Chapter 109: The Spicy Ninth Princess Consort 6

She managed to endure and get through the palace banquet.

Su Huandan’s face felt stiff from smiling the entire time.

After returning to the Princes’ Quarters, the Ninth Prince walked with a light step beside Su Huandan. “Look at that. Tonight, whether it was the Empress Dowager, Ama, or the four high consorts, who didn’t praise you?”

The more the Ninth Prince thought about it, the more pleased he felt. He believed that by doing this, he had finally repaid the favors for the silver notes and gifts sent by the Donggo Clan.

With so many princes’ wives present, only the Ninth Princess Consort was praised today. The Donggo Clan would surely be very grateful to him.

Without him, could the Fujin have earned such praise?

Su Huandan turned her head and looked at the Ninth Prince as if he were a complete idiot. “Do you know how much silver I spent over the past month to raise those vegetables? The temperature couldn’t be too low, so I spent ninety-seven taels of silver just on charcoal. Xiao Shunzi and Xiao Fuzi had to look after those vegetables day and night, so I gave them twenty taels in rewards. Buying the seeds cost ten taels. All in all, I spent one hundred and forty-seven taels of silver. That doesn’t even count the effort I put in. And in the end, you gave it all away. I didn’t get a single bite.”

Do you have any idea how many pretty words I could have bought if I had just thrown that silver away?

“Prince, let me tell you the truth. Compared to those praises, I prefer the practical benefit of food in my stomach. Which is to say, not only will I not be grateful to you for giving the vegetables away, I’m going to call you a blockhead and a moron!” If I hadn’t held back out of fear of your imperial father, I would have slapped you twice already.

Hmph!

And that is not even counting my Spiritual Spring Water. Do you know how precious that stuff is?

You couldn’t buy it even if you were wealthy enough to rival a nation.

The Ninth Prince was stunned at first, then he grunted and grabbed Su Huandan’s arm, refusing to let her go wash up. “What do you know? You are a prince’s wife. Do you know how much good these praises will do for you in the future?”

“Don’t talk to me about the future. My current life is so miserable that I can’t even eat a decent meal. What future do I have?” Su Huandan flung the Ninth Prince’s hand away, her face dark as she gave him a shove.

“I’m not like you. My brain works normally, and I don’t have the habit of spending money to buy compliments. Prince, hurry up and go back to your study to sleep. Stop pestering me here.” With a mix of pushing and shoving, Su Huandan kicked the Ninth Prince out.

After sliding the door bolt shut, Su Huandan clenched her fists. She was so angry and frustrated that she still wanted to hit someone.

No wonder he ended up being named Seshe later. He really is incredibly annoying.

After washing up, Consort Yi lay in bed unable to sleep, so she spoke with her trusted nanny.

“Did Old Nine really not leave a single bit for his wife? He gave it all away?” Consort Yi had only learned of this during the palace banquet.

The trusted nanny nodded, her heart full of complex emotions. Who wouldn’t be angry at the way the Ninth Prince handled this?

Consort Yi’s chest felt tight with frustration. She reached out to rub her own chest to steady her breathing.

After a long while, she finally caught her breath. Consort Yi patted the bed frame and ground her teeth. “That Old Nine, why did he give it all away? It would have been enough to just give some to the Empress Dowager and the Emperor. Old Nine’s wife currently has the reputation of being a glutton. Why else would she grow vegetables if not for her own cravings? Now, Old Nine’s wife didn’t get a single bite, but people outside won’t care if it was Old Nine who gave them away. They’ll surely say that Old Nine’s wife is using her gardening to buy people’s favor.”

Consort Yi’s concern was not without merit.

Early the next morning, the Ninth Prince went to Fengxian Hall to offer sacrifices to the ancestors, feeling quite grumpy. As soon as his Fifth Brother saw him, he pulled him aside and whispered, “Let me ask you, did you really not keep any of those vegetables at home and gave them all away?”

The Ninth Prince nodded and curled his lip. “My Fujin is really something. She didn’t grow enough, so I couldn’t even give some to everyone I wanted to.”

The Fifth Prince’s face turned dark with anger. After he repeated the rumors circulating in the palace about the “Ninth Princess Consort growing vegetables to buy favor,” the Ninth Prince was dumbfounded.

How could there be such rumors?

The Tenth Prince leaned over and patted his ninth brother’s shoulder. “Ninth Brother, you had good intentions but caused a mess this time. If Ninth Sister-in-law is angry, you should be patient and coax her.”

The Tenth Prince felt that his ninth sister-in-law had it quite hard. She just wanted to eat something tasty, but not only did she not get a single bite of what she grew, she was also maligned like this because of Ninth Brother.

The Ninth Prince looked at his fifth brother’s dark face, then at his tenth brother’s helpless expression, and glanced at his other brothers. Every one of them was looking at him with pity. That look was exactly like the one his wife had given him last night.

Right, his wife had called him a moron…

His face gradually darkened, and he gave a stubborn, cold snort. “Coax her for what? If she hadn’t insisted on growing vegetables, this trouble wouldn’t have happened in the first place.”

These words happened to be overheard by Kangxi as he entered.

Kangxi said nothing, but he shook his head inwardly. He failed to handle the matter well, and then he tried to shirk responsibility. This Old Nine cannot be entrusted with great responsibility!

Su Huandan also heard the new rumors about her early that morning, but she didn’t actually care.

Compared to practical benefits, what did these reputations, good or bad, matter?

Su Huandan was busy. She went to the Empress Dowager’s place to scrounge for breakfast. After Kangxi returned with his sons from the ancestral sacrifices, they had lunch together. In the evening, she went to Consort Yi’s place to scrounge for dinner.

Consort Yi couldn’t say much. She could only find a chance to speak to her son in private. After all, the one in the wrong was her son, not her daughter-in-law.

After that day passed, starting from the next day, the brothers began taking turns hosting guests.

Starting from the Crown Prince and ending with the Tenth Prince, the days flew by.

Su Huandan felt that in the blink of an eye, the Lantern Festival had arrived.

And the vegetables she had planted again were already lush and green. They would be ready to eat in another half a month.

This time, Su Huandan ground her teeth and told the Ninth Prince that if he dared touch her vegetables again, she would go beat the Dengwen Drum and petition for a divorce!

In truth, even if Su Huandan hadn’t said that, the Ninth Prince wouldn’t have touched those vegetables again.

Once the second crop of vegetables was ready…

Su Huandan improved her quality of life every day, and her days finally became comfortable.

However, things turned sour for the Ninth Prince.

When he ran into the First Prince, the First Prince said, “Your eldest sister-in-law has been feeling a bit feverish and irritable these past two days.”

Turning around, his Eighth Brother spoke up directly: “If you have extra vegetables, give some to your eighth sister-in-law. She hasn’t had much of an appetite lately.”

“So everyone needs to eat some vegetables, is that what you’re saying?”

The Ninth Prince was completely agitated. Where was he supposed to find vegetables for them?

His Fujin was currently watching him like a hawk watching a thief, and she was just short of moving into the western courtyard to stand guard. How shameless would he have to be to dare send his Fujin’s vegetables away again?

The Ninth Prince had completely lost face this time. With a long, dejected expression, he told his brothers, “The Fujin is afraid I’ll give the vegetables away again, so she’s locked up the western courtyard.”

His elder brothers almost couldn’t hold it in, nearly bursting into laughter on the spot.

Serves him right. This kid had spent his whole life doing nothing but annoying things, and now someone had finally come along to put him in his place!

Su Huandan didn’t keep all the food for herself, either. As a daughter-in-law of the imperial family, she still sent some portions to the Empress Dowager, the Emperor, and Consort Yi.

Consort Yi looked at the fresh vegetables and wasn’t happy at all. She turned her head to ask her trusted nanny, “Is the Ninth Prince’s couple still sleeping in separate quarters?”

The nanny nodded, and Consort Yi began rubbing her chest to soothe her frustration.

Why was it so difficult to get a grandson?