"Mother, Mother, let go! Hurry, my ear is going to fall off!" The eldest prince grimaced in pain.
Upon seeing this, the Third Prince couldn't help but cover his ears, "Luckily, Mother isn't as simple and crude as Consort Hui!"
"I should twist your ears off! Why do you never listen to what I say?!"
Today you even encouraged the Seventh Prince in front of Consort Cheng. Didn't you see how pale Consort Cheng's face turned from fright?
"Do you think everyone is as resilient as your mother?" Consort Hui grabbed the eldest prince's ear and launched into a tirade.
The eldest prince could only follow Consort Hui around; otherwise, if they were too far apart, his ears might really be pulled off.
"Alright, calm down first!" Consort Tongjia said to Consort Hui. "Let go of Yinti first, his ears are all red!"
Consort Hui angrily released the eldest prince.
Seeing that the Crown Prince was also present, Consort Tongjia didn't know what to say. After all, the Crown Prince was the Emperor, and they couldn't say anything. The Crown Prince was to be disciplined by the Emperor, the Empress Dowager, and others; it wasn't their place as concubines.
The eldest prince quickly rubbed his ears. If his mother, Tong, didn't say anything, she might really twist his ears off.
"Yinti, you are the eldest brother, you tell me what happened!" Consort Tongjia asked the eldest prince.
"Reporting to Mother Tong, it was all my fault. I was the one who led my younger brothers to drink. Please punish me if you must!"
“Mother Tong, it’s Bao Cheng’s fault. He didn’t discipline his eldest brother, third brother, and fourth brother properly!” the Crown Prince also stepped forward and said.
"No, Mother Tong!" The eldest prince pulled the crown prince behind him. "Second prince, don't think you can ride roughshod over me just because you're the crown prince. You think you can control me? Dream on!"
That second brother always takes advantage of his status as the crown prince to take on everything himself, which makes his elder brother lose face! As the eldest brother, protecting his younger brothers is his duty.
"Mother, your son is willing to be punished together with my elder brother!" The Fourth Prince also knelt before Consort Tongjia.
"Mother Tong, count me in too!" the Third Prince said righteously. His fourth brother had already stepped forward, so he couldn't fall behind.
Faced with the Crown Prince and his brothers rushing to admit their mistakes, Consort Tongjia was at a loss for words. She felt more gratified than anything else. The brotherly affection and deep fraternal bond were still a rare sight in the royal family.
"Yinti, can you tell your mother why you're drinking?" Consort Tongjia asked with concern. Although the eldest prince usually seems carefree and, as He Xue would say, rather rough around the edges, this child is actually quite sensitive.
The eldest prince's position was rather awkward. As the emperor's eldest son, he was above the crown prince, who was the legitimate son. Because of the crown prince, the emperor couldn't show too much affection for the eldest prince.
The eldest prince's eyes dimmed considerably, and he shook his head, saying, "Mother Tong, I'm just happy that it's my grandmother's birthday!"
After hearing what the eldest prince said, Consort Hui understood why he had been drinking. Seeing the eldest prince's dejected appearance, Consort Hui wavered for the first time over her long-held convictions.
Consort Tongjia knew that the eldest prince was not telling the truth, so she did not press the matter further. "His Majesty has already punished you, so we'll let it go here. But you must not do this again next time!"
"Yes, thank you, Mother Tong! Your son will remember your teachings!" the four princes said in unison.
"Yinzhen, what's wrong with your face?" Consort Tongjia noticed from the beginning that something was wrong with the Fourth Prince's face, but she hadn't had time to ask.
The eldest and third princes looked in the direction of the fourth prince, and sure enough, the fourth prince kept his mouth and eyebrows raised, which was even uglier than crying.
The Crown Prince glanced at the Fourth Prince, also trying hard to suppress his laughter.
"Haha!" The eldest prince burst out laughing. "Fourth brother, I'm sorry, let me laugh for a bit first!" He then clutched his stomach and laughed.
The Third Prince couldn't hold back any longer and burst into laughter.
Consort Tongjia, Consort Hui, and Consort Rong were all confused and had no idea what was going on.
He Xue was also quite curious, "Crown Prince, what's wrong with Fourth Brother?"
"Father has punished Fourth Brother by making him smile at everyone for three days! I don't know what Father came up with such a torturous punishment!" the Crown Prince said, puzzled.
In the past, when the Emperor punished them, he would either make them copy books or make them stand facing the wall in contemplation. How did things turn out like this now? He's specifically targeting their sore spots!
He Xue smiled guiltily after hearing this. She had only mentioned it casually to Kangxi when she was bored, but who knew that Kangxi would remember it!
Consort Tongjia understood what was going on after hearing the Crown Prince's words, but she hoped that Yinzhen could be truly happy.
The four princes left Chengqian Palace after a short while, as Kangxi's punishment awaited them!
That evening, after Sang'er and the other concubines of the Wanliuha clan had rested, they secretly left Jingren Palace.
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