Chapter 558
It's delicious!
"Grandfather," the little dumpling called out.
"Hey." King Rong gave him two more small sweet carrot candies.
Rong Jun carried the little dumpling back, and Qin Bi saw that the little dumpling was holding a small sweet carrot candy in his hand and eating it. She guessed that it was probably not his own candy.
Qin Bi knew better than anyone how greedy the little guy was for money.
"How many pieces did he eat?" Qin Bi asked.
Rong Jun looked down at the little dumpling: "Not many."
"How many pieces did you eat?" Qin Bi knew that Rong Jun was protecting the little dumpling, so she simply asked Rong Chi.
Rong Chi: "..."
Without needing to ask, Qin Bi already knew what was going on. She gave Rong Chi another packet of sweet radish candy. Rong Jun then turned back. The little dumpling had eaten quite a bit along the way. The candy, made from sweet radishes, wouldn't hurt a child's teeth.
Therefore, Rong Jun did not stop him.
When Rong Wang saw Rong Jun return, he was puzzled. The little dumpling gave Rong Wang a bag of sweet radish candies. Rong Wang then realized what was going on and was surprised. Rong Jun's crown princess was much better than that Qin He.
They were all concubine daughters of the Qin Yan Marquis's family, so Qin He was somewhat inferior.
Rong Wang gave half of it to Rong Chi, and the little dumpling happily accepted it. Rong Jun put it in his small storage bag, put it away, and returned to the Crown Prince's courtyard. In the late afternoon, the Duke of Yan's mansion sent over some spirit melon seeds.
Several kinds of melon seeds were cooked, and there were also roasted melon seeds.
"Wow." The little dumpling drooled.
Rong Jun took a small handkerchief and wiped his drool, laughing in exasperation, "When have you ever been short of food?"
The little dumpling grabbed a few, actually wanting to grab a big handful, but in the end, with her little hands busy, she only managed to grab a few roasted sunflower seeds, which she couldn't crack open.
Rong Jun gave it to Qin Bi. The man then divided the spirit melon seeds into two portions, one for Qin Bi and one for the little dumpling. Rong Yang, living in the Duke of Yan's mansion, had no shortage of spirit melon seeds.
The little dumpling Rong Chi hugged his share and negotiated with Qin Bi: "Let's switch."
Qin Bi shook her head: "No change."
The little dumpling looked up at Rong Jun, then stopped.
The little dumpling put some spirit melon seeds into his storage bag, and then asked Qin Bi, "Where did you put them?"
Qin Bi said, "I'm not talking to you."
The little dumpling: "..."
Looking up, the little dumpling complained to Prince Rong, "You didn't tell me."
Rong Jun laughed, and Qin Bi laughed too. They didn't talk to him anymore. Qin Bi grabbed a few kinds of spirit melon seeds and put them in the melon seed plate. The little dumpling looked at Rong Jun, then at Qin Bi, and reached out her little hand to take some melon seeds from the plate and eat them.
Qin Bi sat down and also took a spirit melon seed to eat.
Rong Jun asked, "Do you like it?"
Qin Bi smiled and nodded: "Delicious."
The little dumpling leaned closer and nodded, "It's delicious."
Qin Bi was speechless. He was sucking on a sunflower seed, and the saltiness was gone. He hadn't even cracked the seed open. How could it be delicious? It was such a mindless compliment. Rong Jun couldn't stand it anymore and told the little guy to spit it out.
The little dumpling won't spit it out; I can't bear to.
Qin Bi grabbed a handful and bargained, "Here, take a handful."
The little dumpling immediately spat it out. These were spirit melon seeds. Qin Bi peeled the seeds and fed them to him. The little dumpling stretched out his little hand, and Qin Bi gave him a handful of spirit melon seeds.
Rong Jun saw this and showed no favoritism towards either of them. Qin He was still unwilling to give up. She picked and chose at home and finally made up her mind to select two high-level demon beast hides. She went to the Qin Yan Marquis's residence and gave one to her stepmother, the second wife, Cui.
"Speak," said Madam Cui, the second wife. "What is it?"
Qin He pouted and said coquettishly, "Fu Bao wants a dress made of the hide of a fire-eating beast."
Second Madam Cui took a sip of tea: "Go find the Crown Prince's wife."
Qin He chuckled and stood up to go find the Crown Prince's wife.
Upon entering, Qin He smiled and presented the young master's wife with a high-grade demon beast hide. This particular hide was of the Orchid grade and was of high rank.
Qin He couldn't bear to part with anything even better.
The Crown Prince's wife was puzzled. What time was it? She hadn't even had time to finish making the clothes for the Crimson Flame Festival. If she had given them to her earlier, she could have made a dress. The fur felt nice to the touch.
The Crown Prince's wife said, "I really like it; it would definitely make a beautiful dress."
"Yes," Qin He said, "This Fu Bao also likes to wear pretty dresses. Sister-in-law, could you talk to your aunt and ask her to take out a piece of fire beast skin from the ancestral tablet?"
The Crown Prince's wife suddenly realized, "Well, Qin He hasn't given up yet."
"I'm afraid..." the Crown Prince's wife hesitated, "No."
Qin Bi pleaded, "Sister-in-law, go ask her. You have more influence than I do."
The Crown Prince's wife might as well say frankly: "There really isn't any extra. Any that we have, we'll give to our relatives and friends. The Crimson Flame Festival is usually cold, and the hides of the Flame Beasts are in high demand."
Qin He lowered her head and sighed.
She deliberately sighed for the Crown Prince's wife to see.
Qin He was after the Flame Beast Hide in the Crown Prince's wife's possession. She had heard that the Crown Prince's wife had prepared Flame Beast Hide clothes for the child, and there must be some left over!
The Crown Prince's wife also sighed. Qin He was dumbfounded and had no choice but to ask, "Sister-in-law, do you have any leftover fire beast hides? Just a little bit of scrap will do. I'll make a pair of fluffy shoes for Fu Bao."
"What's wrong with you?" the Crown Prince's wife said to Qin He. "Fu Bao is a first-rank princess, she has to have the best of everything, and her clothes are also a symbol of good fortune and luck. How can Fu Bao use scraps?"
Qin He was annoyed, but didn't want to show it: "It's just a child, it's nothing, sister-in-law, please find it for me quickly."
The Crown Prince's wife shrugged: "There aren't even any scraps."
Qin He's smile froze on her face. She thought the Crown Prince's wife was making things difficult for her and was disrespecting her, but that wasn't the case. The Crown Prince's wife was also frustrated. The fire beast hide that her mother-in-law had given her was only enough to make clothes for the children.
The remaining amount was taken by Lady Qin Yanhou, who sent a maid to collect it.
Good heavens! The Crown Prince's wife glanced at Qin He and secretly complained. She hadn't expected that scraps of the Flame Beast would be so sought after. If she had known, she would have saved a scrap.
Qin He got nothing and was heartbroken, having wasted two high-level demon beast hides.
Prince He no longer gives her anything, and Qin He has to be careful with the good things she has. Giving away two high-level demon beast hides for free would be heartbreaking for someone like Qin He.
If only she had asked the Crown Prince's wife if there were any leftover scraps of fire-type demon beast hides, she wouldn't have given him any high-level demon beast hides. Qin He regretted it immensely; she hadn't benefited from it and had only given away things for nothing.
Qin Lang wandered around for a while, then went back to tell Qin Xun.
Qin Xun said thoughtfully, "From now on, we should try not to let the things belonging to our third and fourth wives be mixed up with the public funds."
Qin Lang nodded, and the two of them went to find Qin Tang and told him what had happened.
Afterwards, Qin Lang ran to the Rong King's Mansion.
Qin Bi breathed a sigh of relief upon learning this and instructed Qin Lang, "Go back and tell your elder sister-in-law and the others not to give her our things. It's really good that Qin He is having such a hard time." (End of Chapter)