Today is the first day of the 43rd year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign. Although His Majesty had stopped writing after the Lunar New Year, he still had no free time during the new year.
After His Majesty had slept for about 15 minutes, Liang Jiugong led two rows of palace servants in to help His Majesty wash up.
Before dawn, the carriages of each family were already preparing to enter the palace. The princes and grandsons of the emperor would go to the front to worship their ancestors, kneeling for most of the day.
Li Chenjiao led the Second Princess to Yonghe Palace first, and then followed Consort De and the Fujin to Cining Palace. Outside Cining Palace, they had to kneel for half a day under the guidance of the Empress Dowager.
Fortunately, the snow that fell all night yesterday had stopped by this morning. The palace servants in the Forbidden City had already swept the snow clean, and everyone had cushions under their feet when they knelt down to worship their ancestors.
Li Chenjiao remembered that one year on the first day of the Lunar New Year, it rained heavily. When Li Chenjiao came out of the palace that day, her knees were still wet. Later, Li Chenjiao asked Qiu Hu and the others to prepare small cushions in advance to put on her knees, but in reality, it was only better than nothing.
After kneeling for half a day, a person's knees become numb.
The little girl was small, so if she got tired of kneeling, she would slightly prop herself up and squat down. Her clothes covered her sides, so it was not very noticeable.
It's just a bit disrespectful, but Li Chenjiao herself doesn't really believe in this. Even if she did, she wouldn't be afraid.
Fourth Master is kneeling in front too.
In previous years, the Crown Prince would kneel behind the Emperor. This year, with Yinreng deposed, everyone naturally assumed that it should be the Prince Zhi.
Even Prince Zhi himself thought so.
However, His Majesty seemed displeased upon seeing this scene. It is unclear what His Majesty said to Prince Zhi, but after a short while, Prince Zhi stood up, gave up his seat, and walked behind the Crown Prince.
Third Master was forced to stand up, somewhat unwillingly, but under the gaze of Prince Zhi, he had no choice but to stand up.
Third Master: Huh? Me?
What kind of mess is this?!
Third Master was still not fully sober from yesterday's drinking, and now that he had stood up so pathetically, he was filled with even more pent-up anger.
He instinctively looked back. Since his older brother had taken his seat, he had to take it back.
He turned his head, and Fourth Master looked up.
Third Master met Fourth Master's icy gaze, which was like a dagger.
Third Master subconsciously shrank his neck, as if the anger in his heart had been extinguished by an invisible bucket of cold water.
Looking further back, the fifth brother had his head down. When the third brother saw this, he took a step forward and suddenly heard a cough that was neither too loud nor too soft.
The ninth brother, who was coming from behind, was staring at him with hostility.
Third Master: Huh? Me?
Third Master was furious again. He looked past Fifth Master and then past Eighth Master...
But last night...
Third Master narrowed his eyes, but still took a step.
Eighth brother, is he easy to bully? Besides, isn't he the best-tempered one? What's wrong with giving up your position to your older brother?
Eighth Master... Yesterday, Eighth Master went back and took three baths in a row, but he still felt nauseous.
The moment Eighth Master saw Third Master, he felt enveloped by the smell of alcohol, and his nausea returned...
In the end, Eighth Master gave up his seat to Third Master, and he himself went to the very end to kneel.
Third Master withdrew his gaze with satisfaction.
However, the one kneeling at the front was now the Crown Prince, and in front of the Fourth Prince was the Prince Zhi, but the two brothers did not get to speak to each other.
The princes waited until noon for His Majesty to rise before standing up one by one.
His Majesty raised his hand, and the Crown Prince saw it. Two seconds later, the Crown Prince stepped forward to support His Majesty.
He called out softly, "Father Emperor."
This sound suddenly reminded His Majesty of the dream he had, but the two "Father"s in the dream were clearly not the Crown Prince's voice.
The Emperor suddenly glanced back and raised his other hand.
Without a moment's hesitation, Prince Zhi immediately stepped forward and helped the Emperor to the other side.
He also called out, "Father Emperor."
Prince Zhi's voice was somewhat deep, and he was in his prime. He lowered his voice slightly in front of His Majesty, and it was quite different from the slightly cold voice in His Majesty's dream.
No, His Majesty wasn't too disappointed. He walked forward with Prince Zhi and Yinreng supporting him on either side, his expression unchanged.
Third Master had already passed Fifth Master and walked to Fourth Master's side, while Eighth Master remained standing at the very end.
The women in the family naturally had no idea about the affairs of the princes in the first place.
However, the joke that Third Master made while drunk last night has been known to everyone by now.
At first, Dong E was a little embarrassed, but later she didn't care at all, and even dragged the Eighth Prince's wife, Guo Luoluo, into the spotlight as well.
Li Chenjiao and Zhao Jia exchanged a few more words. Zhao Jia came to apologize, saying that Prince Hongxi had played around with the Fourth Prince yesterday, but Li Chenjiao hadn't heard Wanwan mention it, so she just accepted it without changing her expression.
Later, Lady Zhaojia "casually" revealed that yesterday, in the Hall of Preserving Harmony, Prince Hongsheng, the son of the Third Prince's wife, had pulled the braid of the Second Prince from the Fourth Prince's residence.
Because the first child of the Third Prince Consort, Hongqing, did not survive, Dong E naturally doted on Prince Hongsheng. As a result of this indulgence, the child became somewhat unruly.
The child turned five last September, but he was very playful and often teased Hongxi, the son of Zhaojia.
"To indulge one's son is to kill him," Li Chenjiao sighed softly, understanding Zhao Jia's meaning.
She found it strange after hearing this, but she didn't see the Fujin (princess) react at all, and she didn't know whether she was unaware of the matter or not.
The Second Prince is a calm and collected boy, just like the Fourth Prince.
After being busy in a daze for most of the first month of the lunar calendar, Li Chenjiao got a sore throat again.
However, during this time, I did get to know some other people, such as Princess Wenxian, the younger sister of the Fourth Prince. The two would occasionally exchange a few pleasantries when they met. Another example is Lady Zhaojia, the primary consort of the Thirteenth Prince. She was indeed a shy and gentle person, a wonderful person.
It was more interesting than in previous years.
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