Chapter 99 Old Ten's Salted Fish Takeout for Breakfast

The Ninth Prince was given a hard shove by Yin'e, which jolted him awake.

He immediately sat up straight, his eyes not even fully open, and began to recite incantations: "The way of the Great Learning lies in manifesting one's bright virtue..."

Yin'e was not too willing, but seeing Gu Badai walking closer, he still lowered his head and began to recite along with him.

Yin'e's voice was rather soft, almost like he was reading silently—Yin'e really didn't want to shout and read aloud, as it made him feel like his life force was being severely depleted. Getting up in the middle of the night was already hard enough, so he might as well take it easy.

After reflecting on his actions, the Fifth Prince suddenly realized that he had started the trend of slacking off and becoming a couch potato. He felt ashamed and believed that he had led his younger brothers astray.

To make amends for his mistakes, the Fifth Prince decided to start working hard from today onwards and set a good example for Yin'e and the Ninth Prince.

The Fifth Prince, who was reciting aloud with his head swaying, suddenly heard two voices reading from the desk behind him. He paused, stopped reading, and turned around with a bewildered look on his face.

Turning halfway around, the Fifth Prince saw that Yin'e and the Ninth Prince, who had just been resting with one hand on their cheek and eyes closed, and the other had simply been sleeping soundly on the table, were now sitting up and reciting the text very seriously, reading "The Great Learning" fluently and smoothly.

Fifth Prince: ?

The Fifth Prince, who had never cheated in the Imperial Study before, and whose laziness, distraction, and slacking off were all blatant, was shocked. He was amazed by the antics of Yin'e and the Ninth Prince, realizing for the first time that things could be done this way.

On this day, the Fifth Prince opened the door to a new world...

The Fifth Prince turned his head slightly to look at Yin'e and the Ninth Prince sitting behind him. Seeing that they were studying diligently and there was no indication that they had been slacking off just now, the Fifth Prince stared blankly with his mouth agape, so stunned that he forgot what he was supposed to be doing.

Suddenly, Yin'e, who was reading the Great Learning, looked up and gave the Fifth Prince a subtle wink, giving him a reminder.

The Fifth Prince had a good relationship with Yin'e, but unlike Yin'e and the Ninth Prince, he didn't have the same tacit understanding.

Before the Fifth Prince could react to the meaning behind Yin'e's wink, a stern reprimand rang out behind him: "Fifth Prince, what are you doing? Why aren't you doing your morning study? Why are you disturbing others?"

The moment he heard Gu Badai's stern voice, the Fifth Prince froze in place, mechanically turning around and sitting back in his original seat.

After the Fifth Prince obediently lowered his head and picked up his book again under Gu Badai's "majestic" gaze, he realized what Gu Badai had scolded him for, and immediately felt a pang of grievance: it would be fine at other times, but today he really wanted to make progress.

The ones who really didn't study properly in the morning were Yin'e and the Ninth Prince, not him!

The Fifth Prince felt wronged, but he couldn't bring himself to betray Yin'e and the Ninth Prince. He could only pout and reluctantly accept Gu Badai's reprimand, not daring to complain even a single word, for fear of accidentally letting slip and betraying Yin'e and the Ninth Prince.

The morning reading time in the Imperial Study is from Yin Shi (3-5 AM) to Mao Shi (5-7 AM), a total of one hour, and two officials are assigned to be on duty. Today, Gu Badai is on duty for the first half of the hour, and Xu Yuanmeng is on duty for the second half. Xu Yuanmeng is a Manchu of the Plain White Banner, surnamed Shumulu, and a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) in the twelfth year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign.

Compared to Gu Badai, who was rigid, strict, and unapproachable, showing no mercy even to the princes, Xu Yuanmeng was more tactful and maintained sufficient respect for the princes, making her easier to "bully" than Gu Badai.

When it was Xu Yuanmeng's turn to be on duty, Yin'e and the Ninth Prince stopped pretending.

Since none of their Haha Beads had entered the palace, they could cause trouble as they pleased without fear of implicating others—the Ninth Prince followed suit, using this as an excuse to postpone the arrival of the Haha Beads in the palace.

Without tutors to take the blame, the tutors in the Imperial Study wouldn't dare to do anything to the princes. They wouldn't hit their hands, at most they would scold them a few times, or make them recite the text a few more times or copy it.

These punishments were nothing to Yin'e and the Ninth Prince. Even being scolded by Emperor Kangxi, let alone being punished by their tutors in the Imperial Study, didn't bother them. These thick-skinned brats had a high tolerance for abuse and felt no remorse or shame whatsoever.

Yin'e got enough sleep. He suddenly became energetic in the middle of the night and wasn't sleepy, so he quietly memorized "The Great Learning." He only needed to be able to recite it fluently; he didn't necessarily have to read it 120 times.

The Ninth Prince was really sleepy. He lay down again and decided to sleep through the entire morning reading time until dawn.

The beginning of Mao (5 a.m.) is also the time when the morning cultural classes in the Imperial Study officially begin. At that time, the Ninth Prince can no longer sleep and has to get up to listen to the lessons.

Otherwise, if he misses a class, he either has to catch up in private lessons, or he will fall behind in all the subsequent classes and have to spend even more time catching up.

Yin'e genuinely felt that the schedule of the Imperial Study was utterly bizarre. If only they arrived at the Imperial Study for morning study at the hour of Mao (5-7 AM), 5 AM could still be considered morning, and starting the day's lessons at that time could be praised as good for one's health. But 3 AM… that's toxic! Who gets up to study in the middle of the night?!

Yin'e and the Ninth Prince were in the same group as the Fifth Prince, and they were taught by the same master from 5:00 AM to 7:00 AM.

Yin'e originally thought they would be assigned to the same group as the Fifth Prince because the Fifth Prince had spent some time in the Imperial Study for his early education and was still learning the most basic Four Books and Five Classics. His progress was not far behind theirs, so being assigned to study with them this time was just a review.

But what Yin'e didn't expect was that the Fifth Prince's studies were indeed still on the Four Books and Five Classics, but not one of the Five Classics, nor the later ones of the Four Books, but the first one, "The Great Learning"...

However, unlike Yin'e and the Ninth Prince who were just beginning to learn, the Fifth Prince had already finished studying the more than two thousand characters of "The Great Learning".

It was indeed the Fifth Prince accommodating their learning pace by sending them to school with Yin'e and the Ninth Prince. However, according to their instructors, the Fifth Prince did not seem to have a solid grasp of the material, so they could take this opportunity to relearn it and consolidate their knowledge.

Yin'e learned a great deal during the full hour-long lesson. Under the guidance of Ne'anda, who quoted extensively from classical texts, he gained a deeper understanding of the "Great Learning" and realized that the principles it contained were not as simple as he had initially understood.

It must be said that the teachers selected to teach in the Imperial Study were all of very high caliber. After all, they were all Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) with high rankings in the regular imperial examinations, and they were personally selected by Emperor Kangxi, who was very concerned about his son's education.

After Chenshi (7-9 AM), the morning classes will temporarily come to an end, and the princes will have half an hour to rest—mainly so that the princes can have breakfast, as they cannot attend classes on an empty stomach.

The Imperial Study was located within a palace complex centered around the Qianqing Palace, and its meals were prepared by the Imperial Kitchen of the Qianqing Palace.

The breakfast delivered by the imperial kitchen was very simple. Both Prince Yin'e and the Ninth Prince had two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes, along with a plate of pastries, a bowl of soup, and a bowl of porridge. For their age, this was definitely enough to fill them up, but the dishes looked more like a main meal than breakfast.

Yin'e lived with the Imperial Concubine in Yongshou Palace since he was a child. Yongshou Palace had its own small kitchen, and the three meals a day were not taken from the Imperial Kitchen. Therefore, Yin'e was unaware that there were only two meals a day in the palace, breakfast and lunch, and both meals were formal meals.

The breakfast looked a bit too lavish, and Yin'e, who wasn't used to eating a proper breakfast, lowered his expectations for the food brought by the imperial kitchen.

However, after tasting it, Yin'e realized that he had been too conservative. He should have lowered his expectations a bit so that he wouldn't be disappointed and his taste buds wouldn't be hurt by the taste of breakfast.

The breakfast prepared by the Imperial Kitchen was very lavish, but it was only "appearing" lavish; the taste was truly appalling. Yin'e had always thought that the food at the Grand Palace Banquet was bad enough, but he never expected that the food sent from the Imperial Kitchen to the Imperial Study would be even worse.

And he didn't know if it was just his imagination, but he felt that this breakfast...

Putting down his spoon, Yin'e leaned over and complained to the Ninth Prince, who had come closer, "Ninth Brother, how does it taste? I don't think this stuff is fresh out of the pot."

Ninth Prince pursed his lips, his delicate face wrinkling up, and nodded, saying, "Tenth Brother, yours is also hard to eat? I think it's hard to eat too, it tastes like pig swill!"

The Ninth Prince pursed his thin lips, puffed out his cheeks, and glared angrily with his phoenix eyes. He thought the imperial kitchen was doing it on purpose, deliberately sending them such unpalatable food just to give them, the new students, a hard time.

Just then, the Fifth Prince, who was sitting in front of them, turned around and whispered to them, "Don't worry about it. This is just leftover food. The Imperial Kitchen prepared it yesterday afternoon and heated it up this morning before packing it in a food box and bringing it over. It's the same for everyone."

The pretty, androgynous little face flushed red. The Ninth Prince suddenly stood up, slammed his little hand on the table, and said angrily, "How dare the Imperial Kitchen serve us this? Fifth Brother, tell me where the Imperial Kitchen is. I have to find them and demand an explanation."

The spacious schoolroom fell silent as the princes all looked at the Ninth Prince. Their expressions varied, their gazes complex, but even the Third Prince's eyes held no mockery, instead revealing a hint of empathy.

The Fifth Prince smiled wryly, reaching over the desk to pull the Ninth Prince, who had jumped up in agitation, back down: "Ninth Brother, don't get agitated. Even if you go to the Imperial Kitchen, you won't be in the right about this."

The Ninth Prince, looking defiant, was pulled down to sit by Yin'e. He stood with his arms crossed, chin slightly raised, looking at the Fifth Prince with an unruly expression and a sneer that seemed to say, "Tell me, tell me, let's see what nonsense you can come up with."

The Fifth Prince sighed: "To avoid any mistakes when making food fresh, the Imperial Kitchen has always prepared meals in advance for many years, and then heated them up and served them on time. There's really nothing wrong with them, even if we bring it up in front of Father Khan."

After a pause, the Fifth Prince lowered his voice and whispered, "The Imperial Kitchen has always been a team that prioritizes self-preservation. They believe in doing nothing and doing nothing, and they haven't changed the menus for so many years, just because they're afraid of causing problems."

While the Ninth Prince was still angry, Yin'e had already thought of a more practical solution: "Fifth Brother, can we prepare our own meals? I don't want to eat leftovers prepared by the Imperial Kitchen."

What if the cafeteria food is terrible? Order takeout, of course!

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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 19:44:29 and 23:56:24 on April 3, 2023!

Thank you to the little angel who watered the nutrient solution: Spring Breeze Ten Miles 1 bottle;

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