Chapter 133 Family Meal with Milk Powder

The next morning, after Yin'e and the Ninth Prince went to the Imperial Study, the Fifth Prince gave them a stern scolding and solemnly warned them not to stay up all night anymore, repeatedly reminding them to take care of their health.

Of course, the Fifth Prince knew the Ninth Prince and Yin'e very well. He knew that his two younger brothers were not studying diligently by lamplight or hanging themselves by their hair at night. They were probably playing and laughing together, and lost track of time, so they stayed up late into the night.

Yin'e and the Ninth Prince obediently lowered their heads and admitted their mistakes, offering a long list of apologies and flattering words, almost to the point of patting their chests and making guarantees. This finally dispelled the dissatisfaction of the Fifth and Seventh Princes and put their worries at ease.

Of course, while Yin'e and his companion bowed their heads in apology and sincerely reflected on their mistakes, the Third Prince couldn't help but make a few sarcastic remarks from the side. However, after seeing the Fifth Prince's serious and stern round face, Yin'e and his companion managed to hold back and did not retaliate against the Third Prince's sharp tongue this time.

Having finally managed to smooth things over, in order to calm the Fifth Prince down—the Seventh Prince had always been composed and quite calm—Yin'e quickly changed the subject: "Fifth Brother, Ninth Brother and I want to go and pay our respects to Grandmother this afternoon."

The Ninth Prince and Yin'e had a great understanding of each other. He immediately picked up the conversation, "Fifth Brother, could you ask the eunuch for leave for us? The morning class is over, and we'll go straight back to Ning Shou Palace with you to have lunch at Grandmother Empress's place."

Yin'e and the Ninth Prince certainly had their own ulterior motives. They had just asked for leave from their riding and archery class yesterday, and today they asked for leave a second time. Even if the outer lord was easy to bully, he would not easily agree.

But it would be different if the Fifth Prince helped them ask for leave. First, there was a legitimate reason: to pay their respects to the Empress Dowager. Second, the Fifth Prince had been granted special permission by Emperor Kangxi to be exempt from riding and archery lessons for a period of time, which was recorded in the records of the outer daimyo. If the Fifth Prince did it, the outer daimyo would not report the matter to the Qianqing Palace.

The Fifth Prince was stunned for a moment, then his face lit up with joy. A kind and bright smile appeared on his chubby face, and he couldn't stop laughing: "Good, good, I'll send someone to find Wai Anda right away."

Watching the Fifth Prince happily turn away, Yin'e and the Ninth Prince exchanged a glance, their faces revealing subtle expressions. At the same time, they felt a pang of guilt and apology for deceiving an honest man.

However, they weren't exactly lying, were they? After all, they genuinely intended to go to the Ning Shou Palace to pay their respects to the Empress Dowager, and they also wanted to ask someone how to make milk powder.

...Yeah, it really was just a coincidence.

Because they missed yesterday's lessons, Emperor Kangxi ordered that they should not fall behind in their studies. Today, when the inner attendant who was teaching Yin'e and the Ninth Prince explained the classics, he obviously sped up the pace. He spent the whole morning brainstorming with Yin'e and the Ninth Prince, which only made them suffer.

If it weren't for the fact that it was impossible, and that Nei'an Da was desperate and couldn't catch up with the progress so easily, he would have loved to open a hole in the heads of Yin'e and the Ninth Prince and fill them with knowledge.

The morning classes were only halfway through when the Ninth Prince was so annoyed that he wished he could go back to yesterday and slap himself to wake up: he had a rare day off yesterday, but he didn't know how to cherish it and even felt bored and empty. He must have something wrong with his brain, or maybe he's lost his mind.

After enduring a morning of cultural lessons from 3 a.m. to noon, Yin'e and the Ninth Prince were like dried-up bacon, reduced to lifeless corpses.

Their eyes were glazed over, their expressions blank, perfectly illustrating what it means to be dumbfounded.

The Fifth Prince wasn't much better off than them.

Because of his poor foundation and late enrollment, the ten-year-old Fifth Prince unfortunately started at the same pace as the newly enrolled Yin'e and Ninth Prince, sharing the same inner circle. He was also involved and spent the whole morning brainstorming, and at this moment he was also listless and unable to muster any energy.

Following the unsteady steps of the Fifth Prince, Yin'e and the Ninth Prince's entourage exited the Qianqing Palace through the Rijing Gate, passed through the Jingyun Gate, Yuqing Palace, Fengxian Hall, and then the Huangji Gate, finally seeing the gate of Ningshou Palace in the distance.

The Fifth Prince has been staying at Ning Shou Palace for some time now, and he is very familiar with this route.

Knowing that Yin'e and the Ninth Prince had come to pay their respects, the Empress Dowager smiled from ear to ear, her full face beaming with a kind and gentle smile, exactly like the Fifth Prince when he was happy—indeed, like father, like son; the Fifth Prince's honest and open-minded nature largely came from the Empress Dowager.

After the Empress Dowager passed away, the Fifth Prince went to school and moved to the Princes' Residence a few years later. As the Empress Dowager grew older, she became increasingly lonely, and her life with Su Ma La Gu became more and more desolate.

Some time ago, the Empress Dowager moved from the Cining Palace, where she had lived for more than 20 years, to the Ningshou Palace. She was not used to it. First, she was suddenly in an unfamiliar environment. Second, all of the old things that the Empress Dowager used every day were sealed in the Cining Palace. Suddenly she could not see them and could not remember them by looking at them. She felt a little lost and empty inside.

Fortunately, the Fifth Prince moved in with her and kept her company every day, which greatly improved the Empress Dowager's mood.

Now that Yin'e and the Ninth Prince have come to Ning Shou Palace to pay their respects, the Empress Dowager is very welcoming and overjoyed.

The Empress Dowager, having married into the capital from the Khorchin Mongols, had never given birth to any children of her own and had long regarded the descendants of her great-aunt, Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, as her own. She cherished the company of her children and grandchildren, especially after the passing of Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, when she needed this companionship even more.

From this perspective, Emperor Kangxi's renovation of Ning Shou Palace and his decision to have the Empress Dowager move there was not just a pointless undertaking, but a genuine consideration for the elderly lady.

The Empress Dowager is getting old and her energy is waning. If she continues to live in Cining Palace, seeing all the traces left by Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang in the palace, she will probably miss the Grand Empress Dowager day and night.

If a person overthinks, worries, or grieves too much, their spirit will not be able to withstand it, and their body will become increasingly withered and weak from the daily mental exhaustion.

The lunch at Ning Shou Palace was extremely lavish, a world apart from the daily meals sent to the Imperial Study by the Imperial Household Department. Even the private meals prepared by Yin'e and the Ninth Prince could not compare to the food at Ning Shou Palace.

The Empress Dowager enjoyed lively gatherings, so there weren't many formalities for lunch; everyone simply sat around a round table and ate together. Besides the Empress Dowager, the Fifth Prince, Yin'e, and the Ninth Prince, those dining together included Sumalagu, the Ninth Princess who was raised by the Empress Dowager, and Feiyanggu's daughter, who had been sent to the palace by the Ulanara clan for upbringing.

The Ninth Princess was born to Consort De in the 22nd year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign. She was one month younger than the Ninth Prince and half a month older than Yin'e, and they were born in the same year.

However, Emperor Kangxi did not pay much attention to the princesses. Apart from the princesses who had already married and been granted the title of princess, the princesses who were still in the palace but were not old enough to be ranked were not assigned by birth order. They were all called according to their birth order.

For example, the ninth princess was called Ninth Princess by the palace servants of Ning Shou Palace.

Yin'e did not know the name of the Ninth Princess, and it was very likely that she did not have a name—aside from the title of princess, Emperor Kangxi did not have the habit of naming his princesses. Perhaps the Empress Dowager would give the Ninth Princess a nice name in private, but that was a private matter between the women of the boudoir, and even her own brother could not inquire about it.

Feiyanggu's daughter, Ulanara, had been sent to the palace for some time. It was said that she was raised by the Empress Dowager, but in reality, the Empress Dowager was merely using the title to add a halo to her.

Normally, it was Sumalagu and the nannies who served the Empress Dowager who raised Ulanara. Just by looking at the Fifth Prince, one can tell that the Empress Dowager was magnanimous and kind, a gentle and amiable elder. She doted on her grandchildren and was unable to discipline them strictly.

Ulanara's maiden name was not to be known to the princes. Yin'e only knew that she was ten years old this year (ten years old in the traditional Chinese age system, nine years old in the actual age system), and was the designated fourth wife, and his and Ninth Prince's future fourth sister-in-law.

After Empress Xiaoyi passed away, the Fourth Prince had no one to take care of his daily life.

Emperor Kangxi was thinking of arranging a wife for his fourth son, but he also remembered his friendship with his confidant Fei Yanggu. Fei Yanggu had died young and left behind only a daughter, so he brought Ulanara into the palace. One reason was that he wanted to raise her well so that she could become a royal daughter-in-law, and the other was to support the orphan of his confidant.

Since Ulanara was only the designated fourth prince's wife and had not yet been formally married to the fourth prince, her status was somewhat awkward in front of her future brother-in-law. Therefore, the Empress Dowager only allowed them to exchange simple greetings, which was considered enough for them to get to know each other.

After lunch, Yin'e, the Ninth Prince, and the Fifth Prince chatted with the Empress Dowager for a while and took a walk to digest their food. The Empress Dowager, who was not feeling well, began to feel sleepy and went to take a nap with the Ninth Princess and Ulanara Clan, along with Sumalagu.

Yin'e and the Ninth Prince exchanged a glance. Instead of saying they were going back to the West Third Palace for a midday rest, Yin'e smiled slyly, their eyes darting around as they exchanged a knowing look.

What are you going to do?

Just as Yin'e and the Ninth Prince were about to search for palace maids of Mongol origin in Ning Shou Palace, the Fifth Prince, tilting his head slightly, suspiciously called out to them.

Yin'e exchanged another glance with the Ninth Prince. After reaching a consensus, he turned to the Fifth Prince and said honestly with a smile, "The Ninth Prince and I want to make milk powder. We'd like to ask if anyone in Ning Shou Palace knows how to make it."

"Milk powder?" The Fifth Prince opened his mouth wide, repeating it in a daze, his round, pale face showing utter confusion. "What do you want milk powder for? Do you want to make milk cakes or snacks? But the Imperial Kitchen has fresh cow's milk and goat's milk available!"

Raised under the Empress Dowager's care since childhood, the Fifth Prince grew up drinking cow's milk and goat's milk. He never lacked fresh cow's milk and goat's milk, so he never considered processed milk powder, which was not fresh to him.

After a moment of silence, as if he had made a connection to something, the Fifth Prince frowned deeply, his expression turning very displeased: "Has the Imperial Household Department been withholding your allowances?"

"Ninth Brother, you..." The Fifth Prince's lips moved as his gaze fell on the Ninth Prince, but he hesitated and stood there for a long time, his face turning red, but he still couldn't say a word.

Yin'e knew that the Fifth Prince only asked the Ninth Prince not because he was being treated differently, but because Yin'e's mother was a Noble Consort, and even if the Imperial Household Department bullied the princes, they couldn't possibly bully him.

The Ninth Prince, however, is not particularly prominent among the princes. Ling Pu, the chief steward of the Imperial Household Department, is arrogant and domineering because he is the Crown Prince's wet nurse. He might not hesitate to do something disrespectful to the princes.

But what Yin'e didn't know was that the Fifth Prince had an unspoken concern in his heart, namely Consort Yi.

The Fifth Prince was honest and kind, but he wasn't stupid. He clearly saw how Consort Yi treated him, the Ninth Prince, and the Eleventh Prince; he knew everything. Because of this, the Fifth Prince always felt a sense of guilt towards the Ninth Prince and was very tolerant of him.

The Ninth Prince, unaware of the Fifth Prince's thoughts, simply thought he was quite the conjecturer and immediately retorted, "Fifth Brother, you're really something, what are you thinking?"