Chapter 56 Almost No Crown Prince: If it weren't for the room full of princes, Yu Lang would have burst out laughing. But looking at that scoundrel Yin'e…

If it weren't for the fact that the room was full of princes, Yu Lang would have really been able to burst out laughing. But looking at that rascal Yin E, he couldn't help but turn his head away and refuse to look.

Standing next to Yin'e, the Ninth Prince Yin'tang couldn't help but lift his leg and step on Yin'e's foot. He originally wanted to remind him not to say such nonsense in front of the Crown Prince, or he would be punished and have nowhere to complain.

The Crown Prince isn't a teacher, so if you use this trick on him, when he gets beaten, Father Emperor will still say it was the Crown Prince who did a good job. Who knew that Yin'e was such a muddle-headed and stubborn guy, he cried out "Ouch!" when he was stepped on.

"Ninth Brother, why are you stepping on me?"

"Who stepped on you? I just lost my balance."

Yinzhen rolled his eyes in exasperation at Yin'e. The two were brothers born in the same year. Yinzhen's mother, Consort Yi, was currently enjoying great popularity, being the most beautiful and favored concubine in the harem in recent years. Yin'e, on the other hand, had the support of the Noble Consort and the Niohuru family, both of whom were extremely powerful and influential concubines in the harem.

These two princes, born in the palace, naturally grew up together and played together from a young age, becoming even closer than their own brothers, the Ninth Prince and Yinqi.

"Why are you stepping on him? Do you think your grades are any better?"

Since his father, the Emperor, had given the order to discipline his younger brothers, Yinreng, whether he liked it or not, had no intention of doing anything careless. He reviewed the studies of all the princes, from the fifth to the tenth. To be honest, not a single one of them was satisfactory.

Yinreng pulled out Yintang's essay. If Yin'e's homework was a complete charade, then Yintang was just trying to fool himself by being clever with the teacher. He either couldn't understand it or was too lazy to think. He would ramble on and on about a single explanation, and probably didn't put his mind to it for more than a quarter of an hour that morning.

"Have you finished eating?"

"Finished eating?" "No."

Yinreng looked up at the two boys, then at Yinsi, who was sitting still but whose eyes were fixed on them. "Let it be whether you've finished eating or not. You won't go hungry if you skip a meal. Stand facing the wall and memorize everything the teacher taught you today."

"Second brother, you still can't memorize it. You can't even read it smoothly."

Even dogs dislike seven- or eight-year-olds, and Yin'e and Yin'tang are still at that level. They know that the Crown Prince is different from their other brothers, but that's all they know. To expect them to fear Yinreng like they fear Kangxi is unrealistic; Yinreng isn't that important.

Seeing the two unruly boys acting like scoundrels in front of him, Yinreng couldn't help but click his tongue in astonishment. If it were his third or fourth sons, they would never dare to do such a thing, even if they were beaten to death.

Yinzhi and Yinzhen were a few years older. At that time, Yinzhi and Yinreng often stayed in the Imperial Study. During those years, Yinreng and Kangxi had a deep father-son relationship. He would scold the third and fourth princes like grandsons for their studies, and neither of them dared to utter a word.

When the Emperor finds out, he will praise Yinreng for being a particularly good older brother. One of the paperweights that Yinreng still uses in his study is the reward he received for scolding the fourth prince back then.

“Your Highness, the teacher taught new texts today, and it’s understandable that Yinzhen and Yin'e might not be able to memorize them all at once. Why don’t you keep an eye on them for me?”

Yinreng's face was extremely ugly. Realizing that he had said the wrong thing and really angered Yin'e, he knew to hide behind Yintang again. Yintang also wanted to hide, but since he was the older brother, he stood still no matter how scared he was.

It was only when Yinzhi noticed the commotion that he got up and took over his two younger brothers' homework, thus relieving Yinreng from his predicament. He was genuinely afraid that if he were to be angered by that brat Yin'e again, the Qing Dynasty would be without a crown prince.

The two youngest were dragged to the corner by Yinzhi to recite their lessons. Yinreng exhaled a few deep breaths and straightened his chest before he felt his mind clear up a bit.

Yu Lang, standing to the side, frowned. He no longer found it funny. He was thinking that if his son behaved like that, his grandmother would probably beat him to death.

"Yinyou, come here."

"The Crown Prince?"

After catching his breath, Yinreng took out the article written by Yinyou and called him over. Yinyou was twelve years old this year. At twelve, the child was starting to grow taller, and even his eyebrows and eyes seemed to change every day. He had shed his childish immaturity and could vaguely see the toughness and handsomeness of a young man.

"Call me Second Brother."

"...Second Brother".

Yinyou was born with a leg ailment; his left leg was thinner than his right. This was not uncommon at the time, but it was still a taboo in the royal family, as it could easily be interpreted as a warning from heaven that it was displeased with the emperor.

Even Yinreng remembered that day. It was late July and still a bit hot. He had just finished his riding and archery class and returned to the Qianqing Palace. He was being carried by Liang Jiugong to the courtyard behind the Qianqing Palace to look at the fish in the large water tank.

Just as he was engrossed in watching, he heard the hurried footsteps of a eunuch entering. Liang Jiugong first reprimanded him, but the young eunuch quickly leaned close and whispered something in Liang Jiugong's ear, and Liang Jiugong's expression immediately changed.

The person who carried Yinreng to watch the fish had changed; Liang Jiugong replaced the young eunuch and entered the East Warm Pavilion. Yinreng didn't know what had happened that day, but he felt that the servants in the Qianqing Palace were even more careful with their breathing than usual, and his father didn't come out of the East Warm Pavilion.

It wasn't until the next morning, when Emperor Kangxi named his newborn seventh prince You, that the palace and its inhabitants learned that Consort Daijia had given birth to a prince with a leg ailment.

When the news reached the ears of the crowd, some felt sympathy, some were surprised, and even those who had been holding back, eager to see the joke, all fell silent.

The character "佑" (yòu) means protection or divine blessing. To name one's newborn son, whose survival was uncertain, with such a name reveals Emperor Kangxi's deep love and concern as a father.

I don't expect him to be outstanding when he grows up. I just hope that God will bless this child so that he can grow up peacefully, smoothly, and without illness or disaster throughout his life.

Yinreng understood this sentiment, as did Consort Daijia. It is said that when the name was sent to the side hall of Chuxiu Palace, Consort Daijia, who had just given birth and was still unable to get out of bed, insisted on being helped off the bed by a palace maid and kowtowed three times in the direction of Qianqing Palace before she would stop.

However, life in the palace is always about flattering the powerful and belittling the weak. After giving birth to Yinyou, Daijia's green headband was never sent to Kangxi by the eunuchs again. This year, Yinyou is twelve years old, and Daijia is still living in the side hall of Chuxiu Palace, receiving the allowance of a concubine.

All of this was conveying the same message to the people in the Forbidden City: Consort Daijia would never again receive the Emperor's favor, and the Seventh Prince, Yinyou, was likely to have his future ruined due to his leg ailment.

A concubine without imperial favor and a prince with no future—even though Daijia's father was the treasurer of the Imperial Household Department and could occasionally send some subsidies and money to his daughter and grandson through intermediaries, over the years, it can only be said that no one deliberately withheld anything from Daijia and the Seventh Prince; in fact, there was absolutely nothing.

A congenital deficiency made Yinyou particularly prone to illness as a child, requiring medication for 150 out of 300 days a year. While other princes entered the Imperial Study at the age of six, he was almost eight.

Fortunately, the boy was determined and gritted his teeth to catch up on his missed lessons. It is said that sometimes he would cry while memorizing at night and refused to sleep. Consort Dai Jia could not persuade her son and had to stay up all night with him.

Emperor Kangxi had already shown him favor and hadn't allowed him to move to the Princes' quarters to live alone. But last year, something happened, and the usually taciturn seventh prince, along with his personal eunuch and a jade pendant, went to the Qianqing Palace.

Not a single word of what Yinyou said to his father, the Emperor, was heard. Yinreng had inquired about it with Liang Jiugong out of curiosity, but Liang Jiugong, who always favored Yinreng the most, only shook his head and said nothing. He only said that the Seventh Prince was a clear-headed person, and that those snobbish servants were all blind and would regret it later.

These words seemed nonsensical, so Yinreng didn't press the matter further. From then on, whenever Yinreng saw his younger brothers, he would subconsciously glance at Yinyou a few more times. When he wasn't paying attention, he wouldn't notice anything, but when he did, he would notice that the seventh prince had a pair of particularly stubborn eyes.

"Second brother, how is my article?"

"Your writing is excellent; you've truly understood the book. You haven't fooled the teacher or yourself."

Yinyou was not a man of many words because, from childhood to adulthood, few of the masters or servants in the palace had ever truly cared for or paid attention to the Seventh Prince.

Children who are sickly from a young age have more time to be alone than children like Yin'e and Yin'tang who wished they could play with the Forbidden City upside down. Loneliness is fertile ground for nurturing the mind; the longer one spends alone, the more one naturally thinks.

The more he thought, the less he spoke. Even though he was happy to be praised by Yinreng, he only lowered his eyes and curved his lips slightly. If Yinreng hadn't been used to scrutinizing him closely, he wouldn't have been able to tell that the boy was happy.

"However, your viewpoint is too lofty and biased. How old are you and how much have you experienced? How can you make such a dogmatic and certain judgment? Be careful not to change your temperament in the future."

Yinreng frowned as he looked at Yinyou. This boy had high aspirations, but he was also constrained by his body. Over time, he would inevitably become stubborn in his thinking. Once he had made up his mind about something, it would be extremely difficult for others to persuade him to change.

It's a good thing for young people to be like new bamboo shoots breaking through the soil, full of vigor and ambition; but if they become too sharp, they will hurt themselves and others. Yinreng wanted to explain this principle to Yinyou, but he himself was still unstoppable in his sharpness.

Judging from his own experience, he knew better than anyone that Yin You wouldn't listen to any of this lecturing right now, so he swallowed back all the words that were on the tip of his tongue. He was just the older brother; he should leave this matter to his father, the Emperor.

"Can you understand what I mean by this?"

"cannot."

Yin You genuinely didn't think he had done anything wrong. He honestly shook his head, showing no sign of unease. Yu Lang was also secretly observing Yin You at this moment, only to feel that this Seventh Prince was indeed quite stubborn.

"If you can't, then forget it. Hold onto that anger in your heart. When you get to the training ground, make sure you catch up in riding and archery. Don't be so sickly anymore, and that uncomfortable feeling in your heart will be gone."

Yinyou wasn't born this way; it's just that his body couldn't keep up with his mind, and over time, he became conflicted. Since that's the case, then he should improve his physical fitness. So what if he suffers? He's probably suffering even more mentally by constantly torturing himself like this.

Yinyou only half understood, but that didn't stop him from nodding in agreement. In the eyes of these young princes, the Crown Prince's words were like half an imperial edict; it didn't matter if they didn't understand, as long as they memorized them.

After reading Yinyou's articles, there were still two left. Knowing his own limitations, Yinqi stepped forward before Yinreng could even summon him and begged for mercy in Mongolian. Yinreng didn't even bother to take another look at Yinqi's articles, and simply told him to speak Mandarin with a stern face.

The Imperial Study was where students learned the Four Books and Five Classics and historical texts. Once outside this room, no matter whether Yinreng spoke Manchu or Mongolian, if he still couldn't get used to speaking and writing in Chinese, he wouldn't need to come to the Imperial Study anymore.

There are so many Han people in the world, and it's a huge joke that Yinqi, as a prince, can't speak Chinese. Yinreng coldly shoved Yinqi's article back into his arms, "I'll give you three days to write this article. If it's still full of typos, I'll take you to the Qing Palace."

"I'll get your father to deal with you!" Yinqi understood the last part of the sentence, even though Yinreng didn't say it aloud. Fortunately, although this boy had been pampered by the Empress Dowager in Ning Shou Palace since childhood, he had always been a kind and honest person. He wasn't angry at all after being scolded by Yinreng, and even obediently switched to Mandarin and stammered a promise to Yinreng that three days would definitely be enough time for him to correct his mistakes.

None of the children in the room were easy to deal with; even Yinzhi, who was standing at the other end of the room, kept turning around to look this way.

Seeing that it was almost time, Yinreng got up and walked out. He stopped next to Yinsi. Yinreng could find no fault with his writing, except that his handwriting was still not very good.

Emperor Kangxi had mentioned this in front of everyone before. Yinzhi blushed when he heard it and immediately took a calligraphy copybook to practice his calligraphy diligently. The copybook was something Yinzhi had specifically asked Yinreng for.

Perhaps everyone has their own shortcomings. Just as Yinreng was truly impatient with teaching children, Yinsi had no choice but to practice calligraphy despite having to do it.

Yinreng couldn't understand what his younger brothers were thinking. Yinsi couldn't understand how well one's handwriting had to be to be considered good; wasn't just enough to get by? There were so many things in the world waiting for him to do, why did he have to be so obsessed with this?

But no matter how much he complained in his heart, he didn't show it on his face. He agreed to whatever Yinreng said, and even took the initiative to suggest that he go to Yuqing Palace again the next day to ask for a calligraphy copybook.

Yu Lang followed behind Yinreng, and as he passed by Yinsi, he couldn't help but glance at the Eighth Prince. He didn't know why, but even though the Eighth Prince looked handsome, gentle, and easy to talk to, he just felt that this person was not easy to get along with, and even more distant than the Seventh Prince, who seemed somewhat aloof and eccentric at first glance.

But it doesn't matter. He's the Emperor's son, and I'm just a guard at Yuqing Palace. I don't think I'll have much of a chance to interact with him in the future. Whether he's easy to get along with or not is none of my business.

While Yu Lang accompanied Yinreng as the child's parent in place of the Emperor, Shen Wanqing comfortably spent two days at the estate outside the city.

On her first day, Shen Wanqing had already arranged everything on her own estate. On the second day, she went to see the banner land under the Zuo Ling. Just as Dai Jia had said, as soon as she stepped into the edge of the banner land, the Hesheli family members in charge of the banner land rushed over.

The Hesheli family has been quite lively lately. The Zuo Ling (a high-ranking official) not only got married but also took up a post in the Yuqing Palace. Everyone under his command felt honored. The more prominent Yulang became, the more they benefited from it—a good thing that others could only dream of.

But before the excitement could even subside, the issue of loan sharking quickly followed. Every bannerman had impoverished members, either because their children or grandchildren were unworthy or because the breadwinner had died on the battlefield. Regardless of the reason, there were always times when their families were so poor that they had to resort to loan sharking.

In fact, in principle, these bannermen could first look for someone within their own banner or clan, either the leader or the leader's wife. Many bannermen would borrow money from the leader of their own banner or clan first, and only if that failed would they borrow from outside.

Then the matter returned to square one. The personnel relationships in the Hesheli family have been too unclear in recent years. The head wife of the East Courtyard, who should be in charge, has gone to live like a Bodhisattva. She has neither power nor money, so it is definitely useless to look for her.

The second wife of the West Courtyard was in charge of the household, but only the small household of Hesheli. Her authority to manage the affairs of the Zuo Ling (military commander) was not legitimate, and conversely, the people of the Zuo Ling had no right to seek her help if they needed it.

Yu Lang was generous, but he was only a few years old a few years ago. It would be embarrassing to ask a fourteen or fifteen-year-old captain for money. Madam Tongjia was still willing to help, but the old lady was getting on in years, and there was an unmarried old maid in the family. After asking once or twice, she was too embarrassed to go a third time.

Since the Zuo Ling (a military officer) hadn't started a family yet and didn't have a legitimate matriarch, the bannermen under him had to find their own way out.

Normally, there wouldn't be much to say about this; such situations weren't uncommon within the Eight Banners. Everyone would just make do for a few years until the banner leaders settled down and started families, and life would get better. But who knew that Shumulu's family would also get involved? Naturally, the bannermen who heard the news were unhappy.

When it was time to fight, every family contributed. Now, not only does your family take the most money from the banner lands, but we are also living a miserable life. Your second wife has so much money that she has nowhere to put it, so she takes it out to lend at exorbitant interest rates. Isn't that the interest we work so hard to earn to repay those loans going into your second wife's pocket?

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Even though he knew in his heart that it had nothing to do with the newly arrived wife of the colonel, he couldn't help but feel angry.

Shen Wanqing had anticipated this situation, which was why she insisted on settling the accounts with Shumulu Shi item by item before taking over. Who knew that He Yi would be so heartless and make things so ugly, and Shumulu Shi would become pregnant at this critical juncture? Now, she wouldn't just be left with this mess.

Shen Wanqing was not surprised by the cold attitude of the steward in charge of the banner area. On the contrary, Dai Jia was a little unhappy. Last night, Shen Wanqing had patiently listened to so many of her complaints. In Dai Jia's heart, Shen Wanqing was one of her own. How could these stewards give Shen Wanqing such a cold shoulder?

Without even looking at the banner land, he pulled Shen Wanqing towards Gongzhong's estate. Gongzhong's estate was even smaller than Hesheli's, and it didn't have the vegetable garden enclosed by a fence at the back.

However, right next to the village was a row of houses used as warehouses, and in front of the houses was a large, flat threshing ground, where people were drying rice.

Seeing no one in charge in the house, Dai Jia's expression softened slightly. Whether he was genuinely busy or just pretending, as long as he wasn't deliberately hiding in the estate, it was fine. If he was deliberately avoiding Shen Wanqing, there would be a lot of back-and-forth between the clan and Yu Lang and Shen Wanqing in the future.