Right around this time, she finally realized the cause of his agitation. He was not angry with her for telling him to hold off his urge. Instead, he was upset that the buttons had come off.
Alright, then, I shall take his word as it is and let him do what he wants to do with my clothes.
Venting his anger on her clothing would be a lesser evil than venting his frustration on her.
Thereafter, the woman allowed the man to have his fun with her.
When the sky turned dark, he got someone to prepare the bath for the two of them to wash up.
During the whole process, he kept staring at her like she was his prey.
His look of hunger only made her gasp with fear.
Soon, the magnetic voice that would terrify her rang in her ears. "We'll have our meal now. After that, you stay over and keep me company for tonight."
"Alright. It's right about time. I'm feeling hungry now." She diverted the topic nonchalantly.
When it was time to decide on dinner, the man seemed to trust the lady so much that he gave her the full responsibility of setting the menu. Or, perhaps, he was only making use of this occasion to display his gentry disposition.
In any case, Ruoyin summoned Nanny Liu for this important task. Tilting her head, she was deep in thought over tonight's dinner.
After a stern silence, she pursed her lips and ranted out the list of items. "Get the kitchen to fry a fish with spicy bean sauce. Then one dish each of black-pepper grilled shrimps and sauerkraut fillet. As for the soup… get them to prepare a chicken broth with kidney bits. They can prepare the soup according to the recipe I gave them for the collagen hotpot."
All these dishes were high in protein. She intended to feed him well!
As for the kidneys, it was said that this viscus was nourishing and that was good enough for her.
The middle-aged helper acknowledged her orders with a smile and left to carry out what was necessary.
The man was rather surprised to see her preparing the menu with a look of seriousness. Stifling a chuckle, he said, "You seem to be an expert when it comes to eating. I haven't tried any of the dishes you ordered earlier. How did you come to know them?"
"Well, that's because I love to eat so I like to study different dishes." She did not find it a shame to admit that she was a foodie. In fact, she seemed to be proud of her hobby as she gloated over her obsession.
"Since you like to study food, do you know how to cook?" he threw in casually.
She gave a sorry look at his inquiring eyes. "I don't know how to cook, but I know how to eat!"
Actually, the only things she needed to do were to preserve herself well as his woman and to cut down on fried, oily stuff. This was especially so when there was no invention like a kitchen hood here!
He responded with a titter, "Indeed, I can see that."
He recalled that, back in the past, her appetite had not been as good as now.
Recently, he'd had a feeling that this woman was not his wife. But no matter how hard he looked, she still appeared physically the same.
She could recall all the things in the past, and her handwriting was straight and serious as usual.
In the end, he came to the same conclusion as Nanny Liu. The woman must have experienced a reversal of nature after this major depression. Now, she lived carefree and happy.
"Why are you staring at me, my Lord? Is there something on my face?" The way he sized her up had made her uneasy, but she revealed none of her fear as she probed with a gentle smile on her face.
"I'm mesmerized by you," he replied, smiling.
Throwing a petulant glare at him, she retorted, "Why are you teasing me now?"
Fingering his thumb ring, he merely chuckled and said nothing more.
Soon, the kitchen staff came over to get the dinner ready for them. Besides the few items that Ruoyin had ordered, the kitchen had added some dishes too.
A feast was set before them on the table.
This time around, he took whatever she ate, seemingly trusting her recommendations.
In the end, they cleared the plates of those that she had ordered, whereas the dishes prepared by the kitchen were left untouched.
In his opinion, the spicy fish and sauerkraut fillet went well with the rice, whereas the black-pepper shrimps were soft on the inside and crispy on the outside. He even finished a large bowl of chicken broth.
The servants came in and cleaned up thoroughly after their meal.
He had eaten too much again. Usually, he would be 60 to 70 percent full, but tonight, he had almost reached his limit. As such, he insisted on Ruoyin taking a walk with him.
As they strolled along in the garden, the woman would stop every now and then to admire and smell the flowers.
She even fed a large pool of carps.
As walking with him could be boring, she tried to find her own entertainment. Following dumbly behind the man would be a depressing way to aid digestion.
Nevertheless, the man was rather patient with her. He would stop when she did and watch her have her fun.
Actually, the prince preferred a youthful and energetic woman like her. It might be because only a woman like her could nicely complement his dry and aloof nature.
In contrast, a woman being so cold and aloof like him would turn them into an even more forbidding couple.
Hence, the woman before him now was especially charming and appealing to him. His lips would involuntarily curl into a smile every time he saw her.
She passed the jar of fish food to him and said, smiling, "My Lord, come and feed the fish as well."
He hummed an acknowledgment, took the jar from her, and threw a handful of food into the pond.
Soon, the colorful carps gathered around to fight over the food. Some even tried to snatch it with a leap.
She commented in frustration, "Hey, the fish are bullying me. They weren't this excited when I fed them. Now, they're behaving as if they can't wait to get onshore when you feed them."
"Well, you are so beautiful that they were too ashamed to reveal their faces when you fed them." Wiping his hand with the hankie that the eunuch had passed to him, he had retorted with a smile.
He had to admit that she looked especially pretty under the night lights. The moonbeams cast light over her face that accentuated her bright and alluring eyes.
"You are teasing me again," she purred coyishly as she threw a glance at him.
She could not help admiring his honey-lips that could spout flattery from a simple act. His frigid demeanor belied his ability to conjure sweet nothings that could make her hair stand at times. Indeed, he was a Casanova.
He was not overly expressive with his adulations, though. His amorous declarations came across as mere comments, or like a balmy night breeze that caressed her ears.
"Alright, it's getting late. Let's return to the mansion." After wiping his hands, he passed the hankie back to Su Peicheng. Tugging at her hand, he led her back to the courtyard.
Back at his place, she helped him to wash up and change into his sleeping attire.
Just as she was helping him to button the collar at his neck area, he suddenly clung to her waist, lowered his head, and kissed her.