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A "ya" was drawn out in an extremely melodious and mournful tone. Her face looked sorrowful, but her eyes were lively, darting about mischievously while she peeked at the Emperor.

The Emperor knew she was in a playful mood and smiled wryly, "You say your heart aches? How come I didn’t know that?"

His gaze lightly swept over her chest as if he had just looked there moments ago.

Lian Hua was momentarily stunned. Why hadn’t His Majesty followed the script she had in mind? Now how could she continue...

Then, it suddenly dawned on her. Was she being teased again?!

This utterly serious big rascal!

Her face turned instantly red, and she struggled out of his embrace, muttering indignantly to herself, "Big baddy, big baddy, hmph!"

The Emperor caught her in one swift motion and held her close, chuckling as he kissed her cheek, "My Nannan is not like Xi Zi, but more like a little flower demon hidden among the flowers."

Utterly captivating, stirring his heart intensely.

He didn’t need a Xi Zi; his Nannan should be healthy and be herself, which was perfect. There was no need for her to imitate those odd misfits.

"Eh? Little Flower Demon?" Lian Hua felt a bit of novelty at the nickname; it was quite endearing, rather similar to her ’Little Tree Demon,’ and her name also contained the character for flower.

The Emperor nodded, "Yes, my Little Flower Demon."

Hearing this, Lian Hua’s lips curled up in a smile, happily accepting it. She sat back on the Emperor’s lap and wrapped her arms around his neck, "Alright then, from now on, I won’t try to be Xi Zi. Consort Fang Pin is better suited for that role. I find it too tiring."

The Emperor pinched her cheek, knowing she was nearly giving up on those strange ideas, "You are Nannan, my Little Flower Demon, unique in every way, there is no need for you to imitate others."

Lian Hua’s eyes crinkled with joy, feeling incredibly sweet inside. His Majesty’s words truly touched her heart.

Well, then, she would give up trying to imitate that style. She had never been good at those sorrowful poems; they just didn’t suit her. Consort Fang Pin was incredible, maintaining that act for over a decade.

She still preferred to write about food, which sounded delicious, like "white goose seared with added pepper," "broth of pheasant aromatic with newly added soy," or even "carp fat flowing with peach blossoms, dough crispy and fragrant, fresh from the oven," she mostly forgot the whole verses, only remembering the lines that smelled the best. She had cooked all these dishes for His Majesty before, applying what she had learned through poetry.

She counted on her fingers all the dishes she had made inspired by poems, while the Emperor watched her with a smile.

At last, she concluded, "Your Majesty, preparing the dishes isn’t hard, but finding the poems about food is, I have been through all those big books of poems that Chief Steward Zhang gave me.

It’s really hard to find them. I do want to try some regional dishes, but the Imperial Kitchen might not always have the ingredients, which makes it difficult to manage. "

The Emperor thought she was utterly adorable and felt a very tender affection, gently saying, "Then there’s no need to follow the poems, whatever you make, I will love to eat."

His Little Concubine was also delightful, insisting on attaching a unique, non-repeating line of poetry each time she sent food, describing one of the dishes included, a practice she had maintained for quite some time.

He figured as much; even with the abundance of poems passed down through generations, there weren’t enough to continue like this indefinitely.

She must have exhausted every book she could browse, wracked her brain, and had been at her wit’s end, otherwise why had wild herb pancakes appeared on the menu lately?

When he ate them, he found them curiously wonderful, having never encountered such pancakes before, and the herbs on top were also a first for him.

When he saw the note, he knew immediately what had happened.

Upon inquiring of the Young Eunuch who brought the meal, sure enough, the wild herbs were freshly picked from a secluded part of the Imperial Garden, based on a line of poetry, a task that had clearly been too demanding for her.

Between the two, it was merely for a bit of charm, knowing that each held the other in their hearts, having a place within each other was enough.

As long as it was written by his Little Concubine, anything would do, there was no need to stick to poetry; a simple, straightforward sentence would be very nice. The most important thing was, it should not become a burden to her.

Lian Hua’s eyes curled with her smile, unable to resist praising, "His Majesty is truly kind. However, I could learn some more food-related poems from Consort Fang Pin, she knows a lot. The poem I danced to just now was learned from her, and I thought it was quite interesting. Maybe I shouldn’t learn other poems first. Instead, I’ll focus on the food-related ones.

Once I learn them, it will go well with the dishes. "

The Emperor twitched the corner of his eye and, seeing her thought arise again, remembered the painful sight of Consort Fang Pin teaching her when he entered.

What good could she learn from that woman? He hoped she wouldn’t pick up that useless behavior.

Yet such words could not be bluntly spoken, worried it would dampen her eagerness to learn.

The Emperor considered his words and said, "That’s not necessary, what pleases me is your thoughtfulness, not the poems."

"Ah? Is that so, isn’t it better for Your Majesty to enjoy your meals more with poems?" Lian Hua was stunned. If it wasn’t like that, why would she have bothered so much?

Originally, she learned poems related to food and prepared meals for His Majesty based on those poems, a spontaneous and carefree act, but later she thought combining poems with meals would make His Majesty enjoy his food more, which is why she persisted.

Hearing His Majesty state it was not so, why wouldn’t that be the idea?

Oh...

The Emperor frowned slightly, "Who said that?"

No wonder, he had always found it surprising that his Little Concubine, so practical in nature, had persevered with parsing through words for so long without giving up; finally, he understood why she was so persistent.

It pained him to see his beloved misled by such nonsense from someone. If he found out who it was, he would certainly not let them off lightly.

"Um, let me think, who was it?" Lian Hua started to recall: "Well... seems like it was Chief Steward Zhang, yes, it was Chief Steward Zhang who said that."

She remembered Chief Steward Zhang purposely telling her that His Majesty enjoyed his meals more with poetry. Upon hearing that, she even asked him to find more poetry collections for her, fearing she would run out.

The Emperor raised an eyebrow and immediately called out, "Zhang Qing, come in."

The voice from outside, "Your servant is here," followed by footsteps.

Lian Hua suddenly reacted, "Oh no, I’m still sitting on His Majesty’s lap," she hurriedly shouted, "Chief Steward Zhang, wait."

"Alright, Master Lian." The footsteps outside immediately stopped.

She quickly got up and straightened her robe, pretending to have been sitting beside all along. After preparing herself, she said to the outside, "Chief Steward Zhang, come in now."

The Emperor couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly. However, the urgent task was to dissuade her from learning poems from Consort Fang Pin and alleviate her self-imposed burden of worrying about food-related poems.

Zhang Qing was feeling quite confident at this moment, thinking to himself, Nanny Qi had just secretly returned; he had nothing to fear, regardless of whether Master Lian asked him where Nanny Qi was or wanted to see her in person.

His Majesty was indeed brilliant and majestic, managing to keep Master Lian occupied in the Side Hall for so long, perfectly until Nanny Qi’s return.