Unable to bear it any longer, Xiao Yu spurred his horse straight to the Cining Palace. The sound of his hooves startled the white doves lining the imperial road. The empress dowager was playing with her newly acquired talking parrot when she saw her son enter with his head drooping, his turban askew, and his cuffs stained with grass debris. She burst into laughter, the pearl necklaces on his phoenix robe rustling. "Oh! Isn't this our majestic Seventh Prince? Why does he look like a frost-bitten eggplant?"

Xiao Yu threw himself on the Queen Mother's knees and began to complain like a wronged child: "Mother! You have to stand up for me! Weiwei and the two little ones bully me every day in various ways. Even Dahuang dares to bite my shoelaces!" He poured out all the grievances he had suffered from early morning to noon. The more he spoke, the more sad he felt, and his eyes gradually turned red. "Yesterday, Wawa bit my shoulder, and today, Kengkeng spanked me with a slingshot. Just now, they used the spicy stinky tofu sauce on me so much that it made my tongue numb..."

The Queen Mother listened, patting his back and coughing with laughter. She handed him a piece of delicate osmanthus cake and said, "My silly son, who made you marry such a treacherous woman? Remember when I married your father, didn't he hide my phoenix hairpin in the incense burner, forcing me to search for it for three days?" She wiped the tears of laughter from her eyes with a handkerchief. "Besides, Weiwei and the children love you. Otherwise, why would they go to so many ways to make you happy?"

Xiao Yu bit into the osmanthus cake, still unconvinced: "But they tied me to a tree and used me as a target!"

"That's for your exercise!" The Queen Mother raised an eyebrow, her eyes drifting toward the window. "Remember when I asked your father to go to the Imperial Garden to pick osmanthus flowers? Didn't he fall down while climbing a tree and get so badly hurt that he didn't dare sit on the throne for half a month?"

As she was speaking, Shen Weiwan came in, holding a food box. He handed it to the Queen Mother like a treasure: "Grandma, we've brought you some delicious food!" The Queen Mother opened it and saw a few pieces of black, stinky tofu with a unique smell. She immediately smiled and said, "My darling grandson still loves me! He's a hundred times better than your father!" She pushed Xiao Yu's leftover osmanthus cake aside with disdain and greeted Shen Weiwan enthusiastically: "Wan'er, try it! I haven't had this in a long time!"

Xiao Yu looked at the Queen Mother who couldn't let go of the stinky tofu, and thought of the osmanthus cake that was just despised. He felt as if a ball of cotton was stuffed in his heart, making him feel suffocated - it turned out that in his biological mother's heart, he was not as good as a piece of stinky tofu.

On the way back, Xiao Yu felt increasingly frustrated as he rode his horse. Passing by the West Market, he saw an old man selling stinky tofu with a shoulder pole. The unique aroma drifted in on the wind, and he suddenly had an idea. He bought a large piece, wrapped it in oil paper, and put it in his pocket.

After returning to the Prince's Mansion, he went straight to Shen Weiwan's courtyard and saw her holding Wawa's hand and teaching her to draw. "Weiwei, look what good things I brought you!" Xiao Yu took out the oil-paper bag like he was presenting a treasure, with a flattering smile on his face.

Shen Weiwan and the children covered their noses at the same time. Kengkeng pinched his throat and shouted: "Dad! What are you using to stink us up?" Wawa hid behind Shen Weiwan, only showing his little head: "It stinks! It stinks worse than Dahuang's nest!"

Xiao Yu was stunned: "Don't you like to eat? I just saw mother eating with gusto..."

"Mom said that's for Dahuang to get rid of fleas!" Kengkeng yelled, fanning his nose deliberately. "Last time Dahuang rolled around in the toilet, Mom used this stuff to deodorize him!"

Wa Wa followed suit and said, "Dad stinks more than stinky tofu! He must have secretly gone to the toilet!"

Xiao Yu looked at the stinky tofu in his hand, then at the disgusted expressions of his wife and children, and finally faced reality - his position in this family was truly inferior to even a piece of stinky tofu. He walked dejectedly into the yard. Da Huang ran over, wagging his tail, sniffed the stinky tofu in his hand, suddenly snatched it away in one gulp, and ran to the corner to devour it.

"Oh my God!" Xiao Yu looked at the dog's back as it ate happily, and finally couldn't help but sighing to the sky, "I, Xiao Yu, am a prince, but how come I am not even as good as a dog at home!"

Shen Weiwan and the children heard the laughter and ran out of the house to see him standing in the yard with a dejected look on his face, laughing so hard that he fell backwards. Shen Weiwan walked over, reached out to help him straighten his crooked headscarf, and brushed her fingertips across his slightly cold earlobe: "Your Highness, don't be angry. Can't I make you your favorite braised pork tonight?"

Xiao Yu snorted, "I don't dare to count on it. I'm afraid some little bastard will secretly add stinky tofu again!"

Kengkeng and Wawa immediately rushed over, hugged his legs and acted like a spoiled child: "Dad, we were wrong! Can you buy us ten pieces of stinky tofu tomorrow to make amends?"

Xiao Yu looked at his wife and children, their laughter and playfulness before him. The morning light bathed them in a warm, golden hue. His previous grievances had long since vanished. He reached out and rubbed the children's heads, then looked at Shen Weiwan. Her eyes were filled with a smile, her lips curled into the familiar, "annoying" curve he knew so well. Suddenly, he felt that even if his status at home was lower than that of stinky tofu, just being able to see this scene every day would be the happiest thing in the world.

That night, Xiao Yu finally ate the braised pork he'd longed for. Halfway through, he noticed something strange about the taste. Looking down, he saw a few finely chopped pieces of stinky tofu at the bottom of the bowl. He looked helplessly at Shen Weiwan, only to see her winking at the children, their shoulders shaking from stifling laughter. He shook his head, picked up a meaty bone, and fed it to Da Huang at his feet. He then ate his meal with big mouthfuls. The taste, though a little strange, was strangely reassuring.

After dinner, Shen Weiwan pulled him into the study and pointed to the newly hung scroll on the wall with a smile: "Your Highness, look, this is the "Prisoner of the Dragon" I painted today. Does it look like you?"

Xiao Yu looked up and saw the painted "dragon" tied to a tree with red silk, a piece of lifelike stinky tofu stuck to its face. The dragon's eyes were filled with both aggrieved and doting, a stark reflection of himself today. He couldn't help but laugh, and as he put his arm around Shen Weiwan's waist, he whispered in her ear, "Even if I'm not as good as stinky tofu at home, it's yours alone, and no one else can take it away from you."

Shen Weiwan's cheeks flushed, and she punched him in anger: "Slippery tongue!"

Outside the window, the moonlight shone like water, and laughter echoed from the garden of the Prince's Mansion. Xiao Yu knew that within this family, his "family status" might never be higher than a piece of stinky tofu, and that he would always be "tricked." But he was willing to accept it. Because here he had the people he loved deeply, the warmth he longed for. Even if he was teased daily, it was the worldly pleasure that Xiao Yu desired most in his life.

From then on, the capital city had a new anecdote: the Seventh Prince's status within the Prince's Palace was even lower than a piece of stinky tofu. Whenever someone teased him about this, Xiao Yu would always laugh it off. After all, those who mocked him would never understand—when he was surrounded by his wife and children, listening to their unbridled laughter, the sweet feeling deep within his heart was far more satisfying than any prince's majesty. And these days filled with "pitfalls" and love were just beginning.