The reborn prince's little palace maid in the apocalypse

In just three days, the Jiangnan Hongru Academy changed hands. It went from being an academy run by the Li family for generations to one directly under the jurisdiction of the government.

The Li family, which had lasted for over a hundred years, was also removed from the Jiangnan Prefecture.

The once grand Li Mansion, which produced imperial concubines and married princesses, is now reduced to a place of immense glory and power, marked only by the seals on its gates, a testament to its decline.

Hongru Academy has produced countless scholars and officials, including numerous top scholars and officials. Even now, half of the officials in the imperial court either graduated from Hongru Academy or studied there.

When Li Zhigong was the dean, he once shamelessly said that although he had no official position, he was the teacher of the world.

But now, Crown Prince Yan Sinian has made it clear to the world in just three days that the world belongs to the Yan family.

That universal teacher has long been guilty of twenty-six major crimes and has been beheaded.

The entire Li clan was either killed, exiled, or sold off. Only a villa in the suburbs was left for Princess Jinshan to use as her retirement home.

Yan Sinian did not revoke Princess Jinshan's title, but all she had left was the title.

A shrine was set up in the villa to enshrine the memorial tablets of Consort Li and her parents.

Yan Sinian sent someone to instruct Princess Jinshan that as long as the incense offerings at Consort Li's place continued daily, the supplies and salary she was entitled to according to her rank would be distributed on time.

Unexpectedly, the mother whom Princess Jinshan had resented for half her life has now become her support for the rest of her life.

This arrangement was all because of Xiao Ba. Granny Fu had entrusted her with fulfilling the last wish of Consort Li, but now the Li family's property had been confiscated, and their ancestral hall was gone. Granny Fu's request could no longer be fulfilled.

So Xiao Ba blinked his big eyes and stared at Yan Sinian for half the night, and got this solution.

Time flies, and another half month has passed in the blink of an eye.

For the past two weeks, Xiao Ba has had the most... effortless life. Every day she eats as soon as she opens her mouth, sleeps as soon as she closes her eyes, and even walks while being carried in Yan Sinian's arms.

Even when Yan Sinian was handling official business, he never forgot about her. As a result, everyone knew that the legendary favored palace maid was the Crown Prince's true darling.

Naturally, more and more people inquired about her. When everyone learned that this delicate guest disliked jewelry and fine silks, and loved only gourmet food...

The inn where the crown prince was staying received mostly recipes for delicious food and countless ingredients every day.

Those who could send things to the post station were all people of status and shrewdness. They wouldn't send food that could be eaten directly. But there were no restrictions on ingredients, and even if the ingredients were a bit expensive, it wouldn't be considered bribery. So even more people sent things.

Some merchants and commoners, under the guise of showing respect and gratitude to His Highness the Crown Prince, would even send him recipes and ingredients.

Therefore, over the past two weeks, the most exhausted people have not been the executioners who beheaded prisoners at Caishikou, but the cooks at the post station.

"What is this?" Xiao Ba stared at the plate of dumplings that was brought in. She had never seen anything like it before; it was a new dish.

It looks like grilled meat strips, coated with a layer of sauce.

One bite, and the tangy aroma is delightful and very appetizing.

After taking another bite, Xiao Ba asked, "It's delicious. It tastes like grilled fish, but it's so long, is it snake meat?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, it is eel meat."

Yan Sinian shook his head and refused the meat that Xiao Ba fed him, coaxing her to eat two more bites. Only then did he reach out and take the food recipe that Mantou handed him.

"Your Highness, this is a rustic recipe sent from below. Coincidentally, we got some eels in the kitchen today, so we tried making it."

Yan Sinian looked down at the recipe in his hand. "Roasted Yinghao: In July, obtain a large, fat pig, clean it, and break its bones. First, render the oil, mix it with the sauce, and cook it with vinegar. Place it on an iron rack in an oil pan, gradually pour the sauce over it, and roast until thoroughly dry and fragrant. Garlic and vinegar are recommended."

Xiao Ba immediately realized that the ingredients for this dish were rare and probably couldn't be made often. Thinking of this, he quickly put two more pieces of meat into his mouth.

An Jiu stood behind Yan Sinian and stole a glance at the prescription in Yan Sinian's hand.

"Isn't that a loach? They're everywhere in the ditches."

Mantou rolled her eyes at An Jiu, "Is it okay for Master to eat something like a loach?"

In the eyes of some powerful people, loaches don't even qualify as fish. They're just insects fed to chickens, ducks, and other poultry.

"What is a loach?" Having lived through two worlds, Xiao Ba had never actually seen a loach, nor had he ever heard of one.

“Reporting to Master, it’s a kind of fish that lives in the mud. It’s thin, small, and has no meat. We won’t eat it.” Mantou denied, seeing Xiao Ba’s face immediately showing interest.

Since Xiao Ba came back, we've been feeding him steamed buns and dumplings every day in different ways to nourish him. Although our master isn't picky about food and eats everything, he's still too indiscriminate. Whether it's good or bad, as long as it's tasty and edible, he'll put it in his mouth.

They already feed their master so many highly nutritious foods like bird's nest, shark fin, snow lotus, and fish maw every day, how could they let him eat things that have no nutritional value and are not presentable?

Yan Sinian thought of what a loach looked like and nodded to himself, agreeing with Mantou's statement.

"Actually, they taste pretty good when they're roasted and fried." Hearing Mantou's denial, An Jiu muttered to himself.

Although his voice was soft, everyone in the room was an ordinary person, and they could all hear him clearly.

Xiao Ba, in particular, had her eyes light up when she heard the word "delicious".

Just as Xiao Ba looked at An Jiu, intending to ask again, Yan Sinian reached out to take the plate from Xiao Ba's arms. "Have you finished eating? Time to wash up."

"Wait, I haven't finished eating yet!" Xiao Ba, in her food-protecting mode, turned to An Jiu's face, quickly lowered her head, and buried herself in her food.

After washing up, Xiao Ba was taken out of the bathtub full of flower petals and herbs by Yan Sinian and placed on the bed.

A bowl of tonic was brought over from the dumplings, made entirely from ginseng and lingzhi mushrooms that were hundreds of years old.

As soon as Yan Sinian took the medicine, Xiao Ba wrinkled his nose.

The stuff itself is good, but it tastes awful. Especially after drinking it for over half a month, even Xiao Ba, who used to listen to Yan Sinian, started to rebel.

He covered his head with a pillow, and only his little bottom was arching back and forth on the bed.

Yan Sinian wrapped the person in a thin blanket and held him in his arms.

Under the candlelight, Xiao Ba was still as thin as ever, but her complexion was much better than before. It was no longer sallow and cracked, but had some luster and color.

Yan Sinian gently stroked Xiao Ba's face for a while, and after she stopped twisting and turning in resistance, he placed the medicine bowl in front of her again.

Little Ba pouted, looking neither resentful nor unwilling.

"Starting the day after tomorrow, is there anything you want to eat? I'll have them prepare more for you." Yan Sinian looked at Xiao Ba, who seemed somewhat tempted but also a little resentful, and whispered in her ear, "I'll hide it all for you when the time comes."

These days, Xiao Ba has been surrounded by people quite a bit, which has greatly reduced her opportunities to hide food in her own space. Each time, she can only manage to collect some food with Yan Sinian's help.

Asking someone who has lived through the apocalypse not to hoard food goes against their instincts.

If it weren't for the tempting food every time, she would have rushed to the kitchen long ago.