Chapter 60 Journey to the Frontier
With banners fluttering and canopies like clouds, Emperor Kangxi's imperial procession marched in a grand procession toward the borderlands, like a winding dragon traversing the vast grasslands.
Emperor Kangxi sat upright in his imperial sedan chair, which, though called a sedan chair, was fully furnished and combined a sleeping quarters with a study. Despite his many imperial tours, Emperor Kangxi still made it a habit to review memorials on the bumpy roads.
The accompanying guards, clad in armor and armed, vigilantly watched their surroundings to ensure the emperor's safety. Those selected to join the guard were not privileged sons of officials; they were chosen for their exceptional abilities.
Among them, the most noteworthy is Tongjia Yuexing'a, a young man who struck the Dengwen Drum to plead for his mother's father. This was not only because of his boldness, but also because of the emperor's favor.
It seemed that Emperor Kangxi had concentrated all the preferential treatment he had given to his maternal clan on him alone. As a result, Yue Xing'a, who had started as a third-class imperial guard, had now been promoted to a first-class imperial guard and had been specially selected by Emperor Kangxi to accompany him to the border regions.
This attention reminded everyone of Longkodo in the past. Fortunately, Yue Xing'a was much better at handling people than his father, and he did not become arrogant or conceited because of the emperor's favor. On the contrary, he was exceptionally humble and eager to learn, which made him even more valued by Kangxi.
Following Emperor Kangxi's imperial sedan chair were the carriages of the princes. Next came the carriages of the ministers and high-ranking officials, followed by the carriages of the women, palace maids, and luggage carriers.
However, all the princes rode on horseback, even the seventh prince, Yin You, who was not very agile, was on horseback, refusing to show weakness.
The eldest prince, Yinzhi, loved horseback riding and had already ridden to the front of the procession; Yinzhen, Yinqi, and Yinyou were all well-behaved and rode their horses at a leisurely pace to keep up with the procession; the remaining princes, the ninth and tenth were lazy and lagged behind, while the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth were young and unrestrained, riding their horses back and forth in the procession.
Yinzhen was always aloof and reserved. Yinqi, having been raised by the Empress Dowager since childhood, was much more fluent in Mongolian than in Manchu or Chinese. Therefore, he rarely spoke. Yinyou, needless to say, was never the most active among his brothers due to health reasons.
So when the three of them stood side by side, to outsiders they seemed to be complete strangers, remaining silent and not saying a word.
The three of them felt quite good; no one forced them to talk, and they actually enjoyed themselves. Besides, the road was so dusty; if they opened their mouths, they'd be eating dust, and Yinqi didn't want to suffer like that. So, he was very comfortable staying between his silent fourth and seventh brothers.
Yin You is the same. Over the years, in order to prove that he is no less than others, he has studied diligently and desperately, and now his riding and archery skills are no different from those of ordinary people. However, he can overcome his physical shortcomings through hard work. But that doesn't mean he likes to hear others praise him in a tone that says "it wasn't easy."
For Yinyou, ignoring him and treating him as an ordinary, normal person was the best way to get along. Therefore, compared to his other boisterous brothers, he preferred his aloof fourth brother and taciturn fifth brother.
As for Yinzhen... Yinzhen was brainstorming how to add some drama to this trip to the frontier. He would rather not speak in such unimportant scenes.
Soon it was time to rest, and the imperial procession stopped to set up camp. Fourteenth Prince dragged Thirteenth Prince and the easygoing Twelfth Prince out hunting, while the First Prince, Yinzhi, had disappeared on horseback.
Yinzhen invited Yinqi and Yinyou to dine together, since the two hadn't brought their wives along on this trip. Yinzhen didn't bring Yixiu because she was taking care of the eldest son; in the end, he brought Niohuru Yuyao and Li Jingyan instead. As for the fifth and seventh sons, it was simply because they didn't like their wives.
"Hey, what delicious food are you three brothers eating?"
Judging from their tone, you could tell it was the Ninth Prince, Yin Tang, who was with the Tenth Prince, Yin Tang. The two, who had disappeared somewhere before, suddenly appeared like street thugs.
"Ninth Prince!" As Yinzhen's older brother, Yinqi sometimes couldn't accept his纨绔 (wan ku, a spoiled, dissolute young man) behavior, which lacked any princely demeanor.
"Good Fifth Brother, you didn't even invite me to your meal." Yin Tang plopped down between Yin Zhen and Yin Qi, pretending not to see Yin Zhen, and turned his back to him while talking to Yin Qi.
"Who knows where you ran off to slack off?" Yinqi said, but he still softened and pushed the newly delivered meal toward Yintang.
Yinyou quietly moved to the side, making room for Yin.
"Thank you, Seventh Brother." Yin sat down next to Yin You with a smile, staring longingly at the roasted mutton in front of him.
"Eat." Yinyou pushed the plate towards Yinyou without saying anything more.
"Alright, I've had them bring my meals over too. Don't be shy, Seventh Brother."
Having gotten his wish, Yin naturally didn't stand on ceremony and started eating the mutton in large mouthfuls. Yin always ate quickly and heartily, but it didn't seem rough at all; on the contrary, it tasted exceptionally delicious. Even Yin You, who had been riding a horse for half a day and had no appetite, felt hungry.
In the past, Yinzhen (the Ninth Prince) enjoyed eating with the Tenth Prince, but now that Yinzhen was present, things were different. In Yinzhen's words, when the Ninth Prince met the Fourth Prince, he couldn't see anyone else in his sights. Even though he always ended up getting nowhere by provoking the Fourth Prince, the Ninth Prince always seemed to win, never giving up.
Sure enough, before he could even settle in, Yinzhen started finding fault again.
"Look at Seventh Brother, what a generous older brother! Tenth Brother has plenty to eat, unlike me... I think Fourth Brother, your meals are quite good..."
Yinzhen glanced at the dishes in front of him, his gaze pointed, habitually picking a fight, forgetting that his elder brother Yinqi was sitting next to him.
Soon, before Yinzhen could even speak, the smug Yintang felt the suppression of his bloodline.
"It hurts, it hurts... Fifth Brother, what are you doing?"
Caught off guard, Yinzhen was caught off guard and his ear was grabbed. He was so ashamed and angry that he had lost face in front of Yinzhen that it was like the death of him.
"I didn't hear what you just said. Why don't you put down my chopsticks and say it again?" Yinqi said with a smile, seemingly not angry at all.
Yinzhen was speechless; he hadn't even digested the food his fifth brother had given him. Feeling a little guilty, Yinzhen smiled ingratiatingly and begged Yinqi for forgiveness: "Fifth brother, I was wrong, I was just joking, fourth brother..."
“Hmm—” Yinqi questioned.
"No, what I mean is, Fourth Brother... Fourth Brother doesn't care either, right?" Yinzhen gritted his teeth, but his ear was still in Fifth Brother's hands, so he could only bow his head to Yinzhen.
Yinzhen slowly ate a bite of food, put down his chopsticks, and said to Yinqi with unusual gentleness, "Entertaining your parents in colorful clothes, Ninth Brother's performance is indeed very entertaining."
"Fourth Prince!" Yinzhen couldn't contain his anger, startling a flock of birds and instantly attracting the attention of many people around.
Noticing the attention of others, Yinzhen, seething with anger, suddenly stood up. Looking at Yinzhen, who had a gentle expression, his older brother who was watching the show with a smile, Yinyou, who was indifferent to the matter, and Yin, who was happily eating his meal, he was so angry that he could only turn around and leave.
"Hey? Where did Ninth Brother go?" Yin Yi, who was a beat behind, looked up with a rabbit leg in his mouth and saw Yin Tang's angry departing figure.
"It's alright, Tenth Brother must be hungry from riding. If Ninth Brother doesn't want any, this is for you." Yinqi smiled and pushed the roasted meat originally prepared for Yintang towards Yinzhen. Let Ninth Brother be angry; he enjoys seeing him so rarely humiliated. He deserves to be called mischievous!
Halfway through the ride, Yinqi, who had been slacking off with Ninth Brother, felt a moment of guilt. He then happily accepted Yinqi's offer, saying, "Thank you, Fifth Brother."
Seeing his tenth brother's nonchalant attitude, Yinyou felt a pang of envy. So... he pushed another plate of meat over and said simply, "Eat."
Yinzhen, who was standing nearby, joined in the fun, pushing his share of meat and vegetables toward Yinzhen and saying, "There's more if it's not enough."
"Thank you, Seventh Brother. Thank you, Fourth Brother."
Yin was quite satisfied that he had single-handedly prepared a table full of meat. He thought his fourth brother was easy to get along with, but his ninth brother just didn't seem to understand his approach. Of course, it was also possible that his tenth brother wasn't as popular as him; his three older brothers were all so attentive to him, making him feel rather embarrassed…
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