After a long while, just when Prince Zhi thought he was about to be punished, he saw boots embroidered with dragon patterns stop in front of him.
Emperor Kangxi bent down and patted him on the shoulder.
"Get up. This is how it should be between father and son. Speak your mind. You still call yourself son, but it's Bao Cheng. When did he start calling himself 'your subject'?" Kangxi felt very upset.
"I am his father. Even if I said some harsh words, can't he understand me? I have never thought of deposing him. He is my crown prince, the continuation of my bloodline. I have taught him everything I have learned in my life and selected the best teachers and ministers for him. I am proud of him. With him, I have no need to worry at all whether the Qing Dynasty will be as prosperous as it was under my rule a hundred years from now."
"Even so, he still said those hurtful things to me," Kangxi said sadly.
Prince Zhi rose and helped Emperor Kangxi sit down.
He thought to himself: "The second brother said that because you forced him to. He came to visit his younger brother with good intentions and was very considerate, yet he was scolded for not loving his younger brother. Eighteen wasn't born from the second brother's womb; it's already a great favor that he even came to visit. There are about thirty siblings in the palace; who can have a truly good relationship with all of them? Even you, as their father, may not recognize all your children."
No matter what Prince Zhi thought in his heart, he dared not show it on his face.
Emperor Kangxi's attention was not on him either; the old man's mind was filled with thoughts of how his beloved crown prince had broken his father's heart and how sad he was.
Yes, as time passed. The grief that the death of the Eighteenth Prince left on Emperor Kangxi was not even as great as the words Yinreng uttered that day.
After Prince Zhi left, Emperor Kangxi wrote a line of words in a flourish: "I have no intention of making Yinzhi the Crown Prince. Yinzhi is impetuous and foolish by nature; how can he be made the Crown Prince?"
The letter was delivered to the capital by fast horse, causing a great stir, like water splashing into a hot oil pan.
Several dozen days later, after learning of Kangxi's reply to the court officials, Prince Zhi pretended to be sick at home and did not attend court for three days.
It's your business if you dote on the Crown Prince and praise him. But to have to belittle me, even if it's the truth, still makes me very unhappy.
On the night before returning to Beijing, Emperor Kangxi could not refuse Yinreng's request and went to his room in person.
However, Yinreng sent Deshun out to inform Kangxi: "Your subject has been confined to his residence for several days and has not taken care of his appearance. He looks disheveled and is not suitable to meet Your Majesty. Father, please return."
When Yinreng was a child, he had also spoken to Kangxi about his temper tantrums.
At that time, Yinreng was an ignorant child, and Kangxi naturally indulged him immensely, willing to coax him.
However, the relationship between father and son is already strained, and if things continue like this, Kangxi will only become more and more angry.
"You think you can just depose the Crown Prince like that? How can the heir apparent be treated so lightly!" Kangxi roared.
Yinreng said lightly from inside, "When Father Emperor made me Crown Prince, he never asked me if I was willing."
"Suit yourself," Kangxi gritted his teeth and forced out the words before storming off in a huff.
De Shun knelt on the ground for a long time before dusting himself off and returning to the house to serve his master.
“Your Majesty, the Emperor was furious just now,” De Shun said.
Yinreng sat in front of the chair, with newly painted portraits on the table.
If Emperor Kangxi were to enter and see this painting, he would surely recognize it as the portrait of Empress Hesheli, which hangs in the Qianqing Palace.
"From the time I was old enough to understand things, I was the Crown Prince. My father told me that I was the master of the Great Qing, and that I was of unparalleled nobility. I followed the teachings of my father and my teachers and tried my best to do everything that a Crown Prince should do. They all thought that I wanted to be the Crown Prince, but in fact, I didn't know what else I could be besides the Crown Prince. Or, could they think of anyone else who was worthy of being the Crown Prince besides me?"
Yinreng chuckled and carefully placed the portrait of his mother away.
"I don't want to become like Father Emperor one day. Unable to wholeheartedly love the people I love, and having to consider the balance of the court in everything I do. I'm truly tired of being the Crown Prince." Yinreng's gaze was free; he was about to be liberated from the shackles of imperial power.
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