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Little Jing Kong looked at the yellow-orange pastry, sucked in his saliva, and said with a sigh, "Thank you, but I can"t eat meat."
Little Jing Kong had seen Xu Zhouzhou and Chu Yu eat this crab meat cake, and he knew that there was meat stuffing inside it.
Even if there was no meat, average pastry would commonly use lard for the texture of food.
Gu Jiao had told him all about this, so Little Jing Kong usually didn’t eat outside.
Yu Qinw.a.n.gfei froze for a moment, "Why can"t you eat meat?"
The little guy was embarra.s.sed to say that he faints from eating meat. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Maybe because I used to be a monk?"
Yu Qinw.a.n.gfei was even more puzzled, such a cute little guy was actually once a monk?
Was that why his hair was so short?
Yu Qinw.a.n.gfei looked at his little head again and asked softly, "How old were you when you became a monk?"
Little Jing Kong honestly answered, "Very young. Master said I was born in the temple, I grew up in the temple, so I naturally became a monk."
Yu Qinw.a.n.gfei added, "Then why didn"t your parents take you down the mountain?"
Little Jing Kong shook his head, "I don"t have parents. No, I do now. JiaoJiao"s parents are my parents!"
When he said this, there was no hint of complaint or sadness in his eyes. He was truly a kid filled with sunshine.
However, Yu Qinw.a.n.gfei felt her heart twitch, as if there was a slight pain. She looked at Little Jing Kong and asked, "How old are you this year?"
Little Jing Kong raised his fingers, "Four years old."
Yu Qinw.a.n.gfei"s heart suddenly felt uncomfortable. If her child were still alive, he would also be four years old now...
When Ming"er woke up, Yu Qinw.a.n.gfei took Ming"er back to the imperial garden.
Along the way, the attendant wondered if it was just his imagination, but he always felt that w.a.n.gfei"s mood was particularly low.
Meanwhile, inside the palace.
The envoys of the State of Liang, representing Yu Qinw.a.n.g, continued to argue with the officials of the State of Zhao in the Qilin Hall.
The State of Liang actually attempted to exchange a lime mortar technology of theirs for the State of Zhao"s most advanced bellows technology and the glutinous rice mortar that had just been introduced to the ma.s.ses.
To be honest, compared with the lowest water-wheel bellows technology provided by the State of Liang to the State of Zhao at the beginning, this lime mortar, which was the latest technology of the State of Liang, was more valuable.
However, the State of Zhao didn’t need this technology. The State of Zhao already had a much better one, the glutinous rice mortar!
Moreover, they weren’t exchanging it for just one thing, but the bellows technology as well. Wasn’t that too shameless?
The court rejoiced that they got their hands on the bellows and had it under their control in time, otherwise, with the shameless manner of the State of Liang, they might have stolen it from the small county town and bite back that the State of Zhao stole it from them!
But this still wasn’t the most exasperating thing. What was even more irritating was that the State of Liang wanted to open up unequal trade between the two sides—— exchanging the inferior handicrafts of the State of Liang for the superior silk and tea of the State of Zhao.
It was said that Grand Secretary Yuan fainted on the spot from anger.
The faces of several princes were not much better either. No matter how much they fought internally, they were always in agreement externally.
The State of Liang had gone too far this time. This wasn’t a negotiation, but a blatant robbery!
But what could they do?
They could only blame the State of Zhao for being too weak and the State of Liang for being too powerful.
After arguing for a whole day, officials of both sides had almost torn their hair out, only Yu Qinw.a.n.g seemed calm and relaxed, not at all affected. It was as though he had a great grasp of the negotiations.
"It"s getting late, all the Lords should go home first. You can consider it thoroughly for a whole night, there’s no hurry. Anyway, this prince will be in the capital for a few days."
The officials of the State of Zhao were so furious but couldn’t even roll their eyes.
Of course you’re not in a hurry, you"re here to cut the fat sheep. In any case, you"re not afraid that you will cut less fat.
Yu Qinw.a.n.g left the palace with a smile on his face, regardless of how everyone"s face turned black like a charcoal.
The Crown Prince and Ning w.a.n.g looked at each other and saw sparks in each other"s eyes.
This negotiation was crucial. Whoever could take back the initiative from the State of Liang’s envoys would be able to prove to their father that he was more capable of succeeding to the throne.
Rui w.a.n.gfei became famous by performing a song at the welcoming banquet, and Yu Qinw.a.n.g, who liked music, had a good impression on Rui w.a.n.g and his wife.
The Emperor saw this, so he sent Old Third to be a guide for Yu Qinw.a.n.g. These days, Old Third acted as a host and took Yu Qinw.a.n.g around the capital for sightseeing.
From this point of view alone, Ning w.a.n.g had many more opportunities to contact Yu Qinw.a.n.g privately.
After leaving the palace, Rui w.a.n.g invited Yu Qinw.a.n.g to the lake.
Yu Qinw.a.n.g had visited the capital before and was deeply impressed by the decorated pleasure boats in the capital, so he very willingly accepted the invitation.
The two of them made their way to the luxurious three-story decorated pleasure boat prepared by Rui w.a.n.g in advance.
However, what no one antic.i.p.ated was that when a group of people was halfway through the lake, Yu Qinw.a.n.g’s room would suddenly catch fire. The fire was so fierce that the whole pleasure boat burned up in a short time.
Yu Qinw.a.n.g was on the deck with Rui w.a.n.g roasting fish, so he was not trapped in the room by the fire, it was just that because the boat was ablaze, everyone had to jump into the water to save their lives.
Yu Qinw.a.n.g was no exception.
But this one dive in the lake almost killed him!
Yu Qinw.a.n.g returned home in utter disappointment!
The decorated pleasure boat was burned up completely, so it was impossible to verify how the fire started.
News quickly spread to the palace.
The Emperor immediately summoned Rui w.a.n.g to reprimand him, "How do you handle things? Zhen let you entertain the envoy, but you made such a big blunder! Would it hurt you to take precautions in advance!?"
Rui w.a.n.g was extremely wronged.
He swore that he had taken precautions in advance. It couldn’t be counted in hands how many times he had checked everything before and after, afraid that something would go wrong. Who knew that such a fire would still break out in the end…
Rui w.a.n.g was rebuked harshly by the Emperor. When he came out of the imperial study, he met Ning w.a.n.g who had been waiting for him outside.
Ning w.a.n.g asked worriedly, "Third brother, are you okay?"
Rui w.a.n.g’s face reddened in shame and said, "I"m fine... It"s just that... I screwed up... Imperial Father said... I don"t have to worry about the envoys anymore. He instructed me to go to the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest and kneel..."
Ning w.a.n.g patted him on the shoulder and said with relief, "It"s still best that you"re okay. This eldest brother will kneel with you."
Ning w.a.n.g accompanied Rui w.a.n.g to kneel on the gravel path in front of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest.
The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest was the place where the Emperor used to meditate. Whenever a prince made a mistake, they usually only knelt down before the imperial study. Kneeling down at the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest meant that the circ.u.mstance was very serious and the Emperor didn’t intend to forgive easily.
Rui w.a.n.g hurriedly shook his head, "Eldest brother, this has nothing to do with you. It was me who didn"t do things well."
Ning w.a.n.g looked at him and responded, "You are my younger brother. Having made a mistake, it was I, the eldest brother, who didn"t teach you well."
Ning w.a.n.g knelt down with Rui w.a.n.g. The Emperor didn"t say anything about it. Everyone knew Ning w.a.n.g"s temper. He was the most protective of his several younger brothers who followed him.
The Emperor sighed, "The Crown Princess has been to the State of Liang and should have a certain understanding of its envoys. Leave the reception to her and Old Second."
The Crown Prince took on the task in time of crisis, and went to the imperial garden with the Crown Princess overnight to check on Yu Qinw.a.n.g’s situation.
In fact, Yu Qinw.a.n.g was in no dire condition. The fire started from the room. He was on the deck and jumped in the lake early. When he came back, he simply changed his clothes and was totally fine.
He didn"t want to worry Yu Qinw.a.n.gfei, so he planned to treat it as no big deal. When he entered the room, however, he found that there was something wrong with his w.a.n.gfei.
Ming"er had slept too much in the afternoon, and now went to play in the garden. Yu Qinw.a.n.gfei was sitting alone in front of the window with dull eyes.
"Wife, is something wrong?" Yu Qinw.a.n.g nervously walked over. "Is Ming’er"s condition getting worse?"
Yu Qinw.a.n.gfei turned around.
Only then did Yu Qinw.a.n.g find that her eyes were red and swollen, like she had cried. He hurriedly said, "Wife! What happened? "
Yu Qinw.a.n.gfei"s already dry eyes once again had tears in them, "w.a.n.gye… Is it possible that that baby... isn"t actually dead..."
Yu Qinw.a.n.g first paused, then realized who she was talking about.
Yu Qinw.a.n.g had two sons and one daughter, but they were actually not his flesh and blood. They were the children of his brother.
His brother died in battle, and his sister-in-law died of illness, so he adopted these niece and nephews under his name. Ming"er was the youngest, who was less than a month old when they adopted them.
And that baby was conceived when Ming’er was four or five years old.
Strictly speaking, that baby who died very young was their only flesh and blood.Raz P."s Thoughts
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