Chapter 63 Consort Hui's Leaf Cards

Emperor Kangxi had to admit that giving his eldest son the waist token that allowed him to enter the palace at will, in order to show his regard for the eldest son, was a mistake.

Who would have thought?

He thought it was bad enough that Baoqing had caused so much trouble outside the palace that the fourth prince avoided him like the plague, but he had gone even further and had even started causing trouble for his younger brother who was still growing up inside the palace.

Emperor Kangxi reflected on his own actions.

Is it really necessary to set up such a whetstone for Baocheng?

Can't we just send Bao Qing far away and not come back for several years to avoid seeing him?

His increasingly refined self-cultivation skills over the past few years have always been thwarted by Baoqing. Is Baoqing really not here to counter him?

After hearing Baoqing's explanation, Kangxi was even more furious, his eyes widening in anger. "You taught your two younger brothers to use such despicable skills on your own third brother?"

He was so angry that he paced back and forth.

The Fourteenth Prince felt that his father, the Emperor, resembled a donkey that had inadvertently been seen pulling a millstone in place when he left the palace.

However, he dared not utter these words of filial piety, but simply stood obediently with his head bowed to the right of his elder brother.

When an ordinary prince is reprimanded so harshly by Emperor Kangxi, his first reaction is to reflect on himself. But Baoqing is different; his first reaction is to protest his innocence.

And the key point is quite novel: "Father, these moves were all honed by your son on the battlefield. How can you describe your son's hard work as low-class skills?"

The anger rising in Kangxi's heart was suddenly doused with cold water, and he began to reflect.

Knowing that it would only upset him, why did he argue with Baoqing about these things?

"You will set off on your mission tomorrow," Kangxi said expressionlessly. "And you two children, copy the Book of Rites ten times for me to review."

The older one is beyond saving, but the two younger ones should still be salvageable.

-

That period of reflection seemed to have given Kangxi a remarkable insight.

Bao Qing had just spent two months by the Yellow River and was preparing to return to Beijing when he received another imperial edict—Kangxi ordered him to lead the Eight Banners soldiers to assist in repairing the Yongding River embankment.

River management has always been a crucial matter for the central government, as it relates to the livelihood of the people and cannot be delayed.

They stayed there until the end of the year.

The saying goes, "A distant fragrance smells bad, a close proximity is unpleasant." Having been away from his father for a long time, Emperor Kangxi once again remembered the goodness of his eldest son and issued a special decree to summon him back to the capital before the end of the year.

Baoqing was exhausted from his journey. Upon returning home, he didn't even have time to drink a sip of water. He simply changed his clothes and then went to the palace to report to Emperor Kangxi.

Coincidentally, Mingzhu and Suo'etu were also there.

During the months that Baoqing was away from Beijing, Mingzhu could hardly eat or sleep.

He has made all the preparations. Currently, among all the princes, only the eldest prince is a county prince, the eldest son of the emperor, and has outstanding military achievements and a noble status. It is not an exaggeration to call him the "Great Prince".

However, since the protagonist was not in the capital, this title did not spread, let alone be mentioned alongside the Crown Prince.

Mingzhu's carefully planned scheme ultimately came to nothing, and he could only watch as his arch-enemy, Suo'etu, developed rapidly and swaggered around. He couldn't have felt more frustrated than anyone else.

Bao Qing always had a good attitude. After bowing, he greeted the two senior officials in a very friendly manner: "Prime Minister Suo and Lord Mingzhu are here too. Have you had your meal?"

After being away for several months, Baoqing's most common greetings started with "Have you eaten?", "Where are you going?", and "Is the weather nice?"

This habit was brought back with it.

The moment Baoqing spoke, Kangxi put aside his longing for his eldest son and focused solely on official business: "Baoqing, tell me about the situation at the Yongding River."

When the matter was brought up, Baoqing became serious and explained the situation of the Yongding River in detail. Before leaving, he also took two oranges from the Qianqing Palace.

Thinking that it was almost lunchtime after entering the palace, Baoqing, who had originally planned to go to Donghua Gate, turned and headed towards Yanxi Palace.

-

Yunyun has recently taken a liking to playing leaf cards.

There were enough concubines in Yanxi Palace: her, Consort Liang, Noble Lady Nara, and Consort Yuan, who had been promoted from a lower-ranking concubine, together they made up a table.

Each person had gold and silver coins of varying sizes placed beside them, while Lingzhi and Fuling stood on either side of Yunyun behind her.

As soon as Baoqing stepped into the main hall, he saw Fuling making hand gestures.

For once, he showed a rare display of emotional intelligence, pretending not to see anything so as not to spoil his mother's mood, and sat down to peel and eat the oranges he had taken from the Qianqing Palace.

After this round, Consort Yuan had the most loose stones, followed by Yun Jun, while the most unlucky was Consort Nara, who had none left and even owed them a few.

"I'm not playing anymore, I'm not playing anymore," Consort Nara reached out and scrambled the leaf cards, then stood up as if to leave. "I always lose the most. Every day, I squander all my monthly allowance. In winter, I can only have the palace maids follow me to starve."

At her age, she no longer hoped for the Emperor's favor and relied solely on the Empress Dowager and the Imperial Household Department to make a living.

Yunyun was generous to everyone in Yanxi Palace.

After Baoqing left the palace, she got her own job and was not short of money. Every now and then, people would send her some gifts. She had everything she needed, including food, toys, and clothes. Some of the items were not as good as the special supplies from the Imperial Household Department, but they were novel.

The Eighth Prince also sent things to Yanxi Palace. She and Consort Liang received them, and with their existing monthly allowances, they had more than enough.

Only Noble Lady Nara and Consort Yuan were present; in fact, it could be said that Consort Yuan was the poorest among them.

Noble Lady Nara entered the palace early and has accumulated a considerable fortune over the years. Consort Yuan was favored for only a month or two before Emperor Kangxi forgot about her. Her rank was also the lowest among them, and her monthly allowance was meager, barely enough to eat her fill.

However, her skill in playing leaf cards is indeed quite good.

“How could I let you starve?” Yun Jun reached out and grabbed Nara Guiren’s sleeve, giving her half of the pile of naked pieces beside her, and said with a smile, “It’s agreed that the winners’ share is yours, and the losers’ share is mine. It’s not right for you to put in both effort and money.”

“Oh my, this half is more than what was initially served,” Noble Lady Nara said, feigning gratitude as she sat down again, following Yun Jun’s lead. “I am grateful for Your Majesty’s generosity today. Thank you for your kindness.”

As he spoke, he performed a proper bow.

His singing and recitation amused the others greatly.

Bao Qing sat alone to one side, took an orange from the fruit plate next to him, and continued peeling and eating it.

Yun Jun did not forget her beloved eldest son who had returned home for the first time. She concluded the card game by saying, "New Year's Eve is almost here. Let's all have a joyous New Year. I have prepared some brocade, leather, and jade ornaments. Take them and share them to have some fun."

The three concubines expressed their gratitude and said many auspicious words before following the palace maids to the side room to choose New Year's gifts.

Yunyun summoned a palace maid to tidy up the mahjong game, and only then did she have time to look at her beloved eldest son, whom she hadn't seen for almost half a year. She was shocked by what she saw.

"Why are you as black as charcoal? Did your father send you to burn charcoal?"

Then she noticed the pile of oranges on the plate next to him, paused, and said, "Eat less, or your face will turn yellow and you'll look even uglier."

Baoqing hears his mother say almost every year that he has become darker and uglier, and he's gotten used to it.

I only said something to my mother once, and she's been so persistent in pursuing it.

Baoqing patted the white veins of the orange on his hand, mentally complaining about his mother's pettiness, but said nonchalantly, "I followed the riverbank to draw pictures, and naturally I got quite tanned from being in the sun all day long. Besides, it's not that I'm ugly, it's that I'm healthy."

Yun Jun replied perfunctorily, "Yes, yes, healthy."

He then lectured him: "Why did you rush to the palace as soon as you came back? Hongyu has been able to talk for so long, and he hasn't even called me 'Father' since you were gone."

Hongyu was the legitimate son of Baoqing, born last April. When he turned one year old this year, Emperor Kangxi bestowed upon him a formal name. He is now one year and eight months old, and the Grand Consort occasionally brings him along when she pays her respects.