Ming Dynasty: Gain one supernatural power every day

Upon arriving at the Heavenly Palace, the group breathed in the fragrant air and felt refreshed. The fatigue from the wind that had blown them all the way up the clouds vanished.

Zhu Gaoxu was the first to jump down from the white tiger's head, stepping onto the cloud-patterned stone slab. He hopped twice on the spot, then bent down and tapped the ground with his fingers, making a clear, resounding sound.

He stood up, looked up at the palace before him—a palace with a base of white jade and beams of purple sandalwood—and let out a long sigh: "My goodness! The fourth prince is building palaces in the heavens now, living in a celestial palace. What are the Lingxiao Palaces compared to this!"

He walked halfway around the square, then walked to the edge of the viewing platform, peered down, gasped, and turned to shout to the crowd, "You can see down here! You can see Yingtian Prefecture! The Qinhuai River is right below!"

Wei stood not far behind him, looking up at the two spirit stone lamps in front of the hall.

She heard Zhu Gaoxu shouting, his tone somewhat matter-of-fact: "Fourth Brother is incredibly powerful, isn't it normal for him to have a Heavenly Palace? Fourth Brother isn't an ordinary person, the gods live in the heavens, what's there to be so surprised about?"

Although she spoke calmly, her eyes never left the spirit stone lamp, clearly indicating that she was not as calm as she appeared.

Looking at the transparent spirit stone floor beneath her feet, and watching the wisps of cloud drift slowly beneath her, Zhang Yan sighed with admiration, "Fourth Brother's supernatural abilities are truly astounding. One after another, how many have there been? The strange things I've seen in the last few days are more than I've seen in the entire previous decades combined."

She looked down at the towering sky beyond the transparent floor beneath her feet, then quickly looked up and patted her chest. "This is truly an eye-opening experience. To actually see the Heavenly Palace in my lifetime! When I tell my sisters back home, they'll definitely think I'm dreaming."

Zhu Gaochi dismounted from the Vermilion Bird's back, first carrying the children down one by one and handing them to Zhang Yan, before standing up straight and looking around.

Although he still maintained the composure of a prince on his face, his eyes betrayed him. From the viewing platform to the spirit stone lamp, from the sandalwood beams and pillars to the wisteria in the back garden, his pupils dilated slightly with each place his gaze swept over.

He looked for a long time and shook his head, his tone tinged with helplessness and sigh: "Fourth brother's supernatural power is truly terrifying. I was flying peacefully in the sky just now when suddenly such a huge palace appeared, giving me quite a fright."

He turned to look at Zhu Gaoxi, puzzled, and asked, "But fourth brother, we flew outside for half a day just now, how come we didn't see anything? This palace was clearly right in front of us, but there was nothing but blue sky and white clouds outside. Is this also a supernatural power?"

Hearing this, Zhang Yan, before Zhu Gaoxi could answer, chimed in with a smile, "Is that even a question? The palaces of immortals can't be easily seen by mortals. Fourth Brother must have hidden it somehow; those outside can't see in, but those inside can see out. Right, Fourth Brother? Isn't Sister-in-law right?"

Zhu Gaoxi smiled and nodded upon hearing this: "Sister-in-law is right, that's pretty much the idea. People outside can't see us from here, but we can see out from here."

Zhu Gaoxi arrived at a cloud-patterned open space next to the viewing platform.

With a wave of his hand, divine craftsmanship unfolded on the cloud surface, and a large round table of rosewood, large enough to accommodate everyone, appeared out of thin air, with matching chairs arranged in order.

He then gently swept his hand across the table, and the golden light of the gourmet dining table flashed, as dishes appeared out of thin air on the table:

Truffle ham and white asparagus rolls, low-temperature Wagyu beef slices, dried abalone soup with tangerine peel, morel mushroom and fish maw chicken soup, braised squid, pan-fried Wagyu beef with black truffle, crispy roasted pigeon with truffle, braised black pork with Shaoxing wine, Moutai liquor, Sprite... one delicious dish after another appeared.

As for why Sprite was included, it's because my second brother loves to drink it.

Zhu Gaoxi looked at the table full of delicious food and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

The last few times he served his family fried chicken, hamburgers, milk tea, and other high-tech and edible foods. Although they enjoyed them, he felt a little guilty.

Since we're hosting a dinner party in the Heavenly Palace today, we have to show off our real skills and let everyone taste authentic Chinese cuisine.

The children's stomachs were already growling with hunger, but none of them made the first move.

Zhu Zhanhe lay on the edge of the table, sniffing hard, his eyes fixed on the plate of braised squid. His saliva was almost dripping onto the table, but he still stood properly next to the chair.

He couldn't help but point at the plate and ask Zhu Gaoxu, "Dad, what's that big black thing? Can I eat it?"

Zhu Zhanqi stood on tiptoe, his nose almost touching the crispy truffle pigeon, when Wei gently patted his shoulder. He quickly pulled his head back and muttered, "It smells so good."

Zhu Zhanyi and Zhu Zhanyong stood obediently in place, each holding one of Zhu Gaosui and Zhu Gaochi's sleeves, their eyes fixed on the plate of braised black pork with Shaoxing wine on the table.

Princess Zhending was held in Madam Weng's arms. Looking at the delicious food on the table, she turned to look at her mother and asked in a childish voice, "Mother, can we eat now? Yao Yao wants to eat the white one."

"Brothers and sisters-in-law, please don't be shy. Let's sit down and begin. Look how hungry the children are," Zhu Gaoxi said with a smile, waving his hand to signal everyone to sit down.

Adults and children sat down one by one. The table was soon filled with the crisp sounds of bowls and chopsticks clattering and exclamations of surprise.

Zhu Zhanhe picked up a large piece of braised squid and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing until his mouth was full of sauce, and mumbled, "This is so delicious."

Zhu Zhanqi had half a pigeon stuffed in his mouth and reached for a slice of Wagyu beef, but stopped when Wei gently tapped the back of his hand with her chopsticks.

Zhu Zhanyi and Zhu Zhanyong each ate a piece of Shaoxing-style black pork, their cheeks bulging, and they didn't forget to exchange their thoughts.

Princess Zhending sat on Lady Weng's lap, holding an abalone bigger than her face, gnawing on it until her face was covered in soup. She would occasionally look up at Zhu Gaoxi and smile, mumbling, "Four rats, hooray."

The adults also enjoyed their meal.

"This Sprite... what is it? It's really good, it's so nice to eat with that ice cream." Zhu Gaoxu picked up several thin slices of Wagyu beef, took a sip of wine, and poured himself a full glass of Sprite.

"It tastes really good." Zhu Gaochi first served Zhang Yan a bowl of morel mushroom, fish maw, and old chicken soup, then served the children dishes one by one, before picking up a piece of truffle-seared Wagyu beef for himself. After eating, he squinted his eyes.

The three princesses ate while taking care of the children, occasionally serving each other food, sometimes exclaiming how delicious the dishes were, and sometimes looking up at the rainbow-colored barrier above them, saying that eating in such a place was worth it for a lifetime.

The meal was lively and satisfying; the children ate until their mouths were glistening with oil, and the adults were able to relax for once.

Zhu Gaoxu was in high spirits after eating, and he was about to launch into another long speech.

Upon seeing this, Madam Wei pulled him back to his chair by his sleeve, and scolded him in a low voice, "That's enough, don't let the children laugh at us."

Zhu Gaoxu sat back down dejectedly, muttering, "I haven't finished speaking yet," which caused everyone at the table to burst into laughter.

After dinner, the children ran to the viewing platform to look down at Yingtian Prefecture for a while. Zhu Zhanyong pulled Zhu Zhanyi on the platform to see who could run to the other side first.

The adults sat at the table, continuing to drink tea and chat, talking idly. Summer days are long and it gets dark late, but the sky was already tinged with a golden-red sunset.

Zhu Gaochi glanced at the sunset on the horizon, stood up, and patted Zhu Gaoxi on the shoulder: "Fourth brother, it's getting late, we should head back."

Zhu Gaoxu, standing to the side, clicked his tongue with lingering interest and stood up as well: "Alright, that's enough for today. Second Brother, come again another day. Fourth Brother, that Flying Fairy Moutai you have here is quite good. I'll drink that again next time."

Everyone stood up, and the children reluctantly climbed off the cloud carpet. Zhu Zhanhe was still shouting "Play a little longer" when Zhu Gaoxu picked him up and carried him on his shoulder.

After the three princesses settled their children, the three auspicious cloud beasts were once again deployed in the square.

Zhu Gaoxi escorted everyone to the entrance of the barrier, watching as the three cloud beasts, Vermilion Bird, White Tiger, and Black Tortoise, carried the three families slowly out of the barrier. However, the clouds carrying his older brothers were a bit shaky, so he quickly used his spiritual power to protect them and send them back.

"I can't give them alcohol next time. After all, if you don't follow the rules when riding the clouds, your loved ones will shed tears." Thinking that he had just given some people alcohol, Zhu Gaoxi slapped his forehead. After he finished, he himself lay on the cloud and floated back to the Prince Rui's mansion.