This wasn’t something Qu Dubian made up.
According to this body’s memories, Ye Xiaoyuan would occasionally take him out for walks, and they’d encounter gossipy passersby who would say such things, pointing and commenting about him.
Such behavior inevitably affects a child psychologically. After a couple of times, Ye Xiaoyuan rarely took him out anymore, at most only playing in the garden not far from Ju’an Hall.
Normal children don’t understand these things, and even if they remember, they usually forget quickly.
He was different. He could remember for a lifetime.
“Who said that?!” Head Eunuch Yu angrily exclaimed, “Absolute nonsense! Your Highness should eat well, grow strong, then His Majesty will like you. It’s the same for the other princes too. Eating well and eating more helps them grow up and assist His Majesty in solving problems.”
“Today, you can choose whatever you want. Eat whatever you like.”
“Really?”
“I’m not deceiving you.”
He saw the young prince immediately brighten up. He personally lifted the child – the area around the stoves was too high, and all the good food was placed up there. Without help, he couldn’t see most of it.
“This one!” Qu Dubian pointed at the fragrant roast chicken.
“This and this!”
Milk, rose cakes, crystal shrimp dumplings, bird’s nest and white fungus soup, water chestnut crispy balls, radish stewed pork ribs… Wen Xiaochun ended up carrying four food boxes before Qu Dubian was finally satisfied.
His appetite wasn’t big, but Ye Banban and Xiaochun were at an age where they could eat a lot. He needed to nourish them.
In the future, their food at Ju’an Hall would definitely not be withheld, but it also wouldn’t be as abundant as today with so many good things to choose from.
The servants in the Imperial Kitchen looked at each other, somewhat troubled.
Most of what Qu Dubian had chosen were delicacies specifically requested by various masters in the harem. Taking them all at once might make it difficult to explain later.
But with Head Eunuch Yu overseeing, his intention represented His Majesty’s will.
Even if the ladies in the harem were unhappy, they wouldn’t openly express anger over a prince’s actions.
Therefore, they didn’t speak up. Stopping this now would be no different from directly saying they didn’t want to live anymore.
Qu Dubian left fully loaded. Head Eunuch Yu smilingly escorted him to the entrance of the Imperial Kitchen.
“Your Highness, take care on your way back.”
He even assigned two young eunuchs to help carry the food, looking as affectionate as if watching his own son.
After Qu Dubian left, the smile on his face instantly vanished. He turned to face the managers of the Imperial Kitchen.
Someone thoughtfully brought a chair for Head Eunuch Yu.
Head Eunuch Yu sat down, accepted a cup of tea handed to him from the side, took a sip, and as the lid scraped against the cup, it made a grating sound. “The rest of you who need to deliver meals to various palaces, go quickly. If anything is missing, just explain clearly that it’s His Majesty’s intention.”
“All managers of the Imperial Kitchen stay behind. This old servant has something to say. Also – call all those from the Fuel Conservation Department who manage internal palace affairs. Save me the trouble of going to each one.”
His Majesty had started paying attention to Ju’an Hall, so his right-hand man, Head Eunuch Yu, was following suit. Today’s Imperial Kitchen incident was just an appetizer.
The reckoning had only just begun.
–
Qu Dubian returned to Ju’an Hall with a pile of food.
Ye Xiaoyuan and Wen Xiaochun felt as if they were still dreaming. What happened at lunch today was truly surreal. After all, that was Head Eunuch Yu, the most influential eunuch in the entire palace.
Having grown up with His Majesty, his attitude was almost equivalent to the emperor’s attitude.
Ye Xiaoyuan thought hazily, could it be that the Consort had sent a dream from heaven, asking His Majesty to pay attention to the prince, resulting in this turn of events?
It wasn’t until the people Head Eunuch Yu had sent to help carry the food boxes left, and the food from the boxes was laid out on the table, that Ye Xiaoyuan suddenly came to his senses when Qu Dubian stuffed a crystal shrimp dumpling into his mouth.
He had been too happy, it had gone to his head.
“These things are for you to eat, Your Highness. Don’t give them to this servant.”
Qu Dubian held his small bowl, contentedly drinking radish and pork rib soup. Wen Xiaochun tore off some roast chicken and placed it in the small dish in front of him.
“I can’t finish it all. I mainly got it for you two.”
He was only so big, even if he ate until he burst, he couldn’t eat that much.
Oh my, it’s so delicious.
The soup is so flavorful, the meat so fragrant. Wah, what had he been eating before?
So blissful.
Nothing was more important than the prince eating. Ye Xiaoyuan saw Wen Xiaochun constantly tearing meat and picking up shrimp dumplings for Qu Dubian, and sighed.
“We can’t eat like this.”
He gently intervened.
“Your Highness hasn’t eaten much meat before. Eating so much at once isn’t good for digestion. Just eat a little of each, and you can drink more soup.”
He even moved some of the food out of the small dish.
“And don’t eat so quickly.”
Wen Xiaochun: “It should be fine, right? His Highness seems to be enjoying it so much. Once in a while, indulging…”
The rest of his words disappeared under Ye Xiaoyuan’s cold glare.
Wen Xiaochun silently closed his mouth.
Alright then.
Due to his instinctive indulgence, he never had much say in matters concerning the prince’s diet.
Qu Dubian pretended not to notice, happily eating on his own. After all, if he really wanted to eat, with just a bit of coquettish behavior, Ye Banban would definitely give in immediately.
After their lunch, people from the Imperial Hospital came to deliver ointment for bruises. After applying it, Qu Dubian felt drowsy and began his afternoon nap.
During this time, Head Eunuch Yu came for a visit.
He remained silent for a while, observing the dilapidated state of Ju’an Hall, then waved his hand. The young eunuch beside him took notes with a pen, looking quite solemn.
Ye Xiaoyuan didn’t dare to disturb, just silently followed along.
Head Eunuch Yu was polite to him, “This old servant has noted down the things lacking in the palace, all according to a prince’s standard allocation. Think about it, is there anything extra you want to add?”
Ye Xiaoyuan thought for a moment: “Milk, bring more of it. His Highness is growing.” He mentioned many small things, and Head Eunuch Yu had them all noted down. Until he finished, he hadn’t mentioned a single thing that would benefit himself.
Head Eunuch Yu sighed: “You’re a good one. The young prince has survived until now, thanks largely to your efforts. Alright, let’s not disturb His Highness’s rest. Later, various departments will send things over. I’ll instruct them to be quiet, not to make a big fuss.”
Ye Xiaoyuan: “Thank you, Gonggong.”
Head Eunuch Yu nodded: “No need to see me out.”
Throughout the afternoon, various daily necessities were delivered, even including different fabrics for making clothes. Six new palace maids and eunuchs were also assigned, and considering the Seventh Prince was not yet three years old, an additional wet nurse was provided.
By the time Qu Dubian woke up, the palace could even afford to light two basins of coal fire.
Today, he happened to run into Head Eunuch Yu who came to visit him. It was truly heaven’s favor. He showed no surprise at the palace’s major overhaul.
“Ye Banban.”
Ye Xiaoyuan was guarding Qu Dubian’s bedside. Seeing him awake, he poured a cup of warm water.
He had been squatting here, and after the excitement of the afternoon passed, calmness returned. He had been thinking for a long time.
His Highness was already very intelligent, and after the last high fever, that intelligence and quick-wittedness became increasingly apparent. He had only thought that His Highness was young and didn’t understand anything, but in fact, children are the most sensitive to coldness and malice.
This could be seen from today’s incident at the Imperial Kitchen.
If he could climb to Head Eunuch Yu’s position – no, even to a higher managerial position.
He could shield His Highness from more storms.
But now His Highness was so young, he definitely couldn’t leave to do other things, so he could only choose others to climb up. Regardless of why Head Eunuch Yu helped them today, he ultimately wasn’t His Highness’s man. His Highness should have his own usable connections.
For now, His Highness was still young, so they’d take it step by step.
Thinking of how the young prince admiringly threw himself into Head Eunuch Yu’s arms today, and how Head Eunuch Yu solved Ju’an Hall’s predicament in just a few moves, attracting everyone’s gaze –
No, what attracted people wasn’t appearance.
It was power.
Ye Xiaoyuan suddenly seemed energized and said: “Don’t worry, Your Highness. This servant understands now. I will definitely work hard.”
Qu Dubian: “?”
He didn’t know that his words of selling misery to Head Eunuch Yu at the Imperial Kitchen had also pierced his own companion’s heart like a sieve.
But having ambition was always good.
He patted Ye Xiaoyuan’s shoulder in affirmation.
–
After dealing with Ju’an Hall’s affairs, Head Eunuch Yu returned to Zichen Palace. It was already evening.
Emperor Chongzhao was finishing his meal.
The emperor’s meals were specially prepared by the Imperial Dining Hall, so he didn’t have to wait for food from the Imperial kitchen.
Since the previous emperor, three meals a day had become fashionable. Breakfast had twelve dishes, lunch forty-eight, and dinner thirty-six.
After Emperor Chongzhao took power, he advocated frugality. Breakfast was simplified to just porridge and small dishes, lunch reduced to thirty-six dishes, and dinner to twenty-four. An emperor couldn’t be greedy for food, and these quantities were already considered very few.
“You’re back,” Emperor Chongzhao said. “How’s Ju’an Hall? Tell me about it.”
Head Eunuch Yu organized his thoughts.
“There are only two eunuchs serving the Seventh Prince.” This opening immediately made Emperor Chongzhao frown deeply.
“What do you mean only two eunuchs?”
Emperor Chongzhao: “I remember quite a few palace people were moved to Ju’an Hall together. Where are the wet nurse and palace maids who went to Ju’an Hall at that time?”
“This servant checked, they left on their own long ago.”
“On their own?” Emperor Chongzhao took a deep breath. “How old was Little Seven when they left?”
Head Eunuch Yu: “According to the palace people who have been serving the young prince, they left when His Highness was not even a year old.”
“This is outrageous!”
Emperor Chongzhao knew that people in the palace were accustomed to flattering the powerful and stepping on the weak. Or rather, he vaguely guessed that the child he didn’t pay attention to might not have had a good life these years, but he forced himself to ignore it.
He felt some resentment in his heart, and perhaps had even thought that if the child didn’t live well, it could be considered as mourning for his mother. If he lived too well and comfortably, how could he atone for the sin of causing his mother’s death?
But Emperor Chongzhao never imagined that his son could live so poorly right under his nose!
Of course, the emperor wouldn’t admit his own neglect and mistakes, he could only vent his anger on others.
“Yu Decai[mfn]Decai is Head Eunuch’s given name[/mfn], continue speaking. I want to see just how many people have a death wish.”
Head Eunuch Yu organized his thoughts and started from today’s incident at the Imperial Kitchen.
“The servants below are bullying their masters. When we arrived at the Imperial Kitchen today, there was already an argument. The servants distributing food had given His Highness hard steamed buns and pickled vegetables for breakfast. His Highness was really hungry, so he went to the Imperial Kitchen for food. Unexpectedly, just for this, he was even injured by a servant.”
He was being a bit biased here, but that soft embrace from Qu Dubian had made even this cunning head eunuch willingly offer some protection.
Bang——!
Emperor Chongzhao smashed a cup, his face frighteningly cold.
Head Eunuch Yu quickly knelt down. “Afterwards, this servant went to Ju’an Hall. Ah… it was truly desolate, lacking in clothes and food. The clothes His Highness was wearing were probably from Yongning Palace over two years ago.”
“It wasn’t until this afternoon that these shortages were gradually replenished.”
Head Eunuch Yu: “There were also some gossipy palace people who said something in front of the young prince. Today at the Imperial Kitchen, His Highness only took simple porridge and food, not touching anything else. This servant was really curious and asked why. His Highness said, ‘Gongong, if I keep not eating these things, will Father Emperor like me?’ This servant felt heartbroken hearing this, so I took the liberty of letting His Highness choose freely in the Imperial Kitchen.”
In two sentences, he both expressed grievance and cleared his decision to let the young prince choose freely in the Imperial Kitchen with His Majesty, avoiding resentment from the consorts whose meals were reduced.
“This is absolutely outrageous!”
Emperor Chongzhao’s heart was pricked by that sentence, and he was already furious. Looking at the table full of delicacies, he couldn’t eat another bite.
T/N : Kofi thanks to Pendragon!! ( ๑ ˃̵ᴗ˂̵)و ♡
Heh, hypocritical emperor
Haha, indeed.