Chapter 263 Extra 4: Ma Bao's Movie Viewing Experience (2)
“You all think I don’t understand anything and you don’t tell me anything. But I know that either I made a mistake or my mother made a mistake. Otherwise, why would Father Emperor stop coming to see me and Mother? Even lunch and dinner are different from before. Mother has to add money herself so that Shu’er and I can eat meat.”
Hongzhao's voice continued to echo through the light screen.
Emperor Kangxi couldn't help but devote half his energy to his son. After all, it had been a long time since they last met. He couldn't take his eyes off Yinreng no matter what, and he was able to fill in the gaps in the plot shown on the screen. However, Yinreng knew the whole story.
"Stupid," he commented.
"It seems like she exchanged mung beans for silver, showing everyone real gold and silver, but after layers of exploitation, it's uncertain whether anything will be left. Those below her lost their due benefits because of her mere words, and who knows how much resentment they will harbor."
Wasn't that exactly what caused his downfall?
Violent, irritable, and impatient—these were all labels bestowed upon him by his father, and it's hard to say whether the influence of his subordinates' gossip was undeniable. Now he finally understands that it is precisely because of his own contrast that someone like Lao Ba, who humbly serves others and cleans up their messes, can win people's hearts even more by feigning benevolence and righteousness.
As Kangxi watched the Crown Prince intently, he recalled a phrase he had once said: "The bond between me and Yinreng has never changed."
These words are not meant to make amends or to be polite but unavoidable. Only the person making them truly knows how much meaning they convey, and they are more likely to express a sense of helplessness that cannot be spoken.
As the saying goes, children you raise yourself from a young age will always have more patience and affection than those from others.
Watching Yinzhen carry the weeping Hongzhao away on the screen, Kangxi suddenly understood the purpose of keeping the father and son here. Although he didn't know how things would develop, judging from the current situation, Hongzhao, whom he had personally named, was probably like Baocheng before him, the emperor's...precious treasure.
As Yinreng watched this familiar scene, his seated body tensed up involuntarily.
He naturally thought of his own childhood, when, like this nephew, his father would hold him even when reviewing memorials. Under such imperial favor, the boundaries between ruler and subject, father and son were already blurred.
Looking at it from a different perspective now, Yinreng realized that he had failed to recognize that the person who had lulled him to sleep on countless nights was not only his father, but also his monarch.
A son may throw tantrums and act capriciously with his father, but such behavior is dangerous when facing a monarch.
It was his father who initially made him crown prince, but in a fit of anger, it was Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty who deposed him. When he was reinstated, his father showed him leniency and unique favoritism. When he was deposed again, the numerous charges against him were the final decision made by a heavy-hearted emperor against his own love.
On the screen, his nephew, not yet four years old, would cry and say that his father didn't love him anymore. But even now, despite being twice appointed and twice deposed and imprisoned for more than ten years, Yinreng can still say without a guilty conscience that his father doesn't dislike him.
But a father is not just his father; this is a common problem between royal fathers and sons.
Did he think that he was summoned here only to watch another child quietly follow in his footsteps after the change of dynasties?
The father and son are now sitting together, but they haven't exchanged more than a few words; each of them has their own little thoughts.
Yinreng felt that the thoughts of the emperors who had been established and deposed twice were unpredictable, and Kangxi had a lot to say on this matter.
He even went so far as to describe it somewhat inaccurately as a feeling of being wronged.
When the crown prince was deposed, it was clearly Yinreng who made the mistake, but this child just kept going against him. Every time he scolded Yinreng, Yinreng would retort. He wouldn't suffer even the slightest loss, and he made this powerful emperor, who had been granted the title of "Equalizer of the Three Feudatories," so angry that he shed tears and still wouldn't give up.
At the time, the court was in an uproar, with many petty people spreading rumors and creating obstacles between the father and son. It would be unreasonable for him to depose them in a fit of anger!
He didn't really mistreat him; even the place where he was imprisoned was chosen next to his own, so he could just go there after a meal.
In the years following the reinstatement of the crown prince, he was extremely obedient to his son, Yinreng, in an effort to reconcile with him. He agreed to everything Yinreng wanted, big or small, exhausting himself both physically and mentally. However, the rift between father and son was already there, and no amount of effort could mend it.
The Crown Prince's humiliation gave his other sons, whom he had raised, a glimmer of hope. With each of them eager to make their own way, no one believed that things could ever go back to the way they were before.
Yinreng heard his fourth brother's voice, which sounded much younger, echoing in the pure white space: "You'er, You'er."
This must be my nephew's childhood nickname. I was also called by that nickname by my father when I grew up.
Being young always brings many tender moments, and this is the time when one is least concerned with the turmoil of the past. I just wonder if the children in the light-up screen will be smarter or luckier than me.
As for his fourth brother... with his icy demeanor, Yinreng had no expectations of him becoming a father.
The most obvious example is that... a concubine's maid easily poisoned your favorite prince! And you didn't even notice!
Yinreng clicked his tongue in disbelief, while Kangxi beside him frowned deeply. Yinzhen's inner court seemed anything but peaceful. If anyone dared to poison Baocheng right under his nose, his eyes narrowed dangerously. Even though it hadn't happened before, it seemed he already knew exactly how to execute him.
All the scenes on the light screen were true to life, and they could clearly see that Hongzhao's face was flushed red and he was delirious, the little boy murmuring "Father, Mother".
Father... Mother...
Yinreng curled his lips in a mocking smile. Born to be the cause of his mother's death, a crime his father had personally labeled him. He wondered if he would ever see his mother in the afterlife, and whether she would forgive him.
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