Chapter 295: That Damned Fatty Didn’t Even Give Him the Pastries

Seeing this, Dean Chen coughed softly. The Crown Prince hadn’t paid his earlier words any mind at all.

Sang Qi paused and looked up at the Dean, feeling conflicted. ’This food is so delicious,’ he thought. ’It’s way better than what the Imperial Chefs in the palace make.’

After a moment’s hesitation, his chopsticks reached for another plate of meat. ’If I eat a little from every dish, no one will be able to figure out what I like best,’ he reasoned.

Dean Chen shook his head helplessly. ’He’s only eight, still so young,’ he thought. ’When he’s sent back to the palace later, I must remind his tutors not to be lax about his meals.’

Not long after lunch, the palace sent men to escort the Crown Prince and the Eighth Prince back.

Ye Qianning walked Sang Zhi to the door and handed him a package.

"I had the cooks make some pastries at noon. You can have some tonight if you get hungry while studying."

"Mm," Sang Zhi replied, taking the package.

"Hmph. As if the palace doesn’t have any pastries," Sang Qi said sarcastically, his tone laced with anger.

Ye Qianning took another package from a servant girl’s hands and sighed. "I actually prepared a portion for the Crown Prince as well. But alas, you’re right. How could any cook compare to the Imperial Chefs? It was presumptuous of the General’s Manor."

Sang Qi’s expression faltered. ’So there was one for me,’ he thought. ’I assumed... ’

"This Crown Prince has no need for it." Now that he’d said it, taking them would be far too humiliating.

Ye Qianning pursed her lips. ’It’s not like I wanted to give them to you anyway.’ The ingredients for the pastries were special, using two fruits from her personal space and the materials Luo Xuan brought back for her daily.

They were ground into powder, and the liquid used was pure fresh fruit juice. The yield from just two fruits was small, so the amount of materials brought back each day really didn’t make for a large batch.

She had prepared all of this a day in advance. He might disdain them, but she was reluctant to part with them in the first place.

"You should head back inside. I’m leaving now," said Sang Zhi.

"On the day of the birthday banquet, my father is taking me to the palace. I’ll come and find you then."

"Mm, hurry inside. The wind’s picking up."

"I’m fine. You get in the carriage. I’ll watch you go," Ye Qianning said, waving for him to hurry.

Sang Zhi kept looking back as he boarded the carriage. Once inside, he lifted the curtain. "Hurry back inside."

"Mhm," Ye Qianning agreed with a smiling nod.

Sitting in the carriage, Sang Qi was so furious he felt like kicking someone. That damn fatty hadn’t even given him the pastries, and now he had to listen to those two dawdling. He couldn’t stand it anymore and flung open the carriage curtain. "Are we going or not? Let’s move!"

Hearing the command, the eunuch finally set the carriage in motion.

Ye Qianning’s ears twitched. She glanced in a certain direction, where a distant carriage had also begun to move.

"Du Yi, follow that carriage. Try to prevent anyone from approaching the Eighth Prince before he enters the palace. If you can’t stop them, see what they say to Sang Zhi. If their people have killing intent, find an opportunity to lure them out of the city and take care of them." The birthday banquet was imminent; she couldn’t have people killed within the Capital City, especially not guards from another nation.

"Yes, miss." Du Yi departed.

"What is it, little one?" Dean Chen asked, confused.

"The Seventh Princess of East Shu and her Prince Consort just paid a visit."

"The Seventh Princess and her Prince Consort only arrived in the Capital City three days ago and haven’t visited anywhere else. If word of their sudden visit to the General’s Manor gets out, it could be detrimental to the General," Dean Chen said, his expression grave.

When foreign envoys entered the capital, they were to be received by designated officials. Any unauthorized contact from other officials could, with the slightest misstep, be condemned as treason.

"I had them sent away. Her target is Sang Zhi." ’She’s only been in the Capital City for three days, yet her network of informants is already extensive. People from East Shu must have been lying low in the Capital City for a very long time.’

Dean Chen considered this carefully and began to see the pieces fall into place. The Seventh Princess was the Eighth Prince’s paternal aunt. But even as blood relatives, this matter concerned two nations; they were not permitted to meet privately without approval.

’As a member of the Imperial Family, how could the Seventh Princess not even understand such a basic rule?’

"The Seventh Princess’s intentions are malicious. We must be on our guard." The more he thought about it, the more something felt wrong.