Chapter 141 The Sour Orange Brothers: Different Strategies
The Ninth Prince was furious, though his anger was completely unreasonable—he had already made a mistake by sneaking away, and the Fifth Prince had only added fuel to the fire, increasing the likelihood that the Ninth Prince would be exposed, but that did not cover up the fact that the Ninth Prince was already causing trouble.
Compared to the Ninth Prince, who couldn't help but sulk, Yin'e's attitude was very calm... but a little too calm.
Yin'e wasn't angry that his and the Ninth Prince's plan to sneak away had been disrupted, because he skipped the step of regretting it afterward and was already mentally prepared to be punished by Kangxi.
Now, he numbly awaited the inevitable outcome. After giving up entirely, Yin'e's mood was strangely calm; he was now completely indifferent, simply lying down without struggling.
They made a mistake, so Kangxi could punish them as he pleased. Even if Kangxi punished the eldest prince, the Fifth Prince, who should have taken the lead, and then punished the others, Yin'e accepted it. At worst, he would be scolded and forced to copy books. What could Kangxi do but kill him?
Even tigers don't eat their cubs. Emperor Kangxi lacked paternal love in his childhood. Although he was a strict parent and a "tiger parent" after becoming a father himself, he was indeed a loving father. Historically, the eldest prince didn't die during the struggle for the throne; he was just imprisoned!
Besides resigning himself to his fate, Yin'e actually hoped that one day Kangxi would understand that he was just a salted fish, and no amount of punishment or reprimand, no matter how deep the loving teachings, would be of any use to him, could not touch his heart, and could not make him realize his mistakes with a deep sense of pain.
Yin'e dared to pat his chest and promise Kangxi that he would never change. Even after the most severe punishment, he would still cause trouble and be lazy as before. There was no question of him repenting or reforming.
(Kangxi: ? Is this something so proud and worth making a promise?)
Yin'e genuinely hoped that after Kangxi recognized his true colors and saw through his lazy nature, he would lower his expectations of him, preferably give up on him altogether, and simply abandon the idea of cultivating him into a capable person—Kangxi had so many capable sons, couldn't he accept that one of them was a lazy bum?
Whether Kangxi would accept it or not is hard to say, but Yin'e was far from the only incompetent prince.
The Fifth Prince stared blankly for a while, then sighed as he came to his senses. His round, chubby face was full of resignation: "I accept the punishment, as long as Father doesn't make me copy books."
He could accept any other punishment, even temporarily giving up his appetite—as long as he wasn't punished by copying books, he would agree to anything.
Yin'e glanced at the Fifth Prince silently, his eyes filled with undisguised sympathy: "Fifth Brother, if you say that, Father will definitely punish you by making you copy books."
Punishment should involve making them do things they don't want to do or are unhappy about, so that it can serve as a deterrent and prevent them from repeating the offense.
If punishing him is the same as not punishing him at all, then it's meaningless—this is exactly what Yin'e wanted Kangxi to understand: punishing him is useless, so stop wasting your time trying to bring him back on track.
The Fifth Prince stared wide-eyed helplessly. Seeing the sympathy written all over Yin'e's face, he refused to accept the fact and looked around desperately, struggling to find any hope of saving himself.
The first person he looked at was the Seventh Prince. Unlike the Fifth Prince, who was anxious as if he were on a hot tin roof, the Seventh Prince had a calm expression and was calmly sipping his tea with his eyes lowered, showing no fear of being exposed after making a mistake.
Finding no solace in the Seventh Prince, the Fifth Prince turned his attention to the Eleventh and Twelfth Princes, who were sitting side by side opposite Yin'e and the Ninth Prince.
The two younger princes, who hadn't yet entered the Imperial Study, were equally calm, sitting closely together and sharing a plate of milk cake. Clearly, they hadn't eaten enough at the grand banquet and were just filling their stomachs.
The eleventh prince had no idea that leaving the main hall of the Ning Shou Palace for the secondary chambers was a mistake; he thought it was the normal and correct choice. After all, they had been staying in the secondary chambers before Emperor Kangxi's arrival at the Ning Shou Palace.
After paying their respects to the Empress Dowager and Emperor Kangxi, they retreated from the main hall to the side room. Was there a problem with that? Absolutely not!
Of course, when the Eleventh Prince first left the main hall of Ning Shou Palace with Yin'e and the Ninth Prince, he didn't think too much about it. He just instinctively followed the Ninth Prince and Yin'e who were standing in front of him and did as the Ninth Prince did.
Although the Ninth Prince's feelings for the Eleventh Prince were only so-so, the Eleventh Prince had always been attached to the Ninth Prince since childhood, and even liked the Ninth Prince more than Consort Yi. When the Ninth Prince moved out of Yikun Palace, the Eleventh Prince cried until his voice was hoarse, and it took him several days to accept the fact. Now he looks forward to moving to the West Third Palace as soon as possible.
Similar to the Eleventh Prince, the Twelfth Prince simply followed the crowd. Seeing that his older brother in front of him had moved, the Eleventh Prince followed suit and went along with the group.
Unlike his two younger brothers who were completely clueless, Yin'e and the Ninth Prince, who were the instigators, certainly knew what they would face after their mistake was exposed. However, unlike the anxious Fifth Prince, they were very calm and had already become completely unfazed.
The Ninth Prince wasn't really afraid of being punished by Emperor Kangxi; he was just angry because he couldn't stand his incompetent teammates.
If we're really comparing mental fortitude, the Fifth Prince, who has always been a well-behaved child and rarely caused trouble except for his studies, is definitely no match for the Second Prince and the Ninth Prince, who are habitual offenders and often make mistakes.
The Fifth Prince was feeling extremely uneasy when the thick curtain separating the side room from the main hall was suddenly lifted. Led by the Third Prince, the other princes filed in, instantly filling the previously somewhat spacious side room to the brim.
The Fifth Prince, who was facing away from the door, was startled by the noise behind him. Thinking that Emperor Kangxi had sent someone to summon him, he sprang into action, which startled the Third Prince, who was walking in front.
The Third Prince's face, which had been flushed with excitement, turned deathly pale with fright. He instinctively took two steps back until the Fourth Prince braced his back against him, at which point he managed to calm down and stared in disbelief at the guy who seemed to be doing parkour in the room with a hole in his head.
After recognizing who was doing "parkour," the Third Prince raised his eyebrows. His voice, which was going through puberty, betrayed him, and his shrill, slightly shrill voice suddenly came out. He asked incredulously, "Fifth Brother, what are you doing?"
If it were anyone else, the Third Prince wouldn't have been so surprised. But in his memory, the Fifth Prince had always been quite honest and simple, so this sudden move was truly unexpected.
At this moment, the Fifth Prince also realized that the person who came was not Liang Jiugong from Kangxi's side. He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and his whole body relaxed. His legs went weak and he sat down on the soft couch. He apologized to the Third Prince weakly, "I'm sorry, Third Brother, I was just frightened."
Several question marks popped up above his head. The Third Prince glared at the Fifth Prince and said, "I was the one who was scared! I just lifted the curtain and saw you jump up like that. Do you think the roof is too low and want to jump up and poke a hole, or do you want to fly to the sky?"
The Fifth Prince was in the wrong, so he obediently accepted the scolding. The Third Prince's words made him pause for a moment before hesitatingly replying, "Uh..." He scratched his head, looking sincere, "No, I was just frightened."
Third Prince: ...
Faced with the Fifth Prince, who was completely unaware that he was being mocked, the Third Prince felt as if he had punched cotton, completely wasting his energy, and wanted to roll his eyes even more.
After observing for a while and confirming that the Fifth Prince wouldn't suffer any losses at the hands of the Third Prince, Yin'e looked around at the Fourth Prince, Eighth Prince, Thirteenth Prince, and Fourteenth Prince who had followed him into the side room, and tilted his head to ask, "Why didn't you stay in the main hall?"
The Eighth Prince, being the most understanding, immediately chimed in: "Father Khan has finished examining our studies, and Grandmother Empress Dowager and Sister Chunxi talked about the Khorchin, so Father Khan sent us away."
Yin'e nodded to the Eighth Prince, expressing his gratitude for his explanation.
Yin'e understood; Kangxi wanted to continue serving water, something he had always been good at.
Emperor Kangxi, that playboy, has already examined the princes' studies; now it's time to pay attention to the princesses. The eldest, Princess Chunxi, is of marriageable age, and her wedding will inevitably be discussed—a topic unsuitable for the princes to overhear.
As for why the Crown Prince and the First Prince were not sent away, Yin'e understood. After all, the Crown Prince's status was different, and the First Prince was already married, so it wouldn't matter if he just listened in.
The Third Prince had just made a great show of himself in front of Emperor Kangxi, stealing the spotlight. Now that he had calmed down and his heart, which had been pounding wildly with fear, had returned to normal, he couldn't help but want to show off.
Unfortunately, no one else responded to his words, so the Third Prince had no choice but to talk to the Seventh Prince, who had previously been willing to discuss poetry with him, and proudly and excitedly showed off his performance just now.
The Fourth Prince and the Eighth Prince had already heard the whole thing in the main hall, so they had no interest in hearing it a second time; Yin'e and the Ninth Prince never gave him any face, and even if the Third Prince wanted to show off, he wouldn't go looking for them and make a fool of himself; the Fifth Prince and the other four younger ones didn't understand anything, so there was no point in showing off to them.
He picked up an orange, peeled it while shaking his head sympathetically, expressing deep regret that the Seventh Prince was being entangled with the Third Prince.
He popped a segment of orange into his mouth, and after chewing it a couple of times, Yin'e's handsome features involuntarily crumpled up, as if he were wearing a mask of pain.
He wasn't as lucky as last time; this time, the oranges he picked were incredibly sour. He only ate one segment before feeling like his teeth were about to fall out from the sourness.
Upon seeing Yin'e's face scrunch up, the Ninth Prince knew that the orange he had just peeled tasted terrible, but he didn't have the courage to take a bite—"knowing there are tigers in the mountains, yet still venturing into the tiger's den" was not the Ninth Prince's style.
The Ninth Prince glanced at the oranges that Yin'e was holding, unsure of where to put them, his eyes darting around, a mischievous smile playing on his lips. He pointed a finger at the Third Prince, who was talking big and acting like he was giving orders.
The tacit understanding between Yin'e and the Ninth Prince was genuine; he immediately grasped the Ninth Prince's meaning. His almond-shaped eyes crinkled mischievously as Yin'e, holding an orange, approached the Third Prince, who was busy boasting to the Seventh Prince, and slipped the sour orange into his hand.
The Third Prince, operating on a single-core system, noticed that Yin'e was leaning over and putting an orange in his hand, but his attention didn't follow. After getting the orange, he stuffed a segment into his mouth without thinking, and was so sour that he forgot what he was going to say next.
The sour oranges successfully tricked the Third Prince, and Yin'e winked smugly at the Third Prince, whose face was scrunched up in a grimace: "Sour, isn't it? It's just right for your sour poem!"
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