Chapter 82: Old Ten's Lazy Idea About Moving...

In late spring, March, the ninth-year-old Fifth Prince finally moved out of Cining Palace and into the long-vacant Gan Dong Si Suo, where he settled into his own residence and officially began studying in the Imperial Study.

The Fifth Prince ultimately couldn't escape studying in the Imperial Study. This was because Emperor Kangxi no longer indulged the Fifth Prince as an out-of-school child, and also because the Empress Dowager's relationship with Emperor Kangxi was no longer close, and she could no longer protect the Fifth Prince as she had when the Grand Empress Dowager was alive.

The Empress Dowager always lived in Cining Palace with the Grand Empress Dowager. Although Emperor Kangxi often went to Cining Palace to pay his respects, he mostly interacted with the Grand Empress Dowager. The Empress Dowager simply sat to the side with a smile and said nothing, and did not actually have much interaction with Emperor Kangxi.

Furthermore, since the Empress Dowager was only Kangxi's legal mother, not his biological mother, their relationship had always been rather distant. Kangxi respected his legal mother, but he was not close to her. For many years, he had no maternal affection for the Empress Dowager, and he only showed filial piety to his legal mother according to custom.

However, after the death of the Empress Dowager, the relationship between Emperor Kangxi and the Empress Dowager improved, and the two gradually became closer.

Both Emperor Kangxi and the Empress Dowager were deeply grieved and heartbroken by the death of the Grand Empress Dowager. This shared emotional bond built a bridge of communication between them, gradually bringing them closer and eventually creating a sense of kinship.

However, the growing close relationship between the Empress Dowager and Emperor Kangxi could not prevent the Fifth Prince from being taken to the Imperial Study to study.

Even though the Empress Dowager was still reluctant to let her grandson leave, Emperor Kangxi personally issued an edict on the matter, and the Fifth Prince, no matter how unwilling he was to study in the Imperial Study, could only move out of Cining Palace with tears in his eyes.

On the day the Fifth Prince moved, Yin'e and the Ninth Prince came to Cining Palace to see him off and also to help out. Of course, they were too young to help the Fifth Prince move his things, but the palace servants who were with them could help, and they could also help the Fifth Prince settle into his new home.

Pointing to a flowerpot being held by a palace servant behind him, Yin'e said with a smile to the Fifth Prince, "Fifth Brother, this is a housewarming gift for you."

Because he was already quite familiar with the Fifth Prince, Yin'e didn't stand on ceremony. He didn't bother to wrap the housewarming gift for the Fifth Prince properly and simply had someone bring over a flowerpot.

When we arrive at Gan Dong Si Suo, the plant he gave to the Fifth Prince can be planted directly in the courtyard there. It's simple, convenient, and quick, without so many time-consuming formalities.

After glancing at the flowerpot that Yin'e was pointing to, and recognizing the plant inside, the Fifth Prince's eyes lit up, and a happy smile appeared on his round face: "Is this a persimmon?"

Two years ago, when Yin'e threw a tantrum in the Imperial Garden, preventing Emperor Kangxi from cutting down the only persimmon tree in the garden, the persimmon had already been proven to be non-toxic.

As long as the persimmons are fully ripe, eating them will not cause any problems—chickens, ducks, geese, and rabbits that ate persimmons for several days in a row proved this point.

Two years later, the tomato, a plant that can be used as both a fruit and a vegetable, had not spread widely in the Qing Dynasty.

Because persimmons were originally introduced to the Qing Dynasty as ornamental plants, and the number planted in the Qing Dynasty was not large, only the palace and some well-informed princes and nobles knew that persimmons were non-toxic, and thus added persimmons to their recipes.

"Fifth Brother, didn't you say last year that you really liked the sweet and sour taste of persimmons? Persimmon seedlings have been cultivated in the small garden of Yongshou Palace, so I dug one up and gave it to you. That way, you can also eat persimmons in the Prince's Residence," Yin'e replied with a grin.

After the princes moved to the Princes' Residence, their meals were no longer taken by their birth mothers or adoptive mothers as before, but were instead delivered by the Imperial Kitchen.

The chefs in the imperial kitchen were undoubtedly highly skilled, but even the most delicious food, once prepared in the imperial kitchen and delivered a long distance to the princes, would lose its flavor. Moreover, the food would taste even worse if it cooled down, making it taste bland and tasteless.

Not to mention that people in the palace are best at protecting themselves. Their style of doing things is never about striving for the best and wanting to stand out, but rather about being conservative and avoiding mistakes rather than seeking merit.

The Imperial Kitchen's menu rarely changes, perhaps only once every eight hundred years. Yin'e had heard the Seventh Prince say that the meals delivered by the Imperial Kitchen each day consisted of only a few different dishes, and after a few days, they would repeat themselves, becoming exactly the same as what they had eaten before.

Seeing the Fifth Prince curiously approaching and examining the persimmon seedlings, Yin'e smiled and said, "The persimmons will be ripe around May. Then you can pick them to cook and eat. Remember to wait until the fruit is completely red before picking them. You can't eat the green ones."

"Yes, thank you, Tenth Brother!" The Fifth Prince nodded happily, looking like he was so hungry that he wished the persimmons would ripen in the next second so he could eat them.

The Ninth Prince also brought a housewarming gift for the Fifth Prince: a fine Duan inkstone. Although the Ninth Prince wasn't a top student, he was still of average intelligence, much better than the Fifth Prince, who was a complete academic failure.

He sent the inkstone to the Fifth Prince, hoping that the Fifth Prince would study diligently in the Imperial Study. He didn't expect the Fifth Prince to strive for the highest honors, but at least he shouldn't be the only illiterate among his brothers, barely speaking Manchu.

The Ninth Prince not only brought his own housewarming gifts, but also sent gifts from Consort Yi and Yinzhi to the Fifth Prince.

Since the Empress Dowager was in charge of today's move, Consort Yi could not interfere or come to see him off. So she asked the Ninth Prince to bring her gifts and also sent two people from Yikun Palace to help the Fifth Prince move.

In fact, the Fifth Prince had enough manpower for this move. Not to mention the large group of people assigned by the Empress Dowager, there were also quite a few palace servants following behind Yin'e and the Ninth Prince, which was a great source of labor and could be of great help.

Walking on the way to the Fifth Palace of Gan Dong, the Fifth Prince looked dejected and unhappy, his chubby face drooping: "The Fifth Palace of Gan Dong is too far from the Cining Palace. It will be difficult for me to go back to the Cining Palace to pay my respects to my maternal grandmother in the future."

The five palaces in the east are located on the outer east road, next to the Imperial Garden; the Cining Palace is located on the outer west road, next to the three western palaces and the Great Buddha Hall.

The two palaces are symmetrical with Qianqing Palace at the center, located at opposite ends of a diagonal line, and are particularly far apart, making a trip there and back quite time-consuming.

Hearing the Fifth Prince's complaints, the Ninth Prince couldn't help but chuckle: "What are you thinking? Your foundation is so poor, and the studies in the Imperial Study are so demanding. It's questionable whether you can keep up with your teacher's instruction after you enter the academy."

"You're still thinking of taking some time to go back to Cining Palace to pay your respects to the Empress Dowager? You're dreaming! Why don't you just think about going straight to heaven?"

When the Ninth Prince gets sarcastic, he doesn't hold back at all. He retorted so harshly that the Fifth Prince's eyes went blank, his face turned pale, and he looked utterly hopeless: "Can't you even find time to go back to Cining Palace to pay your respects? Is the workload in the Imperial Study really that heavy?"

Yin'e, who had a good relationship with the Seventh Prince who had already enrolled in school and had asked him about this issue in detail, turned his head and looked at the Fifth Prince with sympathy, and sighed, "It's really heavy. The Seventh Prince studies very late every day so that he can keep up with the lessons in the Imperial Study."

The Fifth Prince exclaimed in surprise, his face filled with despair, and he became even more reluctant to go to school.

If Emperor Kangxi hadn't personally ordered him to move to the Princes' Residence, the Fifth Prince would have really wanted to turn back to Cining Palace and hide under the Empress Dowager's protection for the rest of his life, never entering the Imperial Study to study.

Seeing the Fifth Prince's pale face, the Ninth Prince couldn't help but mock, "Fifth Brother, the tutors in the Imperial Study are very strict."

"I heard that Gu Badai is the most unreasonable person. If you are unlucky enough to fall into his hands and be taught Chinese by him, you must study hard, otherwise you will be scolded so much that you will not be able to lift your head."

"Ninth Brother, stop gloating." Yin'e sighed softly, his face as pale and bleak as the Fifth Prince's, looking utterly hopeless.

He could empathize deeply with the Fifth Prince because—

“Ninth Brother, have you forgotten? Next year we will also move to the Princes’ Residence and study in the Imperial Study.” Yin’e sighed as he walked, feeling that they deserved more sympathy than Fifth Prince. “Fifth Brother is so good. He only started school at the age of nine.”

“But we had to move to our brother’s school when we were six years old, which was three years earlier than our fifth brother, so we had to study for three more years!”

The Ninth Prince also realized what was happening, and couldn't help but put on a sullen face, muttering unhappily, "That's right, why can the Fifth Brother start school at nine, but we have to move to the Prince's residence at six to start our own household? I also want to start school at nine!"

Not being a poor student doesn't mean you're a top student.

Although the Ninth Prince was very talented in learning languages, this did not mean that he was also talented in learning classical Chinese texts or enjoyed delving into the vast sea of ​​knowledge.

In fact, the Ninth Prince also disliked going to school. The fact that he could hang out with Yin'e proves that he was not a studious and ambitious prince either. Like Yin'e, he was a potential school-averse child.

Yin'e also wanted to start school at the age of nine, just like the Fifth Prince. He even asked the Consort to let him move out of Yongshou Palace a little later.

However, Consort Gui rejected Yin'e's request without hesitation. She told him in a "cold and ruthless" manner that he had to start school at the age of six, and there was no room for negotiation. It was impossible for him to start school at the age of nine like the Fifth Prince.

The reason why the Fifth Prince was able to grow up in Cining Palace until the age of nine was not only because the Empress Dowager doted on her grandson and was reluctant to let him move out too early, but also because Cining Palace was located in the outer western area, not belonging to the twelve palaces of the east and west, nor within the scope of the inner palace.

By the time a prince is six years old, he is already quite well-mannered and sensible. It is no longer appropriate for him to live in the inner palace with his birth mother or adoptive mother. He must move to the Princes' Residence to establish his own household.

The three school-averse children who didn't want to go to school couldn't be happy when they talked about the Imperial Academy. They sighed and lamented that their good days were about to end.

As they walked into the Imperial Garden, a sudden inspiration flashed through Yin'e's mind. He turned to the Ninth Prince with shining eyes and said, "Ninth Brother, in principle, you should move to the Princes' Residence by the end of August next year at the latest. But you can make an excuse that you want to move with me and postpone it until October."

"Although it's only a month later, it's still a good thing to be able to study in the Imperial Study a month later!"

The Ninth Prince's eyes lit up, and he nodded repeatedly: "That's right, it's good to start school a little later, every little bit of time helps."

They most likely graduated from the Imperial Study after their wedding. The graduation time was already set, so the later they entered the school, the shorter their study time would be. In other words, they made a huge profit!

If it were someone else, Yin'e might not have been so magnanimous as to act as a stepping stone for someone else, allowing them to learn less for a month and suffer less for a period of time.

But since he was the Ninth Prince, he wouldn't drag the water ghost down with him, and he wouldn't seek revenge by saying, "If I suffer, you will suffer with me."

The fact that the Ninth Prince could suffer a month less and be spared the torment of studying for a month is the best proof of their brotherhood.

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Author's note: Headache, I'm so sorry it's so late QAQ

I'll go to bed early tonight, hoping things will be better tomorrow. Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 09:43:04 and 21:36:18 on March 24, 2023!

Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Sweet Party Doesn't Eat Cilantro 6 bottles; -Shallow Smile 1 bottle;

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