Chapter 205 205 Gift Giving in August

Time flies like an arrow, and nearly a year has passed in the blink of an eye. It is now the thirtieth year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign.

It's another sweltering summer. The sun is blazing, and the temperature keeps rising. The capital city is as hot as an oven. Coupled with the incessant chirping of cicadas in the treetops, it makes people even more irritable and sigh at how unbearable the long summer is.

Now, in the Imperial Study, with the Crown Prince leaving his home and the First Prince officially entering the court after accompanying the Emperor on a campaign against the Dzungars last year, only the Third, Fourth, Fifth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Princes remain, still following the old custom of studying diligently day and night.

...Well, it's still the 377 work-rest schedule that even cattle and horses would spit out.

The eleventh prince celebrated his sixth birthday two months ago. He should have moved to the Imperial Study where the princes were studying, as was customary. However, Consort Yi became pregnant again only a year after giving birth to the ninth prince. The successive births depleted her health, and she did not have a proper pregnancy with the eleventh prince. This resulted in the eleventh prince being born with congenital deficiencies and being weak and sickly.

Emperor Kangxi then issued a special decree that the eleventh prince would be allowed to enroll in school again next spring, along with the twelfth prince, who was being raised by Su Ma La Gu.

The twelfth prince was born in the twelfth lunar month, half a year younger than the eleventh prince, and would not turn six for another six months.

Emperor Kangxi thought that instead of having the twelfth prince move from the Ning Shou Palace to the Princes' Residence in the dead of winter, it would be better to postpone the move and have the twelfth prince and the eleventh prince move together after the New Year and into school the following spring.

On the third day of the eighth month of the thirtieth year of the Kangxi reign, Yin'e and the Ninth Prince arrived at the Imperial Study early, which was unusual for them, instead of arriving right on time as usual.

Although Yin'e and the others broke their previous records, they were not the first to arrive at the Imperial Study. Apart from the Fifth Prince, who was as lazy as they were, the Third Prince, Fourth Prince, Seventh Prince, and Eighth Prince were all sitting upright behind their desks, studying diligently.

Fortunately, Yin'e and the Ninth Prince got up early today just to do some "bad things" before the morning reading started. They weren't there to win first place, and they didn't care when their older brothers arrived. They weren't discouraged for only improving from last place to second to last, so it wasn't a case of being diligent for nothing.

Yin'e and the Ninth Prince entered the Imperial Study together, followed closely by Yin'e's personal attendant, Xiao Linzi, the Ninth Prince's attendant, Xiao Yingzi, and the other servants attending to them. The large group of more than ten people rushed in, making the spacious and bright Imperial Study feel inexplicably cramped.

All the visitors were carrying large and small bags, looking like peddlers selling their wares. They all rushed into the room, turning the scholarly and elegant Imperial Study into a bustling marketplace.

Yin'e was thick-skinned; he remained calm and composed despite the undisguised strange looks from the other princes.

He held up the smooth, flat wooden pastry box in his hands and said with a grin, "We have a gift for you today. It's a token of our appreciation from Ninth Brother and me. Please accept it, brothers, to give us face!"

The Third Prince put down his book and was the first to react. His eyebrows were raised high, and his still somewhat immature face was tense. He pretended to be an older brother and asked, "Tenth Brother, what trouble are you causing in the study this time?"

Ever since the eldest prince entered the court, the third prince has started to act like an elder brother in the Imperial Study, and from time to time he tries to show his presence by acting like a steady elder brother.

“I told you I came to deliver a gift, why don’t you believe me, Third Brother!” Yin’e shook his head and walked forward, placing the box of pastries he was holding on the desk in front of the Third Prince, and pushed it toward him. “Here, this is for you, Third Brother. I specially made both sweet and savory flavors.”

The Third Prince pursed his lips but didn't say anything more to reprimand him. Instead, he decisively turned his gaze to the Ninth Prince beside Yin'e.

Immediately, the Third Prince's teasing gaze, which had been more playful than reprimanding, turned somewhat displeased. He snorted and said sarcastically, "If Ninth Brother also has a share of this gift, I, as his elder brother, would not dare to accept it."

Yin'e's relationship with the Third Prince was ordinary; they didn't have much of a connection, but there were no conflicts either. They just maintained a lukewarm relationship, exchanging pleasantries for the sake of appearances.

However, the Ninth Prince and the Third Prince never got along. Whenever they met, they could never speak calmly and always ended up arguing. To trace the root of the problem, we have to go back to the fight between the Ninth Prince and the Third Prince when they were children.

However, the two haven't caused any major trouble. At present, they've only been exchanging verbal sparring and bickering. They genuinely don't get along, but they haven't resorted to any underhanded tactics or sabotage.

After all, they were brothers by blood, and they studied together in the Imperial Study every day. As the saying goes, meeting each other brings a touch of affection. Even if there wasn't much blood ties, there was still some bond of camaraderie among classmates who were tormented by the 377 schedule.

Moreover, apart from the Crown Prince and the First Prince entering the court, the other princes are all studying in the Imperial Study. It is far from the time in the late Kangxi era when they were fighting for the throne and vying for power. The Third Prince and the Ninth Prince are incompatible and dislike each other, and there are many conflicts, but there is no deep-seated hatred that cannot be resolved.

The Third Prince's sarcastic tone immediately caused the Ninth Prince's thick, black eyebrows to stand on end, and his long, beautiful phoenix eyes to widen in anger. He was about to erupt as he always had, ready to argue with the Third Prince until the world turned upside down.