Chapter 54: Spirit Food Is Truly Expensive

After the spirit rice was bought back, the Great Yan Emperor heard of it and sent a little eunuch to deliver a few stalks of spirit vegetables.

Guard Yan reported the expense: "Bought half a jin of premium spirit rice."

Half a jin from one jin; Qin Bi felt depressed. Spirit food is truly expensive! Spirit vegetables were even more so. The Great Yan Emperor was also amusing; if you grasp other news so quickly, why do you know that Rong Juan eats spirit rice without vegetables?!

And they had to add spirit vegetables too.

"Cook it all into rice porridge for the young heir." Rong Juan put down the military book and spoke: "Stir-fry the spirit vegetables, add only salt, keep it light."

This was half a jin of spirit rice, and Rong Juan was not yet half a year old. Qin Bi asked, "Can Rong Juan eat all this?"

Rong Juan looked at her but said nothing.

Qin Bi: "..."

Regarding a child's appetite, Rong Juan knew better than she did. After all, when her health was poor, it was Rong Juan who raised the child. Qin Bi's heart skipped a beat. If he eats so much, how many meals of the Great Yan Emperor's rice will one sitting consume!

Rong Juan knew she was talking about him and asked Qin Bi in a milky voice, "Mother, am I eating a lot?"

She couldn't say yes. Qin Bi smiled brightly: "No, children need to eat their fill."

Rong Juan said happily, "I am eating my fill, I am very powerful."

Looking at the child, Qin Bi felt genuinely happy.

Guard Yan took the spirit rice to the kitchen and supervised the cook making the meal.

Rice with green vegetables, how fragrant it was. Qin Bi fed him, and the little one ate with loud gulps. Of the half jin of cooked rice, only a small bowl remained. Rong Juan told Qin Bi to eat it, as she needed to nourish herself too.

Qin Bi, helpless, looked at Rong Juan: "I don't like rice."

Rong Juan scooped a spoonful with a small porcelain spoon and fed her a bite. Qin Bi ate it reluctantly. Rong Juan gave up; if she didn't want to eat it, that was fine. Everyone's tastes differ. If Qin Bi truly didn't want to eat it, so be it.

Rong Juan took the small bowl and ate slowly and deliberately.

Qin Bi's feelings were complex. Last summer he had treated her with cold indifference; now, he was almost treating her like she was held in the palm of his hand.

That night, before sleeping, Rong Juan took Qin Bi's hand to check it. Her palm was a bit red, no blisters had formed, but it was close. Rong Juan got up, fetched medicine, and applied it to her hand.

He wrapped it with a silk handkerchief. Qin Bi watched but said nothing.

Rong Juan said, "Sleep now."

Qin Bi leaned against Rong Juan's chest, closed her eyes, and slept. Rong Juan closed his eyes to rest.

The next morning, Rong Yan came to call Qin Bi to the Barbarian Lands. Rong Juan did not agree. The man said nothing else, left Rong Juan at home, and shoved him into Qin Bi's arms, leaving Qin Bi unable to go anywhere.

After dismissing court, the Great Yan Emperor happily watched Rong Juan review memorials.

"My dear minister," the Great Yan Emperor said after eating a piece of cake and sipping tea, "Why isn't Rong Juan accompanying you to court?"

Among his civil and military officials, there was now one under half a year old. Over time, the Great Yan Emperor had grown accustomed to it. When the little one suddenly stopped attending court, he felt empty. He was He Yan's child, raised by Rong Juan, and also a skilled hand at reviewing memorials.

Thinking this, the Great Yan Emperor was cheerful.

"His mother is taking care of him." Rong Juan waved his brush indifferently.

"Why didn't they go to reclaim the wasteland? I heard the Heir's Wife can summon rain." The Great Yan Emperor frowned. They had only done farm work for one day, and now they weren't going: "Our Great Yan soil lacks water! Even a little light rain would do."

Rong Juan continued reviewing memorials: "Her lifespan has just been restored; she is not fit for hard labor."

The Great Yan Emperor wanted to persuade him further, opened his mouth, but bit into a piece of cake instead.

A young prince came to play with Rong Juan. The Great Yan Emperor immediately seized the opportunity: "Hurry and bring the young heir to the palace. Say the young prince wants to play with him, and there are delicious treats waiting for him."

Rong Juan's hand holding the brush paused. The young prince looked confused; he had no delicious treats!

The Great Yan Emperor wanted to call the young heir to the palace. Rong Juan personally returned home, carried Rong Juan into the palace, and upon seeing the young prince, Rong Juan kicked his little legs. Rong Juan put him down.

What delicious treats could the Great Yan Emperor have? Spirit food was only eaten on the first and fifteenth days.

He could only order the Imperial Kitchen to make a few small snacks, mixing in a little spirit rice flour. Once the snacks were made, several princes ran over and sat in a row with Rong Juan.

He Yan came from the Hall of State Affairs. The Great Yan Emperor waved: "My dear minister, come eat some snacks."

He Yan bowed: "No, thank you."

"Is something the matter?" the Great Yan Emperor asked.

Rong Juan was eating fragrant small snacks and tilted his head to look at He Yan.

The young princes looked too. He Yan said, "It is nothing major. I wish to request a few stalks of spirit vegetables for the Xue Wang Fu's Fu Bao."

Rong Juan chuckled, stopped his brush, and Rong Juan blinked his eyes.

"This..." The Great Yan Emperor looked at Rong Juan, then at Rong Juan, and stammered, "This... The spirit food allocated to me from the Immortal Sect is limited. I just gave Rong Juan a few stalks of spirit vegetables; there are none left for Fu Bao."

"Your Majesty," He Yan said, for this was exactly why he came, "I have no children in this life. Your Majesty must not treat one child better than another."

He Yan's meaning was simple: if Rong Juan gets some, Fu Bao should too; there must be no favoritism.

The Great Yan Emperor gasped, hesitated, looked at Rong Juan staring with black, round eyes, then at He Yan. Rong Juan watched coldly from the side. The Great Yan Emperor had a headache. What kind of situation was this?

"Do you really want to request spirit vegetables for Qin He's child?" The Great Yan Emperor gave He Yan a chance to back down.

He Yan nodded. He and Rong Juan were the two powerful ministers of Great Yan. There was no reason for Rong Juan's child to enjoy all the benefits. The share that should be his, since he had no child, could be bestowed upon Fu Bao.

The Great Yan Emperor no longer blocked him. An eunuch went to fetch a small basket.

The Great Yan Emperor peered inside and nearly fainted. Five stalks of spirit vegetables???!!

He glared fiercely at the eunuch. Eunuch Fu's heart skipped a beat. He stepped forward, preparing to take out only two stalks of spirit vegetables. Judging by the situation, there was still a difference between the young heir and Qin He's child.

Rong Juan also stood up from his small stool, wobbled, and counted the vegetables.

He Yan's gaze shifted over. Eunuch Fu could no longer tamper with the count. The child counted clearly too: five stalks of spirit vegetables, the same amount his royal uncle gave him. This was the reward his other father had requested for Fu Bao.

The child said nothing, took his small snack, and returned to sit with the princes, continuing to eat.

He Yan took the spirit vegetables and left. The heartbroken Great Yan Emperor ate two more pieces of cake. So small, yet thinking about it, he ate two more. One by one, they were all snatching his spirit food.

After finishing the memorials, Rong Juan squatted down in front of the child: "Are you angry?"

"No," Rong Juan said crisply.

"Rest assured." Rong Juan put a small cape on the child, picked him up, and prepared to leave the palace: "Your father will pave the road for you in the future. No one will be able to wrong our Rong Juan."

Rong Juan happily ate his small snacks while Rong Juan bid farewell to the Great Yan Emperor and exited the palace.

Back home, the child mimicked Qin Bi: "Father of the Yan Guogong Prefecture is asking for a reward for Fubao."

"Do you like eating spiritual vegetables?" Qin Bi asked.

"Spiritual vegetables exist only in immortal sects," Rong Juan said in a childish voice, "but they are delicious."

Qin Bi pondered: He Yan had no children, yet he had given everything belonging to his own children to Qin He's child without hesitation. Let him give it; she must make Rong Juan lose interest.