Echoes of My Heart Throughout the Court-Chapter 322: The Crown Prince Walks Around the Pillar

Xu Yanmiao finished reading the gossip, feeling thoroughly satisfied. Then, taking advantage of Elder Quan’s good mood, he tentatively brought up the Crown Prince’s request for wages, asking if it could be kept from the Emperor.

Of course, Elder Quan refused.

Xu Yanmiao racked his brains and, after a round of back-and-forth reasoning and emotional persuasion, finally convinced Elder Quan to help conceal the matter for the Crown Prince.

[Wonderful!] Xu Yanmiao let out a sigh of relief. [I finally convinced Elder Quan!]

Wonderful.

Quan Yizhang also let out a sigh of relief.

He had finally been persuaded by this little Bai Ze.

The Crown Prince personally escorted Xu Yanmiao out of the Eastern Palace and, in a hushed voice, said, “I really owe you for this one. I heard you were looking for deer blood and venison to feed your cat. I have some here, and I’ll have someone send it over later.”

[Wooohooo!]

Xu Yanmiao cheered inwardly but remained composed, cupping his hands. “Many thanks, Your Highness. Then I shall accept it without hesitation.”

—His dear cat had been sick recently, and Xu Yanmiao had been wanting to give it some nourishment. But deer blood and venison weren’t easy to acquire, even with money.

The Crown Prince added, “I also have some meat from a bird called a ‘turkey’ that Xie Luoshui brought back. I don’t know if your cat will eat it, but I’ll have someone send it along as well. There’s about half a crate of it.”

“!!!”

Xu Yanmiao was stunned.

[I haven’t even eaten turkey before!]

[My cat is just one cat—it can’t possibly eat that much! To prevent indigestion, I suppose I’ll have to reluctantly…]

Xu Yanmiao solemnly nodded.

—He truly sacrificed so much for his cat’s well-being.

The Crown Prince couldn’t hold back his laughter but simply said, “Well, I’ll leave you here. It’s late, and I shouldn’t leave the palace.”

Xu Yanmiao cupped his hands again. “Then I shall take my leave, Your Highness.”

After Xu Yanmiao departed, the Crown Prince turned back and saw the Emperor standing behind him.

“!!!”

The Crown Prince was startled, quickly replaying everything he had just said—plus Xu Yanmiao’s internal monologue—making sure nothing incriminating had been revealed. Only then did he pull the Emperor along and start walking back. “Father, what brings you here?”

The Emperor’s first words upon seeing him were: “Not bad, you’ve finally learned to win over the ministers of the Eastern Palace and bestow favors upon them!”

His tone was so pleased that… the Crown Prince suddenly felt a bit guilty.

But! The Crown Prince remained calm under pressure. “Father, it was just a simple banquet—nothing special. I have some frozen milk custard in my cellar. Would you like to have some to cool off?”

“It’s only April—what’s there to cool off from?” The Emperor shot him a disdainful look but still strode towards the Eastern Palace, his actions betraying his words.

The Crown Prince grinned and followed behind.

Then, from a distance, a thought echoed:

[The Emperor is here? Good, good. The Crown Prince handled this quickly. Otherwise, if the Emperor had caught me and Elder Quan in the middle of our discussion, he would’ve found out that the one secretly advising the workers at the guild these past two years was the Crown Prince.]

[Still, the Crown Prince is truly brilliant—setting up charity hospitals and orphanages to gain public favor, preparing a strike fund in advance to prevent workers from starving, ensuring logistics were secure, and never fighting an unprepared battle. Following his father in rebellion back then was definitely not in vain!]

The Emperor abruptly halted.

The Crown Prince’s heart nearly leaped out of his throat. “Father… um… I…”

The Emperor slowly turned his head, smiling in a way that didn’t reach his eyes. “Your Highness, how are Dan’er, Shuo’er, Min’er, and Yao’er doing lately?”

—Previously, to distinguish the Crown Prince’s eldest son from the other imperial grandchildren, the eldest had a two-character name, while the others had single-character names.

At the mention of his other four sons, the Crown Prince quickly responded, “They’re all doing well in their studies. Their tutors have praised them repeatedly. I have their recent assignments in my study. Should I have someone bring them over for you to review?”

The Emperor clicked his tongue.

He had originally planned to find an excuse to scold the Crown Prince and distract Xu Yanmiao, but the Crown Prince had been prepared.

However, since the topic had shifted to the imperial grandchildren, the Emperor recalled that the position of heir-apparent was still undecided. So, he asked seriously, “What about their personalities?”

The Crown Prince’s eyes flickered. “Dan’er is very kind, just like his mother.”

The Emperor nodded. “A benevolent ruler in the making.”

The Crown Prince continued, “The other day, a cow in our household fell to its death. He couldn’t bear to see it skinned and eaten, so he gave it a proper burial.”

The Emperor: “…”

This chapt𝓮r is updat𝒆d by ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom.

Isn’t this a little too soft-hearted? Wouldn’t he become one of those so-called ‘benevolent rulers’ glorified by Confucian scholars but unfit to govern?

The Emperor: “What about Shuo’er?”

The Crown Prince: “Shuo’er is very much like his aunt—extremely competitive… no, even more competitive than she was.”

The Emperor’s expression eased into a slight smile. “A competitive spirit is good. Progress is born from competition.”

The Crown Prince: “If he thinks he won’t win at something, he simply refuses to do it.”

The Emperor: “…”

The Crown Prince put on an exaggerated sigh. “But there are so many people more capable than him in every field. If he’s like this, I fear he’ll end up just lying in bed, lazily passing his days.”

The Emperor: “…What about Min’er?”

“Min’er has excellent hearing.”

The Emperor let out a cold laugh. “Go on.”

He could see it now—this brat was deliberately trying to make sure the throne never stayed in their family.

Fine. He’d like to hear what else his son had to say.

The Crown Prince continued, “Because of that, he absolutely loathes cockroaches and insects. He can hear bugs flying onto his bed canopy from a distance and can sense cockroaches scurrying beneath the chests. If the servants don’t clean thoroughly, he won’t be able to sleep.”

The Crown Prince sighed. “I’m really worried that his poor sleep will make him irritable and impatient with people and situations in the future.”

Then he added, “As for Yao’er—he’s extremely decisive in action. Once he decides to do something, he gets it done immediately, never procrastinating.”

“Enough. Let’s go.” The Emperor, now thoroughly displeased, strode forward.

“Hey! Father! Father! Why aren’t you listening anymore? I haven’t finished!”

“Scram!”

If he went by the Crown Prince’s assessment, not one of his four sons was fit to inherit the throne. Ha! The Emperor sneered. But if he judged his ministers by the same logic, then not a single official in the court would be useful either.

A prime minister who doesn’t bathe? That’s a lack of attention to detail.

A minister of rites who has a kind face? That means he’s too softhearted and can’t discipline his subordinates.

Dark skin? That could be said to affect the empire’s fate!

The Crown Prince’s eyes twinkled again as he shifted tactics, playing the sentimentality card. “Father, it’s been so long since we pounded shrimp together!”

“Hmm, that’s true.”

“Father, do you remember when we barely had any meat to eat? You gritted your teeth and gambled everything, using our begging money to buy a shrimp net. You took Mother, me, and my sister to the river to catch shrimp. You cast the net, Mother carried the fish basket, and my sister and I hurried to pick out the shrimp. We didn’t just catch shrimp—we also got tiny fish, little snails, even some loaches.”

The Crown Prince’s face was full of nostalgia.

The Emperor glanced at him. “Oh, I remember. You picked for a bit, then got tired and told your sister you wanted to have a contest. She was naturally competitive, so she went all out while you slacked off in the back. Don’t think I didn’t notice.”

The Crown Prince coughed. “No wonder you guys gave most of the small fish to my sister’s bowl back then. I thought you were playing favorites.”

The Emperor let out a short chuckle. “In our family, except for your mother, whoever does the most work eats the most.”

Father and son walked leisurely under the moonlight, chatting with smiles on their faces—the old man’s hair flecked with white, the young man’s hair still thick and dark.

Everything was peaceful and perfect.

Inwardly, the Crown Prince applauded himself.

Excellent! Successfully changed the subject!

Then, he heard his dear father chuckling as he instructed the Jinyiwei, “Investigate where the Crown Prince went today and what he discussed with Attendant Xu.”

“…!”

The Crown Prince nearly jumped out of his skin.

So you’ve been holding onto this all along.

—Whether or not they could find anything was uncertain, but this was already a signal. It gave the old emperor an excuse to bring up Xu Yanmiao’s thoughts.

Crown Prince: “Father, I’ll go get you some iced cream!”

Emperor: “No need. Let the palace servants fetch it.”

Crown Prince: “I’m afraid they’ll poison it.”

With a loud rustling, the surrounding servants all dropped to their knees.

Crown Prince: “Not you guys. You may leave.”

Emperor: “It’s fine. I’ve been bitten by a snake before and didn’t even get treatment. The swelling turned blue and hard, but I pulled through. What’s there to fear about poison?”

Crown Prince: “That was because we were poor back then. Poverty cures all diseases.”

Emperor: “Are you missing my cane?”

The Crown Prince immediately shut his mouth.

After a while: “Father, do you want to—”

“No, I don’t want to eat coarse cornbread, I don’t want noodles, I don’t want garlic, I don’t need to use the latrine, and your mother isn’t waiting for me—she went to bed early today.”

“…”

The Crown Prince sulkily shut up.

By the time the Jinyiwei came to report their “investigation results,” the Crown Prince’s heart was sinking fast.

At last, the Emperor could vent his anger.

A cup was smashed. A table was slapped.

“GAO. XIAN!”

The Crown Prince instantly dragged his lame leg and bolted.

The Emperor swung his cane. “Get back here! Oh, you brat! Gao Xian, so you’ve grown wings, huh? Your father has been agonizing over this, racking my brains trying to find a solution! I didn’t want to make a huge scene, but if I don’t mobilize the troops, and only rely on the local authorities, even after a year or two, they still can’t resolve the conflicts between the merchants, the contractors, and the workers! And now I find out you’ve been meddling in this too?!”

The Emperor roared, “I’m breaking your other leg today! That way, both will be the same length, and you won’t hobble around every day!”

The Crown Prince ran around a pillar, shouting as he fled, “How is this meddling? Father, do you know those workers can barely survive?!”

The Emperor halted. “Barely survive?”

The Crown Prince stopped too. “That’s right! A fuller has to press seventy feet of cloth every day but only earns eleven copper coins! Right now, a measure of rice costs one copper coin! That means if a family of three relies solely on this fuller’s wages, just buying rice alone takes up a quarter of their daily income!”

And people can’t survive on rice alone! Even if they can’t afford meat, they still need pickles, oil, salt, firewood, and clothing. Eleven copper coins a day was simply too harsh.

Yet even so, the contractors still wanted to squeeze more out of them.

Emperor: “And did you win?”

Grinning, the Crown Prince peeked out from behind the pillar. “Of course! Now the fullers are paid based on the fabric they process! For every bolt of cloth pressed, they earn thirteen copper coins!”

—Each bolt of fabric was two feet two inches wide.

The Emperor remained firm. “Then they could have gone to the authorities. The government would have ensured they got fair wages, perhaps even negotiated this rate.”

The Crown Prince: “Then why, when you were forced to sell your land and sell yourself into slavery, didn’t you report it to the officials?”

The Emperor: “…”

Crown Prince: “…Father, if I said I didn’t mean to say that, would you believe me?”

Their gazes met squarely.

The Crown Prince bolted and resumed running around the pillar.

The old emperor chased after him, swinging his cane.

“Ahhh—!”

A miserable scream echoed through the Eastern Palace.

In any case, the issue of three to four thousand fullers violently demanding their wages disappeared into thin air after the Crown Prince offered up his swollen backside.

No officials pursued the matter, no constables questioned anyone. The fullers, who had been fully prepared for a long struggle, were practically like a flock of magpies bursting into joyous chatter—ecstatic and overjoyed.

Meanwhile, the court was drafting regulations to formalize policies regarding such labor disputes in the future. From now on, similar matters would be handled strictly according to the law.

Xu Yanmiao briefly looked into the matter. Once he confirmed that the fullers wouldn’t face any government retaliation, he happily resumed his days of eating, drinking, flipping through gossip, and living a leisurely, carefree life.

In the blink of an eye, it was time for the potato seedlings to sprout.

—And five days prior, the corn had already been planted. Sweet potatoes, however, weren’t yet in season for planting.

Looking across the vast fields, hundreds of acres were covered with potatoes, their tender green shoots emerging in abundance, lush and full of life—an undeniable sign of spring’s vibrancy.

The native Ilala, who had come from the potato’s place of origin, gestured animatedly, occasionally mixing in a few words in his native tongue. Xie Luoshui quickly translated, “Your Majesty, Ilala means that by early July, the potatoes will be ready for harvest.”

The old emperor nodded slightly and stepped into the field, crouching down to examine the soft, fuzzy rows of potato plants. A pleased expression appeared on his face.

Though it was the first time they had planted potatoes and he had no idea if the current growth was ideal, just seeing the sturdy and thriving seedlings filled him with deep satisfaction.

Xu Yanmiao had once mentioned in passing the drawbacks of potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn.

For instance, potatoes were difficult to store. They were prone to freezing at temperatures near ice and sprouting at slightly warmer temperatures. Additionally, due to their high water content, they were difficult to transport over long distances and couldn’t be stored for extended periods.

—Of course, the long-term storage issue was perfectly resolved by the freeze-drying technique brought by Ilala. It was just a bit more labor-intensive.

—As for potato blight, since the Americas had hundreds of potato varieties, Xie Luoshui had brought back more than a dozen types. In the future, they could always sail back for more, so there was no concern about finding disease-resistant alternatives.

Moreover, potatoes couldn’t be grown continuously in the same field and had to be rotated with other crops.

But considering that even in poor soil conditions, potatoes could yield 572 jin (approximately 286 kg) per mu, and they were incredibly adaptable—even growing in sandy soil—the old emperor found these downsides negligible.

After all, what good land could the common folk possibly have?

Potatoes!! Finally. And what is the age of Crown Prince exactly? I like this imperial family. It’s like, after only blemish removed from the first few chapters, it’s only holy family. Ahhh! Why can’t they be like that in every novel?

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