Chapter 64 A Sudden Turn of Events: Old Ten's Preparations for a Lazy Life...

Scratching his head, Yin'e hesitated without going over to see what the newborn looked like, and said, "Maybe in a few months, when he's all grown up, he'll look like you?"

The Ninth Prince frowned deeply, looking incredulous: "Really? Will he look like me when he grows up?"

The Ninth Prince's tone was a bit strange. Yin'e pondered for a while before he understood. The Ninth Prince's surprise and doubt were not that "my younger brother is not actually that ugly, he just hasn't grown up yet," but rather that "even if my younger brother is so ugly, how could he possibly look like me when he grows up? I am much better looking than him."

With a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth, Yin'e glanced speechlessly at the Ninth Prince, unable to think of any expression or words to respond to the Ninth Prince's narcissism and confidence.

So it turns out that the Ninth Prince didn't dislike his younger brother because he didn't look like him; he simply thought his brother was ugly and not as cute as him.

Because it was summer, the weather was hot.

Even though new mothers shouldn't be exposed to drafts, the inner chamber where Consort Yi lived in the main hall of Yikun Palace was only separated from the innermost bedroom by a thin curtain. There was no thick curtain to block the drafts and keep the bedroom completely enclosed.

After the third-day-old ceremony, the Imperial Noble Consort Tong, who presided over the ceremony, and the other concubines who came to offer their congratulations, including the Noble Consort, were still in the main hall outside the inner chamber and had not yet entered. Only the little prince was brought back first.

The baby prince's cradle was placed in the innermost part of the room, not far from Consort Yi, who was recuperating in her bedroom. If the noise in the inner room was loud, the person in the bedroom could hear it if they listened carefully.

Consort Yi, who was in the bedroom, heard clearly what the Ninth Prince had said about his younger brother's appearance. She immediately retorted in a strong voice, "You have the nerve to say he's ugly? Weren't you just like him when you were little!"

“When you were first born, I even suspected that the wet nurse had given you the wrong baby. How come the baby she brought over was so ugly and didn’t look like me at all? But now that you’ve grown up, haven’t you inherited my good looks and look more like me than your fifth brother?”

Consort Yi is in pretty good condition; you can tell from the volume of her voice.

Her voice was not only full of energy, but it also remained clear and loud even from a distance in the bedroom, echoing in the ears of Yin'e and the Ninth Prince.

Consort Yi was indeed in good health. Although she had some difficulty giving birth to her third son, she recovered very quickly afterward.

However, everything has two sides. Consort Yi was fine, but her third son did not receive enough nutrition in the womb, resulting in some congenital deficiencies after birth, requiring careful care and maintenance.

Through the curtain, Consort Yi was still scolding the Ninth Prince: "Don't tell your younger brother that he's ugly. He's still young and doesn't understand. What if he takes your words seriously and grows uglier and uglier?"

Consort Yi was actually a sucker for good looks. She was very confident in her appearance and believed herself to be beautiful. She also enjoyed being close to good-looking people, finding them pleasing to the eye just by looking at them.

The Ninth Prince completely ignored Consort Yi's subsequent reprimand, his eyes widening in disbelief at her earlier words: "How could that be? I'm much better looking than him!"

Behind the curtain, Consort Yi's words, which she hadn't finished speaking, were all choked back.

She suddenly stopped, no longer scolding the Ninth Prince for telling him not to say his younger brother was ugly, and she didn't even speak.

After a long, eerie silence, the beauty-obsessed Consort Yi, unable to deceive herself, suddenly sighed softly, "Alright, Yin Tang, you're right. I have to admit, your features are indeed more handsome than your brother's."

"Of the three brothers, you look the most like me, with the most delicate features, and you are the most handsome and good-looking."

Yin'e had little contact with Consort Yi.

Before he was one year old, he was confined to Yongshou Palace by the Imperial Concubine. After he turned one, the Imperial Concubine loosened her control over Yin'e, but Consort Yi became pregnant again and her pregnancy was not going well. She couldn't even take care of the Ninth Prince, let alone Yin'e.

Standing beside the Ninth Prince, Yin'e looked dazed: So... Consort Yi is this confident? He seemed to understand who the Ninth Prince inherited his confidence from.

In the bedroom behind the curtain, Consort Yi's attention was briefly drawn to the Ninth Prince's words. But soon, her thoughts returned to the three-day-old baby, and she became deeply worried about him.

May has been considered an inauspicious or poisonous month since ancient times, and children born in May are also considered taboo, as they are believed to carry the evil spirits of May at birth. In some places, there is even a saying and tradition of not raising children born in May.

Sima Qian, the Grand Historian, once wrote in the Records of the Grand Historian that "a child born in the fifth month will grow as tall as the door, which will bring misfortune to his parents."

Consort Yi's third son was not only born weak, but was also born in May, which is one of the most unlucky days in May.

Consort Yi was worried about her son's congenital deficiencies and whether he could be raised properly. She was also worried that her son would be disliked and neglected by the Emperor. The last prince to be treated coldly by the Emperor was the Seventh Prince, who was not only imprisoned in the palace and raised there, but was now being sent out of the palace to Prince Chun's residence.

Of course, Consort Yi would not dare to mention anything about May being an evil or poisonous month in the palace.

Over the past few decades, the Manchus have been assimilated by the Han Chinese at a rapid pace. Many things that the Han Chinese have always considered taboo have also become taboo for the Manchus, and they have gradually integrated into the Han Chinese cultural sphere.

A decade or two ago, the palace also regarded May as a poisonous month, and each palace would display mugwort and bathe in orchid-scented water. But in the last ten years, no one in the Forbidden City dared to mention this saying anymore; everyone remained silent, as if this custom had never existed.

As for why this happened, the reason is quite simple: the eldest son of Empress Yuan, the crown prince whom Emperor Kangxi personally raised, loved the most, and had the deepest affection for, was born in May.

The Crown Prince was the son whom Emperor Kangxi cherished most, and he would never give anyone the opportunity to attack the Crown Prince by using the fact that he was born in May.

Kangxi's attitude was the weathervane of the palace. He valued the crown prince and gave him supreme power and status. So the people in the palace had to be sensible and respect the crown prince, until Kangxi personally threw the crown prince down.

Consort Yi had three children, but she only cared for and raised one child with all her heart and soul. It was not the Fifth Prince or the Ninth Prince, but Yin Yu, who was born in Yikun Palace and was once raised under her name.

The Fifth Prince was in good health, but he was sent to Cining Palace before he was even a month old; the Ninth Prince was healthy and lively, but Consort Yi only took care of him for two months before she was distracted by Yin Yu.

However, Yin Yu was born weak and sickly, and had to take medicine from birth, relying on it to prolong his life every day.

He was given life-saving medicine every day, with countless precious medicinal herbs added, but even so, Yin Yu could only barely keep his life going, and died after only half a year.

Consort Yi watched helplessly as Yin Yu died. She believed she had done her best to care for him, but ultimately she couldn't save his life. Now, Consort Yi's son is just as weak as Yin Yu, and she has always been worried that her younger son will suffer the same fate as Yin Yu.

On the day of the baby's third-day celebration, the Ninth Prince, who had stayed in Yongshou Palace for several days, moved back to Yikun Palace. After all, the Imperial Concubine was not the Ninth Prince's adoptive mother, and even if the Imperial Concubine and Consort Yi were on good terms, it was not appropriate for the Ninth Prince to stay in Yongshou Palace for an extended period.

The Ninth Prince was very curious and was very interested in his newborn brother. Although he thought his brother was ugly and didn't look like him, children always like to see younger children and want to tease him.

The day after the baby's third-day celebration, the Ninth Prince unusually did not come to Yongshou Palace to see Yin'e. Instead, he stayed in Yikun Palace to accompany Consort Yi. He also leaned over his younger brother's cradle, sticking his head in to talk to and tease him, hoping that the baby in the swaddling clothes would respond to him and play with him.

Yin'e was quite unaccustomed to the Ninth Prince's sudden absence.

Although he didn't want to admit it, Yin'e did feel a little sour and unhappy.

It's normal for a person to feel a little sad and unhappy when their best friend suddenly abandons them and goes to play with someone else.

After all, everyone has some degree of possessiveness. The difference lies in the fact that some people can regulate themselves, accept it, and become more open-minded again, while others will indulge themselves, let themselves be overwhelmed by negative emotions, and take extreme actions.

Yin'e belonged to the former group, and he quickly convinced himself.

After all, he was the Ninth Prince's younger brother. It was normal for him to be interested in his brother and want to play with him. Moreover, the Ninth Prince had a good relationship with the Eleventh Prince, which was better than him being led astray by the Eighth Prince later.

After breakfast, seeing Yin'e looking sullen and downcast, the Imperial Concubine smiled and tapped his forehead: "Ninth Prince didn't come to play with you today, are you unhappy?"

Pouting, Yin'e buried his face in the Consort's arms, whimpering and acting coquettishly.

In front of the Imperial Concubine, Yin'e did not feign reluctance, but quietly confessed his feelings: "I am a little unhappy."

"Jealous?" The Imperial Concubine chuckled as she held Yin'e in her arms, gently stroking his head with her slender hands.

The Imperial Concubine had always felt that Yin'e was somewhat cold-hearted. He didn't like to have deep relationships with people, and apart from her, he hadn't formed any strong emotional bonds with anyone else. Even the Emperor, his father, wasn't someone he genuinely considered close.

The Imperial Concubine had always assumed that Yin'e's friendship with the Ninth Prince stemmed from the Ninth Prince's initiative in approaching him, and that he simply couldn't bear to refuse the Ninth Prince's advances. But now it seems that Yin'e truly cherishes his close friend.

Yin'e first nodded in the Consort's arms, then shook his head: "I'm just a little disappointed, but it's nothing."

Before becoming friends with the Ninth Prince, Yin'e had wondered if they would drift apart as they grew up. But even knowing that they might become estranged or even turn against each other in the future, Yin'e still accepted the Ninth Prince as a friend.

No matter where they go in the future, Yin'e will never regret being friends with the Ninth Prince now.

But what Yin'e didn't expect was that the Ninth Prince was only absent for two days. On the third day after the third-day celebration, he came to Yongshou Palace early in the morning to "clock in for work".

The Ninth Prince's interest in his younger brother, Yinzhi—whom the Emperor Kangxi had named the newborn—lasted only two days. This was because Yinzhi was too young and barely responded to his attempts to amuse him, remaining fast asleep the whole time.

Secondly, because Yinzhi was born weak, Consort Yi was overly concerned about his health. Whenever the Ninth Prince teased Yinzhi for too long, disturbing his sleep and rest, Consort Yi would become anxious and scold the Ninth Prince for bothering his younger brother, telling him to go out and play and not cause trouble.

After several such incidents, the Ninth Prince, who was already sensitive and stubborn, completely lost interest in Yinzhi and no longer wanted to play with his younger brother. He patted his bottom, abandoned Consort Yi and Yinzhi, and left Yikun Palace to go to Yongshou Palace to find Yin'e.

Yin'e was on good terms with the Ninth Prince, so he naturally tended to see things from the Ninth Prince's perspective... He couldn't help but feel sorry for the Ninth Prince, and he had been treating him exceptionally well these past few days.

Newborns are born in the palace every year, which is nothing new in the palace.

The birth of Yinzhi did not cause any ripples or have any major impact on the Forbidden City. Everything in the palace remained peaceful as ever; the six palaces were quiet, with no one causing trouble or making a fuss.

The birth of Yinzhi did not affect the Ninth Prince too much. Just two days later, he was still coming to Yongshou Palace to report every day as before.

Just a few days later, a major event suddenly occurred in the palace, attracting the attention of all the concubines, who were all frightened by this unexpected event.

The sixth prince of Yonghe Palace, Yinzhuo, who was already well-fed and ready to start studying in the Imperial Study in about half a year, suddenly passed away without any illness or disaster.

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Author's Note: Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 17:52:45 on March 14, 2023 and 11:46:17 on March 15, 2023!

Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Heqi (5 bottles); May, Today I Still Have to Resign, -Shallow Smile (1 bottle);

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