Chapter 81: Degrading the Tenth Prince's Hope
After the Empress Dowager passed away, the funeral was held in a very grand manner, and all funeral rites during the mourning period were conducted according to the highest standards of etiquette.
Whether it was the Empress Dowager, concubines, princes and princesses in the palace, or princes, nobles, civil and military officials, vassal kings, noble ladies, or other noblewomen outside the palace, they all had to wear mourning clothes for twenty-seven days after the death of the Empress Dowager and gather in the palace twice a day to express their grief.
Yin'e was still a young prince who had not yet entered school. He had to attend the twice-daily weeping ceremonies in the palace, but he did not have to participate in the entire process.
He was too young to kneel and cry for hours on end with the others. No matter how strict the rules were, they would not require a prince of Yin'e's age to cry for two or three hours in a row, let alone twice a day.
Every time Yin'e and the Ninth Prince cried with the adults for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, they would be led by palace servants to a side hall to meet up with the younger Yin'e and Yin'tao, who only had to cry for a quarter of an hour each time.
Now, only the four young princes come to Cining Palace every day to mourn. Yinxiang, born to Consort Zhangjia, is only a little over one year old. He is too young and only cried once on the first day of the mourning period when his wet nurse held him. After that, he did not participate in the mourning gatherings.
Compared to the princes who were ranked higher in the order of seniority, the four of them had already received much preferential treatment.
All princes who were six years of age or older, who had entered the Imperial Study, or who had moved to the Princes' Residence to establish their own households, had to participate in every mourning ceremony together with others. Each time, without fail, they would kneel and weep for nearly two hours to send off the Empress Dowager.
Among the princes already studying in the Imperial Study, even the youngest, the Seventh Prince Yinyou and the Eighth Prince Yinsi, were no exception and had to participate fully in the mourning ceremony.
According to the rules of the Qing court, when princes moved to the Princes' Residence at the age of six, it meant that the princes were beginning to become independent and no longer needed to be cared for. On the contrary, they should take on corresponding responsibilities.
Besides Yin'e and his three brothers, the younger princesses among the imperial daughters also received this preferential treatment.
Among the imperial concubines, only Consort De received preferential treatment, and the time she spent crying each day was much shorter than that of the others.
Consort De was treated favorably, of course, not because she was favored by Emperor Kangxi—Consort De was not Kangxi's most favored concubine. Even Imperial Noble Consort Tong did not have the privilege of taking a break during the mourning period because of his favor, let alone Consort De.
Consort De was given preferential treatment because she was now more than nine months pregnant and was about to give birth.
Consort Tong was worried that Consort De's long hours of crying every day would be too tiring and could harm the fetus in her womb, so she specially permitted Consort De not to participate in the entire crying process every day, but to do so according to her own physical condition.
The busiest person during the Empress Dowager's mourning period was Consort Tong. The Empress Dowager had never been involved in affairs, so Consort Tong handled all the matters, big and small, in the palace during the mourning period, including how to arrange for the noblewomen who came to the palace to mourn.
After enduring the entire first month of the lunar calendar, while others only lost weight and looked a bit haggard after the mourning period ended, Consort Tong became so thin that she could barely wear her clothes, and she fell seriously ill immediately after the mourning period ended.
The Empress Dowager passed away at the end of the twelfth lunar month, and the entire first month of the year following the beginning of the new year in the twenty-sixth year of the Kangxi reign was spent in mourning.
There was no festive atmosphere at all in the Forbidden City this year. Not just the palace, but the entire capital city lacked any sense of celebration. This was because all the princes, nobles, and high-ranking officials in the capital were required to observe mourning, resulting in half of the city's streets being draped with white banners.
The transition between the 26th and 27th years of the Kangxi Emperor's reign passed during the Empress Dowager's mourning period. However, besides the mourning period, there was also a joyous occasion in the first month of the 27th year of Kangxi's reign: Consort De, of the Uya clan, gave birth to the 23rd prince, Yinzhen, on the ninth day of the first month.
After the mourning period ended, the concubines and imperial children in the palace, as well as the princes, ministers, and noblewomen outside the palace, no longer needed to gather people to mourn for the Empress Dowager every day. They only needed to observe the mourning according to etiquette and rules.
After the mourning period for Imperial Noble Consort Tong ended, she fell seriously ill, and the palace affairs were once again entrusted to the Noble Consort and the four Consorts. Because Consort De had just given birth, only the Noble Consort and the three Consorts Hui, Rong, and Yi were handling the palace affairs together.
To be a little selfish, Yin'e was actually very reluctant for the Consort to take over palace affairs, spending most of his time every day on tedious and complicated palace matters.
Don't think that Yin'e didn't know how Kangxi's first two empresses died, or what other reasons it might have been. They were just too tired! Just because Kangxi himself was energetic and didn't feel tired doesn't mean that others were as energetic as him.
Even with the help of three other concubines to share the palace affairs, Yin'e still felt that it was too hard for Consort Tong to manage the palace affairs—he really didn't know how Consort Tong had managed to endure it all these years.
Yin'e felt that the situation of the mother and son before was quite good. Although the rank of Consort was high, she did not have to attend to affairs. Her life was both noble and leisurely, and she could not be happier.
If one were like Consort Tong, with a high rank but endless palace affairs to handle every day, wouldn't that be too tiring? What would be the difference between that and being a corporate slave?
Not only did Yin'e want to be a lazy bum himself, but he also wanted to turn the Imperial Concubine into a lazy bum like him who didn't want to work hard at anything.
In any case, neither she nor her son had much ambition. They didn't want to compete with the Crown Prince for the throne, nor did they want to be favored by Emperor Kangxi. There was really no need for them to be too diligent and take on too much work.
Wouldn't it be better to live a carefree and happy life in the palace? Why must we strive and be diligent?
Others strive because they reap rewards after hard work and effort; their efforts will eventually be rewarded.
What reward could Yin'e and the Consort have for their efforts? Did they think that if they did well and pleased Kangxi, he would give Yin'e the position of Crown Prince?
That's obviously impossible.
As for the rewards other than the position of heir apparent, even if Consort Gui and Yin'e do nothing and simply laze around like slackers, they will still receive what they are entitled to.
If that's the case, why bother trying to become the king of exams? Wouldn't it be better to just keep slacking off? If there's no reward for effort, then there's no point in trying anymore.
When Yin'e told the Imperial Concubine about his philosophy of being a "salted fish" (a metaphor for someone who is lazy and unambitious), she was both amused and exasperated.
"Since I hold the position of Imperial Concubine, I should shoulder the responsibilities that come with it. I entered the palace to continue the relationship between the Niohuru clan and the imperial family. Now that I am in the palace, I must achieve my purpose for entering the palace and bear the responsibilities that I should bear."
In short, the Imperial Concubine was quite professional. Even though she was destined to have no future in promotion, she didn't intend to slack off and become a couch potato.
The saying goes, "Those in a position should fulfill their duties," and that's exactly what the Imperial Concubine thought and viewed her position as an "Imperial Concubine."
Compared to Yin'e, the Imperial Concubine's moral standards seem to be higher. At least if Yin'e were the Imperial Concubine, he would definitely choose to give up and lie on the ground, ignoring everything else and ignoring everything else, given her current situation.
The entire first month of the lunar calendar is a dry and monotonous period, making it difficult to get things done. Only a few days are truly leisurely for the entire palace, when there's nothing to help with inside or outside the palace, allowing them to maintain their vitality amidst the busyness.
Yin'e originally thought that the mourning period for the Empress Dowager was over, and that things would at least be peaceful and quiet for a while, since everyone was obediently observing the mourning period and had no chance to cause trouble.
But things always take unexpected turns. Just after the first month of the lunar calendar, Kangxi dismissed Mingzhu and launched a massive crackdown on the newly emerging First Prince Party.
With the death of the Empress Dowager, the Crown Prince lost a powerful ally and one of his greatest supporters, and the arrogance of the First Prince's faction gradually increased.
But in the blink of an eye, Mingzhu was dismissed and demoted by Kangxi for forming cliques and engaging in corrupt practices. The newly emerging First Prince Party was suppressed before it could even show its arrogance, and wisely lowered its head and dared not cause any more trouble.
Speaking of Mingzhu, the Nalan family's power has greatly diminished in recent years, and it is not as strong as before.
Mingzhu's son, Nalan Xingde, passed away two years ago—well, the new year has just passed, so it must have been three years ago. Back in the twenty-fourth year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, Nalan Xingde, a close friend of the Kangxi Emperor and a first-class bodyguard, died of illness. This was a considerable loss for the Nalan family.
Now that Mingzhu has been demoted, the entire Nalan family cannot find a single outstanding descendant to support the clan. The Nalan family is already teetering on the brink of collapse, nearly falling apart in the struggle for succession.
Nalan Mingzhu was punished by Emperor Kangxi for forming cliques and engaging in corrupt practices, just like Suo'etu, who was also demoted by Kangxi years ago.
Of course, Songgotu was, after all, a leading figure of the Hesheli clan. Out of consideration for the Crown Prince, he was reinstated in the 25th year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign after being demoted for two years, and was appointed as the Grand Minister of the Imperial Guard.
It remains to be seen whether Mingzhu, who supports the eldest prince's bid for the throne, can stage a remarkable comeback like Suo'etu.
The experiences of Soetu and Mingzhu being dismissed and demoted demonstrate that Emperor Kangxi, as an emperor, had a strong desire for control and greatly disliked his ministers gathering around his sons and manipulating them to fight for the throne.
Emperor Kangxi never showed any mercy to ministers who dared to interfere with his son's bid for the throne and damage their father-son relationship. Even though Songgotu and Mingzhu were capable ministers in their early years, made many achievements in politics, and repeatedly rendered great service, Kangxi was ruthless in punishing them.
However, Emperor Kangxi was indeed a loving father. The eldest prince had a close relationship with Nalan Mingzhu and made frequent small moves after the wedding, constantly challenging the crown prince's position. Yet, Emperor Kangxi was not angry with the eldest prince at all.
Kangxi was only angry with Nalan Mingzhu, resenting that Mingzhu had sown discord between him and his eldest son.
From beginning to end, Kangxi believed that the eldest prince was corrupted by Mingzhu and influenced by him, rather than the eldest prince himself genuinely wanting to seize the throne.
Emperor Kangxi was a good father, at least he still is now. At least for now, he still has affection for his sons and doesn't distrust them too much.
This is related to Kangxi's age. He is only in his early thirties, in the prime of his life, strong and vigorous. Of course, he would not feel old and frail, and therefore would not have too strong a suspicion of his young and energetic princes.
If possible, Yin'e sincerely hoped that Kangxi could live to be a hundred years old. After all, Kangxi was a good father who loved his son. As long as he obeyed and did not have any wicked thoughts, he would certainly receive his due rewards.
The Empress Dowager once told the Fifth Prince that innocent children are endearing, and this statement is quite fitting for Yin'e as well. As long as he is less scheming and simpler, Emperor Kangxi will never shortchange him.
For Yin'e, the difference between having his father or his elder brother sitting in the highest position was enormous.
He could brazenly slack off and expect benefits from his father, the Emperor Yin'e, without any qualms. But he couldn't be so assertive with his elder brother, who also had his own son to love and had no obligation to support a lazy, unproductive younger brother.
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Author's Note: Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 17:59:23 on March 23, 2023 and 09:43:04 on March 24, 2023!
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Dengxian (16 bottles); Yingbaoer (6 bottles);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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