My Emperor Father Can Read Minds
Chapter 38

Xiao Anzi took the prescription to the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

As someone serving the transparent prince, Xiao Anzi, being a eunuch, had a lower status than the average eunuch.

Normally, he wouldn’t even be able to meet Chief Eunuch Li Cheng, let alone recognize the sweeping eunuchs at Hall of Mental Cultivation. He was lucky to even be allowed near them.

However, although he had no status, Xiao Anzi had one advantage.

That was, he lacked a certain sense of awareness!

Sometimes, he couldn’t tell whether others meant well or ill. When people were excluding or looking down on him, he would foolishly think they were just busy!

When Xiao Anzi arrived at the Hall of Mental Cultivation, he didn’t see Li Cheng outside.

He asked the little eunuch waiting by the door and said he had something to present on behalf of Ninth Prince.

Unfortunately, the little eunuch didn’t have the sharp eye of the Chief Eunuch, nor could he see the Emperor’s current attention on the Ninth Prince. He simply said, “Consort Xian is inside,” and dismissed Xiao Anzi.

Xiao Anzi silently looked at him, thinking, how could you know the Emperor doesn’t want to meet? The Emperor himself had asked His Highness to write this!

He felt a little upset.

But there was nothing he could do.

His Highness had no status, and compared to the always favored Consort Xian, it was only natural that the palace servants didn’t think much of the Ninth Prince…

Xiao Anzi calmed himself after a few seconds of frustration.

He stood obediently to the side, planning to wait until Consort Xian came out before presenting the items to the Emperor.

The little eunuch glanced at him with disdain.

If he was willing to wait, then let him. It was impossible to have him go in and report, as everyone knew Consort Xian hated being disturbed while with the Emperor. He could be walking right into trouble.

Luckily for Xiao Anzi, he didn’t have to wait long before he saw Li Cheng enter the hall.

Not being able to meet the Emperor was the same as reporting to the Chief Eunuch.

Xiao Anzi hurried over, obediently handing the box over. “Director Li, this is the item Ninth Prince is presenting to the Emperor. It’s the prescription His Majesty has been asking for.”

Li Cheng, who had just come from the Empress, paused for a moment upon hearing this.

He knew very well what the Emperor had been concerned about.

Just a few days ago, Li Cheng had personally gone to the Ninth Prince to urge him.

He quickly took the box, asking gently, “Isn’t the Ninth Prince coming himself?”

Xiao Anzi made up a lie, “His Highness is reviewing books and asked me to bring this to the Emperor.”

Li Cheng, now thinking about how Xiao Anzi had been standing by the door earlier, glanced inside the hall and casually asked, “Why isn’t the Young Eunuch going in? The Emperor has been waiting for him.”

As they were speaking, they had reached the entrance of the hall.

Upon hearing Li Cheng’s words, the little eunuch’s face changed, and he immediately started begging Li Cheng for forgiveness.

“Director Li, please forgive me. I didn’t recognize the situation earlier. Please give me another chance!”

Li Cheng just glanced at him, said nothing, and waved for the others to drag him out.

“In front of the Emperor, you’re so careless. The Ninth Prince’s people are not to be treated lightly. Take him out and have him kneel.”

The little eunuch was dragged out and made to kneel.

Xiao Anzi watched all of this, blinking, then fell silent, a sudden realization dawning on him.

Ah, so His Highness had already gained the Emperor’s favor?

No wonder His Highness wasn’t in a hurry.

After the little eunuch was punished, Li Cheng took the box and led Xiao Anzi into the Hall of Mental Cultivation to meet the Emperor.

Once inside, Xiao Anzi heard Consort Xian’s voice.

“In a few days, it will be the Qixi Festival. I wonder how lively it will be among the common people…”

Emperor Wei: “The Qixi Festival is a good time for men and women to meet. If you want a lively gathering, just have a banquet in the palace.”

“Hmph, it’s not about wanting a lively event. I’m thinking about Shuo’er. He’s already seventeen. If he doesn’t get married soon, what will people think of him?”

The Emperor’s conversation with Consort Xian fell into Xiao Anzi’s ears, and suddenly he thought about his own sixteen-year-old master.

[Isn’t it normal for Seventh Prince to be unmarried at seventeen? Eighth Prince hasn’t married either… Well, with his mother backing him, it’s fine. I wonder when His Highness will bring back a wife.]

The unfamiliar thought reached Emperor Wei’s ears.

He looked up at Li Cheng and Xiao Anzi, who had just entered.

Li Cheng bowed and reported, “Your Majesty, Ninth Prince sent something for you.”

He had been about to ask who had brought it, but didn’t need to anymore.

Emperor Wei’s gaze fell on the box, and a slight smile appeared on his face, his eyes showing some anticipation. “What’s this?”

Li Cheng smiled flatteringly, “It’s the item you’ve been waiting for, Your Majesty.”

What he wanted was the long-awaited prescriptions for steel and sugar production!

Emperor Wei was delighted. “Quick, present it to me, let me have a look.”

The Emperor’s enthusiasm puzzled Consort Xian, who sat nearby, looking beautiful in her splendid palace attire, her face youthful, hardly resembling a woman in her thirties with two children. She appeared more like someone in her early twenties.

Relying on the Emperor’s favor, Consort Xian was somewhat arrogant, but she wasn’t completely without brains. She knew she wasn’t supposed to look at prescriptions, but she could still ask a few simple questions.

Looking at the Emperor’s satisfied expression as he examined the prescription, Consort Xian couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.

“Your Majesty, what has Ninth Prince written for you, that you’re this happy?”

[Tch, someone as weak and useless as Wei Yu can actually win the Emperor’s favor? Could it be true, as Shuo’er said, that the Emperor plans to support the young princes?]

Emperor Wei looked up, casting a meaningful glance at Consort Xian, and smiled, “Little Ninth is clever and has deeply won my favor. The glass he created recently was quite good. I had it shown to the Xiqi envoys, and even they couldn’t say a word against it. It really brought some honor to Great Wei.”

The youngest prince had brought honor to Great Wei, while his older brothers had achieved nothing.

There was a slight hint of dissatisfaction in Consort Xian’s eyes, but her expression remained unchanged as she smiled sweetly, “Ninth Prince is indeed clever. Otherwise, Great Wei would have been laughed at by those Xiqi barbarians.”

[It’s just some small tricks that won’t amount to much. For a prince to be hanging out with a group of craftsmen, it’s obvious that his mother came from a lowly background. Even his aura reeks of mediocrity…]

Emperor Wei’s gaze deepened as he looked at Consort Xian’s still beautiful face, but suddenly, his heart turned cold.

As expected, a venomous beauty is still a venomous beauty.

He couldn’t let the fact that he had spent less time in the harem over the past two months fool him into thinking they had changed their ways.

If a person’s nature could change so easily, then where would the word “hypocrisy” even come from?

This Consort Xian was not even as good as the Empress.

At least the Empress was coarse on the inside, but she didn’t resort to personal attacks…

Emperor Wei’s smile slightly faded. He turned to Consort Xian and said, “You may return now. I still have state affairs to attend to.”

Taken by surprise at being dismissed so abruptly, Consort Xian paused for a moment.

She was somewhat displeased, but ultimately didn’t dare to say anything. She could only reluctantly bow and leave.