Chapter 83: The Tenth Son of the Tong Family's Lazy Family Fortune...

Yin'e and the other two passed through the side gate of the Imperial Garden and arrived outside the Fifth Palace of Gan Dong. This time, Yin'e and the Ninth Prince did not sneak in from the Imperial Garden, but followed the Fifth Prince to approach the Fifth Palace of Gan Dong openly.

It's not that they couldn't enter Gan Dong Wu Suo through the main gate before, but Yin'e and the Ninth Prince used to run from the Imperial Garden to Gan Dong Wu Suo mostly to play hide-and-seek. Entering through the main gate would be much less fun than sneaking in through the side gate.

Today is not a major holiday like the Golden Banquet Festival or the New Year, so the Imperial Study is not closed. The masters of the Second, Third, and Fifth Offices are not present, and only some palace servants remain in the third courtyard.

The eldest prince was not in the capital either. After graduating from the Imperial Study, he began to perform official duties. He was busy in the imperial court during the day and only returned to the princes' quarters at night.

However, compared to his time in the Imperial Study, the First Prince is actually more relaxed now that he is on official business than when he was studying. Unlike before, when he had no time to rest all day long, he is now much more relaxed. It would make any normal person question their existence.

The First Prince was not in the First Residence, but his new wife, who had married into the palace last year, was. She had known for a long time that the Fifth Prince was moving to the Fourth Residence today, and had already prepared people to help him with the move.

The First Princess knew perfectly well that the Fifth Prince was the Empress Dowager's most beloved grandson, and he was also the eldest son of Consort Yi. With the favored consort by his side, there would be no shortage of manpower for this move, and she, as the eldest sister-in-law, would not need to send any more people to help.

Whether the Fifth Prince needs it or not is one thing, whether the couple helps or not is another.

As the eldest son, the eldest prince should show the magnanimity of an elder brother to take care of his younger brothers. This would be in line with Emperor Kangxi's wishes and would win the emperor's approval and satisfaction.

The eldest prince and his wife intended to act as good elder brothers who took care of their younger brother, but the fifth prince did not intend to get close to the eldest prince, nor did he intend to give the eldest prince face or accept his kindness.

"He who eats another's food is bound to him; he who takes another's money is bound to him." The Fifth Prince was a straightforward man and couldn't bring himself to accept favors from others without giving anything back in return.

He wasn't thick-skinned enough to accept the sweet talk but decisively reject the empty promises. So the Fifth Prince simply refused both the sweet talk and the empty promises, denying the First Prince any chance to win him over from the start.

The eldest prince wanted to be his brother, no problem. But what if the eldest prince wanted to win him over to his side? The fifth prince said no way. He would never get involved in this mess.

In any case, the Fifth Prince was destined to be a prince who would be raised with honors. With the Empress Dowager and the Mongols as his backers, no one would say much even if the Fifth Prince was not close enough to his other brothers.

Before moving out of Cining Palace, the Empress Dowager pulled Sumalagu aside and gave the Fifth Prince many advices, the most important of which was to stay away from the Crown Prince and the First Prince.

The Fifth Prince was somewhat simple-minded, but he was the most obedient and well-behaved in front of his elders. He kept the Empress Dowager's teachings in mind and strictly followed them. He would never do anything underhanded in private. He was a well-behaved child that his elders could trust.

Outside the Fifth Prince's residence in Gan Dong, the Fifth Prince bumped into the palace servants that the First Princess had arranged to wait for them at the entrance of the Prince's residence.

Upon learning that these palace servants had been sent by the First Princess Consort to help him move, the Fifth Prince refused without hesitation. He stated that he had plenty of manpower for the move, and although he was grateful for his elder brother and sister-in-law's kindness, he really didn't need them.

After finally managing to get rid of the palace servants sent by the head of the garrison to help, the Fifth Prince breathed a sigh of relief. Just as he led Yin'e and the Ninth Prince into the Fifth Garrison, the First Princess Consort came out of the garrison gate with two palace maids to personally greet them.

The eldest son's wife married into the palace last year. As the eldest son's wife, she greeted the princes and princesses on the second day of her wedding. Prince Yin'e, the fifth prince, and the ninth prince all recognized her.

The First Princess's intention was simple: to invite the three of them to visit the First Residence to avoid the commotion during the Fourth Residence's relocation, so that they wouldn't be left without a place to sit.

The Fifth Prince's lips twitched twice, as if he wanted to refuse.

Faced with the friendly demeanor of the smiling First Princess Consort, the somewhat shy Fifth Prince couldn't bring himself to refuse, nor was he too embarrassed to directly reject her kindness.

The First Princess Consort was neither a palace servant to be dealt with at will, nor a brother with whom he had a closer relationship; she was his sister-in-law. The Fifth Prince really didn't know how to deal with her; being too lenient or too harsh seemed inappropriate.

"Thank you for your kindness, sister-in-law." Seeing that the Fifth Prince had not answered for a long time, Yin'e took the initiative to step forward.

He first thanked the First Princess for the invitation, and then said with a smile, "Fifth Brother wants to arrange the furnishings of the Fourth Residence himself, so he won't go to the First Residence to avoid the move. Once the Fourth Residence is settled, Eldest Brother and Sister-in-law must come to the Fourth Residence for Fifth Brother's housewarming banquet."

Even after being rejected, the First Princess remained smiling, showing no sign of distress, clearly having been prepared for the rejection.

She didn't try to persuade her further, but simply reiterated that if anyone needed help, they should come to the head office to ask for it. Then she led the palace maid back to the head office.

The First Princess Consort became pregnant last December, and her pregnancy is now showing.

She did not discover she was pregnant during the first month of her pregnancy. Unaware of her pregnancy, the Grand Consort participated in the entire mourning period for the Empress Dowager, which damaged her health. After discovering she was pregnant, the imperial physician warned her that this pregnancy was not going well and that she must rest and recuperate, otherwise the baby in her womb would be in danger.

The eldest prince attached great importance to his wife's pregnancy.

Firstly, he and his first wife were childhood sweethearts and had a deep affection for each other, so he naturally longed for and yearned for the children born to his first wife.

Secondly, since the Crown Prince has not yet married, if the First Consort gives birth to a son, he will not only be the eldest son of the First Prince, but also the first grandson of Emperor Kangxi to be born before the Crown Prince. This will surely win Emperor Kangxi's favor and add points and momentum to the First Prince's faction.

Because the Fifth Prince has not yet enrolled in school and moved into the Princes' Residence, the Fourth Residence has been vacant for a long time.

Fortunately, the Fifth Prince's move was not a spur-of-the-moment decision, nor was it rushed, so the Empress Dowager had time to arrange for palace servants to come and clean the four residences.

Now that the Fifth Prince is moving, he only needs to move his belongings into the Fourth Residence, and after some proper tidying and decorating, he can move in directly.

It must be said that the Fifth Prince, raised by the Empress Dowager, had a truly wealthy private treasury.

Watching the palace servants carry boxes of fine goods into the storeroom and arrange them, Yin'e's eyes couldn't take it all in. He couldn't help but imagine that when he grew up to be the same age as the Fifth Prince, he would also have accumulated such a large fortune.

What Yin'e didn't know was that after the new inoculation method was confirmed to be the most effective way to curb the spread of smallpox, Kangxi not only gave Aling'a a title to help the Consort resolve the hidden dangers posed by her family, but also secretly bestowed upon her several well-located hot spring estates.

The Consort kept all the land deeds of those estates for Yin'e. In addition to depositing the annual income into Yin'e's private treasury, the Consort also planned to either move to the Prince's residence to establish his own household when Yin'e turned six, or to secretly hand over the land deeds of the estates to Yin'e as his private property after his wedding.

So, without Yin'e's knowledge, his treasury grew even larger, and his wealth was only comparable to that of the Crown Prince, who was pampered by Emperor Kangxi.

Not long after the Fifth Prince moved from Cining Palace to Gan Dong Wu Suo, the bedridden Imperial Noble Consort Tong finally recovered after several months of careful recuperation by the imperial physicians.

At Yin'e's urging, the Imperial Concubine was the first to hand over her palace duties almost immediately.

Although Yin'e felt it was somewhat unfair to hand over all palace affairs to Consort Tong, it was Kangxi's arrangement, and Consort Tong was willing to hold palace power and be a virtuous assistant to Kangxi, without any intention of relinquishing her power. Therefore, Yin'e's embarrassment did not last long.

Emperor Kangxi and Consort Tong were both willing to give and receive, so Yin'e had no intention of meddling in other people's business; he only needed to take care of the consort.

He and the Imperial Concubine were content with a simple life, preferring to live a leisurely existence in the palace, neither seeking personal gain nor power. This was because they, mother and son, had no ambition, but others might not share their thoughts.

Just as Yin'e thought, not everyone in the palace was like the Consort, who had no desire to fight and only wanted to protect her son's life.

Shortly after Consort Tong recovered, Tong Guowei petitioned Emperor Kangxi to include the Tong family in the Manchu register.

The Tong family originally belonged to the Manchu-Han Plain Blue Banner. After Emperor Kangxi ascended the throne, he elevated the banner of the maternal clan and transferred the Tong family to the Han Bordered Yellow Banner.

Now that Tong Guowei has requested the imperial decree again, it is because his ambition has not stopped. He is not satisfied with the fact that the Tong family has only received one imperial favor because of Empress Xiaokangzhang, and he wants to receive a second imperial favor.

The presence of Consort Tong, a secondary empress virtually indistinguishable from the empress, gave Tong Guowei confidence that his ambitions could be realized. Consort Tong's serious illness a few months prior also created a sense of urgency for Tong Guowei, who wanted to take advantage of her remaining health to quickly implement the imperial favor and elevate the Tong family to a higher status.

Before Emperor Kangxi ascended the throne, the Tong family was not considered a top-tier noble family. Compared to the powerful Niohuru clan, the Tong family was not even comparable to the Hesheli clan.

The Tong family's current glory is due to the fact that they are the maternal clan of Emperor Kangxi, and because the Tong family produced two empresses in a row—the Imperial Noble Consort Tong and the empress were only one title apart.

Emperor Kangxi had already elevated his maternal clan to a higher banner once, but after Tong Guowei petitioned the emperor, he ultimately agreed to his uncle Tong Guowei's request and transferred the Tong family to the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner again, changing the Tong clan name to Tongjia.

Even after recovering from her illness, Consort Tongjia was still not in good health. However, she quickly regained control of the palace and diligently handled palace affairs, becoming a virtuous and capable assistant to Emperor Kangxi. She managed all matters, large and small, in the palace in an orderly and clear manner.

Yin'e couldn't help but admire Consort Tongjia's dedication. At the same time, he also felt a little sad. Being entrusted with important responsibilities by Kangxi was not a good thing, because to meet Kangxi's expectations and live up to Kangxi's trust, he needed to put in too much effort and hard work.

It seems that giving up is more promising. Putting everything else aside, giving up means not taking on any trouble, at least you live longer, and life is more leisurely and carefree without so much hardship.

Yin'e couldn't quite understand the diligence of Consort Tongjia. She was already the second empress, and her status and treatment had reached their peak. Even if she were to rise to the empress, she wouldn't receive any better treatment.

If that's the case, why should she work so hard? Even if she just lay down and stopped working, she would still be an Imperial Noble Consort!

In the 28th year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, Yin'e and the Ninth Prince's happy and carefree childhood was coming to an end. In a few months, they would be moving out of the Western Six Palaces and into the Western Three Palaces.

However, before Yin'e entered the Imperial Study to study, another major event occurred in the palace—Consort Tongjia fell critically ill.

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Author's Note: Only one chapter today, will try to make up for it in a few days. I've really not been feeling well these past few days, sorry QAQ. Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants between 2023-03-24 21:36:18 and 2023-03-25 23:17:19!

Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Caribbean Blue, Sera 10 bottles; Bao~ 5 bottles; Celestial Fairy, -Shallow Smile 1 bottle;

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