Chapter 156 The Dark Horse Conceals Its Strength

It wasn't yet time for the Imperial Study to end its lessons. Kangxi had told them to go back to their respective "homes," so apart from the Crown Prince and the First Prince, the other princes naturally had to return to the Imperial Study to continue their afternoon riding and archery lessons.

On their way to the training ground side by side, Yin'e and the Ninth Prince were both silent, pondering what the Third Prince had just said.

They all felt a little sad. Although Princess Chunxi was not close to them, she was still their older sister. They would meet during festivals and receive gifts from her every year on their birthdays and New Years.

However, while they felt somewhat uncomfortable, Yin'e and the Ninth Prince were not as sad as the Third Prince, nor as heartbroken for the Third Princess. Ultimately, Yin'e and the Ninth Prince could not truly empathize—they did not have any sisters of their own, with whom they shared a deep and profound bond.

In fact, Consort Niohuru in history gave birth to the eleventh princess in the twenty-fourth year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign.

However, the eleventh princess in history died before she was two years old. The imperial concubine also suffered from health problems due to consecutive childbirths and the pain of losing her daughter. She was bedridden for several years and finally passed away prematurely in the thirty-third year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign.

The arrival of Yin'e caused the loss of the eleventh princess born to the Consort Gui. Now there is an eleventh princess in the palace, but she was originally the twelfth princess in history. She was the twelfth princess born to Consort De in the twenty-fifth year of Kangxi's reign (now the eleventh princess).

Consort Yi also did not give birth to any princesses; instead, she gave birth to three princes: the Fifth Prince, the Ninth Prince, and the Eleventh Prince.

Consort Yi's elder sister, Consort Guo Luoluo, gave birth to the sixth princess in the eighteenth year of Kangxi's reign. From Kangxi's perspective, the sixth princess was the elder sister of the fifth prince and his two brothers, and from Consort Yi's perspective, she was their cousin. Her blood ties with them were deeper than those with the other princesses.

However, Consort Guoluo harbored resentment towards Consort Yi because of the death of her son, the nineteenth prince, Yinyu. When Consort Yi was pregnant with the eleventh prince, she tried to sow discord between Consort Yi and the ninth prince. After Consort Yi saw through her scheme, Consort Guoluo broke with her and was ordered by Emperor Kangxi to move out of Yikun Palace and to another palace.

After the two sisters had a falling out, they had no contact for many years. As a result, the relationship between the Sixth Princess and the three princes born to Consort Yi also became very awkward. They rarely visited each other and there was hardly any sibling affection between them.

After walking for a while, the Ninth Prince suddenly asked in a low voice, "Is Chunxi's wedding date set for March?"

"Hmm." Yin'e responded, "Grandma's idea is to wait until the weather is warmer before setting off, so that Sister Chunxi won't suffer on the way. If we leave the capital in March, the weather will be just right when we arrive at the grasslands. It will be neither too cold nor too hot, giving Sister Chunxi enough time to adapt to the Mongolian environment."

The Ninth Prince fell silent again, and after a long while he whispered, "I hope Sister Chunxi can adapt to the Mongolian environment and get used to the climate on the grasslands."

Most of the princesses and noblewomen who were sent to pacify Mongolia died young. Besides the reasons that they missed their homeland, they were also unable to adapt to the harsh climate of the grasslands, and the medical level in Mongolia was too backward—otherwise, there would be no such thing as a Mongolian doctor.

He glanced at the Ninth Prince, and based on his understanding of the Ninth Prince and the tacit understanding between the two of them, Yin'e immediately knew what the Ninth Prince was thinking. His lips twitched slightly, and his expression suddenly twisted strangely, with a hint of helplessness and melancholy.

Noticing that Yin'e's expression was off, the Ninth Prince immediately leaned over and asked, "Tenth Brother, what are you thinking about? Why does your expression suddenly look so strange?"

Not only did his expression suddenly become strange, but the way he looked at him was also extremely bizarre, with many emotions in his eyes that he couldn't understand.

With a sigh, Yin'e patted the Ninth Prince's shoulder wearily, and solemnly advised, "Ninth Brother, speak less in public in the future. Never let loose in front of unfamiliar people. Remember this saying: 'Don't speak too deeply with someone you don't know well.' Never be sarcastic or hurtful to people you're not close to!"

Ninth Prince: ? What nonsense is this?

Shaking his head, Yin'e remained silent, offering no explanation for his impulsive warning, but instead pulled the Ninth Prince along, quickening their pace towards the training ground for riding and archery lessons.

Yin'e couldn't tell the truth. He couldn't very well tell the Ninth Prince that Princess Chunxi lived much longer than him, while he himself had offended the next emperor and died young because of his sharp tongue and lack of manners (actually, mainly because he was involved with the Eighth Prince's faction).

If he were to tell the truth directly, the Ninth Prince might think he's gone mad.

However, historically, the Ninth Prince did die before Princess Chunxi, and he was much younger when he died.

After Emperor Yongzheng ascended the throne, Princess Chunxi, who was originally a Heshuo Princess, was promoted to Gulun Chunxi Princess. After her husband Borjigit Bandi passed away, Princess Chunxi was able to return to her roots and retire in the capital, where she lived to the age of seventy and passed away in the sixth year of Emperor Qianlong's reign.

As for the Ninth Prince, he was involved in cliques and opposed Yongzheng, and his lack of tact in speaking incurred Yongzheng's wrath. After Yongzheng ascended the throne, he was not only banished to Xining to be stationed there, but also stripped of his title, his yellow sash, and his imperial clan status. He was also given the insulting name "Seshehei".

In the fourth year of Yongzheng's reign, the Ninth Prince, who had already been demoted to a commoner, was imprisoned by Yongzheng. He died in prison in August of the same year, suffering all kinds of torture and torment before his death. He was only forty-three years old. His end was truly tragic, and just thinking about it makes one shudder.

Upon arriving at the training ground, Yin'e and the Ninth Prince went straight to the stables.

After the New Year, Yin'e and his brother grew a year older, and Emperor Kangxi and the scholars in the Imperial Study raised their expectations of them considerably, making their days in the Imperial Study even more unbearable, with even more homework to complete each day.

However, in the eyes of Emperor Kangxi and his advisors, growing a year older was not all bad; there were also good things. For example, at the beginning of the year, Yin'e and the Ninth Prince received two new foals, increasing their number of horses from two to four, each a fine steed chosen from among the best.

Although he had been taking riding and archery lessons for several months and had the opportunity to ride horses almost every day, Yin'e was still very enthusiastic and fond of riding horses. However, he was a little resentful that the riding time was too long. After staying on horseback for a long time, the skin on the inside of his thighs would be chafed and painful, making it difficult for him to walk the next day.

As for having two more fine horses under his name, Yin'e was naturally happy, but he was alone and could only ride one horse at a time, leaving the other three aside, so his happiness was limited.

Moreover, Yin'e is still young, and the best horses assigned to him are at most second-class steeds.

The truly exceptional tribute horses would not be assigned to a prince like Yin'e who had just learned to ride and could barely manage to ride independently. A fine horse's prime only lasts a few years, and it's impossible to let such a poor rider squander it. They would only be able to get their hands on a tribute horse when Yin'e was old enough to ride a horse at full gallop.

After feeding Hongzao and others some zongzi candy, Yin'e leaned against the fence, drooling over a black horse in the neighboring stable.

The black horse in the neighboring stable was tall and strong, with glossy black hair, firm and smooth muscle lines, and flowing mane. Even without running, just standing there proudly with its head slightly raised, it gave people a sense of unruly wildness, and you knew that it was a first-class horse.

The Ninth Prince couldn't understand Yin'e's fondness for fine horses. He was only average at riding and archery, had no talent for it, and wasn't particularly interested in it. Compared to tall, strong horses, the Ninth Prince preferred small mares of moderate size and gentle temperament.

Because mares are generally good-natured, they usually won't kick or deliberately jolt the rider on their back. The riding experience is very good, much better than those powerful but temperamental steeds—at least that's how it was for the Ninth Prince.

The black horse in the stable next door, which looks incredibly wild, belongs to the Fifth Prince; it is registered under his name.

Logically speaking, the Fifth Prince's riding skills were only slightly better than Yin'e's, so such a fine horse, chosen from thousands, would not have been assigned to the Fifth Prince.

However, this black horse was not a tribute horse, nor did it come from the Imperial Household Department. Instead, it was a birthday gift sent from afar by the Khorchin tribe to the Fifth Prince last December.

This black horse was originally the lead horse of a sizable wild horse herd on the grassland. After the herd of wild horses was discovered, the herdsmen of the Khorchin tribe reported it to the authorities. The Khorchin tribe sent many people and spent a lot of effort to capture the most agile and outstanding lead horse in the wild horse herd.

Instead of leaving the lead horse of the wild horse herd in Khorchin, the Khorchin sent it to the capital as a gift for the Fifth Prince.

After Emperor Kangxi assumed personal rule, he consciously weakened the ties between the imperial harem and the Mongols, as Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang and the Empress Dowager both came from the Khorchin Mongol tribe. Although there were several concubines of Mongol origin in Kangxi's harem, none of his princes or princesses had a mother of Mongol descent.

Leaving aside the princesses, among the princes, the one closest to the Mongols was the Fifth Prince. Raised under the Empress Dowager's care from a young age, he naturally bore the mark of the Mongols and was regarded as one of their own. If the Mongols needed to win over the Qing imperial family, the first person they would think of was the Fifth Prince.

In addition to this, another reason was that the Khorchin also wanted to maintain the relationship between the tribe and the Empress Dowager. Winning over the Fifth Prince, whom the Empress Dowager cherished, was a choice that couldn't go wrong.

Although the Empress Dowager was born in the Khorchin tribe and has always longed for her hometown, she has been away from home for decades, and most of her old friends are no longer around. It is hard to say how deep the bond between the Empress Dowager and the Khorchin people are now, or how far she is willing to go for them.

The Khorchin people would certainly not let go of the opportunity to deepen their bond and maintain their relationship with the Empress Dowager.

"If you really like it, Fifth Brother said he would give it to you, so just accept it." Ninth Prince looked at Yin'e, who was practically drooling, speechlessly, his tone full of incomprehension.

Yin'e gazed longingly at the tall, strong black horse with affectionate eyes, and said without turning his head, "A gentleman does not take what others cherish."

The Ninth Prince let out an "uh," raised his hand, and disgustedly wiped his cheek where Fuyun's sideburns had brushed against him. He said with a puzzled tone, "The Fifth Brother didn't like this black horse that much either, did he? He's like me, not interested in riding and archery. He spends most of his time in class just passing the time, unlike you who are so diligent."

At this point, the Ninth Prince suddenly stopped, a hint of ambiguity flashing across his delicate and handsome eyes.

He pursed his lips, quickly moved closer to Yin'e, and asked in a low voice, "Tenth Brother, are you worried that riding this black horse around the training ground will be too conspicuous?"

Yin'e was physically gifted, with talent in wrestling, horseback riding, and archery. In addition, he was willing to study hard and put in a lot of effort in private. His riding and archery skills had already caught up with the Eighth Prince, who was two years older than him.

However, Yin'e never revealed his true skill level and continued to take riding and archery lessons with the Ninth Prince.

If it weren't for the tacit understanding between their instructors, Wai Anda and Yin E, who secretly taught Yin E advanced courses in private, he would have wasted time in riding and archery lessons, dragging down his learning progress for nothing.

Silently shaking his head, Yin'e did not answer the Ninth Prince's question directly, but simply raised his eyes and looked at the Ninth Prince deeply, his almond-shaped eyes seemingly holding a thousand unspoken words.

After a long pause, Yin'e said in a very low voice, "Ninth Brother, just think of me as a coward who worries unnecessarily. In short, I don't want to attract too much attention. It would be best if I performed mediocrely in all aspects."

The Ninth Prince pursed his lips even tighter, gripping Yin'e's hand tightly, feeling resentful for him. Clearly talented and gifted, yet forced to suppress his abilities and pretend to be mediocre—anyone would feel bad in that situation, and the Ninth Prince certainly couldn't bear such humiliation.

"Is it the Crown Prince?" the Ninth Prince mouthed, his phoenix eyes filled with confusion.

Then, the Ninth Prince remembered Yin'e's instructions to him on the way and became even more puzzled. Could it be that they were too conspicuous and would incur the Crown Prince's displeasure?

But wasn't the Crown Prince always arrogant and haughty, looking down on the other princes and looking down on them from his superior position? When did the Crown Prince start to be wary of even junior princes like them?

Yin'e shook his head, denying the Ninth Prince's guess. He opened his mouth, then silently uttered a name: "Suo'etu".