Chapter 61 Punishing Old Ten's Resentful Lazy Spirit...
Kangxi glanced at the Third Prince, his brows furrowed and his expression clearly displeased. He scolded him angrily, "How can an elder brother bully his younger brother? It seems you have forgotten the principle of caring for your younger brother. Go back and copy the Book of Rites ten times."
The Third Prince frowned, but dared not utter a word of rebuttal, nor did he dare to bargain with Kangxi. He obediently agreed.
However, the studies in the Imperial Study were extremely demanding, no matter how good the Third Prince was at his studies or how well he adapted to his new environment.
He was suddenly assigned to copy ten volumes of the Book of Rites. From today onward, he would have to stay up all night copying the books, day and night, in order to finish copying the contents of Kangxi's punishment.
The eldest prince had always disliked the third prince. He particularly disliked this younger brother who usually liked to hang out with the crown prince, was extremely respectful to the crown prince, but was sarcastic and cynical towards him.
At this moment, the eldest prince was the first to kick someone when they were down. He put on the airs of the eldest brother and bluntly criticized him: "Third brother, how old are you? Why are you still picking on your ninth and tenth brothers? Look at how old they are, and then look at how old you are. How can you be so shameless?"
"I think Father is right to punish you. You should be punished by copying more copies of the Book of Rites to learn a lesson. Don't just grow old without growing smarter, and even bully such a young brother."
The Third Prince always followed the Crown Prince's lead and had a very close relationship with him. However, at this time, the Crown Prince could not speak up for the Third Prince because the Fourth Prince was the one who testified for Yin'e and the Ninth Prince.
Everyone was studying in the Imperial Study. The Crown Prince had frequent contact with the Fourth Prince and was quite familiar with his character.
He believed that the Fourth Prince was not lying and was telling the truth.
The Crown Prince couldn't just pin the blame on the Fourth Prince to protect the Third Prince, and indiscriminately accuse the Fourth Prince of lying.
Even setting aside the brotherly bond between the Crown Prince and the Fourth Prince, Consort Tong, who was behind the Fourth Prince, was not one to be jealous for no reason.
Consort Tong was the Khan's cousin. Although she was only a Consort and had not been officially named Empress, everyone in the palace knew that in the Emperor's eyes, Consort Tong was already his wife, only lacking the title of Empress. She had long been in the position of Empress.
The Emperor did not formally confer the title of Empress upon Consort Tong, simply because he felt somewhat unlucky in marriage after the deaths of two empresses, and thus he stopped mentioning the matter of formally conferring the title of Empress upon Consort Tong.
Although the Crown Prince is the legitimate son of Empress Yuan, he must still show respect and reverence to Consort Tong and cannot treat her as if she were nothing, as he does to other concubines in the palace.
If the Crown Prince is in the wrong, he will not get away with bullying the Fourth Prince.
There was another reason why the Crown Prince didn't speak up for the Third Prince: the Crown Prince also felt that what the Third Prince had done was too tasteless and shameful.
The Third Prince has been in the Imperial Study for over two years, yet he's still babbling incoherently with his much younger brother. It's utterly baffling. Even though the Crown Prince knew the Third Prince had some personality flaws, he never expected him to go this far.
The Ninth Prince truly didn't remember the past grievances with the Third Prince, nor did he recall how the Third Prince had bullied him. But as mentioned before, the Ninth Prince and the Third Prince simply didn't click; they were incompatible.
The Ninth Prince disliked the Third Prince. Seeing the Third Prince being punished by Emperor Kangxi for copying texts and then scolded by the First Prince, he clapped his hands and smiled as brightly as a flower, calling out in a childish voice, "Punishment, punishment! Serves you right, serves you right!"
Yin'e silently pulled the Ninth Prince aside, preventing him from continuing to clap and laugh, and from mocking the Third Prince.
Emperor Kangxi is still alive; it's not time for them to celebrate their victory yet.
What if Emperor Kangxi felt that they had dared to complain about their elder brother, showing a lack of respect for him, and then made them study the Book of Rites, thus forcing them to study hard?
Yin'e didn't want to start his education too early. Learning something he was willing to do was called an interest class, while being forced to learn it was called forced work. They were completely different things!
However, Yin'e stopped the Ninth Prince, and then smiled and "kindly" reminded the Third Prince: "Third Brother, after you finish copying the Book of Rites, don't forget to hand it in to Father!"
The Third Prince's flushed face turned pale in an instant as he remembered how he had initially become enemies with Yin'e and the Ninth Prince.
He forgot to hand in his homework to the tutor in the Imperial Study just once, and was severely punished by Gu Badai. Having learned his lesson, the Third Prince never forgot and kept the incident firmly in his heart.
At this moment, after being "reminded" by Yin'e, the Third Prince finally remembered the whole story. Well... it seems that he was indeed the one who started the trouble and spoke rudely first.
It's no wonder that the Fourth Prince sided with the Ninth and Tenth Princes. The Third Prince was grateful that the Fourth Prince didn't criticize them further, considering their brotherly bond and not kicking them when they were down.
If it were the eldest prince, he certainly wouldn't let go of this good opportunity to strike at him.
He reported the Third Prince, resulting in Kangxi punishing him by making him copy books. Yin'e was satisfied, feeling that the accounts from last year were finally settled.
Seeing that it was getting late and almost noon, Yin'e didn't plan to stay in the Imperial Garden to enjoy the scenery and spring outing with Kangxi and the others. He patted his stomach and said to the Ninth Prince, "Ninth Brother, let's go back. I'm hungry."
The Ninth Prince also rubbed his belly, his delicate and beautiful face falling down. He nodded and said, "My belly is empty, I'm hungry too. Let's go back now."
Holding the Ninth Prince's hand, Yin'e took one last, reluctant look at the tomato, which had been proven to be non-toxic but could not be definitively declared non-toxic, his eyes filled with regret.
Sigh... After all this trouble, I still can't get to eat scrambled eggs with tomatoes.
It's unknown how long it will take for the palace staff that Emperor Kangxi arranged to follow up on this matter to conclude that the tomatoes are not poisonous. It's also unknown how many tomatoes will be left on the tomato tree by then, or whether the process will drag on for too long and the tomatoes will rot and become inedible.
Before leaving, Yin'e glanced at the Fourth Prince. Deeply grateful for his righteous words, Yin'e smiled brightly at him and said with great enthusiasm and sincerity, "Fourth Brother, thank you for today. Next time, I'll treat you to some snacks!"
Kangxi glanced at Yin'e cautiously and nodded slowly in his heart: Compared to the silly, crybaby, and easily fooled Ninth Prince, Tenth Prince was much more cunning and clever at such a young age.
As a father, Kangxi was satisfied and pleased, but also somewhat dissatisfied. His gaze toward Yin'e was tinged with reproach: He was smart, but he hadn't used his intelligence for the right purpose.
Look what Xiao Shi has done! He's craving persimmons, and not only did he cry and scream to prevent the persimmon tree from being cut down, but he also came up with a whole bunch of reasons. When it comes to satisfying his cravings, he's incredibly clever, speaking logically and reasonably.
Not only that, he also seized the opportunity to complain about the Third Prince. He remembered things that happened long ago, things the Third Prince couldn't even recall. It was a waste of his excellent memory to squander such talent.
The eldest prince didn't think too much about it; he was happy to see the third prince suffer. Especially since the crown prince hadn't said a word this time and had also lost face, he was even happier, and he even started to find Yin'e and the ninth prince more agreeable.
The Crown Prince carefully examined Yin'e, but looking at Yin'e's fair, round, chubby face and his plump, lotus-root-like limbs, he couldn't muster any sense of vigilance, and the wariness and suspicion in his eyes slowly dissipated.
The age gap is too large.
Regardless of Yin'e's background, to the Crown Prince, he is currently just a mischievous and ignorant little brat. Even if he is the son of a Consort, there is really no need to be wary of him now—wait until he grows up a few more years.
For the Crown Prince, the eldest prince, who is constantly opposing him and vying for the Emperor's favor, is more annoying and more worthy of his vigilance.
The Fourth Prince was probably the first to know that Yin'e was hiding many secrets; the jade carving of the little dog that Yin'e had given him was still on his desk. This time, when Yin'e brought him out to testify, the Fourth Prince wasn't surprised at all.
Regardless of what the others were thinking, the eager-to-return-home Yin'e said goodbye to Kangxi in his childish voice, and then left the Imperial Garden hand in hand with the Ninth Prince to go back to Yongshou Palace for lunch and a nap.
During this period, the Ninth Prince ate and slept almost entirely at Yongshou Palace, only occasionally returning to Yikun Palace for one night.
Consort Yi was nearly eight months pregnant. Her belly was quite large, but in contrast, her figure remained slender and delicate.
Her enormous belly contrasted sharply with her extremely thin limbs, a truly shocking sight that made one worry about her and the baby in her womb, and concerned about their safety during childbirth.
Consort Yi's pregnancy symptoms were severe and never subsided. After the imperial physician diagnosed her as being close to giving birth, she became even less able to care for the Ninth Prince, who continued to spend every day with Yin'e during this time.
In fact, after Consort Yi brought the Ninth Prince back to Yikun Palace last December, the Ninth Prince simply stopped living in Yongshou Palace every day, but he still went to Yongshou Palace every day to play with Yin'e, and occasionally stayed overnight in Yongshou Palace, but he no longer stayed there permanently.
"Tenth Brother, are persimmons really edible?" On the way back to the Western Six Palaces, the Ninth Prince asked Yin'e curiously.
When leaving the Imperial Garden, Yin'e was reluctant to part with the tomato tree. He even walked around it once, as if he wanted to remember its appearance completely.
It was precisely because of Yin'e's performance that the Ninth Prince asked such a question, curious about just how delicious persimmons were that the Tenth Prince cared so much about them.
Looking back at Wang Mama and the others following behind them, Yin'e grabbed the Ninth Prince's hand and took two quick steps forward. He leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Persimmons are delicious, sour and sweet, especially when stir-fried with eggs."
The Ninth Prince had no doubt that Yin'e knew how to taste persimmons, or how to know that stir-fried persimmons with eggs was so delicious. He just swallowed hard, his little face full of longing and anticipation: "It sounds delicious. I want to eat persimmons too."
Yin'e patted his belly, comforting the Ninth Prince and himself, "We will definitely be able to eat it."
Even if all the fruit from that tomato tree in the Imperial Garden was wasted and fed to chickens, ducks, geese, and rabbits as an experiment to see if tomatoes were poisonous, Yin'e still didn't believe that there was only one tomato tree planted in the entire capital, in the Imperial Garden.
As an exotic plant imported from overseas, the tomato can still be used as an ornamental plant in gardens even though its fruit is considered poisonous and inedible, because it looks very appealing after it bears fruit.
Yin'e thought there must be princes and nobles in the capital who were captivated by the beauty of tomatoes and planted them in their gardens.
Even if, hypothetically, there really is nowhere else in the capital besides the Imperial Garden where tomatoes are grown, surely he'll be able to eat scrambled eggs with tomatoes by next year...
-----------------------
Author's Note: Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 11:24:21 and 17:53:29 on March 13, 2023!
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: -浅浅笑か, 薄荷微凉1瓶;
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
