“His Majesty is not foolish, but too kindhearted, unwilling to have brothers kill each other and hurt the Great Emperor’s heart. Unfortunately, Li Jiancheng and the others have failed His Majesty’s goodwill!”

Li Shimin sneered coldly: “Li Jiancheng spoke correctly—I am good in all other aspects, but I am too benevolent like a woman. Those who accomplish great deeds should not be like this!”

“Your Majesty…” Before Yunyi could continue, Li Shimin spoke again: “So this time, I swear that if I lose to him, so be it. Otherwise, I will never be soft-hearted again!” The repeated betrayals had filled him with hatred toward Li Jiancheng, finally hardening his heart to kill.

Hearing these words, Yunyi felt relieved and said: “Master Xia Hou and Daoist Wang have both said that Your Majesty is the true Son of Heaven, blessed by the Mandate of Heaven. Li Jiancheng absolutely cannot defeat Your Majesty.”

Li Shimin nodded, then said guiltily: “I didn’t mean to scold you earlier. It’s just… I was very troubled, so my tone was harsh. Don’t take it to heart.”

Yunyi smiled: “If I couldn’t understand even this much, wouldn’t all these years by Your Majesty’s side have been in vain?” Speaking thus, she asked about Li Jiancheng’s situation. After listening to the details, she said: “So Your Majesty plans to see the Great Emperor?”

Li Shimin nodded: “I don’t want to throw Chang’an into chaos, so this is the best method. However… to be honest, I’m not confident.”

Yunyi also felt the prospects were slim, but still consoled: “This Great Tang realm was established single-handedly by the Great Emperor. I believe he wouldn’t want it to fall into Turkic hands. As long as Your Majesty reasons with him and appeals to his emotions, the Great Emperor will surely agree.”

Li Shimin smiled bitterly: “I just fear that Father would rather help the Turks than help me.”

Yunyi remained silent for a moment, then said: “I believe that even if the Great Emperor is unwilling, with Your Majesty here, the Turks could never break through Chang’an or occupy even half a portion of our Great Tang’s territory!”

Not wanting Li Shimin to dwell on this matter, Yunyi took the food box that Ruyi was carrying: “Today I personally learned to make several dishes from the kitchen maids. Would Your Majesty like to try them?”

Li Shimin showed surprise, looking Yunyi up and down: “You learned to cook?”

“What’s wrong, is that not allowed?” Facing Yunyi’s counter-question, Li Shimin smiled: “It’s not that it’s not allowed, but I remember when you were at the Governor’s residence, you couldn’t even wash bowls and dishes properly—you often broke them. Later, when you came to the Prince of Qin’s residence, you once took a fancy to learn cooking from the Empress. The result was that the kitchen nearly caught fire, yet not a single dish was successfully made. This time… can the food actually be eaten?”

His words made Yunyi’s face flush slightly pink: “It wasn’t as serious as Your Majesty describes—I just accidentally knocked over the stove.” Hearing Li Shimin’s continuous laughter escaping from his lips, she became increasingly embarrassed and said with a red face: “Since Your Majesty has so little confidence in me, then just don’t try it.” With that, she turned to leave. Li Shimin quickly grabbed her: “I was just joking with you. Even if what you made were poison, I would eat it without hesitation. Is that acceptable now?”

Yunyi suppressed her inner amusement and deliberately kept a stern expression: “Your Majesty needn’t force yourself like this.”

“How is it forcing myself?” As he spoke, Li Shimin had already taken the food box from her hands: “I’m truly hungry. Let me quickly see what dishes you’ve made.”

“Since I’m just learning, I only made a few simple home-style dishes.” While Yunyi spoke, Li Shimin had already taken out all the dishes from the food box: a plate of cumin beef strips, a plate of vinegar-dressed celery, a plate of steamed perch, and a bowl of pigeon soup. Looking at these dishes, they appeared quite presentable and appetizing.

“These few dishes might not be enough for Your Majesty. Let me have Ruyi call for more food.” Before she could give the order, Li Shimin said: “Three dishes and one soup are sufficient for the two of us. Having more would just be wasteful. Come, dine with me.”

Seeing him say this, Yunyi said no more and took up chopsticks to eat with him. After Li Shimin tasted each dish, he praised: “It’s true that after three days’ separation, one should view someone with new eyes. Not only do they look good, they taste even better. It seems I’ll have good fortune with food in the future.”

His praise filled Yunyi with joy: “Is it really that good?”

“Of course.” Speaking thus, he pointed to the cumin beef strips and the pigeon soup: “These two dishes are especially delicious. You’re not allowed to compete with me for them.”

Yunyi was amused by his manner and laughed: “Your Majesty may eat whatever you like. I guarantee I won’t touch them with my chopsticks. Will that suffice?”

Li Shimin immediately replied: “Ah, you said it yourself—once words are spoken, they cannot be taken back.”

During their meal, Li Shimin kept eating those two dishes, adding rice cooked with Wuchang fragrant rice twice before contentedly putting down his chopsticks: “I haven’t eaten this much in a long time.”

Seeing that her cooking so suited Li Shimin’s taste, Yunyi smiled: “If Your Majesty likes it, I’ll make it for you again tomorrow.”

Hearing this, Li Shimin’s expression became quite strange, but he quickly returned to normal and smiled: “If you’re not afraid of the hard work, I would naturally desire nothing more.”

While clearing the dishes, Wu Yu entered carrying a bright yellow scroll and respectfully said: “Your Majesty, the Hanlin Academy has prepared the edict. It only awaits Your Majesty’s imperial seal before it can be sent to Liangzhou.”

“Present it.” After reviewing the scroll’s contents and finding them correct, Li Shimin took out the imperial seal from its case and stamped it, saying to Wu Yu: “First thing tomorrow morning, have someone go to Liangzhou to deliver the edict.”

“Yes.” Wu Yu acknowledged, then said: “Your Majesty, Minister Zhangsun has arrived and is waiting outside for an audience.”

“Let him enter.” While Wu Yu went out to relay the message, Yunyi handed the organized food box to Ruyi: “Since Your Majesty has matters to discuss with Minister Zhangsun, I won’t disturb you.”

After leaving Xiande Palace, Ruyi walked while pursing her lips in light laughter. Yunyi was quite puzzled by her laughter: “You silly girl, what are you laughing about for no reason?”

Ruyi struggled to suppress her laughter: “If this servant hasn’t guessed wrong, His Majesty must be drinking water constantly right now.”

Yunyi looked confused and asked: “Why is that?”

Ruyi bit her lip lightly and smiled: “Actually, this servant secretly tasted some of those two dishes the Princess made, and they were really… very salty!”

“Salty?” Facing Yunyi’s inquiry, Ruyi nodded: “Very salty, to be precise—so salty they were almost impossible to swallow. This servant feared the Princess would be sad, so I didn’t tell you.”

“But His Majesty clearly said…” Halfway through her words, Yunyi understood. Li Shimin must have been like Ruyi, afraid of hurting her feelings, so he pretended they tasted good and deliberately wouldn’t let her eat those two dishes, fearing she would discover his lie.

Imagining Li Shimin swallowing the extremely salty dishes while pretending they were delicious, Yunyi felt both touched and pained: “He really is too much—if they didn’t taste good, he should have just said so directly. Why deceive me?”