Chapter 89: The Promise of Old Ten's Lazy Confidence...

"Yin Tang and Yin E?" Kangxi put down his imperial pen. He hadn't been paying much attention to the guard's report and hadn't heard what the guard had said clearly. He only heard the guard mention two princes and couldn't help but raise an eyebrow in surprise. "What have they done this time?"

Although he asked this question, Kangxi, looking completely unfazed, continued, "Did you wreak havoc on some exotic flowers and plants in the Imperial Garden again, or did you go to Cining Palace and make Yin Tao cry again, or did you go to the Fifth Prince and the Seventh Prince's residence in Gan Dong Wu Suo?"

The first-class guard who came to report felt a pang of sorrow upon seeing Kangxi's practiced response and his weary yet somewhat numb demeanor.

The first-class guard suddenly felt that he had a lot in common with the emperor. It was a pity that they could not sit down and have an in-depth conversation about their unfortunate feelings caused by the naughty children. With this regret, he replied in a low voice, "No, the two princes said they wanted to come and pay their respects to the emperor."

"Paying respects to me?" Kangxi was taken aback before reacting, his expression becoming extremely strange. After a pause, he said irritably, "They're not trying to cause trouble at the Qianqing Palace, are they? I won't tolerate them!"

The first-class guard did not expect that Kangxi's first reaction was also to worry that the Ninth Prince and the Tenth Prince would come to the Qianqing Palace to cause trouble, and he couldn't help but feel a great sense of kinship with him.

Of course, the guard didn't dare to think in that direction, but the complex emotions in his heart were indeed like that, and he truly felt a deep resonance with Kangxi.

Although he didn't believe that his two sons, who had been mischievous since childhood, had suddenly come to the Qianqing Palace simply to pay their respects, Kangxi thought it was rare for Yin'e and the Ninth Prince to take the initiative to seek him out, so he didn't refuse them outright.

Seeing that there were no urgent official matters at hand, and that he was a little tired after a busy morning, Emperor Kangxi nodded and said, "Let them come over, otherwise who knows what kind of trouble they'll cause."

Neither Yin'e nor the Ninth Prince expected things to go so smoothly. After the guard who went to report to Kangxi brought back the good news, Yin'e and the Ninth Prince looked at each other, encouraged each other, and then stepped into the Qianqing Palace hand in hand.

Entering the spacious courtyard of the Qianqing Palace through the Longfu Gate, Yin'e and the Ninth Prince passed through the Jiaotai Hall. Liang Jiugong, who was waiting at the back gate of the Qianqing Palace, came up to greet them with a smile: "Your Highnesses, please follow me. I will show you the way."

Although the sons of a favored concubine and a noble concubine were still young, Liang Jiugong dared not neglect them. He did not have the eunuchs under him lead the way for the two princes, but waited for Yin'e and the Ninth Prince outside the door himself.

As the chief eunuch who served Emperor Kangxi closely, Liang Jiugong, who was often able to accurately gauge Kangxi's mood, had long discerned from Kangxi's actions that Kangxi had divided the princes into different ranks.

In the Emperor's eyes, the eldest son was of the first rank, the eldest son and the son of the Imperial Concubine were of the first rank, the sons of the four Imperial Concubines were of the first rank, the concubines were of the first rank, while the sons of the concubines of lower ranks were of the lowest rank and were the least favored by Kangxi.

Otherwise, how could it be the Seventh Prince who was almost sent out of the palace to be the heir of Prince Chun? How could it be Yin Tao, born to Consort Wanhaliu, who was sent to Cining Palace to be raised by Su Ma La Gu? And how could it be the Eighth Prince, who is the one whose studies are checked by Kangxi the least in the Imperial Study?

When Liang Jiugong led them into the main hall of the Qianqing Palace, neither of the young princes, Yin'e and Ninth Prince, immediately explained their purpose. Instead, they first respectfully stepped forward to pay their respects to Kangxi and greet him, without causing any trouble right away.

After Yin'e and the Ninth Prince paid their respects, Emperor Kangxi, seated on the throne at the head of the table, spoke before they could even speak, saying, "Speak, what is the matter this time?"

With a slight raise of his brows, Kangxi's handsome face was filled with a half-smile: "I don't have much time to waste on your nonsense. Be direct and state your purpose directly. Otherwise, after you've paid your respects, you may leave."

Just as Yin'e was gathering his emotions to speak, he didn't expect Kangxi to be so direct, asking them to state their intentions without any preamble. He turned his head and exchanged a glance with the Ninth Prince, and the next moment, two voices rang out in the hall at the same time.

"Father, Ninth Brother and I want to move to West Third Residence a little later."

"Father, I don't want to live in the Second Prison, I want to move to the Fourth Prison!"

After stating their demands in unison, Yin'e and the Ninth Prince turned to look at each other in perfect unison, then turned back to face Kangxi and spoke at the same time once again.

“I will stay in the third residence, Ninth Brother will stay in the fourth, and Yinzhi will stay in the fifth. This is the most suitable arrangement, and Ninth Brother can also take care of his younger brother.”

"Our tenth brother's birthday is in October. Can we wait until after his birthday to move? Or perhaps we can move after the Golden Festival?"

Rubbing his temples, Kangxi's head was buzzing from the duet between Yin'e and the Ninth Prince. He really couldn't understand why the two of them had to talk at the same time. Couldn't they just talk one at a time?

However, Kangxi did manage to understand the demands of Yin'e and the Ninth Prince.

He hesitated for a moment, then decided that the two things they mentioned were trivial and there was no need to refuse and risk their persistent pestering. So he casually nodded and agreed, "Okay, I'll do as you say."

Kangxi readily agreed, and Yin'e and the Ninth Prince's eyes lit up immediately. Their faces lit up with bright smiles of surprise and joy, and their voices suddenly became louder, chattering away as compliments poured out: "Thank you, Father! Father is the best!"

Kangxi raised his right hand and pointed at Yin'e and the Ninth Prince twice, a faint smile appearing on his face, his mood improved considerably: "You are very sweet-talking and say nice things when you are trying to coax people, but in my opinion, you are only sweet-talking."

Yin'e chuckled and, with his thick skin, readily agreed without any embarrassment. He even puffed out his chest, looking quite proud.

The Ninth Prince glared with his phoenix eyes wide open, looking unconvinced. He pouted, looking aggrieved, wanting to argue but not daring to contradict Kangxi. He just sulked to himself.

Kangxi glanced at the Ninth Prince and sneered, "You want to live in the Fourth Palace, isn't it because the Second Palace is too far from the Third Palace? And you want to take care of Yinzhi? I think Yinzhi is much more sensible than you."

There is no better son than a father.

Although Emperor Kangxi and the Ninth Prince weren't particularly close, the Ninth Prince was still Kangxi's son. His low profile in Kangxi's eyes didn't mean he was unimportant. Kangxi understood the Ninth Prince very well and immediately saw through his little scheme.

When he was exposed, the Ninth Prince was not ashamed at all and readily admitted, "I wanted to live closer to the Tenth Prince, but taking care of Yinzhi was also one of the reasons."

If the Ninth Prince were to become neighbors with Yinzhi in the West Third Palace, he certainly wouldn't abandon his younger brother. After Yinzhi left Consort Yi and established his own household in the Princes' Palace, the Ninth Prince would naturally be willing to lend a hand if he needed help with anything.

Kangxi raised his hand to rub his temples. He had no interest in arguing with the Ninth Prince, nor did he want to waste his energy on such trivial matters. He simply asked, "What about the Second Palace?"

“Let’s leave them empty for now,” the Ninth Prince replied matter-of-factly. “We’ll keep them for when Yin Tao turns six and moves in. Four of the five residences in Gan Dong have been empty all this time.”

The Fifth Prince delayed moving to the Princes' Residence for three years. After the Seventh Prince moved into the Fifth Residence in Gan Dong, the Fourth Residence remained vacant. There was precedent for this in the palace, so leaving the Second Residence vacant for the time being was not a matter of having no precedent to follow.

Upon hearing what the Ninth Prince said, Emperor Kangxi frowned slightly.

Both the Fifth Prince and Yin Tao were raised in the Cining Palace, but the Fifth Prince was a prince who was to be pampered, so it was not a big deal that he was spoiled by the Empress Dowager.

But Yin Tao was different from the Fifth Prince. He was only the son of a concubine, which already put him at a disadvantage in terms of social standing. Moreover, he was raised by Su Ma La Gu, not the Empress Dowager, which put him at a disadvantage in that respect as well.

If Yin Tao were to become as lazy and unambitious as the Fifth Prince, he would have no Mongol backing and would find it difficult to gain a foothold in the court in the future.

Although Emperor Kangxi sent Yin Tao to be raised by Su Ma La Gu to comfort her, he did not want Yin Tao to be spoiled like the Fifth Prince.

However, upon further reflection, Kangxi felt relieved. Su Ma La Gu was his mentor, wise and intelligent, with rich experience, unlike the Empress Dowager, and would not raise Yin Tao to be as lazy as the Fifth Prince.

"Very well, then let's leave it at that." With a slight nod, Kangxi acknowledged the Ninth Prince's answer.

Yin'e and the Ninth Prince immediately cheered, their delicate, fair faces beaming with joy.

Kangxi glanced at them indifferently: "Don't be too happy yet. If you end up at the bottom of the class like the Fifth Prince after you enter school, see how I teach you a lesson."

Yili's smile froze instantly. Ninth Prince felt a sense of retreat and awkwardly smiled, taking a step and a half back to hide behind Yin'e.

Yin'e took a half step to the side, completely blocking the Ninth Prince, and puffed out his chest with a confident look, promising: "Father, don't worry, Ninth Prince and I won't be at the bottom, we'll at least be at an average level."

"My ninth brother and I will not bring you glory, but we will definitely not bring you shame either. Father, you can rest assured." Yin'e looked very confident, almost as if he were patting his chest to assure Kangxi.

If Yin'e hadn't said those words, Kangxi might have still harbored some illusions about them, hoping that they would suddenly become enlightened after entering the Imperial Study.

But after hearing Yin'e's words, Kangxi was completely uneasy and pressed him with a dark face: "Tell me, how come you won't be at the bottom?"

When this was mentioned, Yin'e became very enthusiastic. He had already inquired about it in detail with the Seventh Prince. At this moment, he excitedly started counting on his fingers in front of Kangxi: "When it comes to classical studies, the Fifth Brother is definitely at the bottom. The Ninth Brother and I are definitely a bit better than the Fifth Brother, so we can't be at the bottom in this aspect."

"When it comes to riding and archery, Fourth Brother is naturally weak and has the worst archery skills. He's always at the bottom of the class, while Ninth Brother and I always manage to get average grades. Besides, Ninth Brother and I are both quite happy to learn riding and archery, so maybe we'll learn it very well!"

Neither Yin'e nor the Ninth Prince liked studying, but they both enjoyed physical education classes.

Kangxi's face grew increasingly dark, while Yin'e continued to count on his fingers: "Speaking of handwriting, Eighth Brother's handwriting is the worst. It lacks style and is so bad that it doesn't even have a proper font. Fourth Brother has been trying to correct it for over a year without any effect. Ninth Brother and I write much better than Eighth Brother."

After counting, Yin'e spread his hands and looked up at Kangxi with a smug look on his face: "Father, you see, all the brothers have a weakness. As long as Ninth Brother and I are better than them in the subject they are worst at, we won't be at the bottom in any subject and can get an average grade."

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Author's note: Yin'e: A wise person compares their own strengths with the weaknesses of others.

Kangxi: ...Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 2023-03-28 23:54:39 ​​and 2023-03-29 21:56:46!

Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: 10 bottles for a serving of fried chicken, hamburger, and spicy hot pot; 5 bottles for irritable bubbles and circles; 2 bottles for celestial fairy; and 1 bottle for ·w· and millet worm.

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