Chapter 104 One-Tenth Brother Asks for Leave

Yin'e's feelings were indescribably complicated. He kept stealing glances at Kangxi, who sat at the head of the table, with an expression that said, "So this is the kind of father you are."

His expression was so obvious, his thoughts were written all over his face, that Kangxi's hand holding the teacup tightened slightly, and he let out a groan, unsure whether to laugh or be annoyed.

But what could he do? He'd been caught by Kangxi being distracted in class, with no chance to defend himself—the fact was, Yin'e hadn't been concentrating on his studies.

Yin'e could never bring himself to betray the Ninth Prince and drag him down with him.

Forget it, it's bad enough that he's the only one being "taken care of," why make the Ninth Prince suffer the same fate? One of the brothers has to be comfortable; they can't both suffer together.

Although he was targeted by Emperor Kangxi, Yin'e's performance was actually quite good.

This is partly due to the fact that the questions asked by Emperor Kangxi were very simple and straightforward, but considering that this was only Yin'e's first day studying in the Imperial Study, it was already quite good that he could answer some questions—although no one knew that Yin'e's heart was not as young as his appearance.

Yin'e, the Ninth Prince, and the Fifth Prince were too unlearned, having only just begun studying the Four Books and Five Classics, so they had nothing to ask. Soon it was the Seventh Prince and the Eighth Prince's turn.

The Seventh Prince and the Eighth Prince came from similar backgrounds; both were sons of concubines. Because of this, they were both eager to change their current situation through their own efforts and ambition. They shared similar drive and determination to climb the social ladder.

The Seventh Prince was as aloof as the moon, while the Eighth Prince was as gentle as jade; the two were worlds apart in both temperament and conduct.

The Seventh Prince was aloof and polite to people, rarely taking the initiative to interact with others, and spent several years in the Imperial Study alone.

The Eighth Prince, however, was a refined gentleman. From a young age, he always greeted people with a smile and was very kind. He never had any conflicts with any of his brothers, and his relationships with everyone were amicable. He was arguably the most popular prince in the Imperial Study. The eunuchs and maids who had served the Eighth Prince all spoke highly of him and remembered his kindness fondly.

In terms of reputation in the palace, the Eighth Prince far surpassed the Seventh Prince.

But as for Yin'e, he was unwilling to befriend the Eighth Prince; he preferred to be closer to the Seventh Prince.

At least the Seventh Prince is cold on the outside but warm on the inside. His aloofness is just an outward appearance, but once you get to know him, you'll know that the Seventh Prince is a genuine person, and he treats those who are close to him with sincerity.

The Eighth Prince, on the other hand, was outwardly warm but inwardly cold. He appeared gentle and approachable, seemingly friendly with everyone. But how much of his true feelings lay beneath his mask-like smile was truly unfathomable.

The Eighth Prince could get along well with everyone, which meant that everyone was the same to him, and no one was special to him. Dealing with such a person was sometimes not a good thing, because you couldn't see through him and didn't know if he was truly sincere.

In terms of diligence, the Seventh and Eighth Princes were even more diligent than the Fourth Prince, who was upright and pragmatic. Besides their personalities, their diligence was also due to their circumstances, which forced them to strive for improvement.

Emperor Kangxi, who wanted to make up for the lack of his own childhood, was a loving father, but he was also a terrible father who did not treat his children equally.

Even though they were all his sons, in Kangxi's mind, the princes were divided into different ranks based on the status of their birth mothers.

The eldest son, the son of a noble consort, the son of a concubine, the son of a concubine, the son of a concubine, and the son of a concubine of a concubine all received different treatment in the palace. They were clearly treated differently, and the strictness and indifference of the palace rules were evident everywhere.

For example, Yin'e and the Ninth Prince lived close by and played together since childhood, growing up together. They were a rare pair of true childhood sweethearts in the palace.

However, the treatment that Yin'e and the Ninth Prince received since childhood was completely different. To say nothing of the distant past, just look at the rewards bestowed a few days ago on the Golden Festival. The things they received were different, divided into two levels of high and low.

It's the same every year, never changing.

Fortunately, the Ninth Prince was broad-minded and didn't care about these things. Otherwise, the two brothers who grew up side by side would have been treated differently, and he would have been the one who was treated poorly. It would have been hard not to feel uncomfortable and resentful.

The seventh and eighth princes, being sons of concubines, had no choice but to compete for the throne, because Emperor Kangxi was not only a father but also an emperor who held the power of life and death. His every word and action had a great influence and could directly interfere with their fate and lives.

Without their mothers to rely on, they had only one path to take: to win the favor of Emperor Kangxi. They had to gain his approval and praise, because this determined their status in the palace and their future.

However, although both were princes, the Seventh Prince and the Eighth Prince pursued different paths and had different focuses.

The Seventh Prince focused more on archery and horsemanship.

Perhaps because he was born with a leg ailment, the more he had a deficiency, the more he wanted to prove himself. The Seventh Prince put in more effort in riding and archery, and now his riding and archery skills were only slightly inferior to the First Prince, and much better than the Third Prince, Fifth Prince, and Eighth Prince.

As for the Fourth Prince, there's no need to compare him to him in horsemanship and archery. The Fourth Prince's horsemanship is quite good, but his archery skills... well, let's not even mention them. He was born with insufficient arm strength, so the bows and arrows he used were lighter than those of the other princes, making him unsuitable to be a Baturu who could draw a bow with ten strengths.

The Eighth Prince paid more attention to the classics, history, philosophy, and literature, probably because he was indeed quite talented in this area, or perhaps he did so deliberately to consolidate his image as a refined and gentle person.

In any case, the Eighth Prince's studies were better than the Seventh Prince's—if you don't count calligraphy.

Just like the Fourth Prince was born with insufficient arm strength, the Eighth Prince also had his own flaw, which was that he was not good at writing.

Over the years, no matter how hard the Eighth Prince practiced calligraphy, he couldn't improve. He collected countless calligraphy models, but his handwriting was still poor, weak and lacking in style, with characters piled up loosely on the paper.

Emperor Kangxi examined the learning of the Seventh and Eighth Princes, and reprimanded and encouraged them for their respective problems and shortcomings. However, compared with the Third and Fourth Princes, Kangxi had lower expectations for the Seventh and Eighth Princes because they were younger.

After this round of inspections, Yin'e discovered that Kangxi had taken great care of each of his princes. He was fully aware of their academic progress, as if he cared about all his sons and had deep affection for them all, which was why he could do such a thing.

If you ask Yin'e for his opinion, then he's an old sea king.

Emperor Kangxi truly understood the ways of the "playboy," not only towards his concubines and princes, but also towards nobles, officials, and high-ranking nobles. Yin'e has reason to suspect that the Eighth Prince's desire to be agreeable to everyone and cultivate good relationships with all was inherited from Kangxi.

Emperor Kangxi possessed an exceptional memory. He could remember the preferences of anyone he came into contact with and the documents he read, and he would often give targeted rewards based on each person's different temperament.

This naturally made those who received the rewards feel that Kangxi valued them and cared about them. While they might not have been moved to tears of gratitude, they felt a warm glow in their hearts and their goodwill towards Kangxi increased significantly.

Seeing that Kangxi had finished reviewing all the princes' studies and was about to leave the Imperial Study to return to the Qianqing Palace to continue reviewing memorials and handling official business, Yin'e, who needed Kangxi's help, stepped forward and called out to him: "Father, I have a request."

When Yin'e suddenly stood up, Kangxi raised his slender, light eyebrows slightly.

His heart skipped a beat, but his expression remained unchanged.

Kangxi knew that Yin'e had never liked to get close to him.

Unless there was a specific reason, Emperor Kangxi rarely saw Yin'e's people. The same was true for the Ninth Prince. After they grew up, the Consort and Consort Yi felt comfortable letting them act alone in the palace, so they spent their days running around and leaving their footprints all over the palace.

However, the Qianqing Palace was an exception. Yin'e and the Ninth Prince always consciously avoided the Qianqing Palace, never approaching Kangxi unless necessary, not liking to cultivate a relationship with Kangxi, and not showing any interest in him.

After the birth of Yinxiang and Yinzhen, Yin'e and the Ninth Prince were no longer considered youngest sons. However, unlike the older princes, they were pampered and spoiled by their birth mothers from a young age. Unlike their older brothers, they lacked ambition and drive.

Yin'e never visits the Three Treasures Hall without a reason. Conversely, if he suddenly comes up to you, it must be because he has something to ask of Kangxi.

Kangxi narrowed his slender phoenix eyes slightly, stopped walking out, turned around to look at Yin'e, and looked him up and down suspiciously: "What foolish thing have you done now?"

Is he being asked to clean up the mess?

After asking the question subconsciously, Kangxi suddenly felt that the sentence sounded very familiar. It seemed that he often said it when facing his two troublesome sons, Yin'e and the Ninth Prince, and it had become a conditioned reflex.

He pursed his lips, his round cheeks puffed out, and Yin'e looked at Kangxi with a mournful expression, saying in a low voice, "Father, I have not caused any trouble, nor have I acted recklessly. I just have a request to make, and I would like to ask for your permission."

Hearing that Yin'e said he hadn't caused any trouble, Kangxi was slightly relieved and nodded, asking, "What is it?"

Yin'e grinned, instantly concealing his mournful expression: "Father, I'd like to ask you for leave. Can my ninth brother and I finish class early this morning? It's our first day studying in the Imperial Study, and we want to go back to see Mother and put her mind at ease."

It was very difficult for someone in the Imperial Study to request leave.

Even the Fifth Prince, who took the most leave, couldn't just get leave easily. He had to find an excuse like celebrating his brother's birthday to successfully ask for leave. It's just that the Fifth Prince had many brothers, and there was a birthday celebration almost every month, which made it seem like he took leave very frequently.

The Ninth Prince was somewhat bewildered because Yin'e hadn't had time to discuss this matter with him beforehand.

But having spent so much time together, they had developed a tacit understanding. The Ninth Prince immediately nodded vigorously in agreement, saying, "Yes, yes, Father, we would like to ask for leave so we can finish class early this morning and visit Mother."

This was not a big deal, and Kangxi agreed after a little thought, but he still specifically reminded Yin'e and the Ninth Prince not to miss the afternoon's riding and archery class.

"Thank you, Father." Yin'e was overjoyed that his request had been granted. Now that the matter was settled, he did not try to keep Kangxi any longer and said, "Father, take care."

Kangxi: ...

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Author's Note: Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 2023-04-10 23:10:47 and 2023-04-11 13:27:59!

Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Ayin (6 bottles); Chiyu Moli Shang (5 bottles); Feng Qingyun Dan (1 bottle);

Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!