head. "It's the Sixth Prince's household matter."
Chu Chu blinked, her bright eyes sparkling with a long-lost gleam. "Did someone die in his family?"
Her words and expression almost seemed to wish for deaths in the Sixth Prince's household...
Xiao Jin Yu found himself caught between laughter and exasperation. "No..."
"Then how can I help?"
In truth, Xiao Jin Yu's current understanding of this case worth a hundred thousand taels of gold was limited to its connection with the origins of the Rui Princess Consort. Whether it involved any fatalities, or even whether it could be considered a case at all, he hadn't begun investigating. His urgency in securing Chu Chu's assistance was merely to find an excuse she couldn't refuse, allowing her to step away from her child-centered daily routine and rest properly.
He could handle the child falling ill, but if she exhausted herself... Xiao Jin Yu didn't dare entertain the thought.
"Let's eat first... We'll discuss it after the meal."
A mealtime would be sufficient for him to fabricate something plausible.
"Oh..."
The table in the outer room was already set with dishes. As they sat down and Chu Chu picked up her chopsticks, she suddenly remembered something. "Wang Ye, when should we have Ping'er do the Zhua Zhou ceremony?"
Xiao Jin Yu placed a piece of sweet and sour ribs in Chu Chu's bowl, his brow slightly furrowed. "Must we do it?"
Chu Chu pressed her lips together thoughtfully. "Steward Zhao insists we must... But I never did it when I was little. My grandfather said since everyone in our family works as coroners, no matter what I grabbed, I'd still become one."
Xiao Jin Yu's lips curved faintly as he served her a bowl of bamboo shoot and duck soup. "I never did it either... Then we won't. Let him choose his own path later."
Chu Chu put down her chopsticks, wrapped her arms around Xiao Jin Yu's neck, and laughed. "What if he becomes a criminal?"
Xiao Jin Yu raised an eyebrow, his voice deepening slightly. "Am I just for decoration?"
Chu Chu stared blankly. "Would you arrest him?"
Xiao Jin Yu's forehead darkened. A year ago today, she'd complained their newborn son was unattractive, and now she was cursing him to commit crimes and end up in prison...
Both annoyed and amused, he gave her waist a light pinch. "Can't I just teach him to be good?"
Chu Chu perked up. "Then I'll teach him corpse examination!"
"...Let's eat first."
"Oh..."
Releasing Xiao Jin Yu, Chu Chu picked up her chopsticks and took a bite of the ribs from her bowl, immediately nodding repeatedly. "Feng Yi's sweet and sour ribs keep getting better!"
Xiao Jin Yu smiled faintly. This girl must be starving. "Then eat more..."
He added more dishes to her bowl before setting down his chopsticks to taste the soup from his own bowl, frowning slightly.
To give them a change of flavor, Xiao Jin Yu had specially arranged for Lian Li Lou to close for a day, inviting Feng Yi's entire team to oversee the Royal Mansion's banquet. Today, the mansion's cooks had all been dismissed after preparing breakfast, so the food on the table undoubtedly came from Lian Li Lou's kitchen.
It wasn't that the soup lacked aroma or richness...Xiao Jin Yu was momentarily stunned when Chu Chu picked up the soup bowl and took a large gulp. Before she could even swallow it, she spat it right back into the bowl, widened her eyes, and repeatedly stuck out her tongue. "Did they beat the salt merchant to death!"
Xiao Jin Yu quickly poured her a cup of tea, both amused and exasperated as he patted her back. "Don't speak nonsense... salt merchants are either government officials or imperial relatives. If they died, I'd have no peace again..."
Chu Chu gulped down the entire cup of tea in one go, then lowered her head to shovel two mouthfuls of plain rice into her mouth. As soon as she swallowed the grains, she looked up and saw Xiao Jin Yu's deeply concerned expression, bursting into a sudden laugh.
Xiao Jin Yu was taken aback by her laughter.
"Wang Ye," Chu Chu said, suppressing a smile as she pointed at the soup so salty it seemed you could scoop out salt crystals. "This cook is just as skilled as you!"
Xiao Jin Yu flushed with embarrassment, his face growing warm.
Back when Chu Chu was suffering from severe morning sickness, even Feng Yi's cooking couldn't whet her appetite. In a moment of desperation, Xiao Jin Yu decided to cook himself. None of the kitchen staff dared to instruct their master, so under everyone's watchful eyes, this novice who had "never eaten pork but had seen pigs run" clumsily produced a pot of soup that no one could identify. After countless attempts of adding water when it was too salty and salt when it was too watery, Xiao Jin Yu could no longer distinguish the taste of the soup himself. Chu Chu's reaction was to surprise him by hugging him tightly and planting several kisses, offering no specific critique. However, after she drank the entire bowl of soup and then vomited it all up, she clearly began to enjoy eating everything again.
Hearing Chu Chu bring up his embarrassing cooking history, Xiao Jin Yu felt utterly helpless. "When you have time, teach me properly... maybe Ping'er's issues started from drinking that bowl of soup."
"Not at all! Don't you remember? After drinking your soup, I stopped vomiting no matter what I ate!"
"..."
Xiao Jin Yu sighed silently at his own culinary skills and helplessly ruffled Chu Chu's hair. "Take your time eating... I'm going to meet that cook who's 'just as skilled as me.'"
Chu Chu quickly grabbed Xiao Jin Yu's arm. "It's Ping'er's birthday today—you can't punish anyone!"
Xiao Jin Yu chuckled lightly. "I won't punish anyone..."
"And you can't scold anyone either!"
Xiao Jin Yu was both amused and exasperated. "When have I ever scolded anyone..."
"Then why are you going to see that cook?"
Xiao Jin Yu gave a wry smile and patted Chu Chu's hand on his arm. "If a cook under Feng Yi's supervision can achieve my level... he must want me to summon him."
Chu Chu frowned. "If he wants to see you, why doesn't he come directly?"
Xiao Jin Yu shook his head slightly. "We'll know when I see him."
Having been with Xiao Jin Yu for so long, Chu Chu had developed some shrewdness. "Could he be a bad person? How about... I go with you?"
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