Chapter 95: Inviting Old Ten's Lazy Lifestyle
For the princes, moving to the Princes' Residence was not just a simple relocation.
This also means that they have officially broken away from their mothers' protection, and it also marks the beginning of their independent identity and status in the palace. They are no longer simply regarded as innocent children, but as princes who can bear responsibilities and wield power.
After the not-so-easy moving was completed, in the last moments of leisure before entering the Imperial Study, Yin'e plunged into the storerooms of the Third Bureau.
He decided that after moving out of Yongshou Palace and officially establishing his own household in the Prince's Residence, he would first take stock of his belongings to have a clear understanding of his assets.
Having just moved into the Third Palace, most of the luggage brought from Yongshou Palace was temporarily piled up haphazardly in the storeroom. Yin'e, along with Xiao Linzi and others, checked the item list, counting and rearranging the items, working tirelessly, both pained and happy.
Although the three warehouses were crammed with so many things, and contained almost everything imaginable, it was extremely difficult to sort them out all at once.
But Yin'e genuinely felt that he could bear even more of this pain. He not only loved jewelry and gold and silver, but also loved hoarding things. Even if he didn't need them, he liked to fill his storeroom with all sorts of things he had collected.
Yin'e was in the storeroom, covered in dust, sorting through the belongings he had moved to the Prince's residence, when the Ninth Prince suddenly came running from the Fourth Residence to visit the Third Residence, as if he wasn't moving today like Yin'e and didn't need to sort out his luggage and belongings in the Fourth Residence.
"Ninth Brother, what brings you here? Have you finished cleaning up all four quarters?" Yin'e, who had been pulled out of the storeroom by the Ninth Prince, dusted off the dust on his ochre-red python robe and asked the Ninth Prince with a puzzled look.
The Ninth Prince shook his head, indicating that only his bedroom and study in the four quarters were tidy; the rest was still a mess. Since the nanny and others were taking care of things, the Ninth Prince was too lazy to concern himself with these matters and simply washed his hands of the responsibility.
As for why the Ninth Prince didn't familiarize himself with the new residence on his first day after moving to the Princes' Residence, but instead went to the Third Princes' Residence to find Yin'e, there was another reason.
While Yin'e was busy organizing the storeroom, time had unknowingly reached the beginning of Xu (7-9 PM). The Eighth Prince, who also lived in the West Third Palace, returned from his studies at the Imperial Study.
When the Eighth Prince heard that Yin'e and the Ninth Prince had moved to the Princes' Residence today, he planned to host a banquet for them at the West Third Residence after school tomorrow, as a way of welcoming them back.
According to the order of seniority, although the Ninth Prince's residence in the Fourth Residence was farther from the First Residence than the Third Residence, the people sent by the Eighth Prince first went to the Fourth Residence to invite the Ninth Prince, and then went to the Third Residence to extend an invitation to Yin'e.
The Ninth Prince did not immediately respond to the invitation from the head of the palace.
He told the palace attendant who had come to invite him on behalf of the Eighth Prince that he needed to go to the Third Palace to discuss it with Yin'e first. He would act together with Yin'e; if they were going to the banquet, they would go together; if they were not going, they would accept the Eighth Prince's kindness.
His thick, dark eyelashes fluttered gently. The Ninth Prince rested his chin on his hands on the table, his upturned, elegant phoenix eyes appearing bright and spirited in the orange-yellow candlelight: "Tenth Brother, do you think we should go to the banquet?"
Yin'e lowered his eyes and pondered for a moment before speaking to the Ninth Prince in a consultative tone: "Ninth Brother, I don't plan to attend the banquet."
Smoothing his sleeves, which were a little messy from organizing things in the storeroom, Yin'e pouted, a troubled look on his handsome face: "I just moved into the Prince's Residence, and I want to get the three residences in order as soon as possible. I don't want to spend time on socializing."
What Yin'e didn't finish saying was that he especially didn't want to spend time socializing with the Eighth Prince.
Normally, Yin'e didn't want to get too close to the Eighth Prince, preferring to avoid him altogether. For the Eighth Prince to host a banquet and invite them this time, Yin'e must have been out of his mind to attend.
Compared to the Eighth Prince, Yin'e was not as hostile or wary of the Crown Prince and the First Prince. If he could, Yin'e would have liked to drag the Ninth Prince a hundred and eight thousand miles away from the Eighth Prince.
Yin'e's answer relieved the Ninth Prince. He seemed to realize that Yin'e was also not fond of the Eighth Prince, which made the Ninth Prince feel more at ease, and he could say some things directly.
With a sullen, cat-like face, the Ninth Prince mumbled in a very soft and indistinct voice, "I don't want to go either—what kind of banquet is this, this welcome feast? If I could, I wouldn't want to move to the Prince's Residence."
Moving to the Prince's Residence meant the end of their carefree and happy childhood, the end of their mother's support, the need to establish their own household in the Prince's Residence, and the start of their studies in the Imperial Study, where they would receive instruction from their tutors.
Since the end of June, when Yin'e and the Ninth Prince went to the Qianqing Palace to ask Emperor Kangxi to postpone their move to the West Third Palace, and the Ninth Prince was caught by Gu Badai in the Imperial Study pondering for a long time, the Ninth Prince developed a phobia of the Imperial Study and never thought of moving out of Yikun Palace in advance again.
If it weren't for the fact that the Ninth Prince was already quite old, and that Yin'e, who moved with him, had already turned six, the Ninth Prince would have really wanted to continue delaying his entry into the Imperial Study.
Hearing the Ninth Prince's complaints, Yin'e pursed his lips tightly to keep from laughing out loud: The Eighth Prince hadn't figured out the Ninth Prince's intentions at all. He wanted to curry favor with the Ninth Prince, but he went in the wrong direction. His flattery backfired, making things worse and incurring the Ninth Prince's displeasure.
Since the Ninth Prince currently has a poor impression of the Eighth Prince and shows no signs of developing any affection for him, Yin'e is not hesitant to add fuel to the fire, making the Eighth Prince's image in the Ninth Prince's mind even worse, and further eliminating the possibility of the Ninth Prince being won over by the Eighth Prince in the future.
“Ninth Brother, I actually think Eighth Brother is going to unnecessary trouble.” Yin’e’s expression turned slightly serious as he lowered his voice and whispered to Ninth Brother about Eighth Brother behind his back, “We just met at the Grand Banquet for the Golden Festival the day before yesterday. It’s only been a few days, so there’s no need to hold a welcoming banquet.”
"And Ninth Brother, do you remember when we said at the banquet that we were going to move to the West Third Residence soon? Eighth Brother must have heard that too."
At the grand banquet, the Eighth Prince was seated right next to the Ninth Prince. The Ninth Prince and Yin'e did not deliberately lower their voices when they spoke at the table. As long as the Eighth Prince was not distracted, he must have heard their conversation and would not be surprised that Yin'e and the Ninth Prince had moved to the Princes' Residence today.
“At the time, the Eighth Prince didn’t say anything, but today he suddenly said he wanted to host a banquet for us. I think it’s unnecessary. The Imperial Study is full of studies, and we’ve just moved to the Princes’ Residence, so we’re in a mess. How can we have time to get together and hold a banquet?” Yin’e curled his lips, almost blatantly trying to sow discord between the Ninth Prince and the Eighth Prince.
The Eighth Prince's talk of hosting a banquet to welcome them was just an excuse to get closer to them.
After all, Yin'e and the Ninth Prince would be the Eighth Prince's neighbors in the future, and they would live together in the West Third Palace for a long time to come, seeing each other all the time and inevitably having some contact.
If the Eighth Prince could befriend Yin'e and the Ninth Prince in advance, it would be entirely beneficial to him—Yin'e is the son of a Noble Consort, and the Ninth Prince is the son of a Fourth Consort; they are both valuable to befriend.
The Ninth Prince frowned deeply upon hearing this. After a long while, he solemnly instructed Yin'e with a tense little face: "Tenth Brother, Eighth Brother intends to get close to us. Before you see his true character, you must be careful and not be foolish enough to be deceived by him."
Yin'e: ...
Yin'e: …………
My feelings are mixed.jpg
Speechless, Yin'e glanced at the Ninth Prince, whose delicate face was tense and whose expression was extremely serious. He felt that things had gone wrong; he should have been the one to say these words to the Ninth Prince.
Let's figure out who's more likely to be fooled and led astray by the Eighth Prince!
Although Yin'e was somewhat annoyed that his lines had been stolen by the Ninth Prince, he was glad that the Ninth Prince wasn't completely unguarded around the Eighth Prince. Given the Ninth Prince's aversion to the Eighth Prince, it wouldn't be so easy for the Eighth Prince to win his favor and, consequently, his friendship.
This left the Ninth Prince with the impression that the Eighth Prince's intentions might not be pure. Yin'e, seeing that he had the upper hand, did not press his advantage but instead changed the subject.
— He and the Ninth Prince are still too young, and the later struggle for the throne among the nine princes is far away. They can be distant from the Eighth Prince, but they cannot cut off contact with him for no reason. They still need to maintain a superficial brotherhood with him, so it is not appropriate to completely crush the Eighth Prince in front of the Ninth Prince.
“Ninth Brother, we should go to bed around this time from now on, otherwise we won’t be able to get up in the morning… no, in the middle of the night, and we’ll be late for the Imperial Study.” Yin’e lay on the table, thinking about the upcoming start of his life in the 377s, and felt an urge to just give up.
Yin'e and the Ninth Prince had just moved to the Princes' Residence, so they didn't need to report to the Imperial Study immediately. They could postpone it for a few more days, giving them more time to settle into their new residence, adapt to living alone in the Princes' Residence after leaving their mother, and also adjust their daily routines.
The princes had to arrive at the Imperial Study at 3 a.m. every day, and their morning cultural classes continued until noon. After a one-hour rest, they would begin riding and archery lessons, which lasted until 7 p.m., when the sun set. Only then could the princes have time to rest at their own discretion.
However, there are only four hours between the beginning of Xu (7-9 PM) and the beginning of Yin (3-5 AM). After deducting the time spent traveling back and forth between the princes' quarters and the monks' study in the early morning and evening, and the time spent washing up, the princes actually have very little time to rest.
The princes already had very little time to rest, but Prince Juan continued studying late into the night after returning from the Imperial Study at the hour of Yin (3-5 AM), truly embodying the motto "Study until you drop, as hard as you can."
For Yin'e and the Ninth Prince, what bothered them most about the Imperial Study was not the strictness and inhumanity of the Imperial Instructor Gu Badai, but the excessively abnormal schedule of the Imperial Study's curriculum, which was personally designed by Emperor Kangxi.
While they were still in the Western Six Palaces, Consort Gui and Consort Yi were very indulgent towards Yin'e and the Ninth Prince. They slept for at least four hours every day, sometimes even five hours, and their sleep was long and of high quality.
However, after moving to the Prince's residence and entering the Imperial Study, Yin'e and the Ninth Prince had to arrive at the Imperial Study at the beginning of the morning every day to start their early reading, both to memorize the lessons learned the previous day and to preview the content to be learned today.
—If we don't make some adjustments beforehand, Yin'e and the Ninth Prince will definitely not be able to get up at the beginning of the day.
Now that they've moved to the Prince's residence, Yin'e and the Ninth Prince shouldn't worry about how heavy their studies at the Imperial Study are. Their priority should be to adjust their sleep schedule before reporting to the Imperial Study. They should at least be able to get out of bed by the early morning hours (3-5 AM) instead of continuing to sleep soundly.
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Author's Note: Only one update today, now I owe two. I'll try to adjust my sleep schedule to make up for it; my sleep schedule has been really messed up lately QAQ. Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants between 2023-03-31 23:54:02 and 2023-04-01 15:50:25!
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Little House (5 bottles); Sleepy Dragon, Spring Breeze, ·w·, Pear, and Little Millet Worm (1 bottle each);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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