Chapter 1: The First Chapter of the Newcomer Old Ten's Lazy Beginning
Winter came exceptionally early in the twenty-second year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign. Even before the twelfth lunar month had begun, several heavy snowfalls had already occurred. The Forbidden City was a pristine white, covered in silver everywhere. The red walls and green tiles of the palace were nowhere to be seen, replaced by a flawless expanse of pure white.
With the New Year approaching, palace affairs have become increasingly busy. Most of the palace staff are in a hurry, leaving slightly messy footprints on the palace paths where snow has just been swept in the morning but has already settled.
In Yongshou Palace, Consort Niohuru was busy with palace affairs all morning, and only had a moment to steal a moment to visit her son in the warm pavilion around noon.
The young palace maid standing at the entrance of the warm pavilion lifted the curtain, and after the Consort and two senior palace maids entered the warm pavilion, she immediately lowered the thick curtain, fearing that a draft would get in and make the little prince, who was less than two months old, catch a cold.
The Imperial Concubine first warmed herself in front of the charcoal-burning incense burner at the entrance to ward off the chill before walking to the cradle placed in the center of the warm pavilion and looking down at her son wrapped in swaddling clothes.
The little boy slept soundly in his cradle like a little pig, his half-exposed face chubby, his skin fair and moist, the delicate tenderness unique to infants; his complexion was also rosy, radiant and glowing, clearly showing that he was well-cared for and a healthy, robust baby.
The wet nurse and nanny who were watching over the little prince by the cradle knelt and bowed to the Imperial Concubine, whispering, "The little prince woke up once in the middle of the morning and had milk once."
The prince born to the Imperial Concubine is the Emperor's eighteenth son. However, the prince is too young to be named or ranked, so he is currently just called "Little Prince" or "Little Prince" in Yongshou Palace.
Nodding slightly to the two women, the Imperial Concubine gently instructed them to take good care of the young prince. She then spoke slowly and deliberately, yet with an air of authority, to reprimand the wet nurse and nanny before waving them aside.
With her hand resting on the cradle, the imperial concubine leaned down to gaze at her son's obedient and adorable sleeping face, her eyes so tender they seemed to drip with water, full of love and joy.
In the seventeenth year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, Empress Xiaozhao passed away, and the Niohuru clan decided to send another noblewoman from their family to the palace to serve the emperor.
As the younger sister of Empress Xiaoren, the Consort Gui was selected and entered the palace in the nineteenth year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign with the treatment of a consort. The following year, she was conferred the title of Consort Gui and, after the investiture ceremony, became a high-ranking consort in the palace, second only to the Imperial Noble Consort.
High-ranking concubines rarely give birth to children. After entering the palace, the Noble Consort never thought she would have a son.
But by the grace of heaven, she was able to give birth to a prince safely, and the imperial concubine had no more complaints.
The Imperial Concubine cherished this hard-won son immensely and was willing to give everything for his health—not that she was making a mountain out of a molehill, but rather that too many children in the palace had died.
Despite the increasing number of children born in the palace in recent years, and many concubines rising to the rank of consort or imperial concubine through their sons, high-ranking concubines from prominent families and of noble status rarely have children. Even if they do give birth, it is difficult for their children to grow up safely, and many die young.
From the distant past, Empress Yuan's eldest son died; to more recent events, Consort Tong's daughter, born in June, died before she was even a month old in the intercalary sixth month. Given such circumstances in the palace, it was no wonder that Consort Niohuru was concerned about her son's health.
Nowadays, apart from the Crown Prince, the son of the Imperial Concubine is the most noble in the palace. However, the Imperial Concubine has never had any ambitions. She does not ask her son to gain the Emperor's favor or attention, nor does she hope that her son will grow up to be a pillar of the state. She only wishes that her son be healthy and grow up safely.
The head palace maid, Lüyi, presented the handkerchief dampened with hot water, and the head palace maid, Lanzhi, gently removed the nail guards from the imperial concubine.
After washing her hands with a warm cloth, the Imperial Concubine reached into the cradle. She gently touched the baby's flushed cheeks and stroked her son's forehead. Only after confirming that his temperature was normal did the Imperial Concubine relax and let out a long sigh of relief.
"Your Highness, please rest. It's alright to put palace affairs aside for now. There's no need to rush. The Imperial Noble Consort will surely be understanding." Lan Zhi handed the damp handkerchief she had taken to Lu Yi and gently advised her.
Consort Niohuru gave birth to a son in ten months. She had just finished her postpartum confinement and her body had not yet fully recovered. She could not withstand any exertion and needed to rest more to fully recover.
Looking at her son with affection, seeing him sleeping soundly, the Imperial Concubine felt a thousand times satisfied.
Knowing that her son had just been fed, she couldn't bear to wake him. She only gave the wet nurse and nanny a few more instructions, telling them to take good care of the little prince and to report immediately if anything seemed amiss. Then, she led Lanzhi and Luyi out of the warm pavilion and went to the inner chamber outside to rest.
After a while, the baby who had been sleeping soundly in the cradle opened a pair of bright, clear eyes.
He blew bubbles, made a few cooing sounds, and moved his little hands and feet around in the warm blankets, shifting to a more comfortable spot.
A moment later, the baby in the cradle, wrapped tightly in swaddling clothes, suddenly sighed, his eyes filled with a complex emotion, unlike the innocent and ignorant toddler he seemed.
Yin E never imagined that he would wake up one day to a different identity, a different era, and even a different world.
He is no longer a recent graduate who hasn't yet become a 996 worker or a successor to the corporate slave, but rather the eighteenth son of Emperor Kangxi, the tenth prince after the reordering of the birth order.
It took Yin E nearly two months to figure out his new identity. This was not because he was slow, but because the Consort Niohuru and the palace servants in Yongshou Palace all spoke Manchu, and he had not yet been formally ordained by Emperor Kangxi, nor had he been given the name Yin E.
As soon as he opened his eyes, Yin E found himself transported to the Qing Dynasty and into the palace. However, he still spent a lot of time learning Manchu before he learned that his mother in this life was Niohuru, who was posthumously honored as Consort Wenxi, and thus deduced his new identity.
When he first figured out his identity, Yin E was a little confused. After all, he was someone who had lived in the information age. Even if he wasn't very interested, he had watched a few Qing Dynasty dramas. He didn't know everything about the history of the Qing Dynasty, but he had some impression of it.
When the Kangxi era is mentioned, Yin E's first thought is the time-traveling romance between the female protagonist and the princes... cough cough, I digress. Yin E's deepest impression of the Kangxi era is not the fictional love stories in Qing Dynasty dramas, but the struggle for the throne among the nine princes that spanned the later years of Kangxi's reign!
Fortunately or unfortunately, although the Tenth Prince Yin'e was one of the nine princes vying for the throne, he was practically invisible.
Yin'e, who was later known as a good-for-nothing prince, was half a member of the Eighth Prince's faction, and was ranked alongside the sharp-tongued Ninth Prince as the two henchmen following behind the Eighth Prince.
Fortunately, Yin'e was not a core member of the Eighth Prince's faction. He never deeply participated in the struggle for the throne, and his situation was much better than that of other princes who failed in the struggle.
As a time traveler, Yin E knew his own limitations. He was utterly inept at political maneuvering. Let alone participating in the struggle for the throne and achieving final victory, whether he could even adapt to the Qing Dynasty environment and survive in the strictly regulated imperial palace was a question!
So let's just lie low and grow up safely and peacefully, and live out our lives in peace and stability, so as not to waste this new life.
Of course, Yin E also knew that he was thinking too far ahead. It was the 22nd year of Kangxi's reign, and the Nine Princes' Succession Struggle in Kangxi's later years was still a long way off. The nine princes who participated in the succession struggle were either still young children or had not even been born yet. In another ten years, there might not even be a trace of a succession struggle.
However, when talking about the struggle for the throne among the nine princes, we must mention Emperor Kangxi, who at first glance appears to be a background figure but is actually the mastermind behind the scenes.
To Yin'e's regret, he was almost two months old but had not yet met Emperor Kangxi and had no chance to behold the emperor's face.
Emperor Kangxi was always a restless and ambitious man, and he spent most of the year away from the Forbidden City.
This year was no exception. In February, Emperor Kangxi ordered the Crown Prince to accompany him on a tour of Mount Wutai, and they returned to Beijing in March. In June, he accompanied the Empress Dowager on a tour of the northern frontier, and they returned to the capital in July. In September, he accompanied the Empress Dowager on another tour of Mount Wutai, and they returned to the palace in October. In November, he took the Crown Prince to Nanjing Xiaoling Mausoleum to offer sacrifices, and they have not returned since.
If you calculate Kangxi's itinerary for that year, he probably spent more time on the road than in the Forbidden City. It's a mystery where Kangxi got such boundless energy and was so restless, seemingly wanting to leave the palace a hundred or eighty times a year.
Actually, Yin E did meet Emperor Kangxi—if you could count seeing him asleep. In October, when Emperor Kangxi escorted the Empress Dowager back to the palace, it happened to coincide with Yin E's birth. Emperor Kangxi visited Consort Niohuru at Yongshou Palace and saw Yin E, who was only a few days old and had just drunk milk and was fast asleep.
However, before Yin E could even reach his full month old, Kangxi left the palace again and has not returned since. Yin E thus never had the chance to see his father in this life while he was awake. But the New Year is just around the corner, and Nanjing is not far from the capital; Kangxi should surely return to the Forbidden City to celebrate.
His eyes darted around cleverly, the baby's round, bright eyes brimming with life. Yin E began to look forward to the New Year; perhaps he would not only see Emperor Kangxi, but also the Empress Dowager.
But Yin E quickly lost heart. He was too young, and the Imperial Concubine probably wouldn't take him to the palace banquet. Unless Emperor Kangxi visited Yongshou Palace, he would have no chance to meet the two powerful figures in the palace.
As for whether Emperor Kangxi would visit Yongshou Palace, Yin E held a pessimistic view. With the New Year approaching, Kangxi would likely be too busy after returning to the palace to spend time with the harem. Even if he could occasionally find the time, the first person he would visit would undoubtedly be his cousin, the Imperial Noble Consort Tongjia.
However... as one of the nine princes vying for the throne, perhaps it would be better for him to stay away from Kangxi?
Yin E blinked thoughtfully, then kicked the tightly wrapped swaddled baby with his little feet: He didn't necessarily want to be a good-for-nothing prince like Yin E in history, but he had no interest in vying for the throne, nor did he want to be an ambitious and studious prince caught up in the hustle and bustle of the palace.
It is said that Emperor Kangxi's sons had a very tough life. They had to get up at three in the morning to study until seven in the evening when it was completely dark. They studied for fifteen hours a day and only had five days off a year.
Emperor Kangxi had high expectations for his sons. He not only required them to be fluent in Manchu, Mongolian, and Chinese languages, but also to be proficient in both literature and martial arts. In addition to studying with their tutors every day, they also had to practice riding and archery without interruption.
It has to be said that Emperor Kangxi's upbringing of his sons was even more terrifying than the 996 work schedule. Modern office workers would call the schedules of the princes in the Kangxi era "demons" and be glad that they didn't have to work 377.
The little feet kicked in the thick, soft swaddling clothes. Yin E stared wide-eyed at the bat-patterned top of the cradle, terrified by the tragic future he could foresee.
He exuded an aura of despair, his face filled with a sense of hopelessness, as if his life was shrouded in darkness, devoid of light and hope.
With his eyes closed, Yin E couldn't suppress the urge to skip school: slacking off was out of the question; the only way to make a living was to lie flat and become a lazy bum.
He made up his mind. He would resolutely follow the path of the incompetent tenth prince, lie down and be a lazy bum, never get involved in the struggle for the throne among the nine princes, and never fight to the death with his brothers who were like princes.
A note from the author:
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New story, please add to your favorites and support me! Mwah~~ (づ￣3￣)づ╭～
pass: I tried it, but the tenth prince's 胤 (礻我) doesn't show up in jj and turns into a question mark, so I had to change it all to 胤俄.
Another pass: Consort Niohuru lived in Yongshou Palace, and as everyone knows, Yongshou Palace is a birthplace of war gods...
Please add to your favorites: "The Seventh Prince's Scroll-like Life in the Qing Dynasty" (a Qing Dynasty time-travel story)
In the fifth year after transmigrating into the body of the seventh prince of the Kangxi Emperor, on a carriage leaving the palace, Yin You was struck by an emperor-raising system that seemed to fall from the sky.
Yinyou was born with a disability and was considered a taboo in the palace, so he was not allowed to participate in sacrificial rites. At that time, he had just been selected by Emperor Kangxi and adopted by Prince Chun as his heir.
Emperor Development System 007: Ding! The cheat system is now online. Host, let me assist you in achieving great things and ascending the throne!
Yinyou: ...You've got the wrong person. I'm disabled and can't possibly inherit the throne.
007: ?
Yinyou: And I'm about to be adopted out.
007: ? ? ?
The story is set in an alternate Qing Dynasty. The male protagonist, Prince Juan, neither adopts nor vies for the throne.
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