Chapter 228 2/3

His temperament was gentle and he loved being around people.

Qi Jun’s previous days were likely very unhappy.

For him, the palace might have felt like a prison.

In any case, after realizing Qi Jun’s situation, Li Qingzhi stopped treating him as the emperor and started seeing him as an elder like Li Laogen or Jin Dajiang.

He had always been someone who was good at getting along with the elderly. When he saw that Qi Jun had not experienced many things, he took him around to see new things. When chatting with Qi Jun, he could talk about anything…

His relationship with Qi Jun was growing better day by day.

To put it another way, Li Qingzhi now had a feeling that if they were in modern times, Qi Jun might spend all his money buying health products from him…

Qi Jun was really someone easily persuaded.

“Alright.” Qi Jun followed Li Qingzhi into the kitchen.

The Li family’s kitchen had two stoves and three pots in total. One stove with one pot was specifically for boiling water for Qi Jun’s herbal baths, and the other two were used for cooking.

At the moment, one pot was cooking porridge, and the other was making egg pancakes, while Zhang Zao was stoking the fire behind the stove.

Qi Jun had never been in a kitchen before, so everything felt novel to him, especially because his condition had improved recently, and his eyesight was clearer than before.

“Mr. Liu, it’s very comfortable to stoke the fire in winter. Would you like to try it?” Li Qingzhi suggested.

Without thinking, Qi Jun replied, “Alright.” He had never stoked a fire behind such a stove before!

Li Qingzhi asked Zhang Zao to come out and sat behind the two stoves with Qi Jun, instructing him on how to stoke the fire: “The fire shouldn’t be too strong when cooking porridge, or the porridge will boil over. When making egg pancakes, the fire should also be low; otherwise, the pancakes will burn quickly…”

Stoking the fire was indeed very warm, and it made his whole body feel cozy. This was something Qi Jun had never done before… He played with the small wooden stick, poking at the firewood in the stove, having a great time.

Such days were truly comfortable!

Seeing this, Li Qingzhi brought over a piece of freshly made egg pancake for Qi Jun: “Mr. Liu, have a taste.”

“Is this appropriate?” Qi Jun felt a bit embarrassed to eat before the meal was served.

“It’s perfectly fine.” Li Qingzhi took a piece for himself and started eating.

Seeing this, Qi Jun accepted the egg pancake and took a bite.

This egg pancake was quite delicious, the best he had ever tasted!

Today’s porridge was century egg and lean meat porridge.

Once the porridge was cooked, Zhang Zao added the chopped lean meat and century eggs, along with a small piece of ginger and some salt.

In addition to the porridge and egg pancakes, they had prepared a few types of pickles to eat together later.

Qi Jun felt that even though he had only added some firewood, he had contributed to making breakfast!

His appetite improved significantly!

However, he still found Li Laogen annoying, as Li Laogen loudly slurped his porridge and kept boasting: “Old Liu, let me tell you, my son always tops the exams. He will definitely be the top scholar this time. In a few months, I will have a top scholar son! I never thought I’d see such a day!”

“My life before was tough! It wasn’t until I met my son that I started having good days!”

“He volunteered to recognize me as his father! It must be because he thinks I’m great!”

…

Qi Jun cleared his throat: “Brother Li, have you ever soaked in a hot spring?”

“I haven’t, but my son has. He was invited by other scholars to soak in one. He’s very popular; everyone likes him…”

“Li Laogen, hmm, Brother Li, do you want to soak in a hot spring? I can take you all to a nearby hot spring resort.” Qi Jun said.

“I want to! I really want to!” Li Laogen was very excited: “I love soaking in hot springs!”

Li Laogen had never soaked in a hot spring before, but after Li Qingzhi had, he asked about it and learned what it was.

He wanted to go, having heard that soaking in a hot spring was good for the body.

Li Qingzhi glanced at Qi Jun, knowing that Qi Jun suggested this to see the birthmark on his back.

Since that was the case, he definitely needed to give Qi Jun the opportunity.

Li Qingzhi agreed with a smile and arranged for the whole family to go with Qi Jun to the hot spring tomorrow.

Li Qingzhi added, “Mr. Liu, I’ll prepare the herbs for your bath in advance and bring them with us. You can still have your herbal bath there.”

“Alright.” Qi Jun readily agreed.

After breakfast, Qi Jun rested for a while before starting his herbal bath.

As usual, Li Qingzhi gave him a massage, using his abilities to help heal Qi Jun.

Besides healing, Li Qingzhi used some of his energy to subtly alter Qi Jun’s appearance.

Qi Jun had been bedridden for a long time, and his face was slightly swollen, giving him a puffy look.

Once Qi Jun’s health improved and he started exercising, his face would gradually lose the puffiness, and his physique would improve.

His appearance would naturally change.

Li Qingzhi planned to make slight adjustments to Qi Jun’s facial features during this time.

As for how to adjust them… naturally, in a way that made him look more like himself!

To make people believe that he resembled Qi Jun, he could change not only his face but also Qi Jun’s face!

Of course, he would make only minor adjustments, without drastically altering Qi Jun’s appearance, but that would be enough.

A person’s face could change significantly with just a few minor tweaks.

If he made subtle changes to his face and Qi Jun’s face, in a few months, when Qi Jun was no longer puffy, they could look quite alike.

By then, Qi Jun’s health should have greatly improved.

If he continued to treat Qi Jun, Qi Jun could live a long life.

Qi Jun was a very agreeable person and treated him well… Li Qingzhi decided to put more effort into Qi Jun’s health.

After soaking in the herbal bath, Qi Jun felt completely refreshed.

Taoist Lu was truly a master; his health improved whenever he was with Li Qingzhi!

Qi Jun didn’t wash his hair every day, but today he did.

As usual, it was Li Qingzhi who helped him wash his hair, massaging him in the process.

Qi Jun lay there, feeling utterly content.

In the entire court, whose son would help them wash their hair?

His son was wonderful!

Unfortunately, he couldn’t tell anyone, whereas Li Laogen could boast all day long!

It was another day of finding Li Laogen annoying.

The room that Concubine Liu used to live in had been converted by Li Qingzhi into a study for the children.

After washing his hair, Qi Jun went to the kang bed in that room to dry his hair, while Li Qingzhi sat on the bed, guiding the children’s lessons.

After Li Damao and Li Ermao finished their lessons, they went to Qi Jun: “Grandpa, will you play chess with us today?”

“Grandpa isn’t good at chess, but how about this? Grandpa teaches you to draw?”

“Yes, yes!” Li Damao and Li Ermao agreed enthusiastically.

Qi Jun’s drawing skills were mediocre, but he could draw, and it just so happened that he had brought paint among the gifts he recently sent to the Li family…

Qi Jun mixed the paint and drew a small bird for the two children.

“Grandpa, you draw so well!”

“Grandpa, what else can you draw?”

“Grandpa, can you draw a hen?”

…

Li Damao and Li Ermao sat close to Qi Jun, asking nonstop.

Qi Jun felt his heart melting.

When Qi An entered the palace, he had spent time with him and really liked the child.

But Qi An was young and easily cried. Moreover, Qi Jun’s health was poor and he had a certain smell… Qi An was always reluctant to be held by him, and he couldn’t hold him for long anyway.