Accidentally Having a Baby with the Future Emperor - Chapter 3

The two Eastern Palace aides quickly adjusted their expressions and responded warmly, “That’s right. Just submit your name card and you’ll receive a free jar of fine wine. Are you here to apply, young master?”

“I am!” the youth replied without hesitation.

Although his tone was firm, the aides couldn’t help noticing that the youth’s eyes sparkled even more when he heard the word ‘wine.’

They had been sent by Lord Song, behind His Highness Crown Prince’s back, to set up a recruiting stand there. After all, it was the Eastern Palace humbling itself for the first time in Jiangnan to seek out talent. They had assumed, riding the momentum of the recent southwestern victory, they’d at least gather a few promising recruits. But once again, reality harshly proved that both they and Lord Song had severely underestimated the Eastern Palace’s poor reputation among scholars.

They had even prepared better pastries than His Highness Prince of Wei’s household, yet the scholars avoided them like the plague. Some even claimed the Eastern Palace’s cakes might be poisoned and could kill someone.

Ha. The Eastern Palace may have a bad reputation, but we’re not insane.

Who would poison cakes just for fun? They are simply judging others by their own standards. Do they think poison is free?

Now that someone had finally come, regardless of the motive, at least they could say the booth wasn’t a total failure. It wouldn’t embarrass His Highness too much if word got out. The two aides eagerly ushered the youth inside. One served tea while the other brought out a registration booklet.

“Please fill this out, young master.” The aide placed the booklet on the table with a kind smile. The form asked for basic information like hometown, age, school attended, mentors, any published works, and home address.

The youth’s eyes curved with a smile. He agreed and quickly filled it out with a few brisk strokes of the brush.

The aide craned his neck for a peek. His hopeful expression quickly turned to disappointment. With a face that clever and bright, they’d assumed he came from a scholarly background. But it turned out he’d only studied a few years informally, hadn’t attended a proper academy, had no known mentors, no publications, and he lived in… some mountain?

“What’s wrong? Am I too unqualified?” the youth asked earnestly.

The aide thought, ‘Well, yeah, you are.’

But he didn’t dare show it. Before they left, Lord Song had firmly instructed them that all applicants must be treated with respect, regardless of status. In fact, the lower their background, the more courteous they should be. Speak gently, be patient, and try to use the rare chance to improve the public’s opinion of the Eastern Palace and its prince.

Moreover, since the boy lived in the mountains, he was probably from a poor background and didn’t have money for proper schooling. Maybe he even had to herd cattle and sheep every day.

Given such circumstances, well, it was understandable.

“No.” The aide gave a flawless smile. “Young master is perfectly fine. Please have a cup of hot tea first. I’ll go fetch your wine.”

According to standard procedure, after registration, they were supposed to conduct a follow-up conversation based on the applicant’s information, basically a basic interview to aid in later selection. But in the boy’s case, there really wasn’t much to explore, so the aide skipped that step altogether.

The boy was perfectly at ease. He accepted the tea, thanked them both, then sat down and sipped slowly. As he drank, the corners of his eyes lifted slightly. He looked very pleased with the tea’s taste.

The other aide seated beside him wasn’t surprised. It was the fine tea His Highness had once gifted Lord Song who had reluctantly brought it out for recruiting purposes.

The first aide soon returned with the wine, a small clay-sealed jar tied with hemp rope for easy carrying.

The boy set his tea down, stood up, and took the wine. He merely leaned in for a sniff and his eyes lit up slightly as he praised, “This really is excellent wine.”

The aide smiled as well. “As long as young master doesn’t mind.”

“Why would I? I should be thanking you all for such a gift. Although, I must say, you’re being a bit too generous, giving out wine this good for free. If it lands in the hands of someone like me, with little talent and a fondness for drink, won’t you lose a lot of money?”

The aide gave an awkward laugh.

Well… not really. They’d only given out one jar the whole night!

Still, this young man truly had an honest and warm-hearted nature. If only his academic background were just a little better. What a shame.

The aide sighed inwardly.

“I’ve troubled you long enough. I won’t keep you from your duties any further.” The youth, holding his wine, smiled and offered a courteous bow, then turned and left with a relaxed gait.

The gate fell quiet again. The two aides exchanged glances, about to let out a sigh, when their eyes inadvertently glanced outside and instantly, their expressions changed. They subconsciously moved to kneel in salute. But when they met His Highness’s cold and indifferent gaze, they realized it was inappropriate and hastily stopped. Now they were caught in an awkward half-bow, unable to kneel or stand properly.

Xi Rong had been watching the boy until he disappeared around the corner of the long street. Only then did he look away and walk inside with Jiang Cheng.

The hall doors were temporarily closed.

Jiang Cheng stood guard by the entrance. The other two aides knelt on the ground, not daring to breathe too loudly. The room was so quiet, that even a falling pin would’ve been heard.

Xi Rong sat in a chair without expression, flipping through the booklet. There was only one entry in the booklet. His fingertip brushed over the fresh ink at the top, spelling ‘Gu Rong.’

“Stand.” After a long silence, His Highness’s cold voice broke the stalemate.

The two aides were stunned, then quickly bowed in thanks and stood to the side, hands properly folded, not daring to lift their eyes to his face.

What happened today, if viewed lightly, was merely an embarrassment. But taken seriously, it was a case of deceiving His Highness Crown Prince and acting beyond one’s authority. The consequences ranged from dismissal to exile from the palace, or worse, execution.

And the one who came up with the foolish idea, Lord Song, wasn’t even there.

“Lord Song said…” one of the aides began cautiously.

He was immediately interrupted by Xi Rong, “I know. It was Lord Song’s idea. Therefore, I will not pursue punishment against you two.”

The two were stunned again, overjoyed, and immediately knelt to thank him. They said, “We will shut this hall down at once and publicly declare it was not established by the Eastern Palace—”

“No need,” Xi Rong interrupted again. “Just carry on as you were. I’m already deemed ‘cruel and heartless.’ What, do you want to give me the reputation of a sore loser and flee the field too?”

With that, Xi Rong tossed the booklet back onto the desk and left the room.

The two aides quickly bowed their heads to the ground and respectfully saw him off.

***

“Back at the Chu River Tower, you followed that little swindler all the way. Did you manage to find out who he is?” back on the street, Xi Rong suddenly asked.

Jiang Cheng had to think for a while before realizing that the ‘little swindler’ His Highness was referring to was the young man in the blue robe who had just submitted his name card. He quickly and respectfully replied, “I did look into it. That waiter didn’t know much either. He said that while he was out looking for people on the street, that young man approached him after hearing there was a reward, recommended himself, and claimed he was well-versed in astronomy and geography, had read every book under heaven, and knew all there was to know. He said he could surely debate the scholars and spread the Crown Prince’s… ahem, Your Highness’s notorious name across the land. That’s how he was chosen to play the shill.”

Xi Rong’s cold eyes darkened. He didn’t say anything.

Jiang Cheng, watching His Highness’s stern face, spoke cautiously, “In my opinion, that young man is just poor and trying to mooch a meal. He doesn’t seem like any kind of wicked schemer, otherwise he wouldn’t have publicly argued with those scholars.”

“Poor?” Xi Rong let out a cold laugh. “Those hands of his don’t look like the hands of someone born into poverty. He’s either trying to fool me on purpose or he thinks I’m a fool. To pull such a scam and even target me, he’s got guts.”

Jiang Cheng froze, not daring to respond.

The master and servant turned a corner on the main road when Jiang Cheng’s expression suddenly changed. He pointed ahead and said, “Your Highness, look.”

Songzhou had many rivers and just off the main road was a narrow riverside street. Boats decorated with lanterns glided along the water and the riverbank was packed with makeshift stalls selling late-night snacks.

The busiest among them was a noodle stand. At that moment, tucked in the corner behind one of the tables, sat a familiar blue-robed figure with his sleeves rolled up, happily eating a bowl of noodles.

It was the very same youth who had submitted his name card earlier.

Xi Rong’s sharp brows lifted ever so slightly and he walked straight over with hands behind his back. “Shopkeeper, two bowls of perch noodles.”

The noodle cook was an old man. Upon hearing the voice, he looked up and saw two young men standing at the stall. The one speaking had a striking and refined face, an air of nobility radiating from head to toe. The old man hurriedly agreed, but after a glance, he realized there were no empty seats left under the stall’s canopy, and hesitated.

“No matter. We’ll share a table with that young master,” Xi Rong looked toward the corner as he spoke.

The old man gladly agreed, went over and said a few words to the young man who was eating. The boy looked up, nodded with a smile at Xi Rong and Jiang Cheng, scooted his things over, and went back to eating.

Xi Rong and Jiang Cheng sat down at the table with him.

With a quick glance, Xi Rong saw that the boy was eating the simplest vegetable noodles. Beside him, apart from the wine he’d just received, there was also a box of cakes.

Osmanthus cakes.

Xi Rong’s eyes narrowed slightly as something occurred to him.

Jiang Cheng’s expression grew even stranger.

He hadn’t expected the delicate and elegant-looking young man to actually be a real expert at mooching free food and drink. And to think, he’d just been defending him earlier.

“We didn’t interrupt young master’s meal, did we?” Xi Rong spoke up.

Gu Rong had gone most of the day hungry and was focused on his noodles. Upon hearing the voice, he realized the new diners were speaking to him. He looked up and smiled. “Not at all. This table’s so big and I was hogging it all by myself. It would’ve been wasteful. As long as you don’t mind my messy eating, it’s all fine.”

As he spoke, he casually picked up a piece of the osmanthus cake and took a bite between mouthfuls of noodles.

“That cake looks good. Where did you get it?” Xi Rong suddenly asked with a slow, casual tone.

Jiang Cheng beside him: “…”

Gu Rong looked up again and said cheerfully, “I didn’t buy it. It was a gift from a noble.”

“A gift?”

“Yes. His Highness Prince of Wei was very generous. He gave all the scholars attending the Chu River Gathering a box of osmanthus cakes. I was lucky enough to get one and it tastes pretty good. Would you two brothers like to try some?” With an easy hand, Gu Rong pushed the cake box to the center of the table.

“……” Jiang Cheng was just drinking tea and nearly choked on hearing that.

Xi Rong gave a faint smile. “I’m not fond of sweets. I’m afraid I’ll have to decline your kindness.”

Gu Rong didn’t mind. He simply said, “My oversight then, brother, please don’t take offense.” Then he turned to Jiang Cheng and asked, “What about you, brother? Do you also dislike sweets?”

In truth, Jiang Cheng was actually quite fond of sweets, but since the osmanthus cakes were from His Highness Prince of Wei, he found them distasteful even to look at and immediately nodded solemnly.

Gu Rong showed a hint of regret. “It looks like these osmanthus cakes delivered all the way from the capital are only for me to enjoy.”

Just then, the shopkeeper brought over freshly cooked noodles.

Aside from the two bowls of noodles, Xi Rong had also ordered a plate of finely sliced braised lamb. Once the noodles and meat were set out, Xi Rong suddenly tapped the table with his fingers and raised a brow. “Young master, your cakes seem to have gotten dirty.”

Gu Rong looked closely and let out a small sound of surprise. Sure enough, the delicate, snow-white osmanthus cakes, which had been neatly arranged, were now covered in a thin layer of dust. He didn’t know when it had fallen, but the once-perfect cakes had turned a dull gray, completely inedible. A look of regret came over his face.

Xi Rong casually instructed Jiang Cheng, “I recall passing a well-known pastry shop on our way here. Go buy three boxes of osmanthus cakes. Consider them a gift from me to this young master.”

Then he gave a faint smile and said to Gu Rong, “A young man like you is still growing, you can’t just live on sweets. Why not try some of this lamb instead?”

Jiang Cheng: “……”