Chapter 33 The Tenth Brother's Salty Invitation: A Barrier

Ignoring the Ninth Prince's shrill cries as background noise, the Sixth Prince let out a long breath amidst Yin'e's mix of genuine and feigned sobs, a look of realization gradually appearing on his face.

See, misunderstandings happen so easily.

Even though it was clearly him and the Fourth Prince who were fighting, Consort Tong still misunderstood. Without the Eighth Prince's explicit statement, she was misled by the Tenth Prince into believing that the Third Prince was the one who had made a mistake.

Consort Tong was a latecomer and did not witness the entire process firsthand. Her understanding of the whole affair was incomplete, and she missed some information. In the end, she was naturally deceived by what she saw.

Consort Tong was like that, and so was he.

"Third Prince, the Ninth and Tenth Princes are still young, innocent and naive. As their elder brother, you should protect them. Even if they accidentally offend you, you should still show them some humility." Consort Tong looked at the Third Prince reproachfully, reprimanding him in a tone that was not harsh.

Since the Ninth Prince and the Tenth Prince only cried out in fear after being glared at by the Third Prince, then in truth the Third Prince didn't commit any major wrongdoing; at most, he wasn't kind or affectionate enough to his younger brothers.

Consort Tong did not want to escalate the matter or insist on clarifying things, so she softened her tone and said to the Third Prince, "Third Prince, you frightened the Ninth and Tenth Princes. You should apologize to them."

The Third Prince felt incredibly aggrieved. He was already upset about being forced to take the blame, and now, Consort Tong was demanding that he apologize to Yin'e, who had tripped him, and Yin'tang, who had pulled his ear, in front of all his brothers. He felt even more ashamed and embarrassed, and his handsome face turned even redder.

Despite his frustration, in order to end the matter as soon as possible, the Third Prince still suppressed his depression and spoke kindly to Yin'e and Yin'tang: "I'm sorry, Ninth Brother and Tenth Brother, it was my fault. I shouldn't have been so fierce. I'm so sorry for scaring you."

Yinzhen turned his head away, snorted through his nose, and completely ignored the Third Prince's apology, making it clear that he would not accept it.

Yin'e looked up at the Third Prince with his fair and adorable little face and smiled, saying in a soft, childlike voice, "It's okay, I know Third Brother didn't mean it."

The Third Prince chuckled dryly, really not wanting to say another word to Yin'e. He took a few steps back, distancing himself from Yin'e and Yin'tang, never wanting to have anything to do with them again.

The feeling of being the victim but having to apologize to the culprit is truly infuriating; the Third Prince never wants to experience it again in his life.

The Third Prince apologized, and the Tenth Prince accepted it. Consort Tong's beautiful eyebrows and eyes relaxed, and she breathed a sigh of relief, revealing a smile again.

She stood up and glanced around at the princes in the hall: "It's rare for you brothers to have a chance to get together, so I won't disturb you any longer." Consort Tong looked at the Fourth Prince with affection and said, "Today is Yinzhen's birthday, so you brothers should spend a good birthday with him."

Consort Tong was unaware of the whole story and genuinely believed that the Eighth Prince went to see him because the Third Prince had frightened the Ninth and Tenth Princes to tears.

Seeing that the matter had been resolved, Consort Tong was relieved and, not wanting to stay and hinder the Fourth Prince from cultivating his relationship with his brothers, she led the palace servants out of the hall.

Bang!

The side hall door closed again, keeping out the cold wind. Once again, only the brothers remained inside; there were no other outsiders.

The Sixth Prince took a deep breath, turned around and bowed to the Fourth Prince. He lowered his head, half of his handsome face was in shadow, and his expression was not clear for a moment: "I'm sorry, Fourth Brother, I misunderstood you."

His tone was no longer filled with lingering anger and resentment; it had become calm and composed, but also cold and emotionless: "I know you didn't mean it, Fourth Brother. You just said it without thinking."

The Sixth Prince knew it was all a misunderstanding; the Fourth Prince did not dislike him, nor did he dislike Consort De.

But what angered the Sixth Prince was never the Fourth Prince's simple words, but rather the Fourth Prince's attitude reflected in those words.

Why did the Fourth Prince blurt out those words? Because he didn't care or value them. He didn't hate them or deliberately distance himself from them, but he was also unaware of their closer relationship and never thought of getting close to them.

The Fourth Prince simply... regarded him and his mother as outsiders.

He knew nothing, so naturally he wasn't close to them and had no feelings for them. That was all.

Looking at the Sixth Prince like this, the Fourth Prince inexplicably felt as if he had lost something. It seemed that the rift between him and the Sixth Prince caused by the misunderstanding had not only not disappeared, but had deepened.

But it was only a momentary lapse in judgment. The Fourth Prince quickly regained his composure, returned the greeting to the Sixth Prince, and said with a frown and a hint of regret, "I misspoke. No matter what the reason was, I was the one who spoke rudely first. It is only right that you are angry, Sixth Brother."

Raising his head, the Sixth Prince stared intently at the Fourth Prince with his lips tightly pressed together. After a long while, he said in a low voice, "It's alright, the misunderstanding has been cleared up now."

Yes, the misunderstanding was cleared up, but he was not at peace with it.

The Fourth Prince's unintentional remark was merely the fuse that ignited the argument between the two. The Sixth Prince knew very well that his dissatisfaction with the Fourth Prince had been brewing for a long time and was difficult to resolve. That resentment and hatred were not something that had been planted recently, but rather had been with him like a bone-deep sore since he was old enough to understand things.

Misunderstandings are easy to resolve, but resentment is hard to dispel.

The estrangement that had already formed could not be broken, and the Sixth Prince could no longer regard the Fourth Prince as a special person as before.

He pursed his lips, gave the Fourth Prince a small, but not very emotional, smile, then turned to the First Prince and said sincerely, "Thank you, elder brother."

The First Prince was present the whole time and knew everything, but he didn't say anything when Consort Tong asked him, clearly intending to cover for them. The Sixth Prince didn't want to bring the matter of his fight with the Fourth Prince to Consort Tong's attention, so he was very grateful to the First Prince.

However, the First Prince's attitude also made the Sixth Prince realize something: the Tenth Prince was young and ignorant, naive and innocent. He did not intentionally mislead Consort Tong; he was just too young and did not say everything.

However, the First Prince did not explain for the Third Prince; instead, he went along with the matter and brought it to a conclusion, suggesting that the Third Prince might indeed have acted inappropriately. The Fourth Prince's outburst of anger and inappropriate remarks... are likely related to the Third Prince.

The eldest prince smiled somewhat awkwardly, unsure whether to accept the sixth prince's thanks.

He did nothing wrong; at most, he simply didn't say much in front of Consort Tong and reveal the truth of the matter. He really doesn't deserve the Sixth Prince's gratitude.

The eldest prince had noticed the conflict between the third prince and the ninth and tenth princes early on, suggesting a previous clash. However, he hadn't expected the tenth prince to be so ruthless in his schemes against the third prince, seizing every opportunity to shift the blame onto him.

However, the eldest prince also felt that the third prince deserved it, since he really did have a sharp tongue. As for the sixth prince's gratitude... the eldest prince thought about it and accepted it readily, but he explained the whole story to the sixth prince in detail, hoping that the sixth prince could truly reconcile with the fourth prince and that the two brothers would not leave any rift between them.

The eldest prince and the sixth prince were whispering to each other, while the fourth prince stared at Yin'e thoughtfully for a long time before walking over to Yin'e, who was whispering in Yin's ear.

"Tenth Brother, thank you." The Fourth Prince lowered his voice and thanked him very quickly. Only Yin'e and Yin Tang and the Fifth Prince beside him heard what he said. The Third Prince and the Eighth Prince, who were standing not far away, did not hear what he said at all.

Yin'e turned to look at the Fourth Prince. He blinked his big eyes, looking innocent and naive, as if he didn't understand what he was saying. He tilted his head and asked in a childish voice, "Fourth Brother, what are you saying?"

Yinzhen turned around, his bright phoenix eyes wide open, looking at the Fourth Prince warily like a vigilant little beast, showing no sign of intimacy whatsoever, a far cry from his previous boastful and overly familiar manner when he urged the Fourth Prince to beat up the Third Prince.

His delicate features relaxed, and the Fourth Prince smiled. He didn't say anything more and stopped there, showing no intention of insisting that Yin'e acknowledge him.

The Fourth Prince turned around, pulled the Eighth Prince, who was full of confusion but only pondered in his heart without asking a single question, and sat back down on the heated kang with the Eighth Prince, without saying another word about what had happened before.

The Third Prince, who was not far away, was so angry that he gritted his teeth as he watched Yin'e laughing innocently. He wanted to get back at him, but he was also afraid that if he stirred up trouble again and something went wrong, he would end up taking the blame and suffering the consequences himself.

After a moment's hesitation, the Third Prince slunk back to his seat at the head of the table. He channeled his grief and anger into his appetite, grabbing the fruit on the table and devouring it as if to vent his frustration, no longer saving room for the banquet to begin.

Yin'e tiptoed and took two oranges from the fruit plate on the large round table. He handed one to the Fifth Prince and shared the other with Yin Tang.

Yin'e had just finished crying, and his voice was a little hoarse. He wanted to eat some juicy fruit to soothe his throat. Especially Yin'e, after crying for so long, he wondered if he was dehydrated.

The Sixth Prince's outburst and fight with the protagonist ultimately affected the Fourth Prince's birthday banquet, causing it to end abruptly and unhappily.

Today is the Fourth Prince's birthday, and he has a full day off. However, the First Prince and the Third Prince cannot miss their afternoon riding and archery lessons. After the banquet, they hurriedly left to change into riding clothes at the Princes' quarters before rushing to the training ground to practice archery and horsemanship.

Before leaving, the Third Prince wanted to say a few sarcastic remarks, but firstly, there wasn't enough time; secondly, Yin'e and Yin'tang had been with the Fifth Prince the whole time, and with the Fifth Prince protecting them, the Third Prince couldn't say anything sarcastic—because the Fifth Prince couldn't understand him at all, and talking to him was a complete waste of breath.

The eldest prince had to rush back to the princes' quarters and didn't have time to make another trip to Yanxi Palace.

Although the Sixth Prince was quite uncomfortable with the close relationship between the Eighth Prince and the Fourth Prince, he still took the initiative to suggest that he walk with the Eighth Prince and did not allow the palace servants of Chengqian Palace to see him off.

Anyway, Yonghe Palace and Yanxi Palace are right next to each other, and the two palaces are not far apart, so the Sixth Prince will just have to walk a little further when he goes back.

Yin'e naturally went back with Yin'tang and the Fifth Prince. Yongshou Palace and Yikun Palace were both in the Western Six Palaces, and Cining Palace was in the southwest of the Forbidden City. The three of them were going the same way anyway, but the Fifth Prince still had to walk a bit further after leaving the Western Six Palaces.

On the way back, Yin'e warmly invited the Fifth Prince to visit Yongshou Palace.

It was always him and Yinzhen who went to Cining Palace to visit the Fifth Prince; the Fifth Prince had never been a guest at Yongshou Palace before. Moreover, the Fifth Prince had to pass through the Western Six Palaces on his way back to Cining Palace, so it was a rare opportunity and he should take this chance to meet Consort Yi.

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Author's Note: There's a clip tomorrow, so the afternoon update will be earlier. There will be two updates tomorrow at 11 PM. Sorry everyone, muah! (づ￣3￣)づ╭～

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Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!