Chapter 56: The Old Prince Next Door 9

Gui Xi returned very quickly.

He even brought back two trays of dumplings from Su Huandan’s place. Once they were cooked, he watched the prince eat with great relish, and it made Gui Xi hungry too.

They were just ordinary cabbage-and-pork and radish-and-pork dumplings, so how was it that the filling smelled so unbelievably good the moment you bit into one?

That Widow Su next door truly had a gift for cooking.

After his prince had finished eating, Gui Xi began his live report.

He hadn’t gone to the Marquis of Ruyang¹ Estate himself. He had sent his apprentice instead, and when the man came back and repeated what he’d seen, it sounded like the Marquis of Ruyang had absolutely no idea such a thing had happened. Most likely, the marquis and his wife were in the middle of a huge fight by now.

“As for the Duke of Yi’s household, they were just getting ready to eat lunch. Even that Concubine Qiu was there, her head wound wrapped in bandages, sitting among the other concubines having her meal. After this servant brought that old woman in, good heavens, every single person in that family changed expression. The Duke of Yi probably thought this servant couldn’t tell, but that look in his eyes, like he wanted to cut this servant into a thousand pieces, this servant saw it plain as day.” Gui Xi even shivered as he spoke.

Prince Chen raised his brows with a cheerful smile. “If the Duke of Yi didn’t look so much like his father, I would’ve thought the late old Duke of Yi had picked up some wild child from outside. His temperament is nothing like that old duke and his wife. Come to think of it, maybe he really is an illegitimate son, one the late old Duke of Yi brought home and forced his wife to register under her name?” Prince Chen had far too much free time and let his thoughts run wherever they pleased.

“Go find someone to investigate and see if that’s the case. If it is, then there’s definitely something suspicious about how Widow Su’s husband died.” Prince Chen’s eyes gleamed, and Gui Xi could only sigh and go arrange an investigation.

That evening at Su Huandan’s house, a whole table of dishes had been laid out, and they were just about to start eating when Gui Xi came again.

The moment he arrived, he stared intently at all the dishes on the table.

Su Huandan: …

So he was here to ask for food again?

Had all the royal chefs in the Prince’s residence gone on New Year’s holiday?

If she’d known, she should’ve listened to the cook and sent a whole table over to Prince Chen in the first place. But what was she supposed to do now?

There wasn’t enough time for the kitchen to make more food on the spot. Some of the dishes couldn’t be made that quickly and took a lot of effort.

So the question was, should she give up her own meal and send it all over?

Or split it in half between the two families?

Gui Xi was in a difficult spot too. He had already taken the recipe back, but the prince kept saying the food made by the widow’s household tasted better, and that after eating it, his whole body felt warm and relaxed.

What was he supposed to do?

Gui Xi had brought over a lavish feast from his own side to exchange with Widow Su.

He also brought along a box of jewelry for Widow Su, all made by the imperial workshops².

Then let’s trade. But my sizzling iron-plate beef… not getting to eat it today is one thing, I can make it again tomorrow, but we’re out of iron plates at home now.

“This servant will send you a few more iron plates later.” Gui Xi ran off as soon as he said that.

He truly felt too embarrassed to stay. This was basically forcing an exchange for the widow’s meal, and it would sound awful if word got out.

But later, when he saw his prince eating sweetly and with a bigger appetite than before, Gui Xi felt that shamelessly going to Widow Su’s house three times a day plus a late-night meal wasn’t so bad after all.

Su Huandan: …

No, please. You may not be afraid of losing face, but I’m afraid your prince will get upset one day and take it out on me.

This is just the standard of living in my household. Whatever I eat three times a day, I’ll prepare an extra portion for your prince too. You can come pick it up, all right?

All right, all right.

From then on, Prince Chen began eating the food from Su Huandan’s household, three meals a day plus a late-night meal. By the time the Lantern Festival had passed, the hollows in Prince Chen’s cheeks had filled out.

He had genuinely put on weight, and his yellowed, sparse hair had turned black, glossy, and thick again.

His whole head was covered in soft, shiny black new growth.

Even his complexion, which had once been either deathly pale or sickly yellow, looked much better now. At the very least, a good deal of that unhealthy yellow tint had faded.

Even better, when Prince Chen used to stroll around the residence, he always had to ride in a heated sedan chair. No matter where he stopped to admire the scenery, four braziers had to be kept burning around him or he would fall ill.

But now? With a thick cloak thrown over his shoulders, he walked wherever he wanted to go. After a round trip, he could even work up a full sweat. Every time he sweated, Imperial Physician Wang would cry out in amazement, saying he was expelling toxins.

The poison Prince Chen had carried since the womb really was leaving his body little by little through his sweat.

“If the toxins in Your Highness’s body can continue to be expelled like this until they’re all gone, then Your Highness’s health can be fully restored. Living to old age like a normal person would be no problem at all. You could even have children. Your Highness, are you certain you’ve only been eating the widow’s food and haven’t secretly taken some kind of divine pill?” Imperial Physician Wang just refused to let it go. His whole family served Prince Chen alone, and ever since Prince Chen was still in his mother’s womb, it had been Imperial Physician Wang caring for him.

Prince Chen gave a cold snort. “It’s not as if you haven’t examined those meals yourself. There’s nothing rare in them, just ordinary dishes, only a little richer than what commoners eat. You’re by my side all day long. If I’d taken some divine pill, would you not know?”

Of course Imperial Physician Wang knew Prince Chen hadn’t taken any divine pill, but this simply made no sense.

A man who was never supposed to live past thirty-five now had a chance of making a full recovery. If anyone were in Imperial Physician Wang’s position, who could make sense of that?

Seeing that Imperial Physician Wang kept saying discouraging things and had made his prince unhappy again, Gui Xi quickly stepped in to smooth things over. “If this servant may say so, perhaps that widow’s fate is beneficial to Your Highness. There have always been stories among the common people about warding off misfortune through marriage³. Otherwise, why would ordinary folk also make a point of matching birth dates⁴ and choosing an auspicious day when they get married?”

At those words, Prince Chen immediately frowned and sank into thought.

Come to think of it, it really was after Widow Su narrowly escaped death and stayed home recovering that his health had begun improving day by day from eating the same food she did.

If that were really the reason, then marrying Widow Su would be fine too.

If a person could live, who would willingly choose death?

If a person could live healthily and even have descendants, who would willingly let someone else inherit his title and private property?

Before, he had thought he was certain to die, so he hadn’t given much thought to what came after. But now that he could clearly see himself living, it was time to plan for the future.

In the palace, the Empress Dowager, his old sister-in-law, wanted him alive, and his imperial nephew wanted him to have children and descendants too. After all, among the imperial clan, aside from a few princesses who had married out, he was the only prince left. The imperial family truly had pitifully few direct descendants.

So the imperial family members were wealthy as well, and aside from those short-sighted consorts in the harem, no one else was really eyeing the enormous amount of private property under his name.

Compared with private property, whether it was the imperial family or the royal clan, what they lacked most was children.

“What does the widow Su next door look like? Get me a portrait of her,” Prince Chen said, having truly believed Gui Xi’s words.

Widow Su had to be the benefactor fate had sent him. So what if she had been married before?

As long as she could keep him alive and let him have descendants, what was wrong with marrying a widow?

Gui Xi still had no idea what his prince was thinking and assumed Prince Chen was simply curious about what Widow Su looked like.

Imperial Physician Wang was old and shrewd enough to see exactly what Prince Chen had in mind.

Whether her birth chart was truly auspicious or not was hard for anyone to say, but the fact that Prince Chen was getting better was undeniable. And what if their birth charts really were compatible?

Whether Prince Chen could survive and leave behind heirs was not something a mere imperial physician could meddle in.

If an imperial physician could not interfere, the Empress Dowager in the palace certainly could.

“Is that really so? Prince Chen’s health improved just because he’s recently been eating every meal from Widow Su’s home?” The Empress Dowager still found it all utterly unbelievable.

Translator’s Notes