Ming Dynasty: I risked my life to teach the prince, the emperor begged me not to die

Chapter 218 He Knows My Identity
Since you like to act confused and stupid, I won't be polite.

You continue to pretend, and I will take all the fame for myself and enhance my own reputation. Is that too much?
Empress Dowager Zhou was going to celebrate her birthday, but Zhu Houzhao didn't know what gift to give her.

"Little brother, you said my great-grandmother is going to celebrate her birthday. As a descendant, what should I give her as a gift?"

Chen Ce never celebrated a birthday for the old man, but I guess that’s all there is to it.

"Birthday Cake?"

Zhu Houzhao scratched his head and asked, "What is a birthday cake?"

"It's a pastry made with butter, fermented dough, and the like."

Chen Ce didn't know how to describe it.

Zhu Houzhao thought this was very common. It was just a pastry. His great-grandmother had eaten all kinds of pastries.

Although Chen Ce didn't know how to describe it, he knew how to make it.

It's just a bit time-consuming. It takes from the morning to the afternoon to make the dough rise and let it rest, and you also have to buy all kinds of raw materials. It's really not easy to make.

Zhu Houzhao had been watching silently from the side without much interest, until the birthday cake was finished by Chen Ce. He picked up the cream and wrote a few words on it.

Zhu Houzhao was amazed and asked excitedly, "Why is this cake so big?"

"You can write on it, can you write anything on it?"

Chen Ce smiled and said, "Well, you can write anything. Why don't you give it a try?"

Zhu Houzhao became interested and wrote on it with cream: "Live a long life, little brother!"

Chen Ce smiled knowingly, and Zhu Houzhao pinched his waist and laughed: "It's fun, fun."

Chen Ce reminded him, "You can't write something like 'live a hundred years' to the old man."

Zhu Houzhao asked in confusion: "Why?"

Chen Ce rolled his eyes at him and said, "She's already your great-grandmother, and she's almost a hundred years old. Are you writing this to bless her or to wish her a quick death?"

Zhu Houzhao covered his mouth: "Yes, yes, if you hadn't said it, I would have forgotten it!"

Liu Jin swallowed and thought to himself, "Can you two stop nagging me? This pastry looks delicious. Can't you take a few bites to try it out first?"
It seems that we don’t have this kind of pastry in the Ming Dynasty yet.

Liu Jin looked resentful.

Chen Ce put some cream on his hand and rubbed it on Zhu Houzhao's face.

Zhu Houzhao was stunned for a moment and asked, "What does this mean?"

Chen Ce said: "It doesn't mean anything."

"Hurrah!"

Zhu Houzhao also touched Chen Ce's face with the cream, and the two young men laughed at each other at the same time, saying that they looked like a big cat.

Liu Jin secretly dipped his fingers in some cream, licked his fingers, and his eyes suddenly widened.

Holy crap! Delicious!
Liu Jin has some culture, but not much. The phrase "wow, it's delicious" is enough to express his current mood.

"Master, this is such a waste. Eat some and try it. What if the old man doesn't like it?"

Zhu Houzhao thought so, so he cut a piece and put the cream and baked cake into his mouth. The soft and sweet taste was better than all the cakes in the Ming Dynasty. He couldn't help but sigh: "It's delicious!"

Chen Ce also took a bite, but he thought it was just average, after all, the conditions were limited. He just smiled knowingly and watched Zhu Houzhao and Liu Jin wolfing down the food.

He cut off a small piece of cake and left it for Mrs. Wu next door.

In a short while, the big cake was eaten up by Zhu Houzhao and Liu Jin.

"Do you know how to make it?"

Zhu Houzhao was confused, he had forgotten.

Chen Ce was also convinced. He had watched it so seriously just now, but it was all in vain.

Chen Ce wrote down the process, handed it to Zhu Houzhao, and said, "I believe the old man will be happier with the cake you made yourself."

"You might as well make bigger and more if there are more people in your family."

Zhu Houzhao nodded like a chicken pecking at rice and said to Chen Ce, "Thank you, little brother."

Chen Ce smiled and said, "Thank you for what?"

"Thank you for teaching me." "It's just a piece of cake."

Zhu Houzhao shook his head and said, "It's more than that."

Chen Ce was slightly stunned, and pretended to be confused: "I didn't teach you anything else. We are all smart people. We discussed many things together."

Zhu Houzhao chuckled and said, "That's right. Sharing with each other is the key. There must be a teacher among three people!"

It's getting late.

It was time for Zhu Houzhao to leave. Although he was happy today, he suddenly felt a little lost and empty inside when he left Huaihua Hutong.

Liu Jin seemed to have realized something and said cleverly, "Master! I discovered a huge secret!"

Zhu Houzhao was not in high spirits and asked, "What secret is it?"

Liu Jin asked, "You mean Mr. Chen? He doesn't know that you are the crown prince, does he?"

The more Liu Jin thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong. What about the salt permits and royal family salaries? Are these issues something that an Imperial Guard could get involved in?
But he told Zhu Houzhao everything, as if he was certain that Zhu Houzhao could get in touch with higher-level decision-makers.

Isn't this strange?

Zhu Houzhao glanced at Liu Jin and said, "Haha."

Haha, what does this mean?
Zhu Houzhao said: "Do you really think that little brother is a fool?"

"He's so smart, how could he not see through my poor acting skills?"

what?
Liu Jin was confused.

"Master, did you know that he knew you were the prince?"

Zhu Houzhao nodded.

As for when Zhu Houzhao figured it out, he couldn't remember, but he felt that Chen Ce had known it a long time ago.

Liu Jin asked, "Then why didn't you tell him?"

Zhu Houzhao looked at the slightly cold October sunset and smiled, "Because he wanted to deceive me."

“Because it makes him happy.”

“Because this way he has no burden.”

"Because he likes being around like this."

"Because he took me for a fool."

Because... too many reasons.

But...he can't live for more than six years.

Zhu Houzhao looked at the last ray of sunset in the sky and sighed before, because young people do not know sorrow.

Now he wants to express his emotion, but he can't, because he knows that he is really about to lose his best friend and best teacher.

He wanted to give Chen Ce the best, but he didn't have the ability because he was just a prince.

He wanted to make his little brother happy, but he didn't know how to make Chen Ce happy. He always felt that Chen Ce was like his father, and they both had a lot of things hidden in their hearts.

They all have big ambitions.

The only difference is that he thinks Chen Ce is more powerful than his father.

Liu Jin didn't dare to speak, and stood quietly aside, his eyes a little red. He envied Chen Ce and felt sorry for him.

Zhu Houzhao took a deep breath, slapped Liu Jin on the head with his backhand, and asked, "Are you still standing here?"

"Are you going to buy the ingredients for the cake that my little brother asked me to buy?"

Liu Jin: "..."

"Oh, I'll go right away. I'll go right away."

Zhu Houzhao stood alone in the crowd, looking at the sunset, and murmured: "Time, can you go a little slower, a little slower?"

If possible, he really didn't want to continue taking those boring classes in the East Palace. He didn't learn anything and it was a waste of time.

(End of this chapter)