Chapter 178 Mother and Son's Restraint
The Ninth Prince was born on the 27th day of the eighth month of the 22nd year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign. After entering the Imperial Study, he had a day off every year on his birthday, during which he could enter the Eastern and Western Six Palaces and return to Yikun Palace to see his birth mother, Consort Yi.
The day before his birthday, the Ninth Prince had already arranged with Yin'e to have Yin'e attend the riding and archery class on the afternoon of the 27th. After he came out of Yikun Palace at noon, he would go back to Qianxi Wusuo with Yin'e to celebrate his birthday.
The Ninth Prince was the youngest prince. Unlike the First Prince, who was already married and had a principal wife taking care of him, and whose kitchen was already open, the Ninth Prince was not eager to show his maturity and become a prominent figure in the palace. Therefore, he did not plan to hold a birthday banquet. At most, he would send a few longevity peach buns to his brothers and sisters in a few days.
On his birthday, the Ninth Prince, who no longer had to get up at dawn, had a rare good night's sleep. He slept until he naturally woke up, and only opened his eyes when it was already bright at dawn. He lay in bed for a while longer before stretching and getting out of bed with a contented yawn.
By the end of August, it was late autumn, and the weather was already quite cool. With the help of the palace servants, the Ninth Prince put on an extra jacket embroidered with a four-clawed golden dragon, and then wore his sapphire blue python robe on the outside, along with his jade pendant, purse, and other ornaments.
Although today is the Ninth Prince's birthday, it is not a significant day, and there is no state banquet that the Ninth Prince needs to attend. Therefore, he does not need to change into court attire; a python robe will suffice.
After washing up, the Ninth Prince did not rush to Yikun Palace, but instead sat down and had a rare breakfast at the Fourth Palace in Ganxi – longevity noodles delivered from the Third Palace next door.
After finishing his longevity noodles, the Ninth Prince still hadn't set off. He lingered a bit longer in his quarters, drank half a cup of lychee syrup, and finally left with his personal guards, heading from the Fifth Palace of the Western Regions to the Yikun Palace, located in the Sixth Palace of the Western Regions.
As they passed the Third Palace, the Ninth Prince paused, unable to resist glancing inside from the main gate. But this time, unlike usual, he didn't see Yin'e rushing out to greet him and hurry with him to the Imperial Study.
"At this time, the tenth brother should be studying in the Imperial Study..." The Ninth Prince started walking again, muttering to himself, "I wonder if the tenth brother is sleepy or dozing off."
The Western Six Palaces are sandwiched between the Western Three Palaces and the Qianqing Palace. The journey from the Western Three Palaces to the Western Six Palaces is much shorter than the journey the Ninth Prince takes to the Imperial Study every day.
The Ninth Prince would rush to the Imperial Study every day, and his speed had long been developed. Before long, he could see the Western Six Palaces hidden behind the palace walls.
After greeting the guards at the gate, the Ninth Prince entered the Western Six Palaces through the Longfu Gate. The Longfu Gate is located between the Yongshou Palace and the Yikun Palace. After entering, the back gate of the Yongshou Palace is on the left, and the main gate of the Yikun Palace is on the right.
As soon as I turned around to face north, the main gate of Yikun Palace came into view.
The Ninth Prince strode toward Yikun Palace, intending to signal his personal eunuch to go forward and inform the Emperor. Just then, a small head popped out from beside the main gate of Yikun Palace; it was none other than the Eleventh Prince, Yinzhi.
Having just met the Eleventh Prince at the Mid-Autumn Festival family reunion banquet, the Ninth Prince felt no sense of unfamiliarity with his younger brother and quickly stepped forward, calling out, "Yinzhi, what are you doing here? Are you waiting for me? Why don't you come inside and wait?"
The eleventh prince also saw the ninth prince. He immediately shouted excitedly and awkwardly stepped over the threshold and ran towards the ninth prince, throwing himself at him like a little cannonball: "Ninth brother, ninth brother, you're back~ I've been waiting for you for so long!"
Looking up at the Ninth Prince who was supporting him, the Eleventh Prince's pale, handsome face was beaming with a bright and happy smile. His long, phoenix-shaped eyes curved into crescent moons as he smiled, and he was so happy that he felt like he was about to take off.
The eleventh prince was physically weak. Although he grew stronger as he grew up and was no longer as sickly as he was in the first two years after his birth, he was still weaker than normal children and would inevitably suffer from minor illnesses every time the seasons changed.
It was late August, the height of autumn. The Ninth Prince had only added one more jacket, but the Eleventh Prince had added two or three more, along with a hat and a fluffy scarf around his neck, making him look round and chubby like a little bear.
The Ninth Prince pulled the hat off the Eleventh Prince's head up a little, then reached out and touched the Eleventh Prince's forehead and cheeks. Seeing that his temperature was normal and he didn't have a fever, the Ninth Prince felt relieved and helped him pull the hat back up.
After looking the eleventh prince up and down for a few moments, seeing that he was bundled up in thick clothes and walked with a clumsy, swaying gait, the ninth prince clicked his tongue and couldn't help but ask, "Are you very afraid of the cold?"
"It's not even September yet, and you're already dressed so warmly. What will you do when winter comes and it snows outside? Will you stay cooped up in the charcoal-burning house every day and never go out?"
With his little face tilted up, the Eleventh Prince stared at the Ninth Prince with a silly grin, blinking his phoenix eyes that were just like the Ninth Prince's. He said with a cute and innocent look, "I don't like going out. It's cold outside in winter, but it's warm inside. I'd rather stay inside."
With a slight pursed lip, the Ninth Prince simply shook his head without saying anything, then pointed to the palace behind the main gate and said, "Let's go in."
This time, the Ninth Prince unusually acted like an older brother, taking the Eleventh Prince's hand and leading him into Yikun Palace, through the front courtyard behind the main gate, and into the main hall.
In the main hall, Consort Yi was dressed in a pale yellow palace gown, with exquisite makeup and a beautiful face. She still looked radiant and elegant. Time seemed to pass more slowly on her, and she still looked like she was in her early twenties, in the prime of her life.
Seeing the Ninth Prince bring the Eleventh Prince in, Consort Yi greeted him with a smile, "Yin Tang is back. Yin Zhi has been looking forward to your arrival. He ran to the door early this morning to wait for you. We've finally got you back."
With a forced smile, the Ninth Prince said, "Mother should have stopped Yinzhi. Although he was dressed warmly, the autumn wind was still quite chilly. Too much wind would be bad for his health and he would easily catch a cold."
Patting the Eleventh Prince's head, the Ninth Prince, thinking of Yin'e's usual behavior, casually said, "Mother, please have a palace servant bring a cup of warm water. Yin'e has been standing outside for a long time. Let him drink some warm water to moisten his throat, lest the autumn wind dry out his throat."
Consort Yi nodded, her smile growing even brighter. Actually, even without the Ninth Prince's reminder, Consort Yi, who always paid close attention to the Eleventh Prince's health, had already prepared honey water to quench his thirst and soothe his lungs.
However, seeing the Ninth Prince taking good care of the Eleventh Prince as a brother made Consort Yi very happy. Although the Ninth Prince was still somewhat distant from her, he wasn't with the Fifth and Eleventh Princes; their brotherly relationship was excellent, and Consort Yi felt relieved.
After the Ninth Prince greeted her and performed his rites, and then sat down with the Eleventh Prince at the lower seat, Consort Yi asked with concern, "Has Yinzhen had breakfast yet? If not, I'll have the kitchen prepare two breakfast dishes and send them up."
After thinking for a moment with her head tilted slightly, Consort Yi's bright and beautiful face blossomed into a confident smile. With a hint of smugness and flattery, she said to the Ninth Prince, "I remember you love sesame shortbread and longan buns. This is what the small kitchen should prepare."
“No need, Mother.” The Ninth Prince interrupted Consort Yi with a smile on his face. He pursed his lips before saying, “I had breakfast this morning. I ate longevity noodles.”
A slight hint of disappointment flashed across her face, but Consort Yi quickly put on a bright smile again: "Is that so? Then let the kitchen prepare your favorite dishes for lunch." After a pause, Consort Yi casually asked, "Were the longevity noodles sent over by the imperial kitchen? They're quite diligent."
The Ninth Prince gave a vague "hmm," without directly answering Consort Yi's question. He didn't tell Consort Yi that the longevity noodles were sent from the small kitchen of the Third Palace of Ganxi, because he was too lazy to explain too much to her and would just let it go.
Consort Yi did not notice that the Ninth Prince was avoiding the topic of her question, nor did she pay much attention to the matter of longevity noodles. Instead, her thoughts wandered and she became concerned about the Ninth Prince's life in the Princes' Residence: "Yin Tang, after you moved to the Princes' Residence, are the palace servants who serve you in the four residences doing a good job?"
"Are there any incompetent, negligent, or disloyal servants? Do you need your mother to give them a talking-to? Or, your mother can help you select a new batch of people from the Imperial Household Department and send those useless palace servants from the four departments back to the Imperial Household Department."
The Ninth Prince first expressed his gratitude to Consort Yi, and then smiled and shook his head, saying, "The palace servants in the four palaces are all diligent and capable. I find them very useful, so Mother doesn't need to worry about them."
Consort Yi nodded in relief: "That's good. The palace servants in the four palaces are obedient and reliable, so Mother can rest assured."
After this topic was brought up, Consort Yi and the Ninth Prince, mother and son, couldn't find anything else to say for a while, and the hall suddenly fell silent.
After drinking the warm honey water, the Eleventh Prince put down his cup and began to act coquettishly with the Ninth Prince, his childish words bringing back a lively and harmonious atmosphere to the main hall.
The Ninth Prince smiled and responded to the Eleventh Prince's coquettishness, but he felt somewhat uncomfortable inside.
He could sense Consort Yi's concern for him and knew that she longed to rekindle their mother-son bond. The Ninth Prince also wanted to ease the tension between them and had been trying his best to please Consort Yi, avoiding any coldness towards her and preventing her words from falling into place.
However, perhaps the Ninth Prince and Consort Yi were a bit too forceful, their movements were a bit too exaggerated, and the details of their interaction were not real and natural enough, which made them feel a bit awkward, as if the other was too polite and overly enthusiastic to the point of being fake.
With a sigh, the Ninth Prince responded gently to the Eleventh Prince's coquettishness and to Consort Yi's occasional concern.
The Ninth Prince suppressed his true nature, keeping all his sharp words to himself, not daring to utter a single one, for fear that the relatively harmonious atmosphere would be ruined by his words.
After enduring the agonizing wait in Yikun Palace until noon, the Ninth Prince had lunch with Consort Yi and the Eleventh Prince. He refused Consort Yi's offer to stay any longer, citing an appointment with Yin'e as the reason. He then excused himself and slipped away.
After leaving Yikun Palace, the Ninth Prince hurried towards Longfu Gate with his head down.
He suddenly remembered something while he was having lunch. He and Yin'e had arranged to meet at Longfu Gate at noon. He had already eaten lunch at Yikun Palace, but his tenth brother had finished his morning classes and asked for leave in the afternoon. He might not have had lunch in the Imperial Study and had come straight over. He was probably hungry now!
Sure enough, just as the Ninth Prince approached Longfu Gate, he was spotted by Yin'e, who was waiting there. Yin'e complained to him, "Ninth Brother, the time we agreed on was wrong. I came straight to Longqing Gate to wait for you after I finished my morning classes and asked for leave. You were able to have lunch at Yikun Palace, but I had to wait for you here on an empty stomach."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
