Chapter 93: The Fourth and Ninth Princes: The First Intercourse Between the Fourth and Ninth Princes...

There are many dense forests between the White Mountains and Black Waters. At this age, Xuanye no longer has the same interest in hunting as when he was young. The ones who are most interested are Yinqi and Kejing. As for Xiuyu, she mostly recalls the days outside the Great Wall while hunting.

So not long after entering the forest, Xuanye and Xiuyu's horses slowly stopped. Xuanye called a few guards in the distance to follow Yinqi and Kejing, and he and Xiuyu dismounted and walked slowly in the snow.

"Before coming to Beijing, did you often hunt in this forest?" Xuanye asked casually.

Xiu Yu nodded. "My father brought me to this forest when I was very young. I've hunted rabbits, foxes, and even larger ones here."

"You really grew up on horseback." Xuanye had Liang Jiugong spread a thick blanket on the ground. He sat down on the ground and asked Xiu Yu to sit next to him. He added, "I learned my riding and archery skills from An Da on the training ground. I don't have the practical experience you do."

"It's all gone now." Xiu Yu rubbed his arm. "I've only shot a few rabbits, and my arm hurts. I don't know if it's because I've lost my hunting skills or I'm getting old."

"You? Old?" Xuanye gently pinched Xiuyu's chin and said with a smile, "Your face is completely wrinkle-free, and your hair is not a single silver strand. I still have a few white hairs. If you say you're old, then how old am I?"

Xiu Yu was amused by Xuanye and touched the longbow beside him: "When I first came to this forest, I was younger than Yinqi. The bow I used was specially made for me by my father."

"Yesterday I saw a small telescope in your study. The workmanship was a bit crude..."

Xiu Yu's face darkened. "You knew I made it for my father, and you still say the workmanship is bad?"

Seeing Xiu Yu's slightly angry expression, Xuanye was in a good mood: "You are very attractive when you are angry, don't you know that?"

"Who would like to see others angry?" Xiu Yu glared at Xuanye.

Xuanye naturally didn't care. He looked at the white snow in the forest, his heart clear: "Although I grew up in the Forbidden City, coming to the outside of the Great Wall, to the white mountains and black waters, I am just like you, just like home, very, relaxed..."

"Isn't that right?" Xiu Yu looked at Xuanye with sparkling eyes. "Although it's colder outside the Great Wall than in the Forbidden City, it does have its advantages. Living here, you don't have to think too much."

"Really?" Xuanye disagreed. "Before they were teenagers, like Kejing and Yinqi, they didn't have to think too much even if they lived in the Forbidden City, right?"

"Don't you think Yinqi and the others don't have it easy?" Xiu Yu spoke up for her two children. "If they were children from ordinary families, they wouldn't get up at the rooster crow. But what about them? They're going to school before it's even dark. It's my fault as their mother. Originally, they just needed to learn the Four Books and Five Classics well."

"I think it is not a bad thing for them to learn more to the best of their ability. You actually think so too." Xuanye whistled, and his horse ran towards him. Then he stood up and took off the water bag hanging on the horse's back, which was filled with kumis.

Xiu Yu tightened her fox fur coat and spotted Yin Qi, deep in the woods, waving towards her, seemingly having caught something. She couldn't help but sigh, "If you weren't the Emperor, I wasn't Concubine Yi, and they weren't princes or princesses, wouldn't it be nice for us to just live outside the Great Wall?"

Xuanye said, "If I were not the Emperor, I would not have met you, and you would naturally no longer be Concubine Yi. Xiao Si and Xiao Wu might not have been born. So, what ifs? However, during these days outside the Great Wall, I can temporarily stop being the Emperor, and you can stop being Concubine Yi. We can live a peaceful life."

Hearing Xuanye say this, Xiu Yu couldn't help but lean on Xuanye's shoulder, looking at the pair of children in the woods, hoping that the day of returning to Beijing could be later, later.

***

However, in the Yikun Palace of the Forbidden City, Tong Jia Zi Fu was entrusted by Xiu Yu to look after the Ninth Prince and the Eleventh Prince, so she would bring Yinzhen to the Yikun Palace to sit for a while from time to time.

The eleventh prince, Yinzhen, was still a typical baby, lying in his cradle all day long, either feeding or sleeping. But the ninth prince was already old enough to learn to walk.

Yinzhen initially thought Yinhuan was more interesting, like grandma's little ball, who would smile at you if you teased him. But a baby was just a baby after all, and it was okay to tease him a few times, but after a few days, he started to find it boring.

Fortunately, Aunt Tao said that before Concubine Yi's mother left, she had specifically instructed that the Fourth Prince could look at whatever he wanted to see and play with whatever he wanted to play with in the study.

So within a few days, Yinzhen started to live in Xiu Yu's study.

One day, Yinzhen was fiddling with Xiuyu's telescope when the door to his study creaked open. But when Yinzhen looked over, no one was there...

"Damn..." A small ball slowly swayed to Yinzhen's feet, raised its little arm as thick as a lotus root, and pointed its little hand at the telescope in Yinzhen's hand.

"It's my ninth brother." Yinzhen squatted down, looked into Yin'er's eyes, and put the telescope in Yin'er's hand. "This thing is very interesting. Fourth brother will teach you how to use it, okay?"

How could Yinzhen hold the telescope with his little hands? He looked at his fourth brother holding the bottom for him, and his eyes moved from Yinzhen's hands to the telescope.

Although Yinzhen was usually serious in front of his servants, he was also sincere to those who were good to him. Concubine Yi treated him very well, so he would also treat her children very well. This was the most natural and simple thing.

"Use?" Yin'er pondered for a long time, raised his head to look at Yinzhen, and blurted out this word.

Yinzhen smiled. He picked up the telescope, placed it in front of Yin'er's right eye, and said, "Close your left eye."

Yinzhen followed Yinzhen's instructions and obediently closed his left eye. Then, his mother's study was magnified by this thing...

"Not good!" Yinzhen said, and was about to throw away the telescope in his hand.

Yinzhen quickly grasped it tightly and put it back into its original box like a treasure: "This is a good treasure. You are still young and don't understand it. When you grow up and know how to use it, you might even fight with your fifth brother for it."

Yinzhen held Yinzhen's hand and pulled him out of the study: "Fourth brother, play."

"It's cold outside." Yinzhen hugged the little girl and said, "Aunt Tao said we'll have some milk tea later. Wouldn't it be nice for you and Fourth Brother to drink it together?"

Xiao Tao had actually been standing outside the study with Tong Jia Zi Fu for a long time. Upon hearing this, Tong Jia Zi Fu walked into the study and said with a smile, "Yin Zhen, you're doing great. You're acting like a brother now."

"Mother?" Yinzhen had just focused all his attention on Yin'er, so he didn't notice his mother and Xiaotao standing outside the door.

Tong Jia Zifu touched the back of Yinzhen's head and said with a smile, "You, can't you do two things at once?"

Yinzhen smiled and replied, "It's faster to focus."

Xiao Tao put the prepared milk tea on the desk, poured a cup for Yinzhen first, and then handed the milk bottle that Xiu Yu specially made for Yinzhen to Yinzhen's hands, then picked up Yinzhen and put him on the couch beside him.

Before fiddling with the telescope, Yinzhen had been reading Xiu Yu's exclusive collection of books for a while. His hands were cold, and now holding a cup of hot milk tea in his hands was so comfortable.

Seeing a copy of Sun Tzu's Art of War on the desk, Xiao Tao asked Yinzhen, "Is Fourth Prince interested in military strategy?"

Yinzhen replied, "My mother has taught me before, but this military strategy book from Concubine Yi's mother is a little different from what I learned before. It looks quite interesting."

"Different?" Tong Jia Zifu heard her son say that and picked up the military strategy book on the desk and flipped through it. As she read, she felt that Xiu Yu had truly put a lot of effort into this book. The illustrations were so appealing to children, and the explanations were easy to understand. She smiled and said, "No wonder you said that what you learn in Yikun Palace is more interesting than what you learn in the academy. It is indeed interesting."

After all, Yinzhen grew up in Chengqian Palace, so he knew how to please Tong Jia Zifu. "Concubine Yi's album is interesting, and what mother said has its merits." He whispered in Tong Jia Zifu's ear, "I think Concubine Yi doesn't know much about the affairs of the former dynasty and the harem. In this respect, mother is much more capable."

Just these one sentence made Tong Jia Zi Fu smile from ear to ear. She felt that the Fourth Prince was the only precious child in the world.

But then the little dumpling Yinzhen sitting on the couch actually snorted.

Tong Jia, Zi Fu and Yin Zhen were all amused by Yin Zhen.

***

Outside the Great Wall, Yinqi and Kejing were sweating profusely from their horses, while the guards following them were already laden with prey. Two children rode their ponies to Xuanye and Xiuyu, then jumped sideways, one sitting beside Xuanye and the other beside Xiuyu.

Yinqi grabbed the water bag beside him, pulled out the stopper and was about to drink, but Xuanye snatched it away: "This is kumis, aren't you afraid that your mother will scold you?"

Yinqi smiled, put the cork back in, and said to Xuanye, "Father, I just hunted a lot of prey, including a big roe deer!"

Xuanye took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat off Yinqi's forehead. Then he put a fox fur coat on him and said, "Father has seen it all. My son is very capable."

Yinqi smiled shyly, "Actually, my fourth sister is even better than me, but her arm strength is not as good as mine." At this point, Yinqi raised his head and looked into Xuanye's eyes, saying, "Father, can I change my bow?"

"Are you tired of this bow of yours?" Xuanye picked up Yinqi's bow and pulled it. To an adult like him, the bow Yinqi was using was obviously childish. "How about this, after we return to the palace, I'll test your academic performance. If you do well, I'll give you a new bow."