Chapter 84
Prince Zhi, Yinti, was furious. His father, the Emperor, was doing it on purpose!
But the emperor's decree could not be disobeyed, and Yinti did not want his wife and daughters to worry.
Before leaving, she still summoned the imperial physician, filled with hope and expectation. The First Princess knew what Prince Zhi was thinking; she had no expectation whatsoever for the so-called 'secret formula for conceiving a child'.
Before she gave birth to four princesses, did she drink a lot?
However, in response to Prince Zhi's expectation, he extended his hand to allow the imperial physician to take his pulse.
The imperial physicians hadn't heard any good news from the Prince Zhi's residence for many years, so they didn't immediately think that the First Princess Consort was pregnant; they just assumed that she was feeling unwell.
It's nothing serious...
Hearing the imperial physician's truthful words, Yinti was filled with disappointment. She had thought that after trying for so long, she would be able to conceive a legitimate son.
On the night before he left, he worked until almost dawn, determined to implant his legitimate son in his wife's womb.
Prince Zhi went to train the navy, while Yinzhi, Yinzhen, Yinqi, Yinyou, and Yinsi split into two groups, one heading south and the other west.
Entrusted with the important tasks of 'investigating and punishing corrupt officials' and promoting grain production, the princes worked very hard.
As for the western and southern regions of the Gobi Desert, Kangxi did not want them to develop rapidly, as this would only allow their ambitions to swell.
However, Yinreng did mention the matter of woolen garments. If wool is truly so useful, then the Mongol tribes might not be a threat to the Qing Dynasty in a few decades.
Meanwhile, after the factory was built, most of the profits were used to repair roads, which Kangxi thought was good since it didn't use the national treasury's money.
While Yinreng was busy with court affairs, Jialuo was coaxing the three chubby little boys.
However, as the little chubby boy grows up, he will always yearn for the outside world. For example, right now, when he can't find his father, he misses his older brother.
"Looking for Big Brother, let's play." Hongyang liked his three younger brothers, and he also liked his eldest brother. He turned around and was about to take his three younger brothers to find their eldest brother to play. It had been a long time since he had seen his eldest brother.
"Okay, okay." Hongxuan and Hongtun, the two chubby babies, were naturally happy. They especially liked to go to their grandfather, who had all the good food (books, gold, silver and jade rewards) available. How could they not like it?
He brought his warship again—a small wooden cart, which had now been modified.
Jialu didn't know where the Imperial Household Department got the plastic to make the tires, but she felt that it wasn't that ancient people were incapable, but that they hadn't thought of such a method yet. As long as they had the idea, they could make many ingenious things.
At this moment, the three chubby babies, who were still unable to ride bicycles on their own, led a large group of people behind them, heading towards the Qianqing Palace in a grand procession.
The three chubby babies were already very much loved. Whether it was their grandfather, father, mother, or even their eldest brother and grandmother, they all adored them, making them almost like little tyrants.
So for a while, the three chubby babies didn't have any worries and went wherever they wanted.
As a result, when they arrived at the Qianqing Palace, they asked the guards at the entrance and found that their elder brother was not there, saying that he was at the martial arts training ground.
The three chubby babies looked at the blazing sun outside, then huddled together, saying, "It's so hot, I... I want to go back."
Well, my love for my older brother can only go this far.
At the very least, it's quite a distance from here to the training ground, and they're tired.
"Third brother, I'm hungry." As the eldest of the three chubby kids, the adorable and simple-minded Hongyang rubbed his belly and looked at his younger brother with a pitiful expression.
The third brother, Hongxuan, likes gold and silver and is quite quick-witted. Among the three children, he usually acts as a strategist and leader.
The fourth brother, Hongtun, is a quiet and reserved scholar who generally doesn't offer much opinion; whatever you say, I'll listen to.
For example, at this moment, Hongxuan was thinking that this place was not far from Cining Palace, but the key thing was... before going out today, he accidentally spilled his mother's rouge and face powder, which was his mother's favorite kind.
"Let's go find Granny Ukuma." Hongxuan said with a smile that Granny Ukuma was the best. She was always smiling, making them happy to see her, and she always had lots of food.
"Charge!" Little Hongyang raised his chubby little fist, which looked incredibly fierce.
Emperor Kangxi, sitting in the Qianqing Palace, had long heard the childish voices of his three grandsons outside. He thought of those three chubby little boys. Now that Hongyao was about to begin his early education, he wouldn't have as much free time to spend with him.
Therefore, Emperor Kangxi is now an empty-nest old man again.
That's why she wants to play with her three chubby grandchildren even more. They're so cute and adorable, and they take everything she says to heart.
Unfortunately, Emperor Kangxi, sitting on the dragon throne in the Qianqing Palace, pretended to be very serious in dealing with the memorials. After waiting for a long time, his grandson did not come in, and he frowned slightly.
"Liang Jiugong, where is he?" Kangxi asked Liang Jiugong.
Liang Jiugong really has no sense of propriety at all. Doesn't he know how to go out and greet the three little princes?
Liang Jiugong: It was clearly Your Majesty who gave this servant a wink, telling me to stay here and not leave...
However, he quickly responded and went out to see what was going on, whether something had happened.
Then, the guards said that the three young princes had gone to Cining Palace after hearing that Prince Hongyao was not there.
Liang Jiugong went back to report to His Majesty. When Kangxi learned of this, he pursed his lips, took one last look at the stacks of memorials on the dragon desk, and said nothing.
Never mind, let's continue reviewing the memorials.
Cining Palace.
A childish voice calling "Ukuma Mama" came from inside. The Empress Dowager hesitated and asked the person beside her, "Did I hear someone calling Ukuma Mama?"
"Hongyang and the others have arrived?" Only a few of the young princes from Yuqing Palace are able to move freely and unimpeded within the palace. The others... have already left the palace.
"Your Majesty, it's Prince Hongyang and the others who have arrived." The maid's reply had barely finished when the little voices of Prince Hongyang and the others could be heard from outside the palace gates.
"Grandma Ukuma, we're here." As soon as the little voice fell, three chubby little figures appeared.
The Empress Dowager once raised the Fifth Prince Yinqi and the Ninth Princess, both of whom have grown up and no longer live in the palace.
Even if they came to pay their respects every month, they would only sit for a short while, at most twice a month. On ordinary days, Cining Palace was quiet and lonely, with only a few Mongolian concubines from the previous emperor's reign chatting together.
Now, whenever the three little princes come over, they are overjoyed. They bring out all sorts of delicious food and always take a lot of things with them in the back of their little cart to take back with them.
How could the three little imperial grandsons not like it?
"Hongyang is here."
"Hongxuan, Hongxuan, come here, come here..."
"Where is Hongtun..."
Several Dowager Princesses warmly greeted the three chubby little boys, hoping to talk to them.
The three chubby kids were quite pleased with their popularity. They skipped over happily, carrying jerky and milk cakes, and drinking milk tea.
But it still feels a little warm...
"Ukuma Mama, I want it, ice-cold." Hongyang remembered that his mother had drunk some cool, sweet water that was steaming last time, but she wouldn't let him drink it, saying... saying that children shouldn't drink it.
He didn't believe it.
The Empress Dowager, having raised two children herself, knew that children of this age shouldn't eat just anything, especially since their stomachs are prone to illness.
"Grandma Ukuma doesn't have any here." If you say you can't have it, the child will definitely make a fuss, like Yinqi in the past.
The Empress Dowager's words cast a shadow of disappointment and dismay on the chubby faces of the three little chubby boys, Hongyang, Hongxuan, and Hongtun.
It was as if it were saying... Ah, how could there not be?
"Come on, have some, one small piece for each of you..." These small watermelon slices, about the thickness of a finger, are just for tasting; they were brought as tribute from Taiwan.
The Empress Dowager didn't eat cold things much, and her stomach wasn't very strong either. Even if she wanted to eat something, the nannies and maids around her would dissuade her.
Three chubby little kids took a small strip of watermelon, took a bite of the red part, and felt the sweet taste. Their faces were full of smiles.
The three chubby little boys were used to being held in the arms of the Dowager Mongols, speaking in their babyish voices and occasionally nodding in agreement, creating a harmonious and joyful scene.
"Grandma Ukuma, I miss my elder brother." They couldn't find their elder brother in the Qianqing Palace, nor could they see him in the Yuqing Palace, so they had no choice but to ask the Empress Dowager for help.
The Empress Dowager looked at her three adorable great-grandchildren, their big, round, bright eyes blinking as they looked at her, their childish, pleading voices full of grievance, which made her feel sorry for them.
"Wukuma, have someone fetch my elder brother, okay?" She had just finished coaxing him when she suddenly remembered... The education of the princes and grandsons was none of her business.
Even if Yinqi could only speak Mongolian back then and could only study by staying up all night when he entered school, she had no right to interfere in the education of the royal children.
"However, our eldest brother is studying. We'll wait until he finishes his studies before we play with Hongyang, Hongxuan, and Hongtun," the Empress Dowager comforted the three chubby babies.
Consort Meng and the others were not allowed to wander around the inner palace freely. Although they were old, their relationship with the emperor was that of the late emperor's women.
All she could do was hold the three chubby babies and try to coax them. They were never favored in their childhood and had no hope of having children in this lifetime.
I didn't care before, but now that I'm old...
The three chubby boys were left in the Cining Palace for lunch.
Then... they were taken away by people from the Qianqing Palace. Emperor Kangxi was very fond of his three chubby little grandsons.
The clever and adorable little boy, Hongxuan, knew that their powerful mafia father was the one who kept his word, so he immediately hugged his mafia father's leg and said, "Mafia father, I miss my big brother."
"Yes, after school today, go back with Hongyao." Kangxi was very generous. Well, the time that should be spent studying still needs to be spent on studying.
Go home after school.
As for the homework to be assigned tonight, let the tutor in the Imperial Study... pause for a while?
Emperor Kangxi knew he was being a bit too hasty and hoped to educate his next successor well while he was still alive.
Although the crown prince is still somewhat inexperienced, he is already quite outstanding. The real concern is the next one…
Evening, Yuqing Palace.
Hongyao happily finished school and went straight to see his cutest younger brothers, "Hongyang, Hongxuan, Hongtun, your brother is back."
Upon hearing that their eldest brother had returned, the three chubby toddlers excitedly ran out on their short legs, shouting loudly, "Big brother, big brother, big brother is back!"
After he finished speaking, the little babies rushed out and stretched out their chubby little arms to hug Hongyao.
"Big brother, I miss you."
“Big Brother, Hongxuan, too.”
"Big brother, big brother..."
The three children were relatively more lively in front of their eldest brother. Even the quiet little scholar Hong Tun was no exception, hugging his eldest brother and almost pouncing on him.
Even though Hongyao has started learning martial arts, his age is still a factor. The three chubby little babies pressing down on him with such a strong impact makes it hard for Hongyao to resist the 'heavy and solid' love from his younger brothers.
She barely withstood the impact with a small horse stance, her face beaming with smiles, "Brother missed you all too."
"Hongyao, you're back? Let Mommy give you a hug." At this age, he's still in kindergarten... or perhaps he's just graduated from kindergarten. Of course, Jialuo doesn't have the kind of thinking that 'boys and girls can't sit together after the age of seven,' nor does she think there's anything wrong with her missing her child and wanting to hug him.
As soon as he finished speaking, he picked Hongyao up in his arms.
When Hongyao was held in his mother's arms, he was a little unaccustomed to it and tried to struggle. His childish voice said shyly, "Mother, I, I have, grown up."
I wanted to push my mother away, but I was afraid that she wasn't strong enough and might fall.
Looking at my cute and delicate son's awkward little expression, I feel so happy that I want to pat his little head. My son is so adorable.
“Even when he grows up, he will still be his mother’s son.” Jialuo felt that the child was being forced to grow too fast, but since they were in the royal family, happy education was impossible.
Whether one wants a joyful education depends on whether the social environment and conditions allow it.
If you sit in this position and teach your children to be too naive, they will only be devoured by the wolves and tigers outside.
When Yinreng came over from the front courtyard, he asked Hongyao about him repeatedly with concern. After all, how could Yinreng not worry about him when he wasn't by his side?
Only Hongyao was filled with a deep sense of happiness: I am the one who is most loved by my family.
Hehehe.
No matter how narcissistically pleased he was inside, on the surface, he remained as calm as the former Yinreng, his cute little face remaining perfectly composed.
At night, the three little ones still surrounded Hongyao, wanting to sleep with their older brother.
Hongyao was overjoyed to be holding his chubby little brothers.
Just after July, the birth mother of the Thirteenth Prince, Lady Zhangjia, passed away. Emperor Kangxi had originally planned to bestow upon Lady Zhangjia the title of Consort and the posthumous name Min.
But then Kangxi remembered the time when several of his concubines had passed away... Now, it was time for the Twelfth Prince and his consorts to get married again.
The eldest, third, fourth, fifth, seventh... and several others have not yet had a legitimate son.
In the end, Zhangjia was granted the title of concubine and given the posthumous name Min.
Min concubine.
When the thirteenth prince, Yinxiang, learned that his mother had given birth to one son and two daughters for his father, the emperor, yet still could not obtain the rank of concubine, he was so angry that his eyes turned red.
But what else could he do?
Aside from leaving a significant mark on the Thirteenth Prince and his two younger sisters, the death of Lady Zhangjia did not attract much attention.
Yinreng submitted a memorial requesting the construction of roads, the most crucial of which was to directly connect to the various Mongol tribes.
Knowing he couldn't personally supervise the work, Yinreng specially selected a group of newly promoted Manchu bannermen to oversee it.
For example, the Uya, Fucha, and Hesheli clans, who were somewhat capable but of good character, selected a group of their usual mortal enemies.
Of course, besides these, there were also many other Manchu bannermen, whether they were Mingzhu's children or relatives, a group of them were selected to go and gain experience.
Emperor Kangxi also felt that the new generation of children needed to experience hardship. As the Crown Prince said, why should every son of the emperor have to study hard while they can be carefree all day long?
In addition to the wise leadership of the emperor, the execution and ability of the officials under him were also very important for the Qing Dynasty to succeed.
The new generation of the Hesheli family knew that this was the candidate recommended by the Crown Prince to the Emperor, and Songgotu was deeply moved.
Your Highness, Your Highness has never forgotten the Hesheli clan.
Besides Soetu's second son, Algishan, there were two other children from the clan, oh... and a nephew from a concubine's family, what was his name again? Soetu forgot.
However, Suo'etu didn't care; he was happy as long as his own child was put in there.
Even the minor conflicts between the children were investigated by Suo'etu. He knew that this was an opportunity for his son to catch the emperor's eye, so he naturally had to take it seriously.
He realized that it would be difficult for him to return to the imperial court, and that the future depended on his descendants.
Algishan was unaware of his father's intentions, only knowing that he was to go to Mongolia to oversee some road construction? Wouldn't that make him like a mere steward? How embarrassing.
"No way, I'd rather die than go." Algishan shook his head violently, afraid that his mortal enemy would find out and laugh at him.
"Then I'll beat you to death, you little bastard." Songgotu was still fantasizing about whether his son Hesheli would have a bright future, with a crown prince and an excellent and capable son, when his son said this to him.
Enraged, Soetu grabbed a cane and chased after Ajirshan, waving the cane as he ran.
"Mother!! Mother!!" Ajiershan shouted as he ran. He had been beaten by his father too many times recently and was terrified.
Hesheli Fujin no longer wanted to pay attention to Ajirshan. Compared to his former dissolute and irresponsible nature, he was now much more like a spirited young man.
Ajirshan ultimately prevailed with his youthful vigor, running out of his house and finding his former gang of ruthless underlings with whom he once terrorized the streets.
I just discovered... wait, why are you guys coming along to supervise the construction too? What? And you're being treated like underlings by so-and-so?
no!
He has to be my underling. How dare that piece of trash be a supervisor? What gives him the right? And he's trying to steal my underling?
He immediately ran home with his long legs, "Father, Father, I want to go, I want to supervise the road construction. You, please bring my group of brothers over here."
Leading a group of henchmen, they were a force to be reckoned with. Even outside the capital, they were the most prominent and powerful figures.
Besides Ajirshan of Suo'etu, many spoiled children had this idea, and when they heard that their mortal enemy could go, they thought, "I want to go too!"
However, upon arrival, Agilsan discovered that his father's promises were all empty words; his mortal enemy was actually supervising the construction alongside him?!
How awful!
Amma actually doubted whether he was inferior to Tursa! How could that be?
As a result, this group of young men made a grand entrance and worked in a huff. Yinreng knew that with such a short temper, he couldn't keep them from suffering to the end.
So, they even sent someone to record their daily 'work,' and a month later, they praised and commended another person in front of everyone, sent a reward, and also treated the migrant workers to a good meal to celebrate.
This immediately heightened everyone's enthusiasm and intensified the tension between the two supervisors.
Jialuo knew none of this.
A recent piece of news has shocked the royal family: the First Consort... is pregnant.
More than three years later, she finally became pregnant again. Consort Hui almost cried. She wanted to hold a grandson. At first, she thought of a legitimate grandson, but when she saw that the Grand Consort had not given birth to a grandson, she thought that a grandson from a concubine would also be fine.
They are all Yinti's sons anyway.
Who knew that Yinti was suffering so much? He didn't want his son to suffer the same hardships he had as the eldest son of a concubine. He didn't want his son to bear the same burden.
What could Consort Hui do? Could she possibly force her own son?
Therefore, they kept urging the First Princess Consort, because she hadn't conceived for several years. Consort Hui even suspected that the First Princess Consort's health had been ruined by giving birth to four daughters.
They specially summoned her to Yanxi Palace and also summoned the imperial physician to take the pulse of the Grand Princess to see if she had overworked herself. However, the pulse diagnosis showed that the Grand Princess was in good health.
Consort Hui was furious.
Now, his daughter-in-law is finally pregnant again, and he is praying to the gods and Buddhas that she will give birth to a legitimate son.
The First Princess also sent the news to Prince Yinti, who was training the navy in Tianjin Bay. Upon receiving the letter, Yinti jumped up and down with joy, shouting, "Ahhhhhhh!!! My lord is going to have a legitimate son!"
This was his long-cherished wish. He may have suppressed the urge to compete with Yinreng, but the idea of being the legitimate son always remained in his heart and was deeply ingrained in his bones.
Yinti firmly believed in Yinreng's 'secret formula for having a son,' and happily skipped around waving the letter in his hand. The night watchman outside thought that something had happened to Yinti, so he quickly knocked on the door to ask.
Because he trained with the soldiers, Yinti didn't put on any airs of a prince. After all, no one had ever trained a navy before. Hearing that he would be going to the ocean with them, he said, "It's alright, it's alright. I'm happy. I'm going to have a son."
Upon hearing this, the guards on night watch sighed in disbelief. They hadn't realized even the prince had such worries. They'd thought he had dozens, even hundreds, of wives bearing him sons, so he shouldn't have any trouble…
However, it was precisely Yinti's joyful expression that brought them closer together.
The next day, when Yinti went out, the soldiers greeted him, "Your Highness, we heard you have a son? Congratulations, congratulations!"
"Thank you, thank you." Yinti's face was beaming with a bright smile, completely forgetting that his wife was only pregnant, not yet had given birth.
The First Princess Consort, who was far away in the capital, sneezed, startling Consort Hui, who immediately shouted, "Summon the Imperial Physician! The Imperial Physician!"
The First Princess Consort chuckled helplessly, "Mother, your daughter-in-law is fine..."
At the same time, she felt uneasy and anxious. What would happen if she still failed to give birth to a legitimate son this time?
Gently stroking her still-flat belly, she felt a pang of longing for Yinti, who was far away in Tianjin Bay…
(End of this chapter)
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