Chapter 29 Yinzhen

No matter how carefree a person is, if they are constantly being watched, especially by so many people intentionally or unintentionally, they will eventually notice. Besides, Yinzhen is no fool.

Ever since he noticed the gazes of others and understood their expressions, Yinzhen's anger flared up. He couldn't help but roll his eyes. Was he some kind of fool? Causing trouble in front of so many important officials, did he think his father would let him off? What did these people think of him?

As a result, throughout the entire banquet, Yinzhen maintained a sour face, his cold and silent demeanor bearing a striking resemblance to Yinzhen.

"Fourth brother, come visit Yuqing Palace sometime." After the banquet, the Crown Prince patted Yinzhen on the shoulder and extended an invitation. He felt that Suo'etu was overthinking things; his fourth brother was still very respectful to him, and he could give his fourth brother a chance to explain.

"Yes, I will go to the palace to pay my respects tomorrow, and then I will visit my second brother." Yinzhen responded gently.

"Alright, I'll prepare fine wine and food for you tomorrow." Yinreng was very satisfied with Yinzhen's attitude, and his attitude became even more amiable. "No need to see me off, I'll be going back now."

"I...I want to stay!" Before Yinzhen could answer, the Fourteenth Prince jumped out impatiently, instantly attracting everyone's attention. This made Yinzhen, who had spoken too quickly, a little embarrassed. He stammered, "It's not easy to leave the palace, and I...I and the Thirteenth Prince want to stay overnight, right, Thirteenth Prince?"

Yinxiang, who had been dragged out by Yinzhen as an excuse, nodded good-naturedly and replied, "It's been a long time since I've seen Fourth Brother. Yinxiang would like to stay with Fourteenth Brother."

Everyone else knew what was going on. Although the imperial genealogy had been altered, the Fourteenth Prince was still Yinzhen's half-brother. Seeing that he had held back until now before speaking, no one dared to say anything more. Only the Crown Prince, Yinreng, gave Yinzhen a warning look and said, "Don't bully your fourth brother. Also, go back to the palace tomorrow and explain to Father Emperor yourself."

"I still have the ability to bully him..." Yinzhen couldn't help but mutter to himself.

"Um?"

"Yes, Your Highness."

Yinreng's position as crown prince was still very secure, and fearing his authority, the fourteenth prince had no choice but to agree.

"Tsk, let's go." Disdainful of the Fourteenth Prince's fear of the Crown Prince, the First Prince Yinzhi was the first to walk past the Crown Prince and leave, ignoring the Crown Prince's instantly ashen face.

"Hmph." Yinreng snorted coldly and then left.

The other princes exchanged glances, used to the discord between the eldest prince and the crown prince, and didn't say much. They just hadn't expected the two to have gotten so estranged that a single word could provoke them. Except for the thirteenth and fourteenth princes, they all greeted Yinzhen and left. No one noticed the exchange of glances between Yinzhen and Yinsi.

As the excitement subsided, only Yinzhen and Yinzhen remained in the front courtyard, staring at each other intently, growing angrier with each glare.

"Thirteenth Brother, how have you been lately?" Yinzhen patted Yinxiang's head, showing his gentle concern.

"Yinxiang is doing well. How is Fourth Brother's health?" Yinxiang looked at Yinzhen with longing. He stayed behind because of Fourth Brother.

"I'm fine, don't worry."

"Tsk." Yin Zhi, standing to the side, made an impatient sound, unable to bear seeing the deep brotherly affection between the two.

Yinzhen glanced at him, then turned to Yinxiang and said gently, "Have Su Peisheng take you to the side room. I have prepared a gift for you."

"Okay, thank you, Fourth Brother." Yinxiang nodded with a smile, and sensibly left with Su Peisheng, leaving his Fourth Brother and Fourteenth Brother with space to talk.

After Yinxiang left, Yinzhen headed towards the study. Seeing that Yinzhen behind him was not moving, he asked, "Didn't you have something to ask me? Why aren't you following me?"

"Hmph." Seeing that Yinzhen had finished speaking and was walking forward on his own, Yinzhen snorted coldly in dissatisfaction, gritted his teeth and followed. He was both angry and aggrieved. He was so gentle to Yinxiang and even prepared a gift for him, but so indifferent to him. Who was his real brother?

That's true, they've all changed to imperial genealogy now, so they don't value him anymore.

Yinzhen mocked himself. After arriving at the study, he didn't sit down but stood there staring at Yinzhen without saying a word.

"What, are you here to stand as punishment?" Yinzhen ignored him and sat in the round-backed chair drinking tea.

"Yinzhen! You..." Yinzhen pointed at him, too angry to speak.

"What's wrong with me? Say what you want to say." Yinzhen's expression was indifferent, his eyes lowered and he didn't look at him.

“You…” Yinzhen had so much to say, but looking at the empty seat in the chair, he was speechless and didn’t know how to start.

Frustrated by his own poor communication skills, Yinzhen paced back and forth in the study. Seeing that Yinzhen didn't react at all, not even glancing at him, Yinzhen, blinded by anger, shouted, "Do you know how miserable Mother is right now? Why did you change the imperial genealogy...?"

"Yinzhen!" Yinzhen looked up and suddenly interrupted him, "This is Father Emperor's decree."

Overwhelmed by emotion, Yinzhen blurted out without thinking, "Why didn't you refuse? Did you say something to Father Emperor to get this decree? You're so cold-hearted, you don't want to acknowledge Mother, you don't want to acknowledge me, you just want to be Empress Xiaoyi's child..."

"Have you said enough?" Yinzhen closed his eyes, his tone becoming even colder. His dark eyes stared at Yinzhen, the intense pain in them almost overwhelming Yinzhen, who was immediately speechless.

"I, I..." As if a bucket of cold water had been poured over his head, Yinzhen realized what he had said. He opened his mouth, but didn't know how to explain.

"Yinzhen, you're already twelve years old," Yinzhen said listlessly, no longer wanting to look at him. "There are no children in the palace. Do you really not know what happened?"

"I..." Yinzhen was speechless. How could he not know what had happened? Although he didn't know the whole story, he knew that his mother had done something wrong. But now that Yinzhen was alright, he would naturally side with his mother, who was close to him, and his brother, who was not so close to him.

"Do you know, I almost died." Yinzhen looked up at him, a fleeting vulnerability in his eyes. "It's been three months, have you asked me anything? Um... has Consort Wuya asked me anything?"

"I...I can't leave the palace. Mother...Mother is in confinement." Yinzhen seemed flustered for some reason.

"Do you know what Consort Wuya asked me to do the first thing she asked me to do when I woke up and saw her?" Yinzhen didn't care about his answer and continued, "She asked me to marry Rouze because Rouze's reputation was ruined because of this, and she lost face..."

"Mother...I don't know..." Yinzhen was both surprised and bewildered, never imagining that his mother would do such a thing. Clearly, clearly his fourth brother was the victim.

"Never mind," Yinzhen chuckled self-deprecatingly, not continuing. "Yinzhen, she only has you in her heart, she's just your mother, and you only care about her. You don't have to endure my cold-heartedness anymore, you don't have to let sand get into your mother-son relationship anymore. Isn't this the best ending?"

"No, no, it's not like that..." Yinzhen shook his head desperately. He was only twelve years old, and no matter how mature he was, he didn't know how to deal with the situation.

He dared to oppose and argue with Yinzhen because he knew they were brothers and that Yinzhen would tolerate him. He also knew that his mother wasn't very kind to his fourth brother, but his fourth brother cared about and loved his mother.

How did things come to this? Looking into Yinzhen's indifferent and weary eyes, Yinzhen realized with a deep sense that he was about to lose his brother. A tremendous fear spread through his heart, but he didn't know how to make amends.

Yinzhen suddenly realized that while he was enjoying his mother's favoritism and his fourth brother's indulgence, and acting with impunity, his fourth brother was also being treated unfairly. Disappointment accumulated little by little; his mother and he had exhausted the affection in his fourth brother's heart.

"Fourth Brother..." The tall and straight young man suddenly hunched over a bit, Yinzhen's eyes reddened, and he dared not speak timidly.