"Alright. Your Highness, take a rest."
Seeing that Jiang Changyue was already out of breath, his coat was soaked with sweat. Although the sun had set in the evening, there was still some heat on the ground. Even Duan Tingxuan did not dare to go too far. Although the other party had only run one and a half laps around the small training ground, which was far from his expectations, this matter could not be accomplished overnight. He had to take it slowly, right?
Upon hearing this, the prince sat down on the ground, staring at Duan Tingxuan holding the willow branch and gritting his teeth, "How dare you! You still know that I am His Highness and the prince..." Before he could finish, his eyes were attracted by the teapot in Duan Tingxuan's hand, but he immediately remembered that he was the prince and could not be so useless, so he snorted, "Do you think that giving me wine will make me forgive you? Don't even think about it."
"What are you talking about in your sleep? I'm giving you wine at this time. Are you afraid that the emperor and the empress won't kill me?" Duan Tingxuan pouted and picked up a large celadon bowl and poured a bowl: "This is herbal tea, try it."
"Why don't you give me a glass of boiled water or herbal tea? The smell makes me want to die, okay? I only drink it as medicine when I have a heat stroke. It's better than drinking Huoxiang Zhengqi water."
The prince looked at the big porcelain bowl in horror. It looked like if he hadn't lost his strength, he would have crawled far away. But Duan Tingxuan smiled calmly and said, "You really don't want to drink it? Don't blame me for not reminding you. This is the herbal tea that Nuan Nuan made for you after she knew that Your Highness wanted to lose weight. Her craftsmanship..."
Before he could finish, the prince stretched out a trembling fat paw, took the big bowl from his hand, gulped down the tea, smacked his lips, tasted it carefully, and then laughed, "Delicious. Delicious, sweet and cool, this should be called herbal tea, um! Not bad, not bad, really delicious, worthy of being my sister-in-law."
As he spoke, he drank the whole bowl of herbal tea. He was still full of praise. Suddenly, someone called out from a distance, "Brother Crown Prince, we are here to see you. How is it? I heard that the emperor issued a strict order this time. Let Tingxuan supervise your training. Let's see what Tingxuan has tortured you into?"
The Crown Prince and Duan Tingxuan turned their heads and saw that the Second Prince Jiang Changning and the Fourth Prince Jiang Chang had come together. They were the best friends of the Crown Prince. At this moment, they saw the Crown Prince's miserable appearance, and both of his gauze jacket and pants were soaked. Even though they were mentally prepared, they couldn't help but be stunned at this moment. After a long while, they took a breath and said in unison: "Tingxuan is a beast. He really killed him. How could he do such an outrageous thing?"
"I was exhausted, but now I am fine. After I am done, I have some herbal tea. It is not the herbal tea sold on the street, but made by my sister-in-law. It is delicious, you guys should try it." As the prince said this, he turned to Duan Tingxuan, but saw that he was holding the teapot tightly in his arms. He panted and said, "Why are you holding it? It is not a beauty, why don't you pour two bowls for your two brothers to try?"
Duan Tingxuan sneered, "I think it's unnecessary. Anyway, my second and fourth cousins have said that I am a beast. How can a beast associate with humans?"
Jiang Changning and Jiang Changjing came over together, but they saw Duan Tingxuan was not afraid at all. He raised his eyebrows and said with a smile: "What? Are you two going to use force to snatch it?"
The second and fourth princes were not fat guys like the crown prince. They had some skills, but if you think about it, their skills combined would not be enough for my cousin to deal with. After all, they were martial arts geniuses since childhood. So Jiang Changning coughed and said lightly, "What a joke. How can a son of a rich family fight with you? Lord Duan..."
Before he could finish, Duan Tingxuan laughed and said, "You want to use your status as a prince to pressure me? Look over there? The one sitting on the ground just used his status as a prince to pressure me. How is he doing now?"
"How could I know such a monster like you?" The second prince beat his chest and stamped his feet: "Brother Crown Prince, this is a provocation. If you don't deal with him quickly, he will become a man who is more powerful than his master and cannot be eliminated in the future. Please think twice." Such heart-piercing words were just a harmless joke to them, which showed the royal family's acceptance and sincerity towards Duan Tingxuan.
Sure enough, the prince was grunting like a pig: "Do you think I'm stupid? Will I fall for your trick of killing someone with a borrowed knife? My life is in Tingxuan's hands now, not to mention that he promised me that he would bring me more delicious food made by my brother and sister-in-law."
"Tingxuan, everyone who sees me has a share. I am also your cousin, so you can't be partial." The second prince immediately turned around and warned with a serious face, but saw the young marquis rolled his eyes and whispered: "I am a beast."
"Haha! What does it have to do with beasts? Aren't we beasts too? Confucius once said that humans are just more advanced beasts. So we are all beasts." Jiang Chang actually laughed up to the sky, came over and patted Duan Tingxuan's shoulder affectionately.
Duan Tingxuan glanced at him with a blank expression: "Do you dare to say this to Mr. Cai? When did Confucius ever say such a thing? Do you dare to say more?"
"Well... I'm glad you understand." Jiang Chang actually coughed twice in embarrassment: Grand Secretary Cai is the head of the Hanlin Academy, the most upright and serious person, and he was their teacher in their childhood. If the Fourth Prince dares to say this in front of the old man, he can just prepare to be beaten into a roe deer.
"Your Highness, it's time to serve the meal. Would you like to eat here or go to Qiu Shui Pavilion?" A eunuch came over to ask for instructions. Qiu Shui Pavilion is a pavilion in the lake in the back garden, surrounded by water. It is very comfortable to eat there in the summer with the cool breeze blowing and the gauze curtains dancing.
The prince finally straightened his sitting posture, wiped the sweat from his head and said, "Just use it here. It's still two or three miles to Qiu Shui Pavilion. Who has the patience to go?"
The eunuch agreed to leave, and someone brought a large bathtub, surrounded it with a cloth screen, and the prince bathed in it. Because the emperor was determined this time, the Imperial Hospital was very cooperative and sent herbs for medicinal baths. It could not only wash away the stinky sweat, but also relax the muscles and blood circulation, and relieve the prince's fatigue.
After washing, he saw that the small training ground had already been set up with tables and chairs. In the afterglow of the setting sun, he could see a table full of dishes. The prince touched his belly, sighing that the best time of the day was mealtime, and walked over quickly.
When I sat down and looked, I was stunned. There were indeed cups and plates on the table, a whole table, but what was all this? Cabbage with vinegar, carrots and black fungus, green onions and eggs, spinach salad... Even the soup only had bamboo shoots and no meat.
"This... is the vegetarian dish my sister-in-law made for me?" The Crown Prince almost flipped the table: This is too deceptive, isn't it? This is completely different from what was served in the Kunning Palace's kitchen that day? And you can tell what they are at a glance. Where's the vegetarian chicken? Where's the vegetarian duck? Where's the vegetarian beef? Is this it?
"This is the vegetarian dish produced by the East Palace's small kitchen. The day after tomorrow is my grandmother's birthday. Nuannuan is so busy in the kitchen right now that she doesn't have time to make vegetarian chicken or duck. I told you, Your Highness, please be patient. I'll make it for you after the old lady's birthday." Duan Tingxuan looked at the table of vegetarian dishes with a wry smile, thinking, "Are you still complaining? I'm the most unlucky one. Why should I have to eat these things with you? Ugh! I have to go back quickly after eating. Maybe I can catch the midnight snack in Chunfeng Garden. I hope there will be wontons tonight. Well, fresh meat dumplings are also good."
Just as he was thinking about it, he heard Jiang Changning and Jiang Chang actually complained together: "What kind of logic is this? Even if we are regular customers, you can't prepare a table of vegetarian dishes to entertain us? No, no, there is not even a trace of meat, how can this still be called a dish? Brother Crown Prince, please bear with it, I will leave first."
"You two are disloyal."
The prince was so angry that he almost yelled at them, but he heard Duan Tingxuan chuckle, "Your Highness, just let them go. If they leave, we can have the ice cream all to ourselves. With them here, we have to share some with them, and I won't accept that."
The two people who had just jumped out came back in a flash: "Ice cream? What is that? It's not smoothie, is it? Haha, I have that in my house too."
"Yes, yes, it's smoothies. You two should go back quickly. Have a bowl of smoothies after dinner. It's like being in heaven." Before Duan Tingxuan could say anything, the prince started to chase them away. It's a pity that everyone is a fox. Who can play Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio with them?
So the second and fourth princes sat more steadily, facing a table of frowning vegetarian dishes from the East Palace's small kitchen, and tried to swallow: "Just kidding, the facts have proved that my sister-in-law has no inferior goods, ice cream, roast duck, beggar's chicken, white pork, snow-soft bean paste... Which one is not a top-notch delicacy? Now this ice cream, just hearing the name makes me drool, how can I miss this opportunity.
The prince also swallowed the dishes with disgust. They were really not tasty, but what could he do? He knew that his health was too bad. If he didn't take any measures, he might die before he could ascend the throne. Wouldn't that disappoint his father and his ministers?
So for the sake of his son, his father, his subjects and the people, he had to persevere. With this in mind, the prince picked up his chopsticks faster, and the carrot between his teeth made a crunching sound, as if he was biting an irreconcilable enemy.
For the ancients who had no idea what cream was but loved sweets, there was no word that could accurately describe the charm of ice cream, especially in this hot summer evening. Several people sat on a reclining chair, scooped ice cream balls with a small spoon and sipped them, chatting comfortably.
"Tingxuan, how are your preparations for grandmother's birthday going? I haven't heard you talk about this in these days. You are not going to just prepare simply, right? How can that be possible?" The prince asked casually after taking a bite of ice cream. The resentment he had from eating vegetarian food just now had been almost soothed by the ice cream.
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