Chapter 24: The Tenth Prince's Soft-Heartedness Despite His Lack of Love...

The next day, Consort Yi brought Yin Tang to Yongshou Palace as a guest.

As Yin'e had predicted, Consort Yi prepared a generous gift to express her gratitude to the Noble Consort and Yin'e for inviting Yin Tang to stay as a guest yesterday and for taking care of him for most of the day, which relieved her of many worries and concerns.

Holding onto the Consort's leg, Yin'e looked up at Consort Yi with curiosity, wanting to see what this favored concubine of the Kangxi Emperor, who had enjoyed his favor for many years, looked like and why she had won the Emperor's favor for so long.

Consort Yi was a beauty with exceptional looks.

Her face was like a full moon, her complexion fair, her eyebrows arched like distant mountains, her eyes phoenix-shaped, her appearance exquisite and beautiful, her skin as white as snow. Even though she wasn't showing her pregnancy yet, her figure was still slender and graceful. Even though she looked slightly tired due to her pregnancy, she was still as beautiful as a peach blossom and as charming as a beautiful woman.

Perhaps due to severe pregnancy reactions, Consort Yi's complexion was somewhat pale, but this did not obscure her bright and beautiful appearance. She remained radiant and graceful, displaying the demeanor and charm of a favored concubine.

Consort Yi and her elder sister, Consort Guo Luoluo, looked very alike. Both had arched eyebrows, phoenix eyes, rosy cheeks, and bright red lips and white teeth. However, Consort Yi was not as beautiful, charming, and alluring as Consort Guo Luoluo. Her appearance was more radiant and elegant.

With such looks and temperament, it's no wonder that Consort Yi caught Emperor Kangxi's eye at first glance. It should be noted that Consort Yi entered the palace through a selection process, originally as a palace maid. It was her beautiful appearance that caught Kangxi's eye and made her a concubine. She rose through the ranks from a concubine to a consort, becoming one of the four consorts.

Consort Yi was straightforward and outspoken. After sincerely thanking her, she didn't mince words and stated another reason for her visit: "I really can't take care of Yinzhen, so I'd like to ask you for some help, sister."

Yongshou Palace and Yikun Palace are very close, but Consort Yi has not brought Yinzhen to visit them in the past year. She had long noticed that the Noble Consort was overly concerned about Yin'e's safety. Although she had not yet closed the door to visitors, she was still extremely cautious. Under such circumstances, Consort Yi would certainly not go to visit and cause trouble.

Until yesterday, when Yin'e went out for the first time since his birth, he first went to Cining Palace to pay his respects, and later accepted Yin Tang as a guest. Consort Yi noticed the change in the Noble Consort's attitude, which was no longer as timid and overly cautious as before, so she went to ask for permission.

Sure enough, after a moment's thought, the Imperial Concubine readily agreed, saying with a smile, "Yin'e and Yin'tang are about the same age and live close by. They will grow up together and become playmates."

Looking down at Yin'e with a smile, the Consort smiled again and said, "I saw yesterday that the two brothers got along very well and had a lot of fun together."

Since touring the entire Yongshou Palace and getting familiar with the environment, Yin'e has been sitting and lying around all day, and his lazy little chubby body has become even fatter. This can't go on, it would be good to have the lively Ninth Prince take care of him.

Three huge question marks appeared above Yin'e's head. He was completely bewildered and speechless: When did he ever get along so well with Yin Tang and have so much fun? And didn't the Consort even ask for his opinion before agreeing to this? He didn't want to play with Yin Tang!

As a lazy bum who had no desire to turn his life around, Yin'e really couldn't handle the energetic Yin Tang. He was too energetic and demanded too much attention and response from his playmates; playing with Yin Tang made Yin'e feel like he was expending not physical strength, but his life force.

The words of refusal were on the tip of his tongue, but he hesitated to say them.

Looking at Yinzhen, who was clinging to Consort Yi's legs, waving at him, making faces, and looking at him with bright eyes, Yin'e closed his eyes, sighed silently, and admitted that he had softened a little.

Okay, if Yinzhen comes every five days... well, three days, if Yinzhen comes every three days, he can still risk his life to play games with Yinzhen, as long as they don't require strenuous exercise.

Yin'e had a good plan, but he didn't expect that Yin'tang would not follow it at all.

Come every three days?

No, Yinzhen comes every day.

He didn't want his wet nurse to hold him. Early in the morning, he would run from Yikun Palace to Yongshou Palace to play with Yin'e. Except for returning to Yikun Palace for lunch at noon, he would even squeeze into Yin'e's little bed to take a nap with him.

As the saying goes, things don't happen more than three times. When Yinzhen came to Yongshou Palace to see him early in the morning for the fourth time, Yin'e couldn't stand it anymore and decided to shift the blame to someone else—Yin'e really couldn't handle Yinzhen, this playmate with excessive energy, and he really didn't have Yinzhen's seemingly inexhaustible vitality!

Dragged out of bed by Yinzhen, unable to continue his nap, Yin'e rubbed his face with both hands, barely managing to stay awake. He grabbed Yinzhen's hand and suggested in a soft voice, "Ninth Brother, let's go play with Fifth Brother."

Although his Mongolian language learning had only just begun, Yin'e didn't want to delay any longer. He felt it was necessary to introduce Yin'tang to new playmates, and Yinqi was the perfect candidate.

Fifth Prince Yinqi and Yintang were both sons of Consort Yi. As brothers born of the same mother, their relationship was naturally closer than that of other brothers. They should be close, love each other, and be inseparable brothers.

In general, adoptive mothers might be reluctant to let their biological mothers visit their adopted sons, and adopted sons might get along well with their biological brothers. For example, even when Yinzhen was six years old, he had never had any contact with Consort De, and he had no brotherly affection with Yinzuo.

However, as Kangxi's legal mother, the Empress Dowager never hesitated to allow Consort Yi to be close to the Fifth Prince.

Presumably, the Empress Dowager wouldn't object to the Fifth Prince's younger brother, the Ninth Prince, visiting his older brother at Cining Palace. And Yin'e could then get his wish, leaving the little "troublemaker" Yin Tang with his older brother, letting Yin Qi appease his younger brother.

Yinzhen's reaction left Yin'e speechless for a moment: "Fifth Brother?" Tilting his head, Yinzhen looked bewildered. "Who is that?"

Scratching his head, Yin'e thought of a way to make Yin'tang look forward to seeing the Fifth Prince Yinqi: "Fifth Brother is our elder brother. He likes you very much and welcomes you to visit."

His delicate phoenix eyes slowly widened, and Yinzhen's eyes lit up. The corners of his mouth turned up in a smile: "Fifth Brother likes me? Then I'm going to find him!"

Yin'e sighed silently and tightened his grip on Yin'tang's hand slightly.

After spending the last few days together, Yin'e discovered that Yin'tang always liked to make a fuss and attract the attention of others, who would then react to his behavior.

Yin Tang craved attention and praise, wanted to be cared for, and needed companionship. He was lively and not withdrawn or introverted; in fact, he was even a bit of a social butterfly. However, he was also sensitive, proud, and stubborn, and enjoyed being noticed, pampered, and spent time with others.

This is a typical manifestation of a lack of love and an insecurity.

If Yinqi's honesty and simplicity were nurtured by the Empress Dowager's careful care, then Yintang's cleverness and intelligence were cultivated later in life due to Consort Yi's neglect and carelessness.

It's not surprising that Yinzhen was neglected by Consort Yi, leading to a lack of love.

Consort Yi was not only the biological mother of Yin Tang, but also the adoptive mother of Yin Yu.

They were close in age, which meant that when Yinzhen was young, Consort Yi had to care for two children at the same time. As is well known, being a foster mother is not easy; it often requires more meticulous and careful care to eliminate any dissatisfaction from the foster mother.

In addition, Yinyu was weak while Yintang was healthy, so Consort Yi subconsciously neglected Yintang, who "couldn't cry," causing him to not receive enough love from a young age.

After Yinyu died in June, Consort Yi was finally able to focus on taking care of Yintang. However, less than two months later, Emperor Kangxi returned from his summer retreat in the northern frontier, and Consort Yi began to vie for his favor, soon becoming pregnant again.

The discomfort caused by her pregnancy left Consort Yi unable to care for Yin Tang, leading to his neglect once again. To avoid Consort Guo Luoluo, Consort Yi even banished Yin Tang to Yikun Palace, where he wandered aimlessly, unsure of where to go.

Perhaps in Consort Yi's eyes, what grievances could Yinzhi suffer by raising him with his biological mother? Compared to Yinzhi, Consort Yi probably valued her eldest son, the Fifth Prince, more and felt sorry for Yinqi, who was taken away after his one-month celebration and was not raised by her side.

A note from the author:

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The Ninth Prince was in the middle. The Fifth Prince had been sent away, and the Eleventh Prince was in poor health. Only the Ninth Prince was relatively healthy, and he was placed in the middle.