Chapter 68 Lychees still can't shut you up!
“Candles…” The Emperor and Empress looked at each other in bewilderment.
It's understandable that they would find it strange. The Song Dynasty didn't even have the custom of celebrating birthdays with candles. But Fusu felt that a birthday wasn't complete without a cake, candles, and family members blowing them out together.
It's best not to mention his first life; everyone was tight-lipped about his origins. In his second life, he was an orphan born in a welfare institution, and all his concepts about birthdays came from movies and TV shows. His daily living expenses were half covered by sponsorships and half by scholarships; he didn't have the luxury of buying an extra cream cake, nor did he have any family members to blow out the candles with him.
Therefore, strictly speaking, today is the closest he could imagine his birthday to being.
Fusu raised his chubby face, his dark eyes shining with anticipation: "Father, Mother, is it alright?"
The Emperor and Empress Cao were completely charmed. Besides, on one's birthday, the birthday person naturally takes precedence. Even in this era, a single candle was quite expensive, barely qualifying as a luxury item, yet they immediately agreed. Before long, four red candles, each about the length of a baby's forearm, were brought in by the eunuchs.
"This..." Fusu was both amused and exasperated.
It was so big, the heat it emitted was extraordinary. If the candle were stuck into the sugar painting, it would probably melt the sugar painting itself. Fusu had no choice but to settle for second best. He lit the candle himself, poured out some of the melted wax, and used one candle for each corner, fixing them to the four sides of the sugar painting like four door gods.
Then, with a touch of ceremony, he drew the curtains in the small flower hall. The gauze curtains blocked out the sunlight, instantly darkening the surroundings and maximizing the atmosphere of the birthday banquet. Fusu immediately closed his eyes, clasped his hands together, made a wish in his heart, and, under the smiling gazes of Emperor Renzong and Empress Cao, blew a powerful blow—
The candle did not go out.
Fusu: "..."
Damn it, I underestimated them.
Emperor Renzong couldn't help but chuckle: "Pfft, cough cough cough."
Empress Cao also covered her mouth with her hand and glanced elsewhere.
Fusu glared at his gloating parents before puffing out his cheeks and using the maximum lung capacity of a four-year-old child to extinguish the candle with a hiss.
White smoke rose from the blackened candle wick. Fusu stared intently, a slow smile spreading across his face, as if a part of his heart had been filled. He looked around, finally understanding how he felt when the protagonist smiled in a movie or TV show back then.
He also has parents who can celebrate his birthday with him.
Suddenly, a pair of slender white hands waved in front of his eyes: "Have you looked enough? Didn't you just say you were hungry?"
Fusu snapped out of his reverie and rubbed his stomach. He was genuinely hungry; he'd slept until noon, and his last meal had been at the hour of Chou (1-3 AM) the previous day. But looking at the enormous sugar sculpture before him, Fusu hesitated, "Hmm... should I really eat it?"
He sculpted himself.
Eating it just feels a little strange.
Empress Cao was both amused and exasperated: "Who said you were supposed to eat that?"
She pointed to the dishes that were served after the sugar sculpture: "Is there anything here that you like?"
Fusu looked in the direction of the voice: "Crab-stuffed orange!"
Because of its cooling properties, the Empress always forbade him to eat too much crab-stuffed orange!
Upon closer inspection, aside from this dish, the entire table was filled with his favorite foods. There were not only dishes from the imperial kitchen, but also specialties from the Xiangguo Temple night market, such as braised duck and iced white rice balls. There were even his "invented" dishes: boiled cabbage in clear broth and fried rice with egg.
Throughout the meal, Fusu ate heartily, rarely even lifting his head. The Emperor and Empress sat on either side of the birthday boy, one propping their chin on their hand as they watched him eat, occasionally adding food to his bowl with jade chopsticks, the small peaks of food in the jade bowl never disappearing.
“…I can’t take it anymore.” When Fusu looked up again and found the bowl in front of him full once more, he put on a mask of pain.
"I can't finish it all, and I've already eaten much more than usual." He patted his bulging little belly: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, why aren't you eating?"
Don't just focus on me.
Empress Cao: "You've lost so much weight, you need to eat more."
Fusu poked her own little face, which was still soft and round: "I haven't lost weight, I've just grown taller."
"If you don't believe me, ask the Emperor. He felt very comfortable touching me before."
Empress Cao's gaze slowly shifted to the Emperor. The Emperor remained silent for a moment, then chose to support his son to avoid him becoming angry and humiliated, and perhaps even denying him the chance to touch his face in the future: "Being able to eat is certainly a blessing, but having surplus every year means that Su'er will have good fortune in the coming year."
Empress Cao, unwilling to give up, asked, "Su'er, are you full?"
Fusu nodded vigorously: "Mmm-hmm-hmm."
Empress Cao then let him go and ordered a maid to serve tea. After rinsing his mouth with hot tea, Fusu said, "I want to share some of the remaining dishes with my classmates, and oh yes, with the servants in the palace, so they can also share in my joy."
While sharing in the festive atmosphere was one thing, it was also heartbreaking that he only ate less than a fifth of the huge feast, wasting the rest. Fusu couldn't bear to see this!
The official smiled and said, "Classmate? Is it that young Su?"
“Yes,” Fusu said. “He’s quite the old, uh, glutton. And his ability to invent delicacies is no less than mine.”
"Oh? Is that so?" the Emperor said. "I will definitely try it another day when I have the chance."
Fusu nodded repeatedly: "Another day, another day."
However, it's hard to say when the "another day" will be. Firstly, the inventor of Dongpo pork and Dongpo elbow was the future Su Shi, not this person. Secondly, if the emperor were to appear at the Imperial Academy, wouldn't his plan to take the exam be exposed?
Before the actual results were revealed, Fusu did not intend to let Emperor Renzong know. What if it wasn't too embarrassing? He also had his own concerns.
After eating and drinking to their hearts' content, Fusu chatted with the Emperor and Empress for a while, mostly talking about his life at the Imperial Academy. "The doctors are all eager to take me as their disciple, and my senior brothers, Fan and the others, are also taking good care of me. I'm very happy and have adapted well. You two can rest assured about yourselves in the palace."
He coaxed the two women until their expressions relaxed and they felt relieved before leaving Kunning Palace and going directly to Miaowu's residence. Unexpectedly, Miaowu was not there. Upon asking, he learned that she had gone to visit Consort Miao. Fusu waited for a while before Miaowu returned.
"Oh, Su'er, what are you doing here?" She was surprised to see Fusu. "I thought you were in Kunning Palace and didn't have time to come see me, so I went to visit Consort Fusu."
"How is the young lady's health?"
Miaowu gestured with his hand in front of him: "The concubine's belly is this big. The imperial physician said she is about to give birth. Soon there will be more than just the two of us in the palace. A new sister-in-law will come to keep me company."
Fusu: "Alright, alright, alright."
Once upon a time, the child in Consort Miao's womb was seen by him as his hope for escaping his constraints. He hoped day and night that the Emperor would like the child more than he liked him, so that he could be freed from the position of Crown Prince.
Looking back after the Fengxian Hall incident, he was far too selfish. Just because he didn't want to be the crown prince, did he intend to shift all the blame onto the unborn child? Didn't he consider what if the child didn't want to be the crown prince either?
As for now, his only wish is that Miao Cai Ren and her child are safe and sound. And as Miao Wu said, he just wants to spend more time with her so she won't be too lonely.
Miaowu first acted haughtily, then asked hesitantly, "Su'er, will you be spending the night in the palace tonight? Can I have dinner here?"
Fusu sighed, "I have to go back to prison tonight. The teacher only granted me one day's leave."
"ah……"
Miaowu was extremely disappointed: "Alright then."
She muttered a couple of things, probably complaining about her husband's strictness. Fusu didn't hear her clearly. After a while, she ordered the maids to bring over a very exquisite fruit platter and pushed it in front of Fusu: "This was originally meant for you tonight. Eat whatever you like now. As for the birthday gift, I haven't prepared it yet. I'll give it to you after everything is finished."
Fusu saw something he had never seen before in the fruit plate: "Huh? What's this?"
It looks a bit like dried plum? But it's a whole size smaller than a plum.
“It’s dried lychees.” Miaowu thought Fusu was interested, so he grabbed a handful and stuffed it into Fusu’s hand: “This stuff was transported from Lingnan. It is said that the previous dynasty wasted a lot of money and resources on it, so the emperor only allowed it to be dried before it was offered as tribute. It’s not easy to get. There are only a dozen or so catties in the palace. I got a catty. If you like it, you can take it all. You can also ask the emperor and empress for some. They definitely have plenty.”
“Hey, it’s not that I like it…” Fu Su’s little hands were suddenly stuffed with his, and he had to cover his hands to prevent them from slipping: “I’m just curious why it’s this color.”
"Hmm? Is something wrong?"
Fusu shook his head: the flesh of a lychee is translucent and white, but dried lychees are red. They look very similar to dried plums, so it's no wonder he didn't recognize them.
One bite, and it's so sweet. It's just as good as fresh lychee.
Suddenly, something occurred to him, and an idea struck him: "Sister, could I bring some to share with my classmates?"
Fearing that Miaowu would be unhappy, he made a gesture: "Just a little, a few will be enough."
Miaowu, of course, had no objections and even ordered the maids to distribute several other kinds of dried fruit—all rare finds that couldn't be bought in the market—and put them into several clean bags.
So much so that when Fusu left the palace, the dishes from the birthday banquet were packed into several food boxes, and the dried fruit into several more, making it seem as if he had been begging for alms or returning from a market. Fortunately, no one saw it, otherwise it would have certainly attracted attention and ridicule.
Upon returning to the Imperial Academy, he immediately began manually cooling the food by placing it in ice. Fortunately, he had chosen vegetables that kept well—the less durable ones were all given to the palace servants—and even after a night, they still looked quite good and hadn't spoiled. He then took the food box to the dining hall to prepare a special meal for his fellow students.
"Wow," Zeng Gong said, "Today's feast is quite sumptuous; we've certainly benefited from your good fortune."
"Yes, yes." Li Guanlan unceremoniously picked up a crispy fried yellow croaker. It was soaked in oil, even the bones were charred, and one bite filled his mouth with crispiness and fragrance: "Your birthday banquet was too luxurious."
Su Shi retorted sarcastically, "You all know what kind of family Zhao Xiaolang comes from."
Fusu: "..."
Just tell me, did you do this on purpose?
“Hey,” Fan Chunren suddenly spoke up, “I’ve heard something. I heard that His Highness Prince Cheng couldn’t bear to see the palace servants starving and poor, so he distributed food to them. He’s just like the Emperor, so kind and generous. They are truly father and son.”
"Yes, fearing that the palace servants would be punished, he willingly endured his thirst. His Majesty's benevolence is comparable to that of Yao and Shun among all the ancient monarchs."
The Song Dynasty was known for its tolerant and open-minded atmosphere, and scholars discussing the virtues of the monarch was not a taboo subject. Moreover, figures like Fan Chunren were praising, not mocking, so the conversation was naturally even more unrestrained.
But the moment Fusu heard the words "Your Highness Prince Cheng," his heart skipped a beat, fearing he had been exposed. Fortunately, Fan Chunren, the source of the information, was unaware that Prince Cheng was also serving food from the birthday banquet; otherwise, given the age and the occasion, and the fact that everyone present wasn't a fool, he would have been exposed.
As a result, something even more embarrassing than being exposed happened. They unknowingly showered him with praise right in front of him. Hearing those repeated compliments, Fusu felt as if he'd been electrocuted, his whole body going numb, goosebumps rising on his skin.
Su Shi mischievously raised an eyebrow: "Oh? Really? His Highness Prince Cheng is so good? I don't know much about this. Senior Brother Fan, tell me about it."
Fusu: "...!"
His brow twitched, and he pulled a dried fruit from his sleeve, saying menacingly, "Here, have some!"
I refuse to believe it! Lychees can't shut you up!
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