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When Xiao Xingxing turned one, he showed signs of being a picky eater. When the nanny fed him, if he didn’t like the food, he’d tightly press his lips together, refusing to open his mouth even when the spoon was at his lips.
When he smiled, his eyes and brows resembled Chu Zhaoyou. When not smiling, he was a miniature version of the Regent, his face assuming a stern expression as if the Regent were scrutinizing you with mixed emotions.
Unfortunately, the nanny was somewhat afraid of the Regent. Xiao Xingxing, being precocious, noticed this and used it to his advantage. When he saw food he didn’t like, he’d press his lips tightly together, displaying a false show of strength.
The nanny had a few setbacks and quickly informed Chu Zhaoyou about Xiao Xingxing’s picky eating habits.
Chu Zhaoyou held his son and reasoned with him, “A child who was born at 4.5 pounds has no right to be a picky eater, okay?”
Xiao Xingxing laughed, his eyes curving, and kicked his legs on Chu Zhaoyou’s thigh, not understanding. He called out in a childish tone, “Father.”
Chu Zhaoyou said, “You’re taking advantage, you know? Other kids have to learn to call both dad and mom, but you can call two people with one word. You should change it up a bit, instead of saving a word.”
Xiao Xingxing started speaking late and had few words. Even now, he only knew how to say “father” twice. If he hadn’t been articulate and specific in whom he addressed, Chu Zhaoyou would have almost considered calling for the divine physician.
“No picky eating.”
“I eat so well; it must be the Regent who was a picky eater when he was young.”
Xiao Xingxing obviously didn’t understand. Chu Zhaoyou had to tell the nanny, “Overcome your psychological barriers. He’s just pretending. Be firm a few times, and he’ll understand. Don’t spoil him. The Regent isn’t scary. I haven’t seen him get angry in the past year. Even if he does, it’s just an empty threat. It falls apart with a poke.”
The nanny felt uneasy, knowing that perhaps only His Majesty considered the occasionally angry Regent to be a paper tiger.
“I’ll take him. You go and rest,” Chu Zhaoyou gave up trying to convince the nanny. He lowered his head to look at his son, wiping the drool from the corner of his mouth where he had laughed.
“Only a few teeth grown, and already trying to scare people?” Chu Zhaoyou pinched his son’s cheek. “Stand properly. Can you scare me, too?”
Xiao Xingxing stood there, displaying particularly stable posture, as if he had a foundation in martial arts. He innocently kicked his legs and then leaned directly into Chu Zhaoyou’s arms, calling out, “Father.”
Chu Zhaoyou caught him.
He and the Regent would take turns caring for Xiao Xingxing whenever they had free time. Besides attending court sessions, they also took him along when handling official documents.
Chu Zhaoyou had resumed his involvement in state affairs a few months ago. The emperor courses he had studied during the pregnancy came in handy, significantly reducing the workload for the Regent.
While handling official documents involved prolonged sitting, Xiao Xingxing would quietly rest in his arms. However, at this age, he was naturally active, needing to move around rather than being carried all the time.
“I need to find a way to cure your picky eating,” Chu Zhaoyou pondered, unwilling to scold or hit him. It seemed easier to just scold the Regent.
During dinner, Chu Zhaoyou said to the Regent, “We have a method to address a child’s picky eating in our place.”
He scooped up a spoonful of vegetable rice mash and offered it to Xiao Xingxing, who nonchalantly turned his head away and called out “Regent, Father.”
Chu Zhaoyou then fed the vegetable mash to the Regent Prince. “Learn from your son, pretend not to eat, and then I’ll scold you…”
The food delivered to the mouth by His Majesty, if not eaten, was casually consumed by the Regent without any psychological burden. “Are you using a warning to others by making an example of me?” he asked.
Chu Zhaoyou replied, “Yes.”
The Regent had no objections to Chu Zhaoyou’s method of education, but…
“Can we have someone else do the scolding?” he suggested, perhaps Xie Chaoyun, who seemed particularly resilient.
Chu Zhaoyou shook his head, “You two look alike, and I think it’s more effective to scold you. It’s because you often have a stern face; your son is learning to intimidate the nanny from you.”
The Regent expressed innocence, suggesting that the acting talent came directly from His Majesty.
Xiao Heng asked, “Are you really going to scold him?”
Chu Zhaoyou replied earnestly, “Yes, it’s about whether your son eats or not. Regent, you have to cooperate and make a really loud scream.”
Xiao Heng straightforwardly said, “You actually want to scold me.”
Chu Zhaoyou couldn’t hold back, a smile playing on his lips, “Are you the mastermind?”
“Yes,” Xiao Heng admitted.
Chu Zhaoyou scooped up a spoonful of minced meat and egg custard. This time, Xiao Xingxing took the initiative and swallowed it.
Chu Zhaoyou felt a bit worried. Earlier, it was just a joke with the Regent; he naturally wouldn’t actually use this method.
Xiao Heng observed Xiao Xingxing for a moment and said, “Let me try.”
Chu Zhaoyou asked, “Huh?”
Xiao Heng replied, “Remember how I fed you medicine?”
Chu Zhaoyou retorted, “You dare bring that up!”
Xiao Heng picked up the vegetable mash and said, “It works for His Majesty. Like father, like son.”
Placing Xiao Xingxing on the chair, Xiao Heng and Chu Zhaoyou sat on either side.
Chu Zhaoyou scooped up a spoonful of egg custard and said, “Ah—open up.”
Xiao Xingxing glanced at the egg custard, opened his mouth wide, and swiftly, the Regent slipped a spoonful of vegetable mash into it.
Xiao Xingxing’s mouth moved slightly, then he frowned, looked at Chu Zhaoyou, then at the Regent Prince, his face soft and fair, eyes round and bright, appearing pitiful. His two dads remained unfazed, as if it were only natural.
The Regent’s bowl was in Xiao Xingxing’s visual blind spot, his movements swift. Xiao Xingxing looked back and forth but couldn’t find any evidence.
Chu Zhaoyou urged, “Swallow it.”
Xiao Xingxing had no choice but to swallow. He was just picky, refusing to eat what he didn’t like, but he didn’t have a habit of spitting things out.
Watching his son’s bewildered expression, Chu Zhaoyou felt particularly delighted. He knew he would never use this trick on the Regent in his lifetime; his martial arts skills were not high enough. However, teasing the Regent through his son was fair game.
“Come on, keep eating. The egg custard, fair and square,” Chu Zhaoyou fed him spoonful by spoonful, gradually decreasing the egg custard.
Before long, the Regent’s small bowl of vegetable mash was finished.
After several rounds like this, the young prince’s picky eating habits were cured. After all, whether he picked or not, he never knew what the next bite would be.
When Xiao Xingxing was a little over two years old, his language skills erupted. Chu Zhaoyou sang nursery rhymes to him, and after a few renditions, Xiao Xingxing remembered them and began to sing them back vigorously.
When the Regent held him while reviewing official documents, Xiao Xingxing would cyclically sing the nursery rhymes and ancient poems taught by Chu Zhaoyou.
Chu Zhaoyou possessed a talent for singing operas, but he didn’t want Xiao Xingxing to be exposed to complex dramas too early, fearing he might become too engrossed. After all, as the crown prince, he would eventually inherit the throne. In the future, the tasks he and the Regent handled together would eventually fall solely to him, carrying significant responsibilities.
Chu Zhaoyou sang poetry, composing a set of rhythms. While others recited poetry, he sang it, Xiao Xingxing loved listening to it.
So, in the usually solemn study, the background was constantly filled with the melodies of Xiao Xingxing’s recitals while the Regent reviewed official documents.
Xiao Xingxing, playing with his toes, would sing, “In front of the door, a group of ducks swim, to my home’s inkstone washing pool by the tree… then back to the front door, a group of ducks swim…”
Without saying anything else, Xiao Xingxing’s dramatic performances were accurate and engaging. The Regent could find a day of drama in Xiao Xingxing’s recitals, equal to what he would typically experience in a whole year.
For every five batches of official documents reviewed by Xiao Heng, Xiao Xingxing’s repertoire would loop perfectly, so precise that Xiao Heng suspected he was deliberately counting as he sang.
Xiao Heng had to intermittently give him a bit of water and eventually had to hold his mouth shut. “Your father wants you to listen to the readings of the official documents, understood?”
The young prince’s eyes flickered and he nodded, “Okay.”
“When the Ministry of Rites Assistant Minister submitted, this year’s local official assessments…”
“The County Magistrate of Qingyang in Qingzhou submitted, reporting multiple occurrences of flooding in Qingyang this year, resulting in poor harvests, and requesting the court to reduce taxes…”
…
When Chu Zhaoyou was reviewing official documents today, he bribed Eunuch Xue, openly instructing him to give ninety percent of the documents to the Regent.
He returned with a stack of empty documents, and after changing the real ones, he secretly took a nap without the Regent knowing.
He would do this two or three times a month.
The Regent turned a blind eye, making a certain emperor even more arrogant.
He lazily lay in bed, pre-ordering grilled fish from the imperial kitchen.
The chef who excelled in grilling fish had something come up and was delayed. The Regent, holding Xiao Xingxing, came over to have lunch together, and the grilled fish was brought up.
The young prince sat in a specially designed child’s chair and quickly finished his bowl of rice.
When he finished eating, he began to repeat what he had seen and heard today.
“When the Ministry of Rites Assistant Minister submitted…”
Chu Zhaoyou, with the grilled fish in his hand, paused slightly. He was just taking a day off and didn’t need this, really.
“The County Magistrate of Qingyang in Qingzhou submitted…”
Xiao Xingxing remembered the content of five official documents, mixing and matching them, creating a vague and unclear narrative.
Chu Zhaoyou listened, utterly perplexed, and had to ask the Regent about the actual contents of the official documents.
The Regent explained each one.
“Did you reduce his taxes?”
“We sent someone to investigate, and if the situation is confirmed, we will grant it.”
After numerous inquiries, Chu Zhaoyou realized that if he had time for this, he should be reviewing the official documents himself.
He held Xiao Xingxing back, “Be quiet. I’m going to recite ‘The Lament of the Farmer’ now.”
Every grain is hard-earned, quite appetizing.
The young prince shook his head and sighed, “I already know that one. I want to learn a new one.”
Chu Zhaoyou replied, “You have a day. You won’t remember the official documents by then.”
Forgive me for being frank, but each time you recite the contents of the official documents, they are completely different from the last time. Mixing things up like this, you might as well perform an opera for me.
However, the young prince had his own ideas and arrangements.
After finishing his meal, the Regent Prince left Xiao Xingxing with Chu Zhaoyou, smiling, “I have a lot of official documents to go through today. I can’t manage him and do my work at the same time. You put him down for a nap.”
Chu Zhaoyou retorted, “You’re doing this on purpose.”
It felt like releasing a well-behaved son only to have him return with a head full of national affairs, almost like the midday news, which piqued the curiosity of an emperor.
As an emperor, he couldn’t help but listen.
Chu Zhaoyou had to impart a lot of state affairs while putting his son down for a nap. Even taking a break felt like a defiance. Frustrated, he sneaked into the study, took half of the official documents to review, and ended up being pressed onto the throne by the Regent until he recited all the poetry and drama his son had sung.
Later, he realized that Xiao Xingxing deliberately performed operas for the Regent and recited official documents for him, a behavior that seemed quite deserving of a reprimand.