I wanted to ask him what his position was in the palace, why he seemed untouchable that everyone feared him, and why the crown prince's life mattered a lot to him. However, I wasn't sure if I was in a position to ask.
I should just wait for him to tell me.
Unlike with Jinjing where I could speak my mind freely and we could even sit as close to each other should we want to, without the added malice, that was not the case with Lord Lan.
My relationship with Jinjing had gone to a point where we no longer minded physical boundaries, even if we were of opposite genders. Probably because she was easy to get along with.
But with this man, I barely knew him. He would not even properly introduce himself to me, and throughout our six-hour journey earlier, he had never mentioned anything about himself. He only talked about the history of Xianru and how it had prospered from a purely agricultural region to a flourishing empire.
His knowledge of the empire and its political system was vast. He even used some terminologies that I could not comprehend. I could tell he was extremely well-educated.
I had some education myself, but the totality of my knowledge would never be worthy of comparison to his.
More servants arrived and filled the table with a variety of food but I just stared at them. I had not even touched the wine yet.
The amount of food they had prepared was excessive for only two people. For someone like me who was raised in a temple, such exorbitance was unacceptable, especially considering that there were a lot of people who could not eat even once a day.
"Is the food not to your liking?" he asked.
I glanced at him and shook my head. I could not possibly tell him about what I think and offend his hospitality. "I'm just overwhelmed. I can't decide which one to try first."
"You're a priest. Your diet usually comprises simple foods. Start with this." He reached across the table and placed something in my bowl. When the aroma reached my nose, I figured it was a steamed fish.
"Thank you, my lord," I said and started to eat. This one was tastier compared to the ones that I and Jinjing used to buy from the market.
"There's not much fish from where you came from, is there?" he asked as he probably noticed my smile.
"Kan Empire is close to a desert and surrounded by mountains. Fish is regarded as a lucrative food. Even wealthy people cannot simply get their hands on them whenever they please."
"While here in Xianru, surrounded by ocean at the south and a great river at the north, there's an abundance of that all over the empire, to the point that their sight and smell becomes sickening."
"Lord Lan seems to hold some enmity against fish," I humored.
"That's true."
My face suddenly turned serious.
I did not expect that.
"I don't usually allow fish on my table. I only made an exception just now because I wanted you to try the delicacies of the capital city."
"Lord Lan is very considerate." I was honestly touched that he even tolerated the smell of something he resented for me. The more that I doubted if this was really the Ruan Yanjun that I had heard about—the heartless and remorseless murderous Devil of the South.
He sighed. "Do not think so kindly of me. I am not what you think I am… I give you a piece of advice. If you want to make it in the secular world, do not be deceived by small acts of kindness. Most of the time, they're not real. Their real intention is to make you put your guard down, and then devour you the moment you least expect it."
I was speechless. In just over two months, I had already gotten my fair share of evil in the secular world, but Lord Lan made it sound like people were even more wicked than I realized.