When the Emperor Emeritus and Prince Hao saw that their elder brother was being hit, they stopped three feet away. They had no intention of stepping forward.
Prince Yong held a skewer of grilled fish in a daze as he watched the National Tutor hit his fifth brother several times. The National Tutor then looked at him with a murderous look. Only then did he realize what had happened. "Twenty-one …" He didn't know what else to say after saying those three words. He just looked at his younger brother and smiled foolishly.
The National Tutor quietly looked at Prince Yong for a moment. He lowered his eyes and seemed to sigh. Then, he raised his hand and slapped him. "Don't think that you won't get hit just because you pretend to be stupid!"
Prince Hao chuckled and muttered in a low voice, "He's not pretending."
The thick-skinned Ninth Prince was still very happy to be slapped by his younger brother. He rubbed his head and raised the fish skewer in his hand to the National Tutor. "You must be hungry. Have some fish."
The National Tutor looked at the black and yellow grilled fish with disdain. He didn't seem to have any intention of taking it.
When the Emperor Emeritus saw this, he walked over and slapped Prince Yong. "Why did you burn the fish again?"
His Highness The Crown Prince, who was hanging on his Imperial Grandfather's shoulders, smelled the aroma of the fish and immediately meowed.
From the time the Emperor was injured last night to the time the boat capsized this morning, he hadn't eaten anything for such a long time. The adults could still hold on, but the children couldn't stand it anymore.
"Meow, meow!" The golden kitten paced back and forth on the Emperor Emeritus's shoulder.
"What's wrong with this child?" The Emperor Emeritus pulled the little furball down and looked at it with a frown.
"Does he want to pee?" Prince Hao came over to take a look.
The two brothers looked at each other and put their grandson on the ground. The kitten didn't seem to want to pee at all. He stumbled over to Su Yu's feet and grabbed his clothes. He raised his head and meowed non-stop.
Su Yu quickly picked up the child and held him in his hands. The little furball kept meowing and licking his mouth. "This child is hungry."
Prince Yong quickly passed the fish skewers over. "Let him eat."
The little furball smelled the fragrance and was about to stretch out its paw to grab it. Su Yu shook his head and stroked the golden furball to comfort it. "The crown prince is still young. He can't eat this."
"Meowww …" Crown Prince meowed for a while before he ran out of energy. He lay on Su Yu's palm and pitifully licked his fingertips.
"We need to get a pot and stew some fish soup." Su Yu felt distressed and looked at the Emperor for help.
His Majesty the Emperor enjoyed the stupid slave's dependent gaze very much. He turned to look at the Retired Emperor. "Is there a pot?"
The Retired Emperor snorted, "You know how to stew?"
The father and son looked at each other coldly.
"Reporting to Retired Emperor, His Highness The Crown Prince's fish soup has always been personally stewed by Her Highness Concubine Xian." Wang Gonggong hurriedly tried to smooth things over.
"Is that so …" The Retired Emperor no longer paid any attention to his loathsome son. Together with his uncles, he stared at Su Yu with a burning gaze.
Su Yu swallowed his saliva and asked softly, "Where … is the pot?"
"Ol 'Ninth, go and get the pot!" Prince Hao patted Ninth Imperial Uncle.
"Oh!" Prince Yong responded and quickly ran up the hill. He quickly ran back. "Seventh Brother, the pot is embedded in the stone wall. I can't move it."
Su Yu: "…"
Prince Hao laughed dryly. "I forgot."
There was a stone cave halfway up the hill. When the weather was bad, the cat elders would stay here. When the weather was good, they could find a place with plenty of sunlight and sleep for the whole day.
The stone cave looked quite spacious, but it was not as transparent as one would expect. There were jagged rocks all around, and not far from the cave, there was a stone carved stove. The stove and the pot were a single piece of stone. The stove, the ash stove, and the bellows were all in one piece. The stone pot was smooth and round, and there was a lid made from some unknown grass. Although it was crooked and didn't look good, it didn't diminish the exquisite craftsmanship of the stove.
"What good craftsmanship." Su Yu touched the magical stove and could not help but exclaim.
Prince Zhong smiled embarrassedly. "My craftsmanship is not presentable. Sorry for the ridicule."
Su Yu looked over in surprise. This stove was carved by Prince Zhong? He looked at the other cat elders' expressions and saw that it was only natural. The Retired Emperor looked at his elder brother's magical craftsmanship with some disdain. Come to think of it, a noble prince was not good at music, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry, and songs, nor was he good at fighting enemies or fighting in the imperial court. Instead, he was good at such … practical craftsmanship. It was somewhat indescribable.
There was a carved stone jar on the stove, and it was filled with a lot of white powder. Su Yu could tell at a glance that it was sea salt. When he opened the lid, a layer of white salt had formed in the stone pot. He immediately understood. There were no seasonings on the island, so this pot was probably used to boil salt.
The kind Ninth Imperial Uncle brought a bucket of clear water and handed him a stone ladle. Su Yu rolled up his sleeves and quickly scrubbed the pot.
Prince Jing had already jumped out at some point. When Su Yu was done scrubbing the pot, he had already returned with a few lively fish.
After His Majesty the Emperor rewarded Su Yu with a scale-removing knife, he was keen on giving him all kinds of beautiful knives. Now, the scale-removing knife, the fish-killing knife, and the kitchen knife were three exquisite knives embedded with gems. They were firmly hung on Su Yu's waist. They were strung together and looked very beautiful.
After taking down the knives, Su Yu squatted beside the bucket at the entrance of the cave. He used a stone as a chopping board and took the fish that Prince Jing handed over. He quickly knocked the fish unconscious, cut open the belly, removed the scales, and removed the cork. His skillful movements flowed smoothly without any hindrance. A plump fish was quickly cleaned up, leaving only the white and tender flesh. Because it was for children, there couldn't be any bones. Su Yu simply chopped off the fish's head, and the small knife nimbly flipped around his fingertips. He quickly removed the bones and bones from the fish's body. His movements were so fast that he almost became a shadow. Then, he suddenly stopped and threw the fish that still looked whole into the bucket of clear water. The originally complete fish immediately scattered like a blooming white peony.
After killing five fish in a row, Su Yu poured out the fish rinsing water and stood up. Only then did he realize that everyone was standing behind him.
Because the entrance of the cave was narrow, it couldn't accommodate so many people. Most of them turned into cats and squatted on the stone. Several pairs of big glass-like eyes stared at him without blinking. Although the big cats had lived on the deserted island for a long time, perhaps because there was no lack of fish to eat and they were carefree, their fur was glossy and smooth. Su Yu looked at the big pile of furballs and suddenly felt a little itchy. But when he remembered that they were all his elders, he could only restrain himself and cough dryly.
"Niece-in-law's knife skills are simply superb." Fifth Uncle sighed.
Ninth Uncle didn't turn into a cat because he had to help Su Yu carry water. The tall and strong big man also squatted together with a group of furballs. He didn't know what to say, but he nodded to Fifth Brother.
Prince Hao, whose right ear was white, poked his elder brother beside him with his tail. "This place is pretty good."
The golden Retired Emperor, whose left ear was white, snorted. "It's barely acceptable."
Prince Hao glanced at him from the corner of his eyes and pursed his lips. He raised his paw and patted the little furball on top of his head. "This kid is good."
"Meow!" His Highness The Crown Prince, who was squatting on top of his grandfather's head, echoed. It wasn't clear if he understood or not.
"How can you let your grandson climb on top of your head?" The Retired Emperor looked at the little furball that had almost merged with the big golden cat's head and couldn't help but scold it.
The little furball wasn't afraid at all. It stretched out its paw and scratched the Retired Emperor's white ear.
The Emperor still maintained his human form. He walked up to Su Yu and casually pushed him behind him. He glared at the group of old bastards one by one.
Su Yu didn't know what the big cats and small cats were talking about. He blinked and threw the fish in his hand into the pot.
Prince Jing was very good at choosing ingredients. This kind of sea fish meat was fresh and tender, and the soup it stewed with was delicious. It didn't need too many supplementary ingredients, only a little salt was needed.
The big black cat handed over the fish and jumped into the forest to do something.
His Royal Highness King Ling wanted to play with him, but another big black and yellow cat pressed down on his tail. He turned his head and saw Prince Zhong's affectionate cat face. "Seventeen, let me tell you a story."
Prince Zhong was Prince Li's father. He also had a black and yellow fur, but there was more yellow than black. The irregular black stripes were like black roses, making him look like a small leopard. He looked much more majestic than His Royal Highness King Ling, who was covered in spots. Therefore, even though the two cats looked about the same size, Prince Ling still looked like a small kitten compared to his older brother.
His Royal Highness King Ling immediately shook his head like a rattle when he heard that Fifth Brother wanted him to tell him a story.
"Don't you want to know how your older brothers have been all these years?" The big cat that was like a leopard raised its paw and hugged its unwilling brother without any explanation. It looked up at a dark cloud floating in the sky and began to speak tirelessly after pondering for a moment. One of its hind paws even stepped on its brother's tail very naturally.
The State Preceptor stepped over the heads of the big cats that were squeezing around and yawned elegantly.
"Twenty-one, are you sleepy?" Prince Hao tilted his head and put the crown prince hat on his father's head. He jumped up and turned into his human form. "There's a bed inside. Go rest for a while." Even though he had just been beaten, he was used to spoiling his younger brother. When he saw him yawn, he subconsciously went to make the bed.
The National Tutor glanced at his older brother. A moment later, a big white cat jumped onto Prince Hao's shoulder. Last night, he had used a large amount of magic to disperse the dark clouds and attract the moonlight. Along the way, he had used his Blood Contract to search for people. He was actually very tired. When he heard his older brother's words, he didn't want to take another step.
Prince Hao's soft, silky white fur brushed against his neck. He happily carried his younger brother into the depths of the cave.
There was a huge stone bed in the depths of the cave. It wasn't accurate to call it a bed. It was more like a shallow pool. The pool was covered with a thick layer of dried grass. On top of the dried grass was soft and clean animal skin. It wasn't a single piece, but a few types of animal skins pieced together. On such a small island, there weren't many ferocious beasts. They were probably all caught by the big cats to make mattresses.
The big white cat jumped down and jumped onto the soft mattress. He stepped around and found a white bear skin and slowly lay down.
Prince Hao squatted beside the bed and looked. He couldn't help but turn into a big golden cat and lick his younger brother's head. "Go to sleep. I'll wake you up when the fish soup is ready."
The State Preceptor narrowed her beautiful eyes and let him lick her for a while. After waiting for a while, she was about to fall asleep in a daze when she realized that the barbed tongue was still licking her non-stop. She extended her claws and slapped him.
Prince Hao coaxed his younger brother to sleep and returned to his older brother's side with a grimace.
"You were beaten again?" The Retired Emperor asked coldly. He sat there majestically and didn't move at all. He allowed the golden furball on top of his head to nibble on his ears.
Prince Hao shook his tail and ignored him.
The fish soup needed to be stewed for a while longer. Su Yu went to the forest and pulled out a handful of lemongrass. There were no onions, so lemongrass could be used as a seasoning. It didn't have much taste, but it was green and pretty.
There were some wild fruits growing on the tree. They were green and red and looked pretty, but he didn't know what they were. Su Yu looked up for a while. A golden shadow flashed in front of him. The Emperor had already jumped to the top of the tree and pulled out a fruit. He landed gracefully on the ground and then groaned.
"Does your wound still hurt?" Su Yu was suddenly very nervous. He pulled at his clothes and wanted to check.
"It's fine!" The Emperor's ears were a little red.
"You're pulling and pulling in front of your elders. Shameless." The Retired Emperor snorted.
"You're using your younger brother as a cushion in front of the younger generation. Do you know what shame is?" Prince Hao glanced at the big golden cat on top of him.
"It's right and proper to be filial to my elder brother." The Retired Emperor rested his head on his younger brother's belly and hugged His Highness The Crown Prince. He wagged his tail leisurely.
"Bah, how much older are you than me? Do you even have the time to snap a finger? "Prince Hao bit the Retired Emperor's ear.
Prince Yong looked at the twins who were about to fight. He then looked at his seventeenth brother who was lying on the ground and listening to his fifth brother's story. He didn't plan to join any of the brothers in a small bonding session. He quietly squatted by the stove and added firewood.
Su Yu picked the lemongrass, cut it into small pieces, and threw it into the soup pot. The aroma of the fish soup was immediately aroused.
"Meow!" His Highness The Crown Prince, who was under his grandfather's belly, immediately pricked up his two little ears. Prince Zhong's long story came to an abrupt end. He walked in with his younger brother.
When Su Yu lifted the lid of the soup pot and turned around, the group of big cats had unknowingly turned into human form. They were holding stone bowls that they had taken out of nowhere.
The dark clouds in the sky were getting denser and denser. Not long after, it started to drizzle on the island.
"The weather on the sea is always unpredictable." The Emperor Emeritus took the soup that Su Yu handed over and said without bothering to find the topic.
Su Yu was stunned for a moment. He didn't know why the Retired Emperor suddenly said something like this to him. He could only agree. "Yes, the sky was clear just now."
The Retired Emperor snorted and took the stone bowl.
The Emperor pulled Su Yu aside. Seeing that he was still confused, the Emperor whispered, "I'm just trying to find something to talk about." As he spoke, he snatched the spoon from Su Yu's hand and threw it into the pot. I'm already being extremely benevolent by mercifully allowing you to drink the soup made by my stupid slave. Whoever wants to drink it, get it yourself. Why should my stupid slave get it for you?!
Su Yu understood the cat's meaning. He held back his laughter, picked up a small bowl, and carried His Highness The Crown Prince over.
It was cold outside. At this moment, Xiao Yu was sitting in a place to take shelter from the rain and holding a bowl of warm soup. The few people who had been on the island for so many years had the urge to cry. The fresh and fragrant fish soup entered their mouths. It was a delicacy that they hadn't tasted for many years.
The cat uncles naturally didn't know how to cook. They couldn't count on their elder brothers. Every one of them was cooked by His Highness Prince Yong. It was just that their brave and extraordinary hands were always at a loss when facing the lively sea fishes and shrimps. In the past five years, their culinary skills hadn't improved much. The fish soup that they cooked was either too bitter because they forgot to cover the gills, or it was too hot and turned into fried fish.
The Retired Emperor couldn't help but sigh. It was good to have a daughter-in-law.
Without a spoon, His Highness The Crown Prince clung to the bowl and licked it for a long time. His face was stained with fish soup and meat paste, but he didn't drink much. He looked up at Su Yu and cried out in grievance.
Su Yu looked left and right. He ran out in the rain and broke a thin bamboo branch. He cut two ends and made a simple straw. He sucked some of it himself and let the fish soup stay in the straw. Then, he fed it to the kitten.
This method was indeed effective. The little golden ball hugged the bamboo pipe and drank the soup happily.
After finishing one bowl, the Retired Emperor filled another bowl. He saw that Su Yu had been feeding the kitten and that his hair was wet when he went out just now. He immediately frowned and drank a mouthful of soup. He looked at Su Yu and handed the bowl in his hand over. "I can't finish it."
Su Yu looked up at him and smiled. "I can drink it if I can't finish it." As he said this, he drank the rest of the soup with the Retired Emperor's hand in a few mouthfuls.
The Retired Emperor glanced at them and snorted.
The Retired Emperor looked at his imperial father and smiled proudly.
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