Chapter 496: Chapter 269: The Malicious Xiongnu_2
Although the Noble Families did not take the Liang family seriously, they refrained from giving them trouble since the Liang family were Imperial Merchants. Moreover, the Liang Family were very clever and discreet, never competing with the Noble Families for business.
While the Liang Family could not compare to the Noble Families, their business was still quite good. Over the years, they had been quietly amassing great wealth.
Zhao Yao washed up, and the people from the small kitchen brought over the prepared breakfast.
A year ago, Zhao Yao had just moved into Xingde Palace, living in the room that used to belong to the Fourth Prince.
Zhao Yao was now a young boy, with a hearty appetite, needing to eat quite a lot for breakfast every day. Today’s breakfast included a cage of shumai, two bowls of meat porridge, two steamed buns, two meat buns, two sesame seed cakes, two boiled eggs, and a bowl of goat’s milk.
Even though he ate so much for breakfast, he would get hungry before the midday classes ended, so the small kitchen would prepare milk tea and snacks for him. When he rested, Tong Xi would fetch some snacks from the kitchen to deliver to him at Wende Hall.
Tong Xi saw the rain outside getting heavier, and quickly took out a raincoat for Zhao Yao to put on.
Seeing the heavy rain outside, Zhao Yao grew more reluctant to go to Wende Hall to study: "With rain pouring like this, why don’t you go to Wende Hall and ask for a leave on my behalf? Perhaps the teacher would agree."
"Your Highness, give up that thought, unless it’s raining daggers from the sky, you must go to study." Tong Xi paid no heed to Zhao Yao’s words and helped him put on the raincoat. "Your Highness, we have to set off quickly, or else we’ll be late for class. The first lesson today is by Mr. Xiao, and if you’re late, Mr. Xiao will smack your palm."
"Mr. Xiao wouldn’t smack my palm." Zhao Yao said proudly, "He wouldn’t have the heart to punish me."
"But you can’t just rely on Mr. Xiao’s fondness for you and be late."
"Alright, I get it." Zhao Yao waved his hand, telling Tong Xi to step aside, and he secured the raincoat himself.
Tong Xi took the books Zhao Yao needed to read today, held an umbrella, and followed Zhao Yao out the door.
Although Qingming had passed, recently it had been raining intermittently in the capital, making the barely warming weather turn cold and dreary again.
Zhao Yao had just stepped out of his courtyard when he saw the Eighth Prince walking towards him with an umbrella. He immediately smiled brightly: "Morning, Eighth Brother."
"Morning, Tenth Brother." The Eighth Prince saw Zhao Yao wearing a raincoat, not getting a drop of rain on him, and felt relieved. "I saw it was raining this morning, so I didn’t call you over to my room for breakfast."
On regular days, Zhao Yao would have breakfast and dinner at the Eighth Prince’s place. For lunch, Zhao Yao would go to Kunde Hall to dine with Lady Liang.
"Eighth Brother, without me accompanying you for breakfast, you probably lost your appetite and didn’t eat much, right?"
Yu Hai, who was following behind the Eighth Prince, said, "Your Highness Tenth, you’ve hit the nail on the head, the prince only had a bowl of porridge and a sesame seed cake for breakfast."
The Eighth Prince gave Yu Hai a glare: "You’re too talkative."
"Eighth Brother, I knew you wouldn’t eat well without me." Zhao Yao looked at the Eighth Prince’s thin frame, shaking his head in disappointment, "Eighth Brother, not to criticize you, but you look as thin as a bamboo rod, a strong wind could blow you away." For years, he had been urging his Eighth Brother to eat more, but still, his Eighth Brother had a small appetite and couldn’t eat much.
"You’re exaggerating," the Eighth Prince said with a chuckle, "I’m not as thin as a bamboo rod."
"Not much difference though."
"I see you eat quite a lot every day too, yet I don’t see you getting fat." The Eighth Prince teased Zhao Yao, "You’re not much heavier than I am."
"Eighth Brother, I’m at the age where I’m growing, no matter how much I eat, I won’t get fat because I’m growing taller." Zhao Yao gestured to show the height difference between himself and the Eighth Prince, "Eighth Brother, in a while, I’m going to be taller than you." Zhao Yao was now only half a head shorter than the Eighth Prince. "Eighth Brother, if you don’t start eating properly, you might end up being the shortest among us siblings."
The Eighth Prince didn’t seem to mind, casually saying, "I don’t need to be that tall, if I’m the shortest, so be it."
Hearing this, Zhao Yao showed a very exasperated expression.
"Eighth Brother, do you not care at all about being the shortest?"
The Eighth Prince gave Zhao Yao a sidelong glance: "Why should I care?"
"Eighth Brother, don’t you think it’s embarrassing for a man to be short?" Zhao Yao was not satisfied with his current height, he wanted to grow to seven feet. A seven-foot man is a true man. However, if he couldn’t reach seven feet, at least he had to be six feet. "Eighth Brother, a seven-foot man is the real deal, and neither of us is even six feet, yet you’re so unfazed."