The servants from the Imperial Kitchen delivered the milk tea portioned by The Seventh Prince to various places.
The first delivery arrived at the Hall of Six in the Eastern Garden.
The princes were currently on a break and were quite surprised to see the Imperial Kitchen staff arrive.
Grand Tutor Fang: "The study hall does not require meal delivery. Have you lost your way?"
The Imperial Kitchen servant finished bowing and, with a smile, placed the food box on Grand Tutor Fang's lectern. "This is a new beverage developed by His Highness the Seventh Prince. He instructed us to deliver it to the esteemed princes and their tutor."
"Something sent by Seventh Brother?"
The Fourth Prince lifted his head from his small desk, abandoned his pillow, and walked over curiously. "What is it?"
The Fifth and Sixth Princes also gathered around.
The Sixth Prince said, "He must have been thinking of me, primarily."
"Even this old tutor has a share?" Grand Tutor Fang chuckled and beckoned to the three elder princes. "Don't stand on ceremony. Come and try some."
At his words, the atmosphere in the study hall instantly became lively, with a circle of people surrounding the two food boxes.
"This is brewed using His Majesty's tea cakes and fine cow's milk," explained the Imperial Kitchen servant. "However, the head steward instructed that as it contains some taro and cassava which might be hard to digest, the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Princes should not indulge too much. The tutor should keep an eye on them."
As soon as the bamboo tube milk tea was taken out, its sweet and fragrant aroma instantly won over these young princes.
The bamboo straws were also a very convenient arrangement. The food boxes were insulated, so the drink was still quite hot when delivered. One sip warmed the whole body.
"This is so delicious. Seventh Brother is truly kind," the Fourth Prince praised sincerely.
The Sixth Prince took a sip from each flavor, staking his claim, and declared domineeringly, "All of these are mine now!"
The First, Second, and Third Princes were more refined, each picking one.
The Second Prince took a taste and raised an eyebrow. "If this could be produced in quantity, the various ministers working in the palace would likely be very fond of it."
The Third Prince said, "It's actually rather ordinary. I wonder which palace servant taught Seventh Brother this."
"Before saying that, I suggest Third Brother put down the bamboo tube in his hand first," the First Prince retorted with a dry laugh. "I, however, think Second Brother's suggestion is excellent. In this bitter cold, setting up a stall for sale in the offices of the Six Ministries would both generate income and provide convenience for the ministers to stave off hunger."
Grand Tutor Fang was quite pleased that The Seventh Prince had included him when sending the milk tea. He took a sip of the hot drink, glanced at the three older princes, and snorted with a laugh. "The ministers receive their salaries from the imperial palace, and now they'd have to spend their silver here too."
The First Prince coughed violently a few times, exchanged an awkward smile with the Second Prince, and quietly sipped his milk tea.
The atmosphere in the study hall became much more relaxed and comfortable because of this cup of milk tea on a winter's day.
-
In the rear palace.
The fact that The Seventh Prince had created a novel beverage wasn't particularly attention-grabbing in itself. However, he had only sent it to the Empress and Imperial Consort Xuan, which piqued the curiosity of the other consorts who didn't receive the new drink to the fullest.
They longed to know what it tasted like, but when they sent people to the Imperial Kitchen to ask for it, the staff there said it would take three more days before it was available.
Shunningning Palace.
A rich aroma of tea and milk filled the room.
Princess Zhiyi's fondness for her never-met Seventh Brother increased again and again. She finished her cup somewhat sheepishly. "Consort Xuan, do you know what Seventh Brother likes? I want to give him a gift."
Imperial Consort Xuan: "I don't know. Perhaps Zhiyi can find an opportunity to ask him herself?"
Princess Zhiyi hesitated. "But my other brothers don't like to play with me."
Imperial Consort Xuan: "The Seventh Prince won't be like that."
Consort Guo, sitting across from Imperial Consort Xuan, patted her own daughter's head and said to the Consort, "Sister, in the entire palace, aside from the Empress, The Seventh Prince only shared this with you. It shows he likes you."
Imperial Consort Xuan smiled. "I kept him for a meal last time."
Shunningning Palace housed her and Consort Guo. Princess Zhiyi was Consort Guo's daughter, but her rank was too low to have the qualification to raise a princess; the princess needed to be raised under the name of the principal consort in residence.
By convention, Imperial Consort Xuan could have taken the princess to raise herself, even cutting off the princess's contact with Consort Guo.
But she did not. She never interfered with the mother-daughter bond between Consort Guo and Princess Zhiyi and even showed them much kindness and care.
The Emperor never came to Shunningning Palace, yet Consort Guo was content to stay here because in this place, she could personally raise her own daughter.
The Emperor's favor was but fleeting clouds; how could it compare to the importance of her daughter? She was grateful to Imperial Consort Xuan.
Consort Guo said softly, "The Seventh Prince likes you. Why not take this opportunity to petition His Majesty to raise a prince? I know, sister, your heart aches for that child you lost back then. But the rest of your life is still long; you must think of the future, mustn't you?"
Imperial Consort Xuan had followed Emperor Chongzhao from very early on.
When Emperor Chongzhao was still a prince, she had been with child once, but it was lost before birth. Since then, she had avoided the Emperor. The rumors of their extremely poor relationship emerged at that time, though these rumors subsided considerably after the emperor ascended the throne and enfeoffed her as an imperial consort.
Imperial Consort Xuan said, "If I were trying to make up for something, I would have taken Zhiyi to raise long ago. But that won't do. Transference might ease my own past pain, but for the child who becomes the object of that transference, it is unfair. Because my kindness to him would not be entirely for his own sake."
Consort Guo said, "What difference does that make?"
Imperial Consort Xuan: "Zhiyi, Consort Xuan asks you, if I liked you because I couldn't be good to someone else, and therefore was good to you, would you be happy?"
Princess Zhiyi thought for a moment. "It seems... not very happy."
Imperial Consort Xuan: "You see, it's like that. Children are very sensitive; they can sense whether adults love them or not. If The Seventh Prince were raised under my care, and I doted on him and tried to make up for the loss of that unborn child, it would be unfair both to The Seventh Prince and to that child."
Consort Guo: "Sister, you live too clearly."
Imperial Consort Xuan stood up and stretched. "Being clear is better than being confused. Didn't you make a small cart that can pull people for Zhiyi?"
Consort Guo: "Yes, I did."
"Make another one. I'll help you."
"What for?"
Imperial Consort Xuan said, "Shunningning Palace received The Seventh Prince's beverage. We must send a return gift."
-
Zichen Hall.
When Prince Ming arrived, he saw palace servants distributing something. Upon asking, he found out it was a new beverage. Out of curiosity, he took a cup to try.
He stepped into the Western Warmth Chamber. "Imperial Brother, this drink is quite good! Tea is nice to drink, but sometimes it's too bland. Did the Imperial Kitchen newly develop this?"
Emperor Chongzhao looked up from his desk, puzzled. "What newly researched beverage?"
Prince Ming was also puzzled. "Imperial Brother hasn't tried it?"
He shook the bamboo tube in his hand. "Here, this thing."
"Shouldn't any new things researched by the Imperial Kitchen be presented to Imperial Brother first? Could it be that this is actually a half-finished product, given to the servants to try first? But the ingredients seem too fine for that," Prince Ming sniffed carefully. "Such tea fragrance cannot be brewed from cheap tea leaves."
Emperor Chongzhao put down his memorial. "Yu Decai, what is going on?"
Eunuch Yu said, "Actually, this is something developed by His Highness the Seventh Prince. He shared some with the palace servants at Zichen Hall who have been looking after him."
"That lad?" Emperor Chongzhao asked, "Who else did he give it to?"
"The Phoenix Perch Palace, the Palace of Tranquil Peace, the princes at the academy, and Grand Tutor Fang all received some."
"He distributed it only among those he knows."
"Indeed."
After replying, Eunuch Yu fell silent. Emperor Chongzhao glanced at him, thinking to himself that this old thing was becoming more and more lacking in perception.
He cleared his throat. "And what about Ours?"
"Uh..."
Eunuch Yu hemmed and hawed.
Prince Ming became intrigued. "What is it that you can't say?"
Eunuch Yu gave a light cough. "The Seventh Prince said that you told him you don't like hot tea."
Emperor Chongzhao: "..."
Prince Ming was taken aback for a moment, then burst into laughter, rocking back and forth. "Oh dear, Brother, dear Brother, you can't blame my little nephew for this. You said it yourself."
Emperor Chongzhao's inner thoughts aligned perfectly with those of the imperial consorts who hadn't received the new beverage in the rear palace at that moment. In truth, he could have it immediately with just one order, but he simply couldn't bring himself to lower his face and ask.
He had always been the one for whom others provided the steps and saved face; when had he ever actively stepped down himself?
He shot a glance at the thick-skinned Prince Ming, who was there to mooch food and drink. "One would think the Prince's estate couldn't afford to feed you." Suddenly remembering something, he asked, "Where did he get the tea leaves for the beverage?"
Eunuch Yu: "From Your Majesty's own stock."
Recalling his youngest son's brazen manner when snatching his incense burner, a sense of foreboding immediately welled up in Emperor Chongzhao's heart. "...Which stock? How much did he take?"
"All of your treasured collection. He took it all to the Great Imperial Kitchen."
The hand holding the memorial trembled slightly.
"All... all of it?"
Thump!
He slammed the table violently. "He wrecks Our treasured collection and doesn't even give Us a single cup! Yu Decai, you go! Tell the Great Imperial Kitchen to make another batch and send it all to Us!"
After slamming the table, he instantly reined in his angry expression. While his heart ached as if bleeding, he addressed the stunned Prince Ming with an air of utter reasonableness, snorting, "Our tea, how could We not drink it? Isn't that right?"
Prince Ming was filled with admiration.
"Brother, you really are..."
Indeed, an emperor's skin thickness could be adjusted at will.
-
Elsewhere, Qu Dubian left the remaining unused tea cakes at the Great Imperial Kitchen.
These were the Emperor's things. The Great Imperial Kitchen had just been purged and cleaned up, and they didn't have the nerve to embezzle them.
He walked to a small pavilion and told Wen Xiaochun to place the separately reserved portion of milk tea on the stone table inside.
"Your Highness, why are you leaving it here?"
Qu Dubian said, "For the big black moth."
Big black moth?
Ye Xiaoyuan remembered. It was the person His Highness had insisted on having a few days ago. Heard it was some shadow guard by the Emperor's side who had saved His Highness.
But that was a shadow guard. Why would he accept His Highness's milk tea?
Still, they didn't want to dampen their young master's enthusiasm. It showed His Highness had a kind heart, remembering the good of those who saved him.
Qu Dubian checked the distance between him and Yi Shier: [5 meters]
Very close. So Yi Shier must have heard what he just said.
Would a shadow guard drink milk tea?
Qu Dubian left the milk tea there and walked away without looking back.
The area around the pavilion was very quiet. The cleaning palace servants had finished their work and stayed away from the spot.
A shadow suddenly appeared by the stone table.
Yi Shier, still wearing his half-mask, hesitantly reached out and touched the milk tea on the table. The slightly scalding sensation made him instinctively pull his hand back.
A few seconds later, he picked it up again and, along with the milk tea, vanished from the pavilion.
Of course, a shadow guard couldn't drink milk tea while on duty.
But he wasn't one anymore.
【Name: Yi Shier
Favorability: 5】
Qu Dubian, who had already walked quite far away, heard the reminder. He clasped his little hands behind his back and looked up at the sky.
The favorability levels of the few romanceable characters on the list were like slow-growing longevity vines. Every tiny increase was a cause for quiet satisfaction.
Yi Shier returned to his quarters.
After leaving the shadow guards, he had become a martial arts instructor at the training grounds, which barely counted as having a place to recuperate. His previous injuries were too severe, and the smell of blood might offend the Seventh Prince, so he hadn't shown himself, planning to wait until fully healed.
Every three days, a different shadow guard would bring him the antidote.
This time, upon returning, Yi Shier saw another bottle of medicine on his table. He took out a pill and swallowed it, then quietly changed the dressings on his wounds. After finishing, he fished out a volume of storybooks from under his pillow.
He opened the book to the page he left off, and while reading, he drank the milk tea.
After a while, he said softly, "Still not leaving? If you want some, I can share a bit with you."
The shadow guard who delivered the medicine and hadn't left yet: "..."
Who's jealous? What are you showing off for, you wretched fellow!
The shadow guard turned and left.
A few days later, milk tea, this novel beverage, became all the rage in the imperial palace. As the saying goes, when those above have a preference, those below will surely follow. The Emperor stubbornly maintained his habit of not drinking hot tea, adding ice to his milk tea even in the middle of winter.
Qu Dubian generously shared the recipe for milk tea. It was actually very simple to begin with; even if he didn't tell, others would figure it out.
The imperial consorts got creative with milk tea, fully unleashing the Great Zhou people's initiative when it came to food.
A hundred varieties bloomed.
Qu Dubian sampled many of the new flavors.
Eventually, a small stall selling milk tea was even set up in the offices of the Six Ministries and other departments. It was ordered by the Emperor himself, charging only a few symbolic copper coins per cup, mainly for the convenience of the ministers.
The Emperor gave two-tenths of the stall's earnings to Qu Dubian.
Although Qu Dubian thought it was a rare day when the sun rose from the west for his cheap father to remember him, the money was actually neither here nor there for him. He wasn't short of funds and had nowhere to spend them. If he ever needed money, he could just... well, take it directly from the Purple Aurora Hall.
Gradually, this trend blew into the common folk.
The shadow guards around the Emperor naturally knew all about it too, but they were professionals. They would never let a craving be stirred by a mere sip of a drink.
They were the Emperor's blades hidden in the shadows. The moment they chose to become shadow guards, their emotions and desires were destined to die within their shells.
After the routine training report concluded, the Shadow Guard Commander said, "Good. If there are any who secretly go to buy milk tea, don't blame this commander for being merciless."
A small voice came from the ranks: "Reporting, Commander. Actually... someone has already had some."
The Shadow Guard Commander frowned, his tone turning cold. "Who!"
Someone who couldn't resist such a trivial temptation absolutely could not remain among the shadow guards. How else could they protect His Majesty's safety?
The shadow guard who delivered the antidote said, "It's Yi Shier. This subordinate saw him drinking it while reading storybooks."
"..."
"..."
A long, drawn-out silence followed.
The Shadow Guard Commander declared, "He's just a babysitter! What does he know about being a shadow guard!"
