The Prime Minister’s Darling-Chapter 470 - 239 Baby (Second Update)
Chapter 470: 239 Baby (Second Update)
Chapter 470: 239 Baby (Second Update)
She couldn’t help but approach him and gently asked from behind him, “Baby, where are your family members?”
Baby?
The young monk, who had never been called this way before, trembled slightly at the sound. He turned around and looked at her dumbfounded, “Are you… calling me?”
There didn’t seem to be any other children around.
But, baby?
Oh my, how embarrassing!
He’s already four years old!
The young monk’s face suddenly turned red with embarrassment, making him even more adorable.
The royal princess’s heart melted, she squatted down to meet his gaze and asked, “Are you here alone? Where are your family members?”
The young monk tilted his head and answered, “My family members are busy.”
The royal princess was enthralled by his cuteness, “Are you… a member of the medical hall?”
The young monk hid his hands behind his back and nodded.
As the young monk was wearing the Guozijian’s uniform and a scholar’s hat, he looked like a mini official, despite his short hair.
Gurgle~
The young monk’s stomach grumbled.
He looked down at his tummy, a look of grievance on his face.
Why did it have to make a sound now? Didn’t it care about his dignity?
The royal princess chuckled, placed her food box on a rock and opened the lid. She then took out a small dish of crab yellow crisp for him, “Here.”
The crab yellow crisp had been bought from outside; it had gone cold from being left out for too long. She decided to let the kitchen staff warm it up.
She could have asked the eunuchs to do this task, but she had been cooped up inside the room the whole afternoon and wanted to go out for a walk.
Upon seeing the golden pastries, the young monk swallowed his saliva and regretfully said, “Thank you, but I can’t eat meat.”
He had seen Xu Zhouzhou and Chu Yu eat crab yellow crisp before and knew it had meat in it.
Even if there was no meat, pastries usually contained pork lard for a better taste.
This was something Gu Jiao had mentioned before, so the young monk never casually ate food from outside.
The royal princess was momentarily taken aback, “Why can’t you eat meat?”
The little lad was too shy to admit that he fainted at the sight of meat. After thinking for a while, he said, “Maybe it’s because I used to be a monk?”
This made the royal princess even more puzzled. This adorable little boy used to be a monk?
Was that the reason his hair was so short?
The royal princess looked at his head again and softly asked, “How old were you when you became a monk?”
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Without hesitation, the young monk answered, “I was very young. My master said that I was born in the temple and grew up there, which is why I became a monk.”
The royal princess continued to ask, “Then why didn’t your parents bring you down the mountain?”
The young monk shook his head, “I don’t have any parents. Wait, I do now. Jiaojiao’s parents are my parents!”
When he said these words, there was no hint of complaint or sadness in his eyes. He was a little sunshine top to bottom.
But the royal princess’s heart clenched, as if she felt a pang of pain. She looked at the young monk and hesitantly asked, “How old are you this year?”
The young monk held up four fingers, “Four years old.”
A wave of sorrow swept over the royal princess. If her child hadn’t passed away, he would have been four years old too…
After waking up Minmin, the royal princess took Minmin back to the royal garden.
On the way, the eunuchs felt that the princess’s mood was unusually low.
Meanwhile, at the imperial palace…
The emissaries from Liang Country led by the royal prince were quarreling heatedly with the ministers of Zhan Country in the Qilin Palace.
Liang Country dared to attempt exchanging their lime mortar technology for Zhan Country’s latest bellows technology and newly developed sticky rice mortar technology.
Frankly speaking, this lime mortar was their latest technology, even more advanced than the basic water drainage technology that Liang Country had once given to Zhan Country.
However, Zhan Country didn’t need this technology since they already had a better sticky rice mortar!
Apart from that, weren’t they overly shameless for attempting to exchange two technologies?
The court was grateful they had controlled the technology of the bellows in time; otherwise, Liang Country might have learned the technology from small counties and then accused Zhan Country of stealing their technology!
What was even more infuriating was that Liang Country intended to initiate an unequal trade between the two countries — exchanging their inferior handicrafts for Zhan Country’s superior silk and tea leaves.
It was said that the prime minister of Yuan, an influential official, fainted on the spot due to anger.
The faces of several princes didn’t look any better. Regardless of their internal disputes, they should unite against external enemies.
Liang Country had truly crossed the line. This wasn’t negotiation; it was a blatant robbery!
But what could they do?
The only blame was that Zhan Country was too weak and Liang Country was too strong.
After a whole day of argument, every official was heated, only the emissary from the Prince Yu was at ease. He seemed very confident in the negotiation.
“It’s late, Gentlemen, go home and think it over for one night. There’s no need to rush. Anyway, I will be here in Capital City for several more days.”
The officials of Zhan Country were so angry they couldn’t express their thoughts.
Of course you are not in a hurry, you came here to slaughter us, without fearing that you can’t do it.
Despite the scorning by the people around, the emissary, smiling pleasantly, left the Imperial Palace.
The Crown Prince and Prince Ning exchanged glances, sparks flickered in their eyes.
This negotiation was extremely important; whoever could seize the initiative from the envoy of Liang Country would prove himself more competent to inherit the throne.
Due to the reputation Princess Shui earned during the welcoming banquet, Prince Yu, who is fond of music, had quite a good impression of the couple.
The Emperor noticed it and assigned the third Prince, Prince Shui’s husband, to be Prince Yu’s guide, and to tour Capital City with him for several days, as a host’s courtesy.
With this arrangement, Prince Ning and his associates had plenty of opportunities to broker dealings with Prince Yu.
After leaving the Imperial Palace, Prince Shui invited Prince Yu to go for a boat trip.
Prince Yu had visited Capital City before and was impressed with the painted boats, so he willingly accepted the invitation.
The two men boarded the luxurious three-level boat that had been prepared by Prince Shui’s men.
However, unpredictably, while they were halfway through the boat ride, a fire suddenly broke out in Prince Yu’s cabin. The fire quickly engulfed the entire boat.
Prince Yu was spared from the fire as he was on the deck grilling fish with Prince Shui. However, due to the boat catching fire, they all had to jump into the water to escape.
Prince Yu was no exception.
What was supposed to be a pleasant boat ride almost claimed his life!
Prince Yu returned home disappointed!
The burned boat was gone, so there was no way to investigate the cause of the fire.
The news quickly reached the Imperial Palace.
The Emperor summoned Prince Shui and berated him: “What were you thinking? I trusted you with the task of entertaining the emissary, and you caused such a major mishap! Couldn’t you have taken precautions beforehand?”
Prince Shui felt extremely aggrieved.
He swore that he had taken precautions. He had carefully inspected the boat countless times beforehand to prevent any mishaps, yet in the end, something still went wrong…
After getting a thorough scolding from the Emperor, Prince Shui ran into Prince Ning, who had been waiting for him outside the Imperial Study Room.
With concern, Prince Ning inquired: “Third brother, are you alright?”
With teary eyes, Prince Shui replied, “I am okay… it’s just… I messed up… the Emperor said… I shouldn’t concern myself with the emissary’s matters… and told me to pray in the Praying Hall…”
Patted his shoulder, Prince Ning comforted him, “As long as you’re okay, that’s all that matters. I will pray with you.”
Prince Ning and Prince Shui kneeled together on the stone path of the Praying Hall.
The Praying Hall is a place where the Emperor would reflect. When princes make mistakes, they are usually made to kneel in the Imperial Study Room. Kneeling in the Praying Hall indicates a severe situation. The Emperor was not planning to easily forgive.
In panic, Prince Shui shook his head, “This matter has nothing to do with you, elder brother. I did not handle it well.”
Prince Ning looked at him and said, “You are my brother. If you make a mistake, it means I did not teach you well as an elder.”
Prince Ning knelt with Prince Shui, but the Emperor did not say anything. Everyone knew Prince Ning’s temperament, he was the one who looked after his younger brothers the most.
The Emperor sighed, “The Crown Princess has been to Liang Country and has some understanding of its envoys. The matter of reception can be given to her and the second prince.”
The Crown Prince accepted his duty at a critical moment, and he and the Crown Princess went to the Royal Garden overnight to check on Prince Yu’s situation.
In fact, Prince Yu was fine. Since the fire started from the cabin, he, who was on the deck, jumped into the lake early. After returning and changing clothes, he was fine.
He didn’t want to worry Princess Yu and planned to lightly brush off the incident. As he entered the house, he found his wife looking upset.
Minmin had slept too much in the afternoon, so she went to play in the garden. Princess Yu alone was sitting next to the window, her eyes vacant.
“My Lady, what happened to you?” Prince Yu walked over nervously, “Did Minmin’s illness get worse?”
Princess Yu turned around.
That’s when Prince Yu noticed her red swollen eyes as if she had been crying. He asked anxiously, “My Lady! What happened?”
Tears filled the eyes of Princess Yu again: “My Lord… do you think… that child… might not have actually died…”
Prince Yu was stunned for a moment before he realized whom she was referring to.
Prince Yu had two sons and a daughter, but none of them were his biological children—they were his late brother’s children.
His brother died in the war and his sister-in-law passed away due to illness. He adopted the three children. The youngest, Minmin, came to their family when she was not even a month old.
The child Princess Yu referred to was the one she conceived when Minmin was four years old.
So strictly speaking, the child who passed away in premature death was their only biological child.
