Chapter 31: The Hidden Pit - Old Ten's Revenge...
The Fourth Prince and the Sixth Prince clashed fiercely, causing a huge commotion.
The eldest and third princes were too busy breaking up the fight to do anything else.
The Eighth Prince was clever, quick-witted, and well-behaved. When he realized he couldn't persuade his two older brothers, he ran out of the side hall to get help.
So only the Fifth Prince, the Ninth Prince, and Yin'e remained in the hall, seemingly unaffected by the noise or the fierce arguments between the Fourth and Sixth Princes.
Well... actually, it does have an impact, and the three of them aren't exactly uninvolved.
The Fifth Prince turned his head past Yinzhen and Yin'e to look at the Fourth Prince and the Sixth Prince, who were suddenly fighting (to him). He was so shocked that the half-eaten pastry he was holding fell to the ground and smashed into several pieces on the small table.
He looked completely bewildered, lost, and helpless.
The Fifth Prince had no idea what was happening. He couldn't understand Manchu and remained passively an outsider from beginning to end.
He didn't know what to do. He sat at the very back of the heated kang, almost against the wall. If he wanted to get down and break up the fight, he would have to get past the two people sitting outside and overcome the language barrier first.
Unlike the simple-minded Fifth Prince who was eager to dissuade him, the Ninth Prince's reaction was remarkably similar to the Third Prince's previous behavior.
His face flushed red, and his almond-shaped eyes, with their upturned corners, widened in surprise. The Ninth Prince was beaming with excitement, his delicate and beautiful face beaming with a radiant smile. He didn't even notice that the pastry in his hand had been crushed to pieces in his excitement.
Seeing the Ninth Prince's restless expression, if Yin'e hadn't quickly pulled him back, he might have slipped off the heated kang and rushed in front of the Fourth and Sixth Princes, stirring up trouble and shouting "Fight! Fight!"
From Yin'e's perspective, although the Fourth Prince and the Sixth Prince were aggressive and continued to struggle despite being restrained, they had no strategy whatsoever; it was just like two little kids fighting.
Of course, we must stop them; we really can't let them continue fighting during the Fourth Prince's birthday banquet.
But there's really no need to worry too much about their safety. Given the inexperience of the Fourth Prince and the Sixth Prince, even if we let them fight it out, neither of them will get hurt.
Just as the Fourth Prince and the Sixth Prince were arguing fiercely under the heated kang, and the First Prince and the Third Prince were too busy to attend to each other, Yin'e tilted his head and glanced at the Third Prince with ill intent. Suddenly, he bypassed Yin Tang and secretly climbed off the heated kang.
She tiptoed behind the Third Prince, whose attention was entirely focused on the Sixth Prince and who was trying his best to prevent the Sixth Prince from rushing towards the Fourth Prince.
Taking advantage of the fact that the Third Prince was preoccupied with the Sixth Prince's counterattack and had no time to spare, Yin'e stretched out his foot and kicked the Third Prince's right ankle at a tricky angle, making his leg numb and unable to exert any strength for a moment.
At that moment, the Third Prince lost his balance and fell down, which also brought down the Sixth Prince, whom he was holding tightly, who landed squarely on top of the Third Prince.
The Sixth Prince's fall conveniently resolved the predicament, preventing him from fighting with the Fourth Prince anymore. The Sixth Prince was unharmed after the fall, but the Third Prince was unlucky enough to become a cushion, his vision blurred and his chest felt tight from the weight of the well-dressed Sixth Prince.
The eldest prince, who was holding the fourth prince's hand, witnessed the entire process of Yin'e harming the third prince.
The eldest prince stared in disbelief at Yin'e, who had easily taken a few steps back when the third prince fell, avoiding the crushing weight of the mountain and not being implicated at all. He was dazed and momentarily stunned: Are all the little kids these days so cunning?
Previously, when Yin'e and Yin'tang were led by the Fourth Prince to greet the Third Prince, the First Prince noticed the subtle tension between them and realized that the Third Prince had some kind of conflict with his two youngest brothers.
But what the eldest prince didn't expect was that his youngest brother, Yin'e, would actually dare to use underhanded tricks whenever he had the chance, without any hesitation.
Bathed in the intense gaze of the First Prince, Yin'e blinked his bright, watery eyes and looked up innocently at the First and Fourth Princes standing opposite him. His expression was as obedient as could be, and he was incredibly lovable.
With his fair and tender little face upturned, Yin'e grinned at his two older brothers, his smile innocent and his expression adorably bewildered: he just didn't want his fourth and sixth brothers to continue fighting, he just wanted to stop them.
As for kicking the Third Prince and causing him to fall, it was completely unintentional; he had no idea what happened.
First Prince: I don't believe you for a second.
Although he wasn't fooled by Yin'e's feigned innocence, the eldest prince couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Even after falling, the third prince still held the sixth prince tightly, meaning he and the fourth prince were no longer going to fight.
Yin'e, who was chuckling to himself with his head down, was glared at by the eldest prince. He shrank back and planned to sneak away while the third prince was unable to get up, quietly trick the third prince, and leave without a trace.
But what Yin'e didn't expect was that as soon as he climbed off the heated kang, Yin'tang followed him and slipped behind the Third Prince.
Upon seeing Yin'e kick the Third Prince, causing him to fall, Yin Tang, who already had a grudge against the Third Prince and disliked him, immediately rushed over excitedly, raising his foot to imitate Yin'e and kick the Third Prince, but the kick landed on the Third Prince's head instead.
Yin'e was startled when he saw Yin Tang suddenly rushing over. Then, when he saw Yin Tang about to kick the Third Prince's foot, he was immediately frightened and hurriedly reached out to grab Yin Tang: You can't kick someone's head!
—If, by chance, someone kicks a bad spot, like the temple, it could really cause serious trouble. Their feud with the Third Prince hasn't really reached that point, and Yin'e can't let Yin'tang act recklessly.
Yinzhen was excited when he was suddenly pulled back to stop him from kicking the Third Prince. He was a little unhappy and pouted with a dissatisfied look on his face.
Looking back at Yin'e, she saw that he had no intention of letting go and his attitude was very firm. Yin'e was no longer stubborn. If he couldn't kick him, he wouldn't kick him. He compromised and squatted down, stretched out his little hand and grabbed the Third Prince's ear and pulled hard—this was how Consort Yi would punish him whenever he misbehaved and displeased her.
Seeing Yinzhen grab the Third Prince's ear with the force of a tug-of-war, Yin'e's pupils dilated violently, and he really wanted to kneel down in respect of Yinzhen who had caused this unexpected situation.
To smooth over Yin Tang's behavior, Yin E quickly shouted in a childish voice, "Ninth Brother, let me help you! Let's help Third Brother up together."
The eldest prince, who witnessed everything, and the fourth prince, who gradually calmed down, said: "...6. This is the first time I've seen someone pull up a person who has fallen to the ground by pulling their ear. It has a kind of beauty that disregards the life or death of others."
"Ouch...it hurts!!!" the Third Prince cried out in pain.
Because of Yinzhen's interference, the Third Prince, whose ear was being pulled painfully, subconsciously let go of the Sixth Prince's hand and rubbed his ear, temporarily relaxing his control over the Sixth Prince.
The Sixth Prince, now free, scrambled to his feet. With a youthful but powerful roar, he charged at the Fourth Prince, who stood frozen in place after witnessing Yin'e and Yin'tang's actions, ready to fight him again.
The eldest prince snapped out of his daze, released the iron arm that had been holding the fourth prince, strode forward, grabbed the sixth prince by the back of his neck and lifted him up, leaving the sixth prince no room to struggle.
The Fourth Prince was startled by the little tricks of Yin'e and Yin'tang. The First Prince thought that there was no need to stop the Fourth Prince anymore, and that it was enough to control the Sixth Prince.
Because the Fourth Prince had calmed down and no longer had the urge to fight the Sixth Prince, only the Sixth Prince was still relentlessly pursuing the matter.
The Sixth Prince stood up, and the Third Prince, no longer needing to act as a cushion, was finally freed. He immediately broke free from Yin Tang's hand that was pulling his ear and tried to grab Yin Tang, but Yin E pulled Yin Tang away in time, causing the Third Prince's action to fail.
Blinking his big, dark grape-like eyes, Yin'e looked innocently at the Third Prince, who was sitting up and rubbing his ears vigorously. Tilting his head, he defended his and Yin's actions with sincere eyes and a childish voice: "Third Brother, we wanted to help you, to pull you up."
Third Prince: ...Do you really think I'm stupid? Don't think I don't know who made me fall just now, and who pulled his ear so hard it almost came off.
Yin'e could feign innocence and act cute, but Yin'tang didn't know how to hide it, or rather, he didn't have that concept.
Seeing that the Sixth Prince was being lifted into the air by the First Prince and was flailing his arms and legs helplessly, having already given up, while the Fourth Prince was standing aside with no one to fight, Yinzhen pointed at the Third Prince and shouted in a childish voice with a strong voice, "Hit him, Fourth Brother hit him!"
First Prince: ...
Fourth Prince: ...
Yin'e gave the two of them an embarrassed, cute smile, secretly rolled his eyes at Yin Tang who was dragging him down, and pulled him back to the large round table in the center of the side hall.
She tiptoed and grabbed a piece of pastry, stuffing it into Yinzhen's mouth. Yinzhen hoped this pastry would shut Yinzhen up and stop him from causing trouble: now they should go back to being lazy and just watch the show, without causing any trouble.
The Third Prince stood up and glared fiercely at Yin'e and Yin'tang. He was so angry that his thin lips trembled, and he couldn't utter a word when he pointed at Yin'e and Yin'tang. He was so angry that he was speechless for a moment.
Taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down, the Third Prince was about to question Yin'e and Yin'tang when suddenly a chubby figure stepped in front of them, blocking their path. It was the Fifth Prince, who had followed them down from the heated kang.
The Fifth Prince didn't understand Manchu, but he wasn't blind. Seeing the Third Prince glaring angrily at Yin'e and Yin'tang, pointing at them as if about to explode, he instinctively stepped forward and stood in front of them.
But the Fifth Prince didn't understand why the Third Prince was angry. He just stared blankly at the Third Prince, looking completely bewildered and out of sorts. The Third Prince didn't know where to vent his anger, and his anger simply died down.
After the Eighth Prince ran out of the side hall, the previously closed hall door opened. However, none of the palace servants guarding outside dared to go in rashly, for fear of stepping on a landmine and incurring the wrath of their masters.
The side hall is full of princes; what business is it of theirs if they fight? Anyway, with the eldest prince there, and him keeping things in check as the elder brother, things probably won't escalate too much... well, probably not?
The palace servants outside the hall bowed their heads deeply, huddled in their corners, afraid to move or stand still, as if hiding like this could protect them from all danger. The palace was full of people who valued self-preservation, believing that the more they did, the more mistakes they made, and the less they did, the fewer mistakes they made. Now, to avoid making mistakes, they refused to step forward.
It wasn't until the Eighth Prince led Consort Tong to the side hall in a hurry that the palace servants secretly breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that they wouldn't have to take the lead in the next matter.
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