Chapter Nine: Grilled Fish in the Garden

Listening to the tearful complaints of his daughter and grandson, Lu Ben felt his anger flare even higher.

He had no sons and little lineage to speak of, only this one daughter. He had exhausted every possible means to get her into the Crown Prince’s residence and elevated to the position of Crown Princess, only to find that she was still being bullied.

His chest heaving, he squinted his eyes and pondered for a long while. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him, and he spoke: "Don't you think that boy, Zhu Xiongying, has been acting strange lately?"

Having once served as an official in the imperial court, his instincts remained sharp. After teaching the children in the Eastern Palace for so many years, he found Zhu Xiongying’s recent behavior to be truly abnormal.

At his words, Lady Lu also realized it. "It does seem strange. The other day, he actually dared to call me 'little mother' in front of the servants! He never would have dared to do that before!"

At this, a sense of grievance washed over her again, and her tears began to fall uncontrollably.

"When I proposed to the Crown Prince that I cease my tutoring, the Crown Prince intended to punish that boy. I saw with my own eyes how he scrambled up a tree with lightning speed, then jumped down with incredible agility! With his previous physique, that would have been absolutely impossible," Lu Ben said, his pupils contracting as he narrowed his eyes.

Lady Lu was also shocked. "But isn't that boy’s health..."

"Cough, cough..."

Before Lady Lu could finish, Lu Ben immediately gave two soft coughs and signaled toward Zhu Yunwen, who was weeping beside him. Lady Lu caught on and quickly clamped her mouth shut. Zhu Yunwen was, after all, still a child. There were some things he could not yet know. If they let anything slip, the entire Lu family would be finished.

"Although our branch has no male heirs, that does not mean the Lu family is without power! In the Jiangnan region, our Lu clan is a prominent and powerful family! We are involved in salt, grain, books, and iron! Even the imperial court must show us a measure of respect...!"

Lu Ben took a deep breath and continued, "I heard from your second uncle today that a flood has struck Henan Prefecture. The harvest was completely destroyed, and grain prices in the city are about to skyrocket!"

"What? A flood in Henan Prefecture?" Lady Lu was so stunned that she forgot to cry.

"Exactly! Your second uncle has been in the grain business in Yingtian Prefecture for years; his information is never wrong! Once the prices rise, won't it be up to these grain merchants to decide how high they go...?"

Lu Ben nodded firmly and continued, "When grain prices rise and the commoners begin to riot, His Majesty will certainly have the Crown Prince turn to our Lu family for help. That will be your chance to have the Crown Prince discipline that boy!"

"Yes! That boy needs to be taught a lesson! If he keeps climbing over our heads like this, what will happen if he ever takes the throne?"

Hearing this, Lady Lu immediately regained her confidence. She wiped away her tears and, taking her son with her, returned to the Eastern Palace by carriage.

...

"Achoo... Achoo..."

In the back garden of the Eastern Palace, a few children were huddled around a campfire. Above the fire, a rack had been set up.

Zhu Xiongying, who was leading them, sneezed while turning the grilled fish on the rack.

"Could it be that the Imperial Brother caught a chill from jumping into the water to catch fish?" asked Princess Yilun, the young girl, with concern.

"Don't worry, I'm fine!" Zhu Xiongying grabbed a pinch of refined salt and sprinkled it evenly over the large, fatty fish.

Zhu Yunwen’s younger brother, Zhu Yunxie, was the youngest at only three years old. Smelling the aroma carried on the breeze, he drooled with anticipation. "Imperial Brother, it smells so good!"

Through the last two days of interaction, Zhu Xiongying had discovered that the child did not stammer when with them; he was at most just a bit introverted. But the moment he saw others, especially Lady Lu, his complexion would immediately change, and his speech would become stuttered. It was easy to see how Lady Lu treated him.

The other two little girls were also very timid. Throughout the entire process of grilling the fish, they kept bobbing their heads, looking around constantly for fear of being discovered.

After a sigh, Zhu Xiongying patted his chest and said, "From now on, stick with me! I'll make sure you eat well and live well!" Since he had transmigrated here, he would take care of these younger siblings for the original owner of the body.

With a final sprinkle of chili powder, the large grilled fish was ready. The little ones rubbed their hands in anticipation. Zhu Xiongying divided the fish into four portions, skewered them with wooden sticks, and handed them out.

Princess Jiangdu took her portion, sniffed it under her nose, and immediately revealed an expression of pure enjoyment. "Mm, it smells so good!"

Yilun took a bite, and her eyes brightened even further. "Wow! This fish is delicious! I've never eaten such good fish before!"

Yunxie nodded along. "Good!"

Zhu Xiongying laughed proudly. "Of course! This fish cost me quite a bit of spice!"

In this era, culinary arts were backward, and spices were scarce; the fish they usually made was earthy and fishy, practically inedible. The grilled fish before them used spices rewarded by the system, combined with Zhu Xiongying’s years of experience with barbecues in the future; the taste was bound to be excellent.

The little ones were having a grand time eating around the fire. When Lady Lu returned to the Eastern Palace with Zhu Yunwen, she spotted black smoke rising from the back garden and hurried over. By then, the grilled fish had been completely devoured, leaving only a pile of fish bones.

"You... what do you think you are doing?" Lady Lu scolded sharply. "Do you not know that starting fires is strictly forbidden in the palace?"

As soon as her voice rang out, Yunxie, Yilun, and Jiangdu were terrified and quickly ran to Zhu Xiongying's side.

However, Zhu Xiongying remained sitting with his back to Lady Lu, poking at the glowing red coals with a wooden stick, not even bothering to look at her properly. "Can't you see, Little Mother? We’re grilling fish! How are we supposed to grill fish without lighting a fire?"

"Caihuan, pass the order down: since the kitchen provided firewood for personal use, everyone involved is docked one month’s salary!"

"Yes!"

"Stop...!" Before Caihuan could turn away, she was stopped by Zhu Xiongying. "Who said this firewood was provided by the kitchen?"

"Hmph! The entire Eastern Palace only has firewood in the kitchen. If they didn't provide it, who else could it be...?" Lady Lu had just finished speaking when she suddenly realized something. She instinctively looked ahead.

The patch where she had been growing flowers and plants was now bare.

"Ah... my peonies! My mandalas!" Lady Lu ran over in distress, only to find her beloved flowers and plants had been uprooted. Even if she wanted to save them, it was impossible.

She returned with a menacing air, only to find Zhu Xiongying pulling a few blackened items from the coals. He used the branches of her mandalas to skewer them and handed them to Jiangdu, Yunxie, and the others.

"Who did this? Who exactly did this?" Lady Lu had been nursing a belly full of fire these past few days. Now that her plants were destroyed, she could no longer hold it in.

"I did!" Zhu Xiongying said while peeling the charred skin off a roasted sweet potato.

"You... why did you do this?"

"Mother once said that only the peony is the true beauty of the nation, and when it blooms, it moves the capital! Since you destroyed Mother’s peonies to plant these things, why can’t I pull up your peonies?"

Zhu Xiongying made no attempt to hide it. That’s right! He had done it on purpose! If you have the guts, come and hit me!

"You... you..."

Lady Lu was so angry that her face turned a leaden gray, and she raised her hand to strike.