Chapter 122 A Private Chat with Profound Meaning

The Ninth Prince subconsciously felt that the Empress Dowager's move to a new palace was too hasty, but Yin'e thought much more deeply. His brows furrowed slightly as he muttered to himself, "If the Qing Dynasty is to go to war with the Dzungar Khanate, then it will be very necessary to appease and win over the various tribes of the grasslands."

It's not that Yin'e wants to think of Kangxi as heartless, but rather that as an emperor and a political figure, Kangxi's every move sends various messages to the outside world.

The Fifth Prince didn't think too much about it; he was simply genuinely happy for the Empress Dowager.

Although the Cining Palace was more politically significant and should have been the residence of the Empress Dowager, after the Grand Empress Dowager passed away there, the Fifth Prince worried that if the Empress Dowager continued to live there, she would be reminded of painful memories and find it difficult to recover from her grief.

The Empress Dowager came to the capital from Mongolia to strengthen the relationship between the imperial family and the Khorchin Mongols. She was not favored by the late emperor and had no marital affection with him. Although she was the mother of the nation while the late emperor was alive, she did not have a very good life.

After the late emperor's death, the Empress Dowager remained a widow in the Forbidden City, thousands of miles away from her hometown. She had no children, and was only the legal mother of Emperor Kangxi. She moved into the Cining Palace with Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, where she lived with her great-aunt until Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang passed away.

The Empress Dowager and Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang had a very deep relationship. The sudden death of her great-aunt, whom she had relied on for many years, left the Empress Dowager with both a loved one and a support. She was deeply shocked and heartbroken, and fell seriously ill. Even now, she has not fully emerged from the shadow of grief.

In the Fifth Prince's view, it was truly inappropriate for the Empress Dowager to continue living in the Cining Palace, which bore too many traces of Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang. The sooner she moved out, the sooner she could move on from her grief. Moving to the Ningshou Palace was a great thing for the Empress Dowager.

Although the Palace of Tranquil Longevity (Ning Shou Gong) was a newly renovated palace and did not have the same political significance as the Palace of Compassionate Tranquility (Ci Ning Gong), it was more spacious and newer, making it much more livable than the Palace of Compassionate Tranquility. From this perspective, Emperor Kangxi was indeed very filial to his stepmother and was not deliberately making things difficult for her.

More importantly, Cining Palace is closer to the five western palaces, while Ningshou Palace is closer to the five eastern palaces.

For the Empress Dowager, living in Ning Shou Palace was naturally more to her liking than living in Ci Ning Palace—the Fifth Prince, who was raised by the Empress Dowager, was now living in the Gan Dong Si Suo, and it would be more convenient for the Empress Dowager to travel between the two places after moving to Ning Shou Palace.

The Fifth Prince was so happy because if the Empress Dowager moved to Ning Shou Palace, it would be more convenient for him to visit his grandmother and pay his respects to her.

If the Fifth Prince were even bolder and followed Yin'e's example in skipping classes, he could spend a long time in Ning Shou Palace, not only enjoying family time with his grandmother but also taking the opportunity to skip classes and get by for most of the day—a win-win situation.

—The last time Yin'e skipped class and sneaked back to Yongshou Palace to see the Consort, it really broadened the horizons of his classmates in the Imperial Study. It was the first time they had ever seen such fun in the Forbidden City.

Of course, gaining knowledge didn't mean that other princes had the courage to skip classes in the Imperial Study. When Emperor Kangxi wasn't on tour and stayed in the palace, he would come to the Imperial Study almost every day to check on his sons' studies. Not everyone had the guts to act recklessly under Emperor Kangxi's nose.

After glancing at the Fifth Prince, who was grinning foolishly, Yin'e blinked and turned his head to look at the Ninth Prince, just in time to meet the gaze of Yin Tang, who was looking over.

Yin'e: (⊙_⊙)

Yin Tang: (⊙o⊙)

They exchanged a silent glance, and at the same time noticed the subtle emotions swirling in each other's eyes. They pursed their lips in perfect unison, both speechless at the Fifth Prince's naivety and carelessness, and genuinely feeling that it was unfair for Kangxi to torment the Empress Dowager in the dead of winter.

Silently chuckled, seeing the Fifth Prince's expectant face and bright eyes, the Ninth Prince, in order to agree with him, feigned great interest and asked with a smile, "Is Grandmother moving to Ning Shou Palace already? Wasn't it originally agreed that we would move after spring when it gets warmer?"

The Empress Dowager was kind and loving, and a very good person. Although she was only Kangxi's legal mother, she was extremely kind and caring towards the many princes and princesses in the palace.

Before entering the Imperial Study, the Ninth Prince and Yin'e often went to the Cining Palace to pay their respects and play with the Fifth Prince. They received much care from the Empress Dowager in the Cining Palace, so they had a good impression of this kind and amiable Empress Dowager and sincerely respected and admired her as an elder.

It was precisely because of this that Yin'e and the Ninth Prince felt that Kangxi's practice of bringing up the Empress Dowager to put on a show whenever there was any unusual activity in Mongolia was going too far.

The Empress Dowager and the late Emperor were estranged, and having no children, she suffered throughout her life because of her marriage to a man from the capital. Even in her old age, as Empress Dowager, she was still forced to act as a link between the Qing Dynasty and Mongolia, and remains bound by the responsibilities imposed upon her, not knowing when she will be freed from them.

Upon hearing the Ninth Prince's seemingly nonchalant inquiry, the Fifth Prince's expectant smile faded slightly. As his excitement and joy gradually subsided, the feverish heat on his flushed face slowly cooled down.

Scratching his head, the Fifth Prince, having calmed down, also felt that rushing to move the palace now was too hasty. Not only would it be troublesome, but it would also exhaust his maternal grandmother. The Empress Dowager had just recovered from a serious illness, and they couldn't afford to cause any more trouble by making things worse.

Unaware that his ninth and tenth brothers had just bypassed him to chat privately, the Fifth Prince puffed out his chubby face and hesitated for a while before quietly seeking advice from Yin'e and the Ninth Prince: "It's freezing cold today, so wouldn't it be better to move after spring? Should I go and beg Father Khan to change the time for the Empress Dowager's relocation to after spring?"