It took Yinzhen more than three months to finally arrive in Xining after leaving Beijing and officially begin commanding the three armies.
As the General of Fuyuan, he had great authority and many tasks to undertake. He had to worry about appointing generals, stabilizing military morale, and all decision-making and command matters.
There were many complicated things to do, but Yinzhen did not disappoint Kangxi's trust. As soon as he arrived in Xining, he immediately began to rally the army's morale and win over the Mongolian tribes in Qinghai and the Dalai Lama and others.
The Mongolian princes and nobles in Qinghai had already received the imperial edict from Kangxi, and since Yinzhen was a good person, they naturally cooperated.
After Yinzhen had united the 100,000 soldiers under his command, he was finally able to take a breath and read the letter sent from the capital.
If his image in the capital was that of a noble prince, who was a little childish when he occasionally played with Cheng'an, he has changed a lot now, and his angular face shows the sharpness of a sword about to be unsheathed.
Cheng'an couldn't write yet, so the letters were all drawn. Yinzhen had received such drawn letters twice before.
"Is this... that sheep?" Yinzhen opened the first painting and looked at it for a long time before guessing it based on the pair of sheep's horns, and then he laughed immediately.
He read the letter with a smile on his face and then began to write a reply to the little guy.
When he asked someone to take the reply letter away and send it out, the unconscious gentleness on his face was replaced by fierceness, and he raised his voice and ordered: "Send it to Yanxin and Ge Erbi."
The servant took the order and passed the message, and soon the two generals came to the tent.
Capital city.
When Cheng'an received Yinzhen's reply again, it was already white outside.
"Father, when will Fourteenth Brother come back?"
Yinzhen was busy and his reply was very brief. After the little guy heard Kangxi read it for him, he couldn't help asking.
After Kangxi finished reading the letter, he looked at the memorial sent back by Yinzhen. There was a bit of satisfaction in his eyes. Hearing his words, he said casually: "I will come back naturally after I finish my work."
Kangxi said the same thing when he received the letter last time. The little guy thought that it was snowing and his fourteenth brother had not come back yet, so he couldn't help but hold his cheeks with both hands and sigh slightly.
Kangxi was in a very good mood after reading the memorial. He turned around and saw his posture and couldn't help but raise his hand to rub his head: "Aren't there so many brothers to play with you? Why are you sighing?"
"But Fourteenth Brother is not here!" the little guy shouted.
"It's good that he can write back to you."
Kangxi estimated that after some time, Yinzhen would not even have time to reply.
"snort!"
When Kangxi heard this voice, he glanced at him and said, "How dare you humph at my father? Are you itching for trouble?"
"No, Ama!"
"Who are you humming then?"
"Hmph, An An, just be yourself!"
Kangxi pinched his face, picked him up and said, "Don't learn these things from your tenth brother. Be obedient and I will take you to the Taiye Lake to watch ice skating in the near future."
"What is ice skating?" The little guy's curiosity was aroused.
"You'll know when you see it."
Kangxi didn't say anything, but when Yinzhen and others entered the palace the next day, the little guy couldn't help asking.
"Fourth brother, what is ice skating?"
Before Yinzhen could even open his mouth, Yin'e described it vividly: "Ice skating is really fun. It feels like you're flying when you put on skates and slide lightly on the ice..."
Cheng'an's eyes lit up when he heard his description, and he hugged Yinzhen's arm and said, "An'an wants to play!"
"Where did Cheng'an hear about ice playing?" Yinzhen didn't ask whether he would take him to play or not, but asked first.
"Ama said to take An An to watch ice skating~"
Seeing that it was Kangxi who said he would take him there, Yinzhen nodded and said, "Then Cheng'an will be able to see it after a few days."...
As for whether he can play or not, that depends on the Emperor's opinion.
After the little guy asked his brothers about the details of the ice skating, he learned that he had to wait a few days before he could play. He said with a little disappointment: "Then An An will play on the swings."
Although it didn't snow today, it was very windy outside. Not to mention going out to swing, even standing outside in the wind for a while would make you feel very cold.
"How about letting my eight brother play chess with you?" Yinsi coaxed.
The little guy shook his head and said, "An An doesn't play chess."
Seeing that he just wanted to play on the swing, Yinsi looked at Yinzhen with a helpless expression.
Yinzhen wanted to say something to him coldly, but the little guy was not afraid at all. Instead, he hugged him and acted like a spoiled child: "Fourth brother is the best~"
Even the cold face was useless, Yinzhen said he had no other choice.
"It's just a swing, how difficult is that?" Yin'e finally came up with a solution. He asked someone to bring his cloak over, motioned for Yinxiang and himself to hold one side each, and said, "Come here, Cheng'an!"
Cheng'an tilted his head and looked for a while, then seemed to understand something, and immediately ran over and sat in the cloak.
The little guy with a little fat on his body was quite heavy, and the cloak that Yin'e was holding in his hand slipped down, causing the little guy to sit on his butt.
Cheng An seemed to have not expected to sit on the ground. He blinked his eyes in a daze.
Seeing that Yin'e was so unreliable, Yinzhen glanced at him and quickly picked up the little guy: "Are you hurt?"
In winter, he was wearing thick clothes, with a fur cape underneath to cushion his body. Plus, his butt was plump, so he didn't really get hurt from the fall.
"No~" Cheng An shook his head and suddenly laughed, "An An still wants to play!"
Seeing that he could still laugh even after falling, Yinzhen's eyes showed a hint of helplessness.
"I was not prepared just now. I must make good preparations this time." Yin'e promised after hearing the little guy's voice.
Instead of letting Cheng'an go out to swing, everyone decided to trust Yin'e again.
This time, after he and Yinxiang held the cloak tightly, Yinsi stepped forward and pulled open the middle of the cloak, and then Yinzhen tried to put the little guy in his arms to sit in it.
Just in case, the cloak is not high from the ground, but once the little guy sits firmly, he can really swing up, and the cloak completely covers the little guy. As long as Yin'e and Yinxiang don't let go, he seems quite safe.
Cheng An looked up at his two brothers rocking him, and felt that it was more fun than swinging on a swing outside. He smiled so hard that his eyes curved.
"Brother Ten is awesome~"
"Brother Thirteen is awesome~"
Seeing how sweet his words were, Yinxiang smiled and swung him higher.
"Mynah is coming~"
After the little guy enjoyed the fun of swinging on his brother's swing, he couldn't help but invite his other brothers to play together.
Yinsi did come over, but did not sit with him. Instead, he took the cloak from Yin'e.
The cold wind was howling outside the hall, but there was laughter and joy inside the hall, especially when Yin'e was clamoring to try it and asked others to pull him.
"You really don't know your own worth." Yinzhen said.
Yinxiang even waved his hands directly: "Tenth brother, stop making trouble."
"An An La Shi Ge~" Only the little guy naively said that he could do it.
"Look, Cheng An is still good to me."
Yin'e said so, but looking at the little guy's skinny arms and legs...well, although not thin, he still gave up the idea.
After he gave up this unreliable idea, everyone took Cheng'an to play together for a while. In the end, the little guy found that it was tiring for his brothers to play with him like this, and he took the initiative to say that he didn't want to play anymore.
"Brother, let's drink~" After stopping playing on the swing, Cheng'an immediately took out his set of small wine bottles.
The wine jug he originally played with was broken by Yin'e. This set of small golden wine jugs was given to him by Yin'e. Not only were the wine jugs small, but the matching... wine glasses were also small.
The brothers were a little thirsty after playing with him for so long, so they all held up their small wine glasses and drank with him.
"Go ahead~"
After drinking a few pots of "wine" with the little ones, the brothers sat for a while and then it was time to leave.
On the way out of the palace, Yinsi remembered and asked, "How is Dai Zi now?"
After obtaining Kangxi's consent, Yin'e quickly brought Dai Zi and his family back to the capital.
Hearing Yinsi's question, Yin'e's tone was a little happy: "This man is indeed capable. I was worried that he would be too old to be useful, but guess what happened?"
"Stop keeping me in suspense." Yinzhen glared at him.
Yinzhen and Yinxiang were walking in front. After hearing this, they became interested and gradually slowed down their pace.
Yin'e continued, "The musket I used before was broken, wasn't it? I simply took it and wanted to try this Dai Zi, but he fixed it in less than half a day."
The muskets used by the princes would be repaired immediately if they had any minor problems. If they were left broken, it meant that they could not be repaired. The fact that Dai Zi repaired a musket that others could not repair showed his ability.
"It seems that this person does have some ability." Yinxiang said.
Yinsi thought that Yin'e had asked someone to come back to make a fire gun for Cheng'an, so he couldn't help but ask, "Did he say whether he could make a fire gun for Cheng'an?"
"He said we can try it." Yin'e said.
Being able to try showed that he had a clue. Yinsi nodded slightly, thinking that with this man's talent, the memorial he wrote for Yin'e was not in vain.
After chatting for a while, the princes arrived outside the palace and went back to their own homes.
Three days later, the sun finally came out, and early in the morning Kangxi took his men to Taiye Lake to inspect the ice skating.
When the weather gets cold, the little guy starts to like to sleep in. On weekdays, Kangxi lets him sleep a little longer because he doesn't have to study or attend the morning court.
But today, if he didn't tell him to miss the ice skating, Kangxi knew without a doubt that he would make a scene afterwards, so he could only pick up the sleepy little guy from the bed.
"An An is so sleepy~" The sleepy little guy acted coquettishly in a baby voice.
"Don't want to watch ice skating?"
Kangxi coaxed him to wash and change clothes, then hugged him and fed him breakfast. When he carried him to the imperial throne, he saw him leaning in his arms and closing his eyes. He couldn't help but tap his forehead and said, "I really owe you!"
Having said that, Kangxi carefully wrapped him in his cloak along the way, fearing that he would catch a cold if he fell asleep like this.
"Ama, let's watch the ice skating!"
The little guy woke up in time. When they were almost at Taiye Lake, he suddenly raised his head from Kangxi's arms.
Seeing that he could sleep and wake up as he was told, Kangxi pinched his rosy face and asked, "Have you slept enough?"
"An An wake up~" the little guy said and rubbed against him in his arms, rubbing the hat on his head askew.
After the imperial carriage stopped, Kangxi first helped him put on his hat properly, then helped him tie his cloak again before leading him down.
"Wow--"
A thick layer of ice has formed on the surface of Taiye Lake, which looks like a crystal jade belt at first glance.
With the arrival of Kangxi, the Eight Banners descendants who had been waiting for a long time all bowed.
Over at the Five Dragon Pavilion, a throne had already been raised in the Longze Pavilion in the middle. Kangxi brought Cheng'an into the pavilion and signaled to those present to excuse themselves.
It was Cheng'an's first time to come to Xiyuan, so everything he saw was new to him, but he quickly noticed his brothers in the pavilion nearby.
"Brother Da, Brother Er..."
Perhaps only he would dare to shout so casually in front of Kangxi.
Yinzhi and the others either nodded or smiled in response to him.
When the ice skating officially started, the Eight Banners children performed all kinds of tricks on the ice, which made the little ones who saw this scene for the first time just open their mouths slightly and refused to blink.
Ice skating was nothing new to Kangxi, but seeing that he was staring at it intently, he regained some interest.
In addition to the most basic ice walking, the Eight Banners disciples also have many other specialties, such as standing on one leg on the ice, dragonfly skimming the water, phoenix spreading its wings, etc.
"Great!" Cheng An applauded when he saw this.
In the pavilion next to him, Yin'e heard the little guy clapping for others, and immediately pulled Yin'er to leave the stage.
Every year the brothers would participate in the ice skating. Once Yin'e took the lead, the others would follow suit.
"Ama, look, it's my brother!"
When Cheng'an found out that his brother was on the stage, he screamed even more excitedly than before.
Kangxi felt his ears could not bear hearing him speak so loudly.
Yin'e and the others had just slid twice on the ice when the little ones started clapping and shouting, as if they had performed some amazing tricks.
The Wulong Pavilion was still some distance away from where the princes were, but Yin'e and the others faintly heard the little guy's voice and immediately started to play some tricks.
The brothers’ ice-skating skills were no worse than those of the Eight Banners’ children, and some were even better. When they walked onto the ice together, the scene was very spectacular.
"An An wants to play too!" The little guy looked at his brothers having so much fun playing below, and finally he was not satisfied with just watching.
Kangxi had guessed this result when he brought him here, but he still tried: "It hurts a lot to fall on the ice."
"An An, don't be afraid~"
"Then don't cry if you fall later." Seeing that he insisted on playing, Kangxi said the ugly words in advance.
The little guy nodded: "An An, don't cry~"
After saying this, he wanted to run downstairs, but Kangxi grabbed him and said, "Why are you in such a hurry? Let's finish reading first."
There were so many people on the ice at this moment, how could Kangxi let him go? He had to wait until the Eight Banners disciples finished their performance.
"What is Amana?" The little guy suddenly noticed the flags stuck behind the Eight Banners descendants.
"It's a flag." Kangxi said and taught him how to identify the flags of the Eight Banners.
After the little guy got to know him, he grabbed his big hand and said, "An An wants the flag!"
Upon hearing this, Kangxi immediately ordered someone to bring him two small flags.
The little guy played with the flag for a while and then put it into Kangxi's hand.
"No more?"
As soon as Kangxi finished speaking, he saw him with his back to him, and said in a baby voice: "An An, I want to carry you on my back too~"
Seeing that he wanted to learn everything he saw, Kangxi tied the flag to his body for him with some amusement.
When the ice skating of the Eight Banners children finally ended, Kangxi encouraged them and rewarded those who had performed best. This was the end of this year's ice skating.
Of course, this is for the Eight Banners children. For the little guy, his ice play has just begun.
Kangxi was old and did not have the energy to play with him, so he called Yinzhi and others over and told them to take Cheng'an out to play.
The people in the palace are all smart. As early as when Kangxi decided to bring the little guy to the West Garden, the ice skate department had specially prepared small ice skates suitable for him, which can be used directly now.
Cheng An just thought it was fun to watch others playing, but when he changed into skates and stepped onto the ice, he immediately shouted, "An An is going to fall—"
"Don't be afraid, you won't fall because I'm holding your hand." Yinzhi assured.
Yinreng hadn't been on the court just now, but now that he saw the little guy wanted to play, he changed into a pair of skates. At this moment, he was holding his other little hand and comforting him, "It's okay, Cheng'an, don't be afraid."
"Yeah." The little guy nodded when he heard his brother's words, but seeing that he unconsciously glanced at his feet, it was obvious that he was still a little worried about falling.
"...Cheng'an is fine, look at Brother Ten." Yin'e wanted to show off in front of him, but somehow he fell as soon as he slipped out.
He was playing fine for a long time just now, but suddenly fell down. Yinzhen even suspected that he was deliberately trying to scare the little guy.
Cheng An saw him fall, and wanted to go over but didn't dare to move, so he could only anxiously shout, "Tenth Brother!"
"It's okay, Tenth Brother just wanted to tell you that it doesn't hurt if you fall." Yin'e endured the pain and made excuses for himself.
How could it not hurt to fall in the middle of winter? Seeing that he was being stubborn, Yinzhen gave him a sidelong look and stretched out his hand, saying, "Hurry up and get up!"
Yin'e immediately held his hand to gain leverage, and explained in a low voice: "My foot just slipped."
Yinzhen thought he was talking nonsense. How could his feet not slip when wearing ice skates on the ice?
However, there was some good thing about Yin'e's fall. At least the little guy became bolder after seeing him get up as if nothing had happened after falling. He held the hands of his two brothers tightly and tentatively stretched out his feet.
"That's it..." Yinzhi lowered his head and taught him seriously.
After the little guy learned how to stand firmly on the ice, Yinzhi and Yinreng took him and skated forward together.
"It's so fun~"
The little guy, held by his two brothers, felt very safe. He ran on the ice without moving, his eyes curved into crescents with laughter.
After running two laps with the little guy to get a feel for it, Yinzhi looked up and said, "Let go, I'll play with Cheng'an for a while."
Yinreng glanced at him calmly and said, "If you want me to loosen up, just loosen up."
"Can you guarantee that he won't fall if you take care of him alone?" Yinzhi asked.
Even though Yinreng was not as good as him at ice skating, he was still confident that the little guy would not fall, so he nodded directly: "Of course."
Yinzhi and the others had just thought that the relationship between the two seemed to be getting better, but when they saw them arguing again, they didn't know what to say for a moment.
However, Yin'e saw this and wanted to take the opportunity to snatch Cheng'an away, so he suddenly accelerated and approached.
Yinzhi was confronting Yinreng. He saw him rushing over from the corner of his eye and thought he couldn't stop, so he quickly pulled Cheng'an and took Yinreng with him to slide to the side.
They moved suddenly, and Yin'e really couldn't stop anymore. He rushed out for a long distance: "Brother Jiu, help me!" He shouted, feeling a little unsteady.
Yinzhen slid over and held his arm to steady him: "The emperor is still here, what happened to you today?"
"I..." Yin'e coughed dryly and whispered, "I saw them confronting each other and wanted to take the opportunity to pull Cheng'an over. Who knew that my brother would react so quickly!"
"You'd better stay away from Cheng'an." When Yinzhen heard his words, he felt that since he almost fell twice today, it would be better for him not to get close to Cheng'an. After all, the little guy was not as thick-skinned as him.
After being interrupted by Yin'e, Yinzhi and Yinreng continued to play with Cheng'an, one on each side, until the little guy felt that he had mastered it and bravely let go of their hands. Then they stopped holding his hands and carefully protected him on both sides.
Cheng'an's solo skating made him look like he was just learning to walk. The brothers present all stood around and watched, afraid that he would fall.
After the little guy got used to the feeling of the ice, he became quite brave. He would go over to hold the hand of one brother, then go over to skate with that brother for a while.
The brothers are all pretty good at ice skating, but whenever the little ones come over, they become nervous unconsciously.
The little guy held Yinzhi and Yinzhen's hands and skated for a while, then skated alone again, this time in the direction of Kangxi, and shouted as he skated: "Ama, look at An'an~"
Seeing that he was still speeding up, Yinzhi bent down and stretched out his hands, ready to catch him at any time.
In Longze Pavilion.
...Kangxi saw the little guy skating towards him with a smile on his face. Even though the little guy couldn't do any fancy moves, he thought it was the best ice skating he had seen today.
When he was almost outside the pavilion, Kangxi came out personally, squatted on the ice and caught the little guy who rushed towards him.
"Is An Anli awesome?" The little fellow leaned in his arms and raised his head, his eyes brighter than the stars.
Kangxi reached out to straighten the crooked flag behind him, and praised him with a smile in his eyes: "Great."
The little guy smiled happily after receiving the praise. After resting in his arms for a while, he grabbed his hand and said, "An An, take Ama to play~"
"You didn't even know where you were when Ama was ice skating." Kangxi tapped his nose.
Originally, Kangxi was not going to leave, but he suddenly changed his mind and ordered someone to bring his ice skates.
Liang Jiugong was a little hesitant, but he dared not disobey Kangxi's orders.
The brothers wanted to give some advice, but it was difficult to say it. After all, they couldn't just say: Father Huang, you are old...
Kangxi still had some sense of propriety. After putting on his ice skates, he held the little one's hand and slowly skated on the ice.
The brothers were worried before that the little guy might fall, and now they have to be even more worried and follow him around, ready to rescue him at any time.
Seeing that they were all surrounding him, Kangxi felt that he was being looked down upon, so he simply waved his hand and told them to go and play their own games.
The brothers who were being chased away stepped back a little, but their eyes were still fixed on a group of two people, one big and one small, not far away.
Compared to them, the little guy didn't have so many worries. After holding Kangxi's hand and skating with him for a long time, the happy little guy began to feel a little tired and looked up and said, "Ama, hug me~"
Kangxi reached out and picked him up, and under the nervous gaze of the princes, he went straight back to the outside of Longze Pavilion.
As expected of the Emperor...
Yinzhi and the others secretly praised when they saw Kangxi carrying the little guy safely back to the pavilion to rest.
Before leaving Taiye Lake, the little guy changed out of his ice skates and insisted on walking on the ice with his shoes on. As a result, before everyone could react, he slipped and fell down, luckily he landed on his butt.
The little fellow who fell didn't cry, but just looked at Yin'e aggrievedly, and said something that made the brothers feel distressed and amused -
"Brother Shi is lying. It hurts when you fall!"
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