Kangxi had already dealt with all the government affairs that needed to be dealt with yesterday, so he now had time to accompany Cheng'an to look at his gifts one by one.
The Queen Mother and Concubine Hui were both well-off, and as the little one took the gifts out of the box one by one, the Luohan bed was suddenly covered with jewels and treasures.
"Ama, look at this~"
Among the gifts is a gem jade bonsai tree, with a jasper pot, gold leaves as the background, white jade petals, and broken gems as the stamens, which is very popular with the little ones.
Kangxi immediately recognized that the bonsai was from the Empress Dowager's palace, and he touched the little guy's head and said, "I see."
After the father and son admired and played with the gifts, it was almost noon.
"Brother?"
Speak of the devil, here he comes. When Cheng'an was muttering to himself, the princes came in from outside.
"Your son pays respects to the Emperor."
As soon as Kangxi called out, the little guy ran towards them quickly: "Brother~"
Yinreng noticed that the small hat on his head was a little crooked, so he reached out and put it on for him.
The little guy immediately looked up and smiled at him, then hugged his brother's legs and held his hand.
When Kangxi saw Yinzhi and the others coming over, the little guy acted as if he couldn't see him. He took two steps forward, picked him up and asked, "Do you want to eat first or play for a while?"
While asking the question, he subconsciously touched Cheng'an's belly and felt that the pain had basically gone away.
Cheng An thought about what he said before about the delicious lunch and immediately shouted: "An An wants to eat meat~"
"Okay." Kangxi agreed immediately and carried him in his arms and walked in front.
Yinreng and others did not need to be called and followed consciously.
The place where Kangxi had his meals was more than enough to accommodate so many princes.
Everyone in the palace now knows that the Twenty-Fourth Prince is the Emperor's favorite. Not only the Emperor, but also the Empress Dowager and others love him very much, and the princes are no exception.
Therefore, no one dared to neglect anything that involved him. As for today's birthday banquet, the imperial kitchen had decided on the menu half a month ago, and even started preparing in advance last night.
Kangxi and Cheng'an sat at the top, and then the other princes took their seats one after another.
As Liang Jiugong had the food served, one dish after another, delicious and fragrant, began to be served.
“It smells so good~”
Before the dishes were served, Cheng'an was already holding a spoon in his hand, his little face full of anticipation.
When the brothers saw his impatient look, they couldn't suppress the smiles in their eyes.
"Look, there are peaches~"
Cheng'an was a little surprised to see Taozi and turned his head subconsciously.
There are naturally no peaches when the peach blossoms are in full bloom, so what is served on the table are longevity peaches.
Longevity peaches are usually only served on birthdays, but Kangxi thought that the little ones should be interested in this colorful food, so he had it prepared.
Of course, this is not completely a longevity peach. After all, it is not very big and there is no longevity character on it. It can only be considered a snack shaped like a longevity peach, which makes the little ones happy when eating it.
Sure enough, the longevity peach attracted him as soon as it was served on the table.
"This is a longevity peach bun." Kangxi said and put one directly into the small bowl in front of him.
Cheng An saw the longevity peach buns in front of him and tried to scoop them up with a spoon. When he failed, he simply put the spoon down and started eating with his hands.
Kangxi had just washed his hands carefully, so he didn't stop him. He just reminded him, "Be careful of the burns."
The little fellow had already put his mouth close to the red tip of the longevity peach bun, ready to take a bite, but when he heard his words, he stopped and puffed his cheeks a few times.
The imperial chef's craftsmanship is naturally impeccable. The skin of the longevity peach bun is a little tough when you first bite it, but it is soft and slightly sweet when you really bite it. The best part is the filling inside the longevity peach, which is sweet but not greasy and melts in your mouth.
"It's so delicious!" Cheng'an's eyes lit up while enjoying the food, and he held up the remaining half of the birthday peach to give to Kangxi to try.
"Father, yes." Seeing how he was enjoying the meal, Kangxi picked up one and nodded after taking a bite under his gaze, "It's really good."
The taste of this longevity peach is different from the ones he had eaten before. It is obvious that the people in the imperial kitchen have specially improved it based on Cheng'an's taste. Kangxi nodded secretly, and was quite satisfied with their effort.
"The peaches are delicious, come and eat some, brother~" When the little guy saw his father eating them, he turned around and greeted his brothers.
Longevity peach buns are not new to the brothers, but they naturally have to try the little ones’ longevity peach buns.
There is strength in numbers. When each of the brothers took one and left, there was only one longevity peach bun left on the table.
After finishing the one in his hand, Cheng'an still felt unsatisfied, so he stood up from Kangxi's arms and reached out to take the last one.
"Your elder brother wants to eat." There were many things he liked on the table, and Kangxi was afraid that he would be full after eating the longevity peach buns, so he spoke.
Upon hearing this, the little guy immediately withdrew his hand and said in a baby voice: "Brother, eat it~"
The peach bun tasted indeed good, but Yinzhi preferred salty taste to sweet taste. He gave him a dry smile before picking up the last peach bun and eating it.
Cheng An saw Da Ge eat the whole longevity peach bun in two bites, and he said "Wow" softly, pointing at the cuckoo chicken and said, "An An wants to eat cuckoo chicken!"
Kangxi handed him a small chicken leg and without any further instructions, the other princes had already taken the initiative to share the remaining gourd chicken.
"Eat taro, eat taro~"
After the little guy finished eating the chicken leg, he found that the cuckoo chicken was gone, and pointed at the Lipu taro.
The table was full of his favorite foods, and today he could eat only meat without rice. The little guy was smiling the whole time and felt that celebrating his birthday was better than New Year's Eve.
In order to prevent him from eating too much, Kangxi would only let him have two bites of the dishes he particularly liked, except for the cuckoo chicken, and only take one bite of the other dishes.
As for the rest, in order to prevent him from worrying about it, they were naturally dealt with by other princes.
Normally, when Kangxi or the princes finished their meals, the remaining dishes would be given to the servants. But this time, as time passed, many plates on the table were empty.
After the meal, Cheng'an didn't seem to be full, but the brothers were already finding it difficult to eat anymore.
"Tenth brother, come here and have another meatball." Feeling that he couldn't eat anymore, Yinzhen changed the serving chopsticks, picked up a four-happiness meatball and put it in Yin'e's bowl.
Yin'e had a bigger appetite than him, but he was only about 90% full at this moment. He glared at him before lowering his head and starting to eat.
Yinzhi saw this from the corner of his eye. Seeing that Yinreng across from him was not eating much, he guessed that he was full, so he deliberately changed his chopsticks and picked up a meatball for him: "Eat more, second brother."
The four-happiness meatballs were quite large, so Yinreng couldn't eat them all at this moment. Seeing his pretending to be friendly, he personally served a bowl of soup and placed it in front of him, saying, "This soup is good, drink more, big brother."
Yinzhi, who was standing next to them, didn't react at first. He was a little stunned to see how friendly they were. When he felt full in his stomach, he couldn't help but twitch the corners of his lips, wondering why they were doing this.
Yinzhi looked at the bowl of soup in front of him, which had more ingredients than broth, and thought that Yinreng was so cruel. At the same time, he wished that he could give the last four-happiness meatball on the plate to him.
However, before he could start, Cheng An spoke first: "Ama An An still wants to eat meatballs~"
Kangxi was in a better mood when he saw the interaction between Yinzhi and Yinreng. He lowered his head and said to him, "How about you and your elder brother each take half?"
Of course the little guy wouldn't refuse and nodded in a baby voice.
Kangxi said that it was half for each, but in fact he only used a spoon to take less than one-third and feed it to him.
The little guy had no objection, after all, he had always been generous to his brothers.
However, Yinzhi, looking at the remaining four-happiness meatballs on the plate and then at the big bowl of soup in front of him, felt a little regretful for making trouble.
"Brother, come here, I'll help you pick it up." Yinreng was about to frown when he saw the four-happiness meatballs in his bowl, but now not only did his brows relax, but a smile appeared on his face.
Yinzhi glared at Kangxi while he wasn't paying attention, picked up the four-happiness meatball and bit into it hard.
“The meatballs are delicious~”
Pears are put into the Four-Happiness Meatballs, which not only relieves the greasiness but also makes the meatballs taste richer. The little guy kept shaking his head while eating.
Kangxi touched the little guy's belly and when he felt it was a little bulging, he stopped feeding him and put him down on the ground.
As soon as Cheng'an got down from the ground, he went to his brothers and immediately discovered something interesting.
"Brother Da has a big belly~" the little guy said as he reached out to touch Yinzhi's belly.
After drinking the bowl of soup and half of the Four Happiness Meatball, Yinzhi was very full, but he didn't show it on his face. When the little guy pointed it out, he pretended to be calm and said, "Everyone has a stomach."
"An An has a belly too~"
The little guy laughed with his little belly sticking out, then ran to the side to touch the belly of his other brothers.
The princes usually only ate until they were 80% full, but today they all ate until they were fully full. Some of them, like Yinzhi, even ate too much and felt bloated.
Yinreng knew what kind of person he was. When he saw him coming closer, he took a deep breath and let him touch him a few times.
The little guy smiled and wanted to touch Yinzhi's belly. Yinzhi let him touch it because it was his birthday.
When it was Yinzhen's turn, Yinzhen subconsciously stopped his little hand.
"Fourth brother, can you please touch me, An An?" Seeing that he refused to let her touch him, Cheng An lay on his knees and acted coquettishly.
As soon as he opened his mouth, Kangxi and the other princes looked at him at the same time, and Yinzhen suddenly felt that it would be better if he had not stopped him from touching him.
"Didn't Fourth Brother tell you not to do anything inappropriate?" Yinzhen lowered his head and whispered to him.
Hearing this, the little guy tilted his head and looked at him for a while, then suddenly grabbed his hand and touched his belly.
Yinzhen placed his palm on his soft belly and touched it unconsciously.
While he was distracted, the little guy quickly stretched out his other hand and touched his belly.
Yin'e, who was several seats away, laughed out loud when he saw this scene, and said as he laughed: "Fourth brother, does Cheng'an mean that since you touched him first, it doesn't count as indecent behavior if he touches you again?"
Yinzhen turned his head and glanced at him coldly, and when he looked back at the smiling little guy in front of him, his eyes turned helpless.
"Fourth brother doesn't have a belly~" the little guy said with a satisfied look after touching it.
Yinzhen has always been relatively restrained. Even in the situation just now, he only ate until he was 90% full, so it was normal that his stomach was not bloated.
With the example of Yinzhen, the princes behind him were too lazy to stop the little guy, and Yin'e even touched his belly in return.
When Cheng'an came in front of the 23rd Prince Yinqi, Yinqi, who was only a few years older than him, took the initiative to let him touch his belly: "Cheng'an, look, my belly is bigger than yours!"
Yinqi, who was not even five years old, was at the age where he loved to eat. As the food tasted better when there were more people around, he also ate until his belly was full.
Of course, with the servants watching him, he could only be very full at most. It's just that children have a lot of flesh, so if he eats a little more like Cheng'an, his belly will be particularly noticeable.
Cheng An touched his belly and found that it was indeed bigger than his own, so he hugged him with his belly against his and laughed.
The little guy’s birthday naturally didn’t end with just a meal, Kangxi also prepared other programs.
After lunch and a short rest, the group went out to listen to opera and watch acrobatic performances.
The opening play was called "The Monkey King Makes Trouble in Heaven". This play was choreographed by the troupe based on the Yuan Dynasty drama "Erlang Shen Locks Up the Monkey King". The scene was very lively when it was sung.
Cheng An might not be able to understand much of the opera's humming voice, but he enjoyed the fighting scenes very much.
Kangxi did not restrain him while listening to the opera, but allowed him to run to one brother and then to that brother.
"An An wants a golden stick~"
When the character playing the Monkey King on the stage raised the golden cudgel to fight again, the little guy who was running around stopped and said.
"That's the golden hoop stick." Yinzhen corrected him while hugging him in his arms. He glanced at Kangxi and lowered his voice, "Kiss my ninth brother, and I'll give you a golden hoop stick."
The little guy liked to be close to his brothers. Even if there was no golden hoop, he would still be willing to be close to them. He immediately patted Yinzhen on the face twice.
The milky-scented kiss turned into feathers and landed directly on Yinzhen's heart, making him so itchy that a smile appeared on his brows.
"Brother Jiu is so handsome~" The little guy couldn't help but reach out to touch his eyes when he saw his heartfelt smile.
Yinzhen actually didn't like people commenting on his appearance, but when he heard his pure praise, he didn't feel any negative emotions. He rubbed his head and hugged him to watch the show together.
"Would Cheng'an like to eat some melon seeds?"
The little guy didn't stay in Yin'er's arms for long before Yinxiang coaxed him over with a handful of peeled melon seeds. After raising his head and kissing him, he pinched the melon seeds he gave him and started to eat them.
Yinxiang had long been dreaming of getting a kiss from him, and when his wish came true, he smiled like a silly brother and continued to peel melon seeds for him diligently.
Seeing the little fellow eating a handful of melon seeds with such relish, Yinzhen stretched out his hand to him and said, "Fourteenth brother Cheng'an wants to eat too."
"Here~" The little fellow generously poured the pills into his hands, but ended up pouring them all into him, leaving only two pills in his own hand.
Yinzhen was not polite and ate all the melon seeds that he turned over in one breath.
Instead of being annoyed, the little guy happily helped him make an "aww" sound.
"Fourteenth brother, why are you still snatching Cheng'an's melon seeds?" Yinxiang said, unable to bear it any longer.
"Guazi has a bad temper. I am doing this for his own good." Yinzhen said confidently, lowering his head and putting his face in front of Cheng'an. "Brother Fourteen is so good to you. You should show some appreciation."
Cheng An smiled and kissed him on the face, then said in a baby voice, "Hello, Fourteenth Brother~"
Seeing that all the food he ate was coaxed away by others and the other person was saying good things about him, Yinxiang rubbed his little face helplessly and put the freshly peeled melon seeds into his palm.
"Brother Thirteen, eat it~" Realizing that he hadn't eaten anything himself, the little guy picked up the melon seeds he had just gotten and fed them to him.
"Cheng'an is so good." Yinxiang saw the melon seeds touching his lips, so he praised them and ate them.
On the other side, Yinlu was a little jealous when he saw all this, and leaned over to say to the little guy: "Twelfth brother Cheng'an wants one too."
When Cheng'an heard what he said, he immediately pinched a melon seed and fed it to him.
Yinluo didn't intend to eat the melon seeds, but when he saw him feeding them to him, he opened his mouth and ate them first, then raised his hand and lightly tapped his cheek.
"Boo~"
The little guy understood at a glance and kissed him directly.
When they had finished listening to the opera and watching the acrobatics, the princes began to take out the birthday gifts they had prepared.
The gift from Yinzhi was a white pony. Although the horse was still small, it already looked quite majestic.
"An An has a big horse~"
For Yinzhi and his friends, this was a pony, but for Cheng'an, who usually only played with a small wooden horse, this horse was already very big.
The little guy liked the horse very much when he saw it. He rushed over and hugged the foal's front hooves.
Kangxi and the princes were frightened when they saw this scene, but fortunately the foal did not kick him. Instead, it snorted and lowered its head to rub his face.
When the little guy felt it, he laughed and shrank his neck.
"Fortunately, this horse has a gentle temper." Yinzhi said after breathing a sigh of relief.
"An An wants to ride a horse!"
Cheng An turned around and said after playing with his own pony for a while.
"Cheng'an, don't you want to see your second brother's gift?" Yinreng asked with a smile.
The little guy was immediately distracted when he heard that, and ran towards him: "What is it?"
Yinreng did not answer, but directly ordered someone to bring it up.
The food was carefully brought over on a tray and covered with red silk.
When Yinreng held Cheng'an's little hand and led him to pull down the red silk, a bright light suddenly shone in the sunlight.
"Wow--"
Yinreng wanted to build an underwater palace but he didn't have the energy to do so, so after that day he took great pains to find someone to build one for him.
The palace made of colored glass is already shining, and it is even more dazzling when placed in water. Even the container that holds the underwater palace is not ordinary, it is a transparent glass jar.
Glass was not too rare for the royal family. As early as the 35th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign, the Imperial Household Department's Workshop Office had set up the "Glass Factory of the Imperial Household Department's Hall of Mental Cultivation Workshop Office".
However, it is not easy to build such an underwater palace, as you can see from its size.
"My second brother doesn't have an underwater palace, so I can only give you one." Seeing that he was staring intently, Yinreng touched his head and said.
The sparkling underwater palace fits Cheng An's aesthetic taste perfectly, so he turned around and hugged him, saying, "Second brother is the best~"
Yinzhi thought about how he said he was the best when he received the foal just now, and couldn't help but mutter a few words to himself.
Cheng'an also liked the gifts given by other princes. For example, the gift given by Yinzhi was a picture album he had drawn himself, which depicted Cheng'an in different periods.
Kangxi also liked to paint for Cheng'an on weekdays. When he saw this album, he couldn't help but take it and read it, and he also praised Yinzhi's painting skills.
Yinzhen gave various exquisite and interesting small clothes, as well as small jade pendants, small purses, small rings and other accessories.
In short, the things given by the brothers not only touched Cheng'an's heart, but also contained full of love.
The little guy was so happy to receive so many gifts that he kept jumping and bumping into each other while walking, and kept shouting "hello this brother" and "hello that brother".
Seeing him so happy, the brothers were also happy and felt that their efforts were not in vain.
Cheng An was so excited that he circled around the gifts and clapped his hands, saying, "An An's brother is the best~"
"Cheng'an, Brother Ten has prepared a gift for you. Do you want it?" Yin'e asked with a smile.
He had just given a set of bows and arrows made of gold and jade and a dagger with a gold sheath, jade blade and gemstone. Apart from the practicality of these two things, their appearance completely suited the little guy's preferences.
When Cheng An heard there was a gift, he pulled his sleeve and jumped up: "An An wants it!"
Yin'e did not keep the secret and asked Kangxi for permission as the item was quite large. Only after getting Kangxi's consent did he order people to carry it in.
"I thought it was something else, but it turns out to be a swing." Yinzhi had been guessing what it could be, but when he saw what was being carried up, he suddenly felt that his expectations were in vain.
Yin'e was a little unhappy when he heard this: "This is not an ordinary swing. Ordinary swings can only be used for sitting, but this one can also be used for lying down, and there is no need to worry about falling off."
The reason why Yin'e asked someone to make such a swing was because Cheng'an asked Yinzhi to teach him how to fly in the imperial garden that day. When talking about flying, Yin'e thought of a swing, so he made such a gift.
When the brothers heard his words and looked over, they immediately discovered that the swing seat looked a bit like a small hanging rocking cradle.
"An An wants to play!" The little guy touched the swing frame and looked very interested.
Before Yin'e carried him in to sit, Yinzhi asked first, "Is this swing stable?"
Yinzhi was not deliberately targeting him, but he was indeed a little worried.
"If it's not stable, how dare I bring it to Cheng An? If you don't believe me, let me try it first."
Yin'e was about to sit on the swing when Yinzhi stopped him: "Don't, I'm afraid it might be fine if you try it."
Yin'e couldn't help but glare at him when he heard that. Seeing that Cheng'an was already on tiptoe trying to climb into the swing by himself, he reached out and carried him in.
"Just hold on to both sides when you're sitting, or you can lie down as well." After Yin'e said this, seeing that he didn't want to lie down for the time being, he tied the rope of the swing to him before starting to push it.
"An An, fly up~"
The little guy was already very excited when he was sitting in the swing, and he clapped his hands with joy after he started swinging.
Hearing his cheerful laughter, the brothers also started laughing.
After enjoying the fun of swinging for a while, Cheng An turned around and invited: "Brother, come on~"
The swing was big enough for him to lie down, and the other brothers could squeeze in if they wanted to sit down, but the posture was not elegant, so they all rejected his kindness.
Seeing that his brothers were not sitting down, the little guy invited Kangxi again: "Father, come, it's fun~"
Kangxi didn't come. He just waved his hand when he heard his words.
When Cheng'an saw that his brothers and father didn't come, he pouted slightly, as if he didn't understand why they refused.
Seeing his disappointed little expression, Yinzhi turned around and simply carried Yinqi in to accompany him.
When Cheng'an saw that he finally had a brother to sit on the swing with, he immediately stretched out his little hands and hugged him happily.
Yin Qi was even more excited than him, and he hugged him and said, "Don't worry, Cheng'an, I will protect you!"
"Take care of yourself first." After saying that, Yin'e reached out and tied a rope around him to prevent him from getting too excited and falling off the swing and dragging Cheng'an with him.
The swing itself is heavy, and with Yinqi added to the swing, Yin'e started to feel tired after pushing it a few more times.
"Brother, please push it for a while." Yin E thought that it was he who put Yin Qi in, so he took two steps back and said.
Yinzhi looked at him with disdain but did not refuse.
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