Yinreng touched his nose, feeling remorseful for his earlier thoughts.
"You may leave."
After watching the imperial physician leave, Yinreng stepped into the tent, and immediately smelled a strong medicinal wine.
Looking again at the person lying on the bed, their face was contorted in pain.
"Father, how did you twist your back?"
Yinreng stepped forward and sat down on the small stool beside the bed.
Liang Jiugong hurriedly explained, "His Majesty twisted his ankle while chasing and shooting the tiger, but His Majesty is very skilled and killed the tiger with one arrow."
Yinreng frowned, "And you twisted your own back while you were at it?"
Kangxi was a little embarrassed and didn't say anything. Seeing this, Liang Jiugong whispered, "Your Majesty wants to use tiger skin to make a mattress for His Highness the Crown Prince."
Yinreng immediately fell silent, looking at the old man on the bed with a complicated expression.
At his age, he still thinks about hunting tiger skins to make a rug for him. Even so, he could have asked someone else to go hunting. Why did he have to go himself?
Yinreng placed his hand on Kangxi's injured area and said, "May I rub it for Father Emperor?"
Kangxi gave an awkward groan, and the father and son fell into a quiet silence. Seeing this, Liang Jiugong withdrew.
"Baocheng, you were born the Crown Prince, and more than twenty years have passed in the blink of an eye. Have you ever felt resentful?"
here we go again.
Yinreng wanted to get up and leave, but when he looked down and saw the old man with a sore back, he held back.
"There's nothing to be resentful about. With Father Emperor handling the important affairs of the court, I only occasionally lend a hand, yet I still enjoy the support of the entire nation. What more could I ask for?"
Kangxi's face showed no emotion, and his voice was unusually calm.
"How many twenty-year periods does one have in a lifetime?"
"Then let's think of me as an ordinary prince caught in the struggle for the throne, not yet the crown prince. Doesn't that make me feel quite lucky?"
Emperor Kangxi gave a helpless, wry smile. "What kind of absurd idea is this?"
"Father has so many sons, but he dotes on me the most. He not only personally raised me from childhood, but also prepared a team for me. What more could I ask for?"
Emperor Kangxi closed his eyes, but ultimately said nothing.
The imperial carriage returned to the palace on the eve of the Lunar New Year.
In the following days, the imperial court and the palace schools were given holidays, but the inner palace was still busy preparing for the palace banquet.
Yinreng's daily work consisted of going to the Qianqing Palace to chat with Emperor Kangxi until dinner was over before returning to the Yuqing Palace.
After being betrothed, Qingqing moved to the princess's mansion built for her outside the palace. Except for major festivals such as palace banquets, she spent most of her time peacefully waiting for her marriage in the mansion.
On the day of the palace banquet, after three rounds of drinks, Emperor Kangxi suddenly issued an imperial edict of abdication.
The ministers, who had been in a daze, suddenly became clear-headed, and the concubines, who had been exchanging toasts, were also filled with astonishment.
Even Yinreng, who was idly teasing Hongjin, was stunned and looked at Kangxi with a look of astonishment.
"Father..."
Kangxi smiled and looked at him, then at the many bewildered ministers, and slowly stepped forward. "I have reigned for sixty-one years, defeating Oboi, quelling the Three Feudatories, recovering Taiwan, and suppressing Galdan. In every single one of these achievements, I can be called a wise ruler. The Crown Prince was personally raised by me, and his character and abilities are both excellent. From today onwards, I will move to the temporary palace to enjoy my remaining years."
As Yinreng listened to Kangxi's words, his eyes gradually welled up with tears. At this moment, Suo'etu took the lead and knelt on the ground, saying, "Your Majesty's teachings will be followed. We will definitely do our best to assist the new emperor in the future."
Seeing this, the other ministers also knelt on the ground, deeply shocked by this sudden transfer of power, but they all showed an unprecedented calm on their faces.
Kangxi looked at Suo'etu for a long time, and finally left with only the words "Assist Yinreng well" before getting up and leaving.
As everyone left the palace, the cold wind finally cleared their muddled minds. They marveled at how smoothly the power transfer had gone, while simultaneously groaning, "Who was the good man who announced his abdication at the palace banquet? How are we going to get through the year? How are we going to take our holiday?"
The imperial edict of abdication came suddenly, but the officials of the Ministry of Rites were still very helpful.
That very night, they worked overtime to produce the ceremony's procedures, which were then submitted to Emperor Kangxi for review. After that, it was decided that the abdication ceremony would be held on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.
At the grand ceremony, Hongxi watched as his father finally donned the dragon robe and walked side by side with Emperor Kangxi. The sight of the father and son supporting each other was so heartwarming to him, and his eyes suddenly welled up with tears.
Father, his father finally put on that dragon robe and finally became the emperor of the Qing Dynasty after more than 20 years of hardship.
Two years later.
Inside the imperial palace, Emperor Kangxi lay on a rocking chair under the shade of a tree, enjoying the cool air. Prince Yu and Prince Gong accompanied him, and the three brothers ate grapes while being fanned by palace servants.
"Second Brother, we haven't gone hunting in a long time. How about we go after the start of autumn?" Prince Gong Changning offered his sincere suggestion while eating grapes.
“You just came back from Suzhou, why are you thinking about hunting again?” Prince Yu Fuquan glared at him. “You’re not young anymore, stop thinking about playing around.”
Kangxi, who had spat out grape seeds, disagreed, saying, "I think Changning's suggestion is good. Let's just go to the Mulan Hunting Grounds as the three of us brothers, without taking the children."
"Father Emperor is really bold. He doesn't even want to take us hunting. He might as well sneak off to tour Mongolia." As soon as Yinreng said this, all three brothers raised their heads to look over.
Fuquan and Changning both stood up and bowed, saying, "Greetings to Your Majesty."
Yinreng hurriedly took a few steps to help the two up, saying, "I've told you so many times, you two are elders, you don't need to pay your respects to your nephew unless you're in the court."
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