The next morning.
Early in the morning, Ivy Shen went to the imperial kitchen to prepare congee and simple side dishes, then brought them back. By this time, Eli Crane had already washed and dressed. When Aiden Chen arrived, he saw Eli standing at the doorway with a gentle smile, as if waiting for someone.
"Young Master, why are you up so early? And why are you still standing?" Aiden hurried over and pushed out the wheelchair from inside.
"Young Master, don't just stand there—hurry and sit down. It's chilly outside in the morning." Aiden pushed the chair behind him, ready to help Eli sit.
"It's fine." Eli turned his head and smiled softly at Aiden.
"But Old Man Sai said you're not allowed to stand for too long!" Aiden pouted anxiously.
"But Grandpa also said I need to exercise sometimes, right? If I just sit all the time, I'm afraid I won't be able to walk at all." With that, Eli stepped outside into the courtyard, his eyes still fixed on the doorway.
She'd gotten up so early. He'd wanted her to sleep in a bit, but she insisted on making breakfast for him, worried the Crown Prince would want food later and it might get delayed, so off she went at dawn.
Seeing Eli walk outside, Aiden hurried after him. "Young Master, are you waiting for Little Bird? Huh, she went out so early? The Crown Prince can't be up this early, right?"
"You really think everyone is as lazy a pig as you?" came an abrupt teasing voice—just as Ivy appeared at the doorway.
Seeing her, Eli Crane immediately went to greet her. "You're back?"
Meeting his gentle eyes, Ivy suddenly thought of last night—and her face flushed red in an instant.
"Huh? Little Bird, are you running a fever or something? Why's your face so red?" Aiden asked, totally confused—and as soon as he finished, both Ivy and Eli turned even redder.
"Eli... why are you out here standing? Get inside and sit down!" Ivy quickly coughed to change the subject, handed the food box to Aiden, and reached out to support Eli's arm.
"It's really fine. If I sit too long, I get tired—standing is actually good for me."
Hearing this, Ivy smiled. "Maybe, but don't stand for too long. Just wait—once I get the right medicinal catalyst and Old Man Sai treats you, you'll be able to stand forever like a normal person."
"Xin'er..." Watching her work so hard for him, Eli was filled with emotion.
"Young Master Zhen! Young Master Zhen!" Steward Mao's voice floated over before he even arrived, and then he came running up, half tripping over his own feet.
"Steward Mao?" Seeing him, Ivy instantly knew that the fussy Crown Prince must be calling for her again.
"Young Master Zhen, please, you have to save everyone! The Crown Prince got up super early and went to the imperial kitchen demanding leftover cake—turns out, all the imperial chefs ate it, thinking you left it there for them! Now the Crown Prince is furious and wants them all executed!" Steward Mao squeaked desperately.
Hearing this, Ivy Shen frowned. "He wants to kill them?" When she'd gone to the kitchen that morning, all the chefs were already there—she hadn't paid any attention to the cake. When did they eat it? Was it really first thing in the morning?!
"Yes, Young Master Zhen, please save them!" Steward Mao was worried sick. Since he was a eunuch and couldn't have children, he'd adopted a son from outside the palace—a bright kid with a real passion for cooking. After a lot of effort, he'd gotten the boy into the palace as a kitchen apprentice, hoping he'd learn from the others. But now, with this mess, everyone in the imperial kitchen was about to be executed!
Seeing this, Ivy turned to Eli Crane. "Eli, you eat first—don't wait for me. I'll go check things out." She didn't really have any connection to these people and technically didn't need to save them, but she'd only just arrived in the palace and didn't want to spark public outrage or alienate everyone. If you make yourself the enemy of the masses, people start looking for any excuse to take you down—and that was definitely bad for her future plans.
So she followed Steward Mao to the imperial kitchen to see what was going on.
"Spare us, Crown Prince! Spare us!" From far away, Ivy could already hear the chorus of desperate pleas for mercy.
"Kill them! Kill them all!" Caleb Miles sat on a stool, still wearing the outfit Ivy had complimented yesterday. But today, there was no trace of happiness on his face—he just looked furious.
"Spare us, Crown Prince! We really didn't know that cake was yours! We thought Young Master Zhen left it there for us!" the fifty-something head chef cried, his heart full of misery.
"Left it for you? Who do you think you are?! That was a birthday cake Beijing made for me, okay?" Caleb shot to his feet and exploded at them.
"Spare us, Crown Prince! We really didn't know, we swear!" The whole crowd started begging all over again.
"What are you all standing around for? Drag them out and execute them!" Caleb roared at the guards, clearly annoyed that they were just standing there doing nothing.
Seeing this, the guards swung into action—hundreds of them rushed forward to drag away the kneeling chefs and even the cleaners. In Endless Indulgence Kingdom, since there was only one queen and few royal children, the whole palace had just over a hundred imperial chefs. Compared to the Soaring Phoenix Realm, that was nothing, but here it was already the entire cooking force.
"Spare us, Crown Prince!" The air was filled with every kind of miserable plea for mercy, but Caleb just glared at them, acting like he couldn't hear a thing.
"Stop!" Ivy shouted sharply. The guards froze. The chefs who'd shared a stove with her during the roast duck competition looked up, and when they saw her, they called out like they'd spotted a savior: "Young Master Zhen, help us! Young Master Zhen, save us!"
Even the chefs who hadn't worked directly with her but knew her reputation joined in, calling for help.
"Beijing, you're here! Why are you up so early?" Caleb's face lit up when he saw her, and he dashed over with a huge grin.
"What do you think you're doing?" Ivy asked coldly.
Caleb snorted, "They stole my cake, so I'm going to kill them!" He was still fuming.
"Kill them? Then you might as well kill me too," Ivy replied, still icy.
"Huh? Beijing..."
"I told them to eat the cake. You were drunk last night, so I figured you wouldn't want any more, so I let them have it. What, are you going to kill me too?" She turned and stared him down, pressing him hard.
At this, Caleb's furious expression instantly wilted. "Beijing… I didn't know—I thought they'd stolen it…" He tugged at his sleeve, looking for all the world like a child caught doing something wrong.
The whole crowd froze at the sight. Off to the side, Charlie Qiao couldn't help but speak up: "How can you talk to the Crown Prince like that? Even if you gave them the cake, you shouldn't speak to him so rudely!" This sissy was so irritating—last night the Crown Prince even drank with him and ignored Miss Ruan. Clearly, this guy was trouble!
"So how exactly should I talk to the Crown Prince, huh?" Ivy shot Charlie a sharp look.
Charlie shrank under Ivy's glare but stubbornly puffed out his chest. "Sure, you cook well, but you're just a chef—he's the Crown Prince! Not only do you refuse to kneel, you talk back like that. Watch out… watch out or you'll get slapped!"
Ivy turned to Caleb. "Hey, are you going to slap me?"
"No, no! I'd never slap you—no one can slap you! I'll protect you!" Caleb patted his chest, full of bravado. "Nobody's allowed to bully you!"
Charlie protested, "Crown Prince, he's just—"
"Slap him!" Caleb snapped, turning and glaring at the whining Charlie.
"Ah! Crown Prince, how could you—"
"Twenty slaps. And shut up!" Caleb declared. Since Charlie played with him all the time, he'd go easy and only order a few slaps.
"Forget it, he didn't mean any harm," Ivy said, playing the good guy again. Charlie rolled his eyes, clearly unimpressed, but Ivy didn't care at all.
"Beijing, I'm hungry. I want more cake!" Caleb tugged at her sleeve, pouting and begging.
"Cake is only for birthdays. I'll make you some porridge instead."
"The Crown Prince doesn't like porridge," Charlie couldn't help but interject.
"I do! I like anything as long as Beijing makes it!" Caleb replied with something that nearly made Charlie spit blood.
"What about them..." Ivy pointed to the innocent chefs and looked at Caleb.
"Let them go," Caleb waved dismissively, his mood obviously much improved.
Seeing this, everyone immediately knelt and shouted, "Thank you, Crown Prince, for sparing us! Thank you, Young Master Zhen, for saving us!"