The emperor, utterly humiliated, flicked his sleeves and angrily shouted at the empress, "Don't falsely accuse me! I didn't say anything! It's getting dark, send someone to the Grand Tutor's residence to check on things and tell them to come back immediately!"
The Empress glanced at the sky. They should be having dinner by now, right? Thinking of Jiang Shan's cooking skills, the Empress said with some reluctance, "Your Majesty, since the children have already gone, let them have dinner before they come back!"
The emperor's face darkened, his eyes widened, and the empress immediately shut her mouth.
The young eunuch from the Eastern Palace quickly responded and ran off, crouching low.
After waiting for almost half an hour, the two imperial grandsons finally returned.
As soon as Li Yu entered the hall, she ran and shouted with laughter, "Father, Mother, Yu'er and brother brought back lots and lots of delicious food from Aunt Jiang's house to show our respect to you!"
Upon entering the hall, I saw that my grandfather and grandmother were also there.
He paused, then immediately stood up respectfully. After his brother arrived, the two of them greeted the elders together.
The two eunuchs following behind him, carrying food boxes, stood at the side, holding their breath and waiting for their young master's instructions.
Li Yu, oblivious to the tense atmosphere, waved to the young eunuch and said with a grin, "Grandfather, Grandmother, Yu'er and my brother went to the Grand Tutor's Mansion today. It was so much fun! There was also lots of delicious food. When Aunt Jiang saw us off, she said we could go again sometime and she would cook us some delicious food!"
Li Huan exchanged glances with his parents, then cleverly snatched the food box from the eunuch's hand, stepped forward, and said, "These are Western-style refreshments that your grandson brought for his grandfather and grandmother. They taste best when eaten hot."
The emperor remained silent with a sullen face.
The Empress glanced at the Emperor sideways, clapped her hands, and laughed, "Grandfather and Grandmother are waiting for you to come back for dinner. They must be hungry now. Come and eat with us!"
The Crown Princess quickly signaled to the palace servants to prepare the meal.
Li Huan glanced at her younger brother with some embarrassment, silently conveying something.
Li Yu licked her lips and blurted out, "My brother and I brought back the dinner that Aunt Jiang prepared for us from the Grand Tutor's mansion. Look, it's right there!"
Now it was the Queen's turn to be cornered.
Even dinner was packed up and brought back from the Grand Tutor's mansion. If word gets out...!
Seeing that things were getting out of hand, Li Huan quickly tried to smooth things over: "Grandmother, Aunt Jiang had originally prepared a sumptuous dinner for us, but then she heard that Grandfather and Grandmother were waiting for us to come back and have dinner together, so she said that we should come back and dine with our elders. Aunt Jiang also said that food is the most important thing for people, and grain is the most important thing in the world, so we should not waste food. Therefore, she told us to pack up our dinner and bring it back to eat. That would be the best thing we could do!"
Well said!
The crown prince secretly gave his son a thumbs up.
The empress's face lit up instantly, and even the emperor's expression softened.
The Crown Princess breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly instructed the palace servants to set the meal her son had brought back on the table, and then invited the Emperor and Empress to move to a side hall for their meal.
Seeing the table full of delicious-looking dishes, the emperor silently swallowed his saliva, swallowing back all the words of complaint he wanted to say.
It was truly a feast!
It was clear that Jiang Shan had put a lot of effort into entertaining his two grandsons. The dishes they brought back not only whetted the appetites of the children, but even made the old man, Jiang Shan, crave the food.
"Grandfather, this is charcoal-grilled steak. It's charred on the outside but tender and juicy on the inside. Please try it!" Li Huan considerately picked up a piece of steak for the emperor.
The emperor smiled, took a bite, and nodded approvingly.
Seeing this, Li Yu also picked up a piece of cheese-baked lobster and handed it to the emperor's bowl, saying crisply, "Grandfather, this is a fragrant and sweet lobster, Yu'er's favorite. You should try some too!"
It looked golden brown and crispy, and smelled very sweet. The emperor smiled and took a bite, and the smile lines at the corners of his eyes slowly spread.
Li Yu's eyes crinkled with a smile, the grandmother and grandson sharing the same expression of utter satisfaction.
Li Huan also ladled a bowl of sea urchin custard for the Empress, saying, "Grandmother, Aunt Jiang said that sea urchin custard is good for the stomach and nourishing, please eat more."
The Queen nodded happily.
After serving the two important elders, Li Huan looked up at his father, the Crown Prince, with a hint of guilt and helplessness in his eyes.
The agreement was that it would be brought back as a tribute to the King and the Queen, but something quite went wrong.
The Crown Princess smiled gently and placed a piece of cheese-baked trolley on each of the two children's plates, saying, "This is a token of your Aunt Jiang's affection. It's good to know how to respect your elders, but you must not forget Aunt Jiang's kindness to you."
Li Huan nodded and said solemnly, "Mother, rest assured, I have remembered."
The dishes prepared by the emperor for his two grandsons were indeed plentiful, including those favored by the Grand Tutor, Jiao's mother, and the head of the Fu family. Originally intended for the whole family, most of the dishes were now packed up and moved to the Eastern Palace.
Besides hot dishes, there were also cold dishes, snacks, and drinks. I packed some of everything and brought some back for the two little ones.
In the eyes of the Emperor and Empress, this was quite thorough!
The dishes on the table are suitable for all ages and cater to everyone's tastes, even more abundant and delicious than his personal meals.
Don't eat too much!
Not only were they full, but they also took some snacks with them when they left, saying they wanted to have them as a late-night snack.
Fortunately, they didn't hold the matter against the two children for visiting the Grand Tutor's mansion.
A very clever way to win people's hearts!
After seeing the Emperor and Empress off, Li Yu sat at the dining table with a melancholy expression, resting his chin on his hands, looking a little dejected.
Seeing this, the Crown Prince couldn't help but laugh and ask, "What's wrong? Such a big table of delicious food still hasn't filled you up?"
Li Yu frankly said, "I'm full, but it's not enough! Aunt Jiang said that some of it could be used for dinner, some could be saved for breakfast tomorrow, and the snacks and desserts could be used for afternoon tea tomorrow. The leftover snacks could be sealed and stored, and steamed again after a few days! But now... it's all gone!"
The crown prince laughed heartily, grabbed his youngest son, pinched his cheek, and couldn't stop laughing.
The Crown Princess suppressed a laugh and pulled Li Huan aside to whisper to him.
The family of four chatted intimately about their experiences at the Grand Tutor's mansion.
"Father, Huai'er is amazing! He's so strong, he can lift such a big rock and smash it into the ground to make a huge crater!"
"Huai'er can climb very, very tall trees, swinging on them like a monkey, then jumping down and rolling around on the ground without getting hurt at all!"
"Huai'er's little master made him a mechanical bird. He can take it all apart and put it back together in no time. He can also ride on the mechanical bird and fly. Whoosh, he flies from one side to the other. But he can't fly very far. Huai'er said that the material of the mechanism is not very good."
"Father, Huai'er has many beautiful picture books. He says his father has illustrated the stories his mother told him. They have all sorts of little people and animals in them. They're so beautiful!"
Li Yu's eyes lit up as she spoke, her envy written all over her face.
The prince's heart sank.
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