The early mornings at the Prince's Mansion were always cut into a grid of light and dark by the morning light. When the first ray of sunlight slanted across the carved window lattices, Xiao Yu was sleeping soundly, buried in his brocade quilt, his breath still lingering with the orchid fragrance that Shen Weiwan had fumigated last night. Suddenly, a slight itch shot through his nostrils, and he sneezed violently, startling the sparrows perched under the eaves. He opened his eyes to see Kenken squatting at the head of the bed, a feather duster in his hand, his pigtails still stained with grass debris from last night's play. Seeing him awake, a smile with a missing front tooth immediately broke out on his little face: "Dad! Time to get up!"

"You little brat!" Xiao Yu jumped up, the quilt sliding down to reveal clear teeth marks on his shoulder—they were the work of Wa Wa, who had held his arm like a "chicken drumstick" and chewed it yesterday afternoon. Before he could react, Henkeng had quickly stuffed a cold clay frog into his quilt. It was a toy that Shen Weiwan had picked up at the market a few days ago. It was now pressed against his waist, freezing him so much that he jumped out of bed as if struck by lightning, hopping barefoot on the cool blue bricks. "Shen Weiwan! Take care of you two devils!"

The inner room curtains rustled slightly, and Shen Weiwan, draped in her moon-white nightgown, sauntered out. A diamond-shaped bronze mirror in her hand reflected her unpainted face, and a jade hairpin at her temple trembled with each step. Without even raising her eyelids, her voice carried the languid languor of a newly awakened woman: "Your Highness used my red gold and kingfisher feather button as a chess piece last night, and now it's gone. What shall we say?" Before she could finish her words, the hairpin suddenly came loose from her hair, brushed past Xiao Yu's nose, and then, with a clang, became lodged in the doorframe. "Besides, the children were just trying to wake you up. How could they be considered a troublemaker?"

Xiao Yu looked down at the mess of chicken feathers and lingering powder on the floor, rubbing his red, frozen toes when he suddenly realized his shoelaces were loose. He bent to tie them when the prince's golden-haired dog suddenly rushed in like an arrow, biting the laces of his newly made black court boots and sprinting off into the garden. Furious, he chased the dog out of the room, his shirt soaked with morning dew, still shouting, "Dahuang! Let go! Those are new gongsatin boots from the Imperial Household Department!"

At breakfast, the dining table was set with four exquisite side dishes and steaming buns. Xiao Yu had just picked up a vegetarian bun when Henkeng handed him a dish of black sauce, offering it like a treasure. His face was filled with anticipation: "Dad, try my homemade 'crab roe sauce'!" The sauce, a dark brown, looked vaguely similar to the crab roe sauce from the imperial kitchen, but it was actually a mixture he'd secretly made the previous night by mixing stinky tofu from the kitchen with spicy pepper noodles. Unsuspecting, Xiao Yu dipped his bun into the sauce and stuffed a chopstick full of it into his mouth. Instantly, the spiciness and rancidity exploded on his tongue, bringing tears to his eyes. The bun clattered to the table, startling Chuntao so much that she nearly spilled her rice porridge.

"Hahaha! Daddy's face is redder than the cockscombs in the backyard!" Wa Wa laughed, clapping his chubby hands. He held up half a steamed bun smeared with "crab roe sauce," with crumbs falling onto the brocade tablecloth. Shen Weiwan slowly stirred the bird's nest porridge in her bowl with a silver spoon, her eyes flickering with mischief. "If Your Highness really doesn't like it, why not give it to Da Huang? He was so worried about his food bowl yesterday."

Xiao Yu covered his mouth and rushed into the kitchen. He drank half a pot of cold tea to suppress the strange smell. When he returned to the dining room, he saw Shen Weiwan taking out a few strings of candied haws from the food box. He and Wawa rushed forward with cheers, but there was nothing in front of him. "Where's mine?" He looked at Shen Weiwan pitifully, with a subtle grievance in his tone. He held the candied haws high, the icing sparkling in the morning light: "Mom said that Dad folded her new painting "Autumn Chrysanthemum" into a paper airplane yesterday. He deserved it!"

All morning, Xiao Yu tried to salvage his dignity as the Seventh Prince. He retreated to his study to review memorials, but just as he sat down, he heard a soft snap and felt a sharp pain in his buttocks—Kengkeng had somehow hidden a cotton-wrapped bullet under the chair cushion. He rubbed his lower back and tried to relax in the garden, but Wawa grabbed a red silk rope and tugged it around his ankles, forcing him to sit under a sweet-scented osmanthus tree as a "steed." Chen Weiwan, with her easel set up, painted over his shambling form, muttering to herself, "Well, this 'Prisoner of the Dragon' painting must be hung prominently in the study."

"Chen Weiwan!" Xiao Yu tugged at his sleeves, which had been bruised by the red silk, veins throbbing on his forehead. "I am the seventh prince of Dasheng, your legally wedded husband! How could you allow your child to mistreat me like this?"

Chen Weiwan was drying freshly ground chili powder in a bamboo sieve. Upon hearing this, she turned around and smiled brightly, a hint of rouge on her nose. "Your Highness, do you remember feeding the smoked fish I'd been pickling for three days to the Persian cat next door yesterday?" She shook the sieve, sending chili powder into the air in a fine mist. "Besides, even Dahuang is more obedient than you. At least he won't sprinkle the itching powder tribute from the Western Regions into my snail milk."

At lunch, Xiao Yu looked at the vegetables and tofu in front of him, then at the greasy braised pork and sweet and sour fish in the bowls of Chen Weiwan and the children. He finally couldn't help but slam his chopsticks on the table: "Where's my meat?" Wa Wa immediately protected the piece of meat in his bowl tightly, frowning: "Mom said that Dad fed her favorite rose preserves to the crazy dog ​​in Minister Li's house yesterday, so there is no meat to eat!"

"She said she doesn't like sweet things!" Xiao Yu was so angry that he blew his beard and glared.

"Oh? Really?" Shen Weiwan raised an eyebrow, picked up the largest piece of braised pork with her serving chopsticks, and slowly placed it in her own bowl. "But I clearly saw yesterday that His Highness personally broke up the box of candied fruit and fed it to the mangy mastiff in Li Shangshu's house."

Xiao Yu was completely deflated, and could only bury his head in the vegetables in his bowl. Just then, Da Huang wandered in, a meat bone in his mouth, and squatted at his feet, wagging his tail. He looked at the fragrant meat bone in the dog food bowl, then glanced at the bland vegetables in his own bowl, and a sudden sour feeling welled up in his heart—in this prince's mansion, he was even worse than a dog.

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!