Perhaps it was because her eyes were too bright, but in that moment, Zhao Hong suddenly found himself unable to look directly into her eyes, so he cast his own down and mumbled his reply, "I, my numerous tutors, they all say that Prince Ning died by our father’s hand, using another to execute his plan. The one who killed Prince Ning wasn’t Yang Erlang, but, but our father."
Zhao Miao rubbed his forehead forcefully, his speech silenced, but after a long while, he spoke earnestly, "Listen to me, if you can still return to the Eastern Palace, then kick out all those who freeload on your estate for food and drink — those tutors, strategists, and all manner of odd characters — and send them begging... I now finally understand why second brother asked Shen to tell our father to appoint another Crown Prince. With a mind like yours, if one of the little eunuchs told you an egg was worth ten pieces of silver, you would believe it!"
Zhao Hong grew angry and raised his voice, "Who do you think you’re looking down upon? An egg is priced at 250 coins; how could I not know that?"
Zhao Miao stood frozen in place.
Seeing her as still as a statue, Zhao Hong’s own heart suddenly quivered, and he stammered, "Isn’t, isn’t that right?"
Zhao Miao answered faintly, "The freshest eggs in the eastern market sell for fifty wen..."
"Fifty wen?"
Upon hearing this number, Zhao Hong’s anxiety instantly settled back in his belly, and he began to justify with utter confidence, "The eggs that enter our mouths naturally come from rare birds and exotic creatures, a bit more expensive is to be expected; adding on the cost of fuel, a price tag of 250 coins is to be said..."
His voice grew fainter as he spoke.
But Zhao Miao was looking at him with the same gaze one would give rare birds and exotic animals, and with a breathless voice, she let out the words she hadn’t yet spoken, "Per jin!"
"Fifty wen per jin?"
Zhao Hong faltered, and in a timid voice, he asked, "Approximately how many eggs are there in a jin?"
Zhao Miao lowered her eyelids and spoke as gently as possible to spare his ego, "That depends on the size of the eggs, the large ones, six or seven make a jin, and the small ones, it takes eleven or twelve."
Zhao Hong fell silent and did the math in his head; anger flared within him at a visibly astonishing rate, "The slaves, the scoundrels, dare to mock me, the lonely prince, like this! When I return to the palace, I will surely tear them limb from limb, grind their bones and scatter their ashes..."
Even he knew that he was being mocked.
Zhao Miao turned her face away and no longer looked at him; quietly, she opened the food box, using the dim light to take out dish after dish of snacks and meals from within it, placing them on the table... The meals she had sneakily saved from her dinner, the snacks were her personal stash.
"For now, don’t think about how you’ll deal with those slaves after you return to the palace."
In a tired voice, she said, "You’d better start seriously growing your mind while staying at the guesthouse. With your wits, even if our father passed the throne to you, you wouldn’t be able to hold onto it."
Zhao Hong also turned his face away, not daring to look at her and even less able to refute what she said.
"Just like what second brother said during the day, you should observe more, learn more, do more, and talk less. Take a good look at how common people live their lives... I also used to think that no matter how hard the commoners’ lives were, they were just that, but after staying in Lu Ting for a year or so, I’ve realized that the suffering among the commoners is real. A whole family, old and young, works from dawn til dusk, tirelessly, yet they can’t even afford a full meal."
"That is still what the scholars call a well-governed, prosperous age; I dare not even consider how the commoners survived during the years when times were tough!"
"You must understand this, know this, so that you can become a wise ruler in the future, not someone who believes whatever those below you say."
"Also, don’t even think about going against second brother; you cannot win against him, that’s for certain. Even if by some fluke you did win against him, you surely wouldn’t survive... I heard that when second brother killed Prince Ning, he chopped him into four pieces with a single swing, and after repelling the guards of Prince Ning’s estate, he cut off Prince Ning’s head and hung it on the city gates. Prince Ning’s heir led many soldiers to recover it, but they failed to retrieve Prince Ning’s head, which hung there for a full day and night."
Updat𝓮d fr𝙤m ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com.
"You might be bad, but you’re not so bad as to deserve being chopped into four pieces with your head hung on the city gate."
"Second brother has only just settled down; I don’t want him to have to leave his homeland again because of you."
"From now on, as long as you don’t bring trouble to our inn, whatever you want to eat or use, just tell me. I’ll find a way to get it for you..."
"I hope you can come to like our home."
Having said that, she picked up the food box and turned to leave.
"Lin’an... big sister!"
Zhao Hong hesitantly called out to her.
Zhao Miao was momentarily stunned... This was the first time someone had addressed her in such a manner.
She snapped back to reality, turned her head to look at Zhao Hong, who was bowing his head and kicking at the dust in the room. Her lips twitched slightly in amusement, then she forcibly suppressed it.
She asked as if nothing was amiss, "What’s wrong now?"
Zhao Hong whispered, "Can... can you change my room? This place... It’s not fit for living!"
Zhao Miao unconsciously looked around, then shook her head like a rattle drum, "It can’t be changed, it can’t be changed. This is the lodging Yang Erlang pointed out for you. If I change it for you, he would be furious!"
Zhao Hong asked, "Then where do you live?"
Zhao Miao pursed the corners of her lips, struggling to hold back laughter, "I live in Room No. 2, marked by the character for heaven."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Hong nearly exploded, "That’s not fair! Why do you get to live in Room No. 2, marked by the character for heaven, and I have to live in a stable?"
Zhao Miao couldn’t restrain herself any longer and finally laughed out loud, "I’m not like you. When I arrived, I didn’t pull the rank of Princess Lin’an with Yang Erlang. Besides, the Shopkeeper of the inn is my godfather, and he’s the one who let me stay in Room No. 2, marked by the character for heaven. Yang Erlang wouldn’t dare to talk back to him!"
Zhao Hong could hardly believe his ears, "You even found yourself a godfather here?"
Zhao Miao spread her hands, smiling cheerfully, "Even our dad knows about it. He praised me for making a good choice. At the beginning of the year when I returned to the inn, he even specifically asked me to bring some of the palace’s finest things for my godfather..."
Zhao Hong stared at her dumbfounded, his entire worldview shattered by her brief words, "Is that true?"
Zhao Miao retorted, "Would I lie to you about this kind of thing?"
Zhao Hong had no response.
"Alright, think of this as going undercover to experience the life of ordinary people. When Yang Erlang takes a liking to you, you’ll probably be able to move out of this room... If you keep opposing him, you’ll have to live here forever, unable to leave regardless of who comes... Even our dad would not make an exception!"
Zhao Miao cheerfully slapped his shoulder and boasted with a smug look, resembling a sly monkey that had stolen a melon, "Moreover, this is the same room Yang Erlang used to live in when he stayed at the inn. He lived here for nearly a year. If he could stand it, why can’t you?"
Zhao Hong said, "He’s such an unruly person, and he actually lived in this broken place?"
Zhao Miao explained, "Actually, he’s very amiable on normal days, all smiles with everyone. In this town, I’ve never seen him argue or speak harshly to anyone... Well, he’s only tough on those who are unruly. The more defiant they are, the less polite he gets."
Zhao Hong remarked, "Someone is even more unruly than him?"
Zhao Miao teased, "Aren’t you the one?"
Zhao Hong:...
Only at this very moment did he finally realize the foolish things he had done throughout the day and even felt a chilling sense of hindsight fear... If he had truly angered that fellow during the day, who would slice him into four pieces, wouldn’t that be terribly unjust?
"Let’s go. Remember to get up early tomorrow to wipe the tables and chairs and sweep the front hall, alright!"
Zhao Miao waved her hand and sauntered out the door, humming a tune and carrying a food container. She didn’t even need a lantern, navigating from the stable back to the backyard by memory alone.
Many guards from the Upper Right Battalion of the Embroidered Uniform Guard lived in the backyard, as well as Xiao Baoqi and the hooligans who also stayed long-term at the inn. It could be said to be the safest place in Lu Ting, other than Chaimen Street.