Chapter 1840 - 1842: Fragrant Enough to Transcend the Mundane, Flavorful Enough to Lose Oneself
Since he discovered he was poisoned, he gradually found that even the memorials reaching his hands were becoming fewer.
Even those reaching him were about unimportant matters, and whether he approved them or not mattered little.
"Him? What is he here for?"
The Emperor’s eyes flickered; he was reluctant to mention this son.
"His Highness Prince Le entrusted someone to gather java apple tea from the snowy mountains, and he’s brought it to pay respects to the Emperor," the young eunuch spoke favorably of Prince Le, but although the Emperor snorted silently, he showed no expression.
The eunuchs in his bedroom had already been killed quite a few; he had to keep some to maintain appearances.
"Emperor, should we let His Highness Prince Le in?" The young eunuch asked again when he saw the Emperor remain silent.
The Emperor initially did not want to see Prince Le; under his current circumstances, it was best not to see him, to avoid being influenced again.
But not seeing him might arouse suspicion, so after thinking, he waved his hand, "Let him in."
When Prince Le came in, he saw the Emperor in the center of the courtyard, his eyes flickering.
"Your son greets Father Emperor!"
"Rise," the Emperor asked while holding a birdcage, "What brings you to the palace?"
"Father Emperor, your son had people gather java apple tea from the northern snowy mountains and specially brought it to pay respects to Father Emperor." Before the Emperor could speak, Prince Le instructed the young eunuch, "Go, get a set of tea utensils. Today, I personally want to brew tea for Father Emperor."
"Yes!"
The young eunuch went out first; the Emperor saw Prince Le able to command people freely in his bedroom and his eyes flickered again.
"Father Emperor, this snowy java apple is quite different from the tea we usually consume. The water should be boiled with lotus leaves, the cup should have lotus petals added, the first brew should be soaked for a quarter of an hour, then all should be poured out, and only the second brew of boiled lotus leaf water should be used to brew the tea to savor the fragrance of java apple."
"Is that so? Traditionally, tea ceremonies have many intricacies, but I’ve never heard of boiling with leaves and using flower petals." The Emperor became somewhat interested.
After a while, eunuchs brought forth the tea utensils, and indeed, Prince Le skillfully brewed an excellent pot of tea, fragrantly aromatic and refreshingly elegant.
There was the fragrance of lotus and tea, with a rare hint of crispness from the snowy mountains. When poured from the pot into the cup, fog lingered around the cup’s rim, not dispersing for a long time.
"Father Emperor, isn’t this tea remarkable?"
Prince Le personally served a cup to the Emperor on a tray.
"Indeed, extraordinary." But the Emperor was reluctant to drink this cup of tea.
In the deep palace, he knew too well that not everyone’s tea could be drunk, especially from someone with a past record.
"Father Emperor, would you try it?" Seeing the Emperor not taking it, Prince Le raised the tray a bit.
The Emperor finally took it, but he still did not drink.
Seeing this, Prince Le internally sneered, suspected him? Suspicion was right, it had been days since that Concubine of High Rank entered the palace, should he not say something?
Seeing the Emperor consistently refraining from bringing the tea to his lips, Prince Le took and drank a cup himself.
The Emperor, seeing this, estimated there was no issue, so he tasted a small sip and had to admit the tea was indeed excellent.
Fragrance lingered upon tasting, transcending worldly concerns, immersive in savor!
"Father Emperor, I heard that General Luo sent you many good teas from the southwest years ago, among which the little purple leaf tea was the most famous. I wonder, compared with java apple, which one do you find more to your liking?"
Not knowing why he suddenly brought up Old Mu, the Emperor replied ambiguously, "Each has its merits!"