The Emperor’s Beloved Ugly Girl

38. The Stuffed Steamed Buns

Translator: Iris Guo

“Eunuch Zhao, please rise!” Zhong Mingzheng hastened to help Zhao Ruhai up and said hospitably, “Does His Majesty have a message for mother? Do I need to leave?”

“His Majesty ordered me to announce a Verbal Imperial Edict.” Zhao Ruhai nodded, looked at Zhong Mingzheng, and continued: “His Majesty said that if Your Highness is here, you don’t have to leave and could listen to the Edict together with My Lady.”

A Verbal Imperial Edict?

Not a message?

Zhong Mingzheng and Imperial Concubine Zhao looked at each other in astonishment, hastened to kneel together, and answered: “Your Majesty, I’m all ears!”

“No matter what felony the deposed Crown Prince has committed, he is still my eldest son with the late Empress and has learnt his lesson, which is enough. Further, no one needs to punish him more on my behalf, and the position of Deputy County Governor should not be created in NingGuTa. If someone makes trouble, I will move heaven and earth to find and punish the wrongdoer. That’s about it.” said Zhao Ruhai in a low and deep voice. Then, he slightly bowed to Zhong Mingzheng and Imperial Concubine Zhao and said: “I’m leaving.”

After Zhao Ruhai left the main hall, Zhong Mingzheng helped Imperial Concubine Zhao up hurriedly. He looked at her nervously and asked: “Mother, does father… blame us for meddling in the deposed Crown Prince’s affairs?”

“No. He just missed his cousin again. That girl who died early.” Imperial Concubine Zhao gritted her teeth and answered: “She was just a disgraceful bitch, but he never forgot about her these years…”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Zhong Mingzheng got confused.

“Nothing.” Imperial Concubine Zhao drank off her tea, paused, and continued: “Order our people to leave NingGuTa. From now on, it will not be any of our business whether the deposed Crown Prince is alive.”

“Yes, mother.” Zhong Mingzheng bowed.

Day: The fifth day of the fifth lunar month, the 32nd year of Jiasheng Reign

Location: NingGuTa

On the Dragon Boat Festival, Zhong Mingwei finally got the chance to eat the stuffed steamed buns that A’Chou mentioned repeatedly.

Early in the morning, A’Chou went out and took some shepherd’s purse home. She washed the luminous green leaves and tender white roots clean, cut up the potherb, and then mixed it with processed bean vermicelli and a bowl of precious minced pork.

“Guess what’s inside?” After the stuffed steamed buns were ready, A’Chou happily put them in front of Zhong Mingwei, “Apart from shepherd’s purse and bean vermicelli, there is another good thing inside. See if you can guess.”

Zhong Mingwei looked at the big white stuffed steamed buns in front of him and A’Chou’s smiling eyes, and couldn’t help grinning. That girl had started chopping up food since last night. She really thought he was hard of hearing?

“I have no idea.” Zhong Mingwei looked at the obvious pride all over A’Chou’s face and planned to play dumb in order to protect her self-esteem.

“Pork! Didn’t I tell you that I specially bought pork in the market? Ha ha! There is still more than two kilograms of pork left, which has been pickled and could last for several days for us.” A’Chou got even prouder. She broke off a piece of a stuffed steamed bun, passed it to Zhong Mingwei, and asked eagerly: “Smells nice?”

Zhong Mingwei looked at the greasy stuffed steamed bun and couldn’t help smelling it a few times. The fragrance of the edible potherb was quite unique for him. Although he had never eaten it, he knew it must taste good. Therefore, he ignored A’Chou and hastened to open his mouth and take a bite. Then, he started to scream after his mouth got burnt.

“Did I let you eat? I just wanted you to smell it! How dare you eat such boiling hot food?” A’Chou got anxious, hastened to put away the stuffed steamed bun, took a bowl of water from the table, and then said: “Drink some cold water now, or you’ll get blisters!”