LOT -Chapter 286 The Second and Third Princes Who Were Treated Differently

Since they already had vegetables, of course they needed meat too. Bai Xiao led Lin Mo, sneaking their way toward the imperial kitchen.

All the palace maids and eunuchs along the way avoided them as if they were plague. These two little ancestors were simply unbelievable—did they really think the palace was empty?

Bai Xiao picked paths with fewer people, and the palace servants actively avoided them, so they really didn’t run into anyone along the way.

Bai Xiao: 【Hahaha, I told you trusting me was the right choice. I know everything. I can tell where people are and aren’t just by walking around.】

Lin Mo perfunctorily replied: 【Yeah yeah, amazing, so amazing.】

The palace maids and eunuchs pretending not to see them: “……”

Since these two little ancestors arrived at the palace, the ones suffering the most were the palace servants. They used to take shortcuts freely, but now? All detours. Just to avoid these two.

Weren’t these two digging vegetables in that abandoned palace courtyard? Why were they at the imperial kitchen now? Did they really think the palace was their home?

The Empress and the other consorts honestly thought these two kids were bold—but well, kids should be brave.

“Keep an eye on them. Make the dishes in the imperial kitchen more abundant. See what they might need.”

One had to admit, the Empress was truly considerate—and she doted on Lin Mo dearly.

At this moment inside the imperial kitchen, the Second and Third Princes stared blankly at the extravagant spread of dishes.

They had come because they were hungry and wanted to see what was available. But in all their years, they had never seen the imperial kitchen so lavish.

The Second Prince suddenly slapped the Third Prince.

Then he seriously asked, “Does it hurt? Are we dreaming?”

The Third Prince held his stinging cheek, confused. “Of course it hurts! Why did you hit me?! If you want to know whether you’re dreaming, hit yourself!”

The Second Prince replied matter-of-factly, “But what if hitting myself hurts? This way you feel the pain and I don’t.”

The Third Prince: “…You really are an exceptional older brother.”

Among the three brothers, his status was the lowest. Was being the youngest always this miserable? Could Father please have another child so he could finally be someone’s older brother?

Just as the two reached for the food, the head imperial chef rushed over.

“Your Highnesses, please, have mercy!”

The two princes: “???”

What, were they not allowed to eat? Could they not eat the food in their own home?!

Wiping sweat from his forehead, the chef explained, “These dishes were specially prepared under the Empress’s orders. If Your Highnesses are hungry, we have prepared other food for you. Equally… abundant.”

And then, from who-knows-where, the chef produced a steaming basket of mantou.

The two noble princes:  “…Are you serious? There are chickens, ducks, fish, meat here—WHY are you giving us steamed buns?! Are you looking down on us?!”

But the chef was also desperate. These were the Empress’s instructions!

The Third Prince stared at the buns in disbelief. “Mother really only prepared this for us?”

The chef looked at him, then produced another basket—from who-knows-where—full of coarse grain wōwōtóu.

“For Your Highness’s information… the white buns were from the Empress to fill your bellies. This basket was prepared by Consort De—for you specifically.”

Seeing that all-too-familiar coarse grain cornbread, the Third Prince was speechless.

Was this truly his own mother? His biological mother and empress mother? The Empress at least gave them white buns, but his own mother gave him this… Was he really her son?!

The Second Prince nearly burst out laughing. Noble Consort De was ruthless!

His own mother had died early, so he was raised by the Empress. Honestly, it didn’t even matter who raised them—the consorts practically lived together. The three princes were all raised by the same group of palace women.

In the end, the Second Prince held his white mantou while the Third Prince held his wōwōtóu, both standing aside munching gloomily.

Seeing the chef guard the dishes like his life depended on it, they were really curious—who on earth was all this food for?

This was their home! And they could only eat steamed buns and coarse wōwōtóu in their own palace?! Too much. Simply too much!

Before long, they saw two very familiar figures sneaking toward the kitchen.

The princes: “…Why are THEY in the palace?!”

Lin Mo: 【Careful, careful, don’t get caught!】

Bai Xiao: 【No need to be careful. I already checked earlier—there’s no one here!】

He had indeed checked earlier…

But earlier was earlier. Now was now.

The two slipped into the kitchen like thieves. The princes hid in the corner near the stoves, mouths stuffed with bun and cornbread.

They finally understood who all these fancy dishes were for—it was for these two. Outrageous!

Favoring Lin over actual princes! Too much!

Two seconds later, Lin Mo and Bai Xiao squatted down, staring at the two princes—who were also squatting—completely dumbfounded.

Seeing their pathetic posture and the buns stuffed in their mouths, Lin Mo suddenly realized:

“Your Highnesses! Were you kidnapped?! The kidnappers are so nice—they stuffed your mouths with food instead of cloth! Very humane!”

Bai Xiao sincerely nodded.

Exactly.

But this kidnapper was oddly biased—white bun for the Second Prince, coarse wōwōtóu for the Third Prince. The favoritism was too obvious.

Bai Xiao: 【This kidnapper clearly plays favorites. Second Prince gets white buns, Third Prince gets coarse cornbread. Does he look down on the Third Prince?】

The princes: “…Brother, could you PLEASE use your abilities to actually check something instead of just making things up?!”

If this ancestor actually checked why they were here, he wouldn’t say nonsense like that. They were just hungry! And these two foods were the only things they were allowed to eat!

The Third Prince pulled the wōwōtóu from his mouth and said weakly, “We just came to find food. These two are convenient and don’t make our hands dirty. Who would dare kidnap us in the palace?”

Lin Mo looked at the cornbread and suddenly realized:

“So you truly love wōwōtóu? Amazing! You can actually eat this!”

She had tried coarse cornbread twice and almost rolled her eyes back from how dry it was. One bite required an entire bowl of water.

The production process here wasn’t as refined as in modern times, so coarse grains weren’t tasty at all. Even finely ground ones scratched your throat and had no flavor—and the Third Prince’s looked even worse.

The Third Prince looked at the wōwōtóu and wanted to cry.

Who didn’t want to eat delicacies? Who wanted to eat this awful thing?!

This was all because of his mother!