“Your Highness, the Emperor and the young master have gone to the Western-style buildings in the back. They're not here right now!” Liang Jiugong said.
"Western-style buildings? Is Hongli still behaving well?" the Fourth Prince asked hurriedly.
"Hehe, the Sixth Prince is very clever and quick-witted. He made the Emperor laugh as soon as he arrived. He's such a little devil, and he knows how to talk. The Emperor was so happy that he took the Sixth Prince out to play," Liang Jiugong said.
Upon hearing this, the Fourth Prince felt reassured, but thinking of Lanqin, he asked, "Does Father Emperor intend for Hongli to stay here overnight, or should we come to pick him up every night?"
Liang Jiugong shook his head and said, "His Majesty has not given any instructions, and this servant does not see any rooms prepared. It seems that the Prince should be taken back every night. His Majesty's energy is not as good as before, and he probably cannot play with the Sixth Prince every day. Therefore, this old servant thinks it would be more tiring to send the Sixth Prince over after His Majesty issues the order."
The Fourth Prince understood and immediately said, "Thank you for your guidance, Eunuch. I will go back first, and when Father Emperor and Hongli return, please send someone to deliver a message, and I will come back."
After hearing the Fourth Master's words, Lanqin finally felt relieved.
"Master, the Guilin rice noodles are ready. How about we have this for dinner tonight?" Lanqin said.
"Yes, whatever you arrange, I'll eat," Fourth Master said loyally.
Lanqin then ate Guilin rice noodles with Fourth Master. The round, plump rice noodles were even thicker than the ones Lanqin had eaten in later generations, and they were sprinkled with crushed peanuts, minced meat, diced radish, kelp, cilantro, and white sesame seeds.
"I've never eaten this before, sir? Is it from Guangxi?" Fourth Master asked, looking at the plump, white rice noodles.
“Rice noodles can be found in many places, but these plump, white rice noodles are only found in Guangxi. They grow rice extensively there, so rice noodles are plentiful. The reason they can create such a representative local delicacy is because they make full use of the smoothness, softness, and fragrance of the rice noodles,” Lan Qin said.
"I never imagined that Your Highness's concubine would be such a skilled cook. Why don't you start preparing breakfast for me from now on?" the Fourth Prince teased.
Lanqin rolled her eyes at him and said, "I won't do it. I just want to eat. This isn't Father Emperor, it's my father-in-law. It's only natural for a daughter-in-law to serve her father-in-law."
The Fourth Prince laughed and said, "My concubine is a dutiful daughter-in-law."
Lanqin smiled and said, "Of course."
The two chatted and laughed as they each finished a bowl of Guilin rice noodles.
"My lord, my lord, the Sixth Prince is back!" Yu Xiao came in and reported to the two of them.
Lanqin quickly turned her head and saw Lanqi carrying Hongli into the house.
"Mother!" Hongli called out with a smile when he saw Lanqin.
"Hongli, come quickly to your mother!" Lanqin immediately stood up from the dining table, walked to Lanqi, and took Hongli from her arms.
Hongli pressed his smiling little face against Lanqin's face, acting coquettishly.
Seeing the mother and daughter being affectionate together, Fourth Master deliberately put on a stern face and said, "Why didn't you call out 'Father'?"
"I haven't spent much time playing with Hongli, and I always have such a stern face. Hongli doesn't even feel close to you anymore, does he?" Lanqin said coquettishly.
"Father!" Hongli called out obediently, though his voice was very soft.
"Come here, come to Father!" Fourth Prince realized that he didn't spend much time with Hongli. In fact, he had never spent too much time on any of his sons, except for his eldest son Honghui.
Hongli looked at Lanqin and saw his mother nod to him. He then climbed off Lanqin and walked towards the Fourth Prince.
“Father! Grandfather told me today that you were very capable when you were young, is that right?” Hongli stood in front of the Fourth Prince, looking like a little adult.
The Fourth Prince picked up Hongli and placed him on his lap, asking, "What did Grandfather say about Father?"
Hongli looked up at the Fourth Prince and said, "Grandfather said that Father could recite the Three Character Classic, the Thousand Character Classic, and Tang poems when he was three years old. Is that true?"
Upon hearing this, Lanqin looked at the Fourth Prince with admiration. Goodness, the Fourth Prince was a child prodigy! However, Lanqin also admired Kangxi's early education; it was truly remarkable. It was said that princes began attending classes in the Imperial Study from the age of three.
Fourth Master felt a twitch in his eyelids and thought to himself: How could I, at only three years old, memorize so much?
Looking at the Fourth Prince's expression, Lanqin knew he was embarrassed, probably because Kangxi had gone too far.
"Father, can you really recite so much at the age of three?" Hongli persisted.
"Hmm. Father can recite some passages, but not the entire text," Fourth Master said, a bead of sweat sliding down his forehead.
"Hongli, did your imperial grandfather test you on Tang poetry?" Lanqin asked. Because Lanqin discovered that Hongli had an excellent memory, she often taught him some Tang poems.
"Yes, today Grandfather made Hongli recite Tang poems. Hongli recited the ones Mother taught him. But Grandfather said Father can recite even more," Hongli said.
Lanqin now understood Kangxi's intention. He wanted to force Hongli to grow too fast and stimulate his thirst for knowledge, but he was only two and a half years old!
“Hongli, your grandfather is encouraging you to memorize. But you’re not even three years old yet, you don’t need to memorize so much,” Lanqin said.
“But Hongli wants to learn. Anyway, I can remember it if I read it a few more times,” said Hongli, who was not yet three years old.
Fourth Master looked at his bright son and said happily, "Alright, every night, your father will teach you to read the Three Character Classic and the Bai Family Surname. Is that alright?"
Hongli nodded emphatically and said, "Good!"
Looking at the father and son, both of whom were very intelligent, Lanqin could only say, "Grandpa, he's not even three years old yet, don't go too far."
The Fourth Prince said, "When I was three years old, I was already studying in the Imperial Study. Hongli, what did your imperial grandfather teach you today?"
Hongli said, "My grandfather took me to the Western-style buildings and showed me many things. He taught me to recognize stars and to study astronomy and geography."
Lanqin was quite grateful to Kangxi. He had personally taught Hongli so much, even more so than he had doted on a prince. This fully demonstrated that Kangxi indeed valued Hongli highly. Whether this had anything to do with passing the throne to the fourth prince was truly hard to say.
"Hongli, you must study what your grandfather teaches you carefully and remember it. Next time your grandfather asks you a question, if you can answer fluently, your grandfather will be very happy," said the Fourth Prince.
"Yes. Hongli has noted it down," Hongli said.
That evening, the Fourth Prince did indeed take Hongli to his study. Lanqin wanted to go with him, but the Fourth Prince said that this was time between father and son and wouldn't let Lanqin go.
It turns out that our Fourth Prince is also jealous. He is jealous of the intimacy between Hongli and Lanqin, and wants to cultivate a better father-son relationship with Hongli.
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