The next day, while having breakfast at the East Palace, Ye Jingyu thought again about the dinner at Weiyang Palace the day before, which had cost 120 taels of silver.

At the time, I only felt ashamed, thinking that Weiyang Palace was too extravagant and wasteful, but now it seems—

The eggs served at the East Palace breakfast seemed no different from those that cost two taels of silver each at the Weiyang Palace, and the vegetable leaves looked no worse than those that cost one tael of silver per bunch at the Weiyang Palace.

He suddenly realized that perhaps it wasn't just the food in Weiyang Palace that was expensive; the ingredients in the East Palace probably weren't much cheaper either.

“Brother Crown Prince, have you calculated how much silver a meal costs at the Eastern Palace? I did the math last night, and the ingredients alone cost 120 taels of silver for my mother and me for dinner!” he said to Ye Jingchen.

"One hundred and twenty taels for a meal? Third brother, is the dinner at your Weiyang Palace really that good?!" Ye Jingshu exclaimed in surprise.

"Third brother, are you eating dragon liver and phoenix marrow?" Ye Jing'an asked curiously.

"Even if it's bear paws, bird's nest, shark fin, or sea cucumber, it's not worth that much money!" Ye Jingyu analyzed rationally.

"Well... I haven't actually calculated that, but I can call someone to ask right now," Ye Jingchen said with a smile.

Lin Zhongquan, the chief eunuch of the Eastern Palace, arrived quickly and brought a detailed bill.

They didn't realize how expensive things were until they compared them, and once they did, they discovered that the prices on the bill were many times higher than what they knew about prices in the capital.

"The people's hard-earned money!" Ye Jingning, who was usually dull, taciturn and not good with words, suddenly blurted out a phrase.

"Xiao Qi, don't talk nonsense!" Several kids were startled by these four words, and Ye Jingyu even jumped up from his seat as if the chair was burning his bottom.

"Can the same ingredients have such a big price difference?" Ye Jingshu asked.

"Some ingredients do indeed vary in quality and grade," Ye Jingchen replied.

In the era before he transmigrated into the book, things like cabbage could cost three yuan a pound or three hundred yuan a pound.

A bag made of the same material and with a similar style may only cost tens of dollars from a small brand, while it may cost hundreds of thousands of dollars from a big brand. Anyway, there will always be people who are willing to pay for the price difference of hundreds or thousands of times.

However, in this era, merchants' thinking was probably not so advanced. The most likely scenario was that the people in charge of purchasing in the palace colluded with merchants outside to make money off the emperor.

“But the ingredients we ate in the palace and the ones we ate at Zuixianlou seemed to be no different, only the taste was different. But the chefs in the palace were all imperial chefs, so they were definitely more skilled than the chefs at Zuixianlou, and it’s normal that the taste was better,” Ye Jingyu said.

“Our family probably can’t afford a meal that costs 120 taels, but the taste of our food is no different from the same food in the palace,” Yun Shu added.

"Since there's no difference, why can't the palace buy cheaper ingredients? Wouldn't that save money and allow them to help the common people?" Ye Jingyu asked.

A group of innocent children, and to this day, none of them have suspected that someone in the palace might have inflated the prices of the ingredients!

"Jingming, what do you think about this?" Ye Jingchen asked Ye Jingming, who hadn't expressed any opinion from beginning to end.

"Perhaps—the ingredients the palace bought were just ordinary ingredients, but they inflated the prices?" Ye Jingming said uncertainly.

Ye Jingshu immediately retorted, "Impossible! Would they be so bold? This is deceiving Father!"

"People die for wealth, birds die for food!" Ye Jinghe said casually.

Back in Changchun Palace, didn't the palace servants and eunuchs who took care of him dare to bully and abuse this prince for his share of the allowance?

"Shouldn't we tell Father about this? Whether it's a false report or the ingredients are really that expensive, wouldn't it be clear if we investigated? If it's a false report, punish the person who made the report and recover the money they embezzled. If it's really that expensive, the palace can simply replace the ingredients with cheaper ones!" Ye Jingyu said.

“It definitely needs to be reported to Father Emperor! However, the Imperial Concubine is currently in charge of palace supplies. Why don’t you, Jingyu, first inform your mother and ask her to investigate, and then she can report the results to Father Emperor?” Ye Jingchen asked Ye Jingyu.

Upon hearing Ye Jingchen's words, several of the young boys' expressions changed.

Because Ye Jingchen's actions undoubtedly favored the Imperial Concubine.

If it was indeed a palace eunuch in charge of procurement who inflated prices, then as the imperial concubine in charge of palace supplies, she would certainly be held responsible and would be questioned by the emperor.

However, if the Imperial Concubine were informed of this matter first, she would have a full opportunity to investigate it thoroughly, devise a plan to redeem herself, and then, based on her status as a member of the Ji family, this matter would surely be minimized and eventually resolved.

Ye Jingshu's lips twitched. She didn't like the Imperial Concubine and didn't want to let the matter pass so easily. However, she liked Ye Jingyu quite a bit, and they had spent four years together in Wenhua Palace, so they had developed some feelings for each other. Was she really going to turn against him because of this?

She swallowed back her words of disagreement.

"Thank you, Your Highness! I will inform my mother about this as soon as I get back and ask her to investigate it thoroughly!" Ye Jingyu said hurriedly, looking at Ye Jingchen with tears in her eyes.

My brother, the Crown Prince, is so kind!

His mother disliked him so much, always talking badly about him behind his back and calling him a "little rascal," but his elder brother, the Crown Prince, never cared and always thought of his mother's feelings!

He will always love his Crown Prince brother!

After school, upon returning to Weiyang Palace, Ye Jingyu immediately informed his mother about the matter.

"The prices of ingredients in the palace are so much higher than outside the palace?" Ji Wushuang didn't think much of it at first, but she was shocked when Ye Jingyu handed her two drastically different bills.

"Perhaps the tribute items are just too expensive, or perhaps someone is inflating prices to line their own pockets, but whatever the reason, we have all decided that in the future, the palace should buy cheaper ingredients, so that the money saved can be used for things that benefit the country and the people."

“Your elder brother, the Crown Prince, could have told Father Emperor about this directly, but he was worried that you would be punished for it, so he decided that you should give Father Emperor an explanation in person,” Ye Jingyu said earnestly to Ji Wushuang.

Although Ji Wushuang was raised to be too naive by the Ji family, she was not stupid. She knew in her heart that whether it was the people who purchased ingredients for the palace exaggerating prices or the prices of tributes being too high, she would be held responsible. If Ye Jingchen reported this directly to His Majesty, His Majesty would be angry and she might be stripped of her power to manage the palace's food supplies.

Although it's nice not to have to deal with the mess in the palace, it's too shameful to be stripped of power for this reason. She can't bear the shame!

She appreciated the favor in her heart, but she couldn't hold back her words, "He's really that kind? Or is he plotting something bad?"