Chapter 9

The news of the Seventh Prince causing a scene in the imperial kitchen quickly spread throughout the harem.

The ladies in each palace had different reactions, but most of them were understanding. It was just a little less food, and they were not stupid enough to get angry with a prince over such a small matter.

No matter how unpopular they are, they are still your Majesty's flesh and blood.

Xiuxiang Palace.

The kitchen hurriedly delivered the lunch from Concubine Lan's palace.

There is a small kitchen in Xiuxiang Palace for Concubine Lan, but some foods are not convenient to prepare, so they have to be entrusted to the main kitchen. The palace has just received a batch of nourishing snow ginseng and bird's nest.

She waited for the whole morning and received the news that completely ruined her mood.

She picked up today's snow ginseng porridge and asked, "Why is it so watery today?"

"The people in the main kitchen said that the chef was focusing on serving the Seventh Prince first, so the food today was a little less cooked."

Concubine Lan: "Your Majesty's intention..."

She suddenly threw the half-eaten snack on the ground and asked, "Why on earth did Your Majesty start paying attention to that little bastard?"

"I gave him the medicine last time. Maybe it saved his life by accident. He is really lucky. When Concubine Yun was alive, she opposed me and stole all the attention from His Majesty. Now, is her son also going to steal the attention from His Majesty for my child?"

Emperor Chongzhao hasn't entered the harem for a long time.

Even when she came, she always sat with the concubines who raised the princes and princesses, tested the princes' knowledge, occasionally went to the horse farm for riding and shooting, and stayed more in the Purple Palace to review memorials.

If she started paying attention to that little bastard now, what would happen if she really waited until the three years predicted by the Astronomical Observation Department had passed? But now that the emperor was paying attention to Ju'an Palace, she couldn't do it the same way as last time.

Concubine Lan could only comfort herself that the little bastard did not grow up by His Majesty's side, and even if Concubine Yun was involved, His Majesty would not have much feelings for him.

Just at this time, the Sixth Prince came back from school.

As soon as he came in, he cheered: "Mother, Mother."

Imperial Concubine Lan immediately suppressed the anger on her face and waved gently, "It's time to go to school. Come to mother."

The Sixth Prince threw himself into her arms.

He muttered and complained, "The school is so boring, mother, I don't want to go anymore."

"Can't!"

Concubine Lan's tone was a little heavier.

She held the Sixth Prince's shoulders and said, "You must listen to the Master and learn better than the other princes, so that you can get the greatest attention from your father. Otherwise, your father's love will be shared with others, understand?"

The Sixth Prince curled his lips, not caring at all.

It was not until Concubine Lan repeated it again that he said, "Yes, I understand."

Imperial Concubine Lan hugged him and said, "Come, tell me what you have learned. I will make some preparations and call my father to come and make him happy."

The Sixth Prince: "But, what the Master teaches is so difficult."

Concubine Lan: "You must remember that too! Otherwise, when your father asks you about it, you won't know how to answer. How can he be happy?"

"Father always asks my eldest brother, second brother, third brother and others, and never asks me."

"No, from today on, you will go to bed a quarter of an hour later, do you hear me?"

The Sixth Prince: “…”

-

All departments in the palace were cleaned up by the furious emperor, and even the maids who had left without permission received the punishment they deserved.

Eunuch Fu was detained in a dark room and went hungry every day.

Eunuch Yu ordered that the meat should be cut into pieces and weighed to determine its weight after it became dried by starvation. Not only did they deduct the money from the prince, but they also dared to beat their master.

After killing the chicken to scare the monkey, no one dared to look down on Ju'an Hall anymore.

For several days in a row, Ju'an Hall was bustling with people, and everyone had a polite and warm smile on their face.

As soon as the emperor lowered his eyes, this palace that no one paid attention to immediately became a hot topic.

All that was owed and should be made up has been made up.

Ye Xiaoyuan was busy running around, and only stopped when the warehouse was full of space - there weren't so many originally.

However, the entire harem knew that His Majesty had returned his attention to the Seventh Prince. The Queen first apologized to the Emperor, expressing her guilt for not taking good care of the royal heir. Even though everyone knew what had happened, she still wanted to apologize for this guilt.

The queen was also a little annoyed. She had clearly ordered that people in Ju'an Palace should not be too harsh on them, but in the end it still turned out like this.

After apologizing, she was the first to deliver something.

The Empress came to send gifts, and the other ladies in the palaces also sent some gifts. It was a matter of human relations, but even if it was just superficial work, it was all good stuff that had never been seen in Ju'an Palace.

It is easiest to avoid making mistakes when giving children wooden toys, cloth, and brocade, so there are many small items in the warehouse.

The queen even sent two maids to measure Qu Duanbian's height. Ye Xiaoyuan didn't have to make the cotton-padded clothes himself, as someone in the palace would be responsible for it.

They didn't even need to go to the main dining room to get their meals themselves. The newly appointed eunuch in charge of serving meals had specially arranged two people to deliver meals to Ju'an Hall. If there was anything they wanted to eat, they just had to let them know one day in advance.

Except that his residence was still remote and the palace was still dilapidated, Qu Dubian finally received the basic treatment of a prince.

All of this was just because of a little attention from his cheap father.

When Qu Dubian was hit on the back of his hand, he only felt a little pain at the time, but he was pretending. He didn't expect that it would actually turn blue later.

Ye Xiaoyuan said for a while that he applied ointment on his skin every day. The child's skin was tender and his bones were soft. Qu Dubian grimaced in pain.

He thought that even though he had gained his cheap dad's attention by tricking him in his dream, it was obviously not enough.

The main problem was still the prediction made by the Astronomical Bureau. As long as the reputation of being a nemesis was not removed, the cheap father would always feel uncomfortable.

Although life in Ju'an Hall is better now, the emperor has never ordered him to leave here, which shows that he still trusts the Astronomical Observatory in his heart.

If the Astronomical Observatory can make a prophecy that is unfavorable to him, he can also make a second and a third one.

A stinky old man who believes in feudal superstition.

Anyway, life is finally going to be OK now. I just had a lot of things going on, so I can take it easy for now. If it's not necessary, I can live peacefully like this. Qu Watanabe doesn't want to confront Guanxingsi so early.

While they were rubbing their bruises here, Wen Xiaochun was not in Ju'an Hall.

On the third day when Ye Xiaoyuan and Wen Xiaochun made a scene in the kitchen, the two of them talked quietly for half an hour. After that, Wen Xiaochun left.

When Eunuch Fu fell, the kitchen was also cleaned up. But the kitchen was the place that couldn't be short of manpower, so if you wanted to fill the position, you had to hurry up.

Wen Xiaochun was from Ju'an Hall. At this time, His Majesty was paying attention to Ju'an Hall. The steward of the main kitchen did not make things difficult for him, but smiled kindly instead.

"I met you at noon today. You are someone close to the Seventh Prince, right?"

Wen Xiaochun nodded: "I heard that the chief steward sent two eunuchs to take charge of the daily meals in Ju'an Palace, but Your Highness was used to being ignored before, and he was always worried, so he thought of asking me to come here and watch from time to time. If Eunuch Yu asks about it again in the future, I will have an explanation."

This means that he will be given a position here, called the supervisor. If there is any problem with the food in Ju'an Hall in the future, with the supervisor here, it will have little to do with the general manager.

One position, reduced risk.

The butler was also a clever man. He immediately made the decision after hearing this: "What is our business? So, you——"

"Wen Xiaochun."

"Oh, Xiaochun, that's a good name." The butler praised, "It just so happens that we are short of a steward in charge of oil in the main kitchen. That's the easiest job. You can just put your name on the list and come when you want. When you don't come, it will be convenient for you to look after the little prince."

"But, as for this monthly salary, I'm afraid...Eunuch Xiaochun, what do you think?"

Wen Xiaochun: "That's natural." He just wants a platform channel.

This was something he and Ye Xiaoyuan had discussed. With an identity, it would be easier to cultivate connections step by step and slowly climb up.

After some pleasantries, both left feeling satisfied.

In the past, neither Ju'an Dian nor Wen Xiaochun had the qualifications to strike up a conversation, but things are different now.

-

After a period of excitement, life in Ju'an Hall returned to normal.

Qu Dubian dismissed the strange palace servants who were standing next to him. In view of the last incident of overdosage of medicinal materials, he was not very willing to use them. He simply dismissed them all on the grounds that he did not like strangers.

He is easy to take care of, and Ye Banban and Wen Xiaochun are enough.

Now that he had enough food and clothes, Qu Dubian began to think about what to do next. He had to write down his experience, right? But he couldn't read.

Moreover, there is no writing brush, ink, paper or inkstone in Ju'an Hall now.

But his status was different now. After he once again asked for paper and pen, he got what he wanted soon.

"The paper is here!" Wen Xiaochun came in hurriedly, "Your Highness, you can write now."

"Let me see!" Qu Duanbian said in surprise.

Wen Xiaochun placed these things carefully on the table.

"Because you are under three years old, you don't have the permission from above, so you can't get too much, so I only give you these."

"I counted them and found about 200 pieces of paper, a small inkstone, ink blocks, small brushes, and carbon sticks. No one was using them, so I took three of them."

The paper can barely be considered good paper, but it is damp, so it has been left unused. The ink block is not of standard size, probably because it is a scrap that is a little small, but it is indeed useful to Qu Watanabe.

He read it over and over again with great delight, and had already decided to experience all the levels of fever one, two, and three and write down his thoughts. Thirty-nine is twenty-seven, that's a full 270 days of life!

Is this paper? No! This is clearly life!

Ye Xiaoyuan found a small bowl to hold water and dripped a few drops into the inkstone. Just as he was thinking about grinding ink, he saw Qu Dubian waving his hands and holding a carbon stick in his left hand, "Ye Banban, use this first."

Qu Watanabe is left-handed. He practiced calligraphy for several years in his previous life and had made some progress, but his writing speed is still not as fast as that of ink sticks.

"Ye Banban, you can write, Xiaochun, can you? If you can, you can teach me together."

Ye Xiaoyuan: “…”

Wen Xiaochun: "..."

The master and his two servants looked at each other in silence.

Qu Watanabe: “…”

He couldn't believe it, "Ye Banban, I clearly saw you writing on white cloth with charcoal." Aren't those scribbles-like characters the characters of the Great Zhou Dynasty?

Ye Xiaoyuan was embarrassed: "Your Highness, there are very few servants in the palace who can read. In order to facilitate the exchange of things, I created some characters myself, just hoping to understand them. But I really can't write. Following the Empress, I can only barely recognize a few."

Not many servants in the palace could read, so the self-created talismans were the common symbols used for communication.

He hesitated: "Now the conditions are good, I can lend you a few books for enlightenment."

"Thank you for your hard work, Ye Banban."

Qu Dubian sighed in his heart.

But what's the use? He still can't read. Maybe he can find a few palace maids who can barely read, but his ultimate goal is to write a complete manuscript.

The person who teaches him must at least be an enlightenment teacher.

He put down the charcoal stick in his hand, held his chin with his hand and worriedly said, "Where can I learn to read..."

Wen Xiaochun reminded softly: "The Ju'an Hall where Your Highness is is on the westernmost side. It is where the princesses of all generations studied and lived before they got married, and the easternmost side is where the princes studied."

Ye Xiaoyuan frowned and glanced at Wen Xiaochun.

Qu Watanabe immediately became interested: "Is the place where you study far from here?"

Ye Xiaoyuan: "It takes a long time to walk, and no one is allowed to enter without permission." He persuaded gently, trying to make the young prince give up this idea.

Qu Watanabe was unwilling to let go of this opportunity, and a small spark seemed to appear in his eyes.

He decided, "Let's get up early and sneak in!"

Is he doing this for study? No! He is doing this for survival! He is really tired of waking up every day with only 1 life left.

…

Ye Xiaoyuan pulled Wen Xiaochun out.

"What do you mean by asking you to go to the place where the princes study? What if you run into His Majesty... His Majesty gets angry? Your situation has been hard to improve."

Wen Xiaochun: "During the past few days in the kitchen, I have learned a little bit. His Majesty has never been to the six palaces in the East Garden. Even if he randomly checks the princes' homework, he only goes to the harem, or asks the princes to go to the Purple Palace on their own. He will not violate the taboo of not meeting according to the prophecy."

Ye Xiaoyuan frowned: "It could have been safer to wait until His Highness's third birthday before bringing it up. The prince goes to the East Garden to start his education at the age of three, this is the rule..."

Wen Xiaochun came from outside the palace and experienced a lot of calculations along the way. Even though his horizons were not broadened yet, he already had a keen sense of smell for danger like some kind of animal.

In this calm moment, he could smell a hint of impending storm.

He felt that it would be better for His Highness not to stay in Ju'an Hall all the time.

It’s just that this intuition is hard to express.

Wen Xiaochun said it another way, "There are too many variables in half a year. How do you know that no one in the harem wants His Highness to be less than three years old? In fact, the eunuch should understand much better than me."

Ye Xiaoyuan's pupils shrank.

He pinched his palms with his fingernails, looked inside the bedroom, and quickly calmed down.

After thinking for a moment, he said, "Go find some enlightenment books later and explore the way over there. We will take the little prince there tomorrow. Don't draw attention to yourself."

"good."

Wen Xiaochun smiled. Ye Xiaoyuan was too protective of His Highness, but as long as things were made clear, he would never be confused at critical moments.

These two inconspicuous eunuchs in the imperial city also have their own calculations and plans.

After they had discussed it, they each went about their own business.