Chapter 391 "The Golden Baby"

On the tenth day of the second month of the Xin-You year of the Kangxi reign (1681), at the hour of Wei (1-3 PM), the eighth prince, Yinzhi, was born.

Princes in the palace are precious, but with so many princes, they are no longer so precious. Moreover, Yinzhi was conceived by Consort Wei after she vomited out a contraceptive potion, which was a slap in the face to Emperor Kangxi.

Therefore, although Emperor Kangxi did not take his anger out on the children, he did not particularly like them.

After giving birth to him, Lady Wei was not promoted and remained an insignificant concubine in the palace. Yinzhi was soon taken to Consort Tongjia's Chengqian Palace.

Inside Chengqian Palace, Emperor Kangxi and Consort Tongjia sat facing each other. Three-year-old Yinzhen and the Eighth Prince, who had just been settled a few days earlier, were brought to pay their respects to Emperor Kangxi.

After they left, Kangxi looked at Consort Tongjia with a gentle expression: "My dear cousin, you have worked hard. Only by entrusting the children in the palace to you can I feel at ease."

Consort Tongjia smiled gently: "I am not tired. With His Majesty's trust, I will certainly take good care of the little prince."

Kangxi nodded in satisfaction, a smile appearing on his face. "My cousin is the most gentle and virtuous."

After Kangxi's figure disappeared through the palace gates, Bai Zhi, the head palace maid serving nearby, couldn't help but mutter, "Your Majesty, you are already incredibly busy taking care of the Fourth Prince and managing such a vast harem. Why doesn't the Emperor show you any consideration? What if something happens to this newborn prince..."

Before she could finish speaking, Aunt Tongjia gave her a sharp look.

Granny Tongjia lowered her voice and scolded, "Stop talking nonsense! Do you know that the Emperor's arrangement is precisely because he values ​​the Empress?"

The head palace maid looked completely bewildered and puzzled. "Granny, what do you mean?"

Granny Tongjia shook her head slightly. Of the four first-class palace maids in Chengqian Palace, Bai Zhi was the least naive. If it weren't for her irreplaceable medical skills and the Empress's indulgence, she would have been pushed aside by the other maids long ago.

Looking around to make sure no one was eavesdropping, Granny Tongjia looked at Bai Zhi with a meaningful look in her eyes and whispered, "In this palace, what kind of person is worthy of the Emperor's entrustment to take care of the prince? And what kind of person deserves the praise of being virtuous?"

After hearing this, Bai Zhi turned to look at Consort Tongjia thoughtfully. Consort Tongjia smiled, her eyes shining with a special light: "Bai Zhi, you are skilled in medicine, so I'll entrust the young prince to your care."

"This servant understands," Bai Zhi bowed nimbly. She would never hold her mistress back. In her eyes, the Eighth Prince was no longer just a little prince, but also an asset to the Empress's ascension to the throne.

This is such a delicate little golden baby, she will definitely take good care of her!

"younger brother……"

Three-year-old Yinzhen stood on tiptoe, looking at the baby in the cradle with great curiosity.

Her big, dark eyes were full of curiosity. Her pink little hand carefully reached out and gently poked the face of her little brother, who was only a few days old in the cradle. She said in a childish voice, "My little brother is so small and soft."

Although they were all princes raised in Chengqian Palace, everyone knew that the Fourth Prince, Yinzhen, was raised as his own son by Consort Tongjia. In the hearts of the palace servants, his status was naturally much more important than that of the newly arrived and still ignorant Eighth Prince.

Therefore, no one stepped forward to stop Yinzhen's somewhat bold action; instead, they all echoed his words. An older palace maid said with a smile, "Aren't all newborn princes this small?"

The nanny who was taking care of Yinzhen quickly chimed in, "Our prince looked just like this when he was little. It was all thanks to the Empress's meticulous care that he grew up healthy and strong."

Upon hearing the nanny's words, Yinzhen's attention, which had been focused on his younger brother's face, was instantly diverted.

He tilted his head back, thought for a moment like a little adult, and then solemnly instructed the wet nurse beside him, "You must take good care of your little brother."

After saying that, he turned around and went to find Consort Tongjia with cheerful steps.

After the Fourth Prince left with a large group of servants, the wet nurse and palace maids responsible for looking after the Eighth Prince stepped forward. They were startled when they saw the young prince's slightly flushed face. But they didn't say anything more. For palace servants, recognizing their true master was the most important thing.

...

As winter approached and the first snow fell, rumors circulated in the palace that Consort Tongjia was about to be promoted "further," and countless concubines came to curry favor with her.

Consort Tongjia was happy inside, but she didn't show it on her face. The more critical the moment, the more she needed to remain calm.

Therefore, the Eighth Prince, who already enjoyed good treatment, now received even better treatment, almost on par with Yinzhen, the "favored prince" of the Chengqian Palace. Furthermore, to express her affection, Consort Tongjia specifically requested Emperor Kangxi to bestow a name upon him.

Emperor Kangxi readily agreed, and thus, before the Eighth Prince turned one year old, he had his name recorded in the imperial genealogy—Yinsi.

Because of Kangxi's actions, people became more convinced that Consort Tongjia might become the third empress, and the Tongjia clan of the previous dynasty became even more prominent.

However, at the same time, Lady Tongjia did not relax her vigilance against Lady Wuya. Under the pretext that the two brothers should get along well, she ordered that every time a concubine came to her house, she would send Yinzhen to the young prince's room, not giving outsiders a chance to come into contact with him.

The young Yinzhen, who was naturally attracted to good looks, was particularly fond of his eighth brother, who was becoming more and more handsome as he grew up. He also took on the responsibility of "taking care of his younger brother" given to him by his mother, so he was even more willing to spend time with his brother.

At this time, ten-month-old Yinzhen had already learned to sit and crawl, but he didn't like to move around much. So Yinzhen's greatest joy was getting his younger brother to crawl to him and then teaching him to call him "brother".

But often, things fail at the very first step, yet Yinzhen never tires of it.

"Little Eight, come here, come to your brother—"

Sunlight streamed through the carved window lattice, casting dappled shadows onto the soft couch. Curly-haired little Yinzhen sat intently on the edge of the couch, shaking a brightly colored rattle in his hand, trying to entice Yinsi to crawl over.

At that time, 10-month-old Yinzhi, like a porcelain doll, sat steadily on the couch, his big, dark eyes wide open, his little body motionless.

Undeterred, Yinzhen switched to other toys when the rattle drum didn't work: a nine-linked ring, a wooden bird, a small bell, one after another: "Little Eight, come here, crawl over here, brother will let you play with them all—"

Yinzhi raised his eyes, looked quietly for a while, then leaned back, turning from a sitting position to lying down, his little arms and legs casually stretched out. It was as if he was declaring that he had no interest in these things.

Yinzhen was a little unhappy. He pursed his lips, moved to sit next to Yinsi, and muttered softly, "Little brother, why are you ignoring me? If you keep this up, I won't talk to you anymore!"

Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, the young Yinzhi, who was lying down, seemed to have suffered a great injustice. His little mouth instantly pursed, and tears welled up in his eyes. He was silently sad.

Yinzhen panicked completely. His once bright eyes were now filled with anxiety. He hurriedly hugged Yinsi into his arms, his voice filled with deep apology: "It was my fault. I won't ignore my little brother. I love my little brother the most!"

But Yinzhi still stared at him with tears in his eyes, looking extremely pitiful.

Seeing this, Yinzhen repeatedly assured him, "From now on, you don't need to climb anymore. I'll come find you myself. You can sit or lie down as you like. Please don't be angry."

Amazingly, it seemed that little Yinzhi really understood what his brother said. His originally aggrieved little face instantly turned from tears to smiles. Just a slight upturn of the corners of his mouth made Yinzhen extremely happy.

Furthermore, when Yinzhen raised his hand, he stuffed the elixir ball he was holding into his arms, making Yinzhen's little curly hair stand on end with pride, as if he had received a gift from his younger brother.

"I knew it! My little brother loves me the most! I love my little brother the most too—"

The palace servants standing by were almost used to it, suppressing their laughter and remaining silent. After all, it was always the same; on the surface, it seemed like the Fourth Prince was teasing the Eighth Prince. But in the end, it was more like the Eighth Prince had the Fourth Prince completely under his control, and the Fourth Prince was even enjoying it.

With these two adorable little princes around, life in Chengqian Palace seems much happier.

But the happy days did not last long; in December, the official promotion was granted.

The good news is that Consort Tongjia has indeed taken another step forward. The bad news is that she's not becoming Empress, but Imperial Noble Consort.

On the surface, everyone in Chengqian Palace maintained a happy demeanor. But in reality, it was clear from the treatment of Yinzhi that this golden doll, unable to help Consort Tongjia become Empress, was merely a gilded doll.