After the competition, apart from Hongshi who received a scolding, all the other children were praised by Emperor Kangxi and given various gifts.
Seeing Hongshi's pitiful little face, Yinreng took off his jade pendant and gave it to him as a reward, saying, "Hongshi can practice slowly. There's no need to compare yourself with others. Just make sure you improve next time."
Hongshi held the jade pendant in both hands, his eyes filled with tears of emotion, as if he had been injected with chicken blood.
"Don't worry, Uncle, Hongshi will definitely improve next time."
Seeing this, Kangxi touched his nose embarrassedly. The main reason was that all his grandsons were outstanding, but he just couldn't stand this one.
Fortunately, the Crown Prince made amends in time, preventing him from becoming a biased imperial grandfather.
The boys were competing in archery, while the girls watched from another shed.
They watched and chatted idly.
"Xiuya, who do you think is the most powerful?" Wenxi asked tentatively.
Xiuya blushed, seemingly lost in thought, and awkwardly said, "They all look good to me."
Manzhu said casually, "How can they all be good? The Fourth Prince's level is still a long way from being good."
Xiuya was a little embarrassed, and Wenxi couldn't help but laugh.
"I think the Second Prince is quite good. Although he is not very old, his hands are very steady."
Xiuya stammered out a sentence, which startled Wenxi so much that he froze in his action of cracking melon seeds.
Question marks kept flashing through her mind: Could it be that Xiuya has taken a liking to her younger brother?
etc.
Wenxi thought about it again and realized that it wasn't so bad to be interested in her younger brother. She was a year younger than him, and their ages were a good match. In any way, she seemed to be a better match for him than for the eldest prince.
I don't know what Hongxi was thinking, but he insisted that Xiuya and Hongyu could be a couple, even though there's a big age gap between them.
“What you say is quite right. The Second Prince has a steady hand and a good temperament. When he gets older, his skills will definitely be even more impressive.” Manzhu’er gave a fair assessment.
Qingqing sat silently to the side without offering any opinion. Seeing that she seemed preoccupied, Manzhu nudged her and teased, "What are you thinking about? You're so lost in thought."
Qingqing is a straightforward person and does not have the shyness of a noble lady from a high-ranking family in the capital.
“A few days ago, Granny Ukuma said she would find me a husband. The portraits of those young men looked pretty good, but…”
She didn't continue, but the girls present all understood what she meant.
Others can find out about a person's character and the true situation of their backyard by asking around, but Qingqing, a girl from Mongolia, can only choose based on the compatibility of their identities, which is similar to the blind men and the elephant.
"When did Grandma Ukuma tell you this? Why haven't you mentioned it before?" Wenxi's attention shifted from Xiuya to Qingqing. "Grandma Ukuma mentioned which families, we can help you find out."
Qingqing's eyes lit up. "Really? But you're just young ladies in the palace, how would you know about things outside? Especially Wenxi, you're in the palace, how could you possibly know what's going on outside?"
Wenxi and Manzhu'er exchanged a glance, then burst into laughter.
"Don't you know that women have the strongest gossip skills? Just tell me already, which ones did Ukuma recommend to you?"
Xiuya also came over, no longer acting like a little girl, but completely like a bystander.
Qingqing didn't know much about the powerful families in the capital; she simply described the candidates the Empress Dowager mentioned based on her memory.
The girls reacted differently after hearing this.
“The families chosen by the Empress Dowager are all of good standing. Although they are all legitimate sons, their individual abilities are quite different,” Manzhu’er said first.
Wenxi chimed in, "Take the Fucha family's choice for example. Although he is the eldest son of the legitimate wife, he belongs to a collateral branch. I've heard that their branch has been doing quite well in the past two years, but no matter what, they will always be overshadowed by the legitimate branch."
"Yes, I heard that this eldest son thinks he's quite handsome and attracts a lot of attention outside." Manzhu said with some disdain.
"Which one? Is it the one who got into a fight with someone on the pleasure boat the other day?" Xiuya interjected at the opportune moment.
Wenxi's eyes widened. "Is that so? Tell me quickly, what happened?"
After Hongxi and Hongyu received their rewards from Kangxi, they saw several girls huddled together, whispering to each other. They were sitting around a round table, talking in hushed tones, their heads almost touching.
Hongyu asked in confusion, "They... seem to get along quite well."
Hongxi's eyes lit up. "Let's go listen to it too."
Hongyu hurriedly grabbed Hongxi, who was about to leave, his eyes full of disapproval. "The girls are chatting together. It would be too abrupt for us to go over there."
"What's the big deal? We're all so familiar with each other, we're practically family."
Hongyu rolled his eyes, then realized that Hongxi might be after Qingqing, so he stopped trying to stop him and followed him toward the girls.
As soon as I got closer, I heard Xiuya say, "I heard that he took a fancy to the most beautiful courtesan on someone else's pleasure boat and tried to snatch her away because of his status. The other party is also a well-known playboy in the capital. The two of them argued and started fighting."
"Who started fighting?" Hongyu asked at the right moment.
The girls who had been huddled together immediately sat up straight, except for Manzhu'er, who remained nonchalant. "The Empress Dowager is going to find a husband for Qingqing, and we're giving her advice."
Hongxi, who was about to sit down, suddenly froze and almost fell to the ground.
"When did this happen? I've never heard Mother mention it," Hongxi asked, feigning indifference.
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