Chapter 129 Deprivation of Freedom: Yi An didn't want to go, Shen Wanqing and Yu Lang didn't want their son to go, but how could this possibly be something they could all agree on...?

Yi An didn't want to go, Shen Wanqing and Yu Lang didn't want their son to go, but how could they possibly avoid going just because they didn't want to?

Power is a terrible thing; it can change everything in the world, including all the emotions that have been sung and praised.

Both the emperor and the crown prince were aware that Kangxi's illness would not improve in a short time, and the imperial physicians had been subtly and overtly preparing Yinreng for the past two weeks.

However, no one dared to speak out until the Imperial Medical Academy reached a conclusion on such matters. It wasn't until Emperor Kangxi himself lost patience and insisted that the imperial physicians explain clearly that the Emperor's specific condition was finally recorded on paper.

When the Emperor contracted a stroke, everyone thought the Crown Prince was about to embark on the grand scheme he had been planning for years. But when the Emperor was finally able to make his own decisions, Yinreng became even more composed than before.

Not only did he announce this in front of all the civil and military officials during court sessions, but from now on, just like when he was regent, important memorials would be discussed and decided upon with the court officials before being sent to the emperor. Even yesterday, when Kangxi said he would bring the children of various princes and nobles to the palace to study, he readily agreed.

Currently, there are only two princes still studying in the Imperial Study: the sixteenth prince, Yinlu, and the seventeenth prince, Yinli. The eighteenth prince is only two years old, and the fourteenth prince, that rascal, skips classes every day, hoping to leave the palace and establish his own residence. The Imperial Study is indeed a bit deserted.

Moreover, there aren't many children who can actually be brought into the palace to study. Counting them up, apart from Hongxi, who was born to me and the Crown Princess, only Hongyu from the Prince Zhi's family, Hongsheng from the third prince's family, Honghui from the fourth prince's family, Hongsheng from the fifth prince's family, and Hongshu from the seventh prince's family can come.

The oldest among them, Hongxi, was only eight years old (by the traditional Chinese age reckoning), and the youngest, Hongsheng, was only five years old (by the traditional Chinese age reckoning). Originally, the Emperor had not planned to let the fifth prince's son enter the palace. It was Yinreng who took the initiative to persuade his father, saying that all the older brothers had sent their sons in, and it would be bad to leave the fifth prince alone.

In the past few years, Yinqi had a difficult time in the Imperial Study because he was raised by the Empress Dowager and his Mandarin was not good. If it weren't for Yinyou accompanying him everywhere, this prince would not know when he would have been able to get close to these brothers.

Now that it's the younger generation's turn to enter the Imperial Study, there's really no need to exclude Hongsheng from the list. Besides, Hongshu from the seventh son's family is only a year older than Hongsheng; what's the big difference between a year and a half?

It's unreasonable to make Hongsheng wait a year before entering the palace, when all the other cousins ​​will have become close and familiar with him, leaving him as the only one who came later.

As for their young age, that's not a problem. There are ways to teach younger children. We can just pick a younger, more composed, and patient teacher from the Hanlin Academy and give Hongshu and Hongsheng a separate room to teach them.

Emperor Kangxi had the idea of ​​bringing his grandsons into the palace to study. Part of this was because he had been seriously ill and had narrowly escaped death, which made him want to be close to his grandchildren and enjoy their company. Another part was because he knew that he could not control his sons as they grew up, so he could only send the eldest sons of each household to the palace as a support and a check on them. Only he himself knew the truth.

After all, even if the emperor is afflicted with a stroke, as long as he remains the emperor, he will still have loyal subjects under his command.

Leaving aside distant examples, let's take Aling'a and Ma Qi as examples. Although they consult with Yuqing Palace and Yulang on everything, everyone knows that if anything really happens, they will definitely protect His Majesty.

Galdan has been captured and taken to the capital for many years. I heard that the house where he was imprisoned is now fully equipped with everything he needs. The emperor even sent two women in, hoping that Galdan would take another hostage.

After all, the Dzungars are now led by Galdan's nephew. If a son of Galdan were to suddenly appear in the capital, the former loyal followers would only cause more trouble.

If Galdan, who had been imprisoned for so many years and had never returned, still had such great power, then it goes without saying that Emperor Kangxi, whose mind was not completely muddled and whose backside was still firmly on the throne, still possessed such great power.

When Kangxi proposed bringing his grandsons into the palace to study, he kept his eyes fixed on Yinreng, wanting to see how his crown prince would react.

If the Crown Prince showed even the slightest reluctance, then even in his current state of illness, he would not so easily relinquish the power of the realm to the Crown Prince. When the time comes for the two of them to clash, it's hard to say who will win.

Having ascended the throne at the age of eight, Kangxi had been on the throne for far too long. So long that, while lying in bed on his sickbed reflecting on his life, it seemed as if he had nothing to show for it but being emperor.

The title of "Supreme Ruler" sounds wonderful, but what it was like to be paralyzed on your sickbed with nothing to remember but being emperor? Only Emperor Kangxi himself probably knew.

And he couldn't say these words. His stepmother couldn't. Her life had been even more miserable than his. She had come to the Forbidden City from Mongolia at a young age, never received the emperor's favor, and had no children before becoming a widow. In the end, apart from the brief happiness she found raising Yinqi, she had really nothing to boast about.

The elder brother, Fuquan, had died, and the younger brother, Changning, was also in poor health. When the Empress Dowager was seriously ill, Changning came to the palace to visit her, and his complexion looked even worse than the Empress Dowager's on her bed. Kangxi himself thought it was absurd to talk to him about these things.

With no legitimate mother or brothers to be found, and none of the remaining concubines being sincere, Kangxi, half-reclining on the couch and exhausted, looked at Yinreng. He didn't know what he was expecting, or rather, he didn't know why he would still have such unrealistic expectations at this point.

Fortunately, Yinreng was intelligent, or perhaps he still remembered the years when he was a child without a mother and was raised by his father in the Qianqing Palace.

He knew what it meant for Kangxi to be a father who loved his children with all his heart. Even though the relationship between father and son had deteriorated to this point over the years, goodness was goodness, and this goodness would not be erased by the later bad times.

So even though he knew that Kangxi was clearly going to bring his grandsons to the palace, whether as hostages or to intimidate them, Yinreng still chose to comply.

After all, he never intended to usurp his father's throne; they just wanted to live in a state of mutual checks and balances. The father would loosen his grip and try to live a few more years, while the son would remain calm and not drastically change the course of events in front of his father.

Emperor Kangxi could tell whether his son was being sincere or not. He listened to his son chatting with him as if they were old friends about the children of the various princes and nobles, and even took the initiative to worry about where they would stay when they came to the palace, and whether the previously vacant Gan Dong Wu Suo should be put to use again.

Anyway, all these princes and nobles lived there before leaving the palace. Now that their children have moved there, they don't have to worry about which courtyard to live in. They can live in the same courtyard their father lived in back then.

The only victim here is the fourteenth prince, Yinzhen, because he is the only one still in the palace and is quite old, so he chose to live in the most spacious and best courtyard in the Fifth Palace of the Eastern Region. That courtyard originally belonged to Prince Zhi, Yinzhi, but now that the eldest son of the eldest prince, Hongyu, is going to the palace to study, the uncle has no choice but to give up the courtyard.

When Yinzhen spoke of his younger brother, Yinreng, a hint of helplessness appeared on his face. It was precisely this mixture of impatience and resignation that put Kangxi at ease, allowing the Crown Prince to handle the entire matter of his grandson's studies in the palace.

It was clearly Kangxi who wanted to check and balance his sons, but now he's entrusting this matter to the Crown Prince, which sounds rather strange. But Liang Jiugong and the others serving the Emperor were used to it; they were all suffering from a stroke, so it was only a matter of time before they got sick, and they just had to go along with his wishes.

After leaving the Qianqing Palace, the Crown Prince sent someone back to the Yuqing Palace to inform the Crown Princess of the matter. Shi Qionghua then called her eldest son, Hongxi, to her side and asked him if he had any desired study companions. Hongxi then selected Yi'an.

The next day, after court, Yulang went to Yuqing Palace for a small meeting as usual.

The attendees of this small meeting were essentially a miniature Southern Study established by the Crown Prince. In addition to the Crown Prince's confidants, the Grand Secretaries and Secretaries on duty, there were also several Hanlin scholars who were formerly part of the Emperor's Southern Study.

These people were originally the emperor's confidants. For the past few months, the emperor had been ill and unable to manage state affairs, so even if the crown prince was just pretending, he still had to pick a few people from the Southern Study so that they could pass on messages to the emperor later.

Now that the Emperor has officially relinquished all power, the atmosphere of the small meeting has clearly changed.

Previously, Yu Lang would often take the lead, putting forward some difficult or unspeakable points for Yinreng, and then several Hanlin scholars and academicians under the Crown Prince would follow up, discussing and debating whether it was feasible or not, and there would always be a result.

Today was different. Before Yu Lang, the "most favored minister of the Crown Prince," could even speak, someone else had already spoken before him.

Yu Lang paused for a moment without saying much. Everyone's eyes couldn't help but look at him, but he just pretended not to know or see them.

It wasn't until after the meeting that Yinreng kept him behind alone and, in a helpless yet consultative tone, told Yulang about Hongxi's desire for Yi'an to enter the palace as a study companion. Only then did Yulang realize that he hadn't submitted a new pledge of allegiance in a long time.

Loyalty needs constant renewal, and now it's time for Yu Lang to do so. Yi An is the loyalty the Crown Prince demands of Yu Lang, a favor he bestows upon him, as he intends to give Yi An to Hong Xi as soon as possible. Yu Lang has no choice but to nod in agreement.

Yi'an was unwilling to enter the palace to be Hongxi's study companion, mainly because he didn't want to study before dawn. He could practice martial arts before daybreak, but wasn't getting up so early to study a bit too much?

However, since he was not a child raised by an ordinary family, Yu Lang took his son to the study and muttered to him for an afternoon. When Yi An came out of the study, there was no trace of reluctance on his face.

Shen Wanqing stood under the corridor, looking at the father and son, feeling a strange tightness in her chest. She could roughly guess what Yulang and Yi'an had said to each other.

Yi'an was the eldest son of the two, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, the future of the entire Hesheli family rested on his shoulders. So even though he was only ten years old, he had to enter the palace to be Hongxi's study companion, to live a life he did not want to live.

There's no question of fairness or unfairness. After all, he's currently living a life where he can use a charcoal brazier whenever he wants when the weather gets cold, or use a heated floor whenever he wants, without worrying about whether he has enough firewood and charcoal at home.

As his kung fu improved, he wanted to get a dog, so Shen Feng brought him a large dog from the Northwest. The first horse he raised, Red Hare, was gentle and he couldn't bear to urge it to run fast. Last year, during the Spring Festival, Yu Lang picked out another horse for him.

Horses are expensive, but raising them is even more expensive. The grooms and the annual cost of hay alone add up to a considerable sum. To maintain this lifestyle, one has to make sacrifices, or rather, people may want to make sacrifices but don't have the opportunity. Therefore, Yi'an has no right to say he can't or doesn't want to go.

The palace was quick to act on its decisions. Yu Lang had only told his family about it three days before the emperor's decree and the crown prince's order were issued, summoning Yi An to the palace to serve as a study companion to the eldest prince, Hong Xi, in the Imperial Study.

"Don't be afraid when you get to the palace. The rules in the Imperial Study are strict. If you find anything unreasonable, keep it in mind if you can tolerate it. If you can't tolerate it, find a way to tell Lord Eshan of Yuqing Palace and ask him to come out of the palace to find your father."

"Don't worry, Mother. It's not like I haven't been to the palace before. What is there to be afraid of?"

Having been a domineering parent for seven or eight years, Shen Wanqing's heart suddenly softened when her son was about to go to the palace to study.

On the day Yi'an was to enter the palace, he got up very early and went to the kitchen to help Ningxiang prepare a table full of breakfast. He also checked Yi'an's personal belongings, clothes, shoes and socks that he was bringing into the palace twice.

After Yi-an finished breakfast and it was time to leave, he couldn't help but pull his son aside and give him detailed instructions.

She didn't know what was wrong with her, but she just felt that it was a cruel thing for such a young child to have to go to the palace to be a companion to someone else, to learn to grow up and to be good at socializing.

“Mother, Father said that I get a leave of absence from the study every ten days. I’ll be back in ten days. Please let Sui Ning keep you company during these ten days. That girl is very clingy. With her around, the ten days will pass in the blink of an eye.”

Yi An took to heart what Yu Lang said to his son in the study. He was no longer opposed to entering the palace, and was even a little puzzled by his mother's behavior. She usually doted on him like this.

"Go away, go away, you're such a grown man, why are you trying to comfort me? You should leave now, I can go and get on with my work."

Shen Wanqing knew that Yi An was deliberately saying this to comfort her, so she immediately suppressed her sadness and composed herself. She led her son to the gate of the mansion and watched him get into the carriage and drive away. Then she turned around and burst into tears with red eyes.

Yu Lang had noticed that his eldest mistress was in a bad mood. Seeing her crying so sadly, he didn't ask her anything or try to comfort her. He simply waved for all the maids and servants around him to leave, and then led Shen Wanqing slowly back to the East Courtyard.

On the way back, Shen Wanqing was sobbing uncontrollably, unable to speak coherently. To be honest, she had never cried like this since she inexplicably came into this world.

At first, she felt that she couldn't bear to see her son suffer in the palace. But as she cried, she didn't even know if she was crying for Yi'an or for herself. She leaned on Yu Lang's shoulder and sobbed uncontrollably.

Finally, she was so tired from crying that her mouth was dry and she was hungry that she nudged Yulang's back and mumbled, "I'm thirsty, I want some water."

"My dear grandma, I'm getting scared if you don't drink some water. I've never seen you cry like this before. Can you tell me what's wrong?"

Yu Lang poured water but didn't give any to Shen Wanqing, letting her drink half a cup from his own hand, and the remaining half to be drunk slowly. Crying like this is a considerable burden on her heart, and even drinking water now has to be done slowly, otherwise her chest will hurt.

"nothing."

Shen Wanqing shook her head, not wanting to talk about it. Anyway, it wouldn't make any difference, and life had to go on.

"Alright, if Grandma says it's nothing, then it's nothing."

After waiting a short while, Yu Lang fed the remaining half bowl of tea to Shen Wanqing, then hugged her and let her lie on his lap on her side. The two of them sat quietly on the couch in the side room, listening to each other's breathing.

"Yulang, we must never lose in this lifetime."

As she cried more and more, Shen Wanqing probably understood what she was crying about. She was angry that the world was not free, and that no matter what stage she reached, there were still unavoidable compromises.

"No, definitely not."

Yu Lang gently stroked Shen Wanqing's back. He knew she had many things she hadn't said, and he also knew those things she couldn't say.

Grandma Shen was a hundred times more rebellious than he was; there were some things she dared to say that he himself probably wouldn't dare to listen to.

All I can do is keep going step by step, reach higher peaks, and try my best to ensure that Shen Wanqing never has to suffer this kind of 'unavoidable' grievance again in her life.