Chapter 78: Morning Meal
Seeing his useless appearance, the Initial Emperor grew even angrier and said, “You still have the face to cry?!”
Seeing the Initial Emperor angry, Empress Xiahou hurriedly advised, “Your Majesty, calm your anger. Since Xuan’er says it’s not a fabrication, it must be a poem he saw somewhere. We shouldn’t wrong him.”
“Hmph!” The Initial Emperor snorted coldly and said, “Where is there such nonsensical rubbish poetry?!” Then he coldly glanced at Huangfu Xuan and said, “Why don’t you recite the whole poem for us to hear!”
“This son…” Huangfu Xuan bit his lower lip and said, “I can’t recall it at the moment.”
“Still daring to quibble!” The Initial Emperor grew even more furious and said, “If you can’t recall it, that’s fine. This king gives you one night to think it over properly. If you can’t remember it by tomorrow morning, you won’t need to drink punishment wine—just wait for the plank!”
“This son obeys the decree.”
After this commotion, the banquet ended unhappily. Huangfu Xuan left the Inner Palace dejectedly. He knew he only had one night to come up with a fitting poem to get through this. But as Huangfu Xuan had said, how could willow catkins possibly be red? He couldn’t make it up even if he wanted to!
That’s why he was so irritated that he didn’t want to return to Yaoguang Hall. He dismissed his attendants and wandered aimlessly in the Outer Palace until he ‘bumped into’ Lu Yun…
.
Huangfu Xuan strongly suspected that his embarrassing situation yesterday was orchestrated by these brothers working together, and the culprit was this seemingly good-natured Huangfu Zhen!
But at this moment, he was confident and didn’t bother arguing with them. When they reached the doorway of the front hall, the four brothers quickly straightened their appearances and silently stepped into the hall. It was early morning, and the entire courtyard was immersed in a gentle breeze. The banana leaves in the dense shade before the hall slowly unfurled and curled. Seeing the four Your Highnesses come to pay respects, the palace people silently saluted them, then led the four through the corridor in front of the hall into the waterside pavilion on the left side.
This place had the most beautiful scenery and was cool and refreshing—it was precisely the Yanbo Zhishuang Hall where the Initial Emperor resided.
At this time, the Emperor had likely just gotten up, and the eunuchs and palace maids were all busily at work: opening the curtains, handing over washing items, organizing clothes and utensils, or carrying in tea… Though busy, everything was orderly and silent.
The four brothers waited in front of the hall. After a short while, an inner official came out to announce that the Son of Heaven was summoning them.
The four then lightened their steps and walked in, seeing the Initial Emperor in a loose Daoist robe, his hair casually tied in a bun, leisurely pondering over a chessboard with a few pieces left. During the stay at the Summer Palace, there were no morning courts, and ministers with matters to report would come as late as possible, so the Initial Emperor could rise a bit later than usual. After getting up, he didn’t need to immediately face those annoying state affairs but could do things he enjoyed.
The Son of Heaven liked playing chess—this was well known…
After the four princes entered and respectfully paid their respects to the Emperor, the Initial Emperor set down the chess piece in his hand, had them rise, and smiled, “If you’d come any later, this king wouldn’t wait for you to have breakfast.”
Seeing the Emperor about to stand, Huangfu Zhen hurriedly stepped forward, supported the Initial Emperor, and said, “Weren’t we thinking of letting Father Emperor sleep a bit more?”
“I’ve had to attend morning court for so many years—I’m not used to getting up late anymore.” The Initial Emperor smiled and sighed.
“Father Emperor works too hard. We sons wish we could share your worries.” Huangfu Zhen hurriedly said softly.
“You’re all not young anymore. You can’t just read sage’s books all the time—you should learn to help this king manage court affairs.” The Initial Emperor nodded and said casually.
The princes’ eyes lit up, their hearts pounding with excitement.
At this time, palace people in the waterside pavilion beside the hall had set out the tables and chopsticks properly, preparing breakfast for the imperial family.
Empress Xiahou also came in from the back. Though nearing forty, she was still powdered and alluring, strikingly beautiful, retaining her former charm. The four brothers hurriedly saluted Empress Xiahou. Seeing that the Empress had also stayed in this Yanbo Zhishuang Hall last night, Huangfu Xuan felt a surge of irritation.
After the palace people served the Emperor and Empress to sit, the Initial Emperor waved to his sons and said, “You sit too.”
Huangfu Xuan and the others then thanked Father Emperor and knelt sitting at the lower seats according to age.
Great aristocratic families always competed in luxury. Although the Founding Emperor had advocated frugality for a time at the founding of the country, after more than twenty years of peace under heaven, the powerful families and noble clans were showing signs of reverting to old extravagance. In Luojing City, there were endless tales of aristocrat sons vying to show off their wealth.
As the Son of Heaven, the Initial Emperor naturally did not lag behind—a single breakfast was worth ten thousand cash. In the center of the waterside pavilion, on two long dining tables covered with yellow brocade, were placed exquisite gold and silver bowls, dishes, plates, and pots—over two hundred items in total: thirty-six vegetarian dishes, thirty-six meat dishes, thirty-six each of preserves and pastries, thirty-six each of fresh and dried fruits, twenty-four soups… interspersed with various fresh flowers, magnificent and dazzling. An ordinary person could feel full just looking at it.
The imperial family of six sat separately at six food tables. The Emperor and Empress’s food tables faced south, set on a three-inch gold platform, each neatly arranged with gold spoons, gold ladles, gold forks, gold-inlaid ivory chopsticks, gold plates and bowls, and several gold-embossed tablecloths. The palace people had already poured appetizing alcoholic beverages into the jade-inlaid gold cups for the Emperor and Empress.
The Emperor’s cup held wine from the Western Regions, while the Empress drank a beverage made by mixing milk with juice squeezed from papayas from Lingnan.
As the Emperor and Empress sipped their alcoholic beverages, their gazes scanned the dining table before them. The serving palace people watched intently; when their eyes lingered on a certain dish, they would select a portion from that dish’s container and offer it to the Emperor and Empress.
The Initial Emperor didn’t eat much and preferred light food. He took a portion of fragrant rice porridge, a few vegetable dishes, a bit of roasted meat, and a few marrow cakes, then ate slowly and methodically. Empress Xiahou ate even less—just a bit of bird’s nest and some bamboo shoot and mushroom salad—then forced herself to look away.
The Initial Emperor found it somewhat amusing and said, “If the Empress wants to eat, just eat more.”
Empress Xiahou took a light sip of papaya juice and gave the Initial Emperor a bitter smile. “At my age, this consort must control her diet to avoid getting too fat.”
The Initial Emperor glanced at Empress Xiahou’s slender waist and smiled. “The Empress’s figure is better than those seventeen- or eighteen-year-old concubines’.”
Empress Xiahou’s face instantly flushed red. She gave the Initial Emperor a coquettish glare and said, “Your Majesty, the children are still here.”
The four princes sat at the lower seats, with all silver tableware before them. The palace people also poured beverages for the four Your Highnesses. After the Emperor and Empress finished ordering, the palace people began serving them dishes.
“We didn’t hear anything. Mother Empress can pretend we don’t exist.” Huangfu Shi grinned.
Huangfu Zhen and Huangfu Xuan also covered their mouths and snickered, making Empress Xiahou’s face burn like fire. She instructed the palace people serving dishes, “Give them more food to stuff these monkeys’ mouths.” Then she glanced at Huangfu Xuan and said, “Xuan’er, eat more too. Look at your third and fourth brothers—they eat meat like starving wolves. How can you eat so little?”
Huangfu Xuan nodded, mumbled an acknowledgment, and ate tastelessly, his stomach churning. Whenever he saw other families harmonious and happy, he lost all appetite.
As the imperial family began eating, the musicians nearby played soothing music: first to please and excite, second to cover the sounds of the royal family eating.
Before Huangfu Shi were fatty chicken, roast duck, sheep belly, steamed deer, and other heavy meat dishes, several times more than others. After wolfing them down for a while, he finally felt less hungry. He took the white silk scarf from the table to wipe his greasy lips, drank a sip of milk from the silver cup, let out a long breath, and looked at Huangfu Xuan. “Right, Older Brother, did you recall that poem?”
Huangfu Xuan was eating with his head down but lifted it at the words, grinning at Huangfu Xuan. “Seeing Older Brother so confident, he must have recalled it.”
Everyone’s gazes shifted to the First Prince, but Huangfu Xuan remained unmoved. He picked up some shredded chicken with chopsticks, put it in his mouth, and savored it slowly, showing no intention of answering.
After swallowing the food in his mouth, Huangfu Xuan cast an inquiring glance at the Initial Emperor.
The Initial Emperor hadn’t wanted to bring it up again, but his two sons kept harping on it. He had planned to let Huangfu Xuan soften a bit, then drop the matter.
Who knew this eldest son was becoming more and more useless? He was clearly about to be exposed, yet still holding out stubbornly. The Initial Emperor most disliked his affected, rigid attitude and frowned. “Didn’t you hear your two younger brothers’ questions?”
