Chapter 51

Yinzuo kept annoying Kangxi, but Kangxi couldn't think of anything else he could ask this kid to do except study hard and practice martial arts. He had no value in exchange.

If I have to say it, it's just to have a quiet life.

"Just praise your seventh brother. What's so difficult about that?"

"Is the Emperor shy?"

Kangxi was not shy, but was irritated by this boy.

Kangxi said calmly: "I don't praise people casually. If I want to praise someone, it has to be when it's right."

Yinzuo nodded in understanding: "If you praise it too much, it will lose its value."

However, Yinzuo said, "Seventh brother deserves praise. You can ask the teachers in the study room. I'm sure you'll find something to praise. Seventh brother studies every subject carefully and even practices extra at the prince's residence."

Kangxi: "Do I have to find things to praise myself?" Although Kangxi would check on the Seventh Prince's studies every time, he really didn't care much about his son. The teachers who taught the princes would not highlight the Seventh Prince in front of Kangxi, and Kangxi never took the initiative to ask about the Seventh Prince.

Kangxi was fed up with Yinzuo's nagging and drove him away, saying, "Go back. You are the least motivated among all the brothers. If you continue to bother me and beg me for something, don't talk about it."

Yinzuo said hurriedly: "My son will go back and make progress. We have already agreed with the Emperor Father."

Yinzuo retreated quickly at this time. Kangxi wondered who could have told him that?

After agreeing on this matter, when Yinzuo saw Kangxi in the study room again, he waited with sparkling eyes for Kangxi to take action, but after waiting for a long time, nothing happened. Yinzuo blinked at Kangxi until his eyes were cramped.

But it seemed like his royal father had forgotten about it, or was he just shy?

Kangxi glanced at a boy with fluttering eyelids, thinking that he had principles in praising people, and after asking the Seventh Prince some questions, he asked the Seventh Prince to bring over the homework on his desk.

He looked at the handwriting on the paper for a while, then glanced at the nervous Seventh Prince standing in front of him, handed the homework back to him, nodded, and said, "Not bad."

Although they were not good, they were a little better than his fifth son Yinqi. Speaking of which, his seventh son was younger than his fifth son and entered the study room later than Yinqi, but his grades were almost on par with his fifth son, and he was even a little better than his fifth son in writing.

Even so, the Empress Dowager had previously told him that the Fifth Prince had worked hard in his studies, had learned so many books, and his handwriting was black, bright and beautiful. The Empress Dowager, who could not even speak Chinese, knew what beautiful handwriting meant.

It turned out that the princes should not be spoiled. The Empress Dowager and the Concubine De raised a fifth son and a sixth son. But now, the fifth son has been surpassed by the seventh son, and the sixth son has been surpassed by the eighth son.

So he still needs to praise him? What is he praising? His son still needs to be coaxed like a weakling?!

Yinzuo only heard the word "okay", and then he pricked up his ears and bent his eyes, waiting for Kangxi to continue. Then what? Nothing more?! That's it?

Yinzuo was very dissatisfied, but when the Seventh Prince returned to his seat, he could not help but feel excited, because he had rarely received such simple words of affirmation.

Although the emperor's praise was simple and could not even be considered praise, when he returned in the afternoon, Yinzuo added something to his emperor's father: "Let me see, the emperor also praised your handwriting."

The Seventh Prince corrected Yin Zuo with a smile: "No, my writing is not that good either."

"Compared to the prince and my elder brother, they are far behind."

Yin Zuo: "Seventh brother is not as old as them, so don't compare yourself with them."

"Our Emperor Father speaks in a reserved manner and is shy about praising people. When he says "okay", he means very good, very good. Seventh brother, you should understand it this way."

Praising someone for being...shy? How can a word like shy be associated with the emperor? The sixth brother was talking nonsense again, but the seventh brother's mouth curled up slightly, and his eyes were full of smiles. He said to Yinzuo: "It's just a little neater, not as good as you said."

Yin Zuo: "My brother is always modest. I think it's good anyway."

The Seventh Prince said, "You can write well if you practice more. Shall we practice together?"

Yinzuo: "..." Thinking of what he and Kangxi had said about studying hard and practicing martial arts during this period, Yinzuo said, "Okay."

Yinzuo felt that his seventh brother was very energetic. He was very enthusiastic whether practicing calligraphy or reading, and did not look bored at all.

Yinzuo held his chin and looked at it for a while. He didn't know if it was because of the praise from their royal father today, but he felt that the aura around his seventh brother was more active today.

Seeing the energetic Seventh Prince, Yinzuo also smiled. So what's wrong with praising others more? Isn't this a matter of benefiting everyone? The Emperor is too stingy.

Yinzuo felt that his royal father was too stingy, and thought that his royal father's praise of the seventh prince in the study last time was too perfunctory, so when they were in the parade ground, he was very diligent in praising his seventh brother to his royal father.

"Seventh brother can even shoot arrows while riding a horse! And he has even hit the target before!"

"Master Ding even praised my seventh brother!"

Kangxi glanced at Yinzuo, who was full of thoughts, and then looked at the Seventh Prince, saying, "Then let me see if your Sixth Brother is exaggerating again."

Although the Seventh Prince was nervous, he was more excited. He said in a loud and clear voice: "Yes!"

The vigorous and ambitious look of the Seventh Prince made Kangxi look at him twice more. In the past, Kangxi himself had intentionally or unintentionally ignored the Seventh Prince, but the Seventh Prince himself also had a very low sense of existence.

Although the Seventh Prince was nervous under Kangxi's gaze, his performance did not fail. Instead, he performed beyond his normal level. Yinzuo of course cheered for his brother and asked Kangxi with a look of confirmation: "I said that the Seventh Prince is very good, right?"

Before Kangxi wanted to speak, Yinzuo already knew what Kangxi was going to say, and added: "You can't compare your seventh brother with people older than him. Among the older people, your seventh brother is the best."

Kangxi, who was blocked by Yinzuo's words, remained silent.

When the rosy-cheeked Seventh Prince stood in front of Kangxi, Kangxi first pointed out some of his faults and gave him some instructions. Seventh Prince Yinyou listened carefully, as he felt that his royal father's advice was very precious.

But Yinzuo was a little anxious. Don’t just say these things, praise others too!

As if he had finally heard Yinzuo's thoughts, Kangxi finally said, "You are doing well at your age."

Yinzuo was so anxious that he wanted to speak for his father, why did he say "OK" again? Say more.

The Seventh Prince's eyes sparkled: "My son will continue to work hard in the future."

Kangxi nodded, and then instructed Liang Jiugong: "Reward the Seventh Prince with a three-force bow. I hope you can use it soon."

The Seventh Prince's heart was pounding. This was the first time that the Emperor had given him something alone. He heard himself saying with restrained excitement, "Yes, Yinyou will definitely not disappoint the Emperor!"

Yinzuo beside him also curved his eyes. Although his father would not praise him, this time he did a good job!

The Eighth Prince on the other side saw everything and thought that no wonder others would be close to those who were favored by the Emperor, because they could influence the Emperor very much.

For example, who in the palace didn't know that the emperor ignored his seventh brother? But he saw that something had changed.

Yinzuo and the Seventh Prince did not think too much about it. When the Seventh Prince received the bow as a reward, they were just happy. Yinzuo looked at the Seventh Prince's bow again and again and said, "Seventh brother will become a master archer in the future, and can shoot an arrow through a target at a hundred paces!"

The Seventh Prince blushed at what Yinzuo said: "I dare not say that, people will say we are bragging." However, the Seventh Prince smiled brightly when he looked at the bow awarded by Kangxi.

Yinzuo was full of confidence. He said, "Everyone will know that I am not just bragging in the future." However, he still covered his mouth and said to the Seventh Prince, "Okay, I won't say this to others until my Seventh Brother becomes a master archer."

The Seventh Prince's eyes showed unprecedented confidence. He said to Yinzuo, "I will work hard."

Then he looked at Yin Zuo again, grateful in his heart, and said: "I also want to thank Sixth Brother. If it weren't for Sixth Brother, there wouldn't be anything happening in the parade ground today."

Yin Zuo said, "It has nothing to do with me. It's because your seventh brother is really good at riding and shooting that the emperor gave you this bow. I, your sixth brother, don't have much face in front of our emperor."

"He never praised me at all, and only criticized me for my poor grades."

Yinzuo stretched out his arm and embraced the Seventh Prince, leaning his weight on him and said, "Seventh brother is just modest. Before, Seventh brother didn't show it in front of the Emperor. Now that the Emperor has seen it, it's natural for him to praise me."

"Seventh brother, you should show more in the future. Otherwise, the emperor will be so busy that he may easily neglect our affairs."

The Seventh Prince nodded, but he always worried that the Emperor would dislike him. But now, as he touched the bow, he thought that maybe the Emperor didn't dislike him so much, and that the Emperor would also take his achievements and efforts into consideration.

The fact that Kangxi rewarded the Seventh Prince with a bow was an important thing in the Seventh Prince's mind, but it was not that important to most people. This prince still had a congenital foot disease, which destined him to have a worse future than other princes.

After his seventh brother got the bow, Yinzuo worked hard for a while, but he could not hold on any longer. Anyway, the emperor stopped praising him, and the exchange ended. Yinzuo could finally relax.

If I want to find a companion when I want to relax, who should I find? The two younger brothers living on my left and right are more hardworking than each other. As the elder brother, Yinzuo should not only not set a good example for others, but also should not hold them back.

He can just look for the appearance of his fifth brother.

Yinzuo and his fifth brother had similar interests and hit it off immediately, so they secretly made fishing rods and went fishing. The fish in the lake in the palace were plump and looked prettier than other fish. The fifth prince said that they should taste good to eat.

So don't just think about it, it's better to take action, the two of them took their homemade fishing rods and went over. The fish in the palace were stupider than each other, without any sense of crisis. Although the two people's fishing rods were homemade, they caught them after a while.

This made the two men feel particularly accomplished. There were so many fish in the lake, how could they stop after catching just one?

The joy is simply unstoppable.

Therefore, the two greedy people did not get to eat the delicious fish first, but they were caught in front of Kangxi first.

Yinzuo had been very well behaved recently, and Kangxi thought he had finally grown up, so it was not surprising to see him now. This time, not only did he make trouble, but he also brought trouble to his fifth brother.

After Yinzuo was brought before Kangxi, Kangxi ignored him. Yinzuo had experience with this and just wanted to leave him alone.

When Kangxi finally came to deal with the affairs of the two, the Fifth Prince, who also had little ambition but had generally done nothing wrong before, was quite worried and uneasy because it was the first time he was caught, while Yinzuo was in a much better mood.

Yinzuo told his father, "The fish in the lake will be wasted if we only feed them but don't eat them."

"My son and my fifth brother caught a lot of fish. Father Huang, please have a taste too."

Kangxi looked at Yinzuo who was still trying to fool him, and said calmly: "I think you feel uncomfortable after living in peace for a while?"

"How do you want to punish me?"

After being stared at by Kangxi for a while, Yinzuo took the initiative to stretch out his left hand and said, "Father, please don't hit me too hard, or my son won't be able to draw the bow."

Kangxi: “…”

Kangxi was so angry. Was there nothing he could do with his son?

You two brats, just stand there and carry the bowl.

When the Crown Prince heard that Yinzuo had taken the Fifth Prince to eat the fish that his father raised in the lake, he didn't know what to say.

"He has been eyeing the fish raised by the emperor since he was a child. Why is he still thinking about them now?"

The prince also went to see how Yinzuo was punished, and saw that Yinzuo was in pretty good shape with the bowl on his head. It was obvious that the emperor's trick was not very effective.

Then the prince uttered devilish words: "Don't you want the emperor to take you with him on the autumn hunt? The emperor is about to draw up a travel list, and you are doing this..." The prince did not finish his words and shook his head at Yinzuo with a look of regret.

Then, as expected, his increasingly tough sixth brother's face changed drastically, and the bowl on his head fell off with a thud.

There was a deep smile in the eyes of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Well, he is the one who can subdue this kid with one move.

Yinzuo regretted it immediately and asked his brother, the crown prince: "When?"

The Fifth Prince standing by was also very excited: "Can we go too?"

The prince said: "As long as the emperor agrees, it will be fine."

Yinzuo hurriedly said to the prince, "We had agreed before. The prince said he would talk to the emperor for me."

The prince looked regretful and said, "But you have made the emperor angry at this critical moment. It is useless for me to talk to him."

Yinzuo felt extremely regretful. He had worked very hard for a long time, so why didn’t he persist for a few more days?

(End of this chapter)