Chapter 14 This time, Yinzhen was able to be favored by Tong Jiagui…

The reason why Consort Tongjia was able to let Yinzhen out this time was because the tutor in the Imperial Study had assigned him homework, asking them to write an essay on their feelings under the moon. At first, Consort Tongjia still had two eunuchs follow him as usual, but as soon as they left Chengqian Palace, Yinzhen's face turned cold and he stared at them. The two eunuchs were frightened by the prince's gaze. Everyone in Chengqian Palace knew that although the Fourth Prince was young, he was extremely steady and opinionated. The palace servants in his own palace were all well-organized and orderly. If any servant made a mistake, he would deal with it himself without showing any mercy.

So the two looked at each other for a few moments and finally couldn't resist, so they had to obediently retreat to the small path and wait after Yinzhen entered the pavilion.

"If the Imperial Concubine asks, we can just say that the Fourth Prince was enjoying the moon alone and there was nothing unusual about it."

As the weather gets warmer, the sound of frogs croaking can be heard from the pond beside the pavilion, and the branches planted on both sides are starting to grow wildly, scratching people's faces with a ticklish itch.

The two eunuchs stood obediently at the crossroads. One of them spat angrily and said, "We brothers are unlucky to have been assigned this job. I heard that the old lady has been coming to the palace frequently lately, and that we can get this much reward money for escorting her out of the palace."

The man held up five fingers, his eyes brimming with undisguised envy.

"The Tongjia family is a powerful and influential clan; they don't even care about such a small reward," another person remarked.

People of the same kind have different fates; they cannot be compared.

"The Imperial Concubine keeps a close eye on the Fourth Prince. Although he is young, he is not easy to deal with. We are caught between two masters, which is really unbearable."

The two were chatting when they suddenly heard footsteps nearby.

"You audacious servant, how dare you speak ill of your master in the palace!"

The two were startled and immediately knelt down to beg for mercy. When they looked up, they were surprised to see that it was Consort Ping.

Consort Ping had just visited the Crown Prince at Yuqing Palace. Since the completion of Yuqing Palace in the eighteenth year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, the Crown Prince had moved out of Yangxin Hall and into this true Eastern Palace.

Since entering the palace, Consort Ping has visited Yuqing Palace more often than Yangxin Hall. Today, she had just visited the Crown Prince and, seeing that it was still early and the moonlight was beautiful, she decided to take a stroll in the Imperial Garden. Unexpectedly, she overheard people discussing Consort Tongjia and the Fourth Prince.

Although Consort Ping was of low rank, she was the Crown Prince's aunt and the daughter of the Hesheli family, so no one in the harem dared to look down on her, let alone the servants.

"Please spare my life, Your Highness! I misspoke! Please forgive me!"

Consort Ping, supported by her maid, sized up the two young eunuchs by the light of the palace lanterns. They seemed to be servants of the Fourth Prince of Chengqian Palace. She had seen these two waiting at the door several times when she went to the Imperial Study to deliver snacks to the Crown Prince.

Heiji glanced at the pavilion in the distance and only saw a few figures.

"Is the Fourth Prince inside?"

"Returning to Consort Ping, it is the Fourth Prince admiring the moon," the eunuch hurriedly said.

Consort Ping knew that her master had assigned homework, which the Crown Prince was currently working on, so she didn't suspect anything. She simply looked at the two of them and said, "You two are gossiping about your master in the palace, completely forgetting the fate of those two servants."

The two eunuchs were so frightened that they kowtowed to the ground. On the day they were discussing the Fourth Prince, one of their palace maids from Chengqian Palace was dragged to the long street and beaten to death. All the servants in the palace went to watch the execution.

"Alright, you can get up now." Ping Guiren's tone softened. "Answer whatever I ask, or you'll lose your lives."

...

Yinzhi lay in the cradle, watching his mother sit on the veranda and sigh for the third time.

You agreed readily, but now that you're trying to do it, you're finding it difficult.

When Yinzhi was three months old, he entered the oral stage and couldn't help but want to suck his fingers. After trying to control himself a few times, he realized that he couldn't control his restless mouth and simply gave up.

It's perfectly normal for babies to suck their fingers; it would be abnormal if they didn't.

Yinzhi reassured himself with a solemn vow.

The weather has been much better lately, and Wen Shan occasionally moves Yin Si's cradle to the corridor so he can enjoy the breeze and sunshine, taking special care not to expose him to too much intense sunlight.

Wen Shan picked up Yin Si and pressed her cheek against his: "Little Eight, do you have any good ideas on how to bring your Fourth Brother back?"

I think this is going to be very difficult.

The Tongjia clan was the Emperor's maternal family, and Consort Tongjia was the Emperor's cousin. The Tongjia clan sent their daughter into the palace hoping to give birth to a prince with Tongjia blood to continue the Tongjia clan's glory. Putting aside whether the Emperor would tolerate their idea, just considering that Consort Tongjia had just lost a child, he would never easily take the Fourth Prince away from the Tongjia clan.

Whether out of marital affection or political maneuvering, this would be the decision made.

Unless, Consort Tongjia herself gives up raising her fourth brother.

But that's even more of a pipe dream.

Yinzhi was sucking on his hand with a serious expression. Seeing this, Wenshan freed his finger and put a soft pacifier in it.

Yinzhi waved his little hands in protest; he refused to put anything that was beneath his dignity!

However, the resistance was ineffective. Recently, Yinzhi's thumb-sucking has become more and more serious. Although Wenshan knows that this is a normal phenomenon for children to explore the outside world, the frequency is a bit too high. She can only give him a different thing to chew on every now and then.

Wen Shan patted Yin Si on the back to comfort him, and chatted with her youngest son.

“Your fourth brother has always been the most particular about etiquette and rules. Even the Consort raised him for three years and said that the kindness of raising him was greater than heaven. Logically speaking, given Yinzhen’s personality, he would never say that he wanted to leave Chengqian Palace. Something big must have happened.”

When Emperor Kangxi ordered Yinzhen to move back to Chengqian Palace, Yinzhen was also depressed and somewhat upset, but he still obediently complied. Besides the fact that it was an imperial edict that could not be disobeyed, his self-cultivation also prevented him from forgetting his adoptive mother who had raised him for three years.

Yinzhi nodded, thinking to himself that his mother really understood his fourth brother. Judging from his appearance, she knew that there must be some insurmountable barrier between him and Consort Tongjia.

What could it be? This might be the key to breaking the deadlock. Yinzhi pondered. It was a pity that his fourth brother wouldn't tell him, otherwise he would have a way to save him from this predicament.

That unborn child?

Yinzhi thought he was thinking seriously, but unfortunately, he was too well-fed, and when he put on a serious face, the chubby flesh on his cheeks drooped down.

Seeing how adorable he was, Wen Shan couldn't resist hugging and kissing him several times. Finally, she rubbed his head and said, "Oh dear, our little Ba only needs to eat and sleep now. Mother will take care of the rest."

Yinzhi, still feeling dizzy from his mother's passionate love, immediately made a judgment upon hearing this: given his mother's skill in palace intrigue, it would be difficult.

Since arriving here, Wen Shan has been like a salted fish lying flat, spending all her time in Cining Palace. With the protection of the Empress Dowager and being out of favor, no one bothers her. Apart from Niohuru deliberately picking a fight a few days ago, she has no conflicts with the other concubines in the palace. She probably doesn't even understand their temperaments.

As expected, after listening to his mother and Pearl Amber discuss their plan for a long time, Yinzhi rolled his eyes.

Let the young master grow up quickly. It seems that the fourth brother can only endure another year or two in Chengqian Palace. Once he can speak, we can rescue him!

Wen Shan thought it over and over and went through everyone in the palace. The only one in the palace who could rival Consort Tongjia was Niohuru, but Niohuru had just finished competing with her and had no children of her own, so she probably wouldn't get involved in these matters.

Although the remaining Consort Rong and Consort Hui have children, they are still not powerful enough and are far from being among the four great consorts of the Kangxi era.

After much thought, Wen Shan decided to start by probing the situation with Emperor Kangxi. For the first time, she personally cooked two exquisite dishes for him and then headed to the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

When Liang Jiugong saw Wen Shan coming from afar, he rubbed his eyes, thinking he was seeing things. This was a rare guest indeed!

"Oh, greetings to Consort Xuan." Liang Jiugong bowed and greeted her with a smile, "Your Highness, what brings you here today?"

Wen Shan glanced at the tightly closed vermilion gate and said with a smile, "I have prepared some food. I wonder if Your Majesty is free now?"

"You've come at just the right time. His Majesty has just finished discussing matters with Lord Tong Guowei. Let me go in and inform you."

Wen Shan nodded, and soon Liang Jiugong came out to invite her in.

This was Wen Shan's first time visiting the Hall of Mental Cultivation. Emperor Kangxi was reviewing memorials when he saw her enter. He glanced at her and said, "Sit down."

Wen Shan sat down on a chair nearby. Kangxi finished reading the few memorials in his hand before looking up and saying, "What did you bring? Bring them up so I can see."

Today, I asked Wenshan to make two delicious and visually appealing dishes. The aroma wafted out as soon as I opened the food box.

It was almost lunchtime, and Kangxi was also a little hungry. Wenshan specially steamed some soft and delicious rice in a steamer, and in no time, most of the dishes were eaten.

"Consort Xuan's culinary skills have improved again." Emperor Kangxi ate with great satisfaction. The food Consort Xuan brought today was much tastier than what he had eaten at Xianfu Palace. It seemed that she had put a lot of effort into it.

Wen Shan thought to herself that the food was much tastier. This was the first time Kangxi had eaten a dish she had personally prepared. In the past, the dishes made by the cooks had been enough to satisfy him.

After finishing his meal and washing his hands, Kangxi mercifully asked, "Did you come here today to ask me for something?"

Emperor Kangxi was pleased by Wen Shan's dishes, and since it was indeed the first time Wen Shan had ever tried to curry favor, he was willing to indulge her as long as she didn't go too far.

"I thought Your Majesty was working hard on state affairs, and with the recent hot weather, I was afraid Your Majesty might have a poor appetite, so I came to visit you," Wen Shan said, feigning innocence and virtue.

Kangxi glanced at her with a half-smile.

Over the past few days, Kangxi has gotten to know Wenshan's personality pretty well. She is truly indifferent, not only to the concubines in the harem but also to his favor. The only ones who can make her fluctuate are Yinzhen and Yinsi.

It wouldn't be bad to have more concubines like this who have no interest in vying for favor and are solely focused on raising the princes.

"Is this to curry favor with me because of Yinzhen's matter?" Kangxi was wearing a royal blue casual robe today, with exquisite embroidery and a lifelike five-clawed golden dragon, which looked very noble.

Kangxi pondered for a moment and said, "It's understandable that the Consort is keeping a closer eye on Yinzhen after losing her child. Please bear with her."

Although Emperor Kangxi seemed indifferent to the harem, he was fully aware of everything that happened there. He just didn't want to bother with such matters most of the time. He was even more aware of the fact that Consort Tongjia had detained Yinzhen. It was indeed somewhat unreasonable that Yinzhen hadn't gone to pay his respects to Consort Xuan even after being away from Xianfu Palace for more than a month.

It was inevitable that Consort Xuan would come looking for her.

Upon hearing Kangxi's words, Wen Shan knew that he was still protecting Consort Tongjia, so she naturally lost the will to stay and excused herself after saying a few perfunctory words.

Kangxi was almost amused by her outburst. This Consort Xuan was so impulsive and wore her heart on her sleeve. If she had pleaded with him gently and sweetly, he might have allowed Yinzhen to go to Xianfu Palace to pay his respects.

Emperor Kangxi picked up his imperial brush, thinking that he would only intervene in this matter after Consort Xuan apologized and tried to appease him.

"Master, what should we do next?" Pearl asked worriedly.

The Emperor's favor towards the Consort makes things difficult. Are we really going to let the Consort compete for his favor?

Wen Shan had no choice but to say, "Let's go back to the palace first."

No matter what, she will find a way; she promised Yinzhen and she will never break her word.

Back at Xianfu Palace, Wen Shan was so distraught that she lost her appetite and couldn't eat or drink. Yin Si was getting anxious and upset. He tried to be cute and coax Wen Shan to be happy every day, but to little avail, which made Yin Si sigh with worry.

This fourth brother really knows how to give them a hard time!

Until one day, Consort Ping suddenly came to Xianfu Palace.

Wen Shan was also surprised when she received the news that Consort Ping had come to visit. She had never had any contact with Consort Ping before, so this was truly an uninvited guest.

Consort Ping was Empress Hesheli's younger sister. Once she entered the palace, she revolved around the Crown Prince and didn't have a deep relationship with any of the other concubines. So, Wen Shan really couldn't figure out what Consort Ping was up to when she saw her sitting below.

After Consort Ping entered the inner palace, she made a few polite compliments to Yinzhi. Seeing that the palace servants had gone to prepare tea, Yinzhi suddenly said, "Consort Xuan used to take care of the Fourth Prince, so she must have had a deep affection for him. Now that the Fourth Prince is in Chengqian Palace, Consort Xuan must be missing him terribly, right?"

Wen Shan simply smiled and said, "The Fourth Prince is the adopted son of the Imperial Concubine. I only took care of him for a few months. If we're talking about missing someone, it's naturally the Imperial Concubine who misses him the most."

She was quite adept at making these kinds of polite remarks.

Consort Ping suddenly sighed softly: "I don't think so. Consort Xuan probably doesn't know, but Consort Tongjia lost her child and actually thought that the Fourth Prince had cursed her little prince. Don't you think that's ridiculous?"