Chapter 200 - Letter (2/2)

“Acting so flustered. Where are your manners?” Lanxiang, who was slightly older than her, quickly chided her in a soft voice.

Meixiang grinned at her, and then said to the princess consort with a slightly trembling voice, “Your Highness, the young royal prince… the young prince… he…” She ran over so fast that she was gasping for her breath as she spoke.

As soon as she heard news about her youngest son, Princess Consort Jing, who was originally half-reclining on the chaise lounge, immediately sat up and asked with a nervous expression, “Yang’er… What happened to Yang’er?”

Meixiang took in a deep breath and finally managed to catch her breath. The big smile on her face eased Princess Consort Jing’s anxious and tense feelings.

“Princess Consort, the young royal prince has sent a letter!” Meixiang’s voice was full of joy.

“Yang’er sent a letter? Quick, quick! Bring it over!!” Princess Consort Jing impatiently urged. Meixiang hastily walked over and nearly tripped on her skirt. Before she had even stopped, Princess Consort Jing had already grabbed the letter in her hands.

The letter was sent from Quan Prefecture to the capital, and then delivered here at top speed. Seeing the familiar handwriting, Princess Consort Jing’s eyes welled up with tears. She blinked away the tears in her eyes and read the contents of the letter avidly.

In Zhu Junyang’s letter, he wrote about his life on the ship and some interesting happenings at the sea. He emphasized that he had hunted a shark by himself and made the fins into dried shark fins, which he had sent back to his mother along with the letter.

After reading up to here, Meixiang and Lanxiang both jested the young royal prince was so filial that he didn’t even forget to bring some good things back for the princess consort. Feeling very happy, Princess Consort Jing ordered, “At noon, make a soup with the shark fin that my son personally caught. It will definitely be thousands of times better than the ones on the market.” The two handmaids agreed one after another.

Zhu Junyang also said, “By the time Mother receives this letter, this child should have almost arrived at the southern seas [3]. I heard that the local customs and practices are quite different from the Central Plains. There’s no winter there, so one wouldn’t be able to see snow. The people there have dark skin, high foreheads and broad noses. So, they look slightly different than the people of the Central Plains [4]. ***Some people may be uncomfortable with the next sentence, so please skip to the next paragraph if it might offend you.*** I heard that, on the other side of the boundless sea, there is a race of people who have glistening black skin and looks like a chimpanzee. If there’s a chance, this child really wants to go take a look and personally draw some portraits for Mother to see.”

And lastly, he said, “With parents around, one shouldn’t travel faraway. Please forgive this child for being unfilial and unable to stay with you and Father. Mother, in the Great Ming Dynasty, there are still many people who are dressed in rags and have little food to eat. The emperor said that there is an easily grown and high-yielding crop in the West—corn—that can be eaten as a staple food. This time, my task is to bring back the corn seeds and try to plant them. I believe that the introduction and cultivation of corn will certainly benefit the common folks. At that time, there won’t be famine in the Great Ming Dynasty anymore, and everyone will be able to live a prosperous and contented life…”

Princess Consort Jing started weeping as she read the letter, “It has been nearly half a year, yet he had just reached the southern seas. Moreover, he also wants to go to the West… When will my Yang’er come back ah?!”

Lanxiang quickly comforted her, “Princess Consort, don’t be like this. Young Royal Prince wrote this letter back because he wants you to rest assured. If he knew that his letter has caused you to be sad, with how filial the young prince is, he will surely blame himself. Think about it, the young prince has already reached the southern seas, so it definitely won’t be long before he reaches the West. Perhaps, within a few months, the young royal prince will appear in front of you and give you a surprise!”

Princess Consort Jing gently wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes with her handkerchief, nodded, and said, “Yes, my son will definitely come back as soon as possible. After finding corn, no matter what, I won’t let him travel so far anymore. I miss him so much!”

“Your Highness, the wife of Zhaoyong General has arrived with her daughter.” The senior servant, who was in charge of the outer courtyard, hurriedly came over to report.

Princess Consort Jing finally remembered that she had invited Lady Fang over, so she hastily said, “Quickly bring her in.”

The gifts that Lady Fang and Xiaocao brought over weren’t rare and precious goods, but instead, they had brought over a gift box set of Zhenxiu Restaurant’s limited roasted chicken and osmanthus duck. This was Yu Xiaocao’s idea.

In Xiaocao’s opinion, what valuable goods had the princess consort not seen before? When sending a gift, it was better to choose the right one rather than the expensive one. Last time, when they ate together, the princess consort seemed to have a special liking for the osmanthus duck. So there definitely wouldn’t be anything wrong with gifting this! Besides, not everyone could purchase Zhenxiu Restaurant’s gift box set. The gift box was beautifully designed, so it was quite presentable as a gift.

Sure enough, when Princess Consort Jing received the gift, she was extremely pleased and said that she was very lucky to be able to eat good food today. Upon knowing that it was chosen by Xiaocao, Princess Consort Jing highly commended the little girl.

[1] Wulue from the name Fang Wulue (房武略) is taken from the phrase wen tao wu lue (文韬武略), which describes people who have both civil and military skills

[2] Hanfu (汉服) - traditional clothing of the Han Chinese, which is the predominant ethnic group of China

[3] southern seas - refers to Southeast Asia

[4] Central Plains (中原) - middle and lower regions of the Yellow Rive