Chapter 48: The Tenth Sister's Comforting Lazy Comfort
Tonight's family banquet is being held at the Cining Palace. According to custom, the princes must wear python robes when attending the banquet.
On the fourth day of the month, Consort Yi packed some of Yinzhen's everyday belongings and sent them to Yongshou Palace, but this did not include the python robe he wore only on formal occasions. Having just learned that he would be attending a banquet at Cining Palace tonight, Consort Yi specially sent the python robe to Yinzhen.
As for Consort Gui asking Yinzhen if he wanted to see Consort Yi, it was because since moving into Yongshou Palace on the fourth day of the month, Yinzhen had been avoiding Consort Yi and refused to see her again. He even refused to go to Cining Palace to play with the Fifth Prince again.
These past few days, every time Consort Yi came to Yongshou Palace to see Yinzhen, he avoided seeing her. When Consort Yi came to the main hall, he would hide in the side hall, and when Consort Yi came to the side hall, he would crawl under the covers. In short, he refused to see her.
If he really couldn't avoid it, then Yinzhen would hide behind Yin'e, press his face against Yin'e's back, close his eyes, and pretend to be "I can't see you, and you can't see me."
Lowering his head, Yinzhen began to manipulate the chess pieces on the board again. His small, fair hands picked up a bead and bounced it several times on the board, moving it a considerable distance in one go.
He pouted, his phoenix eyes wide as he stared at the chessboard in front of him, looking like he was busy and didn't want to be disturbed. Without even looking up, he refused, "I want to play chess with my tenth brother."
The Imperial Concubine frowned slightly, but said nothing. She only sighed almost imperceptibly, "Alright, I'll go and inform Consort Yi. Don't play for too long. Change into your dragon robes later; it'll be more convenient when you go out."
After handing the brand-new royal blue python robe sent by Consort Yi to the wet nurse for safekeeping, the Imperial Concubine turned and left the inner room to speak with Consort Yi in the outer hall, telling her that Yinzhen still did not want to see her.
As soon as the Imperial Concubine disappeared from the inner palace, Yinzhen lowered his head and slumped down.
His gaze fell on the chessboard in front of him, but without focus. The game he used to play so skillfully suddenly felt unfamiliar, and he suddenly didn't know how to arrange the pieces of different colors.
After glancing at the dejected Yinzhen, Yin'e blinked, looked down at the chessboard on the small table between him and the Ninth Prince, and made a hesitant "uh" sound to attract some of Yinzhen's attention.
Reaching out, Yin'e poked Yin's arm with his chubby index finger, causing him to instinctively look up, though his expression remained somewhat downcast.
Pointing to the chessboard in front of him, Yin'e whispered a reminder: "Ninth Brother, the piece you just picked up was mine."
The beads that Yinzhen had just been fiddling with were light green. As Yin'e's opponent, he "kindly" helped Yin'e establish a huge advantage, leaving his own pieces far behind, and it seemed that Yin'e had one piece about to reach the finish line first.
His almond-shaped eyes, which were slanted upwards, suddenly widened. When Yin Tang looked closely, he found that, just as Yin E had said, he had just moved Yin E's chess piece. Instantly, his delicate and beautiful face turned bright red.
With puffed-out cheeks, Yinzhen glared angrily at the chessboard and put the pale green chess piece that he had been fiddling with back down, his phoenix eyes full of shame and annoyance: "I... I was just trying to help you because I saw you didn't know how."
Yin'e nodded repeatedly, without showing the slightest abnormality on his face. On the contrary, his eyes were filled with gratitude, and his expression was sincere and earnest as he said, "Thank you, Ninth Brother. Ninth Brother is so kind."
As he spoke, Yin'e followed Yin'tang's "instructions" and bounced the light green chess piece that Yin'tang had already moved back several times, bringing it to a position just a few steps away from the final finish line.
Stunned, Yinzhen stared blankly at Yin'e's movements, at his chess piece that had gained the upper hand and was nearing the end, feeling a tiny bit of regret.
Tilting his head, he smiled at Yinzhen. Yin'e's handsome, chubby face was beaming with a bright smile, his round, large almond-shaped eyes reflecting Yinzhen's image perfectly: "Ninth Brother, it's your turn to step down~"
Blinded by Yin'e's bright and cheerful smile, Yin Tang pouted and muttered to himself, but didn't say that Yin'e was wrong... Well, it was indeed Yin'e who said he wanted to help him.
Lowering his head, Yinzhen carefully examined the half-finished game of checkers before him, focusing intently on the match. He stubbornly wanted to win this game, vowing that he absolutely could not lose, otherwise he would be foolish enough to help his opponent defeat him.
After all that commotion, Yinzhen completely forgot his earlier low spirits, like morning dew scattered cleanly in the sunlight. He became fully absorbed in the game of chess, with no time to think about anything else.
In the main hall of Yongshou Palace, after the Imperial Concubine conveyed Yinzhen's message, Consort Yi's already pale face became even more bloodless.
With a forced smile, Consort Yi looked at the Noble Consort with gratitude in her eyes: "Thank you for taking care of Yinzhen these past few days, sister. It has allowed me to concentrate on cleaning up Yikun Palace. However, Yinzhen's inner turmoil is still unresolved, so I'm afraid I will have to trouble you for a few more days."
The Imperial Concubine didn't find taking care of the Ninth Prince troublesome at all, because from beginning to end, she hadn't actually put any effort into it.
The Imperial Concubine noticed that her son seemed quite adept at manipulating the Ninth Prince. Despite being a mischievous little devil that even Consort Yi struggled to control in Yikun Palace, the Ninth Prince was excessively docile in front of Yin'e, often being bullied by Yin'e without even realizing it.
Every time the Consort saw the Ninth Prince being teased by Yin'e, completely oblivious and still happily playing around, she couldn't bear it and wanted to say something to stop him.
Thinking of this, the Imperial Concubine felt a little guilty and coughed awkwardly to change the subject: "His Majesty is returning to the palace today, and there are some things that should not be done."
Consort Yi knew what the Noble Consort was referring to. Consort Guo Luoluo was still in Yikun Palace and had not yet been sent to the Eastern Six Palaces. At this time, the Emperor returned to the palace, and Consort Yi could not force Consort Guo Luoluo to move out, for fear that she would make a big fuss and end up in a lose-lose situation for both sides.
News of the imperial court and the inner palace was not shared, and Kangxi's return came without any warning. None of the concubines in the palace received any advance notice of his return, not even the Imperial Noble Consort Tong.
Emperor Kangxi's sudden return to the palace disrupted Consort Yi's plan to send away Consort Guo Luoluo.
It wasn't that Consort Yi was slow to act; it was just that she only made up her mind on the fourth day to send away Consort Guo Luoluo, so as not to give her any more opportunities to contact Yinzhen and sow discord between him and his mother.
And today is only the ninth day of the lunar month.
Consort Yi needs to inform Imperial Noble Consort Tong about Consort Guo Luoluo's relocation to the palace and obtain her consent; she needs to wait for Imperial Noble Consort Tong to send people to clean a suitable palace in the Eastern Six Palaces for Consort Guo Luoluo to move in, and she needs to pressure Consort Guo Luoluo to pack her luggage.
There were only a few days, yet so many things needed to be done. Even though Consort Yi was quite capable, there simply wasn't enough time to pack up Consort Guo Luoluo and send her to the Eastern Six Palaces.
Consort Yi hesitated for a moment, then said, “His Majesty’s sudden return to the palace has indeed disrupted my plans. But after careful consideration, I think this may be an opportunity. Once I have given His Majesty a detailed account of the whole affair, even for the sake of Yinzhen, His Majesty will not allow her to stay in Yikun Palace any longer.”
Consort Guoluo's instigation of conflict between Consort Yi and Yinzhen not only alienated the mother and son, but also caused the impetuous and sensitive Yinzhen to run away from Yikun Palace in a fit of anger, insisting on staying in Yongshou Palace and refusing to see Consort Yi again.
Yinzhen is still young, so it can be said that he is just a child being willful and ignorant. But if he gets older, this incident will become evidence to accuse him of being unfilial.
The Emperor cherishes his son and would never allow Yinzhen to act recklessly and leave a stain on his reputation. Even if Consort Yi no longer demands that Consort Guoluo move to another palace, the Emperor will not tolerate Consort Guoluo and will not allow Yinzhen to be seriously injured in the future for the sake of the Sixth Princess's dignity.
In fact, if Consort Yi had reported Guo Luoluo's deranged behavior after losing her son earlier, she would have been unable to stay in Yikun Palace long ago.
However, Consort Yi had always been soft-hearted and couldn't bring herself to tell the Emperor everything so that Consort Guo Luoluo would be completely rejected.
Now, Consort Yi has paid the price for her soft heart. Even though she regrets it now, she can only try to make amends. She can't turn back time and go back to the past to immediately propose the relocation of Consort Guo Luoluo after Yin Yu's death.
Consort Gui paused slightly, thinking of Yinzhen who was currently living in her palace and refused to move back to Yikun Palace. She understood Consort Yi's plan and whispered to her, "You can tell the Emperor the truth, but to the outside world, just use the same old story. Say that Yin'e and Xiao Jiu are on good terms and they are arguing about living together."
Yinzhen suddenly moved from Yikun Palace to Yongshou Palace. Even though Emperor Kangxi was not in the palace, Consort Tong, who was in charge of the harem, was still there. There had to be a reason.
So the Imperial Concubine suggested that since the two children played very well and were always together, and since Consort Yi hadn't been feeling well recently, the Imperial Concubine could help take care of them for a couple of days, without mentioning that Yinzhen's behavior was considered "running away from home".
Anyway, Consort Gui and Consort Yi have always been on good terms, so no one would suspect anything if they came up with such a fabricated reason. It's not surprising that Consort Yi would entrust her son to Consort Gui's care.
Consort Yi nodded gratefully to the Noble Consort. Since Consort Guo Luoluo had not yet been seen off, Consort Yi did not stay in Yongshou Palace any longer and quickly got up to take her leave.
Back in Yikun Palace, Consort Yi sat down on a chair with cushions and had someone bring over Consort Guo Luoluo from the backyard.
With her nail-covered hands resting on her abdomen to protect her belly, Consort Yi gazed quietly at Consort Guo Luoluo, who bore a striking resemblance to her. After a long while, she whispered, "I never knew you resented me so much."
Unable to break free from the grasp of the two strong old women, Consort Guo Luoluo sneered. Her beautiful and charming face now seemed to be poisoned and sinister: "I don't resent you, I hate you. I wish you were dead."
"I don't understand." Consort Yi's hand, which was resting on her stomach, trembled. She curled up for a moment and then shook slightly. "Is it because Yin Yu died young? But I never harmed him. I have always been saving him and protecting him!"
Yinyu was born weak and relied on medicine to stay alive after birth. Because Yinyu was the child of Consort Guoluo, Consort Yi took great care of him, even neglecting her own child, Yintang, in the process.
He chuckled, but tears streamed down Consort Guo Luoluo's face. She laughed and cried at the same time, her expression showing signs of madness: "From the moment I entered the palace, I have hated you."
“I am the elder sister, I am the eldest daughter. But our circumstances are worlds apart. In terms of children, status, and affection, I am far inferior to you. Why? Why did you climb to the top of the tree and become the clouds on the mountaintop, while I fell off the cliff and was trampled into the mud under your feet?”
Consort Guo Luoluo looked up at Consort Yi with eyes full of hatred, tears of blood streaming down her face: "Why should I end up like this? Why should my life be manipulated at will?"
“If it weren’t for you, I would never have entered the palace. Just because I look like you, I was summoned to the palace by imperial decree and trapped there, unable to get out.”
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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 10:27:47 and 22:34:18 on March 6, 2023!
Thank you to the little angel who watered the nutrient solution: Li Shang (づ●─●)づ 1 bottle;
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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