EMHTC -Chapter 110 Form Is No Different from Emptiness, Emptiness Is No Different from Form

Xiao Baize’s eyes were filled with the image of the chef cooking shredded dried tofu.

This “shredded tofu,” you see, is made from tofu sheets cut into fine strips—it’s a specialty of Yangzhou cuisine.

The crown prince crouched beside him, enthusiastically explaining, “Let me tell you, good shredded tofu has to be made from Yangzhou’s dried tofu. It’s thin, resilient, and absorbs flavors exceptionally well. Tofu from other places just lacks the same depth. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to bring it here, so we have to settle for dried tofu from the capital, which is a real pity.”

“But I specially brought back the best chef in Yangzhou for this dish. He can slice a single piece of dried tofu into thirty-six strands, each as fine as a horsehair. Ordinary chefs can only manage sixteen, and the most skilled ones barely reach twenty.”

Xu Yanmiao watched the chef skillfully transform the tofu into delicate strands, soaking them twice to remove any beany odor. Then, the strands were tossed into a pot of rich, oil-skimmed broth. The tofu absorbed the essence of chicken soup before the chef added finely sliced ham, bamboo shoots, silverfish, wood ear mushrooms, button mushrooms, seaweed, egg crepe, and chicken strips. The dish was cooked and simmered repeatedly, allowing the eight flavors to seep into the tofu.

“I’m telling you,” the crown prince said, wiping the corner of his mouth, “this is the most common preparation. Since it’s your first time trying it, we went with this version. There are other variations like crispy fish in gravy, crispy fish with soy, crab roe, kidney flowers, and chicken skin—all excellent. My personal favorite is adding shrimp and scallops—one word: fresh!”

Xu Yanmiao could only nod along.

When the soft, flavorful shredded tofu dish was finally served, Xu Yanmiao devoured a full bowl in no time. Not satisfied, he even lifted the bowl to drink all the soup.

The crown prince, more restrained, poured himself a cup of strong tea. He alternated between sipping tea and eating tofu, his actions deliberate and refined.

Xu Yanmiao hesitated, thinking: 【It does seem like eating this way enhances the flavor, but tea tastes so awful—I don’t want to drink it.】

The crown prince’s mouth quirked upward in a subtle smile.

【Huh? Why’s he smiling?】

The crown prince didn’t hide it; instead, his grin grew even more unabashed. A plausible explanation popped into his head as he began, “You…”

【He looks so cheerful—probably still unaware that his own younger sister has stabbed him in the back.】

【The imperial envoys spreading word of his achievements must be almost done with the northern regions by now.】

The crown prince’s smile froze.

His chopsticks trembled, dropping the silvery strands of fish onto the table, causing the soup to splash.

Noticing Xu Yanmiao’s peculiar expression, the crown prince gripped his chopsticks more firmly and shot him a sideways glance, as if the spilled soup had been an act of feigned anger. “Xu Yanmiao, why are you staring at me?”

【Huh? I only glanced a couple of times!】

“Slap!”

The crown prince clasped his hands together, trapping a mosquito mid-flight above the shredded tofu. Its crushed body lay bloodied in his palm. It seemed as though he’d been solely focused on killing the mosquito and not at all on Xu Yanmiao’s bewildered inner thoughts.

Of course, the crown prince knew Xu Yanmiao hadn’t been staring at him the whole time. He’d merely glanced out of curiosity when the prince drank his tea and again when his chopsticks splashed the soup.

But, as they say, the best defense is a good offense.

Across from him, Xu Yanmiao stared at two drops of chili oil that had fallen onto the wooden table, quickly composing a response to avoid any awkwardness. “I saw Your Highness smiling so brightly and couldn’t help but look a bit longer, curious if something joyful happened during your trip to Yangzhou.”

The crown prince wiped his hands clean before using his chopsticks to stir the silky strands of shredded tofu, his smile unchanging. “Yangzhou was quite entertaining, but I found it even more amusing to watch you fret over whether to drink the tea.”

He promptly picked up a spoonful of tofu strands and delivered it smoothly to his mouth.

【Ah, a perfect counterplay!】

While Xu Yanmiao calmly analyzed the situation, the crown prince also maintained composure—though just barely. He gripped his slender chopsticks so tightly with his thumb and forefinger that they nearly snapped in half.

【Almost done spreading the word in the northern regions? Of course they started there—because he was in the south, in Yangzhou, at the time!】

【As expected of a task personally entrusted to the Jinyiwei commander by the emperor—He’s utterly clueless about any of this. Hah!】

“Crack!”

The crown prince looked down and saw that his chopsticks had snapped, with a wooden splinter floating in the chicken soup.

When he looked up, he noticed Xu Yanmiao’s expression was somewhat complicated.

“Just remembered something unpleasant,” the crown prince muttered, glancing twice at Xu Yanmiao before clapping his hands abruptly. “Xu Yanmiao, back when you helped Xiangyang deal with my old man…”

Xu Yanmiao immediately clarified with all seriousness, “At the time, I didn’t know the princess’s identity.”

“Same difference! That’s not important!” The crown prince propped his chin on his hand. “Why don’t you help me come up with an idea? After all, we’ve shared the bond of petting a tiger together.”

Xu Yanmiao recalled the warm feeling of stroking the tiger’s neck and back that day, then glanced down at his bowl of shredded tofu. The light, fresh aroma of the dish still lingered in his nose.

【Damn it,】 Xu Yanmiao thought bitterly. 【This is why officials shouldn’t accept bribes. You eat someone’s food, and suddenly your hands are tied. I was so careful, and I still couldn’t escape the corruption of the bureaucracy.】

The crown prince was about to laugh but suppressed it just in time. He personally scooped a large, overflowing bowl of shredded tofu and placed it in front of Xu Yanmiao, declaring grandly, “If you help me, I’ll make sure you have all the shredded tofu you want! And on top of that, there’s stewed lion’s head meatballs, radish cakes, sweet soy-marinated radish heads—and I’ll even take you to Yangzhou!”

“And…” The crown prince glanced around, his eyes landing on Xu Yanmiao’s rocking chair. On it stood a fluffy lion-like cat, its back arched, angrily meowing at the shadows on the wall.

Yes, they were having this meal at Xu Yanmiao’s house.

The crown prince pointed at the cat and declared with firm conviction, “From now on, I’ll take care of your son’s baths. I’ll provide all the soap! I’ll handle its grooming brushes, nail clippers, and sandpaper for sharpening its claws. I’ll even buy it dried fish. Every time I visit your house, I’ll bring dried fish as a gift!”

Xu Yanmiao froze.

【What a devious plan—he’s actually targeting my precious boy!】

The crown prince smiled smugly and raised a finger. “Just this once, I swear on the heavens, I won’t betray you.”

Xu Yanmiao hesitantly asked, “What exactly does Your Highness want to do?”

The crown prince glanced around and lowered his voice. “My father has been secretly scheming against me, thinking I don’t know. I must retaliate.”

“I want to make him think I’ve become a useless hedonist!”

【Huh? He still needs to make him think that? Hasn’t he already…】

The crown prince coldly ignored that unspoken thought and continued, “I also want him to believe I’m obsessed with indulgence and completely extravagant!”

“Well, then—” The crown prince’s face lit up with anticipation. “Xu Lang, can you make it happen?”

“It’s possible, but…”

“You won’t have to attend early court sessions while you’re helping me.”

Skipping court wasn’t a major concern for Xu Yanmiao. He ultimately agreed because the crown prince had already said so much. Refusing at this point would have been a direct affront to the heir apparent’s dignity.

“At least it’s not something major. Otherwise, I’d have no choice but to risk losing my head instead of saving face,” Xu Yanmiao muttered as he headed toward the Eastern Palace, instructing the crown prince’s staff to prepare some items.

【The crown prince says he wants to appear completely extravagant, but I can’t actually use anything too expensive. Otherwise, when the emperor starts pointing fingers, I’ll be the one who gets blamed.】

【It’s best if it looks valuable but isn’t actually worth much—or at least not too much.】

【What could fit that description…】

【Got it!】

Xu Yanmiao’s eyes lit up.

He wasn’t skilled in many things, but he did know how to make śarīra1!

Don’t laugh—it was indeed śarīra. This item even had a patent registered under the name “Method for Making Śarīra Products.” He didn’t know how to make glass or concrete, but making śarīra was one of the few modern techniques he had knowledge of.

After all, being able to make this stuff sounded pretty cool when you talked about it.Truth be told, Xu Yanmiao had once considered that if his official career ever went south, he could sell śarīra. He could make them in any color, and they didn’t even need to be made from human bones—chicken bones, cow bones, those worked just fine.

The crown prince waited every day in the Eastern Palace, eagerly anticipating Xu Yanmiao’s news. He waited and waited—over a month passed before he finally received word.

“The item is in Longmen Mountain.”

The crown prince’s previously serious expression immediately broke into a broad smile.

He dragged his father along at once.

When they reached the mountain ridge, the old emperor twisted his jade thumb ring idly and asked in a leisurely tone, “Alright, my dear crown prince, what exactly did you drag us all up here for in the freezing weather?”

Behind him, several ministers who had been pulled out of court deliberations in the Wuying Hall vigorously nodded in agreement.

It was November! The cold wind was biting! Forcing this group of old bones to climb a mountain—what if someone froze or fell ill?

The crown prince, walking ahead to lead the way, turned back and flashed a brilliant smile. “Over the past month, I sent people searching high and low and finally found a precious treasure to present to Your Majesty!”

“Heh.” The emperor’s smile was one of thinly veiled skepticism.

This was his son. He knew exactly what he was up to. Whatever hesitation he’d had earlier about his son’s intentions was now gone. Clearly, this rascal was up to mischief again, deliberately trying to provoke him.

The crown prince averted his face to hide the excitement gleaming in his eyes.

Though he didn’t know exactly what Xu Yanmiao had prepared, he was sure it would be something extravagant but not so lavish as to be wasteful or oppressive. After all, he hadn’t seen Xu Yanmiao mobilize large resources, nor had there been any reports of people being killed or ruined for materials.

Extravagant items were what his father disliked the most. A crown prince obsessed with treasure hunting was not fit to be a ruler.

Two birds with one stone! Perfect!

And with ministers witnessing everything, there was no way his father could suppress the news!

In the distance, the crown prince spotted the object Xu Yanmiao had prepared. He immediately raised his finger to point at it from afar, his voice high-pitched with excitement. “Your Majesty! The treasure I prepared is right there!”

Prime Minister Dou, part of the group accompanying them, squinted at the object covered by a large cloth. He smiled, his eyes curving. “Your Majesty, it seems the crown prince has truly gone to great lengths to find this treasure. Such filial piety is truly commendable.”

The Minister of Rites, who had struggled so much on the climb that his hairpiece was askew, glanced suspiciously at the crown prince while adjusting his hairpiece.

Filial piety? Really? Why does something feel off about this?

The crown prince’s eyes sparkled. “Your Majesty! Please unveil it!”

The old emperor gave his son a sidelong glance. Without missing a beat, he stepped forward and yanked the coarse cloth aside with one swift motion.

The crown prince maintained a facade of composure, though his eyes burned with anticipation as he stared intently at the covered object.

Inwardly, he was jubilant: As expected, asking Xu Yanmiao to handle this was the right move! Judging by the shape, it’s a small house. Not a big deal. Even if it’s a ‘golden house,’ it couldn’t have cost much.

Then, the cloth fell to reveal a small one-room house.

The house itself wasn’t the focus. The real spectacle was the walls, densely inlaid with “gems” of every size and color.

The wall was inlaid with lustrous white round beads, resembling pearls, each about the size of a fingernail. The entire wall was nearly covered, with the countless beads forming an intricate mosaic.

At the base of the wall sat a glowing black lotus, appearing as though it was lifting the entire house off the ground. The “black lotus” seemed to embody the essence of water in solid form, radiating an aura of priceless rarity.

Then there was the semi-transparent red roof…

The Minister of Rites, a dignified second-rank official, was so shocked that he stuttered: “Th-this—this can’t be blood jade, can it? Such a massive piece…”

Crown Prince, where on earth did you get this?

You didn’t actually rob someone, did you?

Beneath the eaves, colorful pearls were strung and hanging!

Colorful!

This was at least ten times more extravagant than the golden or jade houses they had imagined. Naturally, the cost must have been astronomical.

Prime Minister Dou calculated briefly and concluded, “It couldn’t have been built for less than ten billion.”

So… where on earth did his nephew get this kind of money? Was he accepting bribes? Or exploiting the people’s wealth?

The old emperor’s gaze grew increasingly dangerous.

The crown prince stared blankly at the dazzling, gem-studded, crystal-like house built entirely from what seemed like pure wealth. He suddenly shivered.

Instinctively, his hand moved to the one leg he still had intact.

Knowing his father’s temper, seeing this kind of house would definitely make him break the other leg too!

All he wanted was to rile up his father, but he never expected Xu Yanmiao to prepare such a massive surprise!

“Father!”

“Father!”

“Calm down! I think there’s been some sort of misunderstanding!”

“There must be a misunderstanding!”

“Please put down that tree branch! The thickness of that thing—it’s going to hurt a lot!”

“Uncle, stop my father! Help!—”

“Aaahhh—!”

At the foot of the mountain, Xu Yanmiao stood, shading his eyes with one hand as he looked up toward the peak.

He couldn’t see anything.

But in his heart, he felt immensely proud and pleased with himself.

【Mission perfectly accomplished!】

【Burning chicken and duck bones for an entire month finally paid off!】

【I even worked hard catching mice, fed them quartz sand for days, and then fired them in the kiln. I made the crown prince a set of seven dragon pearls, each the size of a fist, in seven vibrant colors. He’s bound to be moved to tears!】

【It’s just a pity I couldn’t find radium—otherwise, I could’ve made it glow.】