Zhao Defang's road to the virtuous king

"Not in good health?" Defang asked, "What's wrong with you?"

"Go back to the lord, my uncle must be... hungry."

"What?" Defang looked at Song Yuanhan, "Are you hungry? What do you mean?"

"Going back to my lord, it's just that I haven't eaten well. It should have been a while."

"Didn't you eat well?" Defang asked, "Uncle, what have you eaten recently? Is the food in the dining room not to your taste?"

Song Yuanhan lowered his head and said nothing, Defang looked at Song Yuanhan's worried face and said, "Baili, go and find Huo Dong, the chief dining room manager."

After a while, the head steward of the dining room trotted into the door, knelt down and saluted, "The villain kowtows to the prince, a thousand years ago."

"Boss Huo, what meals did the dining room cook for uncle during this time?"

The steward looked at Song Yuanhan, and he was also worried. Seeing this, Defang said, "What's wrong? Don't say anything."

"Go back to the prince. Little man. This."

"What did this and that do?"

The steward looked at Song Yuanhan again, and Defang was very angry seeing the two men hesitating. He slapped the table and said, "What are you looking at! If you don't talk about the lonely king, I will reward you with fifty boards!"

"My lord, spare me!" The steward was startled when he heard that.

"Return to the lonely king's words!"

"Back. Back to the prince. My uncle... His meal is not... not prepared by the villain."

"Didn't you prepare it? Who prepared it? What did you cook for uncle?"

"Yes. My uncle prepared it myself."

"What? Prepare yourself? What do you mean?"

"Back to the lord. Uncle, he... has been here to prepare meals by himself since more than ten days ago. The villain just brought some rice noodles and vegetables for the uncle."

"Here? Where?" Defang didn't understand

"That's it." The steward pointed to the yard, "It's on top of the stone furnace."

Defang thought about how Song Yuanhan made the pot and asked, "You mean the casserole outside? The inside is... rice?"

The steward nodded, Defang stood up and went outside, kicked over the casserole, and scattered it all over the ground. Sure enough, there were indeed some rice vegetables inside, but they were all wilted and smelled bad. Defang saw He frowned, turned around and looked at Song Yuanhan for a long time before saying, "Baili, bring uncle to the main hall." Then he turned and walked out of the courtyard.

Baili brought Song Yuanhan to the main hall, Defang and Concubine Di were already sitting on the chairs, Song Yuanhan saw Defang's complexion was not good, so he stepped forward and saluted, "My lord, I."

"Uncle, why are you doing this?"

"I, my lord."

"Didn't the lonely king treat you well?"

"I."

"If you do this, if outsiders know about it, you will be treated as a lonely king who abused you!"

"No! My lord. I."

"Look at what you look like now! How would the queen mother feel if she saw this in the sky! How does the lonely king explain to the late mother queen and father-in-law!"

Song Yuanhan lowered his head, and Concubine Di asked, "My lord, what's going on?"

"Ma'am, just now the lonely king asked Huo Dong, the chief manager of the dining room. For more than ten days, my uncle has been cooking and eating in the courtyard by himself. Just now, the lonely king went to the courtyard. What kind of food is there in his casserole? They are all burnt, look at his face now, the medical officer said that he is not in good health now because he hasn't eaten well for a long time."

Concubine Di was also very surprised when she heard this, "Uncle, why do you have to cook by yourself? Didn't the dining room bring you food? Or is the food not to your taste?"

"My lady, it's not me."