Chapter 140 Chapter 140 "Big, big brother, you, you are...

Several imperial decrees were issued in one day.

It was only after Li Shuyao finished talking with Qingyao that she learned that there were more than four concubines to be enthroned this time.

The emperor also issued an edict to confer the title of Imperial Noble Consort on Consort Tong, the title of Wenpin on Consort Niuhulu, and the title of Pingpin on Consort Hesheli. Most of the regular servants under him were promoted to a higher level.

It also thoroughly regulated the ranking system in the harem, with one empress, one imperial concubine, two noble concubines, four concubines, and six imperial concubines. There was no specific number set for noble ladies, maids-in-waiting, maids-in-waiting, and official girls.

At the same time, the monthly salary and allowance for each level of position, the number of people who should live in the palace and serve, etc. were also adjusted.

Noble Concubine Tong, oh no, now she is Imperial Noble Concubine Tong, Imperial Noble Concubine Tong may have already known the content of the decree.

As soon as the palaces received the imperial edict, they ordered the people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to come and inspect the palaces and all the furnishings, taking away those that were required by the imperial edict and supplying the missing ones.

A few concubines also experienced a chaotic relocation.

For a moment, no one focused on the content of this enthronement.

It took two days before I slowly came to my senses.

But before some people could start to move, several imperial edicts were issued from the Qianqing Palace.

First, he issued an order. Since the wife of Prince Chun was ill and unable to continue raising the little prince, and the Empress Dowager of Shoukang Palace loved the little prince very much, she simply followed the example of Prince Gong and the eldest princess and placed Xiao An'er under the lap of the Empress Dowager. When the wife of Prince Chun was fully recovered, she could visit the palace at any time, or wait until the little prince came of age and got married, and then move back to Prince Chun's mansion.

Before, Xiao An'er was only verbally handed over to the Empress Dowager's care, but this time the imperial decree made it a done deal. No matter how much Prince Chun's wife cried and made a fuss in the mansion, it would be of no avail.

The second decree was related to all the little ones in the palace, and was to rebuild the jade disc.

This is the first time that the jade disc has been revised since the emperor ascended the throne. The main reason is that there were too few little ones in the palace before, and there were only a few of them, so the order of birth and so on was not very important.

But now, the number of princes who can stand in the palace is more than the palm of one hand, and will only increase in the future. If the jade disc is not repaired now, it will be troublesome to name them later.

Once the jade disc was repaired, the little boy Yinzhen from Li Shuyao's family successfully became the newly-minted fifth prince, and Yinqi became the sixth prince.

Going back in time, Yinzhi was the fourth prince and Changsheng was the third prince. In order to unify the names, Changsheng was renamed Yinchu, which means beginning and hope.

The other imperial edicts had nothing to do with the harem. The only one that could be considered related was that the emperor was planning to find a wife for the eldest prince.

As soon as the news came out, Concubine Hui no longer cared about being sad about her position, and devoted herself wholeheartedly to the task of finding a daughter-in-law.

Li Shuyao pinched her fingers and frowned. The eldest prince was only eight or nine years old. Isn't it... too early?

*

Time flies, and three or four years pass in the blink of an eye.

The ceremony of conferring the title of princess went smoothly. No one found fault, and no one came to say anything sour.

Li Shuyao found it a little strange. Concubine Hesheli didn't seem like someone who could control her temper.

Imperial Noble Consort Tong probably knew the doubts in her heart. She raised her hand with a sneer and pointed in a distant direction. "It's not difficult to make her settle down. Just send someone to pass on a message to the Hesheli family."

"Even for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, she wouldn't dare do anything too outrageous in the palace."

Li Shuyao nodded.

…Even though I don’t understand it that well, it’s okay to just nod.

Imperial Noble Consort Tong would never harm her.

Four years later, Yinzhen was already six years old.

The short and round little ball with three heads gradually grew into a young boy with sharp eyebrows, bright eyes, handsome appearance and upright posture. When he was silent, he looked very noble.

Li Shuyao sometimes feels dazed. How could she give birth to such a child?

It must be that the emperor's genes are so strong that Yinzhen has grown up to be what he is today.

But once he opened his mouth, his inner thoughts were revealed to everyone, which made several concubines who were on good terms with Li Shuyao sigh and wish that Yinzhen was a mute.

Of course, this is just a joke.

After his sixth birthday, according to palace rules, Yinzhen had to move to the prince's residence to live on his own.

It was just that the emperor loved Li Shuyao, and Imperial Noble Concubine Tong didn't want Yinzhen to leave the harem, so two months had passed since the birthday banquet, and no one in the court or harem mentioned it.

Finally, it was a minister who belonged to the prince's camp and had some in-law relationship with the Hesheli family outside the palace who spoke up, and Li Shuyao couldn't wait to send Yinzhen to the prince's residence.

Yes, I just can't wait.

She had been living a happy life for so long that she almost forgot that she had come from a book and what the rules of the Qing Dynasty harem were. Otherwise, she would have taken the initiative to pack up and send him to the prince's residence the day after Yinzhen turned six.

Yinzhen didn't know that his mother disliked him so much.

On my first night in the prince's residence, I tossed and turned most of the night and couldn't fall asleep.

As soon as he closed his eyes, two little people seemed to appear in his heart, one crying and missing his mother, and the other smiling and laughing at the crying one. His mother didn't miss him at all. She was probably already happy there and didn't want to leave. And according to his mother's personality, after sending him to the prince's residence, she would probably not remember that she had a son like her within three months.

The more I thought about it, the sadder I became, so I just got up and cried.

Somehow, the crying alarmed An'er and Yinqi who lived next door.

——Both of them were younger than Yinzhen, one was five months younger and the other ten months younger. However, because they had the best relationship with Yinzhen in the palace, even though they were not yet six years old, they did not live in the harem when they heard that their brother was leaving.

The two of them instantly cried and turned into two wet and sticky buns.

They no longer wanted their mother and the imperial mother, they just wanted to follow their brother. Wherever their brother went, they would follow. No one could separate them, not even the richest father/uncle.

All the adults were at their wit's end over the crying of the two little kids and could only look at Li Shuyao helplessly.

Li Shuyao was holding a snack in her mouth. Seeing that all the concubines were looking at her, she slowly swallowed the last bite of the snack before speaking: "Why are you looking at me? Ask the emperor."

Imperial Noble Concubine Tong could not make the decision, so the only person who could order An'er and Yinqi to move to the prince's residence was the emperor.

The concubines suddenly realized what was going on, and the two little kids stopped crying.

They got up from the ground hand in hand, supporting each other and ran towards the Palace of Heavenly Purity. Their small backs looked so pitiful no matter how you looked at them.

Some concubines followed him reluctantly. After they had followed him for a long distance, they suddenly felt something was wrong and looked back... Concubine Ling, Concubine Yi, Concubine An, and Imperial Noble Concubine Tong, none of them had followed him out.

Li Shuyao and Qingyao simply didn't want to see Yinqi and An'er acting like spoiled brats.

Imperial Noble Consort Tong was busy with palace affairs and had no time to follow.

The few concubines who followed him out thought about it and, based on the principle of seeing the Buddha off to the west, followed him all the way to the Qianqing Palace, but were then stopped.

Afterwards, no one knew how the two young princes discussed with the emperor, but that afternoon, each of them carried a small package and went to the prince's residence.

One on the left, one on the right, they surrounded the Fifth Prince's courtyard in the middle, like some kind of guards, staring at the concubines in amazement. After returning, they couldn't help but sigh that the relationship between the young princes was really good, they didn't look like children from the royal family at all...

Let’s get back to the topic.

Yinzhen actually didn't want to cry.

He's already grown up, and in a few years he'll be getting married. It's just the first night he left his mother and moved to the prince's residence. It's not like he hasn't experienced this before in his previous life...

But why is my throat so sore?

He clearly didn't eat any plums during the day.

The courtyard of the prince's residence was not big, and was separated from each other by only a low wall.

It was night again, and everything was silent.

So even though Yinzhen tried his best to hold back his tears, An'er and Yinqi in the courtyards on both sides still heard it.

Now there was no need to sleep. He threw off the quilt and ran out without even putting on his clothes.

When they ran to the gate of Yinzhen's courtyard, they were caught up by their respective maids. They were dragged back to their respective rooms and asked to put on their clothes without saying a word. The maids then sent the two little princes to the courtyard of the fifth prince, leaving one person to guard it while the other went back to sleep, planning to come back to replace them in the second half of the night.

The wooden door was pushed open with a creaky sound.

Yinzhen, who was sitting on the bed, seemed to be aware of something and quickly wiped away his tears with his sleeve. He looked towards the door and asked, "Is it An'er and Yinqi?"

His voice was still a little hoarse.

The two little rascals outside instantly quickened their pace and ran towards Yinzhen's bed.

Yinqi's voice sounded very sweet: "Yes, yes, brother, I'm here to accompany you."

An'er's voice sounded softer: "It's me, brother. I'm here too."

Even though the two of them were in a dim room, it was as if it were daytime. There was no need for anyone to light candles. Hand in hand, they walked around the tables and chairs, around the cabinets, around the screen, and found the back of Yinzhen's bed. They sat up with their buttocks raised, and with a few random tugs with their hands, they pulled off the black boots on their feet.

The two of them crawled into the quilt next to Yinzhen.

Yinzhen twisted his body somewhat uncomfortably.

After Yinqi lay down, he pinched his brother's sleeve with his little hand and said, "Brother, lie down quickly and sleep."

An'er also grabbed the hem of his shirt and said, "Brother, you have to go to the study room tomorrow."

After saying that, the two of them worked together to force Yinzhen to lie down between them.

Yinzhen's mind was in a mess, and he had only one thought: if he had known that his two younger brothers would be called here, he would not have cried.

It's still the hottest summer season, and even if there is an ice basin in the house, it won't be much cooler.

His two younger brothers, plus him, all boys, were extremely hot.

After just lying down for a while, sweat appeared on his forehead.

But his younger brothers were completely unaware. They still held onto his arms, just like they did when they were little, and whispered into his ears, "Brother, brother, are you looking forward to going to the study? I heard from my eldest brother that the teachers there are very strict. They make us read a book a hundred and twenty times, recite it a hundred and twenty times, and copy it a hundred and twenty times every day..."

An'er was responsible for drawing the conclusion: "How tragic."

Yinqi added, "Then in the afternoon, we practice Buku, horseback riding, and archery. Sometimes, when Khan Ama is in the mood, he will bring ministers from the previous dynasty to inspect and test us. My eldest brother said that when he was little, he was often scolded and cried."

An'er clenched his fists: "How strict."

Yinqi: "And my brother, the Crown Prince, I mentioned it before..."

An'er: "Hey, when did Prince Brother say that? Why don't I remember?"

Yinqi: "We talked about it last time when we went to pay our respects to the Imperial Noble Mother. An'er, how come you are so stupid that you can't even remember it?"

An Er pondered for a while, "No, it's not that I'm stupid, I didn't go to the greetings at all, I wasn't there."

"Eh, is that so?"

"That's what happened. Then the next day I asked you what the brothers had said. You told me a lot and said you had finished. But it turns out you hadn't finished at all. You are the one with the stupid brain."

"I'm not stupid!"

"You're stupid, you're stupid, even dumber than me!"

Lying between his two brothers who were quarreling with each other, Yinzhen's pretty little face was full of helplessness.

He found that what his mother said was very true: people cannot even empathize with their past selves.

...Isn’t it good to sleep? Why do you have to think about your mother until you cry?

Now, the two duck-like younger brothers have been called here. No one can sleep until they finish their quarrel!

Yinzhen was just thinking quietly when his two younger brothers suddenly released his arms on both sides.

They seemed to have completely forgotten what time it was. Their voices grew louder and louder, and they gradually stopped lying on Yinzhen's arms and sat up, starting to argue with each other through Yinzhen with their hands.

"Okay, stop arguing!"

Yinzhen was indeed worthy of being an elder brother. At his command, Yinqi and An'er immediately shut up.

There was only darkness between them, and they killed each other with their eyes... killing each other in solitude.

Apart from a vague round head shape, it is impossible to see the expression of the younger brother/older brother opposite.

At this time, Yinzhen was still trying to mediate: "Don't you have to go to the study tomorrow? Go to sleep quickly. When you wake up, you two can quarrel as you like."

Yinqi and An'er thought about it and felt that what their brother said made sense, so they lay down together again, still clinging tightly to Yinzhen's arm.

Yinzhen couldn't stand the heat anymore, so he sat up suddenly and stepped over An'er's body. However, he was afraid of crushing An'er's hands, so he could only squat on the footstool beside the bed to put on his shoes.

Immediately, amid the shouts of "Brother, where are you going" from his two younger brothers, he ran quickly to the courtyard belonging to the eldest prince not far away.

The eldest prince had not gone to bed yet, and the candlelight in the room was flickering. He heard the noise outside the door and guessed that it might be one of the younger brothers who had just arrived, so he quickly opened the door.

"Yinzhen?" The eldest prince was a little surprised. He thought it would be the younger Yinqi.

The eldest brother bent down, looked directly into his younger brother's round black eyes, and asked him, "You weren't sleeping, so why did you think of me here?"

Yinzhen was still holding back some anger, and with a stern face, he walked around the eldest prince's room a few times, his eyes darting around as if he was looking for something.

After searching for a while and failing to find what he wanted, he turned around and asked the eldest brother, "Brother, aren't you going to take your tranquilizer today?"

The eldest prince was stunned and said nothing.

Yinzhen continued angrily, "An'er and Yinqi won't sleep well. They chirp endlessly like a thousand ducks, disturbing my sleep. That's why I came to ask my eldest brother for a bowl of tranquilizer..."

Before he could finish his words, the eldest brother interrupted him with some urgency, "No."

"I haven't drunk that stuff in years."

"Yinzhen, listen to your eldest brother. From now on, if you have trouble sleeping, you can call the imperial physician to check your body. You can use acupuncture, diet therapy, or any other treatment method. But you must never let the imperial physician prescribe tranquilizing soup for you, understand?" Yinzhen's words touched the eldest prince's heart, and his usually calm and composed face was now tinged with a hint of anxiety.

The two big hands also tightly clasped Yinzhen's two thin arms, as if he would not let him go unless he agreed.

Yinzhen only felt as if something like thunder had exploded in his head.

He was not just a child. Having experienced two lives, it only took him a blink of an eye to keenly perceive the hidden meaning in the eldest prince's words.

The hair on his body instantly stood up, and his voice trembled: "Big, big brother, you, you mean..."