Chapter 535. Drunken Conversations (2/2)
They decided to use different methods to cook all four bear paws. There was ‘bear paw steamed with ginseng and young deer antler’. This dish had a golden-yellow color, preserved the original flavor of the ingredients, and was exceptionally delicious. Then there was ‘superb bear paw’, which kept the paw completely intact. It had a rich and mellow flavor with glossy shiny meat. Following that was the ‘simmered red bear paws’, which had flaky and soft palm meat that was incredibly fragrant. Finally, there was ‘ribboned bear paw’. It had a lustrous red color, concentrated fragrant flavor, soft and tender texture, and the shining appetizing juice…
When it was all done, the emperor waved a hand and proclaimed, “At noon, the whole family shall enjoy this meal together. The more the merrier!” Consequently, the high-ranking members of the imperial family all got together and enjoyed the feast. The emperor emeritus’s youngest son——the idle Imperial Prince Sa had smelled the aroma of the food and shamelessly came over to cadge a meal. If they eliminated Yu Xiaocao from this meal, then it would have become a meal reserved solely for the imperial family members.
Yu Xiaocao had complied to popular request and made a ‘Buddha jumps over the wall’ that was comprised of exotic delicacies from the deep mountains. In addition, the imperial chefs had carefully prepared a bunch of other dishes for the meal. All of these powerful people ate to their heart’s content and complimented the food endlessly. Even the empress herself, who was usually a very elegant and refined person, had eaten until she was stuffed!
The last bits of the fruit Xiaocao had brought along had also been served up at this meal as a way to cut the grease. For the people who had drunk a bit more alcohol, she had also considerately pressed some fruit juice for them. The emperor emeritus revealed a pleased expression and slapped his grandson’s——Zhu Junyang’s arm. He remarked with a bit of a lisp, “That lass Xiaocao truly agrees with this old one! She refused my offer to become an adopted granddaughter. Who knows which big bad wolf in the future will take her away once she comes of age. Quite a pity!”
Imperial Prince Sa had somewhat of a loose tongue. He hiccupped and interjected, “Then isn’t…that easily fixed ah? Our family has nothing more than sons to go around. We have plenty of youngsters around the lass’s age. If you think it’s a pity that she’ll marry someone else, then have one of our kids marry her instead!! It wouldn’t be considered a disgrace for her to marry into the imperial family!!”
Zhu Junyang saw that his third uncle was blabbering more and more nonsense. If he didn’t butt in now, then that uncle of his might take his lass away to become his daughter-in-law instead. Before he had the chance to open his mouth, Imperial Prince Jing, whose face had already turned completely red from drinking too much alcohol, slapped the table and spoke to Imperial Prince Sa, “Third Younger Brother! Don’t you understand the concept of following seniority? As your second older brother, I haven’t even had the chance to voice my opinion, so why do you get to state yours first?”
Following that, he narrowed his eyes and glared at his own son as he scolded, “Stinky brat! Your lady mother has had strands of her hair turn white fretting over your future marriage! You’re already twenty and don’t have a wife yet. So useless!!”
He paused for a bit and then pointed at Xiaocao before speaking to his son, “Your lady mother quite likes this lass. Your mother has never liked another young maiden as much as she likes this one! Her appearance is decent and she also knows how to cook. Furthermore, she can help your mother nourish and heal her body…as your father, I command you to take this lass into your own residence!”
What the! His father was being quite blatant about his intentions. He wanted his son to marry a wife not for his son’s sake but for his princess consort’s sake? Imperial Prince Jing was quite righteous about all of this. As long as his wife was happy, he wouldn’t just be willing to choose a wife for his son, he would even be willing to sacrifice his grandson’s marriage as well!
Zhu Junfan watched with avid interest from the side. The little lass very rarely showed such an abashed and embarrassed expression on her face, as if she didn’t know what to do. A sense of evil pleasure rose within his heart.
Just as his younger cousin was about to open his mouth to say something, Zhu Junfan suddenly butted in, “Imperial Uncle, the lass Xiaocao is still quite young and has a childish air about her! Junyang may not necessarily like her that way!”
“He dares to not like her!!” Imperial Prince Jing was clearly quite drunk now. The man, who was usually in control of himself, was now being quite impolite. He forcefully slapped the table, causing the plates and bowls to jump up and down, “What does he have? His face resembles a woman’s and he has a cruddy personality. If he wasn’t lucky enough to be born into the imperial family, who would want to marry him?”
Zhu Junyang was speechless at this. Apparently, in his lord father’s eyes, he had become a pitiful person who wasn’t able to find someone willing to be his wife! Sigh, with a father who was solely preoccupied with his mother, what did he expect? For the sake of a beauty’s smile, this man was even willing to sacrifice his son’s future happiness in marriage. He was really too much!
He claimed that he looked like a woman? And that no one would want him? Only his biological father could say something like that. If anyone else tried, just see what would happen! His little lass really quite liked this face of his and had often been entranced by his looks on end. Hmph! It didn’t matter what other people thought. He didn’t care as long as his lass liked him!
His unhelpful father started talking again, “Although the lass is on the younger side, this brat isn’t in any hurry to get engaged. Waiting a few more years for the lass to reach her age of majority wouldn’t be a problem. Yang’er, your lady mother and I will wait patiently for two years, so please shape up a bit. Don’t let your lady mother, myself, and your imperial grandfather be disappointed! Do your best!”
When he noticed the extremely awkward expression on the little lass’s face, Zhu Junyang’s protective instincts for his future wife rose up, “Imperial Grandfather, Lord Father, Imperial Uncle, is it really appropriate to be talking about this in front of the person in question? Look at her. She’s so embarrassed that she’s about to become one with the table!”
The emperor emeritus chuckled in amusement when he saw the bright red cheeks on Xiaocao’s face, “Lass, what are you embarrassed about? You’re almost fourteen. In the previous dynasty, you’d be almost ready to get married at this age. It’s time for you to also think about the most important event in your life, marriage! From what I see, it looks like your family cares a lot about your opinion. As long as the person who catches your eye isn’t too bad, I’m sure your family will allow you to marry him. Speaking of that, my grandson is not bad, how about…you consider him ah?”