Not long after Xie Chang'an led Xie Shaoling away, the Marquis of Zhongyong also came looking for them.

"Father, you're too late. You missed out on the delicious food. We just had the best roast suckling pig in the world, roasted by His Highness the Crown Prince himself!" Yun Shu said to Marquis Zhongyong with a regretful expression.

"You may never have the chance to eat such a delicious roast suckling pig in your lifetime!" he added.

Upon hearing this, the Marquis of Zhongyong's forehead veins throbbed, and his smile became somewhat ferocious, but his voice was exceptionally gentle. He asked Yun Shu in a tender tone, "Since it's so delicious, why didn't you think of your father, mother, and grandmother?"

Lady Hou and the old lady also came to the Xishan Palace this time to take care of their beloved son/grandson.

"I've got it!" Yun Shu, completely oblivious to the danger, still smiled happily at her father. "I originally wanted to save some for you, but the roast meat won't taste good when it's cold, so I ate it all for you!"

"Then you really are a 'filial' good child!" Marquis Zhongyong said, grabbing Yun Shu's chubby little hand. "Your Highness, Your Highness, Princess, Your Highnesses, I'll take Yun Shu with me now!" After exchanging greetings with each of them, Marquis Zhongyong pulled Yun Shu away.

"Luckily, Fatty Yun has a lot of fat, so it shouldn't hurt too much when he gets hit." Ye Jingyu sighed as he watched them walk away.

"Maybe that's why he loves his own body?" Ye Jingyu guessed.

"I think—he didn't get a single beating for nothing, he deserved it all!" Ye Jingshu said gloatingly.

Following Yun Shu, the Minister of Rites and the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy arrived together. After exchanging greetings, they each took their children away.

Ye Jingchen could guess with his toes that these three families must have been notified by someone with ulterior motives to know the location of their children.

As for who the person with ulterior motives is, it goes without saying.

In this way, Xie Shaoling's appearance here doesn't seem so abrupt.

Anyway, he won't be staying here for long. When he reports to the emperor, he'll probably just say, "Four families sent people to take away their children," which will be concise and clear and won't arouse any suspicion.

The next day was Ye Jingchen's birthday.

On this day, there were no classes, and the emperor had also declared that Ye Jingchen could do whatever he wanted as long as he didn't do anything dangerous.

"I'm going to sleep in tomorrow, so you guys play by yourselves first. I'll find you when I wake up." That's what Ye Jingchen told his brothers, sisters, and study companions.

On every day off, Ye Jingchen would sleep in first, and everyone was used to it.

People are often at their most energetic during their infancy, so they couldn't understand why Ye Jingchen liked to sleep in so much.

Xie Chang'an, on the other hand, became increasingly convinced of the claim that Ye Jingchen had died from overwork in his previous life because Ye Jingchen liked to sleep in late, always dozed off in class, and was lazy.

He could also be considered to have died from overwork. If it weren't for the need to have more leverage to protect his family's lives, he might have chosen to live a leisurely and unambitious life like Ye Jingchen.

On his birthday morning, Ye Jingchen slept soundly and peacefully, undisturbed.

He woke up in the warm sunshine.

The room he stayed in was the best room in Beichen Palace besides the emperor's bedroom. Not only could he admire the maple forest from the window, but he could also see the sunrise from the outside and enjoy sunbathing while lying in bed.

After waking up, he lay in bed for a while before calling for someone to come in and help him get up.

His clothes today were also carefully prepared by Fangfei and the others: a black round-necked robe embroidered with exquisite auspicious eight symbols in gold thread.

"Your Highness, the Fifth Prince went to the kitchen early this morning and personally made longevity noodles for you!" Fangfei said with a smile as she waited by his side while he washed up.

The temporary palace is not the same as the imperial palace. Beichen Palace only has two kitchens, one for the emperor's exclusive use and the other for other people.

Early in the morning, Ye Jinghe took over the kitchen to make longevity noodles.

He wouldn't let anyone in the kitchen help him; he did everything himself.

In order to time it perfectly so that Ye Jingchen could have hot longevity noodles as soon as he woke up, he spent the whole morning in the kitchen making several batches of noodles.

When Ye Jingchen woke up and called for someone to come in and serve him, he started cooking noodles. This was the fifth time he had cooked noodles since waking up.

He was too young to reach the stove, so he had to stand on a small stool to cook the noodles.

When he finished cooking the noodles and brought them out of the kitchen to Ye Jingchen, Ye Jingchen had just finished washing up.

"Happy birthday, brother!" Ye Jinghe held up a steaming bowl of longevity noodles, his little face covered in flour, with a smile that was both cautious and expectant.

He ate his brother's food, lived in his brother's house, and used his brother's things. Everything he had was given to him by his brother. He didn't have any presents to offer, so he could only cook a bowl of longevity noodles for his brother himself.

He remembered his brother saying that eating a bowl of longevity noodles on one's birthday has the best meaning.

When the emperor celebrated his birthday before, he participated in making the longevity noodles, but he only kneaded the dough and was lazy, so he didn't put in any effort because the emperor was not worth his effort.

But his brother was different. While cooking noodles for his brother, he kept praying for him, hoping that his brother would be healthy, happy, get everything he wanted, be liked by everyone, see the most beautiful scenery, and have the best luck...

He prayed for his brother with all the beautiful wishes he could think of.

However, his prayer also contained a selfish desire: he also hoped that his brother would always love him the most.

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