Chapter 169 Double Standards and Feeling Wronged

Being contradicted by the Fourteenth Prince and having his good intentions taken for granted, the Fourth Prince's already stern face became even more expressionless, his face darkening. He glared hatefully at the willful and arrogant Fourteenth Prince and blurted out, "Can't you learn from your Thirteenth Brother?"

“Your thirteenth brother is so well-behaved and obedient. You live with him in Yonghe Palace and are influenced by him every day. How come you haven’t learned even a bit of his good qualities and are still so ignorant?”

Upon hearing the Fourth Prince's words, the Fourteenth Prince immediately flew into a rage. His eyes reddened as he glared at the Fourth Prince, stubbornly tilting his head back to prevent his tears from falling: "I knew you liked the Thirteenth Prince! You like the Thirteenth Prince as your younger brother, then you can go and take care of the Thirteenth Prince. I don't need your help!"

With only a tearful shout, the Fourteenth Prince turned around and threw himself at the Eighth Prince, burying his face in the Eighth Prince's plain white robe. He said in a muffled, defiant voice, "You like the Thirteenth Prince, but I still like the Eighth Prince!"

"Compared to you, Eighth Brother treats me much better. He doesn't scold or yell at me all the time... You don't care if I'm your younger brother, and I don't care if you're my older brother. From now on, don't worry about me. Just take care of your favorite Thirteenth Brother. I have Eighth Brother to take care of me. I don't need you!"

Originally standing with the Fourteenth Prince, the Thirteenth Prince was separated from him because the Fourteenth Prince went to the Eighth Prince to ask for mooncakes. He stood there dumbfounded, his whole body filled with confusion about "who I am, where I am, and what I should do".

The thirteenth prince, bewildered by the wind, was completely innocent. He couldn't understand why the quarrel between the fourth and fourteenth princes had erupted around him, nor could he understand how he had been passively drawn into the conflict when he had simply stood quietly to the side without disturbing anyone.

The Eighth Prince held the Fourteenth Prince's shoulder, looking at the Fourth Prince with a mixture of embarrassment and helplessness. His gentle and refined face showed a hint of pleading, and he said softly, "Fourth Brother, please don't scold the Fourteenth Brother. It was my fault. I shouldn't have disregarded the Fourteenth Brother's health and went along with him."

The Eighth Prince's birth mother, Consort Wei, was known for her beauty. The Eighth Prince, who perfectly inherited Consort Wei's good looks, was also born with delicate features and a beautiful appearance, only slightly inferior to the Crown Prince, who was handsome and outstanding.

He gave a pleading look, and although the Fourth Prince was angry, he couldn't help but soften his expression. However, after hearing the Eighth Prince's words, the Fourth Prince vaguely felt that something was wrong, but upon closer examination, he couldn't quite grasp the strange feeling that had just crossed his mind.

Upon hearing this, the Fourteenth Prince, whose head was buried in the Eighth Prince's clothes, was about to jump up again, but before he could raise his head, the Eighth Prince's hand, which was supporting the Fourteenth Prince's shoulder, moved up and pressed it on the back of his head, rendering the Fourteenth Prince, who was eager to argue with the Fourth Prince that neither he nor the Eighth Prince had done anything wrong, unable to move.

“Fourteenth Brother is stubborn. Fourth Brother, you should talk to him nicely. He will understand your feelings.” The Eighth Prince gently advised the Fourth Prince, whose face was dark. But the Eighth Prince also knew that it was almost impossible for the Fourth Prince to coax the Fourteenth Prince gently.

The Fourth Prince was upright and strict with others, but even more so with himself.

The Fourteenth Prince was the Fourth Prince's younger brother from the same mother, and was naturally considered one of his own by the Fourth Prince. The closer the Fourth Prince was to the Fourteenth Prince, the more he disliked and criticized the unruly Fourteenth Prince, and tried his best to correct the Fourteenth Prince's bad habits.

But the stern, aloof, and upright Fourth Prince, who was known for his fairness and integrity, unfortunately encountered the hot-tempered, self-centered, spoiled, and unruly Fourteenth Prince. The more the Fourteenth Prince was reprimanded, the more impatient and wanting to avoid him became.

The Fourth Prince and the Fourteenth Prince, brothers from the same mother, were like two stubborn donkeys. They were both very headstrong and needed to be coaxed. However, when facing others, they only knew how to confront them head-on and didn't understand how to use gentle methods. When the two of them clashed, they naturally clashed and argued endlessly.

Amidst the lively scene between the Fourth Prince, the Eighth Prince, the Fourteenth Prince, and the innocent Thirteenth Prince who was implicated, Yin'e, who was watching the show from the sidelines, reluctantly ate half of the large mooncake that was given to him, which he didn't like. He rolled his eyes from the cloying sweetness.

Yin'e found the mooncake he bit into to be so sweet it tasted bitter, not tasty at all, so cloying he wanted to drink water to wash away the sweetness. He really couldn't understand how the other princes could eat such a large mooncake; was there something wrong with him, or with the other princes?

The Ninth Prince leaned over, glanced at the white porcelain plate in front of Yin'e, and whispered, "Don't want to eat it? I also think this mooncake is too sweet. You probably don't like it."

Yin'e nodded silently, only eating the remaining half of the mooncake because he really didn't have the courage.

"If you don't want to eat it, then forget it." Ninth Prince whispered to Yin'e, "I'll block it for you. You hide and take the opportunity to throw it into the empty food box. When the family banquet is over, the palace servants will come to clean it up."

Who would know it was Yin'e who lost it? Quite a few people got a share of the big mooncake, and without witnesses, the real "culprit" can't be found. Besides, sharing the big mooncake is just a custom for good luck; there's no need to make a big deal out of it. It's fine as it is.

After a pause, the Ninth Prince glanced at the Fourth Prince and his three companions, who had calmed down and stopped arguing, and said with a smile in the tone of a bystander, "There's no need to hide anymore. The Fourteenth Prince suddenly started making a fuss. His loud voice could be heard even in the pavilion where Father and Grandmother were enjoying the moon."

The Ninth Prince is right; Kangxi and the others in the pavilion in the middle did indeed notice the commotion on the princes' side.

The Fourteenth Prince had a loud and high-pitched voice, which stood out clearly amidst the rustling conversations around him, even though he was a bit far away, allowing Consort De to recognize him immediately.

She sat up abruptly and looked toward the pavilion where the princes were. But because the Fourteenth Prince was too small and short, and with the distance between them and the other princes blocking her view, she couldn't find his small figure, and anxiety immediately filled her eyes.

Kangxi glanced in the direction from which the commotion was coming, and said with a mixture of amusement and exasperation, "These rascals, all they know how to do is cause trouble."

That's what they said, but Kangxi wasn't really angry. He scolded them with a smile, clearly not minding his sons making a ruckus at the Mid-Autumn Festival family reunion dinner.

The Empress Dowager nodded with a smile: "It's good that they're lively. There's nothing wrong with them being playful and mischievous. In fact, being a little naughty makes them healthier. They're not old enough to be mature and steady yet, so they should be cheerful and clever."

The Crown Prince, who remained silent and sat to Kangxi's left, lowered his eyes and a hint of mockery flashed across them.

The Crown Prince originally thought that only Yinti was bold enough to compete with him, but now it seems that the other princes are quite cunning as well.

They were all having a lively time, laughing and joking, but none of them came over to invite him. Were they deliberately leaving him out, or were they trying to sow discord between him and his brothers, implying that he was not on good terms with them and that no one was popular with them?

The Crown Prince was filled with resentment and felt bitter towards the princes gathered in the pavilion on the other side. While he was mocking them for kicking him when he was down, he never thought that he had always placed himself above the other princes and had never participated in any group activities among them.

Leaving aside distant examples, let's take the Mid-Autumn Festival family reunion dinner as an example. Large mooncakes are distributed every year, but in previous years, the Crown Prince would share a mooncake with Emperor Kangxi and wouldn't join the other princes. There were even a few years when the Crown Prince used this as an opportunity to mock the First Prince.

However, the Crown Prince was, after all, the successor whom Kangxi had painstakingly groomed. After only a short while of resentment, he found himself in turmoil and out of balance. In his anxiety and panic, he subconsciously took his anger out on others, made up excuses for himself, and refused to face his own mistakes.

The crown prince was genuinely starting to panic.

Throughout his life, as far as he could remember, Emperor Kangxi had never shown him any coldness. He had always been Kangxi's most beloved son; the extent of his imperial favor was such that the Imperial Household Department provided the Crown Prince with better daily necessities than Kangxi himself used.

Upon learning that Consort Chuxiu was pregnant, the Crown Prince, who was already anxious about the matter, had not yet calmed down when he received an imperial decree from Emperor Kangxi ordering him to rush to the front lines to visit the sick.

The Crown Prince went to the front lines with mixed feelings. The pregnancy of Consort Chuxiu posed a threat to the Crown Prince's biggest supporter, Empress Hesheli, and the Crown Prince was unable to relax, constantly worried about her.

The Crown Prince already harbored some resentment towards Kangxi because of this incident. After rushing to the front line for several days without sleep, the Crown Prince saw that Kangxi did not seem to be seriously ill. He complained even more that Kangxi had made him travel hundreds of miles from the capital to the border for such a trivial matter.

The Crown Prince already harbored resentment, and the lack of sleep from the long journey exacerbated his bad temper. He became somewhat arrogant and overbearing, and lost his composure in front of Emperor Kangxi. This time, Kangxi showed no mercy, angrily rebuking the Crown Prince for his lack of loyalty and filial piety, and banishing him back to the capital after his arduous journey to the front lines.

On the way back to the capital, the Crown Prince was filled with remorse, regret, fear, and worry. For the first time, he worried that he would fall out of favor and lose Emperor Kangxi's affection.

But aside from all that, the Crown Prince, after being reprimanded by Kangxi and sent back to the capital, felt mostly aggrieved. After all, he was still a boy, at an age when emotions are sensitive, and he couldn't be as calm and composed as an adult. He would also get emotional and his rationality would be overwhelmed by his feelings.

The Crown Prince had many grievances. First, he was aggrieved that Consort Chuxiu's pregnancy put him in danger of losing the support of the Hesheli clan. Second, he was aggrieved that Emperor Kangxi had summoned him from the capital to the front line despite having no other reason to do so. Third, he was aggrieved that Emperor Kangxi had reprimanded him so harshly and sent him back to the capital.

The Crown Prince was spoiled by Emperor Kangxi, who was more like a father to him than an imperial father. The deeper the bond, the more aggrieved and sad one felt after a conflict or disagreement, in addition to anger and resentment. This was true for both Kangxi and the Crown Prince.

After Kangxi returned to court in August, the Crown Prince did not apologize or plead guilty to Kangxi. This was not entirely because he was spoiled by Kangxi and became arrogant and unwilling to lower his head, but also because he felt wronged and was stubbornly arguing with Kangxi.

However, when the Crown Prince was filled with grievances, he did not objectively recognize one thing: Kangxi may not have fully considered things from his perspective, which is why there was the Consort Chuxiu Palace and the urgent summons of the Crown Prince to the front line; but correspondingly, didn't the Crown Prince also fail to consider Kangxi's perspective or put himself in Kangxi's shoes?

The eldest brother may not criticize the second brother, but the Crown Prince cannot be too hypocritical. He cannot always think he is right, that he is never wrong, and that everyone else is always at fault.