Ever since that day when she served Emperor Kangxi by grinding ink, Lanqin went to the Qianqing Palace every day, usually after Kangxi had finished his court sessions. She would take Hongli with her, chat with Kangxi, tell him some jokes, and then have lunch with him. After lunch, Kangxi would take a nap, and Hongli would naturally be carried to sleep as well, while Lanqin would rest with him.
After the midday rest, Kangxi would usually handle some matters. Lanqin could then return to Consort De's quarters. Sometimes, Kangxi would keep Hongli behind in his study, but Lanqin had no idea what Kangxi was doing with the young boy. This routine gradually became a habit, and before she knew it, Lanqin had been in the palace for almost half a month. Consort De would constantly remind her of the rules for serving the Emperor, which Lanqin took as serving her mother-in-law. She listened to everything, but whether she followed them or not was up to her. The Fourth Prince would often use the excuse of going to the Qianqing Palace to report to Kangxi to visit Lanqin and Hongli. Kangxi was also considerate enough to give the young couple time together. However, Lanqin refused to reconcile with the Fourth Prince and still gave him a cold shoulder. But to Lanqin's surprise, the Fourth Prince seemed persistent and still refused to give up, frequently visiting them at the Qianqing Palace or Yonghe Palace.
That day, after the midday rest, Emperor Kangxi sent someone to invite Lanqin over.
"Daughter-in-law greets Father Emperor!" Lanqin changed into a sky-blue cheongsam, making her look as if she had been brushed with a layer of white and bright foundation, making her very fair and beautiful.
"Hmm, this outfit suits you very well today." Kangxi was writing something on his desk when he saw Lanqin enter and glanced at her.
"Thank you for your praise, Father Emperor. May I ask why you summoned your daughter-in-law here?" Lanqin asked.
"It's nothing, I'm just a little bored and wanted you to come and talk to me," Kangxi said. "Does that mean I can't have you accompany me this afternoon?"
"No, your daughter-in-law is always ready to answer your call, Father Emperor," Lanqin said with a fawning smile, though inwardly she thought: You are the Emperor, of course you must be ready to answer my call at any time, who would dare not come!
"Hehe, from now on, my third princess will often fawn over me, always easing my worries," Kangxi said.
“Is something troubling you, Father? Why don’t you tell me? I’ll see if I can help you.” Lanqin said.
"You probably can't solve my problems," Kangxi said. He was actually worried about the upcoming autumn imperial examination. The Crown Prince and the Fourth Prince each submitted a list of examiners. Kangxi had initially intended for the Fourth Prince to preside, but the Crown Prince volunteered, and he couldn't simply refuse. After all, he was getting older, and his decisions weren't as decisive as before; he was becoming increasingly hesitant and indecisive.
“Perhaps your daughter-in-law can’t solve Father’s problems, but if Father speaks out, he’ll have vented his worries, and perhaps then he won’t be so troubled,” Lanqin said. She knew that as the emperor, he had countless things to worry about every day, and he couldn’t confide in anyone. Thinking about it, being an emperor was quite pitiful.
"Hehe, girl. Let me tell you a story. Listen carefully. Once upon a time, there was an old man who had two sons. He planned to pass his family business to his eldest son, but the eldest son became increasingly useless. So the old man decided to pass his business to his clever younger son. Because of this, the old man didn't know how to choose between his two sons, he was torn and couldn't find peace. One day, the old man finally decided to hand over his assets to his younger son, but he found that his four neighbors all thought he was being a bit rash. After all, the eldest son and the legitimate heir were the most important, which is tradition." Kangxi said.
Upon hearing his words, Lanqin had a strong feeling that he was talking about his own situation. However, she couldn't directly say such strange things to Kangxi, so she could only say, "Father, if one of our sons is a blockhead and the other is a fine piece of wood, does that mean we should assume the blockhead belongs to the teacher and therefore have to hand over the family business to a blockhead? People should be flexible and not stick to the old ways."
Kangxi saw that Lanqin's words were simple and rough, but they made a lot of sense. Kangxi stared blankly for a while, then laughed and said, "You girl, you're always so unruly, but what you say is simple and useful."
"Daughter-in-law, this was a lucky accident. Father, please don't take it to heart." Lanqin sensed that the story Kangxi was telling referred to himself. The eldest son was definitely the Crown Prince, but who was the youngest son?
"Come, come and do something for Father Emperor." Kangxi beckoned to Lanqin, signaling her to come over.
Lanqin walked to Kangxi's side and saw that there were some memorials spread out on his table, covered with many tiny characters written in tiny regular script.
"Please read these aloud for me, okay?" Kangxi said affectionately.
"Yes." When Lanqin saw Kangxi asking her to read those memorials, a thought struck her: Why is my rhythm so similar to that of Wu Zetian when she first became a concubine of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang!
Lanqin didn't have time to think much before Kangxi urged her to read it aloud. In fact, all of this was information that Kangxi had sent secret envoys to investigate. As the investigation results came out, Kangxi discovered that most of the people recommended by the Crown Prince were people with various intricate connections to him, while the people recommended by the Fourth Prince were indeed some outstanding talents.
Lanqin was unaware of these things and could only read them very carefully and cautiously.
After reading for a while, Lanqin felt her mouth was dry, but since Kangxi didn't tell her to stop, she couldn't just stop.
"Father, your daughter-in-law is thirsty and would like a drink of water." Lanqin couldn't hold back any longer and thought that there would be no harm in saying it, so she said it.
"Hmm, someone bring tea. Brew a cup of my throat-soothing tea leaves for this girl," Kangxi said.
Lanqin finally got to drink the tea. And it was truly excellent tea, with a refreshing coolness that made it very pleasant to drink.
"Father, what kind of tea is this?" Lanqin couldn't help but ask again.
"This was presented as tribute from Sichuan. It's quite amazing. After drinking a little, my throat felt soothed and my mouth was filled with fragrance, isn't that right?" Kangxi asked.
"Yes, it's delicious, with a lingering fragrance on the lips and teeth," Lanqin said with a smile. "Father, everything here is of the highest quality. I've never had tea like this before."
"Hehe, you little rascal, if you like it, take some back with you," Kangxi said with a smile.
"Then thank you for the tea, Father Emperor." Seeing that her goal had been achieved, Lanqin smiled and said to Kangxi, "Father Emperor, what's the purpose of having me read out these people's resumes?"
"I want to hear how much of these people's resumes are true or false," Kangxi said.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
