Chapter 113 - The Tenth Brother's Pretending to Be Dumb and Complaining
Yin'e was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously thought of the four consorts: Huiyi, Rongde, and the Four Consorts.
He thought it, and he asked it aloud.
"Not only." The Imperial Concubine gently shook her head, but did not specify who else was included besides the four Concubines Huiyi, Rongde, and Consorts.
But even though the Imperial Concubine didn't say anything, Yin'e quickly figured it out.
Among the concubines who enjoyed the treatment of a consort in the palace were Consort Xianfu, who was of Mongolian origin, and Consort Chuxiu, the half-sister of Empress Renxiao. Although they were relatively unknown in the palace, they were qualified to receive palace duties based on their status and position.
Yin'e's thinking was correct. After the death of Empress Xiaoyi and the passing of Kangxi's third wife, the situation in the harem changed again. The Consorts of Xianfu Palace and Chuxiu Palace, who had always had a low profile, were also involved, and a new balance was formed with one Noble Consort and six Consorts.
At the latest, after Empress Xiaoyi's mourning period, or as early as next year, Kangxi's harem will add another person, and she will at least be a concubine enjoying the same rank and privileges as the Consort of Xianfu Palace and the Consort of Chuxiu Palace.
Empress Xiaoyi's half-sister was already in her twenties and remained unmarried. It was obvious to everyone what the Tong family was planning. Even if it was just out of respect for his maternal clan, Emperor Kangxi would still summon Empress Xiaoyi's sister to the palace.
The timing of Xiao Tongjia's entry into the palace depended on whether the Tong family was eager to seize benefits through their marriage ties with the royal family—although the Tong family would not admit it, the rise of the Tong clan during the Kangxi era was simply because the Tong family was Kangxi's maternal clan.
If the Tong family has any sense of shame, they will wait until Empress Xiaoyi's 27-month mourning period is over before sending the young Tongjia woman into the palace. If the Tong family has no sense of shame, then the palace will have another concubine as early as next year.
Yin'e had no idea what the Consort had been doing during this time; he was simply afraid that admitting to palace affairs would make her too tired.
The Imperial Concubine's explanation did not completely dispel Yin'e's doubts. He hesitated for a moment, then moved closer to the Imperial Concubine and whispered, "Mother, nothing is more important than your own health. I don't want you to worry about palace power."
Being a lazy bum is actually quite nice; you can lie back and enjoy life. Why bother striving for anything? Power is a double-edged sword, and Yin'e genuinely believes there's no need to be so obsessed with it.
The Imperial Concubine shook her head without saying much, but gently tapped Yin'e's nose with her hand and said with a faint smile, "Don't worry, your mother knows what she's doing."
After a pause, the Consort's expression turned serious. She said earnestly to Yin'e, "You don't need to worry about anything. Leave everything to your mother. I'm confident I can protect you."
Yin'e opened his mouth as if to say something, but just then Lanzhi and Luyi brought up all the dumplings, so the Consort raised her hand slightly to indicate that this was the end of it and she did not intend to continue discussing this topic with Yin'e.
Yin'e had reached the age to study in the Imperial Study, and there were some things the Consort wouldn't hide from him, even explaining them to him in detail. However, the Consort was unwilling to tell Yin'e too much about some deeper and more hidden matters in the harem, because he was a prince and his attention shouldn't be focused solely on the harem.
This is her battlefield, and she will protect her only child.
Although Yin'e skipped the entire morning of his cultural classes on the winter solstice, he didn't plan to skip the whole day of classes because he could no longer live in Yongshou Palace as he had before he was six years old. He still planned to go for the riding and archery class in the afternoon.
In the late afternoon, Yin'e bid farewell to the Imperial Concubine. However, he did not forget to ask the Imperial Concubine to send some freshly wrapped dumplings to the Prince's quarters. He had promised the Ninth Prince that they would meet at the Prince's quarters after school that evening to celebrate the Winter Solstice together.
Yin'e had made an appointment with the Ninth Prince in advance to celebrate the festival together that evening, which was one of the reasons why he planned to go to the Ganqing Palace training ground for his riding and archery lesson in the afternoon—so that he could finish school with the Ninth Prince and return to the Prince's residence from the Ganqing Palace together.
As for another reason why Yin'e insisted on going to the training ground for riding and archery lessons, it was because Yin'e actually quite liked Professor Wai Anda's riding and archery lessons, finding them much more interesting than academic classes.
After all, interest is the greatest motivation.
Upon arriving at the drill ground from Yongshou Palace, Yin'e was greeted by a sea of sympathetic and pitying gazes.
With a slight brow raised, bathed in the complex and unspoken gazes of the princes, Yin'e understood: the way they were looking at him meant that Kangxi already knew about his skipping classes; he had finally messed up.
So, he was indeed not so lucky. The day he skipped class happened to coincide with the busy affairs of the court. Did Emperor Kangxi not have time to inspect the Imperial Study?
However, upon further reflection, Yin'e stopped dwelling on his "bad luck".
Even if he truly had extraordinary luck, and Emperor Kangxi was genuinely preoccupied with something and unusually absent from the Imperial Study today, Yin'e, as the first student to skip class and the first prince to challenge the rules of the Imperial Study, would certainly be reported to Emperor Kangxi.
Therefore, it was inevitable that Emperor Kangxi would find out about his truancy; it was just a matter of sooner or later, whether he saw it with his own eyes or heard it from others.
"Tenth Brother!" The Ninth Prince ran over, grabbed Yin'e, pulled him aside, and whispered, "Father came to the Imperial Study this morning but didn't see you. The tutor on duty today complained about you, saying you didn't come all morning."
"The Khan is very angry and has ordered you to go to the Qianqing Palace to see him immediately after you arrive at the Imperial Study."
Yin'e was taken aback by the Ninth Prince's words, and after a long while, he said, "He didn't send anyone to Yongshou Palace to drag me back to the Imperial Study. It seems that Father is not so angry after all—this is much better than I expected!"
From the Ninth Prince's words, Yin'e deduced that Kangxi was definitely angry, but not to the point of being furious, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to stay in Yongshou Palace for most of the day peacefully.
Yin'e felt a sense of relief, and a relaxed expression appeared on his face: he wasn't too angry, so when he went to the Qianqing Palace to see Kangxi later, at least he wouldn't be beaten or locked up and starved.
If he wasn't going to be beaten or starve, then after thinking about it seriously, Yin'e realized there was nothing to be afraid of.
Yin'e did not hide his emotions from the Ninth Prince, and of course the Ninth Prince saw through his indifference.
Grasping Yin'e's small hand tightly, the Ninth Prince glared at him fiercely, his phoenix eyes filled with more worry than anger: "Tenth Brother, don't you know fear? That's Father Khan! His anger is no small matter!"
Yin'e grasped the Ninth Prince's hand in return, knowing that he was worried about him, but still couldn't help but mutter softly, "But it's not a big deal."
He doesn't intend to skip class just this once! The Ninth Prince will find out later that skipping class will become as common as eating a meal for Yin'e.
Yin'e felt that he hadn't crossed Kangxi's bottom line. After all, he hadn't caused trouble in the Qianqing Palace, hadn't caused any trouble in the Cining Palace, and hadn't fallen out with the Crown Prince. He shouldn't have completely alienated Kangxi.
He also hoped that Kangxi would accept the truth that he was just a useless person sooner rather than later. It was best not to have too high expectations of him from the beginning. Similarly, when Kangxi grew old and frail, there was no need to be wary or fearful of him—it was really not worth it; he was just not cut out for it!
Unlike Yin'e, the Ninth Prince harbored greater fear and awe towards Emperor Kangxi. This was because the Ninth Prince had limited contact with Kangxi, and Kangxi had always presented himself as a stern and authoritative father figure to him.
Seeing Yin'e's nonchalant expression, which even seemed to suggest he was completely unfazed, the Ninth Prince pursed his lips, hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and made up his mind: "I'll go to the Qing Palace with you!"
With his almond-shaped eyes wide open, Yin'e's emotions were even more intense than when he heard that Kangxi wanted him to go to the Qianqing Palace. He shook his head repeatedly and said without hesitation, "Ninth Brother, I am the one who made the mistake. I will accept whatever punishment Father Father may give me, but I don't want to implicate you or drag you into this."
Before the Ninth Prince could speak, Yin'e added in a low voice, "Ninth Brother, if you come with me to the Qianqing Palace, Father might be even angrier."
If he bravely takes responsibility for his mistake, then perhaps Emperor Kangxi will punish him and let the matter rest.
But if he were to back down, try to shirk responsibility, and drag the Ninth Prince along to the Qianqing Palace to see Emperor Kangxi, attempting to have the Ninth Prince share his immense anger, then Emperor Kangxi might be even angrier and punish him even more severely in a fit of rage.
Yin'e's words made some sense. After hesitating for a moment, the Ninth Prince was finally persuaded and did not insist on accompanying Yin'e to the Qianqing Palace. He only repeatedly told Yin'e not to anger his father again, and to be proactive in admitting his mistakes so as to be "punished leniently".
"Don't worry, Ninth Brother, I know what to do." Before leaving the training ground, Yin'e patted his chest and assured the Ninth Prince, "I won't make Father angry again today."
"By the way, Ninth Brother, if I haven't returned by the time school ends, and I haven't sent anyone to tell you that I've returned to the Prince's Residence, then wait for me in the Imperial Study, and I'll go back to the Prince's Residence with you."
Hearing this, the Ninth Prince, who had initially felt a little relieved, became uneasy again, feeling that Yin'e's attitude was somewhat provocative. If he had acted the same way when meeting the Emperor at the Qianqing Palace, his father might have been even angrier.
As Yin'e rushed from the drill ground to the Qianqing Palace, before he could even explain his purpose to the guards at the gate, Liang Jiugong, carrying a whisk, came to greet him. His expression was normal, but his tone was slightly cautious as he said, "Tenth Prince, the Emperor summons you in."
He told Xiao Linzi and the others to wait for him outside the Qianqing Palace, and Yin'e obediently followed Liang Jiugong into the majestic and solemn palace, where he was brought before Emperor Kangxi, who was reviewing memorials.
Seemingly oblivious to the oppressive and tense atmosphere in the room, and ignoring the stern, cold face of Emperor Kangxi above him, Yin'e acted as if he had done nothing wrong, bowing slightly with a composed expression and natural tone as he greeted Emperor Kangxi, without revealing the slightest abnormality.
After paying his respects to Emperor Kangxi, Yin'e stood obediently in the center of the room with his head down, not moving or speaking to break the silence and stalemate.
Amidst the soft rustling of the imperial brush as it reviewed memorials, Yin'e, who had been standing for a while, felt a little tired and was just about to quietly shift his position to stretch when he heard Kangxi's ambiguous remark from the front: "I thought you wouldn't come to the Qianqing Palace until tomorrow."
Raising his head to look at Kangxi, Yin'e opened his innocent, watery almond-shaped eyes wide, pretending not to understand Kangxi's sarcasm, and just smiled foolishly and said, "Didn't Father tell me to come to the Qianqing Palace to see you as soon as I arrived at the Imperial Study? I dare not delay!"
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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 19:32:10 and 23:43:17 on April 26, 2023!
Thank you to the little angel who watered the nutrient solution: Yanwen (1 bottle);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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