in2ebook Chapter 154 Snake Soup
Chapter 154 Snake Soup
"What a mess," Prince Rong said with a sullen face, "someone said in the morning court that if this batch of supplies was delivered in time, it could be distributed to the people in the border towns. They are probably suffering from the war and are now homeless, and their lives are difficult. But you are just here to quibble with a servant."
"Brother Rong, don't be angry. I am not being careless." Zhou Chang had to turn around to appease Rong and change the subject. "Brother Rong, you didn't come here today just to teach me a lesson, did you?"
"What do you think?" Prince Rong said helplessly, "I came to see you on purpose, and to ask about the progress of this matter. I was afraid that you couldn't handle it, so I brought a few people with me to see if they could help."
Seeing that Zhou Chang was about to change the subject again, Liu Dexia kowtowed to Prince Rong: "Your Highness Prince Rong, Your Highness Prince Yi is not joking, otherwise you would have seen my neck. If you had come a step later, I would have lost my head. Your Highness, please save me, Your Highness..."
Zhou Chang didn't allow him to continue speaking and winked at Gao Yuan and Shou Hou.
Gao Yuan grabbed Liu Dexia by the back of the neck with his right arm and was about to drag him to the stands.
"Alas, ninth brother..., you must stop making trouble." Seeing this, Prince Rong wanted to stop him.
Zhou Chang also lost his patience, but he tried to put on a playful smile: "Brother Prince Rong, I have everything I need, but I lack money the most. I remember that at the last palace banquet, you paid the most for the wax balls. Could it be that you will also help this servant to pay one thousand taels of silver this time?"
"I was..." Prince Rong was choked by these words, and angrily threw his sleeves, "Just go ahead and make a fuss. I don't care about you anymore."
Seeing Prince Rong was about to leave, Liu Dexia somehow found the strength to shake off Gao Yuan and Shou Hou and rushed over: "Your Highness Prince Rong, you can't just ignore me. Considering how dedicated I am to serving Your Majesty and Concubine Shun, please save me."
Prince Rong didn't know how to move his feet, but he avoided Liu Dexia without making a sound, and shook his head helplessly: "Forget it, I almost forgot that I should go and pay my respects to my mother."
As soon as Zhou Chang finished speaking, Prince Yi's consciousness was clearly dissatisfied.
Zhou Chang also felt that his words were inappropriate, and when he saw Prince Rong's livid face, he wanted to say something to ease the situation: "Brother Prince Rong, don't be angry, I didn't mean that."
Prince Rong, however, had already turned around and walked down the stage.
"Brother Prince Rong, don't be angry. I will see you off respectfully." Zhou Chang took two steps forward, watched Prince Rong's departing back, and instead breathed a sigh of relief.
Several officials behind Prince Rong also left quickly.
Liu Dexia grabbed at the ground for a long time but couldn't catch anything, and looked at Zhou Chang pitifully.
Zhou Chang ignored him, turned around and sat back in his chair.
"Oh," the thin monkey suddenly cried out strangely and slapped his forehead, "Your Majesty, I just remembered it."
"What's the matter?" Zhou Chang was thinking about what he could do to Liu Dexia.
The thin monkey's face showed regret: "My lord, if I remember correctly, today should be His Royal Highness Prince Rong's birthday."
"What? Why didn't you remind me earlier?" Zhou Chang sat up in shock, feeling guilty.
The thin monkey said with a bitter face: "I just recalled it. I heard the palace servants mention it yesterday. They said that because His Royal Highness Prince Rong's birthday this year is a half-integer, His Majesty specially promoted Lady Shunpin to Shunfei."
Concubine Shun, surnamed Tian, was originally a maidservant of the late empress. The late empress married Emperor Lin Fengxun, who had not yet ascended the throne. Although the two had a deep relationship, the late empress was never able to get pregnant, so she gave her maidservant, surnamed Tian, to Fengxun as a concubine.
Feng Xun had been worried about not having a child for many years, but he never expected that soon after marrying Tian, she became pregnant. Not only that, the throne fell from the sky, and he took advantage of the opportunity to become the emperor.
In the heart of Emperor Lin Feng Xun, although the Tian family was of humble origin, the eldest prince Feng Duo was the son who brought him luck.
However, since the death of the previous queen, although Emperor Lindi no longer appointed another queen, he seldom mentioned it. As a result, Tian remained unknown in the harem for many years and was still just a concubine.
Feng Xun has been on the throne for thirty-three years. Prince Rong Feng Duo is thirty-five years old this year and only then did he think of promoting his biological mother.
I don’t know whether I should be happy or sad.
However, no matter what, now Shunpin has become Shunfei, and at least Prince Rong no longer has to be mocked by Prince Duan and Prince Xian for his biological mother's low status.
Zhou Chang felt that the memories obviously affected Prince Yi's mood, and she also became depressed.
Now, among the five sons of Emperor Lin, the mothers of the other four have been made concubines, and only the mother of Prince Yi Fengming is still a concubine.
"Your Highness Prince Yi, please be generous and let me go. I beg you, Your Highness Prince Yi..." Liu Dexia knelt on the ground, still begging bitterly.
Zhou Chang felt even worse, and kicked Liu Dexia, venting his anger: "You have fallen into my hands. If you can't come up with a thousand taels of silver today, it's easy to deal with. See the boxes of snakes over there? While there is still blood on your neck, you can choose any box. As long as you stay in the box for an incense stick of time, the thousand taels will be forfeited."
Liu Dexia raised his head from the ground.
On the east side of the parade ground, there were rows of large wooden boxes filled with snakes, which were more than enough to hold him. But to lock him up with the snakes was more terrifying than death.
Liu Dexia was still hesitant, not knowing whether what Prince Yi said was true or false.
"Monkey, go find a rope. Make sure it's thick and strong." Zhou Chang's eyes were cold. "Gao Yuan, when the rope comes, you and Monkey will tie up Liu Dexia and throw him into the box containing snakes. You don't have to take the 1,000 taels of silver. Just treat it as a show for everyone to watch and liven up the atmosphere."
The summer afternoon sun was still burning people's backs, but Liu Dexia felt as if someone had poured a bucket of ice water on him. He desperately grabbed Zhou Chang's hem and said, "Your Highness Prince Yi, Your Highness Prince Yi, you can't, you can't do this to a slave."
Zhou Chang was disgusted and didn't want to look at it any more.
At this point, he is still reluctant to spend the money, and he won't cry until he sees the coffin.
Gao Yuan kicked Liu Dexia down.
The skinny monkey quickly found the rope.
Gao Yuan grabbed Liu Dexia with his right arm and dragged him to the side.
"Ah - help." Liu Dexia felt pain in his arm.
The skinny guy stepped forward and grabbed the other arm, then tied Liu Dexia up with a rope starting from the shoulder.
Zhou Chang clearly felt that Prince Yi was also very excited, so he made up his mind: "Don't worry, Eunuch Liu. Most people don't dare to catch poisonous snakes. The ones caught to make snake oil are non-toxic. We don't know if they have fangs or not, but you won't die from being bitten. It just so happens that here is the incense you sent someone to bring just now, so let's use this one stick of incense as the standard."
While he was talking, Liu Dexia was tied up.
Having lost his last hope, Liu Dexia lay on the ground gasping for breath with empty eyes. The blood on the back of his neck had already clotted and split open again because of his struggle.
The thin monkey carefully checked again whether the ropes on Liu Dexia were tied tightly and said, "Your Highness, I will carry him over now. Would you like to go over and take a look?"
Zhou Chang hesitated, but did not forget to instruct: "I don't know how many snakes we have killed this morning, so at least a few boxes should be empty. Don't get them mixed up later, empty boxes won't do."
"Okay, Your Majesty, do you want to move a box of snakes over?" The skinny monkey noticed her hesitation and rubbed his hands ready to go.
"No need," Zhou Chang still decided to refuse, "I don't want to see snakes. They are too disgusting. Even non-venomous ones are disgusting."
"Monkey, monkey, please do this for the sake of our acquaintance..." Liu Dexia had no one else to turn to and could only turn to the skinny monkey.
The skinny monkey chuckled: "Hehe, I'm sorry, Eunuch Liu, it's your fault that you lost the bet. The snake soup is also very smooth, just think of it as taking a bath in it."
As he spoke, Gao Yuan had already dragged Liu Dexia up from the ground. "No matter what, it is always unforgivable for a person to fall into depravity under any excuse. The less loved you are, the more you should love yourself."