The chefs at Yuqing Palace are known for their skill from the moment they start cooking.
A half-grown boy can eat his father out of house and home. Yinzhen was at that age, and he could eat several bowls of rice without gaining weight on his face.
Now, Tana and Hongzhao have lunch and dinner with Tong Wanyan, so their little chairs are placed in front of the table.
They ate large amounts of meat and fish, as well as exquisite seasonal vegetables, while the two younger ones could only eat steamed egg custard and rice porridge.
The two contrasted sharply, making the little guy look particularly pitiful.
"Fourth Uncle, is this delicious?" Tana looked longingly at the chicken leg meat in Yinzhen's bowl.
Yinzhen swallowed hard and said, "It's not tasty. The rice porridge that Tana eats is the best."
Tana asked distrustfully, "Then let me taste it, okay, Fourth Uncle?"
She looked at me with her big, blinking eyes, full of expectation and trust.
Yinzhen softened: "Second Sister-in-law, what do you think?"
Tong Wanyan smiled gently at Tana: "Tana, if you don't like rice cereal, your mother will have your wet nurse feed you, okay?"
"Mother, Tana wants to eat the same things as you all," Tana pouted and said coquettishly.
"Are you as tall as your mother?" Tong Wanyan asked.
Tana shook her head: "Mother is so tall, Tana is still too young."
"So, does Tana still want to eat?" Tong Wanyan asked gently, gradually.
Tana obediently hugged her little bowl: "I want to eat, but I don't want to eat anymore."
She obediently buried her head in her food and stopped looking around.
When she took a bite of rice porridge, she sniffed hard, smelling the aroma of braised meat.
Tong Wanyan was amused by her cute appearance, but she didn't indulge her.
The chubby boys are still young and have weak stomachs; they can't even tolerate dipping their chopsticks in any of this greasy food.
"Second Sister-in-law, I heard from Father that your new parrot is very clever, even better at mimicking speech than ordinary mynah birds," Yinzhen asked after he had finished eating.
Ulanara Fanghui added, "Not only that, I heard she's also very beautiful. Her feathers are bright and she's unlike any other bird."
"She's smart, and she's certainly beautiful. However, she has a bad temper, she likes to take advantage of people based on their social status, and she bullies the weak and fears the strong," Yinreng said with considerable resentment.
Clearly, he was the one who was easily manipulated and targeted.
Yinzhen asked with interest, "Second Brother, could you have someone bring it up for us to see?"
“The black bird doesn’t like to go into birdcages; it just likes to fly around all day. I reckon it’s looking at the flowers in the yard right now. Shall we go and take a look?” Tong Wanyan is the black bird’s owner and knows it best.
"Birds, let's go see the birds!" Tana clapped her hands with delight.
Yinreng raised an eyebrow, stepped forward and hugged her. Seeing Yinzhen looking at her expectantly, he handed her over to Yinzhen and then went to hug Hongzhao.
"Come on, I'll show you what a real scoundrel among parrots looks like," Yinreng said, his words laced with genuine sarcasm.
Tong Wanyan guessed correctly. The black bird was standing on a flower branch, pecking at the beautiful flowers, staining its beak a pale yellow color.
The flower wasn't a rare or precious variety; if it was ruined, so be it.
"Black Bird." Tong Wanyan called out to it as soon as she entered the courtyard, so as not to frighten it by appearing suddenly.
This bird looks grumpy and fierce, but it's actually very timid.
Upon hearing Tong Wanyan's voice, the black bird immediately stopped its actions of harming the flowers and happily flapped its wings as it flew over.
"Have you washed your claws clean? Don't forget to land on Xiao Yan's shoulder." Yinreng looked at the black bird's beak with disdain.
This silly bird is lucky it's good-looking, otherwise it would have been plucked and roasted long ago.
The black bird flew angrily to Yinreng's shoulder and landed there, stomping on his shoulder with its claws before gently landing on Tong Wanyan's shoulder.
"My beauty, I've missed you so much." The black bird's voice was sweet and coquettish, as if it were a little shy.
Yinzhen and Ulanara Fanghui were amazed: "Father is right, this parrot is indeed intelligent, and its tail feathers are gorgeous, a rare sight."
The black bird proudly raised its head, and the little yellow feathers on its head rippled in the wind.
"You have good taste; the bird likes you," the black bird said happily.
It loves it when people praise it for being smart and beautiful. A beautiful woman and a beautiful bird are a match made in heaven.
"Oh dear, Fatty's here too. Let me pick some flowers for you." The black bird flew to Yinzhen's side and then saw Tana and Hongzhao.
Hongzhao showed little interest in it, while Tana, on the contrary, liked it very much.
Aside from Yinreng, Xuan Niao was the one Tong Wanyan liked.
Despite its delicate and beautiful appearance, unlike the fierce eagle, its beak and claws are actually quite sharp.
In no time, it pecked a small pink flower, picked it up, and tossed it onto Tana's head.
Ulanara Fanghui helped Tana take the flowers down and handed them to Tong Wanyan: "These flowers..."
"Fourth sister-in-law is very thoughtful. Don't worry, just let Tana play with the flowers. The black bird knows its limits; these flowers aren't poisonous. Even if she eats them, at most she'll just taste a bitter taste on her tongue," Tong Wanyan said.
Yinzhen then explained to his young wife, "When Tana was little, she loved to crawl around. Sometimes she would crawl into flowerbeds without thorns, grab flowers, and put them in her mouth. After my second brother and sister-in-law saw this once, they asked the gardener to plant some edible and non-toxic flowers."
Ulanara Fanghui blushed again without realizing it.
"Second Sister-in-law, I was overthinking it," Ulanara Fanghui said shyly.
She was still a little cautious, afraid that Tong Wanyan would misunderstand her.
Tong Wanyan smiled brightly, a smile that warmed her heart: "I am so grateful for your concern for Tana and Hongzhao, Fourth Sister-in-law. It is a blessing for them that you think of them so much. As for me, I can't wait to see your child, but unfortunately I have to wait a few more years."
Ulanara Fanghui unconsciously moved closer to Tong Wanyan, while Yinzhen held his eldest niece, completely unconcerned.
Yinreng felt a pang of sadness; was his darling going to be stolen away by the fourth prince's wife?
The black bird, oblivious to the ulterior motives of humans, somehow also put a flower on its own head.
The flower pressed down its tuft of yellow hairs that had sticked up, making it look pretty but silly.
"Beauty, chubby boy, isn't the bird beautiful?" The black bird spread its wings and flew in a circle in front of them.
Tong Wanyan took the birdcage that Su Jixiang handed over. The black bird tilted its head, the flower fell to the ground, and it flew into the birdcage.
"The bird knows, the bird won't bother you. Fatty, the bird will sleep with you." The black bird tilted its head, its belly sticking out, and fell asleep sprawled out.
Yinzhen was dumbfounded by its series of actions.
He couldn't help but ask, "Second Sister-in-law, is it still possible to find birds like this?"
The young princess was bored alone in the prince's quarters, so she was encouraged to visit her sister-in-law more often, though she felt embarrassed to keep bothering her. As for the concubines in his harem, wouldn't having them in front of her just cause her trouble?
After much deliberation, Yinzhen decided to find a pet for his youngest wife to keep her company.
Laifu is getting old, and he can't bear to part with him. Finding a lively bird to keep him company would seem like a good idea.
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