Chapter 55 The Little Rascals in the Imperial Study: The First Prince's attitude startled Yu Lang; after all, people don't become arrogant and rude without reason. The First Prince…

The eldest prince's attitude startled Yu Lang, as people don't become arrogant and rude without reason. Although the eldest prince was the elder brother, the order of Heaven, Earth, Ruler, Parents, and Teacher was that of the ruler, who came before parents. To the eldest prince, the Crown Prince was first and foremost the ruler, and only then the younger brother. His attitude was far too presumptuous.

Arrogant. The word struck Yu Lang as he paused silently. Last night he thought Suo'etu was arrogant, but now that the First Prince has arrived, why do both those who support the Crown Prince and those who covet the position treat him this way?

Yu Lang didn't have a clear view of the current situation, let alone the situation in the court, but his instincts as a martial artist were still there.

If both allies and enemies exhibit arrogance, and neither side can be controlled, then that person is definitely in a very uncomfortable and suppressed state. To put it more bluntly, the Crown Prince's current situation is like that of a trapped beast, wanting to roar in the mountains but being restrained.

Having figured this out, Yu Lang felt a pang of sadness. He had long known that the Crown Prince's situation was awkward and difficult, but he still couldn't understand how a father could be so...

Yu Lang followed behind Yinreng for a long time, until he took the initiative to raise his hand to push open the door of the main house in the first courtyard for the Crown Prince. Only then did two words suddenly pop into his mind: conflicted.

His Majesty must have placed high hopes on the Crown Prince, otherwise he would not have given him the position. The Crown Prince is not only the Crown Prince, but from the day Yinreng was made Crown Prince, the entire Hesheli family also rose to prominence, and from then on, they were different from other aristocratic families in Manchuria.

As a member of a collateral branch, Yu Lang might say that his branch has declined and is not as prosperous as it used to be, but that's only in comparison to Suo'etu and the First-Class Duke's Mansion. If you really compare him to others, Yu Lang is still a big shot wherever he goes. Among so many captains in the Plain Yellow Banner, Yu Lang inherited his position at the age of twelve and no one has dared to bully him since. In the end, it's all thanks to the Empress Dowager and the Crown Prince.

If even a nobody like Yu Lang from a collateral branch of the family has received such great benefits, one can only imagine how much more the Crown Prince himself has benefited. Such generosity, treating the entire world as if it were the whole world, is rare even if it's only a fraction of genuine kindness.

But the father and son in the royal family are not only father and son, but also ruler and subject. The more the father loves his son, the more the ruler fears his successor. Just like the old lion king and the gradually growing new lion king, sooner or later they will have to decide who is superior and who will live or die.

However, the Crown Prince is more important than the young lion king who hasn't yet ascended the throne. The Emperor can't really kill the Crown Prince outright; he can only use this ambiguous and inconsistent attitude to manipulate others, keeping the Crown Prince in this state of being neither dead nor alive. Only when he is completely old will he perhaps truly and willingly support the Crown Prince to ascend the throne.

Yu Lang had never felt this way before. After all, when Erhe was alive, he was the only son in the East Courtyard. When Erhe passed away, he became the one who could inherit the position of Zuo Ling in the family. There was no surprise and no obstacle whatsoever.

Thinking about all this, Xiao Karami Yulang even felt sorry for the Crown Prince for a moment. With his sympathy, he became even more attentive and went to open the door for the Crown Prince before He Yuzhu could enter.

This made Yinreng unable to help but turn his head to look at him a few more times, while He Yuzhu looked on with a puzzled expression, wondering when Lord Yu had learned the skill of serving people.

No matter how sweet-talking Yu Lang is, he is still a pampered young master raised by the Hesheli family. He is really not good at serving his master by reading between the lines. When he was serving the Crown Prince, Yu Lang only went forward to serve him after the Crown Prince clearly stated what he wanted.

After finishing the work, they were quite proud, acting like a master, "Look how capable I am! Please praise me again!" It made everyone lose their temper.

What's gotten into him today, trying to steal my job? Doesn't he even know if he's cut out to serve people? Why is he pushing the door so hard? The teacher inside who's giving a lesson must be terrified.

Startled by He Yuzhu's glare, Yu Lang snapped out of his daze. He didn't think he had opened the door badly; he just realized he had no right to sympathize with the Crown Prince. He was the Crown Prince; who needed to sympathize with him?

Let alone being tormented by the Emperor, even if someone is on their last breath, as long as they have a breath left, if you ask someone else if they are willing to suffer like this, probably eight or nine out of ten would not refuse. Power is such a life-extending thing.

He had gone through a lot of mental turmoil, but it was only a few steps away. Yu Lang quickly regained his composure, stepped aside to make room for He Yuzhu, and stopped foolishly thinking about things that were none of his business.

The prince entered through the back door. The teacher, who was checking the students' work at the school, heard the noise and was about to get up, but the prince raised his hand and pressed him down so that he would sit back down.

But the teacher's movements still made several princes who were in class turn around. When they saw that it was the Crown Prince standing behind the door, the two youngest princes immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing the teacher get up to kowtow, they thought it was Emperor Kangxi who had come.

The expression on the face of the other big boy, who was a little older than them and already looked somewhat like a teenager, with a slender yet very upright figure, dimmed for a moment.

The birth mother of the Eighth Prince Yinzhi, Lady Wei, was just a palace maid when she was favored by the emperor. Even after giving birth to the Eighth Prince, she did not receive a title. Now she lives in the west wing of Yanxi Palace, and her status is even lower than that of a concubine.

Since he was old enough to understand, Yinzhi had been raised by Consort Hui. As a concubine who had been in the palace for many years, Consort Hui had never been mistreated. However, nowadays, if Emperor Kangxi went to Yanxi Palace to spend the night, he would sleep with Consort Wei eight times out of ten.

The other two times she visited other concubines, Consort Hui had to bring it up herself. As for Consort Hui, the birth mother of the eldest prince, all that was left was to eat, chat, and talk about her son and granddaughter.

People are more concerned about inequality than scarcity, and with someone like Lady Wei around, no one would feel comfortable. Especially since Yinzhi had known who his biological mother was since childhood, the life of the mother and son in Yanxi Palace became even more delicate.

Compared to Yinzhen and Yin'e, who were timid and hesitant in front of their father, Yinzhi was eager to impress Emperor Kangxi. Even though he knew that Consort Hui didn't particularly like him, he understood even more clearly that only by winning over his father could his mother have a better life in the palace.

Children can't hide the ambition in their eyes, and Yinreng saw through Yinsi's mix of hope and disappointment at a glance. He was powerless to do anything about it; after all, when he was young, he had wondered why there were so many younger brothers in the palace, and wished there were fewer. Looking back now, he realized how naive and innocent children are, daring to dream of anything.

The Imperial Study was not just a courtyard or a single room; it was impossible to cram all the princes, young and old, into one room just to teach them.

The Third Prince, Yinzhi, is fifteen years old this year. He has almost finished learning the Four Books and Five Classics. Now he has started to study the origins of his own poems, paintings, and rare copies he has found from who-knows-where with his teachers.

The Fourth Prince, Yinzhen, was a year younger than Yinzhi. He was not enthusiastic about poetry, calligraphy, or painting. Even though he had excellent handwriting, for him, it was just the best way to temper his temper and get rid of his bad temper.

He focused more on classical studies and history. Yinreng had said before that even if the fourth prince's policy essays didn't get him the top score in the imperial examinations, he should at least pass the provincial examinations and become a successful candidate.

These two no longer needed their teacher to instruct them word by word in their studies. When they were studying in the Imperial Study, the teacher would assign the homework, and they knew exactly how to arrange it.

If there's anything you really don't understand, circle it and show it to your teacher, then discuss the right and wrong with them. Afterwards, hand in the required policy essays. If the emperor comes to check them at any time, you just need to be able to answer correctly. If you can't answer, you'll be punished accordingly, and neither of you will escape punishment.

Originally, the Fifth Prince Yinqi should have studied next door with these two, but he was raised in the Empress Dowager's palace from a young age and still couldn't speak Chinese when he entered the Imperial Study at the age of six.

He spoke Manchu haltingly, but his Mongolian was excellent. Coupled with his robust and sturdy appearance, raised by the Empress Dowager, he really did look like a little boy from Mongolia.

The Empress Dowager was the Emperor's legal mother. His Majesty had just ascended the throne when his biological mother, Empress Xiaokangzhang, passed away. The young Emperor and Empress Dowager relied entirely on the Empress Dowager to manage the situation and get through each day.

In matters of state and important affairs, Emperor Kangxi relied heavily on the Empress Dowager, while in his personal life, she primarily played the role of a mother. A child without a mother relied on the Empress Dowager, who had never been favored and had never borne children; such a relationship, if examined closely, was perhaps even closer than that of blood relatives.

The Empress Dowager lived in the Ning Shou Palace, which largely retained Mongolian characteristics in its layout, and she and her maids mostly spoke Mongolian.

Although Emperor Kangxi often went to Ning Shou Palace to pay his respects, he was mostly busy. The Fifth Prince was sent to Ning Shou Palace to relieve the Empress Dowager's boredom, and His Majesty never said a bad word about his upbringing.

Consort Yi never cared whether her eldest son could speak Manchu or Han. Every time she went to Ning Shou Palace to pay her respects to the Empress Dowager, she only devoted herself to serving her. Her attitude made it clear that she had given this son to Ning Shou Palace. She didn't care how he was raised, and the Empress Dowager would have to worry about his future.

The Empress Dowager was naturally worried. Before coming to the Imperial Study, she treated Yinqi like a cat or dog that understood human nature. She liked him very much, but that was all she liked.

When the child went to the Imperial Study, he found that he could not understand the teacher's lectures and felt out of place with his brothers. When he returned to Ning Shou Palace, he cried bitterly. The Empress Dowager cried along with him, saying that she, the old lady, had delayed the child's development.

With the Empress Dowager in such a state, what could the Emperor say? The very next day, he specially selected an editor from the Hanlin Academy to tutor the Fifth Prince. He didn't need to teach him anything else; he just needed to make up for his lack of proficiency in Manchu and Manchu.

Yinqi studied diligently with the compiler, who was a third-ranked scholar, for a year until he could speak and write almost both Manchu and Chinese before he could join the group of princes a few years younger than him to study.

At first, the Empress Dowager was not happy, thinking that Yinqi was only one year younger than the Fourth Prince and could study with his older brothers.

On the contrary, it was Yinqi himself who was unwilling. He was only one year younger than Yinzhen, but he was only one year older than Yinyou.

At that time, Yinzhi had not yet left the Imperial Study. Although Yinreng had the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and a teacher who specifically taught the Crown Prince, he would also go to the Imperial Study to study every now and then.

Yinqi was intimidated by the two older brothers. He preferred to study with Yinyou. Although his younger brother seemed aloof, he would patiently listen to any questions Yinqi asked. Yinqi was not afraid of his poor Manchu and Chinese speaking skills when talking to him.

The same thing happened this time. When Yinyou saw that it was the Crown Prince, he turned around and sat back down when the Crown Prince told him to. When Yinqi saw that Yinyou had sat back down, he followed suit, his attitude even more composed than the teacher's. The scholar sitting on the platform couldn't help but twitch his eye, and couldn't help but sigh inwardly at how good the two princes' attitudes were.

Yinreng casually picked a chair at the back of the room and sat down. It was getting late; class would end in a quarter of an hour. Afterward, the princes' servants would bring over lunch. After eating and resting for a while, they would go to the training ground for their afternoon riding and archery lessons.

Yinreng had just eaten some snacks before leaving Yuqing Palace, so he wasn't hungry and didn't bother to eat anything now. As soon as class ended, he asked He Yuzhu to go to the teacher and get all the boys' recent homework for him to check one by one.

"Ninth Brother, why did the Crown Prince arrive at this hour? He's not leaving even though we're eating. Is he going to the training ground later?"

“Not only has the Crown Prince arrived, but you didn’t hear the commotion next door just now, my eldest brother has also arrived.”

Upon hearing this, Yin'e's face fell immediately. The Tenth Prince Yin'e was only nine years old this year, and had only been studying in the Imperial Study for two years. He was the youngest prince in the Imperial Study.

Hearing that the twelfth and thirteenth princes would be sent to the Imperial Study after the New Year, Yin'e had been eagerly anticipating the arrival of younger princes so that the teachers wouldn't keep an eye on him. Now, instead of his younger brother, the Crown Prince had arrived first.

Haha, Zhu Zi brought the food. The princes, who were as precious as gold and jade, were just like children in later generations. They carelessly pushed the crumpled books and pens on the table aside and ignored them. No matter what, eating was the most important thing.

Yinreng was patient, flipping through the articles and lessons several times. After the younger children had finished eating, he walked from the back to the front and sat down in the teacher's seat.

"Tenth Brother, come here."

"Brother Crown Prince, please don't look at my homework, or it will give me a headache."

Yin'e's mother was Consort Niohuru. Three years ago, Empress Xiaoyi's health had deteriorated, and most of the palace affairs had already been transferred to Consort Niohuru.

Niohuru's elder sister was the late Empress Xiaozhao, Niohuru. She was brought into the palace after her sister's death. Like Consort Tong, who just entered the palace this year, although she was not formally conferred a title, her food, clothing and daily necessities were provided according to the rations of a consort.

Later, after Empress Xiaoyi passed away, Niohuru was directly promoted to Imperial Noble Consort at the end of that year, and put in charge of all affairs of the inner palace. The current Consort Tong is in the same situation. If one day Imperial Noble Consort Niohuru were to fall ill, Consort Tong would certainly be the one to take her place.

This has little to do with whether or not the emperor is favored; ultimately, it's just about the balance and power struggle among the major Manchu families.

Your family has rendered meritorious service in supporting the emperor and is now prosperous and powerful, so the women in your family can have the final say in the harem. Your family's foundation is still shallow, so once they enter the harem, they can only hope to gain favor and give birth to a son or daughter as soon as possible, and rely on seniority and sons to get promoted.

When the year comes, one is promoted one rank. If one wins the Emperor's favor, one is promoted another rank. This can be considered a kind of fair competition in another sense.

Regardless, with Consort Niohuru now in charge of the harem, Prince Yin'e's status naturally rose accordingly. Already young and pampered in every way, even after two years in the Imperial Study, his terrible handwriting alone was enough to give anyone a headache, let alone any indication of his academic performance.

"You know I get a headache just looking at this and you still don't write seriously. Have your 'haha beads' and the injuries on your butt and hands healed yet?"

"The one on my butt is better, but the one on my palm isn't."

When a prince is studying, the teacher can reprimand him but cannot harm the prince's body; the punishment can only be given to the tutor and the boy named Haha Zhuzi.

Most of the companions chosen for the Emperor were members of the imperial family or noble families selected from the Upper Three Banners. A small number were chosen from the Lower Five Banners, and most of them came from the families of the Emperor's mothers and concubines. In other words, they were either from prominent families or related to the Emperor himself.

Yin'e's two companions were both from the Niohuru family. As a member of the Niohuru family, Yin'e had sent two daughters to the palace in succession. After so many years, he finally got a prince. It would be an understatement to say that he wanted to hold him in his hands.

The eight- or nine-year-old boy, who was chubby-faced and fearless, carefully explained to his second brother when Yinreng asked him, "If you really want to punish me, then spank me. If you beat my palms raw, I'll miss my meals, and it's not worth it if I go hungry."