Chapter 2 — Crown Prince Concubine Sweet Mouth

Finally, I tasted the fish dish on the table and exclaimed that the Eastern Palace really does not support idle people, even the chef is a rare talent in the world. So the words he had prepared could not be uttered. The next morning, when it was not yet dawn, Tieu Thua Canh came to the study room. When I woke up, the pillow was cold. Wait for me to finish washing my face and combing my hair and then go over there, he is sitting behind the script reviewing chapters. The table was filled with notes, up to half a person high. The breakfast placed next to it was still intact, the white porridge had formed a thin film. The inner lady told me that every day the Crown Prince wakes up at the hour of the Cat, practices swordplay for half an hour, then reads the chapter, and is often busy until late at night. After listening, admiration immediately arose in my heart. Every time the father recited the chapter, he had to break at least two tea cups. My father read a letter from home and had to rest three times. Tieu Thua Canh faced so many words and was still able to maintain his composure. I sit next to it and count. In the time it took one stick of incense, he finished six books. At this rate, if the officials of the six ministries are not a little more diligent, it will be their turn to cause trouble for him and they will have to stand in line. I sat down opposite him, resting my chin and looking at him for a moment. He did not raise his head:

“What's going on?”

"It's nothing. I just wanted to come and see how the busiest person in the world managed to forget all about breakfast."

“No need.”

“Then please sit a little further away.”

I pulled the chair back half a meter. Tieu Thua Canh finally raised his eyes:

“Khuong Bao Chau.”

My eyes become brighter:

“On the second day of getting married, Your Highness already remembers my concubine's name. You truly have a better memory than others.”

He was silent again. I guess from childhood to adulthood, you have heard a lot of flattery, but you have never heard any kind of flattery that is as well-founded as mine. The courtiers praised the Crown Prince, most of them praised him for being gentle and upright, with a good heart. After complimenting him, he immediately asked for money, an official position, or wanted him to speak well of someone in front of the emperor. I'm not like that. I praise you, I don't ask for officialdom, nor do I ask for money. I just ask you to eat. I took the bowl of porridge that had cooled down, asked the house chef to cook another bowl, and then brought back two more plates of breakfast. Tieu Thua Canh continued to read the chapter. I brought a piece of chestnut cake to his lips. He tilted his head to avoid it:

“You're not hungry.”

"Your Highness reads the chapter on an empty stomach, because you're afraid that you'll eat too much and get high too quickly, making it seem like the six ministries work slowly? Your Highness really knows how to think for the court."

He looked at me. I blinked and praised even more enthusiastically:

"But the courtiers' faces are very thick and can withstand comparison. Your Highness, just eat a bite first, don't make yourself miserable because of taking care of their face."

Tieu Thua Canh's hand holding the pen stopped for a moment. In the end, he still accepted the chestnut cake. I couldn't help but gently clapped my hands twice. He asked:

“What are you clapping for?”

“His Royal Highness knows how to listen to the advice of the dissidents, the first major event of the Eastern Palace today has finally been completed.”

“…”

Then I discovered that flattery is like criticism, you have to know how to improvise. He gets high quickly, I praise him for his decisive behavior. He gets high slowly, I praise him think carefully. One time, he broke his lipstick pen and I complimented him on his stronger wrists. The people up and down the East palace listened for half a month, and finally understood that the most important thing in this skill of mine is not knowing how to speak. But no matter what happens, we can find a place to praise. From that day on, I immediately had a dignified position in the Eastern Palace. The Crown Prince praised the chapter, I was responsible for applauding. The crown prince was scolded by the emperor, I was responsible for delivering breakfast. The prince still refused to sleep in the middle of the night, so I sat outside the study door reading the script. Reading the most important paragraph, I immediately closed the book and returned to my room. If you want to know what happened next, you can only follow me. Patriarch said, this job of mine is not called assisting the Crown Prince, but called taming the horse. I feel it's not right. Which horse can be as beautiful as the Crown Prince? ## 3 Compared to me living in the Eastern Palace like a fish in water, on the first day of entering the court, my father encountered great trouble. The Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Home Affairs argued for two years over the Giang Nam dyke issue. Officials said that if the dykes are not repaired, next year's flood season will definitely cause a major disaster. The ministry said the national treasury was so empty that rats could run around inside. If you want money, you don't have it. If you want to take your life, you have to stand in line. The two sides argued from the Minister down to the Chairman, almost digging up eighteen generations of each other's ancestors. The emperor was unbearably upset. The Emperor saw my father standing at the end of the line of courtiers, wearing a jade crown, wearing a blue shirt, looking like he had grasped everything in his heart, and suddenly remembered that my father was Khuong Sung Nhac's son.

"Khuong Khanh, try telling me."

Later my father told me, at that moment, he had finished thinking about which mountain he should be buried in. The civil and military officials in the court all looked at him. My father slowly stepped out of the line, first bowing to the Minister of Justice:

“The minister cares about the people and truly has a benevolent heart.”

The Minister's face immediately became a little easier to see. He turned to the Minister of Household Affairs again:

“Your highness keeps the money bag for the royal court, not even a single penny is spent carelessly, he truly has a loyal heart.”

The Minister of Household also withdrew his eyes that were about to roll up to the sky. At this time my father said:

"Two great men, one benevolent, one loyal, are both pillars of the nation. If that's the case, how about the Ministry of Public Works first list the three most dangerous dike sections and only fix those three sections."

"The Household Ministry first provided three parts of silver, and took two more parts from the salt tax owed by the riverside provinces. For the rest, wait for the season's tax to be collected and then calculate."