Chapter 210 210 Catching up on sleep: a deeply ingrained problem
The Third Prince, Fourth Prince, Seventh Prince, and Eighth Prince were all diligent and studious students. Once it was time for morning reading, they would not be distracted by anything else and would concentrate wholeheartedly on their studies.
Unlike these self-disciplined and diligent top students, Yin'e was never a good student.
He had long since chosen to lie down and be a couch potato, so he lacked both the motivation to strive and the willpower to maintain self-discipline.
When the inner angel entered the study to inspect, Yin'e pretended to be serious. But once the inner angel finished his rounds and left, Yin'e immediately lost his composure and revealed his true nature as a poor student.
The books that had been standing upright fell onto the desk. Her thick, dark eyelashes fluttered rapidly twice. Yin'e blinked, trying to open her almond-shaped eyes wide to wake herself up: "...So sleepy."
Overwhelmed by drowsiness, Yin'e's eyes lost their former clarity and brightness, becoming dark and dull, filled only with the sluggishness and numbness brought on by sleepiness.
Sleepy……
A wave of drowsiness washed over him, making Yin'e's thoughts race slowly and laboredly: He shouldn't have gotten up so early... So sleepy, so want to sleep, can't... still in the study...
Even though Yin'e struggled with all his might, his eyelids still felt as heavy as a thousand pounds, constantly sliding down and drooping, pressing down on his large, round almond-shaped eyes until they gradually narrowed into a line, and his clearly defined double eyelids flattened out, with his eyelashes drooping like a small fan resting on his lower eyelids.
So sleepy he could barely keep his eyes open, and everything in front of him was pitch black, but Yin'e still managed to maintain the last shred of consciousness. He forced himself to sit upright at his desk, his head drooping as he looked down at the books laid out on the desk, trying to create the illusion of deep thought and contemplation.
At this moment, a familiar voice, deliberately lowered, seemed to come from the horizon, gently entering Yin'e's ears: "Ninth Brother, Tenth Brother, don't force yourself, lie down and take a nap."
"Don't worry, I'll keep watch for you. I'll warn you when the Inner Da arrives, so you won't get caught sleeping in the Imperial Study."
It was Fifth Brother's voice... It took him a while to realize what Fifth Prince had said. Yin'e had no more worries. His hand, which was propped on the table, collapsed, and he fell asleep on the faintly scented book.
Having studied in the Imperial Study for more than half a year, Yin'e and the Ninth Prince had long been forced to get used to getting up early under the pressure of reality.
But today is a special case. Yin'e and the other two were so excited last night that they didn't go to sleep until very late, and they got up exceptionally early this morning. The price of sleep deprivation was that they were so tired after relaxing that they couldn't even open their eyes. Sleepiness crashed down on them like a giant wave, sweeping them into a dark and lightless dreamland.
Only during the early morning reading time did Yin'e dare to lie down and fall asleep; at other times, he wouldn't dare to be so unrestrained.
In educating his sons, Emperor Kangxi was an absolute strict father. According to his regulations, the princes strictly followed the following schedule when studying in the Imperial Study:
At 3:00 AM, the princes would go to the Imperial Study and study for an hour. During this time, the princes could review what they had learned the day before, or review what they were about to learn. Of course, they could also catch up on the homework they hadn't finished the day before. This was something that Yin'e, the Ninth Prince, and the Fifth Prince had all done quite often.
At 5:00 AM, the inner attendant in charge of the morning reading patrol would come to check the homework assigned by the tutors the day before, and also to answer the princes' questions and resolve any doubts left over from yesterday's studies. The entire question-and-answer process would last about half an hour.
After that, there was a half-hour breakfast time, during which the princes, who had gotten up from bed in the early hours of the morning, could finally rest for a while.
At 7:00 AM, the morning classes officially began. Several inner court tutors took turns instructing the princes, covering a wide range of subjects, from astronomy and geography to the various schools of thought, and even poetry, calligraphy, painting, music, chess, and Western learning. The aim was to cultivate a broad and comprehensive knowledge base, with the goal of making each prince a learned and erudite scholar.
After the morning's academic classes, there is an hour for lunch. After the lunch break, the afternoon's martial arts classes begin.
Emperor Kangxi never spoiled his sons. All the princes studying in the Imperial Study were sent to the training ground every day for rigorous training. Horse riding, archery, wrestling, and playing the game of "buku" were all compulsory courses. After an afternoon of high-intensity exercise, their skin would be worn raw.
It must be said that Emperor Kangxi was quite successful in educating his sons, most of whom became accomplished individuals. While they might not have been all-around perfect warriors, it's fair to say they were both literate and skilled in martial arts.
...The only problem is, Chengcai has a bit too many sons -_-||
However, although Emperor Kangxi was strict, there were still loopholes in the Imperial Study that could be exploited.
For example, the morning reading time from Yin Shi to Mao Shi depends entirely on the prince's diligence and self-discipline. The inner attendant only comes to inspect occasionally. As long as the prince is vigilant and doesn't get caught by the inner attendant, it's perfectly fine to slack off a little.
Actually, the Imperial Study initially did not have a rule that the Imperial Attendants would come to inspect the morning reading sessions. It was only a few responsible tutors—such as Gu Badai—who would voluntarily work overtime during the morning reading sessions to supervise the princes' reading.
Originally, the Imperial Study did not need an inner attendant to inspect the morning reading sessions, because the princes who had previously studied in the Imperial Study, such as the First Prince, the Third Prince, and the Fourth Prince, were all very diligent and hardworking, and very self-disciplined, so there was no need to send someone else to supervise them.
But ever since Yin'e and the Ninth Prince entered school, these two troublemakers have often slacked off and taken naps during morning reading. After Kangxi accidentally discovered this, the Imperial Study established a rule to inspect morning reading, with an inner attendant making a round every incense stick's time.
However, this alone could not completely dispel Yin'e's thoughts of slacking off. As long as someone helped him escape the inner guards' patrols, Yin'e would still dare to take a good nap during morning reading—for example, right now, as soon as the Fifth Prince took over the job of being a lookout, Yin'e immediately collapsed.
Without the constant supervision of the emperor, early morning reading was the perfect time to slack off. Moreover, there was another great advantage to choosing this time to slack off: you basically didn't have to worry about being caught by Emperor Kangxi, who was going to attend the morning court session.
Although Emperor Kangxi would come to the Imperial Study to examine the princes' studies almost every day unless he was on an inspection tour, he usually came to the Imperial Study in the morning after the morning court session and after the inner attendants had officially started their daily lessons.
Regarding this, Yin'e actually suspected that when Kangxi came to the Imperial Study to check how well his sons were studying, he was simply tired from handling state affairs in the morning, so he came out for a walk, to get some fresh air, and incidentally to check on (or even harm) his sons and change his mood.
Emperor Kangxi was truly born with boundless energy. Yin'e was forced to adhere to the grueling 377-day work schedule at Kangxi's request. But Kangxi was different; from the age of eight when he ascended the throne, he proactively planned such a busy and fulfilling schedule for himself.
To this day, Emperor Kangxi still maintains the habit of being constantly engrossed in reading. He has studied and even deeply understood all the knowledge that his princes learned in the Imperial Study. He not only read Confucian classics, historical books, and works by various philosophers, but he is also quite interested in Western natural sciences and has achieved high attainments in astronomy, geography, mathematics, physics, chemistry, and other fields.
Perhaps it was because Emperor Kangxi was diligent and self-disciplined, and had an extremely strong thirst for knowledge, that he was so strict with his sons when educating them.
Perhaps in Kangxi's view, maintaining a high-intensity study schedule of 377 (three days a week, seven days a week) almost year-round wasn't such a torturous thing...
Half an hour later, Yin'e, who had taken a short nap, was awakened by the tingling and numbness in his arm. He opened his eyes groggily, finally regaining some energy after catching up on his sleep.
Sitting up lazily and yawning, Yin'e rubbed his left forearm, which was sore and swollen from being rubbed against the pillow, and thanked the Fifth Prince, who was sitting in front of him and the Ninth Prince.
The Fifth Prince was fidgeting in his seat, looking down at the book in his hands with a blank and confused gaze. The words on the book seemed both familiar and strange, dancing and twisting in front of him, making his eyes spin and his head spin so much that he felt dizzy and a little nauseous.
...What is all this writing? I can't learn it, I absolutely can't learn it QAQ
Seeing the Fifth Prince's dazed expression, Yin'e sighed deeply, feeling genuine sympathy for him.
Although both were struggling students in the Imperial Study, the Fifth Prince's situation was quite different from Yin'e's.
Yin'e had a lazy attitude and didn't study the classics and historical texts with much effort, but the Fifth Prince simply couldn't learn them.
The Fifth Prince had a poor foundation; he couldn't speak Chinese even at the age of nine. His foundation wasn't laid properly from the start, and when he first entered the Imperial Study, he couldn't keep up at all. In addition, the pace of the inner attendants' lessons was fast, and the Fifth Prince fell further and further behind. The situation worsened like a snowball, and he found it more and more difficult and confusing to learn.
The Fifth Prince did memorize those classics and historical texts quite well—anyone could memorize most of an article after reading it a hundred and twenty times—but memorizing them didn't mean he understood or learned them. He simply accepted them wholeheartedly under the cramming education system.
"Fifth Brother, to be honest, I think you'd better start from scratch and rebuild your foundation." Yin'e suggested in a low voice, "You're already only half understanding what you're learning in class. If you continue like this, you'll understand less and less of what Anda is saying as you go on."
The Fifth Prince sighed with a bitter face: "I...I dare not..." His slightly round face showed a fearful look as he stammered, "This requires the Khan's approval, and I dare not go to the Khan to talk about this."
Yin'e let out a "Huh?" and looked at the Fifth Prince suspiciously. The Fifth Prince was honest and simple, but he was by no means a coward. He respected and respected Kangxi, but he was definitely not so afraid that he would not dare to tell Kangxi even this little thing.
After a moment's thought, Yin'e understood the Fifth Prince's concerns. He wasn't necessarily afraid to discuss the matter of re-enlightenment with Kangxi; he simply didn't want the Empress Dowager to be criticized.
The Fifth Prince was raised under the Empress Dowager's care. Until he was nine years old, he could only speak Mongolian and Manchu. He only began to learn Chinese after entering the Imperial Study. This was inseparable from the Empress Dowager's influence.
However, in Yin'e's opinion, the Fifth Prince really didn't need to worry that Kangxi would blame the Empress Dowager for this, because ultimately, the culprit was Kangxi, who had given the Fifth Prince to the Empress Dowager to raise.
The decision that Kangxi made ultimately led to bitter consequences, and he could not shift the blame onto others.
After Yin'e expressed his thoughts, the Fifth Prince hesitated and said, "Let me think about it some more."
"Fifth Brother, you need to make a decision as soon as possible." Yin'e said seriously, "There's still time. If we delay any longer, the situation will become too complicated to handle."
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