The three-year-old host decides to raise an emperor father for himself.

The palace is on the verge of a storm because of the hasty end of last night's banquet.

Outside the palace, in his villa, Prince Jing was watching his daughter struggle with how to slaughter a pig.

With his left ear listening to his subordinates meticulously reporting on the various details of today's grand court assembly, and with his right ear listening to the little girl in the courtyard instructing the servants on how to perform the procedure and how to bleed, Xuan Yuanjing was momentarily dazed.

The contrast is just too great; it feels like I'm standing between two worlds.

"...Last night, it was confirmed that the eldest son of Prince Ping was poisoned. The palace was placed under martial law. Today, it has not yet been found out who did it. This matter was also mentioned at the Grand Court Assembly."

Xuanyuan Jing tilted his head slightly, not surprised at all, and asked Pei Qingzhu beside him, "What's your opinion?"

Pei Qingzhu touched her nose: "His Majesty is concerned about his own health, and the incident happened at a palace banquet. I heard that if that person hadn't been hit by the heat of the banquet and vomited out most of the poison, he probably would have died last night."

"A thorough investigation is certain; the Prince of Ping's residence won't be peaceful for many days."

If this hadn't happened at the palace banquet, Xuan Yuanlin probably wouldn't have cared about Xuan Yuanhua's life or death.

He's not his son.

However, the fact that the incident occurred in the palace inevitably raises suspicions about the safety of the palace and whether someone had bribed someone in the palace to carry out the attack, which is why Xuanyuan Hua fell into the trap.

For his own safety, Xuanyuan Lin also needed to investigate thoroughly.

Xuanyuan Jing: "In that case, a number of people will likely have to be purged from the palace." Xuanyuan Lin's harem is not clean.

Pei Qingzhu asked, "What does Your Highness intend to do?"

Xuanyuan Jing: "The Jingwang Mansion has been very grateful for His Majesty's care over the years."

Pei Qingzhu understood; Xuan Yuanlin had planted quite a few people in the Jingwang Mansion in the past.

Pei Qingzhu was shrewd. Thinking of something, she curled her lips and said, "Today is the first day of the month. Normally, there should be singing and dancing and other matters should be dealt with later. It seems that there are quite a few people in the court who don't want him to be comfortable."

There was no trace of respect for the emperor in his words.

Upon hearing this, Xuanyuan Jing glanced at him but did not reprimand him.

Pei Qingzhu discovered that the officials in Zhangzhou had received a hint from Xuan Yuanlin that he had long wanted to take action against Pei Qingzhu, which is why they took the risk and acted ruthlessly.

Although Shu Muqing successfully reunited with Pei Qingzhu with his daughter, Pei Qingzhu's former subordinates, whom he considered brothers, died on the way, and one can imagine the hatred in his heart.

He now truly has a grudge against Xuanyuan Lin.

Pei Qingzhu then asked, "Has Your Highness made up your mind now?"

Xuanyuan Jing was silent for a moment, then said, "Wait a little longer."

Pei Qingzhu: "It's good that Your Highness understands."

Xuanyuan Jing sighed inwardly.

He understood what Pei Qingzhu meant.

Right now, Pei Qingzhu really can't stand seeing that person sitting on the dragon throne. Back then, he felt that Xuanyuan Lin was not the wise ruler he had in mind, so he left without a word. Perhaps that's why Xuanyuan Lin held a grudge against him for so long.

Pei Qingzhu had that thought in mind, but Xuan Yuanjing wasn't afraid of anything.

In a chaotic era, with Xuanyuan Jing's achievements, he could have directly become the founding emperor. He has killed quite a few people, so what is there to be afraid of?

However, in truth, Xuanyuan Jing was not an ambitious person.

If he were, there would be no Xuanyuan Lin today.

With hundreds of thousands of troops under his command, and possessing both ability and prestige, what can't he accomplish?

But to say that he was willing to continue being a good younger brother and a good subject of Xuanyuan Lin is impossible.

He's not that despicable.

However, Xuanyuan Jing still needs to take things one step at a time and see how to proceed.

"Daddy!"

Xiao Lanxing called out and ran over, grabbing his sleeve and saying, "This meat is wrong."

Upon hearing this, Xuanyuan Jing immediately pulled himself out of the heavy burden of the rebellion and squatted down to look his little girl in the eye: "What's wrong? What's wrong with that?"

Xiao Lanxing pinched her nose: "Stinky."

The pig's dying screams prevented the little girl from hearing the conversation earlier; she's simply here to express her own thoughts.

Xuanyuan Jing: "Pork is like this, it has a smell, so many people don't like to eat it."

Upon hearing this, the little girl wrinkled her nose. "No, pork is delicious."

Xuan Yuanjing didn't know what kind of life the little girl had lived before she came to his side. Hearing this, he assumed that someone had taken the little girl to try it before, and felt a little sorry for her. "Perhaps the person who made it for you before used some special method."

According to Xuan Yuanjing's experience, pork has a natural fishy smell that is difficult to remove, and some families with limited means do not like to eat it.

Xiao Lanxing still felt something was wrong.

System: [What he said is true.]

Xiao Lanxing stopped speaking, tilting her head: "But I remember pork is delicious."

The system whispered: "That's because the pigs you've eaten before were all castrated."

Without blinking, Xiao Lanxing asked Xuanyuan Jing, "Daddy, I remember now, castrated pigs don't smell bad!"

Then, she asked innocently, "Daddy, can you find me a castrated pig? I want to eat Dongpo pork."

After saying that, the little girl's mind flashed through many foods related to pigs. She swallowed and counted on her fingers, saying, "Meat can be made into Dongpo pork, and it can also be made into pork stew with vermicelli."

Xuanyuan Jing was about to ask who told her that, something about being castrated, because that was somewhat...

But before she could even open her mouth, the little girl started rambling on and on.

"Pig heads can be used to make braised dishes, and pig ears and pig tongues are also delicious."

"Pig brains can be used in hot pot."

"Braised pig's head and cold pig's head meat are also delicious."

"Oh, you can also stir-fry it."

The more Xiao Lanxing talked, the more saliva welled up in her mouth, and she finally couldn't help but slurp it out.

Afraid that Xuan Yuanjing wouldn't be interested, she glanced at him and then started counting on her fingers: "Twice-cooked pork, braised pork cheek, stir-fried pork head..."

After muttering about several kinds, the little girl started talking about pork neck: "Pork neck is also delicious in dishes, and there's also pork shoulder, which can be used to make char siu, grilled or pan-fried, all of which are delicious."

"We can make sweet and sour pork in the front row... Hmm, this seems to require pineapple. Daddy, do we not have any pineapple here?"

"It's okay if you don't have pineapple, you can just have sweet and sour sauce."

"Then there are pig's trotters. You can stew them or braise them. I like to eat pig's trotters."

"The roasted pig's trotters smell amazing."

The little girl mumbled about countless pork-related dishes, drooling as she spoke, looking like a little glutton—utterly adorable.

As Xuanyuan Jing listened, his attention was drawn to the little girl's adorable appearance. He couldn't stop smiling, thinking that his little star was just too cute.

I didn't hear much of what the girl said after that.

Pei Qingzhu, who was standing to the side, couldn't stand it anymore after listening for a while. She coughed lightly and said, "Um, Princess, where did you get all this information from?"

He's a well-traveled man with a lot of experience, so how come he's never heard of anyone being able to make pork in so many different ways?

Is it... really that delicious?