Chapter 28 Lifting the Ban and the Full Moon Ceremony
"The Fourth Prince's wife has given birth; it's a little prince."
Inside the Qianqing Palace, Liang Jiugong bowed and reported the latest news from the Fourth Prince's residence to Emperor Kangxi.
To outsiders, although the Emperor had changed the Fourth Prince's imperial genealogy, he had been unusually cold towards him for over a month, leading them to mistakenly believe that the Fourth Prince had fallen out of favor. However, Liang Jiugong, who served him closely, knew that the Emperor had never stopped paying attention to the Fourth Prince's residence. Although he hadn't reactivated the secret guards, it was still easy for him to plant two spies in the Prince's residence.
Some time ago, the Emperor was furious upon learning that the princess in the Fourth Prince's household had been sterilized by Consort Uya. According to Liang Jiugong, the Emperor had long wanted to release the Fourth Prince, but simply couldn't find a way to do so.
However, he had a premonition that the birth of the little prince would be the best breakthrough.
"I understand." Kangxi seemed indifferent and continued to review the memorials. After a while, he casually instructed Liang Jiugong, "This child is my first grandson. Send someone to the Fourth Prince's residence to convey that the full moon celebration must not be neglected."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Liang Jiugong understood. Confining himself to his room to reflect on his mistakes meant he couldn't invite anyone to a banquet. Wasn't the Emperor's intention to indirectly lift the Fourth Prince's confinement during the Little Prince's full moon celebration?
When the imperial edict reached the Prince's residence, Yinzhen raised an eyebrow. It hadn't been in vain that he had allowed Kangxi's spies to investigate the household. Upon closer inspection, his "pure and innocent" persona score had indeed risen again.
Yinzhen smiled. He understood. The essence of the "white lotus" persona was that she didn't need to ask for what she wanted; others would rush to give it to her and shower her with affection. He'd quite mastered the pure, innocent white lotus persona. Next round, who would be the one to rack up points?
Yixiu, who was in confinement after giving birth, learned the news from Yinzhen and smiled sweetly. Although the third-day celebration was not grand, the Emperor personally decreed that a grand full-month banquet be held. What more could she ask for?
On the one hand, it shows that the Emperor still values Prince Beile, and the confinement at his residence will soon be lifted; on the other hand, it also shows the Emperor's high regard for the young prince. With such a full moon celebration, no matter how many children Prince Beile has in the future, the young prince will always be the most special one.
Regardless of what the recipients of the invitation think, this full moon celebration is destined to attract attention.
Soon, amidst the intensive preparations at the Prince's residence, the day of the full moon banquet arrived.
The banquet venue was decorated festively, with lanterns and colorful ribbons hanging everywhere. The long-quiet Fourth Prince's mansion welcomed many guests on this day. Fortunately, the mansion had made preparations in advance and sent several extra stewards to receive guests; otherwise, they would have been overwhelmed with receiving gifts.
There were many important figures present at the full moon banquet, including imperial relatives, nobles, and ministers. Emperor Kangxi's edict had already been issued, so they were attending "by imperial decree" and naturally had few taboos.
The princes, from the eldest prince Yinzhi to the fourteenth prince Yinzhen, all came to Yinzhen's residence, regardless of their motives.
"Fourth brother... what is this?" Crown Prince Yinreng, who was initially wary of Yinzhen because of the matter of Yinzhen altering the imperial genealogy, was suddenly speechless when he saw Yinzhen.
It had been almost three months since they last saw Yinzhen after his accident. Upon their first meeting, they were almost unable to recognize him; he was much thinner than they remembered, as if he could be blown away by a gust of wind. The fact that he hadn't recovered in three months spoke volumes about the perilous situation he had faced.
It wasn't just the eldest prince and the crown prince who were wary of him. Even Yinzhen, who harbored resentment towards his elder brother because of the Uya clan incident, felt uneasy seeing him like this.
"Greetings, Second Brother Crown Prince." In reality, he appeared thin because he was recuperating and optimizing his physique. In fact, he was incredibly robust. Yinzhen's lips were bloodless as he stepped forward to pay his respects with a faint smile, and it was hard to say that there was no element of deliberate embarrassment.
Of course, the others were unaware of this. The Crown Prince, who was closest to Yinzhen among the princes, was now feeling a pang of conscience and couldn't help but resent Suo'etu for talking nonsense and not reporting Yinzhen's situation truthfully.
Yinreng quickly stepped forward and supported Yinzhen's arm. Feeling the thin arm under his hand, Yinreng felt a pang of sadness and said gently, "No need for formalities. Fourth brother, how is your health? Are you lacking any medicine? I'll bring it to you."
"Thank you for your trouble, Second Brother. Yinzhen has nothing to do. He has been practicing martial arts in the mansion in his spare time, and has just become a little thinner."
Yinzhen was telling the truth, but in the eyes of these princes, it was just a show of strength. Yinreng patted him on the shoulder and said nothing more. "Let's go see the little prince. I, his second uncle, haven't met him yet."
"Second Brother Crown Prince, please come in," after exchanging pleasantries with the Crown Prince, Yinzhen looked at the other princes and said, "Eldest Brother, Third Brother, Fifth Brother, Seventh Brother, Eighth Brother, Ninth Brother, Tenth Brother, Twelfth Brother, Thirteenth Brother, Fourteenth Brother, please come in."
The group exchanged glances. After all, it was the young prince's full moon celebration, and it wasn't appropriate to say anything now. Or rather, seeing Yinzhen's current state, even if Yinzhen was angry and had come to interrogate him, he couldn't bring himself to speak at this moment.
He could only follow Yinzhen inside, exchanging pleasantries with the others while preoccupied with his own thoughts.
As the banquet began, Yixiu, dressed in her traditional consort's robes, came out carrying the little prince. Her complexion was rosy, clearly indicating that she had recovered very well during her postpartum period, which made most of the female relatives envious.
"This little prince is well-fed; he looks even healthier than the fourth prince..." After looking at his nephew, the Ninth Prince, Yinzhen, took his wine cup and strolled over to the Eighth Prince, Yinsi, with the Tenth Prince, muttering to himself.
"Yin Tang!" Yin Si gave him a reproachful look and said something.
"That's how it is..." Yinzhen muttered unconvinced. Because of the incident when they were children, he and Yinzhen had always been at odds. But he didn't mean anything by saying this. He just felt a little uncomfortable seeing his nemesis being hurt because of someone else.
"Ninth Brother, you should say less, lest Fourth Brother hear you." The honest and straightforward Yin also looked at Yin Tang with some disapproval.
"So what if I heard it?" Yinzhen retorted stubbornly.
“You’re just rubbing salt in the wound. Fourth Brother has already suffered enough…” Yin sighed. As a child who was loved wholeheartedly by his mother, he really didn’t understand Wuya’s actions. It was true that she had a grudge against the eldest son, not to mention… After glancing at his expressionless fourteenth brother Yinzhen not far away, Yin couldn’t help but shake his head again.
"well--"
"Why are you so sentimental?" Yinzhen looked at Yin with a strange expression, not realizing that the tenth prince and the fourth prince had such a good relationship before.
“Look,” Yin gestured with his eyes, “look at Fourteenth Brother, he’s even planning to cause trouble.”
"Tsk, Yinzhen is also unable to distinguish right from wrong." Yintang couldn't stand Yinzhen's pathetic state, and he didn't know what he was angry about. Uya had already harmed Yinzhen so much, and he wasn't allowed to fight back. Besides, the decision was made by the Emperor. If he had the guts, he should argue with the Emperor. What was the point of going to the Fourth Prince?
Although Yinzhen disliked the fourth prince, objectively speaking, he couldn't really be blamed for this.
There are very few people in the world as sensible as him. Yinzhen looked at Yinzhen and couldn't help but shake his head.
"Be careful, don't let the Fourteenth Prince cause trouble at the banquet." Yinzhi couldn't help but frown as he carefully gave the instructions.
"That's right. Although I don't think much of the fourth prince, it's still my nephew's full moon celebration. I can't let the fourteenth prince ruin it." Yinzhen remained stubborn.
“Ninth Brother is right,” Yin echoed.
The Fourteenth Prince, who was keeping a close eye on Yinzhen, was completely unaware that he had become a ticking time bomb in the eyes of others, not just one or two, but all his brothers were watching him.
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