Chapter 86 was something even Kangxi hadn't expected...
To Kangxi's surprise, despite the huge mistake the Crown Prince made, Soetu remained completely silent, making no move whatsoever.
Other ministers under the Crown Prince, in a panic, rushed to see this great-uncle of the Crown Prince, but were also turned away, as he was said to be recuperating from illness.
Upon learning of this, Emperor Kangxi sent some medicinal herbs to appease the emperor.
Soetu then went to the palace to express his gratitude, but he still didn't mention the Crown Prince at all. The two of them exchanged some polite words without saying a word and then parted ways.
Because of the Crown Prince's affair, Wen Shan even benefited from the tragedy, no longer needing to prepare for the agonizingly complicated wedding. This gave her more time to research how to make some gadgets to cool down Xianfu Palace.
Just as Wen Shan had feared, the past few days had been merely appetizers, and now the weather was getting hotter and hotter. Even Yin Zhen, who was not afraid of the heat and said that a calm mind would bring coolness, was often covered in sweat just by sitting down.
Yinzhi also brought in a lot of ice from outside the palace and sent a lot to Consort Min and Consort Liang, worried that they would be too hot.
In particular, since the Fifth Princess is still being cared for in Consort Min's palace, Yinxiang, though unwilling, still had Yinsi send some more over.
He was worried that the Fifth Princess would steal the ice from her mother and two younger sisters.
Yinzhi: "..."
"I don't even know what to say about you."
Yinzhi rubbed his head and finally gave in to Yinxiang's wishes, sending him more.
Yinxiang also found some time to visit Consort Min.
"Why did you come here on such a hot day?" Consort Min hurriedly invited Yinxiang into the house to cool off, and urged the palace servants to bring up a cup of cool tea.
Yinxiang came over after finishing his studies at the Imperial Study. It was already getting dark, but the air was still hot. Consort Min had planted some grapevines in the courtyard, imitating Wenshan's example, imagining the summer days when the grapes would be plentiful, fragrant, and beautiful, and she could sit under the grapevines and chat with the children. But this year, she couldn't even go out.
The grapevines were also wilted and droopy from the sun.
Dunke and Wenke were playing with the building blocks that Yinxiang had carved for them in the palace. As soon as they saw Yinxiang, they rushed over to him.
"Thirteenth Brother!"
"Thirteenth Brother, you haven't been here in so long. Wen Ke has missed you terribly."
With a sweet and soft little sister in each hand, Yinxiang was overjoyed.
My little sister is so cute! Every time she sees him, she acts all cute and says she misses him.
Consort Min watched the three siblings cuddling together, feeling both amused and exasperated.
"Alright, let go of your thirteenth brother. He was just complaining about the heat, and now you're all huddled together again."
Yinxiang looked around the hall and saw four or five vats of ice, with a small fan on top. The palace servants could pull the fan to make it spin and blow cold air.
With plenty of ice, the room was indeed quite cool.
"Mother, it's hot today, so please don't be stingy with ice. If you need more, just tell me," Yinxiang instructed.
The amount of ice allocated by the Imperial Household Department is barely enough to use. Many palaces are struggling to conserve it, but ice is something that can't be saved, because it melts.
So this absurdly hot weather brought a lot of trouble to the concubines in the palace, not to mention the common people.
Consort Min smiled and said, "The Imperial Concubine sent some more a few days ago, which is more than enough. You don't need to worry."
Although it was actually Yinzhi who brought the ice into the palace, it was nominally Wenshan who delivered it to Consort Min and Consort Liang.
It's normal that concubines from families like Consort Tong, Consort Hui, and Consort Yi, who live in the capital, also send ice to the palace, and it doesn't attract attention now.
Consort Min's place is one of the few in the palace that is least lacking in ice. She has three princesses in her palace, so the Imperial Household Department takes extra care of her. Wen Shan also always remembers her, so she is living a relatively comfortable life now.
Yinxiang nodded, then asked his two younger sisters, "Is it hot lately? Are you able to sleep at night?"
Wen Ke obediently said, "Mother put a lot of ice in my and my sister's palace, and there are also palace maids fanning us at night, so it's not hot."
Dunke nodded, still somewhat bewildered.
"And what about Fifth Sister?"
Yinxiang looked up at Consort Min, who was serving ice cream to several children. Hearing this, she smiled gently and said, "The Fifth Princess is naturally treated the same as Dunke and Wenke. We will not let her suffer any grievances."
Wen Ke snorted and tugged at Yinxiang's clothes to complain, "Fifth Sister's palace is cooler than ours. Mother always gives Fifth Sister the best things first."
"What nonsense are you spouting, you little brat?" Consort Min poked Wen Ke's little head. "Fifth Sister just arrived, so naturally we should treat her better. You're saying that Mother Mother is mistreating you two, but isn't it always the same?"
Wen Ke's words were indeed somewhat exaggerated. Consort Min would not neglect her own daughter while taking care of the Fifth Princess. She was simply trying to be fair in terms of food, clothing, and daily necessities so as not to give anyone any reason to criticize her.
After saying that, Consort Min felt something was amiss and said, "How do you know it's cool in your fifth sister's palace? Did you secretly go to your fifth sister's palace again behind Mother's back?"
Wen Ke hid behind Yinxiang: "Thirteenth Brother, look at Mother!"
Yinxiang patted Wenke and said with a smile, "Mother, why can't Wenke and Dunke go to Fifth Sister's palace?"
Consort Min sighed and handed the ice cream to the three little troublemakers. Seeing that Wen Ke and Dun Ke were happy again as soon as they had food, she then said to Yinxiang, "You don't know, a while ago Wen Ke and Dun Ke secretly sneaked in, and the three of them started arguing for some reason. Dun Ke was fine, but you know Wen Ke, he's got a sharp tongue at such a young age."
"She's definitely a sharp-tongued little girl." Yinxiang laughed when he heard this, already able to imagine what the scene must have been like.
Although Wen Ke is young and usually seems well-behaved, her words can be quite sharp when she gets into an argument. The Fifth Princess may seem domineering, but she probably can't win an argument with her.
Consort Min was both amused and exasperated: "As a result, she made the Fifth Princess cry, and she refused to eat for two days in a row."
"Oh, is that so?"
Yinxiang raised an eyebrow. What had Wen Ke said to make him so angry?
The Fifth Princess's refusal to eat terrified Consort Min. She couldn't bear the responsibility if something went wrong with the Fifth Princess while she was there. However, seeing that the Fifth Princess was really stubborn, no matter how she tried to persuade her, it was no use. In the end, she had no choice but to drag Wen Ke to apologize to the Fifth Princess.
Wen Ke was also frightened and reluctantly apologized before the matter was considered closed.
Yinxiang sighed, realizing that leaving the Fifth Princess with her mother was indeed a problem. Even though he had already warned the Fifth Princess last time, it seemed to have had little effect.
There were no outsiders in the hall, so Yinxiang spoke frankly.
“Mother, if you think it’s troublesome to raise Fifth Sister, then I’ll find a way to get Father to move Fifth Sister to another place to be raised.”
Consort Min was unaware of her son's abilities. Hearing Yinxiang say this, she assumed he was going to ask Wenshan for help and quickly said, "There's no need to trouble Your Highness. It's just a princess, one more person to eat with."
Consort Min spoke the truth. Although they were both imperial heirs, there was still a big difference between a prince and a princess. As long as she served the princess well, she would be fine after she got married in a couple of years. In addition, Uya was in such a sorry state that no one was supporting the Fifth Princess. She was just a young girl and couldn't cause any trouble.
Dunke ate until she looked like a little kitten, and Minpin gently wiped her daughter's mouth: "Eat slowly, no one's going to take it from you."
Dunke, disregarding everything else, tugged at Yinxiang's sleeve and said anxiously, "Thirteenth Brother, could you please not send Fifth Sister away?"
Yinxiang: "...Dunke likes her very much?"
Wen Ke pouted and snorted, "Don't be fooled by her looks!"
Dunke quickly shook his head: "Fifth Sister is a very kind person, she gave Dunke the little butterfly back!"
"Little butterfly?"
Dunke nodded and rummaged through his small bag, finally pulling out a very delicate butterfly hairpin.
“Isn’t this the gift the Emperor bestowed upon the Fifth Princess for her birthday last year?” Consort Min recognized it at a glance.
At that time, Consort Wuya was still the Consort De who was riding high, and the Fifth Princess was also favored, so her birthday was celebrated in a grand manner. Consort Min naturally attended the banquet as well. This butterfly hairpin was specially made for the Fifth Princess by the palace servants of the Imperial Household Department at the Emperor's request. The gemstones inlaid on it were all rare treasures. The Fifth Princess cherished it very much and only wore it on her birthday. She usually kept it carefully hidden away.
Wen Ke also came closer to examine it, hands on his hips, and said in great shock, "Fifth Sister actually gave this to you? How is that possible?"
Consort Min clearly didn't believe it either, and with a serious expression, she hugged Dunke and asked, "Did Fifth Sister really give this to you?"
It would be troublesome if Dunke sneaked in and took it himself because he was playing around.
"It really was Fifth Sister who gave it to Dunke!"
Dunke was already young, and in his haste, he couldn't speak clearly. It took Yinxiang and the others quite a while to understand what had happened.
It turns out that Wen Ke and the Fifth Princess had a fight, and after the Fifth Princess started a hunger strike, Wen Ke secretly slipped into the West Side Hall one day.
At that time, the Fifth Princess had driven all the servants out of the palace. Wen Ke's words that day were indeed somewhat harsh, tearing apart and trampling the dignity that the Fifth Princess had been trying so hard to maintain. The Fifth Princess had never felt so humiliated. She drove all the palace servants out and curled up by the window, staring blankly at the sky.
This was the scene that greeted Dunke when she entered, and she was somewhat frightened.
Dunke was very clever. Although Consort Min did not mention it to her, the little girl understood that it seemed that her older sister had angered her fifth sister, which was why her fifth sister was not eating.
But how can a person not eat? They'll go hungry.
So Dunke secretly brought his favorite snacks to visit the Fifth Princess.
The Fifth Princess noticed her as soon as she entered, but she ignored Dunke.
He glanced at her once and then continued to curl up by the window without saying a word.
After thinking for a moment, Dunke mustered up his courage and climbed onto the couch, sitting next to the Fifth Princess and tugging at her clothes.
"Fifth Sister, have some pastries!"
Dunke was only a three or four-year-old child, so the Fifth Princess naturally wouldn't take her anger out on her. She simply pulled out her clothes indifferently and didn't say anything.
Dunke didn't give up and kept tugging at her: "Fifth sister, if you don't eat, your stomach will be hungry and hurt, and then you won't have any strength."
"..."
Dunke couldn't understand why his fifth sister wasn't eating all the delicious food, and then continued to chatter on and on.
"These are snacks made by Xuan'e's mother. They are so delicious. My sister and I both love them."
“It was just delivered by Brother Pearl. I brought the best food for Fifth Sister.”
"Fifth Sister, have you ever tried the sweet and sour fish that Aunt Xuan makes? It's so delicious! Next time Aunt Xuan comes, come and eat with us!"
The child's voice was childish and he kept nagging. The Fifth Princess was already getting annoyed by what he was saying and was about to have someone send her away when she looked down and saw Dunke grabbing her skirt and saying that he could barely keep his eyes open.
Then she quickly fell asleep.
Fifth Princess: "..."
These two sisters are really something.
The Fifth Princess carefully tried to free her skirt so that someone could send Dunke back, but as soon as she moved, Dunke woke up like a kitten, blinking at her and asking, "Fifth Sister, do you want something to eat?"
Then he laboriously held up the pastries he was clutching in his hand and presented them to her.
The fifth princess was silent for a while, and then she vaguely thought of her deceased younger sister.
She didn't say anything, but picked up a piece of pastry, and sure enough, it was delicious.
When Dunke saw that she had eaten, he clapped his hands with joy. He stayed in the west side hall for more than half an hour and then went to get another pastry box for the Fifth Princess. The box was full of the pastries that the Fifth Princess had just said were delicious.
The Fifth Princess didn't like owing favors to anyone, but all she had to offer were some clothes and jewelry. She loved to look beautiful, and both Emperor Kangxi and Lady Uya had made her a lot of jewelry. So she opened her jewelry box and let Dunke choose for himself.
Dunke immediately took a liking to the butterfly hairpin, because she loved butterflies and found the hairpin to be exquisitely crafted and charming.
"So Fifth Sister gave this to you?" Wen Ke asked incredulously.
Dunke nodded and said, "Yes, I said I liked this, so Fifth Sister gave it to me."
"..."
Consort Min patted Dunke's head and said, "This hairpin is very important to Fifth Sister. Shall we return it to her? If you like it, Mother will have someone make a few similar ones for you."
Dunke was very sensible and understood immediately. He ran out to return the hairpin.
“The Fifth Princess is not a bad person by nature, she is just a bit spoiled,” Consort Min said. “Let her stay here.”
If the Fifth Princess were to go to another concubine's palace, Consort Min would really suffer if she worried about her personality.
Yinxiang did not speak.
Consort Min continued, "Since the Fifth Princess arrived, she has never missed her daily morning and evening greetings. She is a very well-behaved child, so you don't need to worry. It will be more lively in Yanxi Palace with one more person."
No sooner had Consort Min finished speaking than Dunke ran back.
"My fifth sister said that once she gave it to me, she wouldn't take it back."
Yinxiang sighed: "Alright, Mother, as long as you and your sisters are happy."
The myna bird was right again; he was worrying for nothing.
Well, considering that the Fifth Princess is born of the same mother as the Fourth Brother, he'll be a little more tolerant.
A few days later, the weather became increasingly hot. No matter how exquisitely designed the Qianqing Palace and Yangxin Hall were, they could not withstand the extremely high temperature. Emperor Kangxi then thought of going there to escape the heat.
The famous Chengde Mountain Resort is still under construction, so people usually go to Changchun Garden to escape the summer heat.
Once outside of Gong Wenshan, she felt much freer, and even managed to create a heat-relieving gadget.
Research on steam engines has become increasingly sophisticated, and some people have even created miniature steam engines. They are small and portable, but their horsepower is significantly reduced.
After thinking it over, Wen Shan drew a few more abstract drawings, and the craftsmen studied them for a few days and actually made a thing that looked like a fan.
The fan blades can be driven by the horsepower of a small steam engine, eliminating the need for manual cranking and providing a stronger airflow.
It feels very cool when placed in front of the ice and blown on.
Yinzhen, Yinsi, and Yinxiang each took several back with them.
For the first time, I personally experienced the convenience brought about by technological development.
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