Walking into the East Palace, you can see that the house is in disrepair. The original bright red color is now black and mottled. It can be said to be an abandoned house.
Chai Tiannuo sighed lightly. The reason should be similar to that of King Yong, who was unwilling to use the money and goods of the dynasty.
King Yong said he was sorry for the millions of lives that had been lost, and Chai Tiannuo believed it, but speaking more deeply, he probably still hated Emperor Tianqi!
After all, Emperor Tianqi's methods were too ruthless when he was fighting for the dragon. Even if he was right, it would still hurt Tianhe.
Many important ministers and generals who were inclined towards the Supreme Emperor and the Yong Wang were killed, and their family members and heirs were also wiped out. Even after many years, I am afraid it is still like a nail in the hearts of the two of them.
Passing through the dilapidated Mingde Hall and bypassing the dilapidated Chongwen Hall, what you see is a large green yard full of various vegetables and fruits.
Looking at the scene in front of him, Chai Tiannuo smiled. As expected of a father and son, the Supreme Emperor and the Yong King both had the same hobby, farming.
It seems that Emperor Tianqi is the same. I heard from Tu Qingqiu that he often goes to the medicinal fields, and it seems that he also likes the fields.
In the northwest corner of the yard, there is a row of green brick and green tiled houses, as well as a clean courtyard. A few old housekeepers are drying the harvested vegetables. Compared with the previous place, the smoke and fire smell is much stronger.
"This chamberlain, where is the Emperor?"
"This is Dr. Guanglu Chai Tiannuo."
Chaitino handed over his hand, and the old waiter who was picking vegetable leaves looked at him in surprise. He raised his hand and pointed to the corner of the yard, where a chubby old man was picking green onions that were growing happily.
"Doctor Guanglu, Chai Tiannuo, pays homage to the Supreme Emperor!"
Chaitino came to the old man and bowed deeply.
Hearing this, the old emperor, who was holding a large bundle of freshly picked green onions in his right hand, immediately stared, swept away the long white eyebrows covering his eyes with his left hand, and said in surprise:
"Are you the Chai Tiannuo who has so many nicknames and is called the once-in-a-thousand-year-old Chai Tiannuo by the Grand Ceremony Wine?"
"The grand sacrificial wine is over-reputed, but it is not a minister, but it is Chai Tiannuo."
Seeing Chaitino admit it personally, the old emperor immediately beamed with joy and couldn't help but look up and down:
"Sure enough, he is elegant and handsome. He is worthy of being a poet and a literary scholar. Otherwise, he would not be able to write such poems."
"But your physique is really not like that of a warrior. What state are you in now?"
Chaitino hesitated for a moment, but told the truth:
"Wonderland on land."
"..."
The green onion in the old emperor's hand fell to the ground, and Chaitino bent down to pick it up.
"Remember, you are not twenty yet, right?"
Stroking his long beard with trembling hands, the old emperor asked in shock.
Nodding slightly, Chaitino smiled and said:
"It's exactly nineteen, my birthday just passed a few days ago."
"Hahaha, okay, that's great. Our Dahua can have a genius like you. It's blessed by our ancestors!"
Patting the dirt on his hands, the old emperor took Chaitino's hand and walked away.
"Have you had lunch?"
"I just came from King Yong's realm and didn't have time to eat."
"Something will happen if you are in such a hurry. Don't tell me, wait until after the meal. If something happens, it will definitely ruin your appetite!"
"You also take it orally. Today we have fresh green onions, and the fried scallion pancakes are fragrant. It's a good time to try my craftsmanship!"
"Your Majesty, do you know how to make pancakes?"
"That's delicious. The imperial chefs back then weren't as good as me."
While they were talking, the two of them entered the yard and went straight to the kitchen. Chai Tiannuo glanced at it and saw that the meat and eggs were all there. It was much better than the food of the self-deprecating mediocre king.
The old man was busy with work, so Chaitino took it upon himself to help him, and he started to practice cooking and became very proficient in it.
"Boss Chai, are you so skilled at what this woman does?"
Seeing Chaitino skillfully washing onions and putting away kitchen utensils, the old emperor asked in surprise.
"My parents died early when I was young, so I lived alone when I was a little older. I'm pretty good at cooking. I'll fry some mutton with green onions for you to try later."
After hearing this, the old emperor curiously asked about Chaitino's past, but he did not hide it and briefly talked about his childhood.
The old emperor's eyes flickered, and he never expected that this newly promoted land god was actually the remaining child from that incident.
"... Mr. Chai, it's not been an easy journey for you, and you are also a hard-luck boy!"
The old emperor sighed, Chaitino smiled and shook his head:
"It's not bitter. I have my adoptive father-in-law, Yu Zhen'er, by my side. I have no worries about food and clothing. I am much happier than others."
After hearing this, the old emperor looked at Chaitino several times, his face full of admiration, contentment and self-improvement, which is really endearing.
"Cut more mutton. There will be more people waiting for dinner, thirteen or four."
The old emperor said this while making noodles. Chai Tiannuo thought about the eunuch outside and nodded understandingly.
After working for most of an hour, the meal was ready. The old eunuchs walked into the courtyard happily. The old emperor pointed to the kitchen and said with a smile:
"Go and serve it yourself. We have guests today. You go back to the house and eat."
"Here."
The old eunuchs carried the big basin of vegetable pancakes and left. The two of them sat down on the short table and began to eat. The old emperor did not lie. The green onion pancakes he made were indeed soft and delicious.
"Your Majesty, why don't you feel lonely when the old concubines are not around?"
Chai Tiannuo asked softly. The old emperor ate a chopstick of mutton, nodded with satisfaction, and then said lightly:
"Gu let them all leave and live with their sons. Those who don't have sons go to relatives' houses. What's the point of spending the rest of their lives with me, an old man like me?"
"As for these old eunuchs, they all followed the orphans when they were young. Their families have long gone to nowhere. If they go out, they will die. It's better to stay here and grow old together with the orphans."
Chai Tiannuo pursed his lips. Although they had not been together for a long time, he felt that not only were King Yong and the Supreme Emperor not bad people, they were also kind-hearted people who valued their feelings.
If it hadn't been for that, today's Dahua would probably not be much different.
"This scallion pancake was made by Lai Fu Jiao Gu. The old man followed Gu when he was three years old. He is the eunuch who has followed Gu the longest."
"On weekdays, his body and bones are quite strong, but how could I know that two years ago on a rainy day, he slipped and lost his life? When I think about it, my heart aches."
The old emperor sighed deeply and slowed down the movements of his hands.
"Tell me about King Yong. I haven't seen him for a long time and I don't know how he is doing."
Chai Tiannuo nodded and told in detail about his meeting with King Yong, especially about Princess Lanling and Prince Xiao Wang, and also told about the affairs of the five states.
The old emperor nodded happily, then sighed again:
"The biggest mistake I made in my life was to believe in Cangtian Dao and Kunwu Immortal Kingdom."
"For all these years, I have never been able to figure out why I believed them as if I was possessed by evil spirits at that time."
"In my daily life, I'm really not the kind of person who tries to get into trouble!"
Hearing this, Chai Tiannuo couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. When chatting with King Yong, he also said similar words. Is it possible that the two of them did not mean it at the time, but were controlled by someone's magic?
After thinking about it, Chai Tiannuo also understood that so much time had passed, all the clues had long since disappeared, and there was no way to verify it.
"Of the old ministers who followed me, very few of them were slaughtered by Lao Qi. The remaining few who slipped through the net are incompetent and would never dare to do such a thing."
"If I had to find someone who was possible, it would only be Sun Chengxiang!"