Chapter 101 A Heartfelt Gift from Old Ten: A Lazybones's Reward

Yin'e and the Ninth Prince's desks were side by side and very close, so he could glimpse the breakfast on the Ninth Prince's table, which was the same as his—regardless of the taste, the presentation was extremely unappetizing.

Yin'e originally thought this was the normal level of the imperial kitchen, but after the Fifth Prince turned around and talked to them, Yin'e clearly saw that the breakfast on the Fifth Prince's table looked much better than theirs.

The breakfasts delivered by the imperial kitchen were also divided into different grades, with the portions for Yin'e and the Ninth Prince being inferior to those for the Fifth Prince.

According to the Fifth Prince, the Imperial Kitchen did this on purpose. He had experienced something similar when he first joined the Imperial Kitchen; the breakfasts he received on his first day were inferior to those of his brothers, but later they returned to normal standards.

Yin'e didn't know if this was one of the established rules of the Imperial Kitchen, but he was unwilling to suffer in silence and didn't want to bow down to the Imperial Kitchen's show of force.

Clearly, the Ninth Prince was the same.

Compared to Yin'e, the Ninth Prince was more unruly.

He was always fond of stirring up trouble, good at causing problems, and loved watching a spectacle unfold. Now that the fire had spread to him, the Ninth Prince wasn't afraid to escalate the situation; in fact, he was more than happy to do so and wanted to take the initiative to give the Imperial Kitchen a good beating.

Under the bright gaze of the Ninth Prince, Yin'e pointed to the breakfast in front of them and said with a confident smile, "Isn't this the kind of breakfast the Imperial Kitchen prepares for us? Then let's give them a taste of their own medicine and send it back to them as a 'reward'."

Emperor Kangxi often bestowed several dishes from the imperial meals upon his concubines, imperial heirs, princes, and ministers as a sign of favor, and Yin'e followed suit.

Although, in principle, Yin'e was just a bald prince without a title and had no right to bestow dishes, the palace servants in the imperial kitchen were not exactly high-ranking figures either. So, it wasn't wrong for him to do it; it was just that few people would do such a thing.

The Ninth Prince had upturned eyes, delicate and beautiful, and his phoenix eyes, which always seemed to be smiling affectionately, were wide open. His eyes were bright and sparkling. Upon hearing this, he gently slapped his small hand on the table, his face full of impatience: "Let's do it! We'll give an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth!"

Anyway, they didn't plan to continue getting meals from the imperial kitchen in the future, so if they were annoyed, they would just retaliate—they weren't afraid of offending the people in the imperial kitchen.

"Little Linzi." Yin'e stood up and called out to his personal eunuch.

When the princes were studying in the Imperial Study, the palace servants who served them were not allowed to enter the classroom; they could only wait outside. Tasks such as laying out paper and grinding ink were handled by Haha Zhuzi, who served the princes, and no other palace servants were needed to attend to them.

Previously, while Yin'e and the Ninth Prince were studying the Great Learning in the Imperial Study, Xiao Linzi stayed outside the school with the other princes' personal eunuchs and had already eaten breakfast while the princes were studying.

As soon as Xiao Linzi entered the school, Yin E instructed him: "Clean up the breakfast in front of me and Ninth Brother, and take it to the Imperial Kitchen to 'reward' the head eunuch in charge of the meals in the Imperial Study."

The breakfast that was delivered looked terrible and tasted awful, so Yin'e and the Ninth Prince had no appetite. The steamed buns and the meat and vegetable side dishes in the meal box were basically untouched. They only drank most of the still-warm millet porridge with beef jerky. It was easy to clean up afterward.

Yin'e didn't intend to cause trouble for the cooks serving him. In truth, this matter had little to do with the cooks; the responsibility lay with the head eunuch.

Xiao Linzi responded earnestly, remembering Yin E's instructions, and then stepped forward to tidy up the almost untouched food box.

Looking at Xiao Linzi, who was only a few years older than him and the Ninth Prince and much thinner than the Fifth Prince, Yin'e was a little worried. After a pause, he added, "Let Eunuch Sun go with you."

"Make sure that the head eunuch in charge of the Imperial Study's meals receives our and Ninth Brother's good wishes and eats up every last bit of the food we give him."

Eunuch Sun was the strong eunuch who carried Yin'e from the West Third Palace to the Imperial Study. He was a eunuch that Yin'e specially recruited to be placed in the Prince's Palace because he was strong and powerful.

With Eunuch Sun accompanying Xiao Linzi to the imperial kitchen, there was no fear that the palace servants there would take advantage of Xiao Linzi's young age and weak appearance.

The Ninth Prince was very excited. He couldn't wait and even helped Xiao Linzi put away the food box. He was eager to send his "gift" to the Imperial Kitchen.

But halfway through the preparations, the Ninth Prince's delicate face suddenly wrinkled up, and he leaned close to Yin'e and whispered, "Tenth Brother, what if the head eunuch of the Imperial Kitchen tries to deny that he has already eaten?"

“If you’ve already had breakfast, save it for lunch,” Yin’e replied without hesitation. “If it gets cold, just reheat it. What, we princes eat reheated leftovers, but he, a mere head eunuch of the imperial kitchen, can’t eat them? Is he more precious than us?”

The Ninth Prince rolled his eyes, and a sly and smug smile appeared on his androgynous, lovely face. He chuckled and patted Yin'e on the shoulder: "Tenth Brother, you really have a good idea and make sense!"

Yin'e: ...That doesn't sound like a compliment.

Just then, the Fifth Prince turned around and silently handed over his neatly packed food box, with the lid still properly closed: "Count me in too."

The Fifth Prince looked honest, his round, chubby face filled with sincerity. He scratched his head and, under the bewildered gazes of Yin'e and the Ninth Prince, said with a simple smile, "Count me in too. I also want to send a token of my appreciation to the head eunuch of the Imperial Kitchen."

Looking at the seemingly harmless and honest-looking Fifth Prince with his simple smile, Yin'e and Ninth Prince fell silent at the same time, their expressions complex: ...You can't judge a book by its cover!

So that's why the straightforward and outspoken Consort Yi gave birth to the honest and simple-minded Fifth Prince. It turns out this guy has a bit of a dark side to him.

Indeed, they are siblings of the Ninth Prince. It makes no sense that the Ninth Prince is so unruly, always causing trouble, while the Fifth Prince is so well-behaved and never causes any trouble, like a pure white lotus in full bloom.

After the initial shock, the Ninth Prince hesitated for a moment and said, "Fifth Brother, aren't you afraid that they'll make things difficult for you in the future by showing such disrespect to the Imperial Kitchen?"

The reason why the Ninth Prince dared to slap the Imperial Kitchen in the face with Yin'e without any regard for feelings was because he was prepared never to ask the Imperial Kitchen for food again.

Moreover, if the Imperial Kitchen harbored resentment and dared to secretly retaliate, he would dare to cause a huge scene in retaliation. The Ninth Prince never lacked the courage to confront things head-on; he was only worried that the Fifth Prince's actions were not from his heart, but merely to cheer them on.

Despite the Ninth Prince's blunt warning that he would be "put on a hard time," the Fifth Prince remained unfazed and said seriously, "This is my good intention. Why should they hold a grudge against me after receiving the reward?"

The Fifth Prince didn't interfere to cheer on Yin'e and the Ninth Prince; he simply harbored resentment towards the Imperial Kitchen and had long wanted to teach them a lesson.

With a gentle and honest smile on his round, chubby face, the Fifth Prince said warmly, "Including mine, that makes three breakfasts. The head eunuch in charge of the Imperial Study's meals probably couldn't finish them all in one day."

The Fifth Prince barely touched his breakfast today. Even if he skipped breakfast and went hungry, he would still join Yin'e and the Ninth Prince in giving a reward to the chief eunuch in charge of the Imperial Study's food.

When Yin'e heard the Fifth Prince say there were "three portions" in total, he thought the Fifth Prince was going to change his mind. But then he heard the Fifth Prince say, "It's alright, no rush. If we can't finish them today, we can have them tomorrow. Give them all to him."

Seeing that Yin'e and the Ninth Prince looked speechless, the Fifth Prince said with a smile, "Ninth Brother, didn't you plan to have Mother bring us food? Then I won't carry food in the Imperial Kitchen anymore, I won't suffer like this."

With the Empress Dowager protecting him and Emperor Kangxi placing him in the position of a prince in a position of honor, the Fifth Prince was truly unafraid of causing trouble.

The Ninth Prince hesitated for a moment, but this time it was rare for the Fifth Prince to stand by him and "go crazy" with him. Although he was still a little worried, he was very happy. His eyes and brows were full of smiles. He hummed and said, "Alright then, let's do it together—but don't say we forced you to do it afterward."

"I won't!" The Fifth Prince shook his head and made a firm promise.

The Ninth Prince also believed that the Fifth Prince wouldn't; he was just a smart aleck. No matter how happy he was inside, he had to say something to feel better, and he didn't know what was wrong with him.

The three food boxes stacked together looked quite large, and Xiao Linzi couldn't carry them all by himself. Seeing this, the personal eunuchs of the Fifth Prince and the Ninth Prince bowed and ran into the school to help. The three of them each carried one food box, which was just right.

Just as Xiao Linzi and the other two were about to leave, a slightly embarrassed cough suddenly sounded behind Yin'e and the Ninth Prince: "Ahem... Can I join them?"

The Ninth Prince turned around abruptly, his face showing a look of utter disbelief: "You? You want to come with us?"

The Ninth Prince was not only greatly surprised, he could hardly believe it.

He never expected that the person who suddenly became interested in their plan and eagerly tried to get involved and "collude" with them would be the Third Prince!

Yin'e also found it a bit strange; this didn't seem like something the Third Prince would do. It wasn't that Yin'e was prejudiced against the Third Prince, but rather that he was simply not the type to resort to direct confrontation.

Such a direct and ruthless confrontation with the Imperial Kitchen, showing no mercy, is unlike the Third Prince's usual behavior; he doesn't seem like someone who would get involved.

Yin'e and the Ninth Prince's gazes were too obvious, with no intention of hiding anything. The Third Prince was so embarrassed and angry that he stuck out his neck and shouted, "It's me! I plan to teach the Imperial Kitchen a lesson with you. So tell me if you're taking me with you or not!"

The Third Prince's behavior left Yin'e stunned, but he quickly recovered, a warm smile spreading across his handsome face as he nodded repeatedly to the Third Prince: "Welcome, Third Brother, we are happy, not only are we happy, but we are extremely welcome!"

Why not have another scapegoat? The Third Prince jumped on the pirate ship himself; they didn't drag him on!

Thinking of this, Yin'e's smile grew even brighter. Not giving the Third Prince a chance to back out, he gave Xiao Linzi a wink, and the quick-witted Xiao Linzi immediately stepped forward and took the food box from the Third Prince's hands: "Your Highness, this servant will carry it for you."

There are now four food boxes in total. Even if the breakfast portion is not as generous as the lunch portion, these together are enough for one person to eat for several meals. Now we just hope that the eunuch in charge of the food in the Imperial Study will not be too picky and will not be unable to eat the food that he himself sent out!

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Author's Note: Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 11:56:26 and 23:12:39 on April 9, 2023!

Thank you to the little angel who threw the landmine: Lex (1 landmine);

Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Sweetie Doesn't Eat Coriander 23 bottles; justpoor 10 bottles; Crocodile Belly 6 bottles; Little Qinghe 5 bottles; Flying Fairy from Beyond the Sky 2 bottles; AI No. 0104, Yellow Flowers All Over the Ground, and Pear 1 bottle each;

Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!