Chapter 166 Mid-Autumn Festival with a Rift

Upon arriving in Beijing, Kangxi first went to the Ning Shou Palace to pay his respects to the Empress Dowager.

Although Emperor Kangxi and his stepmother, the Empress Dowager, were not formally married, Kangxi had always been filial and respectful to her over the years, whether genuinely or feigning it, and was recognized by the court and the public as a filial son.

The fact that the Empress Dowager was able to live comfortably after the death of Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang was largely due to Emperor Kangxi's filial piety. Regardless of how much affection Kangxi harbored for his stepmother, whom he only became familiar with after ascending the throne, his behavior over the decades was impeccable, truly embodying filial piety and respect.

After visiting the Empress Dowager and receiving her care, and exchanging pleasantries with her, Kangxi then toured the Imperial Study, met his sons who were studying there, and checked their progress.

During his visit to the Imperial Study, Emperor Kangxi paid special attention to the Third Prince, showing him great care and concern, vividly demonstrating to all the princes what a loving father is.

Kangxi, the Prince of the Sea, visited his stepmother, checked on the princes' studies, and then took a stroll through the inner palace.

He first visited the princesses at Qixiang Palace, and then toured the six palaces in the east and west, comforting the concubines in the harem. He did not miss the four consorts, including Consort Niohuru and Consorts Huirong and Yide. He also paid special attention to Consort Zhangjia, who was pregnant, and Consort Chuxiu, and was very happy to serve them.

However, this time Kangxi's impartiality did not take everyone into consideration. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, the "Sea King" Kangxi overlooked a very prominent and important person in both the court and the harem—the Crown Prince.

After returning to Beijing, Emperor Kangxi ignored the Crown Prince, showing none of the affection and longing he had shown the prince before when he returned from his absences from the capital. It seemed he was intentionally neglecting the prince. Clearly, Kangxi still harbored resentment over the prince's behavior during his illness and had not reconciled with him as before.

Since the Second Prince Yinreng was made Crown Prince at the age of two, Emperor Kangxi has taken meticulous care of him and shown him great love over the past fourteen years. He not only regarded him as an important successor, but also poured more than 90% of his fatherly love into the Crown Prince.

Before this, Kangxi had always viewed the Crown Prince from a father's perspective. But after experiencing the Crown Prince's indifference during his serious illness, Kangxi realized for the first time that the Crown Prince had grown up and was no longer the good son who relied on him and obeyed him in everything.

The crown prince is the heir apparent, the rightful successor to the throne.

When Emperor Kangxi was seriously ill, he was already depressed and prone to overthinking. Faced with the Crown Prince's indifference, he couldn't help but wonder whether the Crown Prince's indifference was simply because he didn't care about his illness or his safety, or whether he actually hoped that he would die so that he could inherit the throne and become emperor.

As an emperor who ascended the throne at a young age, Kangxi inevitably harbored a possessive desire for the power he held.

He was in his prime, and although he loved the Crown Prince and had always regarded him as a qualified heir apparent, and was proud of the Crown Prince's excellence as his successor, Kangxi never thought of abdicating the throne to the Crown Prince in his prime.

This stemmed from both his reluctance to relinquish power and Kangxi's belief that the crown prince was too young and unfit to shoulder the heavy responsibility of ruling the country.

After witnessing the Crown Prince's indifference to his illness while he was attending to him, Kangxi realized for the first time with alarm that the Crown Prince had grown fangs and begun to covet his position and power. The Crown Prince had transformed from his closest and most beloved son into a hidden rival.

After Empress Renxiao, of the Hesheli clan, passed away, Emperor Kangxi raised the Crown Prince as both father and mother, spending a great deal of time and effort on him.

Emperor Kangxi's favoritism and attention towards the crown prince had become a habit, and this habit was not so easy to reverse, nor was it so easy to change a habit.

However, after being hurt and becoming more wary, Kangxi's attitude towards the Crown Prince eventually underwent a subtle change, and the first clearly visible rift appeared between the two.

There is a saying that "a broken mirror is hard to mend." Although the father-son relationship between Emperor Kangxi and the Crown Prince was not completely broken, a crack was left on the mirror. No matter how much they tried to mend it, they could not fill the crack or remove the scar without leaving a trace.

The Crown Prince and the Third Prince were sent back to the capital from the front lines by Emperor Kangxi. The Crown Prince was certainly guilty and deserved his fate, but the Third Prince was an absolute scumbag.

The Third Prince was completely implicated by the Crown Prince. He was not at fault; he was just unlucky and became an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire when the city gates caught fire.

Perhaps feeling deeply guilty towards the Third Prince, Emperor Kangxi calculated with his fingers and found that the Third Prince was fifteen years old this year, just turning thirteen, about the same age as the First Prince when he got married. So he waved his hand and betrothed the daughter of the then Commander-in-Chief, Peng Chun, to the Third Prince as his wife, and set the wedding date for next year.

—At present, the Qing Dynasty is at war with the Dzungar Khanate, so it is not advisable to hold a grand wedding. Emperor Kangxi felt guilty towards his third son and naturally did not want to wrong him. He shortened the wedding ceremony and simply postponed the wedding to next year, until the Qing Dynasty and the Dzungar Khanate made peace.

Thanks to the Third Prince, the Fourth Prince, who is a year younger than the Third Prince and not yet of marriageable age, has also set a wedding date and will get married next year together with his brother, the Third Prince.

In fact, Emperor Kangxi had long planned to arrange a marriage for his fourth son and intended for him to marry ahead of schedule. Otherwise, he would not have brought the daughter of his deceased confidant, Fei Yanggu, into the palace to be raised by the Empress Dowager.

If Emperor Kangxi's betrothal of the Third Prince, allowing him to marry early and become qualified to serve in the Six Ministries, was a form of compensation for his anger towards the Third Prince, then his betrothal of the Fourth Prince was entirely a helpless act.

After Empress Xiaoyi passed away, the Fourth Prince's household was left unattended. His birth mother, Consort De, ignored him and was only busy looking after the Fourteenth Prince.

In addition, since Consort Zhangjia lived in a side hall of Yonghe Palace, the Thirteenth Prince also needed the care of Consort De, the principal consort of Yonghe Palace. Consort De took advantage of the situation and used the excuse of being busy with affairs and unable to get away to completely ignore the Fourth Prince.

When Empress Xiaoyi was still alive, Emperor Kangxi had more contact with his fourth son, who was raised by her, and knew that his son was the most stubborn and inflexible. Although the fourth prince now often has a stern face and does not show his emotions, he was extremely stubborn when he was a child, which sometimes gave Emperor Kangxi a lot of headaches.

Consort De made it clear that she didn't want to pay attention to him. No matter how poor or difficult the Fourth Prince's life was without the care of his elders, he would never bow his head and beg for favors from Consort De.

Emperor Kangxi lost both his father and mother in his childhood, lacking paternal and maternal love from a young age. After he came of age, he tried his best to be a good father, firstly to make up for his own childhood, and secondly because he did not want his children to suffer the same misjudgments and hardships he had endured in their childhood.

After Empress Xiaozhao, of the Niohuru clan, passed away in the seventeenth year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, he did not appoint another empress for many years. He was used to being both father and mother in the palace, taking on two responsibilities at once.

The Fourth Prince was stubborn and refused to back down. Emperor Kangxi was unwilling to force him, but he was also worried about having no one to take care of him.

Emperor Kangxi had originally planned to have his fourth son married as soon as possible, so that his wife could manage the household and take care of his daily life after the marriage. Coincidentally, his third son had reached marriageable age, so Emperor Kangxi simply took this opportunity to arrange the fourth son's marriage, so as not to worry about him constantly.

A few days after Emperor Kangxi returned to Beijing, the Mid-Autumn Festival arrived on the fifteenth of August.

On the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, when Emperor Kangxi held a banquet in the Paiyun Hall to celebrate the festival with relatives, nobles, and civil and military officials, he finally gave the Crown Prince a kind look after several days of cold treatment, which can be regarded as giving the Crown Prince a way out in public.

Emperor Kangxi could not afford to ignore the Crown Prince during the Mid-Autumn Festival and openly slap him in the face. Although he realized that the Crown Prince had become his hidden enemy, Kangxi had not yet considered deposing the Crown Prince. Of course, he could not be the one to cause instability in the Crown Prince's position and lead to turmoil in the court.

During the Qing Dynasty, ordinary people had a variety of activities for the Mid-Autumn Festival. They would offer sacrifices to the Rabbit God, build a tower of mooncakes to worship the Moon Goddess, offer nine-section lotus roots that symbolized "peace and safety every festival," and carve patterns on the skin of watermelons to make them "reunion melons."

After worshipping the moon goddess, a few mooncakes used in the ceremony are specially reserved and eaten on New Year's Eve, symbolizing a year of fulfillment, peace, and harmony.

If ordinary people have so many activities to do during the Mid-Autumn Festival, the royal family must have had an even more lively celebration.

They not only worshipped the moon goddess and shared mooncakes like ordinary people, but on the morning of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Emperor Kangxi also hosted a banquet for his officials, and in the evening, he would reunite with his concubines, princes, and princesses in the palace to enjoy the moon and drink wine together.

The 29th year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign was the Year of the Horse, not one of the four zodiac years of the Ox, Dragon, Sheep, or Dog. Therefore, the Kangxi Emperor did not need to personally go to worship the Moon Goddess; he only needed to send a minister to do so on his behalf.

Ministers who went to worship the moon would wear uniform white robes, hold a flawless jade tablet, and prepare three sacrificial animals—a whole cow, a sheep, and a pig—as offerings. They would worship the moon goddess on the altar with music and dance.

If it happens to be one of the four zodiac years—Ox, Dragon, Sheep, or Dog—then Emperor Kangxi must personally go to the Temple of the Moon to offer sacrifices to the moon; no minister can substitute for him.

He was to wear a moon-white court robe, turquoise court beads, and a white jade court belt with a gold square pattern of dragons around his waist, and depart from the Forbidden City at 5:00 PM to go to the Temple of the Moon to worship the moon.

Of course, this year was different. After hosting a banquet for civil and military officials at the Paiyun Hall at noon, Kangxi returned to the inner palace and arranged pavilions and towers in the Imperial Garden for moon viewing. He invited the Empress Dowager, concubines, princes and princesses to come and enjoy the moon and wine, so that the family could reunite on the Mid-Autumn Festival.

At the family banquet, Kangxi's attitude towards the Crown Prince became distant again, a far cry from the intimacy and warmth shown at the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet. Now, in the inner palace, not in front of civil and military officials, and not in a public setting, Kangxi did not show the Crown Prince any respect, clearly indicating that the resentment in his heart had not yet been completely dispelled.

The Crown Prince pursed his lips, his face slightly pale, and his expression somewhat fearful. He looked around the makeshift pavilion in the Imperial Garden and found that he could not find anyone to ask for help, no one to intercede for him with Emperor Kangxi and ease the tense father-son relationship between them.

Empress Xiaozhuang, who loved and valued the Crown Prince, had already passed away. The Empress Dowager was not close to the Crown Prince, and the only grandson she cared for and doted on was the Fifth Prince. Of course, she would not speak up for the Crown Prince.

If Consort Tongjia, who held a position equivalent to Empress Dowager and managed the entire harem, were still alive, she, with her status as the mistress of the harem, would have stepped forward to mediate the strained father-son relationship between Emperor Kangxi and the Crown Prince.

However, Empress Xiaoyi had already passed away, and the highest-ranking concubine in the harem was Consort Niohuru. She lacked both the status and the standing to speak for the Crown Prince, so she remained silent. The concubines below her rank had even less right to interfere in the affairs of Kangxi and the Crown Prince.

Consort Chuxiu, being of a special status, could exchange a few words. But for some reason, she remained silent, sitting quietly in her seat with her right hand resting on her slightly protruding belly.