Chapter 99

Yinzuo tried his best to persuade him, but Kangxi had no intention of beating the prince. He frowned and repeated, "Eat!"

Yinzuo said, "Your Majesty, you are reluctant to beat or scold me? Has your anger subsided? Don't be reluctant to punish the Crown Prince and hold your anger to yourself."

"How about Brother Taizi write a self-criticism? I wrote one when I was a kid."

Yinzuo seemed to want the prince to experience what he had experienced in his childhood.

But the prince was smart and knew that Yinzuo was actually trying to ease the current tension between him and Kangxi.

Kangxi felt that the prince had grown up and had become more independent, and he felt unhappy about being disobeyed.

The prince also felt that Kangxi was finding more and more critical of him and was being harsh on him, while praising his brothers a lot. This made him, the prince, very unhappy.

Moreover, he and Kangxi sometimes had different political views. Kangxi reprimanded him, but he did not think he was wrong. He had indeed grown up and had his own opinions.

If he tried to please the Emperor in everything, he would be a yes-man and a puppet, which he couldn't do.

Yinzuo nudged the prince with his arm and said, "You've never written before, so you don't know how to write? I can teach you, prince."

"Yes." The prince said to Kangxi, "Father, calm down. Don't let your son's anger affect your appetite."

Yinzuo sat down at the table, picked up a piece of food for Kangxi with his chopsticks, picked up another piece of food for the crown prince, and then said, "If the crown prince comes to eat with the emperor more often, the emperor's appetite will be much better."

Kangxi frowned and tried to stop Yinzuo from saying these words. It seemed as if he was begging his son to have dinner with him! That was not the case!

But Yinzuo was very quick to talk, and what he said next was even more outrageous.

Yinzuo smiled and said, "The Emperor thinks that the Crown Prince has forgotten his father after marrying his wife. Our Emperor loves you so much and has raised you like both a father and a mother. You shouldn't do that now, Crown Prince."

The prince, who was always so calm and composed, looked shocked. Really? Would the emperor actually think like this?

"I didn't do that!" The prince looked at Kangxi hurriedly and defended himself.

At this moment, the prince felt quite strange in his heart. This was a train of thought that had never occurred to him before. How could he marry a wife and forget about... his father? But the fact that the emperor had such an idea made him feel strange and also made him feel that he was valued by his emperor.

It would have been fine if the two of them were just talking nonsense just now, but Kangxi didn't expect Yinzuo to talk nonsense in front of the crown prince. This time, Kangxi was not only embarrassed, but his old face also turned red!

He slammed his chopsticks on the table, but he didn't know what to say to the prince. The prince said he didn't marry a concubine and forget his father. Should he say you did? Or should he say well, I know you didn't?

What a mess, he never mentioned anything like marrying a concubine and forgetting his father, these things are not related at all, and Yinzuo is just rambling and making nonsense!

So Kangxi did not say anything to the crown prince, but to Yinzuo: "Stop talking nonsense!"

Yinzuo covered his mouth with his hand and said no more.

Yinzuo stopped talking, the dinner table became quiet, and the atmosphere became strange.

The prince was thinking seriously, could it be that the emperor really felt that he came to eat less often and wanted him to come over for dinner? He was actually a little happy in his heart.

And Kangxi was once again embarrassed by Yinzuo.

Yinzuo was quiet for a while, then he moved closer to the prince and whispered to him, "Father Huang is angry out of shame. I'm sorry."

"Since the Crown Prince has not married and has forgotten our Royal Father, it means that our Royal Father himself is feeling lost. What the Crown Prince needs to do is to care about our Royal Father more than before."

The prince pursed his lips. At this moment, he was really brought into the idea proposed by Yinzuo. After thinking about it carefully, he suddenly felt that he actually cared less about the Emperor's father than before. When they met, they always talked mostly about official business, which would eventually lead to unpleasantness.

If the Emperor needs him to spend more time with him and show more care and concern, then of course he has no problem doing that.

Kangxi looked at Yinzuo and the prince as if they were real, and they were muttering beside him. He was not deaf or blind, so he took a breath and pretended not to hear anything, which was not right. But if he pretended to hear something, it would be Yinzuo's words that made him so embarrassed that he didn't know what to say.

What the hell is that little bastard saying? He made the emperor sound like a pitiful old father.

I want to beat up the little bastard again!

Kangxi interrupted the whispers between Yinzuo and the prince with a threatening tone and asked, "Yinzuo, don't you want to go to Jiangnan again?"

Yinzuo: "No, no, I want to go!"

Yinzuo sat up straight and said in dissatisfaction, "Father Huang is always threatening and bullying me."

The prince frowned and asked, "Sixth brother, are you going to Jiangnan too?"

Kangxi hummed and said, "If you don't let him go, he will throw a tantrum. If you can stop him from going, then don't let him go."

Yinzuo's eyes widened.

Didn’t we just agree on this?

Yinzuo hurriedly said to the prince, "I don't want to spend the rest of my life in this piece of land in the capital, unable to see anywhere else."

"That would be too pitiful for me."

"Brother, you have all been there."

"Doctor Liu said I can go! Let Doctor Liu come with me!"

Yin Zuo pulled the prince's sleeve under the table and said in a low voice, "Brother Prince, do you still need my guidance on how to write a self-criticism and repentance letter?"

"Brother Prince, please agree to it."

"Do you really want me to throw a tantrum?"

The Emperor and the Crown Prince were angry, but they wanted to find fault with him. They had already agreed to something, but the Emperor would be happy to see him begging for help. It took Yinzuo half a meal to convince the Crown Prince.

After finishing the meal, Yinzuo took a walk with Crown Prince Kangxi, and then said to Kangxi, "I will go back with my brother Crown Prince."

When they arrived at the East Palace, Yinzuo sat beside the Crown Prince and said, "Brother Crown Prince, don't be afraid of getting angry with the Emperor. Don't I often make the Emperor angry?"

"It will pass when you are angry."

"Just don't freeze."

"Don't be cold either."

"Our Emperor can't let go of his face, so we, as his sons, need to be more shameless. We don't need to be so concerned about our face in front of the Emperor."

The prince was silent. This was indeed the way Yinzuo and Kangxi got along. Yinzuo would often make Kangxi angry, but it did not affect the relationship between father and son. Instead, Yinzuo made Kangxi more affectionate than others.

The prince said, “The disputes over court affairs are somewhat different.”

Yinzuo scratched his head and said, "It's just a question. You have your answer and I have my solution. It's normal to have arguments, but don't always bring your anger outside the court."

"Anyway, I don't want to see the two of you in a stalemate. The Emperor will be unhappy, and the Crown Prince will be unhappy too."

The prince said in a muffled voice: "I don't want to be at odds with the Emperor. It's just that the Emperor is dissatisfied and angry with me."

Yin Zuo: "The Emperor is not really dissatisfied with the Crown Prince. Besides, the Emperor is our Emperor, and he should be the one to seek peace as a son. So, Crown Prince, please take the initiative to visit our Emperor more often."

The prince: "I will try my best."

Yin Zuo smiled and said, "Crown Prince, please write your self-criticism and confession carefully."

Yinzuo added, "Oh, by the way, even if the Crown Prince still feels that his opinions on state affairs are correct, don't discuss them again in your self-review and repentance letter. Stick to the main topic."

"Anyway, you made the Emperor angry, so you were wrong."

Yinzuo leaned back in his chair and said leisurely, swinging his feet, "Go and write it, Prince. I'll help you check it after you're done!"

It was always the Crown Prince who checked his schoolwork. Things had changed, and Yinzuo's mouth curled up. He had reached the peak of his life.

He was looking forward to it, but who would have thought that the prince stood up and passed by Yinzuo, covered his head with a snort, and said, "No need!"

"I can come by myself."

Yin Zuo said hurriedly: "Brother Crown Prince has no experience, I will help him revise and polish it."

But the prince said firmly, "No need." He refused to show it to the boy.

Yinzuo also stood up and said, "Then I will grind ink for my prince brother."

The prince chuckled, "You can stay here or go back to study. You still have to go to Jiangnan to play, and the round trip will take a long time. Don't you want to finish the course in the upper study room as soon as possible?"

Yinzuo: “…”

It's unpleasant to talk about this.

Yinzuo was about to go back dejectedly, but when he had just taken two steps, he suddenly heard the prince say, "I'm sorry to have troubled you for me."

Yinzuo smiled, turned around and said to the crown prince: "This is nothing, I just hope that my brother the crown prince and my father are well."

Prince: "...Yes, I know."

Although he did not see the Crown Prince being scolded or beaten, and even did not see a single word in the self-criticism and repentance letter written by the Crown Prince, Yinzuo felt that all his busy work today should be of some use.

Yinzuo then felt relieved and his steps became brisk.

Yinzuo was not a person who could keep things to himself. After returning, he happily told everyone he met that he would go with them on this trip to the south of the Yangtze River.

The Eleventh Prince said enviously, "I want to go too."

Yinzuo comforted him: "Maybe when you are as old as me, you will be able to go too."

Eleventh Prince: “I hope so.”

Yinzuo was going on a long journey, and Defei was naturally worried, but she could never persuade him, so she started to prepare Yinzuo's luggage as soon as she learned about it, muttering to herself, "What if he gets seasick?"

Yinzuo said proudly: "I have tried it, and I don't get seasick!"

De Fei added: "Don't get sick of the local climate there."

Yinzuo: "Don't worry, I've brought the imperial physician with me."

But as a mother, I have a lot of things to tell her. For example, don't eat anything new you see there, don't stand by the water as there are many rivers and lakes there, it rains a lot there, you should bring an umbrella when you go out, and come back quickly if it rains, and don't wander around too long when you go out, so as not to tire yourself out.

After two months of instructions, Yinzuo finally followed Kangxi to the south.

This time, the Crown Prince and the eldest prince are among the entourage, as well as the eighth prince. In the capital, there are also the third prince, the fourth prince, the fifth prince, the seventh prince and several important officials.

The Crown Prince, the eldest prince and the eighth prince all followed Kangxi to learn skills, gain experience and do serious work. Yinzuo was the only one who came out just for fun.

The big boat was sailing on the vast river, and the scenery on both sides was very beautiful. I was standing by the boat looking into the water to see if I could see any fish, and there was a person standing next to me.

Yinzuo looked at him and said, "Eighth brother, you are out too. Has the Emperor finished talking to you about the matter?" They seemed to be talking about the river works just now.

Eighth Prince smiled and said, "Well, it was mainly the Crown Prince and Big Brother who were helping the Emperor to share his worries. I was just listening in. What was Sixth Brother looking down at just now? It looked dangerous."

Yin Zuo: "It's okay, it's okay, I have a firm grip on it."

“Just to see how deep the water is and see the fish down there.”

Eighth Prince: "Oh, Sixth Brother has been standing here for a while. There is wind on the river. It's time for Sixth Brother to go back."

Yinzuo touched his nose and said embarrassedly: "I was about to go back."

Then he whispered, "Eighth brother, I will lose face if you do this." As an older brother, how could he need to be taken care of by a younger brother?

The Eighth Prince laughed: "My brother is talking too much."

"Then Sixth Brother, let's go back together now?"

Yinzuo: “…Okay.” I don’t know why, but Yinzuo behaves like an older brother in front of the Seventh Prince. However, he always feels that he cannot maintain his brotherly airs in front of the Eighth Brother with his gentle smile.

Yinzuo coughed, thinking that the elder brother should take care of the younger brother, and said, "Is Eighth Brother feeling comfortable on the boat? Don't hide it from me."

Eighth Prince: "No, Sixth Brother, did you forget that I have been to Jiangnan before?"

Yinzuo: “…”

But Yinzuo still said firmly: "If there is anything my eighth brother needs, come to me and ask for it. My mother packed a lot of odds and ends for me when I left, even more than one ear pick!"

The Eighth Prince smiled and said, "Okay, I won't be polite to the Sixth Brother."

(End of this chapter)