Chapter 29: Provoking Old Ten's Misunderstanding...

The wet nurse carried them to the heated kang (a traditional heated platform bed). Yin'e and Yin'tang sat with the Fifth Prince, facing the Fourth and Eighth Princes across a small table. Fortunately, the heated kang was spacious enough that even with the three of them sitting in a row, it was still quite roomy.

Yin'e sat between the two, took a pastry from the Fifth Prince, and habitually broke it in half and handed one to Yin'tang.

According to Yin'e's observation, Yin'tang preferred to receive the same pastry from him, even if it was only half, rather than keeping the whole piece for himself. This wasn't because Yin'tang was envious of others' things, but because he subconsciously felt that such sharing was a sign of being valued and liked.

After discovering Yin Tang's little quirk, Yin E gradually got used to sharing his things with Yin Tang. It was also his indulgence that made Yin Tang increasingly "lazy." For example, Yin Tang would no longer take the snacks on the table himself, but would just stand there waiting for Yin E to break them in half for him.

Having just drunk a bowl of milk at Yongshou Palace, Yin'e wasn't very hungry. He slowly nibbled on the savory pastry in his hand, his round, large, watery almond-shaped eyes glancing left and right, secretly observing the princes in the hall.

The eldest prince, seated at the head of the table, didn't say much, sipping his tea from his white porcelain cup. Judging from his demeanor, it was less that he was aloof and indifferent, and more that he was bored and uninterested.

The eldest prince will turn thirteen next February, and in two more years he will be ready to get married. He is indeed too far older than his younger brothers, so they don't get along well and don't have many things in common.

However, the eldest prince had the demeanor of an elder brother. Although he wasn't very close to his younger brothers, he didn't bully them; on the contrary, he took good care of them. The eldest prince was also very authoritative. Occasionally, when the third prince went too far with his nagging, a single sentence from him could shut the petty and unyielding third prince up.

It's clear that the eldest prince is quite familiar with the third and fourth princes. After all, the three of them studied in the Imperial Study, were classmates, and lived together in the princes' quarters, so they must have some connection. Unlike the younger princes who haven't entered school yet, they only see each other a few times a year.

The Third Prince also has a birthday in February and will turn eight next year. He and the Fourth Prince are about the same age and get along very well, but it is clear that their relationship is quite ordinary—without bias or prejudice, Yin'e thinks this is the Third Prince's problem.

The Third Prince sat there, picking out fruits that were not commonly seen in winter. The rarer and fresher the fruit, the more he loved to eat it, always trying to get the best of everything.

Yin'e rolled his eyes, not at all surprised.

Despite having his mouth full of fruit, the Third Prince couldn't stop discussing the Imperial Study's lessons with the First and Fourth Princes from time to time.

Although the Third Prince was somewhat boastful and showed off, his words revealed that he was very learned, had a high level of literary cultivation, and was truly talented. His studies were no worse than those of the First Prince, who was several years older than him.

In stark contrast to the Third Prince was the Fifth Prince. The Fifth Prince was still a month shy of his five-year-old age. He only spoke Mongolian, had a rudimentary understanding of Manchu, and knew absolutely nothing about Chinese.

Although he couldn't understand what the eldest, third, and fourth princes were saying, and although he wasn't familiar with the fifth prince except for Yin'e and Yin'tang, the fifth prince was very comfortable and not at all reserved.

He ate and drank as he pleased, just as relaxed as he was in the Cining Palace, engrossed in devouring the snacks in front of him. Most of the pastries on the small table were gone, making one worry whether he would be able to eat when the banquet started.

The Fourth Prince wasn't stern today; his expression was relaxed, with a faint smile playing between his brows. Even when the Third Prince spoke rudely, he didn't directly retort—perhaps because the First Prince was present, and he was always the first to interrupt the Third Prince when he stirred up trouble.

The Eighth Prince also has a birthday in February, and he will turn four next year.

Although he was raised under Consort Hui's care, the Eighth Prince was much older than the First Prince, and it was not obvious that he was very familiar and close to the First Prince. Instead, he stayed close to the Fourth Prince, the main character of the birthday banquet, and looked like a well-behaved child.

The Fourth Prince and the Eighth Prince sat together, very close to each other, and seemed to have an extremely close relationship and get along very well.

Yin'e sat opposite them and noticed that the Fourth Prince really liked the Eighth Prince, cared for him a lot, and took great care of the well-behaved and sensible Eighth Prince. His tone of voice was also much gentler when he spoke to him.

The sight of the Fourth Prince and the Eighth Prince getting along harmoniously amazed Yin'e; he hadn't expected that the two had such a good relationship when they were young. He wondered if, after their falling out over the succession, they would still remember their childhood friendship and recall that they had once been good brothers.

However, upon closer examination, aside from the Crown Prince who was the heir apparent, Kangxi's sons, except for the eldest prince who was the oldest and whose age difference with his younger brothers was too great, were all close in age from the third prince onwards. They were brothers who grew up side by side.

Especially after the princes turned six, they moved into the Princes' Residence and studied together in the Imperial Study. Even setting aside brotherly affection, there was always a sense of camaraderie between classmates and neighbors.

Yin'e was willing to believe that before Kangxi grew old and weak, the crown prince's position became unstable, and the struggle for the throne officially began, there was genuine affection among the princes.

Time flies too fast, and reality is too cruel. The friendship of the past will eventually be buried by the long passage of time, turning into ashes and scattered in the past that no one will remember.

The Third Prince ate three or four pieces of fruit in a row. He was probably too full, so he took out a handkerchief to wipe the juice off his hands and stopped eating. He didn't try to fill his stomach with fruit anymore.

Once his mouth was finally free, the Third Prince's mischievous streak resurfaced. He glanced around the hall and noticed that only one person was missing. He couldn't help but curl his lips into a half-smile.

The Third Prince, with his scholarly air and refined demeanor, chuckled and raised an eyebrow at the Fourth Prince, saying meaningfully, "Yonghe Palace is right next to Chengqian Palace. How come the Fifth Prince, who lives in Cining Palace, has arrived, and the youngest, the Ninth and Tenth Princes, who live in the Western Six Palaces, have also arrived, but we haven't seen Yinzhuo yet?"

The Third Prince referred to the Sixth Prince not using the order of seniority between brothers, but by his first name. This was not because the Third Prince and the Sixth Prince were particularly close; in fact, they had only met a few times, and their relationship was quite ordinary.

The Third Prince deliberately mentioned the glaring name of Yinzhuo just to provoke trouble.

The character 祚 originally means "blessing" or "good fortune," implying the bestowal of blessings and protection. However, 祚 also refers to the "fortune" or "legacy" of the nation, thus also referring to the imperial throne.

Looking back at the Third Prince, who seemed ready to cause trouble and had a sarcastic expression, Yin'e couldn't help but feel speechless.

He finally understood something: when he bumped into him and Yinzhen outside the West Third Palace last time, the Third Prince wasn't deliberately targeting them. It was just that he had this annoying personality; he always had to stir up trouble. He would even slap a passing dog. He was very annoying.

The Third Prince's provocation was twofold: first, he was making fun of the character "Zuo" in the Sixth Prince's name; second, he was implying that the Fourth Prince, Consort De, and the Sixth Prince had an awkward relationship, being extremely distant despite being blood relatives, and that he was suspected of trying to sow discord between the Fourth Prince and Consort Tong, his mother and son.

However, today's birthday banquet for the Fourth Prince was a separate banquet for the princes. Consort Tong was in the main hall of Chengqian Palace at the time and was not present, so she did not hear the Third Prince's words.

The princes didn't react much to the Third Prince's provocation, except for the First Prince, who frowned, glanced at the Third Prince with a hint of disdain, and said in a slightly harsher tone: "Third brother, don't go looking for trouble. This is not the place for you to cause trouble."

The eldest and third princes were the sons of the fourth concubine and were already aware of the situation. Of course, they knew that Consort De was the fourth prince's birth mother, but the remaining princes did not know this.

The Fifth Prince only speaks Mongolian, so there's not much to say about him. Although the Eighth Prince was exceptionally intelligent from a young age and received early education, he was raised by Consort Hui, and no one dared to gossip about him under her watchful eye.

Yinzhen was still too young to understand the secrets of the palace. Yin'e, on the other hand, knew about them, but he also knew he shouldn't know. So he wisely pretended to be ignorant, lowered his head, shared a piece of pastry with Yinzhen, and remained aloof from the world's affairs.

The Third Prince's sarcastic and pointed remarks were only understood by the First Prince, who immediately retorted, showing no mercy to the Third Prince's sharp tongue and tendency to stir up trouble.

In his early years, the Third Prince was fostered in the home of a minister outside the palace. After being brought back to the palace, the Third Prince was always close to the Crown Prince, but not close to the First Prince, and their relationship was lukewarm.

When the eldest prince retorted, the third prince was somewhat embarrassed, but he was still not giving up. Instead of immediately bowing his head, he stubbornly added, "Elder brother, you misunderstand. I was just concerned about the sixth brother. I was afraid that something might have delayed him, which is why he was so close but has not arrived yet."

After all, the eldest prince was the elder brother, and the third prince only said that one sentence, which sounded like both a defense and a provocation, before he quickly backed down. Under the eldest prince's stern gaze, he shrank his neck and dared not argue any further.

"Ahem," the Third Prince coughed awkwardly twice, not daring to truly confront the First Prince. He turned to the Fourth Prince and said in a strange tone, with a half-smile, "Fourth Brother, the Sixth Brother is late. Should you send someone to Yonghe Palace to inquire?"

As if afraid that the Fourth Prince would find it troublesome and refuse directly, the Third Prince hurriedly added: "Yonghe Palace is right next to Chengqian Palace. The two palaces are very close, and it won't take much effort to make a trip there. The banquet is about to begin, and we can't just leave out the Sixth Prince. Fourth Prince, why don't you send someone to ask what's going on?"

The slight smile on the Fourth Prince's face vanished. He looked at the Third Prince with a serious expression, puzzled and extremely impatient with his words.

Frowning and suppressing his irritation, the Fourth Prince said after a long while, "If Sixth Brother is really delayed by something, Consort De will naturally send someone to Chengqian Palace to inform him. Otherwise, Mother will send someone to Yonghe Palace to inquire, so I don't need to do it myself."

At this time, the Fourth Prince had not yet been criticized by Emperor Kangxi for being unpredictable and unable to hide his emotions. For him, liking was liking, and disliking was disliking; he would not deliberately conceal it.

At this point, the Fourth Prince was annoyed with the Third Prince and said directly, "If Sixth Brother doesn't want to come, I don't need to go out of my way to invite you. I didn't invite you to this birthday banquet in the first place."

Staring coldly at the Third Prince, the Fourth Prince did not say it directly, but his implication was clear: he did not want to invite the Third Prince at all!

Although the Third Prince had a rather unruly personality, he was quite clever. He hadn't expected the Fourth Prince to be so ruthless, and being quite concerned about his image, he blushed deeply.

To their surprise, the side hall door suddenly opened, and a child of about four years old ran in, rushed up to the Fourth Prince, glared at him angrily, and demanded in a shrill voice, "What did you mean by what you just said?"

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Author's note: The next chapter will feature a fight, but the biggest victim will be the Third Prince.

Yin'e: He smiled without saying a word.