The fifteenth of August was the Mid-Autumn Festival, and all five dynasties in this world also celebrated it.
Before the Mid-Autumn Festival, the unfortunate Yang Zixuan and her companions were granted a three-day holiday.
During these three days, Yang Zixuan, tanned into a little darkie, directly asked the Empress, Dugu Galuo, for leave. She didn't return to her own palace but stayed with Yang Hong.
Yang Hong also took good care of her nutrition during these three days.
Every morning, she had a small bowl of pumpkin porridge made from first-grade inferior spiritual rice and first-grade inferior spiritual pumpkin;
Lunch consisted of a small bowl of spiritual rice, a small cup of spiritual watermelon juice, a plate of ninth-grade ordinary smashed cucumbers, and a small dish of ninth-grade ordinary small greens;
Dinner, in addition to lunch, included a small bowl of first-grade inferior spiritual carrot soup.
It wasn't that Yang Hong was stingy, but Yang Zixuan couldn't handle any more.
Even with Yang Hong's occasional nourishment for Yang Zixuan, her body and age were limitations, and there was always a limit to what she could endure.
These were spiritual plants and spiritual items, which ordinary people truly couldn't withstand.
Only when she grew older and her cultivation increased further would it be possible for her to withstand more baptism of true qi and matter.
Even with this small amount of food, Yang Zixuan was always stuffed to the point of not wanting to move.
"Crunch~ Crunch~"
In front of Yang Hong's small building, under a simple pergola made of grapevines, Yang Hong and his sister lay on lounge chairs, basking in the cool air with their eyes half-closed like retired cadres.
"Imperial Brother, the food here is getting tastier and tastier. The food in our training camp is like pig slop, and it's so bad even with all the meat and fish every day."
"Mmm~"
The afternoon sun, filtered by the green jade grapevines, was merely warm, making one disinclined to speak.
"So many people rush to eat meat as soon as training ends. They're so stupid. How can meat be tastier than cucumbers?"
"Mmm~"
"Hehe~ I always manage to grab the most vegetables."
"Mmm~"
"Imperial Brother, have I become weaker? I can only eat a small bowl of rice here?"
"Mmm~"
"Imperial Brother~~"
Seeing that Yang Hong only responded with "Mmm mmm~", Yang Zixuan became unhappy. She turned over and pulled Yang Hong up.
"Imperial Sister, if you have something to say, say it. I still want to nap."
Since defeating the Crown Prince Yang Yong and giving him a black eye, Yang Hong seemed to have let go of his inner turmoil and had become increasingly indolent every day.
"Imperial Brother, I want to take some cucumbers back to give to Sister Lan Ying. She's very good to me."
"No~ You can take a few baskets of ordinary cucumbers, but not the kind you eat yourself!"
Even though he was already invincible in the imperial palace of the Sui Dynasty, Yang Hong would not easily reveal his secrets.
"Imperial Brother~~"
Yang Zixuan squeezed into Yang Hong's lounge chair and began to act spoiled in a sweet voice.
"There's no room for negotiation. I don't even have enough of those vegetables for myself. It's already good that you get to have some, why do you care about others?"
"Imperial Brother, I'll just take one, just one."
Yang Lanying must have told Yang Zixuan something to make her plead for her so earnestly.
However, Yang Hong remained unmoved and said, "Imperial Sister, if you take that kind of vegetable away, you will never be able to eat that kind of vegetable here again."
"Hmph~ Stingy~ If I don't take it, I don't take it~"
Yang Zixuan pouted, lying back on her lounge chair with an unhappy expression, and stopped speaking.
However, she couldn't keep secrets when she was with Yang Hong, and soon she started chattering again.
"Imperial Brother, this year's Great Sui Prodigy Competition is about to begin, and I've signed up too."
"Mmm~"
"The Great Sui Prodigy Competition is divided into four groups: the first group is for youngsters under 20 years old who haven't undergone their coming-of-age ceremony;
The second group is for youths aged 20 to 30, followed by the adult group for those aged 30 to 40, and finally, the unrestricted cross-level challenge group."
"Mmm~"
"Imperial Brother, I've signed up for the youth group, but Grandfather Emperor won't let me register for the unrestricted group. He really looks down on me.
I'm already at the peak of a third-rate martial artist, and I'm about to break through."
"No! I will definitely break through to become a second-rate martial artist before the competition."
"Heh heh~ Imperial Sister is very powerful, but you're still young. There's no rush."
Yang Hong smiled and comforted her.
Yang Hong knew about this prodigy competition. It was a nationwide event held by the Great Sui Dynasty to select talents, somewhat similar to the civil service examinations for scholars, but with some differences.
He really didn't know the specifics of the differences.
How could a prince from the cold palace, who wasn't even allowed to practice martial arts, understand such things?
"Alas~ Grandfather Emperor also said the same thing. He said I still have a chance to participate in the youth group competition, so there's no rush."
"But I just want to try."
"Heh heh~ There's no need to try. It's already extremely difficult for you to win the youth group championship, let alone challenge the older groups.
After all, you've only been cultivating for a year, while others have been cultivating for five or ten years."
Yang Hong knew the difficulty of cultivating martial arts. It usually took ordinary people three to five years to reach the lowest tier. Even with the abundant resources of the imperial family, it typically took an imperial prince three years to reach the third-rate.
Going further, cultivating to second-rate in five years, and to first-rate in ten years was considered good.
Even after the Great Sui had been founded for over 380 years, fewer than ten people had managed to cultivate to the innate grandmaster realm within ten years.
Ordinary innate grandmasters usually reached that level after the age of 40.
Yang Hong had only learned this knowledge by browsing through books this year.
Therefore, Yang Hong was not optimistic about Yang Zixuan participating in the prodigy competition; it was more about the spirit of participation.
"Imperial Brother, you're so mean~ Grandfather Emperor said I'm a once-in-a-century genius in our imperial family. I will definitely win the youth group championship."
"Heh heh~ I can only wish Imperial Sister victory."
"Hmph hmph~ I will definitely win!"
Yang Hong looked at the little loli, who was serious and clenched her small fists to cheer herself on. He smiled dotingly and reached out to mess up her hair.
"Ah~ My hair is messy."
The siblings played together warmly, while Xiao Cao quietly attended to them, refilling their teacups with watermelon juice from time to time.
However, this watermelon juice was only from fifth-grade ordinary plants, a common variety that had been imbued with Yang Hong's spiritual energy once.
To reach first-grade spiritual plants, it required at least ten times of spiritual energy infusion to cultivate them.
Yang Hong didn't have that many infusion opportunities, so he had only cultivated three watermelon plants.
Opening his eyes and facing the sunlight, Yang Hong looked at the grapes overhead with a hint of anticipation.
He had been fully nurturing this green jade grape vine for the past six months. Although it was still a first-grade mid-tier, Yang Hong could sense that it was not far from advancing again.
Moreover, the only three bunches of green grapes on the vine had already begun to emit a faint fruity aroma, indicating that they would be ripe soon.
He would soon be able to taste first-grade mid-tier fruit.
"Oh, right~ Imperial Brother. Tomorrow is the Mid-Autumn Festival, and there will be a grand banquet in the imperial palace with fierce beast meat. I'll bring some over for Imperial Brother to taste."
Thinking of the taste of fierce beast meat, even Yang Zixuan, who generally disliked meat, stuck out her small tongue and licked her lips. Clearly, the taste of fierce beast meat was indeed excellent.
Yang Hong knew that Yang Zixuan's implied "bring" meant "steal," so he directly refused.
"No need, I don't like meat."
"Then forget it."
Yang Zixuan, who often came over for meals, naturally assumed that Yang Hong truly disliked meat and didn't insist further.