The incident of the Seventh Prince causing a commotion in the Imperial Kitchen quickly spread throughout the harem.
The reactions of the consorts in various palaces varied, but most adopted an understanding attitude. After all, it was just a matter of having less food. They weren’t foolish enough to get upset with a prince over such a small matter.
No matter how unfavored, he was still of the Emperor’s flesh and blood.
Xiuxiang Palace.
The Imperial Kitchen hurriedly delivered Noble Consort Lan’s lunch.
Xiuxiang Palace had a small kitchen for Noble Consort Lan’s exclusive use, but some dishes were inconvenient to make there, so they had to be entrusted to the Imperial Kitchen. The palace had just received a new batch of nourishing snow ginseng and bird’s nest.
She had waited all morning, only to receive news that completely ruined her mood.
She picked at today’s snow ginseng porridge, “Why is it so thin again today?”
“The people from the Imperial Kitchen said that the chef was prioritizing the Seventh Prince, so today’s dish lacked some cooking time.”
Noble Consort Lan: “His Majesty’s intention…”
She suddenly threw the half-eaten pastry in her hand to the ground, “Why has His Majesty suddenly started paying attention to that little bastard!”
“The medicine last time… giving it to him might have accidentally saved his life instead. He truly has a hard life. When Consort Yun was alive, she opposed me, stealing all of His Majesty’s attention. Now, is her son also going to steal His Majesty’s attention from my child?”
Emperor Chongzhao hadn’t entered the harem for a long time.
Even when he did come, he would only sit for a while with the consorts raising princes and princesses, testing the princes’ knowledge, occasionally going to the stables for horseback riding, and spending more time in Zichen Palace reviewing memorials.
Now that he’s starting to pay attention to that little mongrel, what will happen when the three years prophesied by the Astrology Bureau pass? But now that the emperor was paying attention to Ju’an Hall, she couldn’t take action like last time.
Noble Consort Lan could only console herself that the little mongrel hadn’t grown up by the emperor’s side, so even with Consort Yun’s factor, His Majesty wouldn’t have much affection for him.
Just then, the Sixth Prince returned from his studies.
He came in cheering: “Mother, Mother.”
Noble Consort Lan immediately concealed her anger, gently waving her hand, “You’re back from your studies, come to Mother quickly.”
The Sixth Prince immediately threw himself into her arms.
He grumbled complainingly, “The classroom is so boring, Mother. I don’t want to go anymore.”
“You can’t!”
Noble Consort Lan’s tone became a bit harsh.
She gripped the Sixth Prince’s shoulders, “You must listen well to your tutor and learn better than the other princes to gain your father’s greatest attention. Otherwise, your father’s affection will be given to others, understand?”
The Sixth Prince pouted, seeming quite unconcerned.
Only after Noble Consort Lan repeated herself did he say: “Yes, child understands.”
Noble Consort Lan embraced him: “Come, tell Mother what you’ve learned. Mother will prepare, and later we’ll call your father to come, to make him happy too.”
Sixth Prince: “But, the tutor’s teachings are so difficult.”
Noble Consort Lan: “You must remember them anyway! Otherwise, when your father asks you and you don’t know, how will he be pleased?”
“Father always asks Big Brother, Second Brother, and Third Brother. He won’t ask me.”
“No, from today on, you’ll stay up a quarter hour later, do you hear me?”
Sixth Prince: “…”
–
Various departments in the imperial palace were cleaned up by the enraged emperor, and even the nannies who had left on their own earlier received due punishment.
Eunuch Fu was confined in a lightless room, starving daily.
Head Eunuch Yu ordered that when he was starved to a husk, they would cut him open and weigh how many jin and liang he had, for daring to withhold from a prince and even strike the prince.
With this example made, no one dared to look down on Ju’an Hall anymore.
For several days, Ju’an Hall was bustling with people coming and going, all wearing polite and enthusiastic smiles.
With just a glance from the Son of Heaven, this once-neglected palace immediately became a hot commodity.
All that was owed and should have been provided was now given.
Ye Xiaoyuan was busy until the storeroom was completely full before he stopped – originally, there wasn’t supposed to be this much.
But the entire harem knew that His Majesty was paying attention to the Seventh Prince again. The Empress was the first to ask for punishment, expressing her guilt for not taking good care of the imperial offspring. Even though everyone knew the situation, she still had to ask for this punishment.
The Empress also felt some regret. She had originally ordered that Ju’an Hall should not be treated too harshly, but it had ended up like this.
After asking for punishment, she was the first to send gifts.
With the Empress sending gifts, the consorts of other palaces followed suit, sending various items. Even if it was just a superficial gesture, these were still good quality items that Ju’an Hall had never had before.
Sending wooden toys for children, cloth, and brocade was the safest choice, so the storeroom was filled with many small items.
The Empress even sent two tailoring nannies to measure Qu Dubian’s height. Ye Xiaoyuan no longer had to make cotton clothes himself; the palace would have people responsible for that.
Moreover, they no longer needed to go to the Imperial Kitchen to collect meals. The newly appointed meal distribution eunuch specially arranged two people to deliver meals to Ju’an Hall. If there was anything they wanted to eat, they just needed to say a day in advance.
Except for the location still being remote and the palace still being dilapidated, Qu Dubian finally received the basic treatment of a prince.
All of this was simply because of a little attention from his nominal father.
The blow Qu Dubian received on the back of his hand had only felt a bit painful at the time, but that was his act. Unexpectedly, it later actually started to turn blue.
Ye Xiaoyuan kept talking about it, applying ointment and massaging it daily. Children’s skin is delicate and bones are soft, and Qu Dubian grimaced in pain.
He thought to himself that although he had gained his nominal father’s attention through the [Prank Dream], it was clearly not enough.
The main crux still lay in the Astrology Bureau’s original prophecy. As long as the label of “mother-killer” wasn’t removed, his nominal father would always have that barrier in his heart.
Although life in Ju’an Hall had improved now, the emperor still hadn’t ordered him to leave this place, indicating that he still leaned towards believing the Astrology Bureau deep down.
And if the Astrology Bureau could issue one unfavorable prophecy about him, they could issue a second or a third.
Stinky old man believing in feudal superstitions.
Anyway, life was finally bearable now, and having just stirred up some trouble, they could take a breather. If unnecessary, Qu Dubian didn’t want to confront the Astrology Bureau so early if they could continue living peacefully like this.
While they were massaging the bruise, Wen Xiaochun wasn’t in Ju’an Hall.
On the third day after the commotion in the Imperial Kitchen, Ye Xiaoyuan and Wen Xiaochun had a private half-hour conversation. After that, Wen Xiaochun left.
With Eunuch Fu’s downfall, the Imperial Kitchen also underwent a purge. But the kitchen was a place that couldn’t be short-staffed, so if one wanted to fill a position, they had to act quickly.
Wen Xiaochun was from Ju’an Hall, and it was just when His Majesty was paying attention to Ju’an Hall. The manager of the Imperial Kitchen didn’t give him a hard time, instead smiling kindly.
“I saw you at noon today, you’re one of the Seventh Prince’s people, right?”
Wen Xiaochun nodded: “I heard the manager assigned two eunuchs to be responsible for Ju’an Hall’s daily meals, but His Highness has been neglected for so long that he’s still uneasy. So he wanted me to come here to keep an eye on things. This way, if Head Eunuch Yu asks again, we’ll have something to report.”
The implication was to give him a position here as a supervisor. If anything went wrong with Ju’an Hall’s meals in the future, with a supervisor in place, it wouldn’t have much to do with the manager.
One position, reducing risk.
The manager was also a clever person. Hearing this, he immediately decided: “What’s the big deal? Like this, you—”
“Wen Xiaochun.”
“Oh, oh, Xiaochun, that’s a nice name.” The manager complimented. “As it happens, we’re short one minor manager in charge of oil in the Imperial Kitchen. It’s the easiest job. You can just hold the title, come when you want to, and when you don’t come, you can still look after the young prince.”
“However, the monthly salary might be… Gonggong Xiaochun, what do you think?”
Wen Xiaochun: “That’s fine.” He just needed a platform and channel.
This was what he and Ye Xiaoyuan had discussed. With a position, it would be easier to gradually build connections and climb up step by step.
After exchanging pleasantries, both parties left satisfied.
In the past, neither Ju’an Hall nor Wen Xiaochun would have had the qualification to engage in such exchanges. Things were different now.
–
After a period of excitement, life in Ju’an Hall returned to calm.
Qu Dubian dismissed the unfamiliar palace people assigned to him – given the previous incident with excessive medicine, he didn’t dare to use them. He conveniently used the excuse of not liking strangers to send them all away.
He was easy to care for, Ye Banban and Wen Xiaochun were enough.
Now that he could eat well and dress warmly, Qu Dubian began to think about the next step. He needed to write experience essays, right? But he couldn’t read or write.
Moreover, Ju’an Hall didn’t have writing materials.
But with his changed status, soon after he made another request for writing materials, he got what he wanted.
“The paper’s here!” Wen Xiaochun hurried in. “Your Highness, you can write now.”
“Let me see!” Qu Dubian said excitedly.
Wen Xiaochun carefully placed these things on the table.
“Because you’re not yet three years old and don’t have special permission from above, we couldn’t get too much or too good quality. This is all we got.”
“This servant counted, about 200 sheets of paper, a small inkstone, some ink sticks, small brushes, and I also got three charcoal sticks since no one uses them.”
The paper was barely considered good, but it had moisture, which was why it had been set aside. The ink sticks weren’t standard size, probably made from leftover pieces, but for Qu Dubian, these were indeed all usable.
He happily examined them over and over, already planning to experience and write experience essays on levels one, two, and three of fever at 100%. Three times nine is twenty-seven, that’s a full 270 days of lifespan!
Is this paper? No! This is clearly lifespan!
Ye Xiaoyuan found a small bowl for water, dripped a few drops into the inkstone, and was about to grind the ink when he saw Qu Dubian wave his hand, holding a charcoal stick in his left hand. “Ye Banban, let’s use this first.”
Qu Dubian was left-handed. He had practiced calligraphy for a few years in his previous life and had some achievements, but writing with a brush was still not as fast as with charcoal.
“Ye Banban, you know how to write, right? Xiaochun, do you know how? If you both know, you can teach me together.”
Ye Xiaoyuan: “…”
Wen Xiaochun: “…”
The three looked at each other, a moment of silence.
Qu Dubian: “…”
He couldn’t believe it. “Ye Banban, I’ve clearly seen you write things on white cloth with charcoal.” Weren’t those scribbles Great Zhou characters?
Ye Xiaoyuan awkwardly said: “Your Highness, very few servants in the palace can read. For convenience in exchanging things, we created some symbols, just to be understood. But this servant truly can’t write. Even when serving by the Consort’s side, I only barely recognized a few characters.”
Not many palace servants were literate, and self-created scribbles were the commonly used communication marks.
He hesitated: “Now that conditions are better, this servant can borrow a few primers.”
“Thank you for your trouble, Ye Banban.”
Qu Dubian sighed deeply in his heart.
But what use was that? Wouldn’t they still not recognize the characters? Perhaps a few barely literate palace people could be found in the entire palace, but his ultimate goal was to write a complete manuscript.
The person teaching him would need to be at least at the level of an elementary tutor.
He put down the charcoal in his hand, resting his chin on his palm worriedly. “Where can I learn to read and write…”
Wen Xiaochun softly reminded: “Your Highness’s Ju’an Hall is at the westernmost end, which is where princesses lived and learned before getting married. The easternmost end is where the princes study.”
Ye Xiaoyuan frowned, glancing at Wen Xiaochun.
Qu Dubian immediately became interested: “The place for studying, is it far from here?”
Ye Xiaoyuan: “It takes a long time to walk there, and without permission, we’re not allowed to enter.” He gently tried to persuade, attempting to make the young prince give up this idea.
Qu Dubian, however, didn’t want to let this opportunity slip away. A small spark seemed to ignite in his eyes.
He decided firmly: “We’ll get up very early and sneak in!”
Was this for the sake of learning? No! This was for survival! He’d had enough of waking up every day with only 1 day of lifespan left.
…
Ye Xiaoyuan pulled Wen Xiaochun outside.
“What do you mean by letting His Highness go to where the princes study? What if we run into His Majesty… If His Majesty gets angry, the young prince’s situation has only just improved.”
Wen Xiaochun: “During these few days in the Imperial Kitchen, I’ve learned a bit. His Majesty has never been to the East Six Palaces. Even when checking on the princes’ studies, he only goes to the back palace or summons the princes to Zichen Palace. He won’t violate the taboo of not meeting face to face as per the prophecy.”
Ye Xiaoyuan frowned: “We could have been more cautious and waited until His Highness’s third birthday to bring this up. It’s the rule for princes to start their education in the East Palace at three years old…”
Wen Xiaochun, coming from outside the palace, had experienced many schemes along the way. Even though his perspective wasn’t broad yet, he had developed a kind of animal-like keen sense for danger.
In the current calm, he sensed a whiff of impending storm.
He felt it would be better if His Highness didn’t stay in Ju’an Hall all the time.
But this intuition was hard to express.
Wen Xiaochun changed his approach, “Too much can change in half a year. How do you know there’s no one in the back palace who wants to prevent His Highness from reaching three years old? Actually, you should understand this much better than I do.”
Ye Xiaoyuan’s pupils contracted.
He dug his nails into his palm, glanced towards the sleeping chamber, and quickly calmed down.
After pondering for a moment, he said: “Later, go find some primers and scout out the route. Tomorrow we’ll take the young prince there. Don’t attract attention.”
“Alright.”
Wen Xiaochun smiled slightly. Ye Xiaoyuan was overly protective of His Highness, but once things were explained clearly, he never made mistakes at crucial moments.
These two inconspicuous little eunuchs in the imperial palace also had their own calculations and schemes.
After they agreed, they each went to do their own tasks.
Hmm…