Chapter 31 The Paper Frog Recently, Yinreng has settled down at Cheng Qianyue's place. ...
Recently, Yinreng has settled down at Cheng Qianyue's place. If Emperor Kangxi summons him, he will go, but if he returns from Changchun Garden or has nothing else to do, he will stay at her place. The things he does most at her place are reading or practicing calligraphy. Although he seems quite composed, Cheng Qianyue doesn't know if it's just her imagination, but she always feels that he has a lot of energy bottled up inside.
Take his reading, for example. After a short while, she noticed his eyes were unfocused, and it was obvious that his mind wasn't on it. Sometimes, she could even see him furrow his brows heavily, his eyes flashing with a fierce light.
Cheng Qianyue thought to herself, "Why does he look like Sun Wukong just released from the alchemy furnace?" She didn't know what he was thinking, but she noticed that his hand holding the book was clenched tightly, and the veins on his wrist were bulging with tension. You tell me, it was clearly a collection of miscellaneous writings about traveling and enjoying nature, yet he was reading it with gritted teeth, looking like a righteous young man who had witnessed some injustice.
He devoted himself even more to calligraphy practice. Because of the summer heat, he disliked going to the side rooms, so he set up his desk in the west wing of the main house. He would sit by the window, copying calligraphy from some famous master. But Cheng Qianyue said it would be a miracle if he could calm his mind in his current state. Sure enough, he wrote one sheet and threw it away, wrote one sheet and threw it away, until finally the entire basket of paper ended up in the Kitchen God's treasury.
Cheng Qianyue was also anxious seeing him like this: "If you're angry, just let it out. Don't let it fester and turn into a huge mess. Then all the people serving you will probably suffer." She wanted to comfort him, so she teased him about what she had seen and heard in the garden.
But wood is useless!
Yinreng listened to her gently with a smile, but after he finished speaking to her, he went back to working on his books and calligraphy.
I feel so frustrated!
Cheng Qianyue sat up from the couch, and just one glance at the desk made her feel suffocated. To be honest, she wanted to roll her eyes whenever she saw those writing implements.
Well, she has to figure out a way to lure him away from there!
That day, Yinreng came in from outside, changed his clothes, and went to the study in the west wing. Cheng Qianyue did not go with him, but stopped by the couch near the window of the west wing, sat down briefly, but turned her body towards that side, looking on with anticipation as if she were watching a good show.
Hey hey, don't you love reading and writing? Let's see how you manage to write today.
Yinreng noticed something was wrong as soon as he sat down. He knew exactly what was on the desk and how it had been arranged before he left, so a quick glance told him someone had moved his things. Of course, the clues were obvious. For example, he remembered the calligraphy copybook being placed on the east side of the desk, but now it was in the very center. And it was clearly sticking out, as if something was underneath it.
Yinreng frowned, reached out and picked up the calligraphy copybook, but then, to his dismay, seven or eight colorful paper frogs underneath popped out and hit him right in the face.
Chen He and Jing Shun, who were waiting on the side: !!
Yinreng felt he had lost face in front of his servants and became furious. He stood up abruptly and said sternly, "How dare you! Who tidied the desk today? Get out and receive your punishment!" Everyone in the room immediately knelt down upon hearing his roar.
Cheng Qianyue had witnessed the whole scene, and she couldn't help but feel terrified. She knew she had gotten herself into trouble. Actually, she didn't mean anything by it; she just wanted to tease him and stop him from pacing around the desk. Who knew that when he lifted the calligraphy book, the paper frog underneath jumped right onto his face!
She rushed over and knelt down with the servant, quickly apologizing, "This servant deserves to die."
After his outburst, Yinreng's anger subsided somewhat, and his rationality returned slightly upon seeing Cheng Qianyue coming to pay her respects. No servant in this room would dare to do such a thing; if they startled their master, they wouldn't be spared even if they had ten lives. The only one who would dare to do such a thing was this "absurd" fellow before him.
He took a few deep breaths, then glanced around and said, "Get out, all of you."
The others readily agreed and hurriedly left. Cheng Qianyue felt that she was included in his use of the word "all," so she followed the servants out. Qi Liao had only taken a few steps back when he heard Yinreng say, "I didn't tell you to leave. You stay here."
Cheng Qianyue quickly stopped and cautiously looked up to observe his expression. After the others in the room left, she took small steps over, bowed again, and said with a mournful face, "This servant knows her mistake."
Yinreng picked up the paper frogs from the table, frowning as he looked at them, wondering what they were. Each one was about the size of a five-ounce gold ingot, made of blue, green, and yellow paper, with pointed heads and circles drawn with a brush on them that looked like eyes, and four legs at the bottom. "These are frogs?"
"Did you do this?" he asked.
Judging from his tone, Cheng Qianyue felt that she probably wouldn't be punished too severely, but she was still very frustrated. She nodded and said, "It was a paper frog made by your servant."
Yinreng took a paper frog to the outer room, and Cheng Qianyue followed him cautiously. Yinreng asked her to sit down beside him and said, "When did you fold this? I didn't know you could fold this."
Cheng Qianyue replied, "I folded it after you left. I learned it from someone else."
She wanted to surprise him, so she made it without his knowledge. These past two days, whenever he went out, she'd been busy making this. As for how to make the paper frog, to be honest, it was something she remembered from her school days in her past life. Back then, origami was popular among girls, things like paper stars, paper roses, and paper frogs were one of them. But in this life, it was indeed a long time ago; she folded the paper several times before finally remembering how to do it.
Cheng Qianyue said softly, "As long as you press them down and then lift them up, they will jump up." She adjusted the angle several times to make sure that they would jump up after the calligraphy was removed before pressing them down. She said pitifully, "I didn't expect to frighten you. This servant really knows her mistake."
Yinreng raised an eyebrow, and as she instructed, pressed down on the paper frog's bottom. Sure enough, it jumped when he lifted his hand. To be honest, it was quite amusing to watch, but he still kept a straight face and said, "How dare you be so bold as to torment your master like this?"
Whenever he asked her this, Cheng Qianyue couldn't keep it a secret; she'd blurt it all out as soon as she opened her mouth. There was no other way; the saying goes, "resistance is punished, confession is punished."
She said, "When I see you come back, you're either reading or practicing calligraphy, and I can tell you're unhappy. If you're unhappy, you need to vent it, but we've already come to the garden and you're not going out to enjoy the scenery. I thought it wasn't good for you to stay in the house all the time, so I came up with a trick to get you off your desk."
The more she spoke, the more self-righteous she felt. Honestly, if he were easier to please, would she have gone to so much trouble?
Yinreng was taken aback when he heard her muttering like this, but he said, "Reading and practicing calligraphy are my ways to relax. They can calm my mind and cultivate my character."
She doesn't believe him for a second. Who grinds their teeth while reading or writing?
Cheng Qianyue then said, "Anyway, I feel that doing things that require a lot of brainpower won't relieve my frustration, so I did it this way." She pouted and boldly asked him, "Don't you have any other hobbies?"
Who does he think he is? A descendant of the Aisin Gioro family, living a life of luxury and privilege. What fun things haven't he seen? Rolling dice, cricket fighting—aren't these all fun and brainless activities? What's the point of studying and writing all the time?
Yinreng chuckled when he heard her stammering question: "Who would dare to corrupt the Crown Prince?"
These words directly put Cheng Qianyue in a bind, and she unconsciously widened her eyes.
In his early years, Yinreng did indeed play games—dice, cricket fighting, cockfighting—whatever was popular. The Emperor even encouraged his sons to play these games. However, the purpose wasn't for entertainment but for education. After a while, the Emperor took them to prison. The jailer explained to them stories of how one prince had killed his creditor to pay off gambling debts, and another had killed his opponent in a cockfight because he was unhappy with their win. The Emperor used these examples to teach them the consequences of indulging in frivolous pursuits. From then on, anything that could corrupt the princes disappeared from the palace.
Perhaps the other princes, after getting married and establishing their own residences, would occasionally indulge in pleasure outside their homes, but he was different. He was the Crown Prince, the one who would one day rule the world; he couldn't afford to be so greedy for enjoyment. Besides, he either lived in the Yuqing Palace in the Forbidden City or in the West Garden—right under the Emperor's nose. Who would dare to openly offer him such entertainment?
Oh, of course, some people have done that before, like his wet nurse, Lingpu. Perhaps Lingpu saw that he was bored, so he secretly gave him crickets and taught him games like grass fighting. But Lingpu died a few years ago, and one of the reasons for his death was that he corrupted the crown prince.
Yinreng let out a long sigh of relief and said, "Keeping oneself pure and having refined interests are what people should pursue."
Cheng Qianyue watched him beam with pride, but inwardly she couldn't help but feel sorry for him. The more she listened, the more she felt that Kangxi resembled those modern-day "tiger parents" who were extremely strict with their children, forbidding them from using their phones or watching TV, and even when they were playing, they would give a thousand and eight thousand reasons, giving the impression that they couldn't bear to see their children happy.
Thinking about it, Cheng Qianyue felt that Yinreng had also had a hard time. She leaned closer to him, and then slowly pressed her lips to his face.
"Trying to please me like this and brush things off?" Yinreng said.
Cheng Qianyue smiled, not ingratiatingly, but a pitiful yet tenderly comforting smile. She simply got up and sat down next to him, leaning against him and gently kissing the corner of his mouth.
Yinreng seemed to sense something as well, and pulled her into his arms. The gentle kiss instantly turned into a whirlwind.
After kissing for a while, Cheng Qianyue suddenly came to her senses and said breathlessly between kisses, "Then have I corrupted you too?"
Yinreng casually replied, "With just your few paper frogs? Don't worry."
"Oh, right." Cheng Qianyue thought to herself and pressed her lips to his again. Since nothing else was wrong, let's continue kissing. But the kiss quickly turned sour as Yinreng's hand slipped under her clothes, pinching and kneading her, before he swept her up and carried her to the bed.
It seems he took out all his anger on the bed.
At this moment, Chen He and Jing Shun were guarding the door outside, while Ruoyun and Lin Quan'an stood opposite the master and apprentice. Ruoyun was particularly worried, fearing that the Second Prince would lose his temper and do something to their princess, and she was so anxious that she kept exchanging glances with Lin Quan'an.
But soon enough, commotion could be heard from inside the room, and the servants immediately moved a few steps away. As Ruoyun felt relieved, she saw that Chen He's expression had also softened, and she heard him say softly, "Tell the people outside to prepare water."
Jing Shun exclaimed "Ah!" and hurriedly went outside. Ruo Yun also curtsied and followed him outside. Yesterday, Cheng Gege said that adding some honeysuckle and mint leaves to the bathwater could repel mosquitoes, and she took the opportunity to give her servants a few words of advice.
As Jing Shun walked out, he said, "Oh my, Princess Cheng is really amazing." The prince was so angry, he thought Princess Cheng was definitely going to get into trouble, but somehow she managed to pull the prince into bed.
Ruoyun naturally refused to admit that she had also been worried, and said slowly, "Brother, you flatter me. But our princess has never been scolded since she started serving the Second Master."
The Second Prince has been frequently visiting Changchun Garden lately, which shows that the Emperor still likes him. And since the princess is so favored by the Second Prince, what need is there to say about their future prospects?
She thought to herself that her luck had really turned around, and that she had made the right choice in following this master!
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