Chapter 29: The Conversation Head

  The wine was the best lamb wine, Jian Xi had it heated up and poured some for Huang Jingchen. "There's no outsider here, let's all sit down and eat together!" Zhao Che said to the three servants standing by.

  "Yes!" Xi answered and sat down, but Fengxi and Shunzi didn't dare sit, looking at Huang Jingchen.

  "His Majesty has allowed you to sit, so please do so!" Huang Jingchen raised his eyelids and put down his chopsticks, saying this, Xiang Xi and the others finally sat down beside him, but they only dared to sit with half their buttocks on the seat.

  "Let's have some fun, pour me a cup too. It's no fun for Old Huang to drink alone, I'll keep him company and you all pour yourselves a cup, let's make it lively!" Zhao Zhan ordered with a smile.

  "Your Highness, you're still young, drink less!" Huang Jingchen bowed his hands in gratitude and said with concern.

  "Huang Bo, try some of this cucumber that was just picked this morning! How's the taste?" Zhao Ke said as he pushed the plate forward.

  "It's like a dream to be able to eat freshly picked cucumbers in this cold winter!" Huang Jingchen took a bite of the cucumber, feeling refreshed and cool. He chewed slowly, sighing with emotion.

  "Hehe, Huang Bo loves to eat, our warm room has plenty, even if the whole house eats it's enough!" Zhao said with a smile in his eyes, "Come on, you three also eat, don't be polite!" Seeing this, the three of them all reached out their chopsticks towards the fish that was still opening its mouth.

  "Huang Bo, try this eggplant again. This dish was also cooked by me!" Zhao Che gave Huang Jingchen another piece of eggplant. This braised eggplant was his favorite. When he was a soldier, he could eat two big bowls of rice with the sauce from the vegetables.

  "Hmm, the flavor is good, and it's not quite the same as the method used in the palace?" Huang Jingchen had been in the palace for many years and could be said to have eaten his way through all the delicious food in the palace, but he had never had eggplant cooked this way before.

  "Master Wang's culinary skills are so impressive that even the two kitchen maids in the small kitchen admire him and want to learn from him!" Xixi said.

  "Your Highness, the saint said 'a gentleman keeps a distance from the kitchen', so it's still better to visit the kitchen less often. If you want to eat something, you can just order the servants to make it!" Huang Jingchen put down his chopsticks and said.

  "Heh heh, Huang Bo, this so-called saint saying such things can only be a hypocrite. He's not hungry, if you don't give him food for three days, I bet he'll crawl into the kitchen!"

  Everyone at the table was amused by him, and the slightly dull atmosphere was broken. The three little guys took advantage of the opportunity to taste each dish, with a satisfied expression on their faces.

  "Come on, let's toast to Huang Bo together. He works the hardest for the affairs of the mansion every day, we should thank him!" Zhao Che proposed, raising his cup.

  "Your Highness, how dare I!" Huang Jingchen stood up in trepidation, still having some self-awareness.

  "Huang Bo, I'm younger and the household has always relied on you to manage things. It's only right that I respect you!" Zhao Ye pulled Huang Jingchen down to sit and said, first drinking down the wine in his cup. He savored it, tasting this legendary Song Dynasty wine, but found it wasn't as good as he thought, weak and flavorless. He estimated it was probably just a 'low-alcohol beer', not suitable for a 'modern person' like him.

  Having tasted the wine, Zhao Zhe had a good idea of its strength. He held up his half cup and exchanged cups with everyone else. The dishes were served in five flavors, the wine was served in three rounds, and several people began to show signs of intoxication, their faces red and flushed. At this point, Xiao Huangmen brought out the melon soup again.

  "This is really good stuff, usually we can only get it at the beginning of summer!" Huang Jingchen took a sip of the soup and smiled in satisfaction.

  "Huang Bo, I think when the next batch of vegetables is picked, we can send them to the palace for Father Emperor and the ladies to taste the freshness. How about that?" Zhao Yi said as he poured another cup of wine for Huang Jingchen.

  "Your Highness, absolutely not! If you go and offer yourself, I'm afraid our household will never have a peaceful day again!"

  "Huang Bo, why is this?" Zhao Che asked in puzzlement.

  "Heh heh, Prince Wang, you still don't understand those people in the capital. Not to mention the nobles in the palace, but even the various princes and marquises will come knocking on your door!"

  "I am also the prince, how dare they still try to snatch it away!"

  "Prince, you're still young and don't know the ways of those people. Although they don't dare to openly offend you, they can't help but do evil behind your back. Have you forgotten the words Mother sent you?" Huang Jingchen said, stroking his smooth chin.

  "Foolish and dull!" Zhao Yi nodded, "Huang Bo, I've learned from you, the princess is teaching me to be low-key!"

  "The word 'low-key' is quite fitting for Master Wang. This time, he handled the matter of Chen Tang very well, making him suffer a loss, lose money, and yet still feel grateful and unable to express his grievances." Huang Jingchen said.

  "Oh, Chen Tang won't make a big deal out of this now. I'm still worried that Father Emperor will find out and say I'm being reckless!"

  "Haha, Prince Wang, this matter will not be hidden from Chen Tang for long. He will definitely order those who know about it to keep their mouths shut and not leak a single word. You don't have to worry, Prince!" Huang Jingchen said with a big laugh, finding the prince's words amusing.

  "Hmph, if he dares to utter a single word of nonsense, we can make him roll up his bedding and scram tomorrow! This time, he was disrespectful to the prince, so he deserves to be taught a lesson!" Shunzi chimed in, seemingly not taking the prefect seriously at all.

  "Shunzi, you've had too much to drink, don't talk nonsense!" Huang Jingchen scolded with a glare, Shunzi was so frightened that he lowered his head and didn't dare make another sound.

  "Huang Bo, you said I punished Chen Tang, will you think I'm too cruel?" Zhao Shu's son asked.

  "Haha, how could Your Highness think this way? Chen Tang's offense is such that if we make a big deal out of it, we can confiscate his property and wipe out his clan. Even if we downplay it, he should at least be dismissed from office and never be able to recover for the rest of his life. But Your Highness only let him suffer some financial loss, which others will see as an act of kindness and generosity on your part!" Huang Jingchen listened to the young master's words, shaking his head with a smile.

  "It's still good to have a powerful father, no one can beat their own father, although they may have gotten away with it cleverly, but it's not much different from being openly defiant. Everyone has to praise him, but it's just that they can't afford to offend his father!" Zhao Xiao thought to himself, but he couldn't say it out loud. "Really? I thought what he did was quite excessive!"

  "The king should have killed him to eliminate future troubles, he escaped this time, and it's hard to avoid having some disloyal thoughts!" Shunzi seemed a bit drunk, after drinking another cup of wine, he poured himself another one.

  "Shunzi, your words are wrong!" Zhao Ke tapped the fish in the plate with his chopsticks and said, "Laozi said 'to govern a large country is like cooking small fish', do you understand what this means?" He pointed at Xianxi and asked.

  "Is governing a country like cooking?" Shunzi guessed literally, Zhao Ke shook his head and didn't speak, looking at Ouxi.

  "Isn't ruling the country as simple as cooking?" Xiangxi thought for a moment before speaking, Jianxi secretly rolled her eyes and didn't say anything. He knew that Wang Ye's question must have had another meaning, and he definitely couldn't figure it out. What Xiangxi said was even more unreliable.

  "Your Highness, speak up!" Huang Jingchen was taken aback. Why would the prince say such a thing? Did this child have some idea?

  "This sentence has a story, in the late Xia Dynasty, Yi Yin suggested that Shang Tang stop paying tribute to Xia Jie. Xia Jie was furious and mobilized the army of the nine Yi tribes to attack Shang. Yi Yin immediately advised Shang Tang: 'Xia Jie can still mobilize troops, our time to attack him is not yet ripe.' So Shang Tang again paid tribute to Xia Jie. When Yi Yin thought the time was ripe, he stopped paying tribute again, but because of Xia Jie's brutal behavior, this time he could no longer mobilize his army. Then Yi Yin suggested that Shang Tang start a war. Shang Tang quickly defeated Xia Jie's army and exiled him to Nanzhong, the Xia Dynasty perished from then on, and the vassals all supported the virtuous Shang Tang as the Son of Heaven, establishing the Shang Dynasty. The wise Laozi understood the way of governing a country like cooking small fish.

  Zhao Zhan took a sip of wine and said: 'After that, people's understanding of this sentence is different, some see it as benevolent, some see it as wise. My understanding is: doing things is like cooking, you have to grasp the fire timing well, when the fire should be big, it should be big, when it should be small, it should be small, only then can the flavor be good!'"

  "Prince Wang, what does your argument have to do with this matter?" Shunzi asked, scratching his head.

  "Alas, Shunzi, you still need to read more books!" Huang Jingchen sighed and said. At this time, he had already found out that Wang Ye was not an ordinary child, and the words he spoke were very profound. "Shunzi, think about who Chen Tang is?"

  "Chen Tang is a minor official under Cai Jing, who is good at deceiving his superiors and subordinates. He has gained Cai's trust, and even after Cai stepped down as prime minister, he still wants to show the same filial piety as before. After Cai was reappointed, Chen was immediately promoted to be the prefect of Gongzhou, a six-level promotion! But we don't have to fear them!" Shunzi seemed to understand this very well and thought for a moment before responding.

  "Ah, well said! After Cai Jing relied on the power of the noble consort to regain his position as prime minister, he immediately began to suppress and attack his opponents, and recklessly promoted his own confidants. Even the cats and dogs in their hometown were given a promotion, and now they have spread throughout the central government and provinces, with an unstoppable momentum!" Huang Jingchen said, "As the saying goes, 'when you hit a dog, you also hit its owner.' Chen Tang is Cai Jing's subordinate, if Your Highness kills him, it will inevitably offend Cai Jing. Although he can't do anything to us, it's hard to avoid creating resentment and alienating us. That way, we'll be taken advantage of by some people and hindered at every turn. Now, Your Highness is just teaching Chen Tang a lesson. Not only will Chen Tang become more obedient, but Cai Jing is also an intelligent person who won't fail to understand the reasoning behind it. He will only try to get along with us better. Is what I said correct, Your Highness?"

  "Hehe, Huang Bo, I didn't think that much, just feel that we bullied the county magistrate, Chen Tang still holds this official position, and in the future no one will dare to bully me again!" Zhao Che said with a 'pretentious' smile.

  "I drank a bit too much today, so I'll have you tell the kitchen to make a bowl of hangover soup. And then, Shunzi and Xi, come to my room and brew me a cup of tea with 'Longjing'!" Huang Jingchen instructed, pinching his forehead with his fingers. The three people responded in unison and left, leaving only Zhao Ke and the two of them in the room.