He rubbed his forehead, a slight frown between his brows. As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw the chief guard Henry Foster watching him. Brian Clark frowned, "What is it?"

The chief guard lowered his head in shame. "Your Majesty, I will not let such a thing happen again."

"Go find out where the mistake was made," Brian Clark said coldly. "I want to see who left him a dog hole to escape through!"

The chief guard withdrew. Samuel Grant observed the emperor's expression and advised, "Your Majesty, it's time to eat."

After some gentle persuasion, Brian Clark finally nodded and allowed him to summon the meal. Moments later, a table full of delicacies from land and sea was set before Brian Clark.

But no matter how delicious the food, after three years of eating it, anyone would get tired. Brian Clark had little appetite to begin with; after taking a single bite, he didn't want any more. He couldn't help but think of a series of delicious foods: tomato and egg stir-fry, hotpot and barbecue, hamburgers and cola.

Especially tomatoes—Brian Clark actually hadn't cared much for tomatoes before, but after these years, he was almost obsessed with them. Just thinking of that sweet and sour taste made his mouth water, but tomatoes wouldn't be introduced to China until the Ming dynasty. Now, even though he was craving that big red fruit, he couldn't get it.

Once he started thinking about food, he couldn't stop, and Brian Clark's anger dissipated, leaving only his craving. In the Daheng dynasty, there were no chili peppers yet. The spiciness in dishes mostly came from Sichuan peppercorns, evodia, ginger, mustard, and other pungent seasonings. Because this body was weak, he couldn't eat spicy food, so in the past three years, Brian Clark had rarely tasted anything spicy.

Thinking over all kinds of food in his mind, Brian Clark pondered for a while, then called someone over and gave detailed instructions, telling them to have the imperial kitchen make a bowl of zhajiang noodles according to his directions.

A short while later, a bowl of noodles covered in sauce was brought before Brian Clark, garnished with fresh green onions. The aroma was rich and lingering, and the appearance was truly appealing. Brian Clark picked up a strand of noodle wrapped in meat sauce and brought it to his mouth. The fragrance was overwhelming, and his appetite was instantly awakened.

Brian Clark finished the entire bowl of noodles cleanly. After the meal, he felt completely satisfied. Looking again at the untouched table of delicacies, Brian Clark moved his fingers and lazily instructed, "Have them make another bowl of noodles, and reward General Reed with it along with the lotus duck skewers and golden silk tripe soup."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

*

General Reed personally received the food bestowed from the palace. The eunuch who delivered the dishes smiled and said, "General Reed, you are held in high regard by His Majesty. Even during his meal, the emperor thought of you. There's also a bowl of noodles in the box—it's a new dish His Majesty had the imperial kitchen create tonight, and he specially asked me to bring you a bowl to try."

General Reed's eyes were filled with emotion, and he said in a deep voice, "His Majesty's grace is boundless. I thank the emperor for his concern."

The eunuch smiled with satisfaction and then took his leave.

That night, at The Reed Family.

The two dishes bestowed by the emperor were placed in the center of the table, and the bowl of noodles was set right in front of General Reed. General Reed carefully loosened the noodles, which had clumped together, and respectfully tasted the first bite.

Madam watched him with a beaming smile. "Since these are rewards from His Majesty, not a single bite should be wasted. Tonight, everyone can relax a bit—Little William, you may have some wine as well."

Second Young Master Reed answered meekly. Seeing General Reed pick up his chopsticks, he also reached out with his own toward the dishes in the center, but halfway there, his hand was smacked on the back by Owen Reed, who wore a half-smile. "Did I say you could eat?"

A red mark instantly swelled on Second Young Master Reed's hand. He looked at the elders in humiliation, but Madam and General Reed acted as if they hadn't seen anything. Second Young Master Reed could only resentfully give up on the imperial dishes and turn to a plate of greens beside him.

Owen Reed switched to a new pair of chopsticks, looked at the two dishes in the center, tasted one, and said, "A stick first, then a date—General Reed, the emperor is treating you like a dog to be trained."

"Then that makes you the son of a dog," General Reed retorted loudly.

Owen Reed couldn't be bothered to argue with him and focused on eating the imperial food. Halfway through, he suddenly said, "The Lantern Festival banquet in the palace is in a few days. I want to go with you."

General Reed eyed him suspiciously and warned, "Don't you dare do anything to embarrass me."

Owen Reed put on a refined, fake smile. He took out the emperor's handkerchief, wiped the dirt off his shoe, then threw it to the floor and ground it under his foot. "How could I?"

That sickly emperor had scolded him so harshly in front of all the officials—would he dare do anything outrageous again?

Author's note:

① Jingguan: In ancient times, to flaunt military prowess, enemy corpses were piled up and covered with earth to form a high mound—essentially, stacking enemy heads into a mountain. If you're interested, you can look it up.

② Wang Changling's "Song of Lotus Picking."

Chapter 5

It was now early February, and the cold wind was biting. The imperial physicians in the palace did everything they could to keep the emperor's health stable, and Brian Clark was very cooperative. Fortunately, aside from that one near-fatal bout of illness, nothing else had happened since.

In his spare time, he did his best to recall the plot of the drama "The Regent." "The Regent" was an adaptation of the danmei novel "The Regent's Jade in His Palm," but Brian Clark didn't know the details of the plot.

He only knew that the show was very popular, but even more popular than the plot was the socialist brotherhood depicted within.