Seeing An Jing continually eating plums, Li Wuyu thought they must be delicious, so she also picked one up to try. But as soon as she bit into it, her teeth almost fell out from the sourness: "So sour!"
Li Wuyu’s face wrinkled up from the sourness, making it impossible to take a second bite of the plum; it was just too sour. She wondered how her master could eat them.
"It is a bit sour," An Jing admitted, "but also very tasty." She stuffed another plum into her mouth.
Watching her, Li Wuyu’s cheeks almost ached with sourness. She hadn’t noticed before, but after tasting the plum, she regretted her impulsive decision to eat one.
"Master, do you really like sour things that much?" Li Wuyu asked with some helplessness.
An Jing nodded, "Actually, I like both sweet and sour. It’s just that recently, I’ve especially favored sour."
Upon hearing An Jing’s words, Li Wuyu wanted to mention how the Crown Princess Consort also craved sour foods when she was pregnant, but then she remembered her master couldn’t have children. Wouldn’t bringing up someone else’s pregnancy be like rubbing salt in her master’s wounds?
So Li Wuyu didn’t say that, and instead remarked, "Master, it’s good that you enjoy both sweet and sour. I can only eat sweet things; the sweeter, the better, preferably sweet to the point of being cloying."
An Jing chuckled, "If you eat something super sweet every day, your teeth are bound to be eaten away by bugs."
Li Wuyu laughed too, "My father doesn’t have enough salary to let me eat sweets every day, so there’s no worry about bugs eating my teeth, Master. You’re truly overthinking it." She paused for a moment, then with shining eyes, she asked, "Master, do you have some honey? Could you give me a little to take back with me?"
An Jing mock scolded with a laugh, "You sure don’t stand on ceremony with your master, do you? I didn’t have any, but yesterday the Crown Princess Consort sent over a jar, and I’ll give it all to you."
"No, no, no, there’s no need for you to give me so much if you won’t use it, Master. Just a little taste to take back would be enough," Li Wuyu said, waving her hands repeatedly. Honey was expensive, and the honey that the Crown Princess Consort gave to her master was certainly the best of the best, even pricier. She couldn’t possibly accept so much, especially since her master had only one jar.
An Jing found it even more amusing, "Now that you’ve asked me for it, how could I give you just a little? Take it all with you. Besides, I don’t really fancy sweet things lately, and by the time I do, I expect I’ll have returned home. I can’t be bothered to take the honey with me. Rather than let it sit in Fenghua Palace, it’s better to give it all to you to enjoy."
Hearing An Jing say this, Li Wuyu stopped refusing and happily replied, "Then I’ll just have to thank you, Master."
A jar of top-notch honey was nothing to An Jing, no matter how expensive it might be in this place. She ate another plum, then asked Li Wuyu, "Will you be attending the birthday banquet tomorrow?"
Li Wuyu answered in a fluster, "Although I’m the daughter of the Prime Minister, my status is not significant enough to attend."
An Jing nodded, indicating her understanding, and then took a sip of the tea her husband had poured for her before asking again, "But Princess Linghe’s status should be sufficient for her to attend, right?"
Li Wuyu replied, "If there’s no limit to the number of attendees for the Emperor’s grand celebration, Princess Linghe would be able to attend."
An Jing turned her gaze to Xiao Changyi.
Xiao Changyi, who had been leisurely sipping tea, spoke up at An Jing’s gaze, "Even if she could attend, she won’t be able to."
An Jing, curious, asked, "Why is that?"
Xiao Changyi said indifferently, "Didn’t your disciple mention she’s ill? One cannot present oneself before His Majesty while sick, especially not on such an auspicious day as the old man’s birthday. It would be inauspicious."