Chapter 118 Encounter Ke Jing Met the Prince of Mobei

Emperor Xuanye, in his former residence within the Forbidden City, was the stabilizing force of the city. Peace and tranquility reigned supreme, without a single disturbance. His dozen or so princes studied when they should, practiced riding and archery when they should, and learned arithmetic when they should.

At the archery range, from the Fourth Prince Yinzhen to the Fourteenth Prince Yinzhen, who was still a little boy, were standing in a row. The older ones were holding ten-force bows, and the younger ones were holding special bows and arrows, all aiming at the bull's eye.

Since the Manchus conquered their empire on horseback, Emperor Xuanye paid particular attention to his children's archery skills. The younger ones, from the tenth to the fourteenth princes, could only aim and were not allowed to shoot.

The Tenth Prince was a very casual person. He would do whatever his father asked him to do. It would be best if his father didn't let him do anything. Then everything would be fine and he would be happy to eat, drink and have fun.

But Fourteenth Prince Yinzhen couldn't do that. He aimed at the distant bull's eye, desperately wanting to just release his right hand and let the long arrow hit the bull's eye. He was also confident that he could hit the target with one shot. He had both the confidence and the idea, but he couldn't move. Needless to say, Yinzhen's face was gloomy.

"Fourteenth brother." Eighth Prince Yinsi stood beside Yinzhen. Seeing that Yinzhen was in a bad mood, he patiently advised: "Father has a reason for asking you to practice archery all the time. If your foundation is not solid, it will be difficult for you to become Baturu."

"My dear, I can shoot the bull's eye, do you believe it?" Yinzhen raised his head and looked at Yinsi: "My mother said that I was born to be a Baturu, and I will conquer the world for my father in the future!"

Yinsi smiled, loosened his right hand, and shot the arrow in his hand, hitting the bull's eye.

Not far away, the Thirteenth Prince Yinxiang was standing next to Yinzhen. Yinxiang was a free and easy little boy. His father only asked him to practice the posture, so he practiced obediently. Anyway, he would shoot the arrow sooner or later.

Yinzhen was not so obsessed with horse riding and archery. He felt that as his father's child and a prince of the royal family, it was enough for him to have the skills of horse riding and archery. There was really no need to compete for Baturu with those soldiers who had fought on the battlefield.

Compared to the training on the training ground, Yinzhen was more concerned about the relationship between the Fourteenth Prince and the Eighth Prince. After all, the Fourteenth Prince was his half-brother, and now, for some reason, he was still a little kid, so close to the Eighth Prince that when he saw his brother, he still acted indifferent.

Yinxiang always loved playing with Yinzhen. After practicing archery, he would walk obediently beside Yinzhen.

"Fourth Brother..."

"What's up?" Yinzhen lowered his head slightly and looked at the little guy following him: "We agreed to take a break after archery practice. Don't hold me back and let me teach you arithmetic."

"No." Yinxiang tugged at Yinzhen's sleeve: "Fourth brother, shall I take you somewhere fun?"

Yinzhen just found it a little funny: "In this square Forbidden City, is there any place you have been to that I have not been to?"

"Then fourth brother, even if you have been there, can you pretend that you haven't?" Yinxiang said, then took Yinzhen's hand and ran towards the northeast corner of the imperial city.

After climbing up the high wall and sitting on the top, Yinxiang took out the jade flute hanging from his waist and showed it to Yinzhen.

"Fourth brother, I can play this now. Can I play it for you?"

"When did you learn this?" Yinzhen looked at Yinxiang curiously. "You follow me around all day, how can you find the time to learn this?"

"I learned it when I wasn't with my fourth brother." Yinxiang held the jade flute across his lips in a very serious manner.

It is obvious that his skills are not yet mature enough, but he has indeed shown some signs of improvement. If he is given time and grows up a little more, he will definitely become a hidden musician.

Yinzhen was thinking this, and when he saw Yinxiang had stopped, he clapped his hands naturally.

Yinxiang smiled shyly, "Actually, I've only been learning for a short time, so I'm not very good at playing yet. I'm far behind my father's musicians."

"You still want to compete with my father's musicians?" Yinzhen tapped Yinxiang on the forehead. "You, just play around. If you're better than the musicians, what do they have to do?"

"Isn't Concubine Yi's cooking better than the imperial chefs? I think she does a great job." Yinxiang sat down next to Yinzhen, raised his head and looked at the blue sky, saying, "Fourth brother, I will always be with you, so don't be sad."

"I'm sad?" Yinzhen smiled: "Why do you think I'm sad?"

"Hmm..." Yinxiang hesitated for a moment, "Because Fourteenth Brother is the child of Concubine De, and you are also the child of Concubine De. You two are brothers from the same mother, but Fourteenth Brother obviously doesn't treat you as well as I do."

Yinzhen raised his hand and touched the back of Yinxiang's head: "We are all Ama's children. Besides, you, me, Yinqi, Yin'er, and Yin'er, aren't we all doing well?"

"Fifth Brother and Ninth Brother are actually different." Yinxiang swung his calf and said, "Fourth Brother, don't you think that Concubine Yi's mother is actually different from our mother? Although I can't really explain exactly where the difference is, anyway..."

"Concubine Yi's mother's views on things and her way of doing things are indeed different from our mother's." Yinzhen frowned slightly. "Perhaps it's because Father often takes her out?"

"Anyway, Fourth Brother, you don't have to be sad." Yinxiang had an innocent smile on his face. "No matter what happens in the future, I will always be Fourth Brother's little follower and remain loyal to him."

"Still unwavering!" Yinzhen glared at Yinxiang with a smile: "You, I taught you almost everything, so naturally you share my ideas. But Yinzhen..." He sighed softly, which eventually turned into a smile: "Forget it, I already have a little follower like you, so I shouldn't expect too much. Everyone has their own aspirations, and you can't force them."

***

With Galdan's escape, Mongolia enjoyed a period of peace. However, even in times of peace, one cannot help but think about the dangers that may come in the future. Therefore, the Mongolians in the northern desert sent a small group south to pay their respects to Xuanye. The leader was Dorji, a prince of the Tushetu Khanate.

It was midsummer, and Xuanye was living in Changchun Garden with Xiuyu and several other children. Kejing couldn't stand being lonely, and from time to time she would run out to the streets to see the fun things the common people had made. At first, Xiuyu didn't agree with Kejing going out with just a little girl, dressed as a man, but after repeated requests, she let her go.

On this day, Dorji was in Beijing, and Kejing, dressed in men's clothing, was strolling around the capital with her little girl. A street vendor dressed in Mongolian clothing was selling stones, claiming his stones were brought back from the Mongolian desert and were unique in the capital.

Ke Jing was curious about many things. Since the stone vendor was so arrogant, she naturally wanted to go over and take a look.

"The stones from Mobei Mongolia are truly remarkable." Ke Jing picked up a stone and rubbed it in his palm. "Then, how far is Mobei Mongolia from the capital? How long did it take you to go there and back?"

The vendor didn't expect that he was just trying to cheat someone out of a few bucks, but he ended up running into a real guy. "It's thousands of miles away, so my stone is rare."

"Northern Mongolia is a land of flying sand and rocks. If you go there, you will probably become a rough man like us. But you are quite delicate and tender." When Dorji heard people mention 'Northern Mongolia', he naturally stopped to listen.

When the peddler saw the real Mongolian, he mumbled something and started packing up his stall.

Dorji quickly stepped forward and grabbed the vendor's wrist. "When has anyone in Mobei Mongolia ever produced someone as delicate and tender as you?"

"Uncle!" The vendor's wrist was pinched so hard that it hurt. He frowned and begged for mercy: "Uncle, please spare me. I just want to make a living. I have a wife and children at home to support."

"Do you still dare to pretend to be from Mobei?" Dorji exerted a little force and the peddler's arm was dislocated.

"I won't dare to do that again, sir!"

"I don't dare anymore. Then I'll take it back for you." Dorji said as he exerted force and took it back from the peddler.

Ke Jing looked at Dorji curiously and asked, "Are you from Mobei?"

"That vendor is fake. I'm a genuine Mobei man." Dorji looked Ke Jing up and down. "Girl, you better not pretend to be a man next time you go out. If you look like a man, how can we men get married?"

The group of Mongolian men following Dorji were all amused by their master.

Ke Jing blushed: "You guy..."

"I'm not a bad guy." After saying this, Dorji took his followers and headed towards Changchun Garden.

Kejing looked at Dorji's back, feeling so angry that his teeth were itching.

The servant who followed her said, "Sir, shall we go to the jade shop to have a look?"

"Go and have a look." Ke Jing turned around, took out a piece of silver and threw it on the vendor's stall, saying, "Take care of your arm. Don't cheat people again."

***

Ke Jing originally thought that she had only met the Mongolian man from Mobei once, but unexpectedly, she met the man again in Qingxi Book House as soon as she returned to Changchun Garden.

Dorji was also surprised to see Ke Jing and said to Xuanye, "Your Majesty, is this the Princess?"

Xuanye nodded and smiled, "She is my fourth princess. She is usually the most mischievous. Today she ran to the street to make trouble again." "Her Royal Highness the Princess is chivalrous and kind-hearted. She is not someone who would make trouble." Dorji also smiled and spoke for Kejing.

Xuanye was curious: "How come you have already met Kejing?"

"I dare not lie to the emperor. I had the honor of meeting the princess on the way to Changchun Garden. However, I did not expect that this handsome young man was actually the fourth princess."

Xuanye saw that Dorji's eyes were always on Kejing, his face darkened, and he said, "Kejing, go see your mother."