When a pot of bright red braised prawns was placed on the round table in the octagonal pavilion, the princes exclaimed that they had never seen prawns prepared in this way before. Lanqin had intended to maintain her ladylike demeanor, but upon seeing the fragrant and spicy braised prawns, she couldn't resist.

Seeing the princes staring at her intently, Lanqin chuckled to herself, licked the grease off her lips, and said shamelessly, "The fun of eating lobster is in peeling it yourself. Having servants peel it for you takes away a lot of the fun. Besides, when it's family eating together, there's no need for so much etiquette. Just be happy, just be happy."

What he said did make some sense, though it sounded a bit twisted.

The Ninth Prince couldn't resist picking up a large, fat lobster and peeling it. He imitated Lanqin, first breaking off the lobster's two large claws, then putting the head in his mouth and biting down on the connection between the tail and the head, splitting the lobster in two.

Then, put down the shrimp tail first, peel off the shell of the shrimp head, and use your tongue to suck out the shrimp roe. After eating the shrimp roe, pick up the shrimp tail again, peel off the outer shell, and the delicious shrimp tail meat will definitely soothe your restless stomach.

"Mmm, mmm, delicious! It really is delicious," the Ninth Prince said, beaming with delight.

"Aunt Niu, I want to eat too!" The Third Prince couldn't resist. He picked up a large lobster with his bare hands, but because his mouth was too small, he was afraid he couldn't fit the lobster in his mouth.

"Okay, Aunt Niu will peel it for you." Lanqin smiled as she took the large lobster handed to her by the Third Prince, and continued to bite off the head of the lobster without any regard for her image, peeling the red oil dripping from the tail with her slender, fair hands.

Perhaps the scene was too exciting, because the others couldn't hold back any longer. First, the Fourteenth Prince and the Tenth Prince picked up a lobster from the basin and started peeling it. Only the Fourth Prince, the Eighth Prince, and the First Prince, who had been watching the Fourth Prince's expression, hadn't moved yet.

The Fourth Prince frowned as he watched the Third Prince chewing on the white shrimp meat with relish, exclaiming, "Aunt Niu, I want more, I want more. Father, the shrimp is so delicious!"

"Fourth Brother, Eighth Brother, eat up, it's really delicious." The Fourteenth Prince was already eating with his mouth full of oil and his eyes were glowing.

Lanqin, while biting into a lobster, watched them stubbornly refusing to move a finger. She sighed helplessly, thinking to herself: Are these two gentlemen having a silent competition, seeing who can resist making the first move? How come they're both so calm?

After peeling the fifth lobster for the Third Prince, Lanqin finally couldn't resist taking a big red lobster, biting off its head with a snap, and handing the tail to the Fourth Prince, saying, "Here, Your Highness, eat quickly, if we wait any longer, we'll probably be almost done eating."

Didn't you see that the Fourteenth Prince, the Tenth Prince, and the Ninth Prince were all eating so heartily that they couldn't stop?

A bead of sweat dripped down the back of Fourth Master's head...

This little rascal was so unruly today! He actually dared to ask me to eat something he'd already bitten, right in front of everyone!

Su Peisheng was shocked: "My goodness, this Princess Niu is incredibly bold! She dares to offer something she's already eaten to the master. The Third Prince is just a child; do you really treat the master like a child?!"

Everyone saw it differently: some were just watching the spectacle, some were gloating, some were still wanting more, and some…

The cicadas outside the octagonal pavilion were unusually noisy at this moment.

"Su Peisheng, go find someone to fix this noisy thing!" Fourth Master glanced at Su Peisheng, thinking to himself: This servant is really something today, he's only focused on watching the show, he's not as attentive as usual.

Startled by Fourth Master's sudden remark, Su Peisheng quickly bowed and retreated, then went to find someone to catch cicadas.

This is a dangerous place; we lackeys should hurry away, or we might get a beating later.

"Fourth Brother, may I ask you for a reward?" The Eighth Prince, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly spoke up. He saw that Lanqin was holding up the shrimp tail awkwardly, hanging in mid-air. Her hand must be tired, so he felt a little sorry for her.

Fourth Master replied without changing his expression, "Brother, please tell me, what here has caught your eye?"

"The shrimp in your hand, sister-in-law, will get cold if you don't eat them soon. I wonder if I could ask for some?" The Eighth Prince spoke with unusual gentleness, making everyone present feel that he was worried that Lanqin was holding up the shrimp, and it would be awkward to hand it over or take it back.

But there was silence, a deathly silence...

Fourth Master's eyes flashed with a sharp light, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly before he smiled and said, "I'm sorry I can't part with Qin'er's things. If you want to eat them, my dear brother, just help yourself. Ninth Brother, be careful not to get diarrhea if you eat too many; shrimp is very cooling. If you don't mind, I'll peel a few for your Eighth Brother."

Upon hearing this, Peach Blossom Nine's face turned pale and then red...

After saying this, Fourth Master turned his head, smiled gently at Lanqin, took the shrimp from her hand, and began to peel it himself.

The Eighth Prince stared at the shrimp in the Fourth Prince's hand, then took one from the bowl and began to eat it.

Seeing that his father had already started eating, the eldest prince finally reached out and took one from the bowl as well.

The sound of crunching and munching on braised prawns returned to the dining table.

Lanqin grinned at the Eighth Prince, as if to say: Thank you, Eighth Prince, otherwise our Fourth Prince would have been embarrassed for a while, my arm is sore from holding it up.

The Eighth Prince, of course, received this signal and immediately responded with a smile, meaning: You're welcome. That's just how the Fourth Prince is. He clearly wants it, but he pretends to be indifferent and disdainful. It's really hard on my sister-in-law.

At that moment, Su Peisheng was leading several eunuchs, using long bamboo poles to catch cicadas. Lanqin couldn't help but watch curiously, then suddenly smiled and shouted, "Eunuch Su, don't throw away those cicadas! We can roast them later!"

After these words, the table fell silent once more!

Lanqin turned around and looked up, only to find that everyone was looking at her with strange eyes, their gazes clearly conveying: Is there anything else you don't want to eat?

Damn, roasted cicadas are so fragrant and delicious! A bunch of Manchu bumpkins!!

It turns out that Lin Mengyao is a native of Shandong, and they even eat locusts, scorpions, and silkworm pupae...

Thinking of the cicada pupae her mother cooked, Lanqin couldn't help but swallow hard. After a long while, she said, "Cicadas are edible, as are locusts and cicada pupae. Once, Father took us to stay with relatives in the countryside for a while. I saw some poor families there who had nothing to eat, so they caught these things to eat. At the time, I was terrified, but I couldn't resist trying it, and it was really delicious. Moreover, these things are very high in protein."

Comrade Lanqin tried hard to create a set of stories about experiencing the hardships of ordinary people, but she accidentally blurted out a "protein" that they couldn't understand at all.