Chapter 168 The Little Curly King Takes Office

"You must know about the miraculous events at Yonghe Palace. Baocheng was determined to be the reincarnation of a Buddha at birth. I tried my best to prevent this news, but I couldn't stop the bondservants from exchanging information..."

"I admit I'm biased. Bao Cheng was raised by me, and I've devoted myself to him, fearing that one day Heaven would take him away. But what has Uya done..."

“Yinzhen, you are a smart child. Among all your brothers, Baocheng loves you the most. But your birth mother dared to scheme against Baocheng because of a vague and ethereal word like ‘Zuo’ (祚)…”

Yinzhen walked unsteadily, as if stepping on a pile of cotton, and left Kangxi's study in a daze.

His father's words echoed repeatedly in his mind, each word like a heavy hammer, filling him with sorrow—his birth mother, Uya, had taken the character "Zuo" (祚), which his father had given his sixth brother, to mean "national fortune," thus continuing the meaning of "blessing" in the name of his elder brother, the Crown Prince. For those ambitions, she had schemed against his elder brother, the Crown Prince.

He rushed to Yuqing Palace, and after reporting his arrival, he barged straight in.

Crown Prince Yinreng was sitting by the window, holding a book. When he saw Yinzhen's disheveled appearance, he was startled at first, then put down the book and stood up. When Yinzhen saw the Crown Prince, his eyes instantly reddened, and he knelt down with a "thud," his knees hitting the ground with a dull thud.

“Crown Prince…” Yinzhen’s voice was hoarse, as if a thousand words were stuck in his throat, but he didn’t know where to begin. “I…I just learned from Father Emperor…”

Yinreng stepped forward and reached out to help him up, saying, "Get up and talk. Doesn't it hurt from kneeling?"

Yinzhen refused, but Yinreng picked him up and placed him on the soft couch, then rolled up his trouser leg to check. "You don't know how to take care of yourself at all. Your knees are all red. It breaks my heart to see you like this."

Yinzhen lowered his head, large tears falling onto Yinreng's hand, "Crown Prince brother..."

Yinzhen was clever; he naturally knew that his elder brother, the Crown Prince, was deliberately changing the subject. But the better his brother treated him, the more distressed he felt, ashamed to face him. "It's all my fault..."

Yinreng sighed, lifted his face, looked at his tearful appearance, and said gently, "Fourth Prince, don't blame yourself like this. What does this have to do with you?"

“That’s…my…birth mother…”

Yinzhen couldn't stop sobbing. Yinreng had no choice but to pull him into his arms, hand him a handkerchief, and watch as Yinzhen obediently wiped away his tears. He stroked Yinzhen's head and sighed, "Although she is my birth mother, you two have never spent a single day together. You didn't know about this matter, so how could I hold a grudge against you?"

Kangxi's actions are actually quite easy to understand. Putting aside other factors, the fact that Uya was rejected by the divine bird is a stain in the eyes of outsiders. And did Kangxi really not want his mother, who had such a stain, to live?

It was done out of consideration for the children, but it was also a way of discouraging their ambitions.

Emperor Kangxi was capable of killing someone by destroying their spirit. Empress Wu Ya regarded Yinzhuo as her hope, so he adopted Yinzhuo out of the family. As for the remaining Yinzhen, Emperor Kangxi not only wanted him to completely sever his ambition for the throne, but also wanted him to bear this guilt and wholeheartedly serve the crown prince.

Yinzhen was still immersed in grief and couldn't see through this. Yinreng saw through it, but he wouldn't say it. However, for the sake of his little prince's health, Yinreng still offered a few more words of advice.

"Little Fourth, don't blame yourself. Uya didn't do all this for you. The first time she used Consort Tong's love for her son to get the rank of Consort; times have changed. This time she does love her son, but it's not pure. It's more because the name of Yinzhuo gave her endless fantasies."

Yinreng sighed. Even Suo'etu didn't fall for the trick of the word "Zuo," so how come Uya herself got caught up in it?

"Don't cry," Yinreng wiped away his tears. "Now that Lady Wuya has paid the price for what she did, there are still Yinzuo and Wenxian who need your care. Your brother, the Crown Prince, only needs to take care of one of the younger brothers. I don't have the energy to manage the others."

Yinzhen raised his hand to wipe away his tears. Although his heart was still aching, he felt a little warmer because of his elder brother, the Crown Prince. He leaned against his elder brother and said earnestly, "I will take good care of them. When I grow up, I will also take care of my elder brother, the Crown Prince."

"Okay, then I'll wait for Xiao Si to grow up and share my burdens. Pinky promise."

Yinreng smiled and extended his little finger, and Yinzhen also extended his little finger and hooked it with his, "Pinky promise, Fourth Prince will never lie!"

From then on, a seed of wanting to share the burdens of his elder brother, the Crown Prince, was planted in the heart of the 7-year-old Yinzhen. He couldn't wait to grow up so that his elder brother wouldn't have to work so hard.

Yinreng watched with satisfaction as the little prince walked in the "correct" direction, arriving ahead of schedule.

...

"Something's not right! Something's extremely wrong!"

Yinzhi slammed his teacup down on the table and sighed solemnly.

A few drops of tea spilled out, and Changquan, who had been dragged to the small gathering, quickly dodged: "That sounds familiar. When did you say that? What's the matter? I'm waiting to see my brother, the Crown Prince, about his article."

Yinzhi rolled his eyes at him. All he ever does is look for Baocheng. Doesn't he know that Baocheng is his own brother?

"Let's get down to business! Don't you think Yinzhen has been acting strangely lately?"

"What's strange about it?" Changquan asked, looking puzzled.

Yinzhi replied thoughtfully, "Yinzhen, you don't smile as much anymore, and you talk less."

"Is there?"

Changquan couldn't help but start recalling, and it seemed to be true!

Good heavens! The Forbidden City's famously talkative and affectionate man has suddenly stopped talking and laughing? What terrible thing has happened?

"Could it be that he's just not talking to you guys?" Changquan analyzed seriously. After all, they were all on the same "brother-stealing" track; who didn't know who? It was understandable that Yinzhen was unhappy with them, since Yinzhi and Yinzhi had been using schoolwork as an excuse to get their elder brother, the Crown Prince, away lately. Of course, although he felt the same way, it didn't affect Changquan's analysis.

“No, no,” Yinzhi shook his head. “I observed him carefully. Although he was slightly softer in front of Baocheng, he was still like this. He didn’t smile much anymore, and his speech became more concise. It’s as if he grew up in an instant.”

As the only person directly involved who knew most of the details of the Yonghe Palace incident, Yinzhi didn't even consider this possibility. After all, Yinzhen wasn't present either, and his father had blocked the news, so he wouldn't know.

Of course, this was something Yinzhi hadn't expected Kangxi would tell Yinzhen the truth. So, in Yinzhi's eyes, the demotion of his birth mother, whom he barely knew, might have saddened Yinzhen. But more likely, he would have been heartbroken, throwing himself into Baocheng's arms—it was definitely not like this!

"And another thing," Yinqi, who was participating in the small gathering for the first time, also spoke up, "Fourth Brother has been teaching me Chinese studies very seriously lately, unlike before."

Yinqi deeply felt the difference between vying for the Crown Prince's favor and wholeheartedly teaching him.

Yinzhi also complained, "And another thing, Father Emperor instructed me to study poetry and books diligently, and in the past I would just give a few perfunctory replies. But now Yinzhen is watching me every day, and if I slack off even slightly, his gaze... tsk tsk, it's even stricter than my teacher's, it's really strange."

Yinzhi also complained, "Yinzhen used to argue with me, but now he's wholeheartedly helping me practice speaking. He's cold on the outside but warm on the inside, and I'm scared."

Yinqi scratched his braid and continued, "Not only that, but the Crown Prince said that Grandma Wukuma and Grandma Huang should go for a walk after meals, so Fourth Brother accompanies them for walks every day. He's so quick on his feet that Grandma Wukuma and Grandma Huang want to avoid him."

"hiss"

Listening to the three of them chattering about Yinzhen's unusual behavior, Changquan stroked his chin thoughtfully, "Could this be a new kind of competition for favor..."

"Smack!"

Chang Quan suddenly slammed his hand on the table and stood up, startling the three of them.

"I see!"

"What do you know? You're always making a fuss." Yinzhi rolled his eyes in annoyance.

Changquan looked wise. "Yinzhen is subtly proving his abilities to the Crown Prince. I remember the teachers saying that the Crown Prince has exhausted all his learning and will soon officially enter the court. Yinzhen is laying the groundwork, trying to prove his capabilities and thinking about replacing me in the future!"

"What!" Yinzhi stood up indignantly. "That fourth prince, is he trying to take my place?!"

Yin Zhi was displeased, "Clearly, it is I who should be the Crown Prince's future capable minister!"

Yinqi was also indignant. His… oh, his achievements didn't seem to need replacing. Damn it, couldn't he be a capable minister to his elder brother, the Crown Prince?