Shen Ying took the snacks out of the steamer, turned around and saw her son walking in with his head down and looking sad. She asked with a smile, "What happened?"
"Mother, let me do it. Don't burn your hands." Ming Jiyuan took the cloth from the maid, brought out the steamed snacks and put them on the tray: "My sister and the prince seem to have a good relationship."
"Good feelings are a good thing." Shen Ying picked up a piece of dessert and passed it to him: "How does it taste?"
"Not too sweet or greasy, the taste is just right." Ming Jiyuan's eyes lit up: "Mother, you haven't cooked for a long time, but your cooking skills are still so good."
He reached out his hand to take the snacks from the plate, but Shen Ying slapped him away: "Why are you in such a hurry? Take it out for your sister and brother-in-law to taste. Take out the other snacks in the pot as well."
Ming Jiyuan's eyes widened in disbelief: "Mother, I am your biological son."
Could it be that even the status of Prince Chen is not as high as his?
"If you are jealous, you can also find someone you like to marry and go back to her parents' home with her. Your parents-in-law will welcome you." Shen Ying walked around her son who was pretending to be pitiful and said without turning her head, "Hurry up and follow me with snacks."
Ming Jiyuan helplessly followed his mother with snacks in his hand. After all, a man without a wife is the person with the lowest status in the Ming family.
"Why don't you play cards anymore?" Shen Ying walked into the yard, put the snacks on the table, and said to Prince Chen and Jiuzhu who were sitting together: "Your Highness, Jiuzhu, come and try the snacks that have just been made."
The maid helped the two wash their hands. After the prince ate a piece of snack, he began to praise Shen Ying's cooking skills with a sincere tone and a genuine expression. Ming Jiyuan couldn't help but start to suspect that the chefs in the palace were all good-for-nothings who couldn't even make delicious snacks.
He picked up a piece and put it in his mouth. It tasted good, but it seemed... not that delicious?
Looking at his mother who was smiling happily because of Prince Chen's coaxing, he suddenly understood.
Married men are so hypocritical.
After his sister and brother-in-law left in a carriage, Ming Jiyuan stood at the door and said to Shen Ying, "Mother, what do you think of... Prince Chen?"
"Better than you anyway." Shen Ying turned her head to look at him: "You just took office at the Dali Temple these few days. If you have nothing to do, read more files."
You have to have one thing that you can show off between your career and your family.
A man without a wife must strive to succeed in his career.
"How come he's better than me..." Ming Jiyuan recalled that three years ago, his mother had said that Prince Chen's behavior was a little absurd. Why has everything changed now?
Ming Cunfu seemed to know what Ming Jiyuan was thinking. After the elders returned to their rooms, he whispered to him, "Do you feel that the attitude of the elders in your family towards His Royal Highness Prince Chen has suddenly become much better?"
"Yeah." Ming Jiyuan nodded: "Ever since I had Prince Chen as my son-in-law, my mother has been looking at me with a critical eye."
When he first returned to the capital, his mother was so gentle to him that she even wished she could serve him the tea herself.
How long has it been since then? Everything has changed.
"You don't understand this. The previous Prince of Chen was a prince, a prince. But the current Prince of Chen is one of us." Ming Cunfu peeled peanuts: "Family members and outsiders are two different things."
"What's more..." Ming Cunfu laughed: "The attitude of Prince Chen towards Jiuzhu has been seen by my uncle and aunt."
Among the princes, none cares more about the princess than Prince Chen.
"Auntie San is good to Prince Wang because she hopes Prince Wang and Jiuzhu will have a good relationship." Ming Cunfu shook his head and threw the peanut shells into the plate: "Brother San, you are still young and don't understand."
"How do you talk like that?" Ming Jiyuan gently kicked his calf: "You are disrespectful."
Ming Cunfu staggered after being kicked: "Third brother, be nice to me. I am just a weak scholar and cannot stand your kicking like this."
Ming Jiyuan threw his sleeves and snorted coldly: "I know what you mean."
He was silent for a while, then turned and walked back to his yard: "I know everything."
Halfway through the journey, he turned back and asked: "When you found Jiuzhu, was she really doing well?"
Ming Cunfu nodded: "Although the mountain is poor, her two masters treat her very well."
"That's good." Ming Jiyuan sighed. Perhaps he should have accepted the fact that his sister had married Prince Chen long ago.
In Zhangliu Palace, the eunuchs and palace maids cleaned the courtyard where Prince Chen had lived some time ago, and put all the items he had used in order. If they were not needed temporarily in Qilin Palace, they would all be sealed up in the private storehouse.
Things that have been used by the prince cannot be used by others.
"Cough, cough, cough." Prince An stood at the gate of the courtyard and coughed a few times because of the dust flying up from the inner courtyard: "Are you planning to re-turn the ground of the courtyard where Fifth Brother lived?"
A eunuch was walking by holding a scroll and accidentally fell. The scroll rolled to the ground and landed in front of Prince An, where it spread out.
"Wow, what a beautiful painting." Prince An bent down and picked up the painting, and could not help but praise it: "The mountains are locked in fog, the mountains are connected to the clouds, and there is a light boat on the misty river."
"There is no seal or poem on it." Prince Jing walked up to him and looked at the painting in his hand: "Could this be a painting by my fifth brother's wife?"
"Second brother, third brother, what are you looking at?" Prince Chen walked into the yard and saw the painting in Prince An's hand, his eyelids twitched slightly.
"Fifth brother, this painting fell off, I picked it up, I didn't mean to peek." Prince An was afraid that Prince Chen would misunderstand him for peeking, so he quickly explained: "Now it is returned to its original owner."
You haven't even got close to your fifth brother yet, so don't offend him first.
"It's okay." Prince Chen took the painting handed to him by Prince An and rolled it up.
"Fifth brother, this painting... is it a masterpiece of your sister-in-law?" Prince Jing praised: "As expected of a descendant of the Ming family, this painting has beautiful scenery and beautiful ideas. It can be called a rare masterpiece."
Prince Chen looked at him and nodded: "Yes."
Then he left with the painting.
"It's really my brother's wife's painting." Prince An looked at his fifth brother's back as he left and nudged Prince Jing's arm with his elbow. "What a pity that I didn't take the opportunity to take a closer look."
In his memory, he seldom saw his fifth brother interested in poetry, calligraphy and painting, so apart from his fifth brother's wife, the paintings of whom else were there, and even the seal was not used, were placed in the yard where his fifth brother lived.
"Yes." Prince Jing looked towards the gate of Zhangliu Palace: "What a pity."
"What a pity?" Prince Huai came out and saw his two younger brothers talking together. He said loudly, "Stop playing around with each other all day and think about how to leave the palace."
He felt unhappy living in such a small yard every day.
"Brother, the palace is pretty good." Prince An said with a clear conscience, "All expenses are saved from the palace, and I don't have to spend my own money."
Now they are still being fined by their father, and they will have to spend their own money to move out of the palace.
Wouldn't it be better to save some money and make jewelry for the princess?
"You're willing to stay here just to save money?"
"How can it be a small expense?" Prince An said, "How many people are there in the palace? Etiquette, banquets, utensils, food, etc., which one doesn't cost money?"
"It's so good now. I don't have to report to the six ministries, I don't have to worry about the expenses of the palace, I can ask the small kitchen to make whatever I want to eat, and I don't have to pay for it myself." The more Prince An talked, the better life he felt. He couldn't help but sighed: "If only my father could let me live like this for the rest of my life."
Prince Huai knew that his second brother had no ambition, but he never expected that he would be so unmotivated.
How could there be such a useless heretic among the royal children?
"Forget it, you should just sprinkle grains to catch sparrows." Prince Huai felt very regretful. He regretted that he had wasted his time talking to Prince An.
What does that little salary mean? The filial piety of the people below and the real power in your hands, which one is not better than saving on the salary?
"Thanks for the reminder, there will definitely be more sparrows in the spring."
Unexpectedly, a sarcastic remark was taken seriously by the second brother, and Prince Huai was almost vomiting blood out of anger.
"Brother, don't mind it." Prince Jing looked at Prince An's back as he ran away happily. "Second brother doesn't understand. Birds are easy to find food in spring and are not attracted by grains."
Prince Huai looked at him in confusion. What was going on?
None of these brothers are normal.
He turned and left, and ran into Yun Yanze who had just returned from outside. He snorted angrily and strode back to his own courtyard.
"Third brother, what's wrong with eldest brother?" Yun Yanze didn't seem to take it to heart that Prince Huai was angry at him for no reason. He turned his head and looked at Prince Jing with a smile.
"Just now, my fifth brother came over and took a painting. My eldest brother told us that he wanted to find a way to move out of the palace, but my second brother didn't want to, so there was some unpleasantness."
"Painting?" Yun Yanze asked casually, "What painting?"
"It's a beautiful painting with a beautiful landscape and clear water." Jing Wang said with a sigh: "It's a pity that my brushwork is limited and I can't imitate half of its charm."
"Third brother's painting skills have always been the best among us brothers. How can you underestimate yourself?"
"This painting was not made by my fifth brother, but by his wife." Prince Jing said with regret, "It's a pity that the Ming family's paintings are never passed on to others. Otherwise, I would rather spend a fortune to get a painting."
Yun Yanze sighed: "What a pity, my brother has no chance to appreciate it."
"If you don't mind, you can come to my yard and I'll give you a rough sketch." Jing Wang said, "Although my painting skills are not as good as that of my fifth brother's wife, I can imitate her painting style a little bit."
Copy...painting style?
Yun Yanze smiled faintly at Prince Jing: "Thank you, Third Brother."
"Your Highness, what did you take?" Jiuzhu saw Prince Chen coming out with a roll of something and looked at it curiously.
"I just drew these two random strokes when I was free." Prince Chen handed the scroll to Yang Yiduo: "The peach blossoms are about to bloom, I need to practice my hand so that I can paint with you."
Jiuzhu called Yang Yidu and said, "Manager Yang, bring the painting to me."
Yang Yidu bent down and presented the painting to Jiuzhu, directly omitting the King Chen's opinion.
Prince Chen looked nervously at the painting held in Jiu's hand. After seeing his painting, would Jiu find out that his previous compliments on her painting skills were all lies?
He is not afraid of anything else, but he is afraid that Ming Xiaozhu will be sad.
It doesn’t matter whether the painting is good or not. What matters is that Ming Xiaozhu enjoys painting.
"Your Highness's painting...is not bad." Jiuzhu examined the painting carefully: "It's just too realistic, lacking some artistic conception and interest."
Seeing that the King of Chen was silent, Jiuzhu thought he was sad, and quickly tried to make amends: "But the brushstrokes are very good, and they are better than my painting skills."
Prince Chen: “…”
Seeing the expression on Ming Xiaozhu's face that said, "Although you draw worse than me, I must say you draw better than me to please you," he walked to her side silently, put the painting away, raised his head and looked at her tenderly: "Painting is about the artistic conception. My painting is not good enough. You have to teach me more in the future."
"Okay." Jiuzhu patted his chest: "No problem."
Looking at Ming Xiaozhu who was smiling so happily and contentedly, Prince Chen took her into his arms with one hand to prevent her from seeing his expression.
For a man, the most important thing is to be able to bend and stretch.
To make your wife happy, it cannot be called bowing your head, and it certainly cannot be called lying, that is called... interest.
Sun Caiyao changed into new spring clothes and wanted to wear them to show His Highness. Just as she reached the door, she heard His Highness' voice coming from inside the house.
"Are you sure that the Taoist temple where Ming Jiuzhu is fostered is here?"
She slumped under her feet.
"Your Highness, it is indeed here."
"Who's outside?" Yun Yanze's tone suddenly became higher.
"Your Highness, it's me." Sun Caiyao lifted the curtain and walked into the room. She glanced at the eunuch standing in the room and said, "Your Highness, this eunuch looks a little unfamiliar."
"Your Highness, I am on duty in the palace." The eunuch in blue bowed.
"Oh." Sun Caiyao put down the snacks in her hand, and seemed not to care about the eunuch: "Your Highness, try the new spring flower cakes."
"Thank you for your hard work." Yun Yanze took a sip of tea and said to her, "Go and rest first. I will have dinner with you later."
"Okay." Sun Caiyao walked out of the house, looked down at the embroidery on the hem of her skirt, and smiled at herself.
His Highness would rather ask about Ming Jiuzhu's childhood residence than even look at her.
Her elaborate attire today seemed like a joke.
"Princess, someone from the Clothing Bureau wants to see you." Bai Shao walked up to her and whispered, "Do you want to see me?"
"Let's meet." Sun Caiyao walked in front, hiding the disappointment in her heart: "Bai Shao, you have served my mother for many years, have you ever seen His Highness get close to other women?"
Bai Shao shook her head: "No."
"Your Highness has been quite cold to me in recent days." Sun Caiyao smiled bitterly: "If you knew what kind of woman he liked, I would take her away for him. At least... I can win the favor of His Highness."
"Princess Consort, please don't think like that." Bai Shao advised, "Your Highness is not a womanizer. If you really take a concubine for Your Highness, it will hurt the relationship between you two."
Sun Caiyao felt even more bitter. When she saw the person from the Clothing Bureau and heard him say that the other spring clothes she had ordered would have to wait a while before being made, she frowned.
"That's not how you responded to me before."
"Please forgive me, but His Royal Highness Prince Chen has ordered several sets of spring clothes for Princess Chen, and the clothing bureau is really too busy to handle it."
Sun Caiyao really wanted to ask, since the Prince of Chen wanted clothes, did she have to postpone her request?
But in front of the manager of the clothing department, she just smiled politely and said, "Since it is your fifth brother who is custom-making clothes for your fifth brother's wife, it doesn't matter if I come a few days later."
"Thank you, Princess!"
The steward thanked him repeatedly.
Sun Caiyao looked down at the hem of her skirt. His Highness would not notice if she changed into new clothes, but Prince Chen took the initiative to customize new clothes for Ming Jiuzhu.
"Send this letter to the Taoist temple where Ming Jiuzhu is fostered." Yun Yanze handed the thick envelope to the eunuch in blue.
On the envelope, the sender's name was Ming Jiuzhu.
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