After the incident of Cheng'an turning into a little golden dragon and secretly going to court with Kangxi that day, the little guy was very well-behaved for two days.
It was not until the Empress Dowager heard from somewhere that Kangxi had beaten him that she called the little guy over without even asking the reason and hugged him, expressing her heartache.
"My father beat me because I did something wrong." The little guy leaned in her arms and said.
"You can't fight that either."
The Queen Mother thought that he was so well behaved, how could he have done anything wrong? Even if there was something wrong, it was not a big deal and could be dealt with by just saying a few words. Why would he resort to violence?
Although Concubine Mu sat nearby and said nothing, she agreed with the Queen Mother's words in her heart.
"Your father is so cruel!" The Queen Mother touched his soft little face and taught him with a distressed look, "Next time your father hits you, run away. Run to Mama's side. Remember?"
"I remember." The little guy nodded.
"Look at your little face, it's so thin. Is there anything you want to eat? Mama will ask someone to make it for you."
When the Empress Dowager saw how well-behaved he was, she felt that Kangxi was so cruel that he actually hit him.
When Cheng An heard her words, he couldn't help but touch his little face. He felt that he still had a lot of flesh on his face. He didn't understand why Mama said he had lost weight.
But when he heard that he could eat whatever he wanted, the little guy didn't bother to think about it and just raised his hand and said, "Can I have cuckoo chicken? Just one chicken leg will do~"
"Eat. Mama will have someone make it for you right away." The Queen Mother thought that since he had been beaten, there was nothing he couldn't eat. After giving the order, she asked again, "What else do you want to eat?"
"I want to eat peach cakes and candied haws."
The Queen Mother agreed immediately. While waiting for the food to be prepared, she suddenly asked, "Why did your Royal Father hit you?"
"Because I was naughty and went to court with him secretly." The little guy said, shaking his feet when he thought about eating so many delicious foods.
The Queen Mother was a little surprised to hear this answer, but she said, "So many people didn't notice you following them, so how can I blame you?"
Concubine Mu nodded in agreement.
It feels good to be favored by others, but the little guy still told the truth: "I didn't follow like this, Mama, you see, I turned into a dragon and hid on Ama and followed him."
As soon as he said that, he turned into a little golden dragon.
As for the fact that the little guy could turn into a dragon, Kangxi was afraid of alarming the empress dowager at first so he kept the news secret. However, the empress dowager had heard about it a long time ago but had never seen it.
Seeing that he changed so suddenly, the Queen Mother was definitely a little surprised, but because he warned her before he changed, the Queen Mother was not scared.
"It really is a dragon." The Queen Mother looked at the little golden dragon that flew to her hand and couldn't help but laugh after taking a closer look. "It's so small, no wonder your father didn't notice it."
The little fellow thought about how he quietly landed on his father when he set out from the Palace of Heavenly Purity that day, and he couldn't help but let out a dragon roar with a hint of pride.
The Queen Mother never thought that she would be able to see a real dragon at such an old age, and that the real dragon was her little grandson. The more she looked at it, the more she liked it.
On the way back from the Summer Resort, Mu Bin saw the little guy who turned into a dragon, but she had only seen him in the sky. This was the first time she saw him so small.
The Queen Mother noticed her gaze and motioned for her to sit forward.
As soon as Concubine Mu sat down after thanking the emperor, the little guy immediately flew into her mother's hands, making her laugh.
When the food that the little guy had ordered was served, the queen mother was initially worried that he wouldn't be able to finish it. But when she found that his appetite was better than when he was in human form, she directly fed him the whole cuckoo chicken.
The little guy was actually a little hesitant when he finished eating two cuckoo chicken legs. After all, Kangxi would not normally let him eat so much cuckoo chicken at once, especially since it was not yet meal time.
However, when faced with the cuckoo chicken being fed directly to his mouth, he still couldn't refuse.
Ama wouldn't know, right?
The little guy comforted himself in his heart, but he still honestly started eating with big mouthfuls.
The Queen Mother was happier to see him eating so happily than if she were eating herself, and even ordered someone to serve him another plate of pine nut milk cake.
After the little guy had his fill, he played with the Queen Mother and his mother for a while and only left Ningshou Palace when the sun was about to set.
Palace of Heavenly Purity.
It had been a while since Kangxi returned, and he was sitting in the main hall, reading a book and waiting.
Outside the palace.
The little guy was reminiscing about the whole cuckoo chicken he had eaten before. He was jumping and skipping as he walked, and even reciting poetry.
"Walnuts wrapped in sweet-scented osmanthus filling, glutinous rice as big as pearls washed in well water. I heard that Ma's rice flour is good, so I sell Yuanxiao in the wind during the lantern test~"
When he entered the palace, Kangxi heard the last line, "Selling Yuanxiao in the wind during the lantern test," and looked up from his book and asked, "Want to eat Yuanxiao?"
The little guy didn't hear the emotions hidden in his seemingly calm tone. He ran up to him and nodded expectantly.
"Haven't you eaten enough this afternoon?" Seeing that he dared to nod, Kangxi poked his forehead heavily with his finger.
"Ama, what are you talking about?"
Seeing that he still dared to play dumb, Kangxi put down the book in his hand and asked, "Is the gourd chicken delicious?"
"tasty!"
The little guy answered quickly and immediately took a few steps back, thinking of what his mama had taught him before, and hesitated whether to run now.
"Who told you to eat so much gourd chicken?"
"My grandma asked me to eat it." Maybe because the little guy felt that his grandma didn't seem as angry as last time, he didn't run away in the end.
Kangxi said unhappily, "Then you won't refuse?"
"I can't speak after I turned into a dragon." The little guy raised his hands and waved them, "I am like this, but Mama still wanted to feed me, so I... I ate it..."
Kangxi thought about his size when he turned into a dragon, and thought it would be strange for the Empress Dowager to see that he was rejecting him just by waving his little dragon claws twice.
The meal had already been eaten, and there was no way Kangxi would beat him for such a small matter. In the end, he only punished him by not allowing him to eat gourd chicken for half a month.
When Cheng'an heard the punishment, he couldn't help but frown, but when he thought that he could eat more at Mama's, he felt that it was not a big deal.
"If you go to the Empress Dowager to eat gourd chicken again, I will order the imperial kitchen to never make gourd chicken again." Kangxi saw through his little thoughts and spoke.
The little guy asked curiously, "Does the imperial kitchen listen to my father or my mother?"
"You will know if you try it." Kangxi said lightly.
The little guy felt that his father was a little unhappy, so he quickly shook his head and said, "I won't try. I'll listen to my father."
"How have you been obedient?" Kangxi almost laughed out of anger.
"Dad, don't be angry. I will definitely not eat so much cuckoo chicken next time." The little guy came forward and lay on his legs and said softly.
Kangxi lowered his eyes and looked at him: "Even if you want to eat, there is nothing."
"It was Mama who said I was thin and asked me to eat more." He held his face with his hands and asked, "Ama, have I lost weight?"
Kangxi reached out his hand and casually pinched a handful of soft flesh on his face, and instead of answering, he asked, "What do you think?"
"I think it's because I ate a lot of cuckoo chicken this afternoon, so my fat has grown back~"
"Are you a dragon or a pig? Even pigs don't grow that fast." Kangxi said, feeling both amused and helpless.
The little guy puffed up his cheeks and said, "I'm not a pig!"
"I think you are more greedy than a pig." Kangxi said, scratching his nose.
"I am the little pig and my father is the big pig~"
Cheng'an had seen pigs when he went out of the palace to play before, and after saying this, he raised his hand to prop up his little nose and imitated it.
"How dare you!" Kangxi didn't expect him to say that. He scolded him with a stern face, but when he looked at his pig-nosed face, he felt angry and amused.
The little guy was no longer annoyed that he called himself a pig, and he deliberately shook his head in front of him with his pig nose.
"I think you want to be beaten!"
After Kangxi finished speaking, he raised his hand as if to hit him, but the little guy turned and ran away.
"Ama, I was wrong~"
The little guy ran out, leaving only a few words of apology.
"He's getting more and more disobedient as he grows older." Kangxi naturally wouldn't chase him. He looked at his back and shook his head slightly.
In the following days, Kangxi kept his word, and the little guy never got to eat gourd chicken, let alone smell the taste of gourd chicken.
He could still bear it for a day or two, but after eight or nine days the little guy was really greedy.
So on the tenth day when there was no gourd chicken to eat, the little guy went to the imperial kitchen.
When the head steward of the imperial kitchen learned that the young ancestor was coming, he hurried out to greet him in person.
Little Master Cheng'an usually put his hands behind his back, but he had a bit of the aura he learned from Kangxi, and he said, "Make me a cuckoo chicken."
"This... His Majesty has ordered that we cannot make gourd chicken for the young prince without his permission. I hope the young prince will forgive me." The steward of the imperial kitchen said with an apologetic smile.
The little guy puffed his cheeks slightly in displeasure, and his smart eyes turned quickly: "I want to eat Cuckoo Chicken, what does it have to do with Hulu Chicken!"
The steward of the imperial kitchen remembered that the cuckoo chicken he mentioned seemed to be gourd chicken, and he immediately became confused.
Speaking of which, the first time someone sent a message to the imperial kitchen to prepare cuckoo chicken, the imperial chefs in the kitchen were almost stumped. Later, they sent someone to inquire and found out that cuckoo chicken actually refers to gourd chicken.
"May I ask, little prince, what is cuckoo chicken?" asked the steward of the imperial kitchen.
“It looks golden, smells delicious, and tastes crispy and tender~”
As the little guy was talking, he swallowed unconsciously.
Isn’t this still gourd chicken?
The people in the imperial kitchen were a little amused and helpless after hearing his description. They thought that they couldn't just cook it for him if he called it a different name. They could only bow their hands and beg him not to make things difficult for them.
Seeing that he was really in a difficult situation, Cheng An gave up in disappointment and said, "Forget it then..."
The steward of the imperial kitchen thought that since he came in person, he must have to eat the gourd chicken, and was wondering what to do if he made a fuss. He didn't expect that he would give up after he refused twice.
Seeing his disappointed back as he left, the head steward of the imperial kitchen felt a little embarrassed and thought that if the emperor had not disapproved, he would have cooked ten gourd chickens for him, not just one.
"Little brother, there is some freshly made lotus root powder and osmanthus sugar cake in the imperial kitchen. Would you like to try it?"
After the little guy walked a few steps listlessly, he heard him say that there was lotus root powder and osmanthus sugar cake. Thinking that it would be nice to have some cakes without cuckoo chicken, he turned around and said that he wanted to eat it.
When the steward of the imperial kitchen saw him nod, he went to bring him some snacks personally.
The cooking skills of the imperial chef were impeccable. The little fellow was very happy eating. After finishing the meal, he asked someone to put a plate for him to take back for his father.
Kangxi was handling government affairs in the Imperial Study at the time. He took the time to ask and learned that the little guy had actually run to the Imperial Kitchen. When he was thinking about saying a few words to him when he returned at noon, he did not expect that he had come to him first.
"Dad, look what delicious food I brought you~" the little guy walked in carrying a food box and said.
Kangxi followed up his question and saw him running over excitedly, opening the food box in his hand, taking out the lotus root powder and osmanthus sugar cake inside and holding it up.
"This is delicious, eat it while it's hot, Ama!"
The little guy said and put the pastry in front of him.
"You went to the imperial kitchen to get some cakes?" Kangxi met his sparkling eyes, washed his hands in the basin of water that Liang Jiugong brought over, and picked up a piece of cake.
"I wanted to see if there was any cuckoo chicken in the imperial kitchen, but there wasn't any. However, there were some delicious pastries, so I brought them to Ama."
"You are honest." After hearing his truthful confession, Kangxi took a piece of cake from the plate and rewarded him.
The little guy took it and squeezed in next to him and sat down. While eating, he asked, "Ah, is this delicious?"
"Not bad." After saying this, Kangxi looked at Liang Jiugong and signaled him to show the reward to the imperial kitchen.
The days passed as the little guy ate and drank. As the weather grew colder, good news came from Ganzhou.
The most troublesome part in attacking Junggar was the transportation of military supplies. With the help of the other princes in the rear, this problem was solved. With the help of Dai Zi, a firearms expert, who provided newly developed gunpowder and artillery, it was only a matter of time for Yinzhen and Yinzhi to conquer Junggar.
Perhaps they didn't want to delay until the next year, and they wanted to come back to celebrate the New Year with the little one, so the two of them launched a final attack before the snow fell, and finally broke through and captured Junggar.
When Kangxi received the good news, he was immediately delighted.
When the little guy heard the news, he was even happier than him. Not only did he jump up, he also kept praising his brother for being so awesome.
"Father, are Brother Nanda and Brother Fourteen coming back soon?"
Kangxi looked at the little guy lying on his knees with an expectant look on his face, rubbed his face in a good mood and said, "Speak properly."
"Where didn't I speak nicely?" the little guy asked puzzledly.
Kangxi thought that he was going to study in the Shangshufang soon, so he corrected him: "It's big, not big."
"Got it. Then, will Da...Big Brother and Fourteenth Brother be back soon?" The little guy looked very well-behaved on the surface, but in his heart he couldn't help but call out "Da Brother" several times in a row.
Kangxi nodded and said, "If everything goes well, I should be able to come back before the New Year."
"Very good!"
Knowing that his brother was coming back, the little guy was a little too excited. Not only did he run around the hall on his little wooden horse, but he also shouted from time to time: "Big brother and fourteenth brother are coming back——"
Thanks to him, everyone in the Qianqing Palace knew the news a moment later.
Kangxi was so annoyed by his noise that he simply got up and went to the imperial study to deal with memorials.
On the day of Laba, when the little guy was thinking about calling his brothers to come to the palace to drink Laba porridge, Yinzhi and Yinzhen rushed back exhausted.
"Big brother! Fourteenth brother!"
When Cheng'an saw his two brothers whom he hadn't seen for a long time, he ran towards them.
"It's not easy. You finally know to call me brother." Yinzhi picked him up and threw him up slightly. After feeling that he seemed to be heavier, he smiled and hugged him.
"It was my father who didn't let me call you brother." The little guy leaned close to his ear and whispered.
Not to mention, Yinzhi was a little uncomfortable with him suddenly calling him "Big Brother" after being used to him calling him "Da Ge". So he imitated him and whispered in his ear: "You can also call me that when there is no one around."
The little guy nodded, then reached out and touched his face: "Brother, you have lost weight again!"
After saying that, he turned to look at Yinzhen: "Fourteenth brother has also lost weight..."
Although they would not starve in the military camp, it was still very tiring to lead the troops in battle, especially before they set out from the capital, they were fattened by the little fellows who fed them. Now, not only had they lost all that fat, but they had also lost some more, making them look very thin.
After hearing the little guy's words, Yinzhi and Yinzhen looked at each other and could already feel what they would experience next.
Sure enough, after the little guy finished speaking, he immediately picked up the snacks on the table and started feeding them.
"Eat some of this first to fill your stomach, and then you can have some sweet Laba porridge later~"
The little guy also cared about them, so Yinzhi and Yinzhen naturally had no choice but to accept the pastries he handed over and eat them.
Because the little guy had promised the Queen Mother that he would eat Laba porridge with her, this Laba porridge was finally eaten in the Queen Mother's palace, and Kangxi and the other princes all came.
The Empress Dowager was also very happy to see Yinzhi and Yinzhen come back, and she agreed with the little guy's words that they had lost weight.
Having a bowl of hot, sweet and delicious Laba porridge in this midday weather is so comfortable. Cheng'an ate it with great relish while holding the small bowl.
"Big brother, Fourteenth brother, eat more!" He called out to them as he added the second bowl.
Seeing that he only knew "Big Brother" at this moment, Yinreng asked with some jealousy: "What about me?"
"Second brother, eat more too." The little guy said immediately.
Yinreng put down the spoon and said, "What about the second brother? Is it 'also'?"
The little guy blinked, put down his bowl and picked up his spoon to feed him: "Second brother, eat more~"
When Yinreng saw Yinzhi looking at him, instead of feeling embarrassed, he simply lowered his head and ate the Laba porridge.
"Cheng'an, big brother's hands are sore." Yinzhi said directly when he saw him competing with him for the little guy's attention.
Upon hearing this, Cheng'an fed Yinreng another mouthful of porridge and immediately ran over to feed him.
Seeing this, Yin'e joined in the fun.
The little guy really likes to feed his brothers. He will come over when they are called. Even if Yinsi and the others don’t call him, he will still come over to feed them.
"You are all grown up, yet you still have the nerve to let Cheng'an feed you." The Queen Mother laughed when she saw this scene, and then spoke up for her little grandson.
It was already a rare occasion for the princes to gather around the Queen Mother, so they deliberately tried to liven up the atmosphere with colorful clothes to entertain their parents. When they were told about this, they immediately pushed the little guy back to her side.
"Ma, let me feed you~" The little guy seemed addicted to feeding, and picked up her bowl after saying that.
The Queen Mother smiled kindly, and after the meal she touched his head and praised him for being filial.
After finishing the Laba porridge, perhaps because the atmosphere in the palace was good, Kangxi and the princes were not in a hurry to leave.
"I'm so full~" said the little guy, touching his belly.
Usually people only eat a bowl of Laba porridge during the Laba Festival as a token of celebration. But today, under the leadership of the little one, everyone ate as much Laba porridge as they could.
The Queen Mother looked down at his slightly bulging belly and couldn't help but laugh: "If you like it, I'll have someone make it for you next time."
"As long as it is made by the imperial kitchen, he will dislike it." Kangxi continued.
"I don't like red radishes or green vegetables!"
"How dare you say that you only eat meat and no vegetables?" Kangxi glanced at him.
"Mama, look at my father, he is so mean to me."
The little fellow probably felt that he had someone to back him up here, and whispered while curled up in the Queen Mother's arms.
"It's good to love eating meat. How could our Cheng'an grow so well without eating meat?" The Queen Mother immediately spoke for him.
Kangxi had very good hearing, so he naturally heard the little guy complaining about him. He immediately felt that the little guy was getting bolder and bolder.
The princes had never expected that the little fellow would actually dare to sue the Emperor, and to do so in person. While they found it funny, they were also a little worried for him. After all, it was impossible for him to stay with the Emperor's mother forever.
"What the Empress Dowager said is right." Kangxi was quite filial to the Empress Dowager and naturally would not refute her words, but he glanced at the little guy.
Cheng'an felt his gaze, and perhaps because he remembered that he had to go back to the Qianqing Palace later, he immediately ran from the Empress Dowager to him.
"Ama, I will eat my food obediently next time."
Kangxi naturally would not say anything to him in front of the Empress Dowager, and nodded slightly to show that he understood.
Kangxi sat with the princes for a while until the empress dowager looked a little tired, then he stood up and said goodbye.
After coming out of the Empress Dowager's palace, the little guy seemed to have forgotten what he had just complained about. He held the hand of one brother and then that brother.
"Brother, when can we go to the Imperial Garden to build a snow dragon again?"
The brothers were willing to play with him, but at this moment they signaled him to look at the emperor's expression first.
The little guy turned around and found that Ama had a stern face and tilted his head to look at him: "Ama, what's wrong with you?"
"You are getting more and more daring. You even dare to say something bad about me."
The little guy felt that he seemed a little angry, and his first reaction was to hide behind his brother, but he thought that his brother was also afraid of Ama, so he finally did not do so. Instead, he rushed over and hugged him and looked up and said, "Ama, it's my fault, don't be angry, or I can't eat Laba porridge today, okay?"
The Laba porridge in his stomach hadn't been digested yet, but he could still say in a serious tone that he was punished by not being allowed to eat Laba porridge. Kangxi was almost laughing out of anger.
The brothers standing by couldn't help laughing and felt that it was unfortunate that he could say that.
"Then what's in your stomach?" Kangxi raised his leg and lightly touched his belly with his knee.
"It's meat~"
Yin'e couldn't help but burst out laughing, which attracted Kangxi's sidelong glance.
"I know I was wrong."
Kangxi retracted his gaze and looked back at the little guy in front of him, then tapped his forehead and said, "I'll punish you by not allowing you to eat gourd chicken for ten days."
Laba porridge is nothing, he just eats it for something new, so if he is to be punished, he must be given his favorite thing.
“No, no!” The little guy thought of the last time he couldn’t eat cuckoo chicken for half a month. He hugged him and shook his head vigorously. After saying that, he sat down on the ground, “If you don’t let me eat cuckoo chicken, I won’t get up…”
"Get up quickly, or I will be rude to you." Kangxi raised his hand and said.
The little guy got up and ran to the Queen Mother's Palace, shouting, "Mama, help me! My father is going to hit me again..."
"Yinmi!" Kangxi shouted with a dark face when he was about to run into the Empress Dowager's palace.
When the little guy heard his own name, he hesitated for two seconds and then turned around and ran back.
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