The Foodie Online Chapter 5

When returning from the Tenth Princess' Palace, Lily held a lantern in her hand and walked ahead of Victor, jumping and humming a little tune.

The palace lantern was a gift from Her Royal Highness the Tenth Princess. It was the palace's top-quality supply. At this moment, she was holding it in her hand, illuminating this narrow and winding path.

She touched the exquisitely carved palace lantern in her hand, looked at the road ahead with a smile, and felt that the eerie bamboo forest with swaying bamboo shadows was not so scary. Even the dying bamboo trees became cute.

Her joy was almost overflowing. Victor, who was walking behind her, couldn't stand it anymore and said with a smile, "Sister Lily, please walk slower. There are many wild rabbits and bamboo rats in this bamboo forest. They are timid. Don't scare them to death. We can catch them somewhere next time."

After hearing what Victor said, Lily actually slowed down her pace, walking as if on thin ice, for fear of scaring the rabbits in the wild forest.

It was not until her left foot tripped over her right foot due to lack of coordination and Victor couldn't help laughing out loud that she realized Victor was making fun of her and her face turned red with annoyance.

"Master, I am happy for you, but you are just making fun of me."

"Oh?" Victor blinked, "If you have something happy, why not tell me so that I can be happy too."

Lan Er pouted, her face showing an expression of joy that could not be concealed, "I am happy that you, my master, will finally be able to live a good life. Look how much the Eighth Prince and the Tenth Princess like you."

Lily was simple-minded. Seeing that the Tenth Princess and the Eighth Prince took the initiative to get close to Victor and gave Victor a lot of things, she thought that they were trying to get close to Victor.

In the food chain of this palace, the Tenth Princess and the Eighth Prince are at the top. His master's luck is coming.

Victor thought much more than she thought. He shook his head and said, "Although the Tenth Princess and the Eighth Prince have violent tempers, they are pure-hearted. However, they are just children. When they see something new, they are only interested for a while. After a long time, they lose interest and naturally throw it aside."

Victor never thought that he was charming enough to make people like him with just a few words.

Victor was only a few years older than them, but he was speaking from a higher perspective. Lily was hesitant to speak for a moment, looking at her master's still very young face, with mature eyes that did not look like a fourteen-year-old boy.

She has always believed in Victor, and now she became worried after hearing what Victor said, "Ah, what should I do then?"

Her master has suffered so much, does he really have to spend his whole life in that cold and deserted little courtyard?

Victor shook his head and said nothing more.

Lily felt even more upset when she saw that he didn't care about anything, but she could only worry because she had no right to interfere in her master's affairs.

After those few days, the Tenth Princess and the Eighth Prince were never seen again.

Lily saw that her master was still doing the same as usual, getting up in the morning to read, feeding the rabbits in the morning, practicing calligraphy in the afternoon, and continuing to read at night, as if nothing had happened.

She was anxious and absent-minded in everything she did. She finally got a chance to go out and chat with the other palace maids who were trimming the flower garden. She then learned that the Tenth Princess and the Eighth Prince had a fight a few days ago. The emperor found out about it, so he confined them and ordered them to stay in their palace for a few days to copy the "Standards for Being a Good Pupil and Child" to cultivate their character.

Only then did she feel relieved and went back to secretly tell Victor about this matter.

When she told Victor about this, he was practicing calligraphy. After hearing what she said, he paused and did not react at all. Instead, he waved his hand and asked an irrelevant question, "Lily, what are we eating tonight?"

Eat, eat, eat. All you do is eat.

Lily didn't know why her master had been so concerned about food during this period of time. She only knew that her master didn't seem to have any other thoughts. She stomped her feet in anger and ran out.

Victor looked at Lily's back as she ran out angrily, smiled and shook his head, and continued to focus on the things at hand.

Lily ran out of the inner room in a rage, and when she reached the outer hall she secretly regretted that she had been acting like a spoiled brat again. If Victor hadn't minded, she would have been punished long ago.

It was precisely because Victor never punished her that she lived too comfortably and almost forgot her identity.

She gritted her teeth, turned around, and was about to go back to apologize when she saw Little Li wiping the high table in the outer hall, muttering something while wiping the table.

She was wondering, so she tiptoed forward and patted his shoulder when he wasn't paying attention.

Little Leo was so scared that his hand shook and the rag fell to the ground. He was so scared that he sat down on the ground, shaking uncontrollably.

He turned around and saw that it was Lily. He breathed a sigh of relief and complained, "Sister Lily, what are you doing? You're scaring me to death."

Lily crossed her arms and looked down at him, "What's wrong with you today? Normally, you always refuse to run errands when asked to do so. Why are you so diligent today instead of slacking off in the small kitchen?"

Little Li stood up, dusted off the dust on his body, picked up the rag on the ground, and approached Lily mysteriously, whispering, "Sister Lily, I heard that Eunuch Liu from the Ministry of Internal Affairs will come again this afternoon to collect the labor fee."

Lily's eyebrows were tightly furrowed.

"That old ba5tard Mark is coming again? It's only the beginning of the month. We just paid the hard work fee last month, why is he coming again?"

Little Li sighed, "In this palace, we are the easiest to bully. Liu Bapi would like to come every day to peel off a layer of our skin to be satisfied."

Lily listened to his words and knew that this was the truth, but she had no choice but to grit her teeth.

Logically speaking, there is no palace rule that requires paying them hard work fees, but they are in charge of the palace's salary. If c0ncubines of low rank and unfavored princes do not pay, the salary can be delayed until the next year.

Naturally, no one cared about these small amounts of money. Over time, they became more and more arrogant, and it even developed into a default rule.

This palace is a place where big fish eat small fish, small fish eat shrimps, and even people are eaten without leaving any bones.

She frowned and thought for a while, then said with embarrassment, "But our monthly salary hasn't come yet, and we have so much to spend on daily expenses that we can barely afford to eat. How can we give him the money?"

Little Li chuckled, poked Lily with his elbow, then fished out a torn bag stained with oil from his sleeve, took out a few pieces of silver, shook them, and looked at Lily proudly.

Lily was so shocked when she saw the money, "Where did you get this money?"

Little Li said with a smile, "Sister Lily, this is the monthly allowance I have saved for three months. Don't you think it will come in handy?"

Lily didn't expect that the most unreliable Little Li knew how to save money, and her monthly allowance was always gone, so she couldn't help blushing.

She originally thought that Little Li only ate steamed buns for every meal and was reluctant to add pickles in order to save some for his future companionship. She didn't expect that he was saving money for his master.

Little Leo was only thirteen years old, and his fair and tender face smiled a little foolishly. When he looked at Lily, his nose felt sore and tears were about to fall again.

Little Li was so scared that he quickly wiped her face with his sleeve, "Sister Lily, my dear Lily, why are you shedding golden beans again?"

Lan Er sobbed and shook her head, "I...I will also save money in the future, Xiao Lizi, you...why are you so sensible, wu..."

Little Li scratched his head and smiled sheepishly, "I just felt that a person like our master, who was like a fallen immortal, could not be insulted by a eunuch. Our master treats us so well on weekdays, and I also want to do something for him."

Lan Er nodded vigorously, her eyes became firm, she wiped her tears and looked at Xiao Lizi, "I'll go get the money to send Mark away in the afternoon, you go and hold the master back, and tell him not to come to the outer hall, so as not to upset the master, understand?"

Little Li patted his chest and said, "Leave it to me, Sister Lily."

Mark indeed came in the afternoon.

As soon as Lily heard someone shouting outside the yard, she quickly put down what she was holding and ran out. She saw a haughty eunuch standing outside the door, followed by a few servile eunuchs.

Before anyone came to greet him, he had already walked into the inner courtyard.

During this period, the rabbits in their yard were free-range. A little rabbit jumped to his feet, was kicked away, and rolled over.

Lily's eyes flashed with disgust, but she quickly forced a smile and walked over to him, "What kind of wind is blowing today? Why did it bring Eunuch Li here? Come in quickly, come in quickly."

When Mark Li saw Lily, he smiled like a chrysanthemum, revealing his yellowed teeth. He scanned Lily up and down with his eyes narrowed into slits.

"Oh, it's only been a few days since we last met, and Miss Lily has become more beautiful. Look at her tender little face."

Lan Er avoided his face that was stretched out to rub against her, and smiled a little reluctantly, "Father-in-law, you are joking. Father-in-law, you are here to collect the hard work fee today. We are ready."

Mark put away his smile, clasped his hands together, and said calmly, "Miss Lily, why are you in such a hurry? We have walked a long way to come to your small temple. Don't you want to invite us in and sit for a while?"

After saying this, he gave a look to the young eunuch next to him.

The young eunuch was pleased with himself, and started barking like a dog that had received an order from its master, "Our eunuch's time is very precious, so please don't be so shameless."

Lily swallowed her anger and made way for him, "Eunuch...please come in."

Mark walked in with a swagger. When passing by Lily, he twisted his orchid fingers and snorted delicately.

Walking into the outer hall, he sat directly in the main seat, shook his clothes, and his eyes fell on the teapot beside him.

He lifted the lid of the teapot with his orchid finger, clicked his tongue in disdain, and threw the lid back, "Not even a cup of tea, how shabby."

Lily stood aside, looking at her nose and her heart, with a cold face, not wanting to say a word.

This dog servant is as arrogant in front of them as he is fawning in front of his master. He is so disgusting that even looking at Lily for one more second is considered an eyesore.

Unexpectedly, Mark had lustful thoughts when he saw Lily's delicate and graceful figure.

He took advantage of Lily's inattention and grabbed her hand, pulling her closer to him, "Miss Lily, why are you standing so far away? Have you grown estranged from me after not seeing you for so long? Hehe."

Lan Er shook his hand away as if it was burned, her face as dark as water, "Eunuch, please respect yourself, eunuchs and maids in the palace will be punished if they have s3x."

Seeing that she was speaking so straightforwardly, Mark stopped pretending to be polite and stood up, approaching her with a smile, "Miss Lily, you are joking. You are in a place where even birds don't sh!t. What can you do even if we do something to you?"

"Your useless master can't protect you."

Lan Er was cornered by him. Just as she was about to say something, she heard a voice without any emotion, "Oh? Does the eunuch have any opinion on this prince?"