Chapter 18, Chapter Eighteen: "Yin Si, let go of your brother..."
"Yin Si, let go of your brother's hand!"
As soon as Wen Shan entered the room carrying the freshly made ice bowl, she saw the two brothers, Yin Zhen and Yin Si, on the couch. Yin Si was holding Yin Zhen's hand in his mouth, blinking his big eyes with an innocent look.
"It's alright, Mother Xuan. My little brother is just teething and it doesn't hurt," Yinzhen said seriously.
Since Yinzhen returned to Xianfu Palace, Wenshan has noticed that her doting on Yinsi has become even more severe. She indulges him in everything and is treated like a chew toy without complaint.
"That won't do either." Wen Shan stepped forward and freed Yinzhen's hand. "I've made so many things for him to chew on, and this little brat just keeps causing trouble."
Wen Shan wiped Yin Zhen's hands clean with a handkerchief and pushed the bowl of ice in front of him so that he could have a taste. Since Yin Si started teething, his appetite had become stronger and stronger. He was so happy to see his fourth brother eating that his mouth was practically watering.
"You little glutton!" Wen Shan wiped his drool. "In two more months you can start eating some complementary foods, don't rush it."
Yinzhi was furious. He wasn't a glutton; it was a bodily instinct that he couldn't resist!
Pearl and Amber brought in several kites. The weather was nice and the wind was good today, so Wen Shan planned to take Yinzhen and Yinsi out for a stroll and to fly kites as a spring outing. She had also made a lot of pastries early in the morning and put them in a food box to take with them.
While Pearl and the others were packing their things, they chatted with Wenshan about the latest gossip in the palace.
After Niohuru became the head of the harem, she began to reorganize the six palaces, and the first person she confronted was Consort Hui.
Consort Hui considered herself the victor in the Tongjia Consort incident after receiving a reward from Emperor Kangxi. However, in the end, the peach was taken by Niohuru. She dared to directly accuse Tongjia Consort, let alone Niohuru, who had just entered the palace and was still a consort.
Thus, the harem was openly divided into two factions: one led by Niohuru and the other by Consort Hui. Niohuru's faction consisted mostly of people of high birth but with shallow roots, while Consort Hui's faction consisted of veterans in the palace, including princes and princesses.
The two sides were locked in a fierce battle. Niohuru relied on her youth, beauty, and freshness, while Consort Hui relied on years of friendship and her children. For a time, they were evenly matched.
Of course, there was also a third faction in the harem who remained uninvolved and watched the infighting from the sidelines, such as Consort Yi, Consort Rong, and Consort De.
Consort Yi and her cousin, Noble Lady Guo Luoluo, formed their own faction. The two sisters each had a prince and a princess. This alliance based on blood ties was very strong. Consort Rong had the most children, both sons and daughters, and did not depend on anyone. Although Consort De came from a lower background, she had given birth to two princes, and her foundation became more and more solid.
Moreover, just as Niohuru and Consort Hui were fiercely fighting, Consort De became pregnant again.
Both sides were somewhat speechless. Consort De gave birth to Yinzhen in the seventeenth year of Kangxi's reign, and Yinzuo in the nineteenth year. Now she is pregnant with her third child, and according to the timeline, she should give birth next year in the twenty-first year of Kangxi's reign.
Consort Hui didn't think much of it. After all, she had Emperor Kangxi's eldest son, the First Prince Yinti, and had once enjoyed great favor. She never cared much about the pregnancy of a concubine like Consort De, who wouldn't affect the First Prince's status. Besides, although Consort Rong, who entered the palace at the same time as her, only had Princess Rongxian and the Third Prince, Consort Rong had given birth to five sons and one daughter. With Consort Rong ahead of her, Consort De was only having her third child, so it was nothing in her eyes.
Niohuru was furious. This Consort De, who usually kept a low profile and was adept at navigating social situations, had actually given birth to three children in a row.
Emperor Kangxi's attitude towards the harem perfectly embodied the phrase "equal distribution of favors," showing no particular favoritism towards any one concubine. If one had to say which concubine Kangxi favored most, it would have to be Consort Tongjia, who was already under house arrest. Yet, despite such favor, he still kept her under house arrest without blinking an eye, leading many concubines to secretly marvel at the unfathomable depths of the emperor's heart.
When Consort De became pregnant again, Emperor Kangxi simply bestowed gifts as usual and visited her occasionally. Consort De was gentle and considerate, and the Sixth Prince was at the age of being clever and adorable. So when Consort Niohuru and Consort Hui temporarily ceased their conflict, they saw that the place Emperor Kangxi frequented most was Yonghe Palace.
Wen Shan, watching the drama unfold, kept praising them, saying that these two were really fighting fiercely when they suddenly found their house had been robbed.
Yinzhi listened with great interest. When he heard Pearl say that Consort De was pregnant again, Yinzhi couldn't help but look at Yinzhen beside him. Yinzhen didn't react and was just focused on winding the kite string.
After listening to the recent palace gossip for a while, Wen Shan packed her things, took Yin Zhen's hand with one hand and pushed Yin Si with the other, and happily went out.
The flowers in the Imperial Garden were almost in full bloom by now, a riot of colors and the fragrance of birdsong. Looking at the endless green grass, Wen Shan felt much more cheerful.
Yinzhen was eager to try flying the kite, and Wenshan taught him step by step. Baoquan, Zhenzhu, and the others cheered them on. They played with great enthusiasm. Yinzhen failed several times and the kite could not fly, but he was not discouraged. He started running again and again. Wenshan looked at his newly grown braids, which swayed back and forth, and found them incredibly cute.
Yinzhi's cradle was placed in a pavilion to avoid being exposed to the sun. Emerald stayed there to look after him. Yinzhi bit his finger and watched Yinzhen and Wenshan playing happily, thinking resentfully that he must grow up quickly!
Lying in the rocking bed all the time is so boring.
After being carefully cared for by Yinzhen for a few days, Fuqi regained its former liveliness and came out today, running around on the grass with Yinzhen. Wenshan brought some toys for it and threw a ball for it to play with.
"Your Highness, it seems Consort De is coming from over there." Pearl turned her head and saw Consort De leading the Sixth Prince and several servants coming from the lotus pond in the distance, so she quickly reminded Wen Shan.
Yinzhen and Baoquan were flying kites and didn't notice the commotion.
Wen Shan glanced at Consort De, who seemed to be taking Yin Zuo to the lotus pond to feed the fish. The group stopped by the lotus pond, and Consort De squatted down to wipe Yin Zuo's sweat. The mother and son talked about something and looked like a loving mother and son.
Consort De suddenly looked up and met Wen Shan's gaze. Wen Shan nodded at her. Consort De looked away and continued feeding the fish with Yin Zuo.
The two understood each other without saying a word. Since Consort De didn't plan to come over, Wen Shan was too lazy to pay attention and pretended not to see her.
Wenshan made red bean jelly, milk-flavored corn cake, and red bean glutinous rice balls today. After watching Yinzhen play for a while, she waved him over.
Yinzhen liked the red bean jelly and ate several pieces in one go, then drank a bowl of icy glutinous rice balls. After finishing, he was still tempted to reach for the sweet and soft corn cake, but Wenshan, worried that he would eat too much and get an upset stomach, ruthlessly stopped him.
Yinzhi smugly drank the sweet and smooth goat milk that Wenshan had specially prepared for him. "Hmph, that's how it should be. He can't be the only one who can't have it!"
After resting in the pavilion for a while, Yinzhen became restless again and wanted to go out to play. He kept looking outside. Wenshan couldn't bear to restrain him, so she changed him into a lighter outer garment and let him go play.
Wen Shan waved her fan as she watched Yinzhen and Fuqi running around on the grass. She smiled and said to Yinsi, "Little Eight, grow up quickly! When you grow up, you can play with your brother."
Yinzhi responded with a soft "ee-yah".
I've never seen my fourth brother so lively in my past life.
After playing for a while, Yinzhen returned with a handful of flowers. Jasmine and Rose picked several flowers and ran back excitedly to give them to Wenshan. They also carefully placed one next to Yinsi.
Yinzhen cleaned the flowers very thoroughly, especially the one for Yinsi. He removed all the thorns and excess leaves, looking at Yinsi with a nervous expression, as if afraid that Yinsi wouldn't like it.
Yinzhi glanced at the flower and then at his fourth brother's expectant expression, thinking he should give his fourth brother some face.
Hmm... considering that Fourth Brother has treated him quite well, I should be nicer to him in the future.
Seeing how nervous Fourth Brother looked, worried that he might not like it, made him seem rather pitiful.
"Consort Xuan?"
Wen Shan was talking to Yinzhen when she heard the voice. She looked up and saw that it was Consort Min.
Consort Min was a very refined person, well-read in poetry and literature and proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting. She was a rare talented woman in the harem. She was also gentle and had a good reputation in the harem. She had spoken with Wen Shan a few times and the two had a good relationship.
"Greetings, Consort Min." Yinzhen greeted Consort Min, who smiled and looked him over.
"It's been a while since I last saw the Fourth Prince, and he's grown so much."
Wen Shan, fanning herself with a round fan, pulled Consort Min to sit down with her: "What brings you here today? I heard from Consort Yi a few days ago that you caught a cold and I was planning to visit you in a couple of days."
This is the future mother of the Thirteenth Prince.
The Vice Emperor of the Yongzheng Emperor's reign, personally certified by Yongzheng as "the most perfect person in the universe," the most prestigious thirteenth brother in the world.
Although there's still no sign of Little Thirteen.
Consort Min smiled and said, "It's just a minor illness. I'll be almost better after drinking a few bowls of bitter medicine soup."
When Consort Min saw Yinzhi, she couldn't help but sigh, "Consort Xuan is so blessed, now she has two little princes to keep her company."
Yinzhi also recognized that this was the mother of the thirteenth prince. Seeing Consort Min, he naturally thought of the thirteenth prince.
He was closer to his fourth brother than even blood brothers. His fourth brother always thought of him and even gave him the title of Minister of State Affairs. Just thinking about how the two of them cherished each other and had such a deep brotherly bond made Yinzhi look at the roses next to him with displeasure.
“Both Yinzhen and Yinsi are very well-behaved and don’t cause trouble.” Wenshan handed a plate of pastries to Consort Min. “Try them, I made them myself.”
Consort Min didn't stand on ceremony with her. After tasting a piece, she praised it highly. Wen Shan listened to Consort Min's praise and thought to herself that cultured people are indeed different. It makes people feel so good when they praise others.
"I ran into Consort Niohuru when I came here," Consort Min chatted with her. "Consort Niohuru was coming out of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, and the servants were carrying a Suzhou embroidery screen, which looks like the one in His Majesty's bedroom."
"Didn't the Emperor just reward Consort Hui with a cloisonné enamel ruyi yesterday?" Wen Shan recalled the gossip Pearl had told her this morning. Niohuru really wasn't willing to suffer any loss.
Consort Min was not very interested in the rivalry between Consort Niohuru and Consort Hui; she simply admired the screen, which was embroidered with the "Nymph of the Luo River" painting and was exquisitely crafted.
The two chatted for a while, but as the sun grew stronger, they returned to their respective palaces. However, Yinzhen inexplicably found that his younger brother seemed to be ignoring him again.
Yinzhen coaxed him for a while before Yinsi finally took pity on him and responded with a few words.
Time passed by like flowing water. When Yinzhi was over seven months old, he could sit and crawl. However, he was very proud and did not crawl around like other children. Wenshan would often coax him to crawl a little bit.
Besides going to school and taking care of Fuqi, Yinzhen spends his days playing with Yinsi. Now, Yinzhen's biggest goal is to teach Yinsi to speak.
"Brother, call me brother."
Yinzhen looked on with anticipation, while Yinsi, dressed in a bright red bib, looked as fair and tender as a little lucky baby, and was playing with the tangram puzzle that Wenshan had made for him.
Upon seeing Yinzhen approach, Yinsi casually waved his little hand and slapped Yinzhen's arm.
"..."
Despite setbacks, Yinzhen persevered, and finally, Yinsi spoke for the first time after more than nine months.
That day, Yinzhen planned to give Fuqi a bath. Baoquan moved a basin of water to the courtyard. Yinzhen rolled up his sleeves and prepared to personally bathe Fuqi. Fuqi was usually very obedient, but he was not very well-behaved when taking a bath and kept splashing around in the water.
Yinzhi watched Yinzhen's antics from under the eaves. He laughed heartily when he saw Yinzhen covered in water. Yinzhen turned around and saw his heartless younger brother gloating. He angrily ran over, dipped some clean water in his hands, and smeared it on Yinzhi's face.
"You little rascal, how dare you laugh at your brother!"
Yinzhi was not to be outdone, and even used his hands, feet, and mouth, but ultimately the difference in strength led to his merciless suppression.
Yinzhi caught a glimpse of Wenshan approaching out of the corner of his eye and suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Mother!"
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