The two of them immediately left the tenth court and went back to the castle.
Along the way, Song Jia asked Zhao Cheng what she should call him, since he had already confessed that he wasn't Xu Jinhai.
"My name..." Zhao Cheng's eyes shook. "My name is Zhao Cheng."
Song Jia repeated it after him. "Zhao Cheng."
She smiled. "It's a good name. Cheng (成), meaning accomplished, successful, or completed. You must have been a very promising person."
It also showed how much his mother valued him, and had such high expectations for his future. Song Jia remembered the Imperial Noble Consort, Mei Guifei. She was such an ambitious woman. For her son to have destroyed the empire with his own two hands...
Song Jia felt her heart throb. She knew what Zhao Cheng had done was unforgivable. But in her heart, she also couldn't hate him. Song Jia also knew that Zhao Cheng used to be a very righteous person. For him to do so many things to the extreme...it was probably right to say that he hadn't been in his right mind after her death.
He probably...completely went insane.
But even if one could distinguish between outright murder and manslaughter by reason of loss of control or insanity, the result was still the same.
People died, and this sin couldn't be erased. Song Jia knew both of their hands were dyed with blood. Even if she hadn't known her death would result in that kind of ending, it was still partly her responsibility as a professional transmigrator.
Song Jia couldn't help but sigh. She used to be a world-hopping tasker whose only job was to prevent vengeful reincarnators from running amok and causing great trouble to the world. When did she suddenly rise to the position of maintaining the world's stability...
When they arrived back home, it was already after lunch time. Zhao Cheng hesitated, then finally braced himself.
"Jia'er, you wait here, I'll cook you a meal."
Song Jia's mind stagnated for a bit. Cook her a meal? Zhao Cheng had been pampered and spoiled his whole life. He was born as a promising prince, the empire's favorite, and when he grew up, he became the Son of Heaven. When did he ever go inside the kitchen?
One can only hope that he even knew how to boil the rice.
"No, it's alright, I'd like to see you cook."
Or rather, prevent the kitchen from blowing up!
Hearing her words, Zhao Cheng broke out in a cold sweat.
He really...didn't know how to cook!
Zhao Cheng found the kitchen according to Xu Jinhai's memories he had glimpsed before and put on his apron. Looking at the different kind of utensils and ingredients that were waiting for him, Zhao Cheng finally admitted that he was lost.
He knew how to govern an empire, and command armies to win wars. But slicing onions and garlic was definitely not part of his skill set!
He only wanted to cook her a meal just like Xu Jinhai, but he didn't have the ability. She was also sitting at the kitchen table, waiting for him.
What should he do? He regretted that he didn't focus on Xu Jinhai's cooking before and was only concerned about his interaction with her.
Zhao Cheng finally picked up a pot and put rice in it. He didn't know how to cook any dishes, but rice was still a must. After filling the pot to the brim with rice, he put on the lid and placed it on top of an old stove.
While the rice was cooking, he also decided to cook some eggs. Zhao decided that since he didn't know how to cook, the simpler it is, the better the outcome.
He decided to make egg drop soup.
The kitchen had a mix of ancient and modern stoves. Because the modern ones were completely unfamiliar to him, Zhao Cheng only used old stoves.
The name 'egg drop soup' made Zhao Cheng guess that raw eggs were directly dropped into hot soup. He went into another stove and boiled water there. After the water started boiling, he cracked the eggs with his hands and dropped its contents into the boiling water.
Song Jia, who was secretly watching him, had been giving a '囧' expression for a while. She knew that he was bad, but she completely underestimated how bad he was!
Not a drop of water had touched the rice before he cooked it, and the soup he made...even transforming it into poached eggs couldn't save it!
Song Jia hurriedly went forward and stopped him. "Don't, don't continue anymore...I'll teach you how to cook first, okay!"
After Song Jia entered, the situation there quickly stabilized. The pot of rice was taken back by her and was handed down to a shame-faced Zhao Cheng.
"You need to wash the rice first, don't directly cook it. Since you dumped more than eight cups, you need to wash it more thoroughly..."
"It's not just boiling water, you need to prepare your broth first. Either chicken or vegetable stock will do. Mix constarch to thicken the broth a bit..."
"Don't crack the eggs with your bare hands again, you'll dump stray egg shells more easily that way!"
With Song Jia's supervision, the pot of rice and egg drop soup was quickly done. Zhao Cheng moved both of the pots into the kitchen table while Song Jia carried the plates, ladles, and chopsticks.
Just as Song Jia was about to scoop herself some soup, Zhao Cheng snatched away her bowl and scooped the soup himself.
Zhao Cheng placed the bowl in front of her, "The soup is too hot, don't touch the bowl. Let it cool down first."
He looked at the steaming rice and simple dish in front of him. Rather than him cooking a meal for her, he was much happier knowing that they cooked a meal together.
Song Jia looked at the soup with the wholly cut green onions floating on top of it. She wanted to stop him and chop it into even finer pieces, but he had already dropped it into the soup before she could say anything.
After they ate, Zhao Cheng took the initiative to wash the dishes. Song Jia stayed around to instruct him.
She hesitated for a while, then finally asked, "Zhao Cheng, can you feel Xu Jinhai's consciousness inside your mind?"
Zhao Cheng's hands that were carefully rinsing a bowl stopped. He put down the bowl and turned off the faucet. Drying his hands, he turned his head around to look at her.
"...I can."
Song Jia pursed her lips as she looked up at him. "Does he...want to come back?"
Zhao Cheng pressed his lips together and nodded his head.
Xu Jinhai also wanted to come back to her side. Zhao Cheng knew that rather than him, Jia'er preferred Xu Jinhai. She had a close relationship with him, he was much more lively than him, and he also knew how to cook...Zhao Cheng knew all of these, but he was still unwilling.
Like Xu Jinhai, he also wanted to learn how to cook and make her delicious meals. He also wanted to get sick, and have her take care of him. At night, he also wanted to tell her goodnight and sleep by her side...
While waiting for her in the Wangchuan River, he had longed of doing these normal things with her for a very, very long time.
His hands gripped the sink.
"Does Jia'er...want him to come back?"
Zhao Cheng knew he didn't have the right to demand these things from her.
Love cannot be begged for, it must be deserved.
So even if she wanted him to go away, he would follow her wishes and do so.
A/N:
I haven't abandoned the pit, but it seems I could only dig it slowly
(π ⌓ π）Sorry for the late updates, everyone~! Now that I needed to reveal everything, I realized how complicated it was. On my author's note in the very beginning, I said:
Σ(º □ º ∥∥) I really ate my words.