Chapter 67: The Return Gift - Old Ten's Hidden Treasure

The sixth prince will turn five years old in February, which means he will soon be able to study in the Imperial Study.

Consort De hoped that the Sixth Prince would become successful, and she always had high expectations for him and disciplined him very strictly. Consort De hoped that the Sixth Prince could lay a solid foundation, so that after entering the Imperial Study, he could soar to great heights, earn the praise of his teachers, be commended by Emperor Kangxi, and gain more favor and affection from him.

To encourage the Sixth Prince, Consort De often mentioned the Fourth Prince, who had entered school a year earlier, using his brother as a way to motivate the Sixth Prince to strive for improvement.

Although Consort De compared the Fourth Prince with the Sixth Prince, she knew very well that the reason the Fourth Prince was able to enter the Imperial Study a year earlier was because he was intelligent and diligent; and because he benefited from the influence of Consort Tong.

Compared to the eldest and third princes, the fourth prince saw Emperor Kangxi more often when he was young. The fourth prince was the only prince besides the crown prince who was personally educated by Emperor Kangxi, and his foundation was very solid, which enabled him to enter school a year early.

After the princes turned six, they would enter the Imperial Study to study, where they would be taught by tutors. However, their early education before entering the Imperial Study was the responsibility of their respective adoptive mothers or biological mothers.

Even the more privileged concubines would simply find a few literate and somewhat cultured palace maids to tutor their sons. Some concubines even went so far as to tutor their sons themselves.

Consort Gui was one of the latter. Born into a noble family, she had tutors who taught her Manchu and Mongolian from a young age. Therefore, Consort Gui personally taught Yin'e his Manchu and Mongolian languages.

As for Chinese, the Imperial Concubine had not studied it, but given her status, it would not have been difficult for her to find a few palace maids who understood Chinese and could read Chinese characters to teach Yin'e.

Consort De was born into a bondservant family with a poor background. She had no literary talent and could only speak Manchu but not write it. Naturally, she was unable to personally teach the Sixth Prince.

She could only pull strings to find a literate palace maid to tutor the Sixth Prince. And given Consort De's family background... she ultimately had to rely on the connections of Imperial Noble Consort Tong, and it was through Imperial Noble Consort Tong's influence that she found a suitable candidate.

Consort De regarded the Sixth Prince as her only support and had high expectations for him. She never imagined that Yinzhuo, whom she relied on for life, would die.

Therefore, when the Sixth Prince suddenly died, Consort De's pain, grief, and unbearable agony, as well as her madness, loss of composure, and disbelief, were all her most genuine emotions.

However, while Consort De was ambitious and ruthless, she was also intelligent and rational.

After the death of the Sixth Prince, Consort De quickly realized that her situation was not good: the Fourth Prince had already become the adopted son of Consort Tong, and she could never take him back; now that the Sixth Prince had died young, she had no son and was the only one among the four consorts who had no children.

If Consort De was born into a noble family and held a high rank, then whether she had a son or not was irrelevant. The glory of high-ranking consorts came from their families and from themselves; even if they gave birth to children, it was the princes and princesses who benefited from their mothers' status and privileges.

But Consort De was different. Born into a bondservant family, she rose through the ranks from a concubine to the position of Consort De, a high-ranking concubine, thanks to her son. Unlike other high-ranking concubines, Consort De needed Emperor Kangxi's favor and another son to solidify her position.

Therefore, even though Emperor Kangxi was furious with Consort De because of the death of the Sixth Prince and treated her very coldly, Consort De cheered up again after a month of depression.

Consort De relentlessly tried to please Emperor Kangxi. Her goal was very clear: to regain his favor as soon as possible and then give birth to a son to consolidate her position.

When Emperor Kangxi first learned of the cause of the Sixth Prince's death, he was completely incredulous and found it extremely difficult to accept that his son had died from exhaustion while studying late into the night.

Emperor Kangxi harbored resentment and anger towards Consort De, a mother who disregarded her son's health and focused solely on suppressing his ambition. In his anger, Consort De, who had enjoyed his favor for years, fell out of favor.

However, despite his grief, Emperor Kangxi did not completely lose his mind. After learning the cause of the Sixth Prince's death, he did not reveal the matter. Instead, he issued a gag order to the head of the Imperial Medical Academy who examined the Sixth Prince's body—no matter how much he disliked Consort De, Emperor Kangxi still had to protect Consort De's dignity.

This is not only because Consort De was one of the four consorts, but also because Consort De was the birth mother of the Fourth Prince and the Ninth Princess.

Even though the Fourth Prince had been raised by Consort Tong and the Ninth Princess had been sent to the Empress Dowager for upbringing, as long as the register of names and imperial genealogy were not changed, they would still have an inextricable relationship with Consort De. As their birth mother, Consort De could not bear a bad reputation.

Consort De knew why she was pushing the Sixth Prince to be ambitious, but she couldn't openly reveal her own ambitions to Emperor Kangxi. Therefore, in front of Kangxi, Consort De always pretended to be aggrieved and pitiful.

She also brought up the Fourth Prince's trump card once again, saying that the Sixth Prince was just too studious and greatly admired his elder brother, the Fourth Prince, for being able to enter the Imperial Study a year earlier, which is why he studied day and night despite his health.

When Emperor Kangxi was moved, Consort De wept and confessed that she was also at fault. It was indeed her oversight, but she really didn't mean it. She was truly regretful, sad, and in pain.

Each time after she finished her tearful lament, Consort De would appropriately express her pain and sorrow at losing her son. After several such instances, she gradually softened Emperor Kangxi's heart.

After ignoring Consort De for more than two months, Emperor Kangxi, who was gradually recovering from the grief of losing his son, finally melted under her gentle touch and began to favor her again, thanks to her persistent efforts.

—After all, Consort De was one of the four consorts. Even disregarding Consort De's grief and sorrow after the death of the Sixth Prince (as shown), Emperor Kangxi could not leave Consort De out of the public eye for too long, just out of consideration for the reputation of the Ninth Princess, who was raised by the Empress Dowager.

Emperor Kangxi lost too many children in his early years.

If the Sixth Prince hadn't been almost six years old when he died, and if the cause of death hadn't been something that could have been avoided, Emperor Kangxi wouldn't have grieved for so long, and wouldn't have been so furious after the Sixth Prince's untimely death, neglecting Consort De for two months.

Two months later, the concubines in the palace, who had been living in fear, gradually forgot about the stillborn sixth prince.

The ripples and fears caused by the death of the Sixth Prince gradually subsided in the palace. The concubines with children regained their composure and no longer paid excessive attention to the safety of the princes and princesses.

It's not that people are forgetful; it's just that too many children in the palace have passed away. If the Sixth Prince hadn't died so suddenly, and hadn't been quite old when he died, few people in the palace would have been surprised, let alone given him a second glance.

July 25th is the birthday of the Seventh Prince, Yin You.

This year is not his actual birthday, and he is not yet six years old, so there is no need to hold a big celebration for his birthday this year.

Even for a simple birthday celebration, no one organized anything for the Seventh Prince. His adoptive mother, the Princess Consort of Prince Chun, lived outside the palace, and his birth mother, Lady Daijia, was only a concubine; neither of them could celebrate the Seventh Prince's birthday.

The eldest, third, and fourth princes, who lived in the same courtyard as the seventh prince, did not have much contact with him because the seventh prince had not yet started school and there was another courtyard, the fourth one, between their courtyards. Their relationship with the seventh prince was so-so that they would not take the initiative to celebrate his birthday.

This wasn't because the eldest, third, and fourth princes were currying favor with the lower-ranking princes and deliberately neglecting the seventh prince, who was in a very awkward position in the palace. Rather, the studies in the Imperial Study were truly very demanding, and they had to spend a lot of time studying every day.

Moreover, ever since the Sixth Prince died young from overwork, Emperor Kangxi became increasingly concerned about the health of his sons.

Emperor Kangxi continued to push his sons to excel, maintaining strict requirements for them.

However, after the early death of the Sixth Prince, he also began to pay attention to the princes' daily routines. Kangxi asked the nannies who cared for the princes to carefully plan the princes' rest time after school to ensure that the princes would not be overworked or lack rest even after three weeks of rest.

Kangxi: Surprised? Unexpected? Taking a holiday is impossible, and not pushing your kids is also impossible.

The rules of the 377 family can't be changed. At most, someone can keep an eye on the sons' regular schedule, making sure they go to bed early and get up early (get up at 3 a.m. and go to bed before 8 p.m.) to maintain their good health.

The eldest, third, and fourth princes not only have heavy schoolwork, but are also heavily disciplined after school, leaving them with no time to socialize with their brothers.

Even though the Seventh Prince lived in the Fifth Palace in Gandong, they would not see each other for ten days or half a month unless the Seventh Prince took the initiative to visit.

Although there was no celebration for the Seventh Prince's birthday, and no one was invited to the Fifth Palace in Gandong to celebrate with him, Yin'e still sent the Seventh Prince a birthday gift in his own name.

He gave him a set of writing implements. The Seventh Prince will be starting school next year, and it will come in handy.

The Seventh Prince was confined to the palace in his early years and never saw anyone outside. He had never seen his birth mother or adoptive mother before the age of five. Even the annual festival rites and rewards for the Seventh Prince were completely ignored, as if he, as an imperial prince, did not exist.

After so many years of neglect, the Seventh Prince probably didn't have a secret stash of money, nor did he accumulate much wealth.

Although Yin'e wanted to befriend the Seventh Prince and had given him gifts twice, they had never actually met.

When the Seventh Prince returned to the palace, he happened to witness the early death of the Sixth Prince. The Consort was too worried about Yin'e's safety and forbade Yin'e from going to the Imperial Garden with the Ninth Prince without her company. As a result, Yin'e never sneaked to the Fifth Palace again, and naturally never saw the Seventh Prince, who rarely left the palace.

Since he had never met the Seventh Prince and the two brothers didn't have much of a relationship, Yin'e couldn't go directly to the Fifth Prince's residence to celebrate the Seventh Prince's birthday.

But this time, when Yin'e sent a gift, the Seventh Prince sent a return gift.

When the Seventh Prince's wet nurse came to Yongshou Palace to express her gratitude on his behalf for the birthday gifts he had received, she brought Yin'e a small box the size of a palm.

Upon opening the box, one finds dozens of water lily petals that have been dried and preserved remarkably intact.

The water lily seeds that Yin'e gave to the Seventh Prince in May were planted by the Seventh Prince in a large porcelain vat under the corridor of the main hall.

This summer, the newly planted water lilies in the Fifth Academy bloomed in abundance. The elegant and delicate lotus flowers floated on the surface of the large water tank, forming a stunning landscape in the Fifth Academy and bringing the romantic brilliance of midsummer into the life of the Seventh Prince for the first time.

After the water lilies bloomed, the Seventh Prince specially picked some perfectly shaped petals and preserved them.

He originally planned to find another opportunity to give those petals to Yin'e, but since Yin'e gave him a birthday gift this time, he took the opportunity of contacting Yongshou Palace to send the dried water lily petals to Yongshou Palace.

Yin'e was very pleased with the Seventh Prince's return gift. After receiving the gift, he hid the small box containing flower petals in a mahogany chest in his room.

That mahogany box was filled with Yin'e's treasures, including the red jade thumb ring and the mutton fat jade ruyi that Kangxi had given him.

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Author's Note: Kangxi: Was I giving this to you? You were the one who wanted it! Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants between 11:46:50 and 18:11:43 on March 16, 2023!

Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Minty Coolness, -Shallow Smile, and Today I Still Want to Resign (1 bottle);

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