Chapter 57: Old Ten of the Fifth Institute in Gandong Moves Away...
"Ninth Brother? Ninth Brother!" Yin'e called out to Yin Tang as he walked, not intending to play any serious hide-and-seek. "Ninth Brother, where are you? Come out quickly, I give up."
Yin'e now only wants to find the person as soon as possible, and squat under the tomato tree with Yin'tang to see if they can find a chance to secretly pick a couple of tomatoes to make scrambled eggs with tomatoes.
He didn't want to continue playing hide-and-seek, and he had no intention of following the rules at all. He shouted at the top of his lungs, "Ninth Brother, stop playing, let's go back."
After searching all around, they couldn't even find a trace of Yinzhen. They couldn't find Yinzhen at all, and they didn't even see one of the palace servants who followed him.
This made Yin'e suspect that Yin'tang was not in the Imperial Garden at all, but had run out of the Imperial Garden through the side gates and hidden in other palaces.
With the Qianqing Palace as the center, vertical axes are drawn, and all the palaces in the Forbidden City are symmetrical in both location and layout. Some are symmetrical from left to right, from top to bottom, and some are symmetrical around the Qianqing Palace as the center. The Imperial Garden is located precisely on the north-south axis drawn from the Qianqing Palace. The Qianqing Palace is in the core position, while the Imperial Garden is at the northernmost end, close to the Shenwu Gate.
The Shenwu Gate is guarded by guards. If Yinzhen left the Imperial Garden and headed north to hide at the Shenwu Gate, he would simply be brought back by the guards on duty there. But since no guards from the Shenwu Gate have been seen in the Imperial Garden, the option of heading north can be ruled out.
To the west of the Imperial Garden are the Chonghua Hall and the Chongjing Hall.
These two palaces have been abandoned for a long time and are completely uninhabited. There is no one there. Even if Yinzhen wanted to hide in the west, his wet nurse and nanny, who were with him, would not let him go without fear of trouble and would only try to persuade him to come back.
To the east of the Imperial Garden are the Cining Palace and the Ningshou Palace, which are located on the outer east side of the outer west side, symmetrically located on the outer east side of the outer east side, along with the Cining Palace and the West Three Palaces.
In particular, the North Five Palaces are right next to the east side of the Imperial Garden. Because the North Five Palaces are located east of the Qianqing Palace, they are also known as the East Five Palaces. They are newly built palaces for the princes in recent years, and are not as old as the West Three Palaces. The courtyards are also much newer than those of the West Three Palaces.
Kangxi lost several sons in his early years, so that even though he was thirty years old this year, only the eldest prince, the third prince, and the fourth prince had grown up enough to study in the Imperial Study and move into the princes' quarters. The fifth prince was still a little too young.
The three western residences were just enough for the three princes who had already entered the academy. The five eastern residences, however, remained empty and uninhabited after their completion, left there to air out.
However, after the beginning of spring this year, Emperor Kangxi suddenly ordered the eldest prince, the third prince, and the fourth prince, who originally lived in the West Third Palace, to move to the North Fifth Palace.
The Imperial Concubine said this was in preparation for the First Prince's wedding. The Fifth Palace in the East was built later, and it was larger, brighter, and more tidy than the Third Palace in the West. Even when the princes got married, it wouldn't feel cramped.
Moreover, by moving the three eldest princes to the Fifth Residence in Gandong, we can take this opportunity to renovate the Third Residence in the West and expand two more residences, creating five independent courtyards corresponding to the Fifth Residence in Gandong.
After all, Emperor Kangxi already had ten sons. If the Western Three Palaces were not expanded, when the princes who were later in line grew up and reached the age of entering the Imperial Study or moving to the Princes' Palace, they would have nowhere to live.
They couldn't possibly continue living with their birth mothers and adoptive mothers. Even if the princes were willing and their birth mothers and adoptive mothers were happy, Emperor Kangxi, the patriarch who was known for his strict parenting, would never allow the princes to be too lazy. The Third Seven Seventh Festival was waiting for them.
Speaking of arranged marriages, last December, Emperor Kangxi not only arranged a marriage for his eldest son, but he also mainly selected a candidate for the Crown Prince's consort.
Although the eldest prince was only thirteen years old and the crown prince was only eleven years old last year, and they were still some years away from formal marriage, the choice of their wives had already been decided last year.
The eldest prince is older. It is now April of the twenty-fourth year of Kangxi's reign, and he will turn thirteen this February. In two more years, when the eldest prince turns fifteen, he will be of marriageable age.
The Crown Prince is more than two years younger than the First Prince, and will only turn eleven this May.
But judging from the current situation in the court, even if it's three or five years after the eldest prince's wedding, let alone two years, I'm afraid the crown prince might not be able to get married—the court is still arguing about the etiquette and regulations for the crown prince's wedding.
This was the first time since the founding of the Qing Dynasty that a grand wedding had been held for the crown prince. With no precedent to follow, naturally, there were many disputes and conflicts.
The court officials each had their own reasons, and no one could convince the others. When their opinions differed, the officials had no other way to resolve the issue but to argue. Whoever had the loudest voice won the argument, and that's who they would listen to.
Emperor Kangxi was an emperor who cared a lot about one's birth, and he valued a son's status based on his mother's status more than a mother's status based on her son's.
He was very strict about the ranks of his concubines, and rarely promoted them or held formal investiture ceremonies. In Kangxi's harem, there were many concubines who had children and were favored, but were still only concubines of lower rank. Most of them came from Manchu bannermen and had ordinary family backgrounds.
Emperor Kangxi was not the kind of emperor who would spoil his concubines excessively. No matter how favored a concubine was, she shouldn't expect to rise to prominence because of her favor. At most, she would receive better daily treatment, but it would be extremely difficult to be granted the title of Noble Lady.
Because of this, there was virtually no competition for favor in Kangxi's harem. Life in the palace was always uneventful and peaceful.
While the concubines didn't necessarily have harmonious relationships or enjoy a peaceful life, there wasn't a single one who stirred up trouble in the palace to compete for the emperor's favor, causing unrest among everyone. Even if a concubine wanted to vie for the emperor's favor, she would direct her efforts towards Emperor Kangxi; no one was idle enough to suppress other concubines.
Life in the imperial harem was so uneventful that it was mostly dull and uninteresting. Since the harem was isolated from the court, any exciting events that occurred there were often the talk of the town for months on end.
Just like last December when Emperor Kangxi arranged marriages for the Crown Prince and the First Prince, people in the palace are still discussing the candidates for the Crown Princess and the First Consort. They compare the two women, from their appearance to their family background, from their demeanor to their charm.
After the spring, the eldest prince, the third prince, and the fourth prince moved from the West Third Palace to the East Fifth Palace, which added fuel to the fire of the topic of the Grand Princess Consort. More concubines and palace maids secretly discussed the matter in private.
They weren't really concerned about the eldest prince or interested in the eldest princess; they were just bored and looking for something to do to pass the time.
Besides the three princes moving to the palace, there were actually two other interesting things happening in the palace this year.
But those two things were no longer discussed. One was something that happened so often that no one paid attention anymore; the other was something that no one dared to mention, for fear of breaking a taboo, and everyone consciously kept quiet.
Firstly, Consort Nara gave birth to the tenth princess at the end of February.
It's no longer unusual for concubines to give birth to princes and princesses every year. Unless it's a high-ranking concubine who becomes pregnant, the concubines and maids in the palace have long since stopped discussing it. After all, it happens every year, and it's no longer a source of surprise.
However, Yongshou Palace was an exception this time. This was because the Tenth Princess was born on February 26th, which was the anniversary of Empress Xiaozhao's death.
Because of the Tenth Princess's birth date, the Imperial Concubine treated her differently. Although she didn't shower her with excessive care, the gifts she received for her third-day celebration and full-month celebration were three times more generous than those for the other princesses.
Secondly, the Seventh Prince, who had been raised in confinement in the palace by the Emperor and had never participated in palace ceremonies or attended important occasions in the palace, finally made his first public appearance.
However, Kangxi neither chose a high-ranking foster mother for the Seventh Prince nor simply sent him to the Prince's residence to establish his own household. Instead, Kangxi sent the Seventh Prince out of the palace to the Prince Chun's residence, intending to adopt him as the heir of his youngest brother, Longxi.
In the thirteenth year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, the emperor bestowed the title of Prince Chun upon his youngest brother, Longxi, the seventh son of the Shunzhi Emperor. However, Longxi's life was short; he passed away only five years after being granted the title of prince, in the eighteenth year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign.
The year after Longxi's death, the wife of Prince Chun gave birth to Longxi's legitimate son and only son, Hulun.
Hulun inherited the title of Prince Chun as a posthumous child, but he died young, less than a year old, thus ending the line of Prince Chun's family.
Emperor Longxi and his son Hulun passed away one after the other. Coincidentally, in the nineteenth year of Emperor Kangxi's reign, the fifteenth prince, now the seventh prince, was born with a disability.
The Seventh Prince was born with a disability, which was considered an ominous sign.
Emperor Kangxi abandoned the tradition of naming his sons with auspicious words like "fortune" and "good fortune," and personally named his seventh son, Yin You. He hoped that Heaven would bless the seventh prince and protect his son who was born with a disability.
Emperor Kangxi knew that the Seventh Prince was born with a disability and that it would be difficult for him to make a name for himself in the future. Therefore, shortly after the Seventh Prince was born, he had the idea of adopting him to Prince Chun, Longxi.
In this way, even if the Seventh Prince is hampered by his congenital physical weakness and his future achievements are limited, making it difficult for him to obtain a title and reward based on his own merits, he can still inherit the title of Prince Chun and enjoy a life of wealth and honor.
This was Emperor Kangxi's paternal love for his seventh son, and it was also the best arrangement Emperor Kangxi could make for his seventh son, who was born with a disability.
Given that the Seventh Prince was born with a disability and was born into the royal family, if he had encountered a more cold-blooded emperor, he might have died mysteriously in the deep palace long ago.
Although Emperor Kangxi did not dote on the Seventh Prince, he did not truly dislike or reject him either. He did not blame the Seventh Prince for the Rebellion of the Three Feudatories and the urgent war situation in the year the Seventh Prince was born. He also genuinely cared about the Seventh Prince's future.
Admittedly, Emperor Kangxi was a strict father, a patriarch who pushed his sons to excel. He had high expectations for his princes, requiring them to study relentlessly for seven days straight after entering school. However, having lacked paternal love in his childhood, Kangxi himself became a loving father.
He cared for and loved all his sons, but at most he was biased towards the crown prince and also favored his eldest son, the eldest prince. But even the five fingers on a hand are not all the same length, so it cannot be expected that Kangxi would treat all his children equally. Not only him, but there were also concubines in the palace who were biased.
While Emperor Kangxi may have shown favoritism, he did not completely dislike any particular prince; he genuinely hoped that each of his sons would achieve success.
Although in the end, too many of his sons became successful, and they were all exceptionally successful...
But I digress. Let's get back to the Fifth Institute of Gandong.
Currently, only the first, second, and third houses of the five residences in Gan Dong are occupied, while the fourth and fifth houses are still empty. If the sixth prince had not died young and had survived, the fifth and sixth princes would have moved in and occupied the fourth and fifth houses a year later.
If Yinzhen really hid in the fifth residence of the Imperial Garden through the side gate, he wouldn't have been able to hide in the first three residences where people lived; the palace servants of the princes' residence would have discovered him. The most likely scenario is that he hid in the fourth or fifth residence.
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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 2023-03-10 21:20:31 and 2023-03-11 14:36:48!
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Crocodile with a protruding belly (8 bottles); -Shallow Smile (1 bottle);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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