Chapter 25: The Prince's Difficult Days

  At the banquet, only Zhao Yi was a child, and everyone else had already poured their wine. He looked at the big steward with a smile, who was already eating with a happy expression. "Thanks to everyone's hospitality, I, the king, cannot drink, so let the big steward represent me and have a cup with everyone!" Zhao Yi said with a smile to Chen Tang and several others.

  "Thank you, Your Highness. I'm ashamed to death! The rebellious son dared to be rude to Your Highness, and I should have apologized first. Let me punish myself with three cups of wine!" Chen Tang stood up and said respectfully, then drank three cups of wine in a row.

  Magistrate Chen was being polite, but this cup of wine still needs to be drunk! Zhao Zhan let Ji give Chen Tang a refill and said, the steward and Chen Tang drank another cup together.

  "The second dish, eel stir-fried with crab meat and goose egg drop soup!" As he spoke, the second course arrived. "Your Highness, this eel stir-fried with crab meat is made with yellow eel and crab meat, which may not look impressive but has the effect of clearing heat and detoxifying, brightening the eyes and treating evil sores. It's truly a superior dish of river and sea delicacies. Your Highness, please try it to see if it suits your taste!" Chen Tang introduced with great enthusiasm, as if nothing unpleasant had happened. "As for this goose egg drop soup, it's made with goose eggs and goose palms, carefully stewed in a sand pot for several hours. After it's cooked, crushed scallions, ginger, and garlic are added, making the flavor not only warm the stomach but also deliciously fresh, most suitable for consumption at this time."

  "Ah, ah, it tastes good, let's eat together!" Zhao Yan took a bite and invited everyone to pick up their chopsticks.

  "The third dish, three precious slices, mandarin duck fried intestines!" It turned out that these three precious slices were actually raw fish slices. Could it be that the Japanese had learned this dish from China? Zhao Xiang lightly picked up a piece of meat and looked at it against the window, and it was so thin that it let out a glow. As they say, even thin paper can't compare to this.

  Eating Sanzhen dish, Zhao Che had some regret that eating raw fish slices without mustard, as if something was missing. Putting it in the future, I'm afraid this dish will cost hundreds of thousands of yuan. Thinking of this, he ate a few more mouthfuls, which can also be regarded as making up for the regret of his previous life.

  "The fourth dish, hand-washing crab, blood powder soup!" The waiter brought up another dish. "Hand-washing crab? What's that?" Zhao Zhe was stunned, he really hadn't expected to be able to eat crab again, but didn't know if it was sea crab or river crab.

  At this time, Chen Tang personally took the initiative to divide the crab meat among everyone and said casually: "Although it's past the right time to eat crabs, we can still enjoy them now, thanks to our good fortune of living by the canal!"

  Ji Xi saw Wang Ye staring at the crab, seemingly unsure of how to proceed. He hastily said, "Second Master, this is a live crab, cut it in half, sprinkle salt and pour wine on it, then mix it with ginger foam and orange pulp. This crab meat is delicious, one claw alone weighs six or seven liang, it's a great thing!" As he spoke, he peeled off the meat and fed it to Wang Ye's mouth.

  "This plate of steamed crab will probably cost a lot of money, right?" Zhao asked Chen Tang after taking a bite.

  "Yes, this dish will probably cost forty yuan!" Chen Tang said after some thought.

  "Alas!" Zhao Zhe put down his chopsticks and let out a deep sigh.

  "Your Highness, what's wrong with your appetite?" Chen Tang hastily asked.

  "This plate of steamed crabs is enough for our family to eat and drink for a day, but here it's only enough for one person. I feel heartbroken!" Zhao Yi said with a sad face.

  "Is the prince's monthly allowance not enough to spend?" Chen Tang knew that a king, with the title of Jiedushi, had an annual salary of 400 guan, and he was curious how a young child could worry about money.

  "Magistrate Chen, you don't know..." Zhao Zhe said with a bitter face, just halfway through his words, when suddenly a noisy commotion came from downstairs. Chen Tang hastily signaled to the clerk to go and investigate.

  Not much effort was required, and Chief Steward Li came up with a seemingly amused yet not quite smiling expression. "Chief Steward Li, what's going on down there?" Chen Tang asked.

  The chief steward looked embarrassed, and Zhao Chu continued: "The king's attendants have already added two rounds of dishes, drank more than ten jars of wine, and said they were not full, the kitchen couldn't keep up with the demand, so a quarrel broke out!" Everyone listened, their eyes all focused on the chief steward, wondering if he had starved these guards and sedan chair bearers for several days.

  "I'm afraid I've made a fool of myself, but as the king, my days are quite difficult now. The servants in the mansion haven't had meat to eat for almost two months, and today they must have slipped up and seen something joyful. You go and discipline them!" Zhao Che saw that the steward wanted to explain, so he immediately took over.

  "No need, Li Zhu Bo hurry up and let the kitchen prepare, how can we let Wang Ye's followers go hungry!" Chen Tang hurriedly stopped Xian Xi from getting up and instructed.

  "Thank you, Magistrate Chen. Since we still need to prepare, let them make a few more portions. My several bodyguards haven't eaten yet!" Zhao Yi said with some embarrassment.

  "Immediately order the servants to set up another table below and let several strong men take their seats!"

  "Pan Long, you should thank Magistrate Chen. I, the king, am incompetent and have not been able to provide you with a good meal for many days. Today, since Magistrate Chen has shown such kindness, you must eat more and eat well!" Zhao Ke said to the four strong men.

  "Thank you, Governor" Pan Long was a bit puzzled. He had been eating meat for every meal in the mansion and was getting tired of it. Why did the prince say such a thing? Never mind, since the prince told them to eat more, they wouldn't be polite anymore. He said to his servant: "Xiao Er, no need to prepare plates and bowls for us, just cook a fat sheep and two big geese!" Pan Long's brain was simple, he didn't think about it if he couldn't understand it. This time, however, he startled Chen Tang and the others, who really thought these people were not full!

  "What's wrong, Your Highness?" Chen Tang asked with concern, seeing Zhao Che's embarrassed look.

  "Magistrate Chen doesn't know, something happened in our mansion recently. The accountants embezzled the silver money from the mansion and created a deficit. Now we can only make ends meet with my meager salary. But then my uncle sent over a group of idle people, and some cats and dogs too. I couldn't drive them away, so I had to support them, making life even more difficult. Last month, Her Majesty rewarded me with 100,000 coins to buy some land and repair the house, but now the land prices are so high! The chief accountant was busy for half a day, but still couldn't buy a small estate!" Zhao Shi said pitifully, almost crying.

  "Children don't lie, this king's days are really not easy to pass!" Chen Tang had already eaten half a sheep while chatting with several strong men at the table, and he didn't seem to be pretending, now he believed Zhao Che's words eight-tenths.

  "Alas, I'm in a difficult situation now. When I left the palace, my father, the Emperor, taught me not to bully others with power, to treat subordinates well, follow rules and laws, and be a good person. But everywhere I go, people are stretching out their hands for money. Today, the prefecture wants two taxes, tomorrow the county wants head tax, even the reception fees in the countryside have to be paid by me. The most hateful one is that Zhang Yan, as soon as he opens his mouth, he wants 100,000 guan from me. Now I only have this waistband left, which was given to me by my father, the Emperor Taizong. Am I supposed to pawn it for him? Zhao Yi said with increasing anger, "And that Chen Zi'an, I and a few servants wanted to catch some rabbits to improve our lives, but he snatched them away from us. I told him my father is the current Emperor, but he still dared to chase me, treating me like a nobody! Today, I want to let them know that the Second Prince is not someone to be bullied!"

  After hearing Zhao's words, everyone at the banquet was shocked. Several officials from various provinces exchanged glances with each other, and it turned out that the governor was so corrupt that he had even embezzled funds meant for the prince's mansion, forcing the prince to consider selling the golden belt bestowed upon him by the emperor. Chen Tang's eyes were filled with admiration; the people from the Zhao household were even more shocked, thinking that their own lives hadn't been so miserable after all. In just one year, they had received so many rewards from the palace that they couldn't finish eating and drinking them all. Since the prince had issued an order to improve their food supply, every meal in the mansion now included meat, and everyone had new cotton-padded clothes made for them. Although there were some unclear expenses and a bit more taxes paid, it was just a drop in the bucket.

  "Your Highness, please have some more. You haven't had a chance to enjoy these delicacies for quite some time!" Or rather, seeing the joy in his eyes, he couldn't quite figure out why the prince would publicly 'humiliate' himself by smearing dirt on his own face, but he understood that the prince must have an ulterior motive, and quickly took the opportunity to seize the position of first supporting actor.

  "Alas, I, the steward, am also derelict in my duties, troubling the young master with these mundane matters every day!" The steward's reaction was not slow to come, and it was clear that he had already taken a liking to the idea. He could only yield to the corner, "The young master's estate is grand on the outside, but the days are actually very difficult. The young master practices thrift every day, and each meal has only one meat and one vegetable dish. However, the money is still not enough, and although there is some income from the farm, it is not enough to cover expenses. Her ladyship wants to acquire more property, but now the land prices are soaring, and the reward money is not sufficient!" He shook his head and drank a cup of wine, speaking with difficulty.

  The four Lis who were eating at the table next to them heard their conversation, suddenly stopped and put down the bones in their hands, standing behind Wang Ye again. Everyone felt ashamed, it turned out that Wang Ye himself rarely ate meat, but saved money to eat meat for himself every now and then. Although he was short of money, he had never owed his own salary, what a good master. But Chen Tang's eyes were not very friendly, Wang Ye was angry today because of his son, now as long as Wang Ye hummed, he would drive them out.

  Chen Tang's eyes were even more embarrassing, and the origin of that golden belt was something he knew about. It had been hidden in the inner treasury for a hundred years, and yet it was bestowed upon this young master, showing just how much the Emperor doted on him. His mother was also the Emperor's most favored concubine, and it was her efforts that allowed Chen Tang to regain his position. Recently, rumors had circulated in the capital about the Emperor intending to make the second prince the crown prince, but if the Emperor were to find out that his own son had been forced into such a state on his own turf, not even a whole row of people would be enough to chop... Chen Tang's thoughts made him break out in cold sweat, and he felt like he had grown thorns on his buttocks, unable to sit still any longer!