Zhu Yu pulled a long face. “Miss, I can’t handle sour flavors.”
“Is it that sour? Why did I not taste it? In fact, it’s not sour enough for me.” Lu Liangwei was genuinely puzzled.
She kept hearing them talk about how sour waxberries were during this time, but she had eaten so many, and she still did not find them sour.
Zhu Yu accidentally took a bite, and the next instant, her face scrunched up as she said with tears in her eyes, “Ugh, it’s so sour! Miss, I feel like my teeth are going to fall out from all the sourness.”
Lu Liangwei burst out laughing at the sight of her miserable face and finally decided to stop teasing her. “All right, all right. If you can’t stand it, just spit it out.”
Greatly relieved, Zhu Yu immediately dashed off.
Lu Liangwei sighed and looked at the waxberries on the plate. The Emperor had refused to eat them as well; she had seized the chance to pop one into his mouth that morning but ended up having it fed back to her.
Of course, Zhu Yu could never match him in terms of tolerance.
He had obviously found it sour, but his expression had remained unfazed as he planted his hand on the back of her head and slipped the waxberry back into her mouth.
Seeing that she was still eating, Chu Jiu could not help advising her, “Your Highness, you shouldn’t eat too many of those, or you’ll have a bad toothache later.”
Lu Liangwei was already aware of that, and the Emperor had told her the same thing as well. Now that Jiu was also advising her against it, she ate another two before finally stopping.
As expected, being greedy proved to be undesirable.
At night, Lu Liangwei’s teeth ached so much that she refused to even have dinner.
Long Yang sighed. “I told you not to eat so many waxberries, but you wouldn’t listen. Look who’s suffering now?”
Lu Liangwei gazed at him with her shimmering, puppy-dog eyes. “They didn’t taste that sour when I ate them.”
“Even if they were ripe, you shouldn’t eat too many. All those you ate today were sour—of course, you’d have a toothache.” Despite Long Yang’s reprimand, he also blamed himself for not being firm enough to stop her.
Lu Liangwei was aware of the effects, but some pregnant women had cravings for sour flavors, and she was no exception. Despite knowing that she should not have eaten so many waxberries, she had been unable to control herself.
“Even if you have no appetite, you should still eat something.” Long Yang swapped the rice in front of her for porridge, then took a spoon and fed her.
Lu Liangwei opened her mouth obediently.
After finishing the bowl of porridge, she was too full to eat anything else.
She had only managed to drink half a bowl of her favorite fish soup.
Seeing that she was unable to eat anymore, Long Yang ordered the servants to clear the table. He held her in his arms, worried to see her so uncomfortable. “Is there any way to make you feel better? How about I ask Zhao Qian to summon Chief Physician Lin here?”
Lu Liangwei lay her head on his shoulder and thought for a while, then shook her head. “No need to go to all that trouble. Tell Zhu Yu to make me a cup of strong tea. I think I’ll feel better after gargling with it.”
Long Yang wanted to prepare the tea himself, but she had nestled in his arms, clearly reluctant to move, so he had no choice but to call for Zhu Yu and assign her the task.
Zhu Yu hurriedly made her a cup of tea.
“Miss, the tea’s still a bit hot. Perhaps you should wait for a while before drinking it.”
“Just put it down and leave,” said Long Yang.
At his command, Zhu Yu could only exit the room.
However, she was a little concerned. When she was clearing the table just now, she saw that the dishes had been untouched. Her mistress had not eaten much tonight, which was very in contrast to her usual hearty appetite.
With one arm around Lu Liangwei, Long Yang picked up the teacup with his free hand, brought it to his lips, and blew on it gently.
After a while, he tested the temperature of the tea and, satisfied that it had turned lukewarm, brought it to Lu Liangwei’s lips. “Here you go. It’s not hot anymore.”
“All right.” Lu Liangwei leaned over and took a sip from the cup he was holding. Keeping the tea in her mouth, she draped herself back over his shoulder.