"Father, where is Mother? I want Mother." Hongzhao's soft and simple voice reached Yinzhen's ears. His expression did not change; he remained cold, but his eyes showed a little more warmth.

"Your mother is not here today, but your father will keep you company."

Although Hongzhao's feelings for his father, Yinzhen, were not as strong as those for his mother, Tong Cheng'er, Yinzhen still held him quite often. Although he didn't coax him as much, Hongzhao was not unfamiliar with him.

The father and son have a fairly good relationship.

Hongzhao smiled and nodded: "Okay, okay, Father, play with me."

Looking at his innocent son, Yinzhen thought to himself, "I'll definitely play with you properly."

Stroking his son's head, Yinzhen said, "Come here, Father will take you to the study to play."

Hongzhao went along excitedly.

Upon entering the study, Hongzhao asked innocently, "Father, what are we playing?"

Yinzhen: "How about your father plays a game of recognizing characters with you?"

"Okay, okay."

Hongzhao was a child, and children don't know what it means to recognize characters. He thought that recognizing characters was similar to the games he played every day, so he was particularly excited.

Looking at his son's excited face, Yinzhen was satisfied. He was indeed his son, so eager to learn.

The mention of recognizing characters is quite astonishing.

An hour later, Hongzhao said in a childish voice, "Father, I don't want to play anymore. I miss Mother. I want Mother."

Yinzhen glanced at the time and thought it was about time, so he said, "Alright, we can continue this afternoon. Let's go find your mother."

Hongzhao didn't know what "continued in the afternoon" meant. He only knew that he didn't have to learn to read anymore and could see his mother again, which made him happy.

When the two arrived at Yaocheng Courtyard, Tong Cheng'er had just finished posing two questions. Seeing them arrive, she put down her pen, smiled, and said, "You're here."

Hongzhao ran into Tong Cheng'er's arms and pounced on her, saying, "Mother, your son missed you."

Tong Cheng'er's smile widened.

"It's only been less than two hours since we last saw each other, and you're already saying you miss your mother?"

Hongzhao said in a spoiled tone, "I miss Mother so much."

Tong Cheng'er hugged her son and rubbed his head. She was so happy that her son was so cute.

Seeing this, Yinzhen, who was behind Hongzhao, quickly took Hongzhao out of Tong Cheng'er's arms: "He's so old, why are you still holding him? You're spoiling him."

Tong Cheng'er: "It's not heavy."

Yinzhen immediately said, "How can it not be heavy? He eats a lot, he's like a little meatball. What will you do if he tires you out? I'll take care of it."

After he finished speaking, Yinzhen said directly to Hongzhao, "You are no longer a two-year-old child. You need to learn to be considerate of your mother, do you understand?"

He continued talking to himself, not caring whether Hongzhao understood or not. Hongzhao nodded in a daze.

Seeing this, Yinzhen stopped talking.

Tong Cheng'er played with Hongzhao for a while, and then heard him say that he was hungry. So the family of three had lunch together. After lunch, Yinzhen took a nap with his wife and son. After waking up, he took his son to the study to continue learning to read.

Two days later, Hongzhao no longer wanted to play any more literacy games. Yinzhen was also busy with his duties and couldn't teach his son all the time, so he hired a tutor for him.

"Mother, I don't want to learn to read anymore."

Tong Cheng'er hugged Hongzhao and asked, "Why?" Only after she finished did Tong Cheng'er realize that she had asked a pointless question. She had actually asked why a child didn't like studying.

But since I'd already asked, I decided to hear his answer.

“My son doesn’t like it. He wants to go to the garden to watch his sisters fly kites.”

Tong Cheng'er: "That won't do..."

Tong Cheng'er spoke for a long time, and young Hongzhao listened to a lot of it. Although he didn't understand much, he at least grasped the main point: it was absolutely impossible for him to drop out of school.

In the end, Hongzhao left in tears.

After he left, Tong Cheng'er laughed rather unkindly. Children are really interesting; their little thoughts are especially amusing when they're small.

"The officer is watching over Zhao'er. He's just starting out, and it takes time. Learning is important, but we can't let him develop a dislike for it. We should have the teacher tell him more stories."

"Yes, Madam."

After Rulan returned, Tong Cheng'er began to worry about her marriage.

"Rulan, what are your thoughts on your marriage?"

Rulan shook her head: "This servant has no such thing."

It's not really Rulan's fault. After Ruxue got married, she had other jobs, and Tong Cheng'er was used to her doing them. So she was very busy on weekdays. She often went in and out of the mansion and knew all the stewards in the mansion, but there was no suitable one for her yet.

Speaking of marriage, Rulan couldn't help but envy Ruxue. Rongning treated Ruxue very well, and the two had been married for some time now. Their life together was harmonious and sweet, which was truly enviable.

Rulan didn't have high requirements for her future husband. As long as he was devoted to her, had good character, and wasn't too different from her in appearance, that would be fine.

Of course, you need to have some skills to make a living.

She had been working for Tong Cheng'er all these years and had no shortage of money, but after getting married, she didn't want to use her dowry to support her whole family.

Time flies, and a year has passed in the blink of an eye.

Yinzhen looked at his son reciting his lessons, and he didn't seem to be slacking off.

"Your recitation is acceptable; you are permitted to have an extra pastry today."

It's pitiful, really. The only young prince of the Prince Yong's mansion, even eating a single extra bite of pastry is a luxury.

Hongzhao doesn't have any dietary restrictions and can eat anything. Children don't know what's best to eat. When they're young, being a little chubby makes them look plump, cute, and adorable. But it's not good for them to be chubby when they get older.

So Tong Cheng'er started to keep an eye on his eating habits, so that he wouldn't just eat whatever he thought was delicious, especially those snacks. They might be delicious, but if he ate too much of them, he wouldn't be able to eat a proper meal when it was time for dinner.

Most of the snacks were sweet, which he loved, so naturally he gained weight quickly.

Therefore, Tong Cheng'er is stricter with her.

Hongzhao nodded with a pitiful look on his face: "Thank you, Father."

"Alright, that's enough for today. Take a rest tomorrow."

Hongzhao's eyes flashed with surprise: "Yes, Father, I'll take my leave."

Then Hongzhao, with his short legs, left, followed by his maids and nannies.

After dinner, lying in bed, Yinzhen said to Tong Cheng'er, "Father Emperor plans to send all eligible imperial grandsons to the palace for education."

Tong Cheng'er was taken aback: "Enter the palace to study?"

They act on a whim. Getting into the palace and school sounds easy, but even a child like Hongzhao, with people by his side, is bound to make mistakes.

The palace is full of ruthless methods that prey on people. How could Tong Cheng'er feel at ease with Hongzhao being so young?

Her heart sank.

"Why did Father Emperor suddenly have such an idea?"

In fact, Yinzhen hadn't expected that the matter of sending his grandson to the palace for education had occurred in his dreams, but that wasn't now, but much later. If it were true, Yinzhen was quite surprised by Kangxi's sudden decision.

"I don't know, I can't fathom Father's thoughts either."

He can guess a lot about important matters, but who knows what he's thinking about these kinds of things?

Tong Cheng'er sighed: "Father really knows how to cause trouble for people. This matter is really hard to explain."

The grandson of the emperor entering the palace to study is not a bad thing for him, but it is not a good thing for the crown prince.