Chapter 241
06
"I heard that you have a poor appetite recently?" Cheng Zhao looked at his thin body and pointed chin, as if he had returned to the way the Fifth Prince was when he was just brought back from the royal temple.
Before, the Fifth Prince was so hungry because he didn’t have enough food to eat, but now it’s different. Different delicacies from land and sea are delivered to his palace every day, and if he doesn’t want to eat them, he can order dishes.
Cheng Zhao did not restrict the Fifth Prince from traveling. He could go out at any time if he wanted, and Cheng Zhao would send someone to protect him.
At the beginning, the Fifth Prince often went out to eat all kinds of delicious food. He would be reluctant to come back even when he was so full that he could not walk. Recently, he seldom goes out. He goes out not for food, but just to relax.
When the Fifth Prince heard him say that he had no appetite recently, he was furious. How could he have no appetite at all? He can now cook three big bowls of rice!
But the nanny told him that men like weak women, not just thin physically, but also soft in character.
He said softly, "It's not that I don't have an appetite. My appetite has always been this small."
Cheng Zhao: "...Do you think this is the first day I met you?"
The fifth prince: “…”
The Fifth Prince almost collapsed from embarrassment, but it was only after the nanny beside him kept winking at him that he managed to suppress his temper.
The fifth prince lowered his eyes and pretended to be lovable. "I have a big appetite because I went hungry when I was a child. I was afraid of hunger and I was afraid that I would not have the next meal after this one. That's why I eat so much. Now I know that Your Majesty will not let me live that kind of life again, so I will not torture myself and force myself to eat so much."
Cheng Zhao sensed something was wrong, but he couldn't guess the real reason.
He still felt that the Fifth Prince couldn't eat and was in a bad mood because of the academic pressure. He often cried secretly and yelled like crazy to vent his inner stress.
It doesn't matter, he has a way to help the fifth prince. He said to the people beside him: "Go and get the things I told you to do when I came here."
When the Fifth Prince heard him say this, he felt excited. Could it be that Cheng Zhao felt sorry for his lack of appetite recently and brought him some delicious food?
As expected, pretending to be weak was useful. Cheng Zhao was so distressed that he brought him food.
The emperor offered him food, so how could he not eat it? Even during the weight loss period, I cannot offend the emperor. The Fifth Prince was so excited that he was drooling. Not only did he no longer feel any pressure, he was also not afraid of the nanny stopping him from eating. He was so happy.
The things haven't been brought yet, so Cheng Zhao said to go to the study with him and wait.
The fifth prince was still wondering why he had to go to the study to eat? What should I do if the books in the study are soiled?
But as long as there is food, it's fine. He doesn't care about so many things. Maybe Cheng Zhao's hobby is to eat in the study.
He often told people that Cheng Zhao was diligent. He not only studied but also handled state affairs. He often even read a book in his hands while eating.
If that's the case, Cheng Zhao really has the habit of eating in the study.
The fifth prince convinced himself in his heart and happily followed Cheng Zhao into the study. Who would have thought that after entering the study, Cheng Zhao actually asked someone to bring a lot of books.
The fifth prince: “???” Where’s the food?
Cheng Zhao put the book on the table and said, "I know you have lost weight recently because of the pressure of studying. If there is anything you don't understand, you can ask me and I will help you with the lessons."
The Fifth Prince was struck by lightning when he heard this. What? He had to study when he was starving? This is too torturous!
He yelled in his heart that he didn't want to study, but when he saw Cheng Zhao's serious expression, he thought that Cheng Zhao, a top student, would not like a poor student like him, so he had to study hard to win Cheng Zhao's favor.
It is so difficult to win the favor of the emperor. What is written in those storybooks are all false. The concubines in the picture books compete for favor by relying on their beauty, singing, dancing, making snacks, or acting coquettishly. In any case, no picture book writes that the concubines win the emperor's favor through hard study.
But on second thought, Cheng Zhao is different from the emperors in those storybooks. Those emperors value beauty, but Cheng Zhao values academic performance. When facing an emperor who values beauty, Cheng Zhao can only use his beauty to win favor. When facing an emperor who values academic performance, Cheng Zhao can only study hard.
The Fifth Prince had no choice but to follow Cheng Zhao and study. After an afternoon of study, his head felt like it was about to explode. He was as tired as when he lived in the royal temple before, with no one to take care of him and he had to do the laundry, cooking, and cleaning the hall.
He was only sitting and studying, but he was so tired that he felt limp all over. When the Fifth Prince thought that he would not have enough to eat after finishing his studies, he felt even more hopeless.
Cheng Zhao was very strict, and within one month, he managed to improve the Fifth Prince's grades significantly. Although he was still not as good as the elites in the class, those elites were all geniuses, and the number of students in the class was still increasing. There were not only outstanding students from their previous school, but also geniuses selected from all over the country.
Every once in a while, he would assign tasks to schools in various regions, select talents through assessments, and require children or teenagers to come to the palace to take classes with him.
No matter whether you are a boy or a girl, as long as your academic performance meets the standards, you can come to school to study.
Thanks to Cheng Zhao's tutoring, the Fifth Prince's grades were no longer at the bottom, but he became thinner and thinner due to exhaustion and even fell ill.
This illness made him realize that being a queen is not easy, and gaining the emperor's favor is not easy either. If this continues, he would rather be an ordinary person than live like this anymore.
He heard that the security outside the palace had improved during the several times he went out of the palace, and that the second prince also took his mother out of the capital and went to the border, saying that he wanted to guard the border for the emperor.
As long as he didn't go to the border, he would not be afraid of being killed. Besides, he was old now and would soon be eighteen years old. He thought that if he saved some money, ran away from the palace, and found a place to live in hiding, he might be able to live a stable life.
He did not plan to work in a factory. The popular job nowadays is to work as a factory worker, but he had been bullied by his classmates. There were so many workers in the factory, and in his eyes it was almost the same as a school. He was afraid of being bullied by a group of people, so he might as well save enough money to buy a house, have enough food every day, and have snacks all the time.
Otherwise, if he stayed in the palace, he would eat without restraint and would get fat sooner or later. Cheng Zhao didn't like him and would choose someone he liked from that group of elites to be the queen. His life would only become more miserable. It would be better for him to leave early.
But he had no money and no one gave him money.
The fifth prince couldn't help but sigh. He was already sick and felt uncomfortable all over. The thought that he had no money made him feel even worse.
Cheng Zhao happened to come to see him at this time. Seeing that he looked sick and sighed, he sat beside the bed and touched his forehead. "Why are you so sick? What did the imperial physician say?"
The palace maid at the side repeated what the imperial physician had said. In summary, the Fifth Prince collapsed because he was overworked and ate too little.
Cheng Zhao thought that he had trouble eating and sleeping because of his grades. How come now that his grades have improved, his health has become worse?
He thought again of the Fifth Prince's life experience. He lost his mother when he was young, and later his father didn't love him anymore and sent him to a temple to suffer. Perhaps it was because of his painful childhood experiences that he suffered from mental illness. In the future, I will give him more care and let him forget his past experiences.
The Fifth Prince saw him staring at him for a long time without saying anything, so he turned over and said, "I am sick. Your Majesty will go back first, so as not to pass on the disease to you."
"I'm not as weak as you, so I'm not that easily infected by you." Cheng Zhao took the medicine bowl handed over by the imperial physician, "It's my fault too. I was so focused on your studies that I forgot to ask you to exercise. From now on, you have to run with us every morning."
"What? Running again?" The fifth prince almost fainted when he heard about running. Isn't it enough that he has to starve and study every day, he also has to exercise? Do you want him to live?
"Exercise more, and you won't get sick so easily." Cheng Zhao wanted to help him up and feed him medicine, but he turned over and faced away from him in a huff.
Normally, the Fifth Prince listened to him very much and had never had an argument with him. He was even a little afraid of him. But this time, he was sick and forgot to pretend, so he got angry with him.
"I don't think you regard me as your future queen at all. I am not as good as your classmates." The fifth prince said angrily. He didn't hear the voice behind him and added angrily, "I think Your Majesty has long forgotten that I am your future queen."
"How could I forget this? You are different from them." Cheng Zhao saw that he was unhappy and sick, so he patiently coaxed him a few words, "If you want anything, just ask, I will satisfy you."
"I..." The Fifth Prince swallowed his angry words. He originally wanted to say that he was not angry with him because he wanted something. He felt a little regretful after he lost his temper. He didn't know why he was like that. Others might lose their temper to achieve some purpose, but he just felt aggrieved. As for why he felt aggrieved, he still couldn't figure it out. He suspected that he was just hungry.
"Give me some money, some pocket money every month." The fifth prince asked tentatively.
"Is there anything you want? Just ask someone to buy it." Although Cheng Zhao had never given him money, he told the people around him that no matter what the Fifth Prince wanted, they could buy it for him, which was equivalent to giving him money.
"I just want money. When my father was still alive, my other brothers and sisters received monthly salary, but I didn't. I guess my father forgot..." The fifth prince couldn't help crying when he said this. He was not pretending to be pitiful, but he was really thinking about sad things.
Cheng Zhao thought of his childhood when his fathers would give him pocket money every month and teach him how to manage money. Without money, it would be inconvenient to do anything. "Okay, I promise you."
"Really?" When the fifth prince thought that he would have a way out in the future, his eyes became bright, as if his illness was almost cured.
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