Chapter 119 Empathy: Old Ten's Lazy Idea

The Third Prince's gaze was so obvious that Yin'e immediately understood what he was looking at and what he was trying to discern.

Yin'e was immediately annoyed. He didn't want to be the one who made a fool of himself before he even got to see the Third Prince make a fool of himself.

With a glare, Yin'e snapped, "What are you looking at? It's just copying books as punishment, nothing else. Believe it or not!"

In his excitement, Yin'e's voice was a bit loud, not only causing the other princes who were reading aloud in the school to turn around and look at him with surprised and puzzled eyes, but also waking up the Ninth Prince, who had been drowsy as soon as he entered the study and immediately fell asleep as soon as he sat down.

If the Ninth Prince hadn't fallen asleep as soon as he entered the Imperial Study, the Third Prince wouldn't have had a chance to pat Yin'e on the shoulder and disturb him; the Ninth Prince would have stopped him long ago. After all, Yin'e was copying a book, and if he were startled and his hand trembled, staining the paper, the page he had just copied would be completely ruined, and he certainly couldn't hand it in.

Upon seeing the Third Prince standing beside Yin'e, the Ninth Prince, who was still sleepy and had just been startled awake, snapped back to reality, his beautiful, narrow phoenix eyes immediately widening in surprise.

The Ninth Prince instinctively assumed that the Third Prince had come to cause trouble, so he slammed his hand on the table, stood up, and demanded in an unfriendly tone, "What do you want?"

Third Prince: ...

The Third Prince glanced speechlessly at the Ninth Prince who had suddenly barged in, and, not wanting to pay attention to him, frowned and muttered to himself in disbelief, "Just copying books, and the punishment is so light? Is this an exception or is everyone the same? When did Father become so generous?"

Although he was somewhat skeptical that the only consequence of Yin'e skipping class would be being punished by copying books, the Third Prince couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement: if that was all the punishment was, then skipping class was a perfectly viable option! He had studied in the Imperial Study for so long; what was a little copying of books compared to that?

The Third Prince was preoccupied with his own plans and ignored the Ninth Prince, who was glaring at him angrily. This made the Ninth Prince even angrier. He not only wanted to slam his fist on the table, but also wanted to roll up his sleeves and have a serious argument with the Third Prince to make him give up his plan to cause trouble for Yin'e.

Seeing that the Ninth Prince was about to lose his temper, Yin'e quickly leaned over and grabbed the Ninth Prince's hand, giving him a wink: whether the Third Prince was causing trouble or not was no longer important; what mattered was that Yin'e wanted to see the Third Prince make a fool of himself.

This wasn't planned by Yin'e; the Third Prince stumbled upon it himself.

Although the Ninth Prince did not understand what Yin'e meant from his wink, he and Yin'e had a tacit understanding. He knew from Yin'e's attitude that there was more to the story, so he cleverly shut his mouth and stopped provoking the Third Prince.

Glancing at the barely concealed attraction in the Third Prince's handsome and refined features, Yin'e chuckled inwardly, and casually asked, "Third Brother, what are you planning to do skipping class?"

A twitch appeared on the Third Prince's forehead, and he looked around nervously before stubbornly denying it, "Who said I was going to skip class? I was just curious how Father would punish you... No, I wasn't curious, it was just my older brother's concern for you."

With a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth, Yin'e turned his head and made a vomiting face at the Ninth Prince, then pointed at the Third Prince to indicate that he really couldn't stand the Third Prince's sourness.

It's truly shameless of the Third Prince to say such things. Yin'e felt that the Third Prince's shamelessness was in no way inferior to his own, and in some aspects even surpassed it. At least Yin'e could not so confidently "beautify" his own behavior as the Third Prince.

Seeing Yin'e's little expression as he sat down, the Ninth Prince couldn't help but chuckle to himself. The two exchanged glances and winks, their years of tacit understanding allowing them to communicate with just their eyes and gestures.

Through Yin'e's question to the Third Prince, the Ninth Prince understood why the Third Prince had come to find Yin'e. He knew that the Third Prince had come to "learn from the experience," not to gloat or kick someone when they were down.

After understanding the Third Prince's intentions, the Ninth Prince was only slightly surprised before joining the spectators without hesitation. He, like Yin'e, was waiting to see the Third Prince make a fool of himself and see if he would dare to go all out and violate the rules of the Imperial Study.

Having been distracted by Yin'e's sudden outburst, the Fifth Prince turned to look at the Third Prince standing nearby. Unlike Yin'e and the Ninth Prince, he didn't have as many ulterior motives or wicked tastes, and simply asked earnestly, "Third Brother, what do you want to do?"

The Fifth Prince, raised by the Empress Dowager, was honest and simple. He was not only a good older brother to Yin'e and the Ninth Prince, but also a good younger brother to the Third Prince. He did not antagonize any of the princes and had a good relationship with all of them, able to speak with them on equal footing.

Knowing that the Fifth Prince was an honest boy, the Third Prince hesitated for a moment, but finally decided to tell him frankly and did not intend to hide anything—regardless of whether he eventually mustered the courage to do it or not, there was no need to keep it a secret.

The Third Prince was not afraid of being informed by Yin'e and the Ninth Prince, with whom he had a poor relationship. If he really skipped class, Emperor Kangxi, who would inspect the Imperial Study almost every day, might be the first to discover that someone was missing, even before anyone informed him.

Moreover, compared to Yin'e and the Ninth Prince, who studied in the Imperial Study and had limited freedom of movement, it was clearly more convenient for the tutors in the Imperial Study to go to the Qianqing Palace to report on Kangxi and complain about him.

The Third Prince glanced at Yin'e out of the corner of his eye, then pursed his lips and whispered, "Why does the Tenth Brother skip class? That's why I'm planning to do the same thing as him."

The Third Prince's answer was beyond Yin'e's expectations, but upon closer reflection, it made perfect sense.

Even in the Imperial Study, where scholars vied for supremacy, the Third Prince's diligence and hard work were among the best. He wouldn't skip classes and jeopardize his studies without a reason; there must be a reason behind his intention to do so.

Yin'e was slightly taken aback, and his desire to see the Third Prince make a fool of himself instantly faded.

He skipped class to go to Yongshou Palace to see his mother and reunite with the Imperial Concubine. If the Third Prince had the same goal, it would be to go to Zhongcui Palace to see Consort Rong.

To date, among the princes who have studied in the Imperial Study, those like Yin'e and the Ninth Prince, who were raised by their birth mothers until the age of six, are the exceptions and the ones who broke the rules of the Qing Palace.

When Kangxi didn't have as many sons as he does now, he was very attentive and strict in raising and educating his princes.

Almost all the older princes were taken away from their birth mothers and raised by adoptive mothers according to ancestral rules. They did not have much time to spend with their birth mothers from a young age, nor did they have many opportunities to be close to their mothers.

Empress Renxiao died in childbirth, and the Crown Prince had no mother since childhood. He was raised by Emperor Kangxi himself, so it was impossible to say whether he was close to his birth mother or not.

When the eldest and third princes were born, Emperor Kangxi's sons were dying one after another. In order to raise them, Kangxi simply sent them out of the palace to be raised by ministers until they were six years old and of school age before bringing them back to the palace.

By the time they were six years old, they had only had a handful of interactions with their birth mother. After returning to the palace, the eldest and third princes had even fewer opportunities to be close to their birth mother, as they moved to the Princes' Residence and began studying in the Imperial Study, with only a few days of vacation throughout the year.

The other princes who were ranked higher in the order of birth weren't much better off. The Fifth Prince was sent to the Cining Palace to be raised by the Empress Dowager, and by the age of nine, he could only speak fluent Mongolian. Before Consort Yi learned some Mongolian, the mother and son had to find a translator to communicate.

The Seventh Prince was imprisoned in his childhood and had never seen his birth mother before being chosen by Emperor Kangxi to be adopted out. Later, Emperor Kangxi changed his mind and decided not to adopt the Seventh Prince out, and the Seventh Prince met his birth mother for the first time.

The Eighth Prince was a bit luckier; he was entrusted to Consort Hui for upbringing. Consort Wei, a concubine, lived with Consort Hui in Yanxi Palace. Although the rule was that princes were not allowed to be close to their birth mothers, under Consort Hui's care, the Eighth Prince was able to see his birth mother from afar from time to time during his childhood.

The Fourth Prince was both fortunate and unfortunate. Although he was given to Empress Xiaoyi to raise by Emperor Kangxi right after his birth, unlike the other princes, his true parentage was kept secret until Empress Xiaoyi passed away.

For a long time, the Fourth Prince was unaware of his true parentage. He got along well with his adoptive mother, Empress Xiaoyi, without any barriers between them, and he felt no longing or yearning for his birth mother—at that time, the Fourth Prince had no concept of this; he always believed that Empress Xiaoyi was his mother.

Therefore, although Yin'e always complained that he, Ninth Prince, Yinzhi, and Yintao were unlucky enough to be in the middle of the order of birth, neither being valued by the Kangxi Emperor like the older princes nor enjoying the treatment of youngest sons like Yinxiang and Yinzhen, everything has its blessings and misfortunes, and they actually benefited from it.

Because they were born later in the order of birth, and Emperor Kangxi already had no shortage of sons, he was not as strict with them. The ancestral rules that were applied to the older princes without any discount were not followed to the letter by them.

Letting out a long sigh of relief, Yin'e felt a pang of sympathy for the Third Prince's plight and decided not to watch the spectacle any longer. He kindly whispered a reminder: "Third Brother, although I was only punished by copying books, if you follow suit, I'm afraid the punishment will be much harsher."

After a pause, Yin'e added, "After all, I can say that 'ignorance is no excuse' when I make a mistake, but if you follow me and violate the rules of the Imperial Study, that would be knowingly breaking the rules, and Father will never let you off easily. You'd better be careful not to become the chicken that is killed to scare the monkey."

The Third Prince's expression of excitement faded, and his eyes dimmed.

His facial expressions kept changing, a colorful and fascinating display, clearly showing that he was struggling intensely inside. He wanted to see Consort Rong, but he was also afraid of angering Emperor Kangxi. The Third Prince was ambitious, unlike Yin'e who was indifferent to desires and didn't care about his reputation in Emperor Kangxi's eyes.

The Ninth Prince leaned over, gently bumped Yin'e's shoulder, and muttered, "Ignorance is no excuse. So that's how you got away with it. No wonder Father Khan was so quick to forgive you."

Yin'e: ...No, I didn't.

Yin'e initially wanted to defend himself, to say that he hadn't exonerated himself in this way. But upon further reflection, he realized that the truth was actually quite similar to the saying "ignorance is no excuse."

He acted frankly and honestly in front of Emperor Kangxi, just like a reckless fool who was not afraid of imperial power, a bratty kid who didn't know the meaning of fear.

Emperor Kangxi might be lenient and let it go, perhaps because he thought the man was too foolish and was afraid that a harsh punishment would make him even more foolish.

So what's this, cutie expert?

Pshaw, pshaw, pshaw... He's not stupid!

Looking at the Third Prince, who was still struggling and unable to make a decision immediately, Yin'e kindly offered him a suggestion: "Third Brother, if you want a lighter punishment, then be bold and skip the afternoon's riding and archery class, just don't skip the morning's class."

Yin'e was not unaware that the men in the archery and horsemanship class were easier to bully, but he preferred to be punished more severely rather than skip academic classes.

Anyway, he was like a dead pig that wasn't afraid of boiling water, and he didn't care how Kangxi viewed him. Of course, he would do whatever he wanted, even if it meant lowering his reputation in Kangxi's eyes, he would sacrifice academic studies to save his physical education classes.

Of course, Yin'e knew that he had given a bad idea. In essence, he was still encouraging the Third Prince to violate the rules of the Imperial Study. He just reduced the risk by bullying the more accommodating outer attendant.

But there was nothing he could do; Yin'e couldn't come up with any good ideas either.

After all, the rules of the Imperial Study were set in stone, and there was really no other solution except to break them. All other options had been blocked, and there was simply no way out.

The strict schedule of the Imperial Study restricted the princes' freedom to the greatest extent and deprived them of many rights.

Ultimately, however, the princes' greatest enemy was not the Imperial Study, nor the mandatory 3-7-7 schedule, but the imperial power hidden beneath all of this.

Violating the rules of the Imperial Study is essentially violating imperial power.

Whether the Third Prince adopted Yin'e's idea depended on whether he dared to disobey Emperor Kangxi and whether he dared to risk being scolded by Kangxi by going to Zhongcui Palace.

In the end, the Third Prince did not give a definite answer. Instead, he turned around and walked back to his seat with a gloomy expression and a very unpleasant look.

After sitting there for a moment, the Third Prince seemed to sigh softly, and his hunched back straightened up. He picked up the book on his desk and, like the other princes who were diligently studying in the morning, began to recite it aloud, swaying his head.

Shrugging, Yin'e, who had given up on seeing the Third Prince make a fool of himself, lowered his head again without much disappointment and continued copying.

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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 10:24:24 and 16:55:44 on May 10, 2023!

Thank you to the little angel who watered the nutrient solution: Yanwen (1 bottle);

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