Chapter 159 Banquet Gifts

As February arrived, Yin'e became increasingly busy. In addition to his studies in the Imperial Study, he also had to find time to continue refining the booklet. He also had many activities to attend and banquets to go to.

February 8th is Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang's birthday. Although Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang has passed away for several years, Emperor Kangxi was raised by her and had a deep affection for her. In recent years, Emperor Kangxi has remembered to pay tribute to Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang on this day every year on February 8th.

This year, Emperor Kangxi remained in the capital, unlike in previous years when he was occasionally away from the capital and could only offer sacrifices to Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang from afar. He held a grand and solemn memorial ceremony in the palace, which was attended by all the officials and nobles of the palace, including Prince Yin'e.

Two days later was the Eighth Prince's birthday. Because it was too close to the ceremony to commemorate Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, the Eighth Prince, who was always good at interpersonal relationships, was very low-key this year. He did not invite his brothers to the banquet at Ganxitou, but sincerely thanked each of his brothers who gave him birthday gifts.

Yin'e didn't really like the Eighth Prince, but he didn't intend to make enemies with him. He just wanted to keep to himself and maintain a distance, so he followed the crowd and gave a gift that was neither bad nor outstanding.

—All the other princes sent birthday gifts to the Eighth Prince, but Yin'e didn't. That wasn't just keeping his distance from the Eighth Prince; it was a direct slap in the face, a declaration that he was ready to break ties with him. Yin'e would never do something so foolish.

February 14th was the eldest prince's birthday, and he held a grand celebration, opening two tables at Gan Dong Tou to invite his brothers to the banquet. He even brought out his two legitimate daughters to greet the princes, so that his nieces could meet their uncles and at least become familiar with them.

Because of the First Prince's actions, all the princes who attended his birthday banquet, including the youngest, the Fourteenth Prince, suffered heavy financial losses.

There was no way around it; they had become elders after all. Since it was the first time meeting his niece, he had to give gifts to the two daughters of the First Prince—although the Fourteenth Prince and the First Prince's eldest daughter were about the same age, their seniority mattered, so he had to give them what was due and fulfill his duty of courtesy.

At the eldest prince's birthday banquet, the most depressed person was undoubtedly the crown prince.

Although the discord between the Crown Prince and the First Prince was almost out in the open, the Crown Prince had no choice but to attend the First Prince's birthday celebration—while they had to maintain the distinction between ruler and subject, they also had to consider the proper etiquette of seniority.

His wallet was bleeding heavily. He had already sent three gifts to Gan Dongtou, which was fine, since the Crown Prince had his wet nurse Ling Pu working hard to undermine the Imperial Household Department to subsidize him. The Crown Prince's family was large and wealthy and he didn't care much about these small sums.

However, halfway through the banquet, when the atmosphere was at its most lively, the arrival of Emperor Kangxi at Gan Dong Tou Suo to personally celebrate the eldest prince's birthday greatly annoyed the crown prince.

The Crown Prince was already furious that the First Prince was competing with him. In addition, Emperor Kangxi, who had always been on his side, suddenly began to favor the First Prince, which seemed to be turning against him. This made the Crown Prince even more upset. He felt resentful and aggrieved. He disliked the First Prince even more and also harbored resentment towards Emperor Kangxi.

—Don't say that only romantic love has possessiveness. In fact, friendship and family love are the same. People are born with the desire to be valued and deeply loved. They hope to become the most important person in someone's heart, always ranked first in that person's heart, and always firmly chosen by that person.

However, the Crown Prince was not upset for long, because the First Prince soon left the capital. He rushed to Mongolia before even congratulating the Third Prince on his birthday on the 19th, to familiarize himself with the route for Princess Chunxi's wedding and make preparations in advance.

Of course, Princess Chunxi was not to be married off immediately; it was just that the eldest prince was appointed by Emperor Kangxi to escort Princess Chunxi to marry into the Khorchin region.

To prevent any unforeseen circumstances from occurring on Princess Chunxi's journey from the capital in March, the First Prince made a trip in advance to familiarize himself with the situation along the way. This way, if any unexpected events occurred on the road, his familiarity with the surrounding environment would allow him to respond appropriately.

February 19th was the Third Prince's birthday. It was probably the comfort from Emperor Kangxi, Consort Rong, and the Third Princess that helped the Third Prince recover. He changed his dejected state on the day of the Awakening of Insects and became flamboyant again on his birthday. He not only hosted a banquet to invite the princes to the Gan Dong Er Suo to celebrate his birthday, but also showed off his literary talent at the banquet.

On the day of the banquet at the Second Palace of Gandong, all the cups, bowls and plates were inscribed with poems and songs, all written by the Third Prince himself and sent to the Imperial Household Department for burning; not only that, the Third Prince also personally drafted the names of the dishes, each one carefully thought out by him.

When the banquet began, the palace servants who served the dishes announced the names of the dishes, such as "Crane Cries in the Marsh", "Birds of Yue Nest on Southern Branches", "Chrysanthemums Picked by the Eastern Fence", "Deer Seen in the Deep Forest", and "Spring Knows Early in the Mountains". The princes, who were holding cups with the Third Prince's handwriting, were so disgusted by the dishes that they could not eat a single bite.

It is unclear whether Emperor Kangxi received prior notice, as he did not come to the Second Prince's residence to celebrate the First Prince's birthday. Instead, he sent Liang Jiugong with a gift.

After attending the Third Prince's birthday banquet, on the way back to the princes' residence, the Ninth Prince, who had given a gift but hadn't eaten his fill at the banquet, was filled with resentment. He strode forward heavily, complaining bitterly, "Is he sick? Tenth Brother, tell me, is Third Brother sick?"

"They've messed up the names of the dishes, using fancy names that you can't even guess what they are just by hearing them. And what's with the cups, bowls, and plates for the banquet instead of patterns? Are we going to a banquet or to admire their calligraphy and paintings?"

Although the Third Prince's calligraphy and painting skills were quite good, his behavior was so irritating that no prince at the banquet could stand it; they were all thoroughly disgusted by him. As a result, when the banquet ended, the dishes on the table were almost brand new, having hardly been touched.

Yin'e did not interrupt the Ninth Prince's complaints, because he also had a lot to complain about. The one thing he couldn't hold back was: "We really have to suffer for giving gifts. I don't want to attend the Third Brother's birthday banquet next year. I'll just pretend to be sick and send the gifts to the Second Gan Dong Palace."

The Third Prince gets a day off on his birthday, but the other princes don't.

The Third Prince claimed that he would not disturb his younger brothers' studies, but during the day he went to the Qianqing Palace to pay his respects to Emperor Kangxi. He also begged Emperor Kangxi for permission to visit Consort Rong at the Zhongcui Palace. He spent his birthday day happily and fulfilling, making the most of his rare holiday.

He scheduled the birthday banquet for the princes in the evening, and in order to "take care" of the princes who were studying in the Imperial Study, he specially set the time for the banquet after the Imperial Study had ended.

The eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth princes who hadn't yet entered school were fine, but the princes who were still studying in the Imperial Study were really unlucky: after a hard day of classes, they still had to rush from the Qianqing Palace to the Gandong Fifth Palace in the dark to celebrate the third prince's birthday.

Not only that, they were also disgusted by the Third Prince's birthday banquet, so much so that they couldn't eat a single hot dish. After the banquet, they had to go home hungry in the dark.

The Fourth Prince, Fifth Prince, and Seventh Prince were alright; they lived in the Fifth Palace in Gandong, so going back was just a matter of lifting a foot.

But Yin'e, the Ninth Prince, and the Eighth Prince lived in the Fifth Palace of Ganxi. The two princes lived on opposite sides of the same diagonal, symmetrical with the Qianqing Palace as the center. They were separated by a distance of 108,000 li. It would take half an hour to walk back. By the time they got back to the Fifth Palace of Ganxi, it was already late at night. They would have to get up at dawn the next day to go to the Imperial Study!

Although the eldest prince felt he had nothing to say to his underage brothers who were not yet in charge of official duties, and couldn't find any topics to discuss, and usually didn't like to talk to the other princes, he knew they weren't that unreliable when it came to getting things done.

On February 14th, the First Prince held his birthday banquet in the afternoon. Moreover, the princes who did not need to study in the Imperial Study could ask for leave from their own tutors. The First Prince himself went to the Imperial Study to get the leave approved for the princes, so they could go directly to the East Gate Office after school at noon.

They were going to the First Prince's birthday banquet, and they could rest for half a day in the afternoon. Although two gifts were given out at the banquet, the atmosphere was lively, and the princes studying in the Imperial Study were happier than distressed.

The four younger ones, who hadn't yet moved to the Prince's Residence to live independently, were still under the care of Emperor Kangxi, with their mothers/foster mothers looking after them. They weren't so concerned about money, and when giving gifts to their nieces who were about the same age as them, they laughed and joked, showing great pride in being a generation older.

Thinking of the birthday gift he was going to give to the Third Prince, the Ninth Prince, whose savings had been drained again and who hadn't even eaten anything at the banquet, was heartbroken. He gritted his teeth and said resentfully, "If I had known that the Third Prince was such an artsy young man, I would have given him a few books of poetry. It would have been cheaper and easier."

The term "artistic youth" was something the Ninth Prince learned from Yin'e, and he felt that the term perfectly described his impression of the Third Prince. He would occasionally use this term to describe the Third Prince when complaining about him.

"We'll send poems next year," Yin'e decided. "Anyway, Third Brother likes these things, so sending him poems will suit his taste perfectly, and he won't have any objections."

After the Third Prince's birthday banquet, all the princes who attended were listless for several days and it took them a long time to recover.

In stark contrast to them was the Third Prince. When he came to the Imperial Study the next day, he was radiant and full of energy, as if he had taken an elixir.

After the Third Prince's birthday, it was February 26th, the Tenth Princess's birthday.

However, since the Tenth Princess lived in Qixiang Palace, the princes who moved to the independent palace were not allowed to freely enter and leave the East and West Six Palaces. Therefore, they could not celebrate the Tenth Princess's birthday in person, nor could they go to Qixiang Palace to celebrate the Tenth Princess's birthday. They could only send someone to deliver a gift to her.

It must be said that most of the princes were very satisfied with this.

Firstly, the princes and princesses do not live together and rarely see each other except during festivals and when paying respects to the Empress Dowager, so it would be a lie to say that they have a deep affection for each other; secondly, the princes have just been harmed by the Third Prince and are still traumatized, so they really do not want to attend a second birthday banquet in the short term.

After sending someone to deliver the congratulatory gift to the Tenth Princess to Qixiang Palace, the Ninth Prince breathed a long sigh of relief, leaned back in his chair with a weary expression, and said with a very weary look in his eyes: "February is finally coming to an end."

February, a long and expensive month, is finally coming to an end. After all this, the Ninth Prince feels that his newly made spring clothes need to be altered to be smaller, otherwise they will look loose and ill-fitting.

He pursed his lips. In February, he had sent out many gifts, which dealt a heavy blow to his savings. The Ninth Prince, whose purse was not rich to begin with, was filled with sorrow and was so distressed that he was about to cry. He was saving money, so why were there so many banquets at this time?

Yin'e glanced at the Ninth Prince silently, and then used only one sentence to completely defeat him: "There is the Emperor's Birthday in March."

Emperor Kangxi's birthday is March 18th, and a grand celebration is held every year to commemorate his birthday.

As Kangxi's sons, they were obliged to present gifts. However, this year, unlike in previous years, their mothers could not deliver the gifts on their behalf. Instead, they had to prepare their own birthday gifts for Wanshou Street and present them to Kangxi in public on the Emperor's birthday. At that time, there would be a designated person to announce the names of the princes, and what each prince had presented would be revealed on the spot.

The Ninth Prince turned deathly pale, collapsed onto the desk with a thud, and was unable to get up again.

Yin'e sighed and patted the Ninth Prince on the back with a similarly miserable expression: "Ninth Brother, cheer up, don't be discouraged. We can learn from Third Brother."