The Virtuous Concubine

Malu's intention was there, but the Crown Prince and the Fourth Prince were not moved at all.

At this moment, they were in Fengxian Hall, facing the ancestral tablets, and they did not dare to eat without the permission of Emperor Kangxi. Zhou Quanfu knew that it was just that the imperial concubine loved her son and used this method to tactfully remind the emperor not to treat the two princes harshly because of a momentary anger.

As a servant, it is difficult to disobey the master's orders, so we can only cooperate with our best and perform well in this play.

He quietly placed the food box on the table beside him and backed out of the hall.

The porridge in the lunch box was still warm when Liang Jiugong arrived.

In a rage, he punished the two without thinking about the consequences. After he calmed down, he felt a little regretful and distressed.

Strictly speaking, his two most outstanding sons had done nothing wrong, but he had punished them by making them kneel for almost a whole day out of anger. What if they got hurt?

Fortunately, Malu gave him a way out, allowing Kangxi room to turn the situation around. He quickly sent Liang Jiugong over and asked them to get up and eat something.

Although the decree still required them to reflect on their mistakes until the next day when the court was dismissed, it did not mention anything about them continuing to kneel. It was obvious that they were tacitly allowed to no longer kneel, which was considered a slight loosening of the restrictions and leaving some dignity for the two children.

Yinreng's character was like a stubborn donkey. Even if his legs were broken, he would never stand up or eat anything. He had to wait for Kangxi to give in. The Fourth Prince would never eat.

The prince doesn’t eat it, so how can he eat it?

However, Kangxi seemed to have understood the prince's temperament thoroughly and expected that he would be so stubborn, so he specifically told Liang Jiugong to wait there and watch the prince and the fourth prince eat before leaving.

There was no choice, Chen Xin and Su Peisheng looked at each other, and tacitly helped their master to stand up, one on the left and the other on the right, almost half-lifting and half-dragging him, and moved him to the table to eat.

At first, the prince stiffened his neck, looked reluctant, and moved the cakes around, refusing to eat. But unexpectedly, as he ate, the sharp-eyed Fourth Prince saw from the corner of his eye that the prince's movements gradually became more agile, and he actually ate with great relish.

This is strange.

Having lived two lifetimes as a human being, Yinzhen knew how picky the prince was.

On weekdays, Kangxi was very painstaking in order to coax the prince to eat more, racking his brains to come up with many new tricks. Sometimes he ordered the imperial kitchen to study famous dishes from all over the country and present them in various ways; sometimes he sent people to search for rare foods from the people at full speed, just to arouse the prince's appetite.

If the prince could eat a few more bites, Kangxi would be happy for the whole afternoon.

But the prince still refused to eat anything. One year, several princes presented food to Kangxi, hoping to please the emperor, but Kangxi handed it all to the imperial kitchen and ordered them to prepare it carefully and make sure it suited the prince's taste.

As for the prince, he didn't even lift his eyelids, didn't even touch the food, and even frowned, muttering something critical like "nothing new" and "hard to swallow". When Kangxi found out, he felt sorry for the prince not eating well, so he turned around and called those princes over, scolding them for not being attentive and not even knowing the prince's taste.

The things my mother sent were very simple, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that they were vegetarian.

There is a jade white jade roll wrapped in cabbage leaves with mushroom, fungus and carrot filling, a Luohan vegetarian dish made by stewing spring bamboo shoots, lotus seeds, ginkgo nuts and gluten, accompanied by noodles and yam cake with date paste, and a small jar of almond milk on the side. There is really no meat at all.

On weekdays, the Fourth Prince had long been accustomed to such light meals and found them quite palatable.

But in the prince's Yuqing Palace, the dietary standards are extremely high. The imperial chefs cook delicacies from the land and the sea in various ways. Even the servants below usually eat more sumptuous and tempting food than this vegetarian meal. The prince would definitely not touch it, but today, the prince eats even cleaner than the Fourth Prince!

Liang Jiugong watched it all clearly from the side. He had been worried that the prince would be stubborn and refuse to eat, and was anxious that he would not be able to report to the emperor. But when he saw this scene, he was immediately delighted, and a huge weight of relief fell from his heart.

The emperor would be pleased if the prince was willing to eat well, and he would be able to get a good result when he returned to report. So Liang Jiugong went back happily, with a lighter step, ready to report the scene to Kangxi in detail.

After they finished their meal, they knelt back down in tacit understanding.

Chen Xin and Su Peisheng were watching from the side. Su Peisheng followed his master's example and did not show his emotions on his face. At this moment, he pursed his lips, said nothing, and just stood there silently.

Seeing the prince kneeling back down again, Chen Xin felt a little impatient.

How could His Royal Highness be so naive? The Emperor clearly didn't say to continue kneeling. If he continued kneeling, what would happen if he hurt himself later? When the time came, the Emperor would feel sorry for the Prince and be furious. He, the eunuch, would definitely be severely punished.

Chen Xin came up with a plan, and under the pretext of returning the lunch box, she took a few steps forward and winked at Su Peisheng, signaling him to go out with her. Su Peisheng was a little hesitant at first, and his steps seemed to have taken root, and he was reluctant to move.

But he couldn't resist Chen Xin's constant winking. Su Peisheng glanced at the Fourth Prince who had his back straight, finally sighed, and followed Chen Xin out of the palace carrying the food box.

The two hurried all the way to the side corridor outside the palace. Chen Xin lowered his voice and said, "Eunuch Su, we can't just sit there and watch the two princes make mistakes! Now that the emperor has finally relented and didn't explicitly ask them to continue kneeling, the two princes are acting like they had discussed it beforehand... The golden brick floor of the Fengxian Palace is cold and hard. Kneeling for too long will hurt your bones. If you really break your bones, we two, who serve them closely, will be blamed and we may even lose our heads."

Su Peisheng knew very well that the prince was the apple of the emperor's eye and he had been doted on since childhood. If he really hurt himself from kneeling, the emperor would surely be heartbroken and it would be normal for him to be held accountable. There were many such things happening on a daily basis.

The Fourth Prince has always been low-key. Although the Emperor values ​​his ability to get things done, if something happens to him after kneeling, the Emperor's heartache will definitely not be comparable to that of the Crown Prince.

This Chen Xin is quite cunning and he even tries to drag me into this muddy water.

But he couldn't refuse, otherwise, wouldn't it be like he, a servant, didn't care about his master? If he ignored his master's safety, how could he stand in front of the Fourth Prince in the future?

Su Peisheng could only bow his hands and said sincerely: "Eunuch Chen is right. As a servant, how can we watch our master suffer? But this matter is very difficult. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is of high status. If he insists on kneeling, how can we, as servants, persuade him?"

What he meant was that your prince knelt first, and that forced our Fourth Prince to kneel as well! The root of this difficult situation is still with the prince. You, Chen Xin, must know this and don't push all the problems onto me.