Chapter 12, Chapter Twelve: The Tenth Master's Lazy Order of Order...

Yin'e loosened his grip on the nine-linked rings with his left hand, and the jade rings fell to the ground, hitting the flawless white ivory mat with a clear, crisp sound.

Yin Yu... the nineteenth prince Yin Yu, who was only one month younger than him, and hadn't even turned one year old yet, had he only lived a short life in this world and died in the middle of summer?

Sitting on the mat, Yin'e was still in a daze, unable to react. However, the Consort, who had also heard the report, quickly calmed down after her initial surprise and responded to the matter of Yin Yu's premature death in a calm, organized and methodical manner.

This year marks the fifth year since the Imperial Concubine entered the palace. Although she has not been in the palace for as long as the veterans, this is not the first time she has witnessed the premature death of princes and princesses. She no longer feels the astonishment and fear she felt when she first encountered this kind of tragedy, which is not uncommon in the palace.

Moreover, the nineteenth prince, Yinyu, was a premature baby, not born at full term, and was inherently weak and frail.

It is said that Yin Yu learned to drink medicine before he learned to drink milk. Although he had been taking medicine for half a year and had consumed countless expensive tonics, he was always sickly. He was not only thinner and smaller than other babies of the same age, but he was also frequently sick.

Given Yin Yu's physical condition, it was already difficult for him to recover. The major figures in the palace were well aware of this, so none of them had paid much attention to Yin Yu.

The birth mother of the nineteenth prince, Yinyu, was Consort Guoluo, the elder sister of Consort Yi. However, she entered the palace after Consort Yi, and her rank and favor were far inferior to those of Consort Yi, who was first conferred the title of Consort Yi and later promoted to one of the Four Consorts. At present, she was just a Consort without any rank.

It is said that Consort Guo Luoluo's background is somewhat controversial. She entered the palace as a widow. After Consort Yi entered the palace for the imperial concubine selection in the sixteenth year of Kangxi's reign and won Kangxi's favor, Consort Guo Luoluo, who was living at home as a widow, was summoned to the harem by Kangxi's decree and made a concubine.

Consort Guo Luoluo did not only give birth to Yin Yu, but also gave birth to the sixth princess in the eighteenth year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign. If Yin Yu had not died young and had grown up, Consort Guo Luoluo might have been able to be promoted and escape the awkward status of a concubine without any official title.

Unfortunately, Yin Yu was born with congenital deficiencies, was weak and sickly, and died young.

Of all the concubines in the palace, perhaps only Consort Guoluo was most unable to accept the untimely death of Yinyu. For the concubines in the deep palace, their sons were not only their own children, but also their hope for future favor and wealth.

The Imperial Concubine handled the death of Yin Yu very simply, instructing Luyi to take some tonics to visit Consort Guo Luoluo and offer a perfunctory consolation—given Guo Luoluo's status, the Imperial Concubine had no need to visit her in person.

As for the various matters to be handled after the death of the nineteenth prince, Yinyu, the Imperial Noble Consort Tong was naturally in charge, and there was no need for her to interfere.

It wasn't that Emperor Kangxi didn't care about his son's early death, but rather that he wasn't in the capital. In early June, he set off from the Great Wall at Beigukou to escape the summer heat on the grasslands, and was probably hunting on the meadows at that time.

Consort Guo Luoluo lived in the east wing of the rear courtyard of Yikun Palace. She was only a concubine. Since Consort Yi was made a concubine and moved into Yikun Palace in the seventeenth year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, she had been living in Yikun Palace with Consort Yi.

The Qing palace had strict rules. Only concubines with a rank of Pin or above were qualified to manage the main hall of a palace. Those below the rank of Pin, no matter how favored they were, could only live in the side hall or the east and west wing rooms of the rear courtyard.

Although there were many concubines in Emperor Kangxi's harem, very few had memorial tablets or high ranks; most were unnamed and without official titles. Concubines like Guo Luoluo, who had neither undergone formal investiture nor held any official rank, had long filled the Eastern and Western Six Palaces. She was considered fortunate, at least able to rely on her younger sister, Consort Yi.

Yongshou Palace and Yikun Palace both belong to the Western Six Palaces, and the two palaces are right next to each other. Although it was the height of summer at noon, this errand was not too hard for Lvyi. She could take a shortcut to Yikun Palace in a short while, and she wouldn't be exposed to the sun along the way, at most it would just be a little hot.

Because they lived close by, Consort Niohuru and Consort Yi interacted the most after she entered the palace. The two had always had a good relationship and got along very well.

However, since Consort Yi and Consort Gui became pregnant and gave birth one after the other, they were busy taking care of their children and gradually had less contact with each other. Their visits this year were not as frequent as in the previous years.

After all, pregnancy preservation, childbirth, postpartum care, and baby care will take up most of their energy.

Especially when it comes to taking care of newborns, both Consort Gui and Consort Yi are novices, raising a child for the first time, so they are bound to be flustered and overwhelmed. Consort Yi had a son before, but Yinqi was handed over to the Empress Dowager to raise when he was just a month old, so Consort Yi actually didn't have much experience.

Consort Yi was even busier than Consort Gui. Consort Gui only had to worry about Yin'e, who was a well-behaved child with an adult mind and would cooperate well; but Consort Yi not only had to take care of the hyperactive, crybaby, and unruly Yin Tang, but also had to look after Yin Yu, who was born sickly.

—A concubine not only has no right to hold power in the palace, but also no right to raise a prince. Although Concubine Guoluo was Consort Yi's older sister, they were already concubines, so their status was determined by rank. Nominally, Yinyu was still under Consort Yi's care, and according to the rules, Concubine Guoluo had no right to interfere too much.

Consort Gui appeared indifferent to the death of Yinyu, but after Luyi left, she hugged Yin'e tightly for a long time.

Yin'e knew that the Imperial Concubine was afraid; it was far too easy to lose a child in the Qing Palace.

In fact, Yin'e was somewhat dazed. He had long known that Yin Yu would not live long and had long anticipated his premature death. After the Kangxi Emperor reordered the order of the princes' names, the eleventh prince following him was the biological son of Consort Yi, and of course it could not be Yin Yu, who was born to Consort Guo Luoluo.

But six months... is still too short!

Initially, Yin'e had foreseen that Yin Yu would die young, which made him realize the cruelty of the inner palace.

But when Yinyu really died young, proving to him that surviving and growing up safely in the palace was not an easy thing, Yin'e was still somewhat bewildered.

When asked about Yin Yu's death, Yin E didn't feel particularly sad. He and Yin Yu were complete strangers from beginning to end, brothers in name only, not in reality.

Yin'e did feel a pang of sadness, but it was only because of the imminent death. Even if it wasn't his own brother who died, but just a stranger, he would still sigh and feel melancholy.

In June of the twenty-third year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, the nineteenth prince, Yinyu, died at the age of two.

He is said to be two years old, but that is the nominal age. If we calculate his actual age, starting from the time Yin Yu was born, he has only lived in this world for six months.

Emperor Kangxi ascended the throne as a child. The ranks and status of his concubines in the harem, as well as the system for raising his princes and princesses, were actually established gradually in the later period. There were no clear standards at the beginning.

For example, the generational naming system for Emperor Kangxi's sons, using the character "胤" (Yin), was only finalized a few years ago. In the early days, Emperor Kangxi's sons did not have a fixed generational naming system; they were initially given nicknames, which were quite arbitrary. For example, Consort Rong's son, Saiyinchahun, Yinti's nickname was Baoqing, and Crown Prince Yinreng's nickname was Baocheng.

The generational naming system had just been established, but Kangxi's princes had not yet been ranked. The prematurely deceased Yinyu was ultimately not included in the princely lineage and was buried only as Kangxi's nineteenth son.

Princes like Yin Yu, who died young and left no trace of their lives, will likely only be remembered briefly and coldly in history a century from now. When time buries the traces of the past, no one will remember that there was ever a prince in the palace, and no one will be able to find any trace of his vibrant existence in the dust of history.

Taking a deep breath, Yin'e's expression turned somewhat somber. He couldn't remain indifferent or unconcerned about the untimely death of Yin Yu, the passing of a vibrant life, and the tragic loss of an innocent infant.

Princes and nobles are said to be the offspring of the dragon, the sons and grandsons of the emperor, but only those who survive and grow to adulthood can become the chosen ones of heaven. Conversely, if they die young, they will only leave a few traces in history and will soon be submerged in the ruins of time.

Yinyu was actually quite lucky. He was a prince, and although he died at the age of six months, at least he could leave his name in the history books—the eighth princess born to Consort Tong, whose birth was extremely noble, yet she didn't even have a name, and the only record left in history after her death was that she was the eighth princess!

Unlike princes who were given names shortly after birth, Kangxi's princesses only received their titles upon marriage. Before that, they were simply addressed as "Gege" or "little princess," and their birth mothers would at most give them a nickname in private.

Like the ninth princess, born to Consort De last year and a month older than Yin'e, who was also given to the Empress Dowager for upbringing, she was called Ninth Princess in the palace and did not have a name of her own.

The untimely death of Yinyu did not cause much of a ripple in the palace, but it still had some impact on Yin'e.

Perhaps frightened, the Imperial Concubine took even better care of Yin'e.

As Yin'e grew up, he was very healthy and never had any minor illnesses or pains, so the Consort was no longer as apprehensive as she had been at the beginning.

But the death of Yinyu was like a deafening alarm bell ringing in the ears of the Consort, making her tremble with fear once again, and she was terrified of losing Yin'e.

Faced with the Consort's excessive protection, what could Yin'e do? For the sake of the Consort's health and to ease her worries and anxieties, Yin'e could only cooperate fully with the Consort's overly cautious care, and act even more cute and lively to appease her anxieties.

He thought the impact of Yin Yu's untimely death had ended, but to his surprise, four months later, he thought of Yin Yu again and couldn't help but sigh for him.

October 13th, two days after Yin'e's birthday, is the Manchu people's grandest festival, the Banjin Festival.

After the festival, the head of the Imperial Clan Court submitted a memorial to the Emperor, stating that the Emperor had many sons and it was time to re-rank them, compile a register of names for the princes in the palace, and create the Imperial Genealogy.

Emperor Kangxi's imperial edict in vermilion ink: Granted.

At this point, the princes in the palace were re-ordered by age, from the eldest prince Yinti all the way to the tenth prince Yin'e.

Yin Yu was not included in the order of princes because he died four months earlier.

In just four months, Yin Yu missed the opportunity to be ranked among the princes.