In May of the 45th year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, the Crown Prince led his army back to the capital.
Prince Yu, Fuquan, led a group of princes and officials to a place a hundred miles outside the capital to welcome the victors. Everyone was dressed in court attire and waited for the triumphant return of the victors according to the auspicious time calculated by the Imperial Astronomical Bureau.
The Crown Prince and his entourage did not arrive as scheduled because of a small incident.
As is customary, the army would rest and regroup in the outskirts of Beijing, washing away the dust of the journey so they could be reviewed by the people of the capital in their best condition, and this time was no exception.
The crown prince ordered the camp to be set up, and that they should have a good meal and rest before setting off. He also planned to visit Fei Yanggu, who was recovering from his injuries.
"How are you feeling today?" The Crown Prince had a good impression of his savior. He not only instructed the others to walk slowly along the way, but also asked about their well-being from time to time. Everyone praised the Crown Prince for his kindness.
"Your Highness, I am fine in every way, except for a sip of liquor." Fei Yanggu laughed heartily, inwardly cursing.
He was a subject, and the Crown Prince was the emperor. A subject could not be improperly dressed when meeting the emperor; otherwise, it would be considered a breach of etiquette before the emperor. Normally, it wouldn't be a problem, but now he was covered in injuries, and changing his clothes every time would leave him drenched in sweat, not to mention the pain from aggravating his wounds. The Crown Prince visited him three times a day, so he had to accommodate his demands.
I haven't taken this coat off all day; I have to put it back on after taking it off. It's so tiring.
"Haha, what's so difficult about that? I heard that my fourth sister-in-law is pregnant. After ten months of pregnancy, she will soon have a little grandson to serve you wine." The Crown Prince was genuinely envious when he said this. His fourth brother was going to have another legitimate son. Was the Ulanara family really that good at having children?
The Crown Prince recalled in his mind that the fourth prince's wife seemed to be Fei Yanggu's youngest daughter. What a pity.
Fei Yanggu was genuinely happy to hear this, and couldn't suppress the smile on his face: "Your subject dares not."
"I'm glad to see that you are in good spirits. I won't disturb your rest. We'll be able to enter the capital in half a day. When that time comes, I will definitely go back to my father and give you enough time to recover." The Crown Prince smiled warmly.
"Your Highness, I am very grateful for your concern." Fei Yanggu was about to get up from the bed to kowtow when the Crown Prince pressed him back down.
As Yinreng stepped out of Feiyanggu's military tent, he was suddenly bumped by a humanoid object. His personal guards immediately escorted the dark figure away.
"Your Highness, don't you want to know what the future holds? Don't you want to know if you can become the emperor? I know everything! I can tell you!" A sharp, somewhat hoarse voice came from the mouth of a man who looked like a beggar. Yinreng looked around, but there were only soldiers on duty. They didn't even turn their heads, as if they hadn't heard anything.
Yinreng didn't want to pay attention to such treasonous remarks and was about to order his execution when he heard the beggar say again, "Honghui is clearly dead, but he is still alive!"
Yinreng turned around abruptly, stared at the beggar for a long time, then signaled his men to take the man away. He then ordered all the guards who were nearby to be replaced. As for whether the replaced man was dead or alive, no one knew, but he never appeared in public again.
In the Crown Prince's tent, a beggar knelt on the ground, trembling incessantly. Yinreng, with his sharp eyes, could see insects crawling on his body, which made him feel nauseous. He ordered someone to take him to bathe and change his clothes.
As a result, the auspicious time calculated by the Imperial Astronomical Bureau was missed. Yinreng did not dare to keep Kangxi waiting for too long, so he temporarily and secretly imprisoned the beggar and led the army to meet with Prince Yu.
"Your subject greets Your Highness the Crown Prince and congratulates you on your triumphant return." Although Prince Yu was the Crown Prince's uncle, he was always respectful and polite, never acting like an elder, and showed no displeasure when kneeling. The princes and ministers behind him also knelt down, and the Crown Prince, riding his horse, dismounted and first helped Prince Yu up.
"All of you, rise."
"His Majesty's decree: a banquet will be held at the Qianqing Palace in three days to celebrate the great victory over the Dzungars and the restoration of peace to the borders of our Great Qing." Prince Yu bowed and conveyed Kangxi's message.
"Your subject accepts the decree." Yinreng knelt down to receive the decree, and then followed Prince Yu to the palace. The others went home to their respective families.
Yinzhen watched from afar as Fei Yanggu was carried on a stretcher. The two exchanged a glance and nodded to each other. Yinzhen felt relieved; it seemed that Fei Yanggu had pulled through.
Fortunately, if anything had happened to Fei Yanggu, the pregnant woman in the family would probably have been half-dead as well.
******
The next day, Yinzhen took Yihua back to her parents' home, accompanied by Honghui and Liuliu.
Yi Hua did not bring the eldest princess this time. The eldest princess is getting older, and even if there is an intention to arrange a marriage, it is necessary to avoid suspicion, not to mention her sister-in-law's previous attitude.
Lady Ulanara brought her entire family to welcome Yinzhen and his wife. Fei Yanggu did not come out because Yinzhen had sent word beforehand that the general had rendered meritorious service in killing the enemy and was injured, so the family did not need to be so formal and did not need to force themselves to come out and kneel.
Mingxuan searched carefully and found that only Honghui was holding Liuliu, and the figure he had been longing for was not behind him. He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.
Honghui glanced down at Liu Liu, and both of them revealed mischievous smiles.
"What are you looking at?" Honghui teased.
Mingxuan stammered for a long time without being able to say a word clearly, his face turning bright red.
Liu Liu exclaimed in an exaggerated "Wow!": "Big cousin, you have a fever!"
The little girl was losing her teeth and sometimes swallowed words when she spoke. Just now, she said "fever" as "feverish." Honghui couldn't help but burst out laughing, and Mingxuan's face turned even redder. Liuliu was confused. She looked up at her two older brothers, shook her head, and thought the adults were so strange. Then she took her short legs and went to be cute to Ulanara Fujin.
With Yinzhen's help, Yihua went to see her father first. After just one glance, Yihua knew that Honghui was lying to her. How could someone who had just injured his hand be bedridden? Moreover, it looked like he had been lying there for quite some time.
"Father, where are you hurt?" As Yi Hua spoke, tears streamed down her face. Perhaps it was because she was more sentimental after becoming pregnant, or perhaps it was the original owner's emotions at play. She felt a lump in her throat when she looked at Fei Yanggu.
"It's nothing, just a minor injury. This time, Father won't be going to the battlefield again; he'll stay home with your mother." Fei Yanggu leaned against the bed, panting for a long time after saying just a few words, but his spirits were quite good, and he was still thinking about his life after retirement.
"Yes, please take good care of yourself. I brought a lot of tonics this time. Take them according to the doctor's advice. If it's not enough, I'll send more." Yi Hua wanted to lift Fei Yanggu's clothes to take a look, but this was the Qing Dynasty, and doing so would be too shocking.
“Didn’t you say you wanted your father to give the baby a nickname?” Fei Yanggu changed the subject, looking at Yi Hua’s still-flat waist with extremely loving eyes.
"When Ama was injured, he saw a little baby smiling sweetly at him, holding a small wooden sword. It was so cute."
"How about we name him Little Sword?"
Yi Hua fell into a shameful silence. She felt that as a mother, she had to try harder to change the name: "There's still time, why don't you think about it some more?"
"Yes, you're right, we need to think about it again."
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