“Prepare the meal!”
“Prepare an extra bowl of plain congee. Put nothing else in it!”
“Send for the imperial physician!”
After a busy morning, Ye Jingchen was both tired and hungry, but seeing Ye Jinghe, whom he had already brought back to the Eastern Palace, made him feel especially satisfied.
After issuing his orders in an orderly fashion, Ye Jingchen took Ye Jinghe to wash up briefly. He personally washed the child’s face and hands. Throughout it all, Ye Jinghe cooperated obediently, but he remained silent, his blank little face showing no extra expression.
By the time they finished washing, the meal was already on the table.
Ye Jingchen did not have the palace attendants serve the dishes, nor did he eat first. Instead, he picked up the bowl of plain congee he had specifically ordered and fed Ye Jinghe himself.
Ye Jinghe cooperated very well. When told to open his mouth, he opened it, and when told to swallow, he swallowed.
Ye Jingchen was very satisfied as he fed him, and Ye Jinghe also ate very seriously, but the palace attendants serving beside them all looked strange.
A table full of mountain-and-sea delicacies sat there, yet he would only feed the Fifth Imperial Prince plain congee. What did His Highness the Crown Prince mean by this?
Had he truly changed his ways, or had he thought up some new way to torment the Fifth Imperial Prince?
At Chengqian Palace, Consort Shu finally waited for the Emperor after the morning court session and went forward to cry and complain.
“Your Majesty, you must stand up for this consort!”
“His Highness the Crown Prince stormed into Changchun Palace early this morning and took Jinghe away. Who knows how he plans to torment Jinghe.”
“Although Jinghe is not this consort’s biological child, this consort has always treated him as my own, caring for him with great care and not bearing to let him suffer even the slightest hardship. I beg Your Majesty to order the Crown Prince to return Jinghe to this consort!”
The Emperor listened in confusion, not knowing what had happened.
Zhang Shunde quickly leaned close to his ear and informed him that Ye Jingchen had gone to Changchun Palace and taken Ye Jinghe away.
Zhang Shunde had attended morning court with the Emperor. After court, a little eunuch had informed him of the matter immediately, but the report had been very brief, and he knew nothing about the cause or the sequence of events.
The Emperor frowned. Looking at the tear-streaked Consort Shu, a look of disgust appeared in his eyes.
One after another, they all tried to sow discord between the Crown Prince and his brothers right in front of him!
“Consort Shu, why are you so certain that the Crown Prince took Jinghe away in order to torment him? Slandering the heir apparent is a serious crime!”
Consort Shu’s body trembled, and she clenched her teeth. “Your Majesty, the Crown Prince’s disgust for Jinghe is well known. If he did not take Jinghe away to torment him, then what else could he be doing? Your Majesty, Jinghe is also your child. You must save him!”
“Shut up! Do you know what you are saying?” the Emperor roared in fury.
“This consort knows she has spoken out of turn, but right now this consort is only an ordinary mother worried about her child’s safety. I beg Your Majesty to pardon me!”
“What a fine ‘ordinary mother worried about her child’s safety’!” the Emperor sneered. “Do you really think I am blind and deaf, and don’t know how you treat Jinghe?!”
At those words, Consort Shu’s body trembled, but her heart was unusually calm.
She had not done anything to harm Ye Jinghe. She had merely ignored him and allowed the palace attendants to bully him. Even if the Emperor wanted to punish her, at most he could only punish her for lax discipline over subordinates.
But if the Emperor knew full well what Ye Jinghe had suffered in Changchun Palace and still chose to ignore it completely…
He really was the bastard born to a lowly palace maid, with no place at all in the Emperor’s heart and no value to her either!
But even if he was worthless, she had raised him for so long. She could not let that be for nothing!
She did not believe that Ye Jingchen, who had loathed Ye Jinghe so much before, would now truly treat him sincerely!
“This consort has never mistreated Jinghe. As for the Crown Prince, how he will treat Jinghe remains to be seen. If Your Majesty does not believe me, why not go to the Eastern Palace and see for yourself?”
The Emperor also wanted to know why Ye Jingchen had brought Ye Jinghe from Changchun Palace to the Eastern Palace. He would go to the Eastern Palace, but not now, and he certainly would not take Consort Shu with him.
“Get back to your Changchun Palace. I will investigate this matter myself!” The Emperor swept his sleeve and left.
Consort Shu wiped away the tears at the corners of her eyes, rose gracefully, brushed her sleeves, and turned to leave.
With her head lowered, a meaningful smile spread across her face.
At the Eastern Palace.
After feeding Ye Jinghe more than half a bowl of plain congee, Ye Jingchen did not let him continue.
Ye Jinghe stared longingly at the porridge.
After being hungry for so long, how could a few mouthfuls of plain congee possibly fill him up?
Ye Jingchen felt sorry for him, but thinking that the child’s stomach must have been damaged by starvation and was not fit for eating too much or for rich food, he hardened his heart and ordered the plain congee to be taken away.
Immediately, the palace attendants looked at Ye Jingchen with even stranger expressions.
But their looks were very subtle, and Ye Jingchen was truly starving. He was only focused on appeasing his own stomach and did not notice at all.
After the meal, a palace attendant brought tea cups for rinsing the mouth, and Ye Jinghe had one too.
The cup was handed to him. He accepted it blankly, at a loss, and could only look at Ye Jingchen.
Ye Jingchen drank water, and he followed suit, but he did not know the tea was meant for rinsing the mouth. He had not eaten enough to begin with, and the tea was a bright emerald green and gave off a fragrant aroma, so he swallowed the tea directly.
“Your Highness…” Fangcao hurried to snatch the cup from his hand. “This is for rinsing the mouth. You can’t drink it.”
But Ye Jinghe would not let go, gripping the cup tightly.
He was small and weak, but his status was noble. How could Fangcao dare to use real force? So the two were deadlocked.
This child was surprisingly protective of his food!
“Little brother Jinghe…” Ye Jingchen called to him, wanting him to let go, but the instant Ye Jinghe turned to look at him after hearing his voice, Ye Jingchen fell silent.
Because the look in Ye Jinghe’s eyes was no longer dazed and foolish. It was fierce and ruthless, like a wolf cub guarding its food, and his expression gradually became ferocious.
Ye Jingchen thought something was wrong. He stepped forward and pulled the thin little child into his arms. The next moment, the child in his arms went berserk, struggling desperately, kicking and flailing, screaming and shouting incoherently.
The cup fell to the floor, splashing warm tea all over the two of them.
“Your Highness…”
The palace attendants had never seen such a scene. They panicked, and several little maids rushed forward together, wanting to separate Ye Jinghe and Ye Jingchen, but they could not get close at all.
“Everyone back off. Go see whether the imperial physician has arrived!” Ye Jingchen quickly ordered.
“Your Highness, please let go of the Fifth Imperial Prince, or you’ll be hurt by him!” Fangfei said anxiously.
Ye Jingchen held Ye Jinghe tightly and would not let go. After taking several kicks and getting scratched several times by his hands, he used his feet to lock Ye Jinghe’s legs and his arms to pin down Ye Jinghe’s hands.
With his hands and feet unable to move, Ye Jinghe grew frantic and tried to bite.
He bit hard into Ye Jingchen’s arm.
A wave of intense pain spread from his arm throughout his body. Ye Jingchen clenched his teeth and forced himself not to cry out.
“Little brother Jinghe, don’t be afraid. No one will take your things, and no one will hurt you anymore.” Enduring the pain, he still had to soothe Ye Jinghe, who had entered a berserk state and become far more dangerous.
“Physician Zhang is here!”
“Imperial physician, hurry and save His Highness! The Fifth Imperial Prince has gone mad!”
As Physician Zhang entered the bedchamber, he saw such a chaotic scene. The old physician strode briskly over to Ye Jingchen. With a flip of his wrist, a silver needle appeared in his hand. His hand moved and the needle fell, and in an instant the child in his arms stopped moving.
Seeing the miraculous power of traditional Chinese medicine up close for the first time, Ye Jingchen was so shocked he could not close his mouth.
Physician Zhang calmly picked up the child, who had already fallen into unconsciousness, and placed him on the lounge chair beside them.