Chapter 22: Free and Easy
But the fact was not so. Instead, the Sixth Prince felt inexplicably uncomfortable in his heart.
Now that my younger brother has another prince brother, does that mean he… no longer cares about me?
That’s right, people naturally love the crown prince more than him.
The Sixth Prince curled his fingers.
It just so happened that Concubine Rong really didn’t have the time to pay attention to him at this time, so the Sixth Prince said something to her and then left.
Returning to the side hall and opening the book, the Sixth Prince couldn’t calm down.
“…asshole!”
After all, the Sixth Prince was still young, and he couldn’t hide things very well. He became emotional and couldn’t help but pounded the table.The Sixth Prince thought that although he felt annoyed with him in his heart, he never showed it on his face.
He had become accustomed to asking about his younger brother’s well-being.
In the end, the little prince still did the same thing and followed the man he was told to go.
The point is, he had never met His Royal Highness the Crown Prince before.
The Sixth Prince gritted his teeth and said, “You little heartless thing…”
At this time, in the main hall of Qiuwu Palace——
Ever since Su Yue brought the news that her son was taken away by the prince and that the palace maids were not allowed to follow him, Concubine Rong has been a little at a loss.
Shuo’er doesn’t have anyone around him. What should she do if the crown prince wants to harm him?
The person involved was confused, but soon a word from the nanny beside her enlightened her.
“So many people saw the little prince follow the crown prince. If something really happens to the little prince, the crown prince will not be able to escape responsibility.”
So the crown prince would not hurt him but would protect him instead.
Only then did Concubine Rong suddenly wake up.
Soon, she fell into a new dilemma: “Then…then can we really let Shuo’er sleep in the East Palace for a night?” This, this is too shameful.
The nanny thought for a moment and said, “After dinner time, the queen should send someone to greet him. The little prince should still come back.”
How can a child of this age say that he doesn’t miss his mother?
When it would be completely dark, the child would start crying and make a fuss, asking for his mother.
So, Concubine Rong really believed it.
The other side.
The prince looked at the child sitting opposite him, eating with relish, and thought that the child had a very big heart.
Didn’t the imperial concubine teach him not to eat food given by strangers?
The same goes for the imperial concubine herself. She hasn’t sent anyone from the palace to say hello for such a long time. Isn’t she afraid that I will use this chance and find a way to harm him?
You know, there are many poisons in this world that can kill people but are still undetectable.
Holding the bowl and chopsticks, the crown prince seemed a little absent-minded.
Ye Shuo didn’t care about that and just ate the delicious food in front of him.
Although he wasn’t as messy as a real kid, Ye Shuo’s speed was not slow at all.
“This, this, and this…”
His small arms and legs made Mo Shu, who was standing beside him, very busy. Basically, before he put down his chopsticks, he would pick up new ones.
Ye Shuo used to think that the chefs in Qiuwu Palace were very skilled, not inferior to the chefs in modern five-star hotels.
It was not until today when he came to the crown Prince’s Palace that he realized that there is always a mountain higher than the other.
That’s right. After all, the imperial concubine is just a favorite concubine, while the prince is the future emperor. It is obvious which one is more important.
If the Eastern Palace is like this, I wonder what the real imperial chef is like. If I get the chance, I will definitely go to my stepfather’s palace to try it.
The most important thing is that as for the crown prince, he has never raised a child and will not restrict him at all. Ye Shuo can basically eat whatever he wants.
Ye Shuo, who hadn’t eaten greasy or meaty food for a long time, couldn’t control himself anymore.
So the prince watched helplessly as his little brother’s belly swelled up little by little.
“Hmm…” So full…
When he was about 80% full, Ye Shuo finally stopped.
Looking at the prince opposite, he had only eaten a bowl of white porridge so far, and Ye Shuo hardly saw him move his chopsticks.
“Brother, is it not to your taste?” This time Ye Shuo spoke more clearly.
The prince was stunned for a moment, then replied, “It’s just because the weather is hot, I have no appetite.”
Upon hearing this, Ye Shuo couldn’t help but take a look at the two huge ice basins placed in the hall. The amount of ice in these ice basins was even more considerable than that in his mother’s palace.
The crown prince is the future emperor, and his food, clothing and other expenses are only slightly inferior to those of the emperor and empress.
The East Palace is actually not hot at all, it’s even a little cool.
Ye Shuo understood. The child was not feeling hot at all, but was clearly under a lot of pressure, which was why he couldn’t eat.
Sixteen years old is still a child in modern times, and the law recognizes that. But now the sixteen-year-old prince has begun to participate in state affairs. How can he not be under pressure?
After dinner, it was already dark. Ye Shuo was carried by Mo Shu to take a hot bath, and then he finally waited for Nanny Jing to arrive.
Seeing the crown prince’s stiff expression, Ye Shuo decisively rejected Nanny Jing’s request to take him back to the palace. By the way, he also asked Nanny Jing to go back to Qiuwu Palace to pack some clean clothes for him to wear tomorrow.
Change of clothes…what does he mean???
The ominous premonition became stronger and stronger. The crown prince watched helplessly as his younger brother used his hands and feet to climb onto his bed and even waved at him.
“Brother, come quickly.”
The prince’s eyes went dark.
The nanny standing by felt relieved when she saw that her young master was full of life and more energetic than when he was in Qiuwu Palace.
If the little prince could live in the Crown Prince’s Palace for a period of time, it would also be a good thing for the palace servants in Qiuwu Palace.
They could finally take a good rest and no longer have to run around following the little prince.
When you think about it this way, this doesn’t seem like a bad idea.
So the nanny answered yes and turned around and left with her people.
The crown prince was immediately dumbfounded.
If he were given another chance, he would never say those two sentences.
What the prince regretted most was that he shouldn’t have stopped to look at them a little longer when he passed by, and was then discovered by the palace servants around his little brother.
Seeing how lively the little prince is, I guess he can’t sleep well either.
The prince was now prepared to have a sleepless night.
But when he actually lay down, the prince discovered that things were not as serious as he had imagined.
After all, Ye Shuo came here to stay for free, so he knew some basic etiquette.
Be quiet and peaceful, never make trouble, and never cause trouble to the owner.
So there was just a little meat ball next to the prince, and everything else was no different from usual.
Anyway, the bed in the East Palace is big enough, so it doesn’t matter if there is Ye Shuo again.
Even when the little meat ball got up at night, there was almost no noise. He knew to crawl down from his feet and tiptoe. If the crown prince had not been unable to sleep, no one would have even noticed him.
When Ye Shuo came back, he found that the prince had not slept at all.
It was already three o’clock in the morning and Ye Shuo had already taken a nap.
Normally he sleeps very well. If his child’s bladder did not allow it, he could sleep all night and till dawn.
The prince has started to suffer from insomnia at such a young age. I wonder if his hairline will be able to hold up in a few years.
The prince noticed that the child seemed to look up at his head. Before he could say anything, he saw his little brother lying down next to him, stretching out his little hand and gently patting his chest.
The prince’s mind moved, and after a moment, he asked: “…What are you doing?”
“Brother… go to sleep…”
It turned out that he was trying to coax himself to sleep.
“Is this how Concubine Rong usually coaxes you to sleep?” Looking at the curtain above his head, the prince didn’t know what he was thinking at the moment.
The prince vaguely remembered that his mother had coaxed him in this way when he was sick as a child, but after he started to remember things, she never did that again.
Ye Shuo was silent after hearing this.
That’s not the case. He doesn’t need anyone to comfort him when he goes to sleep. He falls asleep as soon as he touches the pillow.
However, it would be too cruel to tell this to an insomniac like the prince, so Ye Shuo decisively chose to keep his mouth shut.
“Are you… worried about me?” noticing the change in the child’s eyes, and the crown prince spoke tentatively.
This time Ye Shuo had no psychological burden at all and nodded heavily: “Worried…brother…”
Nonsense, whether he can continue to live such a pampered life and maintain such a standard of living all depends on his stepfather and his brother. How can he not worry about their health?
“Shuo’er… must… rely on brother…”
The crown prince misunderstood.
The crown prince was deeply moved.
So by the time the crown prince realized that he had been moved too early, it was already too late.
When the crown prince went to court in the morning, Ye Shuo was still sleeping.
When the crown prince came back at noon, Ye Shuo had finished his lunch and was taking a nap on the chaise longue.
When the crown prince left in the afternoon, Ye Shuo was drinking the bird’s nest brought from the East Palace’s kitchen. The bird’s nest needed to be soaked in advance, which took a long time, and it was not always possible to make it when the prince was free.
The crown prince left in a hurry, so Ye Shuo accepted the bird’s nest with a smile.
There is also the ice basin in the East Palace, which has a fixed quota every day. If the prince doesn’t use the ice, it will melt, and it cannot be shared with other people in the palace. If the prince uses it one day and there is no ice left, it would be the dereliction of duty of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
So even though the crown prince himself was not there, the ice in the East Palace was still replaced every 12 hours.
Not to mention the kitchen, which also provides food in fixed portions. Even if it is not used up at the end of the month, there is no such thing as returning it. Some ingredients will go bad or rot and will have to be thrown away.
Ye Shuo felt that the crown prince especially needed someone to share the burden with him, otherwise it would be a waste.
Ye Shuo never caused trouble for his adopted brother. He only picked out the food that he couldn’t finish or didn’t have time to eat.
Anyway, Ye Shuo is thick-skinned and doesn’t care about that much.
But because of this, after a few days, the crown prince became depressed.
Because there was so much food that he didn’t have time to eat, and it all ended up in Ye Shuo’s stomach.
Even Emperor Jingwen noticed something was wrong and couldn’t help asking, “How has Shuo’er been these days?”
The news that the little prince was taken to the Eastern Palace by the Crown Prince had almost spread throughout the entire court.
The crown prince opened his mouth, but he really didn’t know how to start. Finally, he said helplessly: “I don’t know whether this is a good thing or not. Why don’t you… why doesn’t your majesty come to my palace and take a look in person?”
Emperor Jingwen initially thought that no matter how naughty a one-year-old child could be, there was a limit to how naughty he could be.
It was not until he stepped into the gate of the East Palace that he saw a recliner between two ice basins, and his youngest son was lying on the recliner.
Next to him was a musician kept in the palace, who was playing the guqin gently. The music was soft, melodious and very pleasant to the ears.
His little son opened his mouth from time to time, and every time he opened his mouth, a grape would fall into his mouth accurately.
As for the others who were fanning, reading, massaging shoulders and beating legs…there’s no need to mention them.
I don’t know what his hobby is, but there is someone who specializes in pinching his ears.
The always diligent Emperor Jingwen was immediately shocked by this scene.