Chapter Seventy-One
Hongyao now adores his younger brothers. Each of them is fair-skinned and incredibly cute, and they resemble him. His mother says that he always smiles at him, which is proof that his brothers like him.
Hehe, Hongyao also likes his younger brother.
After learning what a full moon celebration was, Hongyao prepared well in advance. He even made sure to wear the same color clothes his younger brother would wear that day...
Anyway, as he kept busy, not only Yinreng found out, but even Kangxi kept hearing about it from him, and shook his head helplessly.
That day, just as dawn was breaking, Hongyao got up and happily went to the room where his younger brothers lived, saying, "My younger brother is the cutest in the world."
Jialuo, sitting beside her, raised an eyebrow. "What about Mother?"
Jialuo, who had just finished her postpartum confinement, had become quite plump, especially her cup size, which had increased by a cup. She was sitting with her legs crossed, looking anything but dignified.
"Mother is the most beautiful woman in the world!" Hongyao, who had already learned how to use words, immediately shouted. His little voice made Jialuo smile brightly.
"Haha, yes, yes, Mother is the most beautiful woman in the world, and what about Father?" Jialuo nodded repeatedly, wanting to see how many words of praise Hongyao had in his mouth.
"Father is the most handsome man in the world." Although Hongyao knew that his father was not here at the moment, it did not affect his performance.
Jialuo smiled happily, and had the three little ones dressed warmly. She touched them and said, "Very good, they're dressed thickly."
Walk!
When we arrived at the main hall, there were already quite a few people there.
Hongyao saw his grandfather immediately and greeted him in a sweet, childlike voice, introducing his younger brother to him, saying things like, "My brother is the cutest, my brother's smile is just like mine..."
Emperor Kangxi looked down at his grandson clinging to his leg, his face full of kindness, and then looked at the little prince being held by the three wet nurses.
"Let me see it," Kangxi ordered.
Although Hongyao's voice wasn't loud, everyone's attention was focused on the supreme leader, so naturally Kangxi was in the center.
Yinti had already heard Yinreng boast about it, but he had never seen it because he didn't have the opportunity. When he went to Yuqing Palace to ask to see the three children, they were in the main courtyard, where the Crown Princess lived.
He couldn't possibly go to the Crown Princess's residence where she was still in confinement after giving birth, could he?
So, she immediately came over and, upon seeing the baby in the wet nurse's hands, glanced at Yinreng in surprise. Indeed, he was the second prince's son; he looked just like the second prince.
"Uncle, doesn't he look a lot like Hongyao?" Hongyao asked proudly, "This is my younger brother."
"Father, this little nephew looks just like you!" The Ninth Prince and the Tenth Prince, who had come over, exclaimed in surprise, then quickly turned to Emperor Kangxi and shouted loudly.
"Oh?" Upon hearing this, Kangxi curiously leaned closer to another child beside him and found that this child did indeed resemble him quite a bit, at least fifty percent.
"Not bad, not bad." Of all his sons, none of them resembled him. At most, they might have similar eyebrows or noses. Immediately, this little baby became one of his favorite grandsons after Hongyao.
"Which of these three children is the oldest?" Kangxi asked. The three wet nurses had already tattooed characters on the outermost hat of the young prince: two, three, and four, clearly indicating their status.
"Hmm, Hongyang, Hongxuan, Hongtun." Kangxi immediately thought of three names, all with similar meanings to Yao, all representing the thriving sunshine of their Great Qing Dynasty and the pillars of the next generation.
Yang means sunshine, Xuan means sunlight, and Tun means the rising sun.
Upon hearing this, Hongyao was also very happy, as his younger brothers finally had names.
The Third Prince, Yinzhi, looked at his father, the Emperor, with a hint of resentment. He admitted that his second brother, the Crown Prince, had a more adorable son, but he couldn't completely ignore his own son.
His legitimate son was born more than half a year ago, but his father, the Emperor, has not yet given him a name.
Seemingly noticing the resentful look in his third son's eyes, Kangxi frowned slightly as he looked over. Why was his third son acting like a woman? And with that resentful look, he resembled a woman confined to her boudoir, filled with sorrow.
It's so spicy it hurts my eyes.
Ignoring the third prince, he started teasing the three little grandsons. The eldest one looked more like Bao Cheng, the youngest one looked more like him, and the one in the middle... perhaps, looked more like the Crown Princess?
Meanwhile, the Crown Princess had already been overwhelmed by the other consorts.
"Crown Princess, I really envy you, having given birth to three such adorable little princes."
"Your Highness, do you have any special... cough cough, is there anything you can teach me?"
"Yes, yes, Crown Princess..."
They were all holding Jialuo in their hands. When she had only given birth to one son, not many people cared. They were just congratulating the Crown Princess.
Now it's different. She's pregnant with triplets, and all three are sons! Who wouldn't be shocked? Who wouldn't be excited? Who wouldn't want that?
The Fourth Prince's Consort, Guarjia, who was five or six months pregnant, did not squeeze forward, fearing that these unreserved women would crowd her belly. She looked at the Crown Princess Fucha, her eyes dark and filled with a chilling jealousy.
Why should I?!
In her previous life, when she was the Crown Prince's wife, the Crown Prince disliked her, and it took seven years before she gave birth to a legitimate daughter.
Why was it that after marrying into Yuqing Palace, Lady Fucha was able to enjoy the Crown Prince's exclusive favor and give birth to four legitimate sons?
The bitterness in my heart was impossible to suppress, so I could only force my gaze to Kangxi. My father had another seventeenth prince born this year, and another twenty-second prince in the future. He was very healthy.
Don't worry, don't worry, Father Emperor will live for another twenty-five or twenty-six years...
As Yinreng listened to the praise and flattery, he couldn't help but let his noble smile spread across his face.
Then, he heard Guarjia's words, which were full of jealousy towards the Crown Princess. Yinreng took it all as the impotent rage of a loser.
Then, I heard what came next...
This year is the thirty-fifth year. If Father Emperor can live for another twenty-six years... then doesn't that mean Father Emperor can live to be sixty-eight years old (the sixty-first year of Kangxi's reign)?
If my father, the Emperor, can live to be sixty-eight, then I mean... I'll be almost fifty when I become the Crown Prince?
Instantly, Yinreng's desire to compete with Yinti and his brothers vanished. He could not possibly follow Li Shimin's example and overthrow his father, making him the retired emperor.
Since he was currently living in the palace, the only person he could contact was Suo'etu. Yinreng did not believe that his father, the Emperor, could trust him enough to accept whatever he did.
Even though he didn't rebel, his father was still able to imprison him, which shows how strong his father's desire for power was. He didn't intend to be imprisoned in Xian'an Palace with the Crown Princess and the others.
His Hongyao is so dazzling, outstanding, lovely, and intelligent... He can't bear to part with him.
If only the Emperor could be like Zhu Yuanzhang, the Ming Dynasty emperor...
He frowned slightly, then realized that his behavior was inappropriate. His thoughts seemed to have been on his mind for a long time, but in reality, only a few seconds had passed.
He leaned closer, quite smugly, "Yes, these are our three little ones. Aren't they fair and tender? But when they were born, the smallest one was only the size of my palm. It scared me so much, I was so worried..."
Yinreng didn't let anyone else notice anything unusual about him. He was all smiles and seemed simple and naive, but in Kangxi's eyes, he was just full of childishness.
The birth of the next generation of the royal family filled Emperor Kangxi with both joy and sorrow. He was joyful that the next generation would have a successor, but sorrowful that he was now the Emperor's grandfather, getting old...
However, Kangxi, who was good at hiding his thoughts, did not show them. He showed great affection for Hongyao and his three young grandsons.
However, among the three young imperial grandsons, Kangxi favored Hongyao the most, as he believed that a child as intelligent as Hongyao would surely be able to shoulder the responsibility of the Qing Dynasty if he were to become the next crown prince.
Therefore, even though several young imperial grandsons were praised, only Hongyao was able to stay by Kangxi's side.
The wives were unaware of the implications, but the subjects understood what the emperor's actions meant.
She glanced at His Highness the Crown Prince without leaving a trace, which shows that His Highness's position is still very secure.
Although Yinreng could not hear his father’s thoughts, he could hear the thoughts of his ministers clearly. He wanted to roll his eyes in exasperation, because they did not know how long his father would live. If they had known, they would have turned around and followed his younger brothers, and might even have wanted to support the fourteenth, sixteenth, seventeenth or eighteenth emperors... who knows!
While Yinreng was all smiles and laughter, the Crown Princess appeared rather disheveled.
Everyone was asking about the secret to conceiving a child. This place not only housed the primary wife but also the secondary wives, and more importantly... the men were still there. Anyone who spoke a little loudly could be heard.
What secret formula could she possibly have for conceiving? At most, she could tell you about your ovulation period, which is when you're most likely to get pregnant.
"There's no secret to having a boy or a girl. You reap what you sow. I've never seen anyone plant a bitter melon and expect to grow a sweet one." Jia Luo initially refused, saying that no one could do it even hundreds of years from now, let alone now.
The princesses frowned, thinking that the crown princess simply didn't want to talk to them.
"Isn't that so? Haven't you ladies ever seen farming? Plant rice, and vegetables will grow?" Jialuo asked in a low voice, silencing all the ladies. This, this, this, indeed...
"Then, shouldn't we say that our master should eat it?" Of course, they all believed that the child was the man's offspring, but no one had ever raised this idea before. Now that the Crown Princess had said it out loud, they frowned in suspicion and asked slowly in a low voice.
“Yes, it should be the men who eat.” Another princess from Khorchin clapped her hands. How could someone as robust as her not be able to have children? If she couldn’t have children, it must be the man’s problem.
Many of the younger wives blushed with embarrassment, but since it concerned their future lives, they had to continue listening, no matter how embarrassed they were.
"Your Highness, what should we feed them so they can give birth to a son?" This was their biggest concern.
“I don’t know. How can you ask me that? I’m not a man. If men could control whether their offspring are male or female, what family in the world wouldn’t have a son? That means it’s all ordained by God.” Jia Luo immediately tried to persuade her, afraid that these women would put this kind of pressure on her.
They refused to answer and quickly shifted the blame.
This is the Qing Dynasty! Later generations often use the phrase "Even after the Qing Dynasty was destroyed, it still favored men over women" to criticize people. The feudal ideology of ancient times was something that she alone could not match or defeat.
All she could do was adapt!
The other wives frowned with worry. Seeing this, Jialuo quickly comforted them, "However, you can't control whether you have a son or a daughter. As long as you have more children, you'll eventually have a son."
Stop looking so gloomy in front of me, okay? You act so familiar and close to me, but we might have only exchanged a few words, or maybe we haven't even spoken at all!
Tsk.
"It's easy to say, but I've been married to our master for several years, and he only dotes on those concubines. What am I supposed to do?" Many wives were worried and said that when marrying a wife, one should choose a virtuous one, and when taking a concubine, one should choose a beautiful one. The key is that those stinky men are visual creatures and only like good-looking women. What use is it if you are virtuous?
Then it turned into a criticism session, criticizing how scumbags their husbands were, how they favored their wives over their concubines...
What could Jialuo do? In the end, she still comforted them with a faint elegance and a smile.
The wives didn't expect to get something for nothing. They planned to send the Crown Princess a bunch of big gifts when they got back. They were sure they could win her heart!
After the successful completion of the full moon celebration, Jialuo received wave after wave of generous gifts from various imperial relatives, high-ranking officials, and their wives, mostly in the form of silver notes, and they secretly inquired about any secret remedies to help with fertility...
If Kangxi wanted to know what was sent to the palace, he could naturally find out.
The secret formulas for conceiving a child... Kangxi couldn't bear to look at them. But these ministers were quite wealthy, with stacks of silver notes as if they were free.
Hmm, the national treasury isn't very full lately. Shouldn't we confiscate the homes of a few corrupt officials to replenish the treasury?
Galdan returned to the northern desert and ousted his nephew from the throne. Emperor Kangxi was furious, feeling that Galdan was like a fly that could not be driven away!
Jialu didn't care what others thought. When she received these generous gifts, she was overjoyed. Oh my, this is more profitable than running my own business!
Finally, feeling a pang of conscience, Jialuo wrote down the ovulation period, such as when she was most fertile, but she couldn't guarantee whether the seed was male or female.
The wives then started to mess with their husbands. The secret to conceiving that the Crown Princess knew must be the secret to having triplets!
However, the Crown Princess also said that she was unsure whether she would give birth to a boy or a girl, so it all depends on her husband.
All those fertility secret recipes in the capital weren't for people to drink themselves, but for men to drink.
So, when the relatives and ministers returned home, they were all frowning and extremely upset. Why did they have to give me such awful-tasting stuff to drink?
When Jialuo occasionally heard about it from the Crown Prince, she would laugh heartily. However, a few days later, a piece of news came that left the Crown Princess speechless.
The Fourth Prince's wife, Lady Guarjia, who was five or six months pregnant, suffered a miscarriage while paying her respects to the Empress Dowager at Yonghe Palace!
Jialuo was immediately shocked. What? Did Consort De bully Lady Guarjia? That's why Lady Guarjia miscarried? Wasn't she already five or six months along? Didn't the imperial physicians already diagnose whether it was a boy or a girl?
I heard it's a boy?
She pursed her lips, shook her head, and thought, "What a pity. Right now, Lady Guarjia must hate Consort De to death..."
(End of this chapter)
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