Chapter 145

The clerk shook his head firmly and said,

"No! But he often queued up with me to snatch those jianbing guozi over there."

"If you hadn't said so, I really wouldn't have noticed that person was a lord from the Donggong."

Zhu Yuanzhang raised his head in confusion.

One glance revealed the signboard inside the shop.

Only then did he realize that a single duck in this shop was being sold for a tael of silver!

Su Qiao's monthly salary, converted to silver, was merely a dozen or so taels.

Zhu Yuanzhang's brows furrowed.

"Let's go buy a jianbing to taste first. You make us a set of roast duck; we'll come back to pick it up later, with all the dipping sauces prepared."

Zhu Yuanzhang casually pulled out a silver ingot and tossed it to the shop boy.

The shop boy caught the silver and immediately shouted, "Got it~!"

"Please wait a moment."

Stepping out of the roast duck shop, Zhu Yuanzhang finally glanced at Jiang Huan beside him.

Jiang Huan immediately understood, speaking in a low voice,

"Your Majesty, Lord Su likely did not fabricate this."

"Lord Su often said while in the imperial prison that one should save where possible and spend where necessary. Lord Su told me that his monthly salary has all been saved up."

Zhu Yuanzhang asked in confusion,

"What is he saving silver for?"

Jiang Huan spoke in a low voice,

"He said he wanted to save money to help some people."

"What people?"

"Lord Su said he could least bear to see those whose fathers gamble, mothers are ill, and younger brothers study. He saves up silver so he has the chance to help people like that."

Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang was momentarily stunned.

"Father gambles, mother is ill, younger brother studies... Alas, just hearing that makes one feel the misery."

"The common people are suffering. When will the people of our Great Ming be able to live in every household without worry of food or clothing?"

The ruler and his minister stood before the jianbing stall.

Soon, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered a jianbing, the kind Su Qiao usually ate.

Looking at the jianbing before him,

Zhu Yuanzhang bit into it without hesitation.

With just one bite, Old Zhu's expression immediately became somewhat wrong.

Jiang Huan hurriedly said,

"Your Majesty, protect your dragon body. Lord Su is still young..."

Unlike the jianbing of later generations,

the jianbing of the Great Ming were almost entirely original-flavor, ancient-method jianbing.

The greatest difference between the so-called ancient-method jianbing and the jianbing of later generations is

—toughness.

This was also the reason why jianbing could once stop children from crying in certain regions.

In earlier years, many children in the teething phase would bite a piece of jianbing and have their teeth pulled out.

Therefore, parents in some places would threaten children who misbehaved by saying they would eat jianbing that night.

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand and remained silent.

"As a ruler, one must know what these ministers eat on a daily basis."

Looking at the jianbing in his hand,

523

He suddenly remembered again what Su Qiao had mentioned about the meager salaries of Great Ming officials.

6566

1896

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but sigh with a touch of heartache.

"How could I not know the hardships the hundred officials endure?"

"But how could this boy Su Qiao know that if every common person in the world could eat such terrible jianbing, then our Great Ming would have no troubles!"

Having spoken, Zhu Yuanzhang made up his mind.

He tore off a mouthful of jianbing from the one in his hand with force.

Chewing heavily, he ordered,

"Pack up the roast duck and send it to Su Qiao. Today, we will swap and eat each other's food."

Hearing this, Jiang Huan immediately looked down with some joy and said,

"This humble one thanks Your Majesty on behalf of Lord Su."

Zhu Yuanzhang said coldly,

"Don't rush to give thanks! If your Embroidered Uniform Guard lets us know that anyone speaks to this little rascal..."

"Don't blame us for turning ruthless and not recognizing you."

"We are here to grind down this boy's sharp edge for the Great Ming!"

"If the sharp edge isn't ground off, or if you grind this person into some illness for us... hmm."

Zhu Yuanzhang snorted twice, took two more bites of the pancake, then turned his back and walked toward the Imperial Palace.

Su Qiao in the Imperial Prison had no idea that Old Zhu had already turned his entire place upside down.

At this moment, Su Qiao was still scanning the cell for any usable tools.

After all, he certainly couldn't just dig his way out with his bare hands.

Just as Su Qiao was still thinking,

several guards in the distance walked toward the corner of the Imperial Prison.

"Yo, Old Wu, what good stuff are you hiding here?"

"N-nothing..."

This was the first time since Su Qiao entered the Imperial Prison this time

that he had heard anyone speak.

Immediately, he perked up his ears.

"Bullshit! I just saw you little brat carrying a jar of fine wine over here with my own eyes."

"Where did you hide it?"

"No, Old Sun, that wine really can't be drunk. I have a difficult situation I can't explain."

"Medicinal wine? You little brat want to eat it all yourself?"

"Not medicinal wine, it's for external use, it's sulfur wine..."

Hearing that person say it was sulfur wine,

that guard immediately showed an expression of disgust.

He hurriedly retreated from the cell.

"Why the heck did you little brat hide this thing in here?"

"Do you really think the Imperial Prison is your family's warehouse? What bad luck!"

"..."

Watching the two guards walk further and further away,

Su Qiao's eyes in the cell grew even brighter.

Although Su Qiao didn't know what ailment this sulfur wine treated (there really is such a prescription, but you'd need to ask a doctor for specifics; to prevent children from imitating it, I won't say what disease it treats),

when Su Qiao saw the sulfur wine placed right next to him in the neighboring cell,

Su Qiao immediately had a bold thought!

Why should he bother digging hard?