Wet Nurse Zhang had been riding high these past two days. She had always been the wet nurse most favored by the crown prince.
There had originally been a few eunuchs vying with her for authority, but once the crown prince was injured, those eunuchs were all gone.
The newcomers all had to show her proper respect.
Before, she had still exercised some restraint when lining her own pockets. Now she took her cut as though it were her due.
There were plenty of tricks to be played with the crown prince's meals.
The crown prince was little, easily fobbed off with a bowl of rice paste and some greens, but the prescribed scale of his meals was anything but small.
Soups and broths, solid dishes and soft ones-altogether, twenty-eight dishes could be ordered.
The crown prince could never finish them all. She could pack up the untouched dishes and send them to the Rare Delicacies Pavilion outside the palace, pocketing five taels of silver in kickbacks for each dish.
And so Qi Yuanzuo, still recovering from his serious injury, found himself looking at a table laden with rare delicacies... and a bowl of steamed egg custard in his wet nurse's hand.
"Your Highness is frail. The dishes on the table won't nourish you. Better to have some egg custard. It's easy to digest."
Smiling brightly, Wet Nurse Zhang tied a bib around him and fed him egg custard steamed with pigeon broth.
Qi Yuanzuo frowned at Wet Nurse Zhang.
"I only get one bowl of egg custard?"
"Aren't the dishes on the table for me?"
Wet Nurse Zhang coaxed him, "Of course they're for Your Highness. But your stomach is weak, and you won't be able to digest them. Better to eat the egg custard."
Qi Yuanzuo kept questioning her. "Who prepared these dishes? I gave no orders. Why have so many been served?"
"If I can't eat them, will they all be thrown away?"
Wet Nurse Zhang continued trying to hoodwink him. "You're the crown prince. Naturally, whatever you can't finish is bestowed on the servants. I'll take care of it for you."
Qi Yuanzuo's expression chilled, but his plump baby cheeks undermined him, making him look as though he were merely pouting.
This old woman was practically riding on his head.
Naturally, he wouldn't keep her around, but dealing with Wet Nurse Zhang shouldn't fall to him.
He was still a baby, and babies were supposed to eat, drink, play, and sleep.
The bowl of egg custard was tiny. It tasted good, but it wasn't enough to fill him up.
After feeding him that little bowl of egg custard, the wet nurse ordered everyone in the room:
"Clear away the dishes. Everyone out. His Highness needs to nurse."
Qi Yuanzuo's eyelid twitched.
He remembered now. He hadn't been weaned yet.
The reigning emperor had only had his first child four years after marrying, and another three years had passed before the crown prince was born. Children had not come easily, and every one of them was precious.
Among ordinary families, children sometimes nursed until ten if their households could afford it. In the palace, wet nurses served princes until at least six.
The servants in the Hall of Inherited Blessing hesitated at the wet nurse's command, all turning to look at the little crown prince.
The Qi Emperor had replaced the staff of the Hall of Inherited Blessing twice, but he had left the wet nurse untouched. That had made her the most influential person attending the crown prince.
"What are you waiting for? Do you expect this old woman to undress in front of you?"
As though it were only natural, the wet nurse urged him on:
"Your Highness, these unruly servants need to be taught a lesson, or they'll start thinking they can bully their master!"
A real three-year-old had yet to form his own understanding of things. At this point, he would surely obey and let his wet nurse make the decisions.
Qi Yuanzuo rubbed his flat little belly and asked, "What do you want to do?"
Wet Nurse Zhang immediately perked up. This was the perfect opportunity to establish her authority over the newcomers.
She said viciously, "Make them kneel and slap their own faces!"
Qi Yuanzuo propped his chin in his hand and knitted his faint little brows, looking deeply troubled.
"But I don't think they did anything wrong. I'm the crown prince."
"To put it nicely, you're my wet nurse. But really, you're a servant attending me, just like them. Why should they listen to you?"
Wet Nurse Zhang burst into loud sobs, making a show of wiping her tears.
"The very first milk Your Highness drank after birth was mine!"
"I've raised Your Highness from a crying infant begging to be fed, treating you as my own son! For Your Highness to say such things truly breaks this old woman's heart!"
This trick had never failed her before. As she dabbed at her tears with a handkerchief, she stole a glance at him.
Only to discover that Qi Yuanzuo wasn't looking at her at all.
A bright yellow dragon robe appeared outside the hall. Qi Yuanzuo's eyes lit up, and he waved excitedly.
"Father! Papa!"
At those words, Wet Nurse Zhang's expression changed drastically. She scrambled to her feet and cleared the main walkway.
The moment the Qi Emperor entered the Hall of Inherited Blessing, he saw his beloved son peering out the window. As for the servants scattering leaves, he automatically ignored them.
In excellent spirits, the Qi Emperor strode inside, picked up his beloved son, and slipped a hand beneath his hat to ruffle his round little head.
All the while, he chattered without pause.
"Yuanzuo, did you miss Father? Did you eat properly today?"
"No being picky when you grow up."
"Did your wound hurt? Have you taken your medicine on time? Was it bitter? Did the servants prepare malt sugar for you?"
Qi Yuanzuo clung to the Qi Emperor, acting sweet in every way, like a glutinous rice ball spilling its filling. He pitched his voice high as he called for his father, sweet enough to stick, his little milk teeth showing as he grinned.
And the Qi Emperor adored precisely this sort of thing. He loved his precious son so much that he hardly knew how to pamper him enough.
Once the cuddling was over, it was time to complain.
Wet Nurse Zhang stepped forward first.
"Your Majesty, I was just about to nurse His Highness, but the servants in the hall refused to follow my orders and leave. What would we do if His Highness went hungry?"
Every servant in the Hall of Inherited Blessing dropped to their knees, protesting their innocence.
The Qi Emperor frowned slightly as he noticed the excessively lavish spread on the table.
"Did Zuo'er order this?"
Wet Nurse Zhang answered glibly, "The servants in the Imperial Kitchen haven't been doing their duty. His Highness's injury hasn't healed yet. How could they send over an entire table of dishes like this?"
Wet Nurse Zhang washed her hands of all responsibility.
Qi Yuanzuo wheedled sweetly:
"Father, Nurse said that because I'm the crown prince, she'll give whatever I can't finish to the servants. But this is such a waste."
"There's a whole table of food, but I only get a little bowl of egg custard. I'm still not full."
"Nurse said I could have milk, but I'm grown up now. I don't want to nurse anymore."
The cleverest way to complain was to keep others from realizing you were complaining.
The soft little child in his arms nuzzled against the Qi Emperor, who could still faintly smell the savory egg custard.
The Qi Emperor looked at the empty bowl on the table.
A very small bowl.
"She'll give it to the servants"-overstepping her place, taking herself for the master!
What angered him most, however, was "I'm still not full."
He had been a prince himself. How could he fail to understand the tricks involved?
Some wet nurses, determined to keep their masters dependent on them, forced them to keep nursing or fed them only enough to leave them half hungry, so they had no choice but to nurse.
Every dish on the table was completely untouched. Claim there was nothing fishy going on, claim the wet nurse was innocent-not even a dog would believe it!
Wet Nurse Zhang still wanted to defend herself, but the Qi Emperor had already pronounced her guilty. With a wave of his hand, his attendants immediately covered her mouth and dragged her away.
The Qi Emperor deliberately covered Qi Yuanzuo's eyes, only removing his hand once she was far away.
Qi Yuanzuo feigned surprise. "Oh! Nurse can turn invisible!"
The Qi Emperor roared with laughter.
"Let the staff of the Hall of Inherited Blessing divide the dishes on the table. This is a reward from the crown prince. Have another bowl of congee made."
He summoned an imperial physician for the daily pulse examination and application of medicine.
The Qi Emperor deliberately began teaching his son a lesson.
"Zuo'er is the crown prince. The crown prince can do anything. They are servants, and servants who dare overstep their master are all unruly servants. Yuanzuo must never be soft on them. Punish them when they deserve punishment, and beat them when they deserve a beating."
Qi Yuanzuo asked curiously, "Then how should I punish them, and how should I beat them?"
The Qi Emperor patiently taught him how to manage his subordinates, talking until his mouth was dry without finding it tiresome.
Qi Yuanzuo listened attentively, thinking that this was an emperor indeed-his heart was far blacker than any capitalist's.
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