The Emperor laughed and said, "I knew it." After speaking, he eagerly picked up a dumpling and ate it. Instantly, his eyes lit up, "These wild vegetable dumplings are really delicious."
Sun Kui thought silently to himself: It’s not the wild vegetable dumplings that are delicious; it’s the ones made by Lady Zhaoyi that are tasty.
The Emperor ate five dumplings in a row. He hesitated before speaking: "How did Liang Zhaoyi... react?"
"What reaction?" Sun Kui did not understand.
The Emperor looked at Sun Kui without speaking. Only then did Sun Kui realize and carefully said, "The maidservant noticed that Lady Zhaoyi seemed the same as usual."
Sun Kui said, "The maidservant did not notice anything." Unexpectedly, the Emperor seemed afraid that Liang Zhaoyi might be unhappy.
Earlier when Liang Zhaoyi was present, he looked quite composed, but who knew he was uneasy inside.
The Emperor spoke disdainfully, "What can you see."
Sun Kui held back a laugh and said, "Your Majesty, are you afraid that Lady Zhaoyi might misunderstand your relationship with Miss Qin..." Before he could finish, the Emperor shot him a cold glance, scaring him into shutting his mouth quickly.
He raised his hand and lightly slapped himself, "The maidservant spoke too much."
The Emperor ignored Sun Kui and finished the remaining fifteen dumplings.
"Your Majesty, do you want more?" Sun Kui asked considerately, "If you haven’t had enough, the maidservant can fetch more from Lady Zhaoyi’s quarters."
"No need." The Emperor laughed and said, "If you go again, that brat Xiao Shi won’t give you even one."
"That’s quite possible." Sun Kui couldn’t help but chuckle, recalling Zhao Yao’s angry expression earlier, "His Highness really guards his food."
"Who does he take after, being so possessive and stingy?"
Sun Kui thought to himself: Your Majesty, His Highness is only stingy with you, but he’s generous to the Fourth Prince.
In the Fourth Prince’s tent, he was eating dumplings with Zhao Yao.
"Fourth Brother, you have to dip dumplings in vinegar, it makes them taste better."
The Fourth Prince didn’t really like vinegar: "I think they taste good without it."
"Fourth Brother, aren’t these wild vegetable dumplings the best?"
"Fourth Brother, I just went with Mother Consort to see Father Emperor." Zhao Yao said as he ate dumplings, "Father is in that Qin Xiulian’s tent. Out of curiosity, I took a look at Qin Xiulian, she’s really beautiful."
The Fourth Prince paused with his chopsticks and looked at Zhao Yao, "Do you know what beauty is?"
"Of course I do, how could I not? That Qin Xiulian is genuinely beautiful, no less than the Noble Princess Consort Rong."
The Fourth Prince’s brows furrowed, "Do you like her?"
"Huh?" Zhao Yao was confused by the question, "What do I like?"
"Do you like beautiful people?"
"I do, Fourth Brother, doesn’t everyone like beautiful people?" Zhao Yao said with his chopsticks, "They say everyone has an eye for beauty."
The Fourth Prince laughed, "You’re just a child, what do you know."
Zhao Yao pouted in defiance, "Fourth Brother, I may be young, but I know what’s beautiful and what’s not."
"Tenth Brother, everyone has an appreciation for beauty, but that sense of beauty must be measured..." The Fourth Prince stopped his chopsticks and began to sternly lecture Zhao Yao about the matter of admiring beauty.
Zhao Yao was baffled, not understanding why the Fourth Prince started lecturing him.
The Fourth Prince was worried Zhao Yao might be tempted by beauty, so he needed to talk to him about the pitfalls of being enthralled by it.
After listening for a while, Zhao Yao understood his Fourth Brother’s intention.
Fourth Brother was afraid he might become someone who loves beauty too much, so he specifically lectured him.
Fourth Brother, are you worrying too much? I’m only six years old, even if I’m fond of beauty, I can’t do anything about it.
Zhao Yao listened silently to the Fourth Prince’s lecture while quietly eating dumplings.
The Fourth Prince didn’t expect Zhao Yao to understand his words right away, given his young age. But precisely because he’s young, he needed to make him understand that indulging in beauty isn’t a good thing.
"Fourth Brother, do you want more?" Zhao Yao finished thirty dumplings but still felt unsatisfied and wanted more.
"I’ve had my fill, no more." The Fourth Prince had eaten just twenty dumplings. However, twenty dumplings weren’t considered too few for him. "Do you want more?"
"I could eat twenty more." Zhao Yao quickly stood up and said, "Fourth Brother, I’ll go back and continue eating dumplings." After saying that, he ran off like a gust of wind, fearing that if he stayed, Fourth Brother would lecture him again.
Watching Zhao Yao’s fleeing figure, the Fourth Prince smiled helplessly yet dotingly.
"Your Highness, you’ve scared the Tenth Prince away." Wei Mian teased, "You know how much he fears your lectures. Besides, the Tenth Prince is still young; what does he know about beauty?"