Chapter 316 (1/2)
Imperial Prince Jing felt very touched. His youngest son had finally started speaking to him!! Eating locusts was not a big deal. In fact, even if his son was feeding him poison it would taste like the sweetest candy in the world to him. After his youngest son completed his seafaring journey, he had improved his character a lot and was not as temperamental as before. His son hadn't caused any trouble despite being back for more than half a year and, instead, had caught the eye of the emperor. Imperial Prince Jing basked in the glory of his son every time he thought of the compliments that were traversing the capital.
Although he was very happy inwardly, Imperial Prince Jing still had his usual solemn and serious manner. He picked up his chopsticks and scooped up a generous amount of gra.s.shopper sauce. He copied his son's manner and spread it on top of a steamed bun. Right before he was about to take a large bite, Princess Consort Jing stopped him, ”Lord Husband, that...that is made from insects, are you sure you want to eat it?”
”Not a problem! Imperial Father once said that the people living in the mountainous southwest area of the country all use insects as food for their honored guests. In fact, some insects are quite nutritious and are high in something like...protein? Our son has eaten this with no problem, so as his father, what could happen?” Despite his wife trying to stop him, Imperial Prince Jing took a giant bite and then carefully chewed as he tasted it. The flavor was really quite good and reminded him of the savoriness of small shrimp.
Zhu Junyang ate as he talked, ”This gra.s.shopper sauce has been fermented so most people won't be allergic to it. Last time, the Head Steward Su, who is the personal steward of the emperor, ate some gra.s.shopper sauce that hadn't been fermented. He ended up having swelling all throughout his body and it was very itchy. Although gra.s.shopper sauce is very delicious, not everyone is able to enjoy it.”
Princess Consort Jing felt her appet.i.te completely disappear as she continued to think about her husband and son eating food that was made of disgusting insects. The locust plague from the coastal areas had also spread into the capital's area. All of the flowers in her garden had been eaten by the locusts. Luckily, the famous and valuable plants she had obtained from Tanggu Town had all been promptly moved into the gla.s.s greenhouse. Otherwise, they would have also been destroyed by the locusts.
When she thought about the camellia she brought back from Tanggu Town, Princess Consort Jing immediately felt pleased and proud. There were a lot of people who loved camellias in the capital. Out of those people, Princess Consort Jing and the wife of the imperial tutor, Lady Feng, were the ones who were the most obsessed. At first, these two ladies, who had the same likes, had a very close relations.h.i.+p and often spent time with each other exchanging techniques about raising flowers. Furthermore, they would set up camellia appreciation parties. These parties couldn't be attended by just anybody. Only people with the appropriate rank and right reputation could be invited by Princess Consort Jing and Lady Feng.
All of the n.o.ble young ladies and matrons in the capital clamored after invitations for the camellia appreciation parties. Whoever received an invitation could not only raise their heads among the other ladies in the future, but even their clans also felt like they had gained prestige.
Everyone with some status in the capital knew about the camellia parties. However, good things don't last forever. The two organizers of the events ended up having a falling out! Everyone in the capital knew that Imperial Prince Jing doted upon his wife, so he had people seek out famous and valuable camellias for her. This made Lady Feng happy and envious at the same time. She was happy because it meant that there were new camellias every year at the camellia appreciation party and envious because all of these camellias weren't hers to own. She could only admire them from afar.
Lady Feng was someone who truly loved flora. She not only loved flowers but was also an expert at raising them. She even once personally cultivated a new breed of camellias. Princess Consort Jing envied her talents. Thus, Princess Consort Jing also imitated her friend and began to personally take care of her beloved camellias. However, her later nickname of the 'slayer of flora' wasn't given to her without reason. Many of her precious camellias had been sent to their untimely deaths by her. Lady Feng tried to persuade her many times but Princess Consort Jing was now very interested in taking care of her own flowers, so she refused to listen to her friend. After Princess Consort Jing ended up killing a high quality eighteen scholar camellia, Lady Feng felt so heartbroken about it that she couldn't sleep well for several days and ended up having a fight with her. The two people were no longer friends anymore and the camellia parties no longer happened...
”Lady Mother, what are you thinking about?” The heir of Prince Jing was currently being bullied by his father to try the gra.s.shopper sauce. He looked towards his mother to ask for help but discovered that she was staring blankly into s.p.a.ce.
When Princess Consort Jing came back from her thoughts, she sighed and said, ”I don't know whether the valuable plants and flowers in that mountain ravine that Yu Xiaocao talked about had been destroyed by the locusts. Last time, Xiaocao had brought along Lady Fang's maidservant with her and they said that they had seen many valuable plants there just a few steps in. There were even some aged herbal medications. It's truly a good place ah! If I wasn't afraid that there would be vicious beasts in the area, I would also go there for a look!”
Zhu Junyang thought of that large gray wolf that had been given the name of 'Big Gray' and nodded, ”I have also heard of this place. Apparently there's a very large and fierce wolf that lives in the ravine. However, that wolf is quite intelligent and had once helped the Yu Family out!”
When he saw that his mother was very curious about this topic, Zhu Junyang very briefly summarized what had happened when they fought against the starving wolf pack. Princess Consort Jing exclaimed in admiration, ”Xiaocao had previously helped that wolf, so the wolf ended up saving her father. I never would have expected an animal could also be affectionate and true. But, wouldn't raising a wolf at home cause problems for the Yu Family?”
Zhu Junyang replied, ”I told all of the villagers that the wolf was a pet I had raised from its infancy to adulthood and that it was inconvenient to bring back to the capital, so the Yu Family was taking care of it for me. That wolf can understand human language and as long as it doesn't sense any malice, it wouldn't attack people. Oh right, are we going into the palace this year to have the New Year's Eve family dinner?”
”The emperor has already proclaimed that it is bitterly cold this year so there's no point in making people suffer. So we'll just eat the New Year's Eve family dinner at home this year.” Imperial Prince Jing was enjoying the taste of the gra.s.shopper sauce. He took out another scoop and spread it on another steamed bun.
Over half of the jar of gra.s.shopper sauce had already been eaten, so Zhu Junyang somewhat unhappily packed it up. When Prince Jing saw his son's actions, he laughingly scolded his son, ”Stinky brat, you're the one who roused this man's appet.i.te, yet you're trying to h.o.a.rd the rest of the gra.s.shopper sauce for yourself? No manners! Quickly, give your father a jar to show your filial respects…”
Zhu Junyang had only brought back four jars of gra.s.shopper sauce this time and two of them were the jars he had stolen from General Fang. His royal father had a rascally expression on his face that said, 'If you don't give your father gra.s.shopper sauce, then you're unfilial.' Zhu Junyang tolerated the pain within his heart and begrudgingly gave the remaining half jar of sauce to his father with a stone-faced expression on his face.