Chapter 9

The child is too young, so everything is over...

Tixin Yuan thought he had a huge poisonous mushroom hammer, but there was no suitable nail to test it, which made him very depressed. He dared not let his mother try the Amanita muscaria, of course, and he couldn't use the fox, who was loyal, as a test subject.

Sitting by the door, basking in the somewhat cold sunlight, Tixin Yuan stared blankly at the guards on the palace wall. These people were the most suitable test subjects, but considering their silly smiles that amused him, he decided to let them off.

A red date fell from the sky, and Tixin Yuan groaned as he stood up, picked up the date, and placed it in the basket beside him. He grinned at the guards on the palace wall, considering it a reward for those ignorant brutes.

Another walnut fell from the sky.

Tixin Yuan sighed; these bastards were treating him like a monkey...

Looking at the lunch his mother had brought, Tixin Yuan had no appetite. Every meal was just plain noodles, and his mother, fearing he wouldn't like it, had poured a lot of sesame oil on top. Even plain water noodles would be much better than this...

Since he called out "Mother," his life had completely changed. He was no longer able to enjoy the clean, hygienic, and nutritious breast milk.

To wean him, his mother even smeared turmeric on her breasts to reduce Tixin Yuan's desire to drink breast milk.

It seemed there was no hope of having breast milk as his main food. Tixin Yuan sighed inwardly and picked up the wooden spoon, which was as big as his fist, to start eating.

Every meal felt like a punishment.

"Yuan'er, you're eating so well. Your father loves the soup noodles Mother makes. He always eats a full bowl. You should eat more too, so you can grow up as strong as your father."

Tixin Yuan really wanted to say he didn't like it at all, but not eating could mean starving to death. To survive, he had to force his stomach to endure it.

Long ago, Tixin Yuan was known for his picky appetite. Although he liked simple foods, they had to be exquisitely prepared and perfectly seasoned, or he would throw a tantrum.

During those days, the only thing he looked forward to each day was the three meals. Only after eating could he feel truly alive.

Now, his mother, who prided herself on her cooking, had completely ruined his appetite. However, he continued to eat without stopping, finishing the noodles in the bowl. Perhaps if he ate for a long time, he might start to like his mother's cooking.

Seeing his mother enjoying her meal, Tixin Yuan tossed a peeled boiled egg into her bowl. One egg a day was his mother's requirement for him.

Wang Rouhua frowned but, seeing her son smiling at her, ate the egg white and placed the yolk in Tixin Yuan's bowl. Tixin Yuan then scooped up the yolk with his spoon and swallowed it, choking and rolling his eyes. Wang Rouhua quickly gave him a sip of noodle soup to prevent him from choking to death.

"What a delicious egg white. Why don't you like it, my child?"

Tixin Yuan actually liked the egg white, but his mother had misunderstood, so he had to like the yolk. Getting some iron was a good choice too.

The simple lunch ended with his mother's complaints.

The fox, disdainfully basking in the sun in an old basket, had stopped eating the family's food since it became beautiful. The hole in the palace wall provided it with great convenience, and it always ate the royal food.

The Ties usually had lunch early. Wang Rouhua, keeping her peasant habits, only ate two meals a day. Although they didn't have thick porridge during busy times and thin porridge during idle times, simple meals were inevitable.

The fox stood up from the basket, stretched a big yawn, and then jumped over the low fence Wang Rouhua had built, heading straight for the hole in the palace wall.

After emerging from the hole, it chirped at the guards on the wall. Seeing the guards wave, it crossed a dry grass field and ran toward the imperial garden, where someone was waiting to eat with it every day.

Emperor Zhaozhen of the Song Dynasty was in a terrible mood. Since his ascension, he had wanted to honor his birth mother, Empress Li, but he couldn't forget the nurturing kindness of Empress Liu. This dilemma had trapped him in a terrible curse of whether the kindness of birth or the kindness of nurturing was more important.

Even during the morning court, the ministers did not debate the reconstruction of Tokyo after the disaster but demanded that he not send his birth mother Empress Li's remains to the Dingling Mausoleum.

Faced with the powerful scholar-official class, Zhaozhen could only feign illness and dismiss the court.

In a corner of the imperial garden, there was his favorite warm greenhouse. Due to the geothermal heat, it remained warm even in the coldest winter. Outside the greenhouse, green vegetables still grew, and only here could the weary Zhaozhen feel a bit of vitality.

A snow-white fox ran quickly through the forest of fallen leaves.

A smile finally appeared on Zhaozhen's face. The young eunuch Wang Jian chuckled and lifted the curtain of the greenhouse. Since the little fox had arrived, the emperor's gloomy mood would improve.

The little fox chirped at the entrance of the greenhouse.

Zhaozhen smiled and said, "Xian, let it in. It's probably the only one that still shows some manners in front of Me."

"Blackie just drools a lot. He doesn't have the nerve to be disrespectful to Your Majesty."

"Drool is already on My face, and you still say he's respectful? Well, I know you mean well. Still, please bring My guest in quickly. Look, it's drooling. That's not how we treat guests in the royal family."

The eunuch Xian moved aside, and the little fox darted in, jumping onto a chair and stretching its neck, waiting for Xian to serve it.

Zhaozhen chuckled, "What, did your owner not give you good food today?"

The fox chirped twice, seeming a bit impatient.

"Alright, I see you're eyeing that chicken. Xian, give it the chicken head."

After giving the order, Zhaozhen started eating. Xian removed the chicken head and placed it in the fox's food bowl. The fox immediately buried its head in the bowl, eating noisily.

Unconsciously, Zhaozhen finished a bowl of rice. Seeing the fox still eating the chicken, he hesitated, feeling he hadn't eaten enough, and asked Xian to serve him another bowl.

Xian was delighted. This was the first time in six months that the emperor had asked for a second serving. After serving the emperor, he quietly placed a piece of braised beef in the fox's food bowl, hoping the fox would encourage the emperor to eat more.

A month ago, the emperor met the fox in a bamboo grove. The fox did not run away when it saw the emperor. When the guards surrounded it, it timidly presented a large rat it had just caught, pleasing the emperor.

He strictly ordered the palace guards not to harm the interesting fox and rewarded it with half a fat chicken. Unexpectedly, the fox became attached to the emperor and brought gifts every time it saw him, such as a field mouse, a hibernating hedgehog, or a withered mushroom, never coming empty-handed.

Zhaozhen finished his second bowl of rice, rinsed his mouth with tea, and smiled at the fox, "What gift did you bring Me this time?"

The eunuch Xian picked up a large pine cone and smiled, "Your Majesty, it seems winter has arrived, and all the animals are hibernating. Your guest couldn't catch any live prey, so it brought a pine cone."

Zhaozhen looked at the fox, still munching on the chair, and sighed, "Spring planting, summer growth, autumn harvest, and winter storage are the laws of nature. We lost the summer growth and autumn harvest, so we can't talk about winter storage. The fox can still find a pine cone to eat the seeds, but it's hard for the people outside Tokyo to find enough pine cones."

Xian bowed and said, "Your Majesty has already opened the granaries, so the people will have food for the winter. Besides, the flood outside the city has receded. Although some people have been lost, it has created thousands of acres of fertile land. As a peasant, I know that fertile land is the best farmland. With a little cultivation, next year will surely be a bountiful year."

The emperor smiled bitterly, "Three edicts of self-reproach have already cost Me my face. Each edict has cost Me a prince. Three edicts, and three of My princes have died. Is it because of My lack of virtue that the world is suffering?"

Seeing the emperor's pain, Xian dared not speak rashly and could only stand by his side, sharing his sorrow.

The fox, which was eating, suddenly jumped off the chair, lifted the curtain with its mouth, and rushed out. The emperor looked at the departing fox with a sense of loss and sighed again.

A short while later, the fox returned, carrying a yellowish stone in its mouth and placing it in front of Zhaozhen.

Xian exclaimed in surprise, picked up the stone, and carefully cleaned it before presenting it to the emperor, whispering, "Your Majesty, this is the Shoushan stone you discarded last year."

Zhaozhen examined the stone in his hand and smiled, "It really is the Shoushan stone I threw in anger last year. I didn't expect the fox to find it. No matter what, finding it again is good. Since the fox found it, let's reward it. Have the palace craftsmen carve this stone and hang it around the fox's neck to let the world know that this fox is also one of My subjects."

Xian bowed and replied, "Yes, Your Majesty," and turned to look at the fox, which was circling on the ground, and smiled, "Aren't you going to thank the emperor?"

The fox was unmoved, perked up its ears, and lifted the curtain again, rushing out. It had already eaten its fill; why stay?

Tixin Yuan lay in the bathtub, continuing to sleep. The fox slipped in and naturally lay down beside him. The strong smell of roasted chicken wafted over. Tixin Yuan pried open the fox's mouth, looked inside, and sighed, "Damn, even the fox gets to eat chicken, and I can only eat noodles..."

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