That night, after Cheng An went to bed, he rolled around and played restlessly as usual. While playing, he suddenly lay down in the corner of the bed and stopped moving.
"Cheng'an."
Kangxi was planning to read to him before bed, but when he called him but he didn't come, he thought he did it on purpose at first. But when he leaned over and saw his face, he found that the little guy had fallen asleep.
Even though he had seen his ability to fall asleep whenever he was told to, Kangxi still felt a little helpless and reached out to carry him from the corner of the bed to the center of the bed.
The little guy is very well behaved most of the time, but to be honest, he looks the best when he is asleep or just wakes up.
The fair and tender little guy was sleeping soundly. He didn't react when he was held in his arms. His little fists were still on his chest, rising and falling with his breathing.
Kangxi gently took his hand down and placed it beside him. His eyes stayed on his little face, which looked particularly well-behaved after he fell asleep, for a while, and finally moved up to the top of his black hair.
Promising him not to shave his head during the day was just a delaying tactic. Now that he saw him lying obediently on the bed, Kangxi suddenly thought that he could shave his head while he was asleep.
But if this is the case, he will probably cry loudly when he wakes up tomorrow...
Kangxi imagined the scene, but finally shook his head and gave up the idea.
The little guy who was sleeping soundly seemed to have sensed his horrible idea, and suddenly raised a little hand and placed it on his head.
"You can't even sleep peacefully." Kangxi didn't think much about it. He took his little hand away and put it away, ready to rest.
“The cuckoo chicken is so delicious…”
Kangxi had just laid down when he heard these words. He thought he was awake, but when he turned around he realized he was talking in his sleep.
"You only know how to eat." Kangxi couldn't help but pinch his little mouth, then smiled and closed his eyes.
For the little guy who didn't know that he almost had his head shaved while sleeping at night, it was another beautiful day when he woke up the next day. He opened his eyes and saw his father, who smiled at him before slowly getting up.
Every morning when Kangxi saw the little guy's soft smiling face, his mood would unconsciously improve. Even if he encountered a few idiots during court sessions, he would be more tolerant.
When Kangxi went to the morning court, the little guy couldn't sit still either. After all, it was the coolest in the morning. He would either go to play with his brother or go to find the empress dowager and his own mother.
When the Queen Mother saw him coming, she smiled immediately. When she heard him greet her in Mongolian, she smiled and said to Concubine Mu beside her, "Look, our Cheng'an can speak Mongolian now."
"It's all thanks to the emperor's good teaching." Mu Pin, with pearls on her head and a beautiful face, said with a smile.
"Fifth brother taught An An!"
Among the princes, Yinqi is indeed the best when it comes to Mongolian, after all, he grew up with the Empress Dowager.
"Good, Cheng'an has learned well, and your fifth brother has also taught well." Both of them were the Queen Mother's favorite children. After praising them with a smile, she personally took a piece of cake from the table and gave it to the little guy.
Cheng An sat beside her with the cake in his hand and ate it, then raised his head and recited the Three Character Classic: "When a person is born, his nature is good..."
After hearing this, the Queen Mother couldn't stop praising him.
“I can also write!”
The little guy was so happy to be praised that he raised his hand to tell them.
When the Queen Mother saw the little guy, who was so young, could read and write in the blink of an eye, even though he could only read one or two words, she still loved him very much and hugged him in her arms and praised him a lot.
Cheng An listened to the compliments, ate the cakes she stuffed into his hands, and swung his feet with joy.
When he was about to leave, Concubine Mu saw that the Queen Mother looked tired, so she also said goodbye.
After the mother and son came out of the house, Mupin thought of the news she heard yesterday, touched the little guy's head and said, "Chengan should have his hair shaved."
The little guy was skipping and walking beside her, but when he heard this, he immediately covered his head and shook his head to indicate no.
"Why doesn't Cheng'an want to shave his head?" Mu Bin reached out and picked him up and asked.
Mu Bin likes this side of her son.
His hair was so black and soft, but they wanted to persuade him because they were afraid that he would refuse to shave his head and make Kangxi unhappy.
"An An's hair is so beautiful~" the little guy boasted while touching his head.
Hearing this, Concubine Mu smiled gently: "But your brothers have all shaved their heads."
She thought her son loved his elder brother so much that she would be able to persuade him by mentioning other elder brothers. However, the little guy said, "My elder brother is older than me. I am still younger."
Mupin thought about how he had said before that he had grown up, but now he said that he was still young, and she felt a little amused and helpless.
Before she could speak again, the little guy hugged her neck and rubbed her shoulders and acted coquettishly: "An An, don't shave your head. You want to be like mother~"
Mu Bin's heart softened instantly. If she had the final say, she would definitely agree not to let him shave his head. After all, as long as her son was happy, that was all that mattered.
At this moment, she could only touch the little guy's head and whispered: "When your royal father tells you to shave your head, Cheng'an must not confront him. If it really doesn't work... go find your royal mother."
"Ahma promised An An that he won't shave his head anymore." The little guy said with his head raised.
Mupin felt that even if the emperor doted on him, he would not easily agree to such a thing, so she asked in a low voice: "What did your father say?"
"Father said, then don't shave it for now." The little guy had a good memory and even imitated Kangxi's tone at that time.
After hearing this, Concubine Mu looked somewhat helpless, but she did not remind him that it was only temporary. Instead, she thought about waiting for a few days before coaxing him.
"Mother, please walk by yourself." Cheng'an took the initiative to say when he saw that his mother could no longer carry him.
After praising him, Mu Bin put him down, took his hand and walked him to the vicinity of Qingxi Book House before leaving.
The little guy watched her leave but didn't go into Qingxi Bookstore immediately. Instead, he started playing outside.
For him, a stone or a blade of grass on the roadside could be used for fun. Of course, if Kangxi allowed it, mud would be the most fun.
When Yinzhi and Yinxiang arrived, they saw the little guy squatting outside Qingxi Book House from afar.
There was nothing where he was squatting. If they hadn't known that the emperor would definitely be reluctant to let him go, the two would have thought that he was driven out by the emperor and was not allowed to go in.
"What are you squatting here for?" Yinxiang trotted over and patted his shoulder.
Cheng'an turned around and saw him. He called out "Thirteenth Brother" first. When he found Yinzhi, he called out "Third Brother" again. Then he pointed at the ground and said, "Look at the bugs~"
Yinxiang lifted his clothes and squatted down, only to find that he was looking at ants.
"What's so good about this? You don't feel hot squatting outside." Yinzhi rubbed his head and picked him up.
To the little guy, the ant was quite pretty, but compared to his brother, his brother was definitely more important. He immediately hugged Yinzhi's neck and was taken inside by him.
It was not yet noon, but the sun outside was already very hot. Yinzhi held him and walked quickly into the house, and he immediately felt a lot cooler.
Now when the princes came to see him, the topic they would talk about was his studies, and Yinzhi and Yinxiang would inevitably express their concern.
The little guy has gotten used to it and recites "Three Character Classic" and "Hundred Family Names" to them as soon as he opens his mouth.
"Yes, our Cheng'an is indeed smart." Yinxiang applauded and praised after listening.
Yinzhi also praised him, then changed the subject and asked another question: "I heard that you don't want to shave your head?"
The news may not spread so quickly in the palace. Now that they all live in Changchun Garden, the princes will know immediately if anything happens to the little one.
"Father said I don't have to shave my head." Cheng'an looked up and told him.
Seeing that he admitted the incident, Yinzhi rubbed his head and said, "It's so hot, it's so cool to shave your hair. I, your third brother, wish I could shave my hair every day."
As he finished speaking, he caught sight of Yinxiang beside him and suddenly remembered an old story. The smile on his face faded a little.
In the 38th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign, less than 100 days after Yinxiang's mother's death, Yinzhi shaved his head. As a result, he was demoted to Beile because of this.
Yinzhi did not think he had done anything wrong at the time. Instead, he felt that it was unlucky to be punished for such a small matter.
But now, perhaps because he was older and had experienced more, plus his relationship with his brothers had been getting better and better in the past one or two years, when he thought about this matter again, he couldn't help but reflect on it, and felt that he might have done something wrong in the beginning.
After all, if he thought about it and it happened to him, Yinzhi felt that he would probably hit someone.
"That... Thirteenth Brother."
Yinxiang had no idea what was going on in his mind for a moment. When he heard him calling out, he subconsciously looked over and saw him say with a serious expression, "Sorry."
Yinxiang should have been confused by this nonsensical apology, but for some reason, he immediately realized what Yinzhi meant.
Yinxiang was only thirteen years old when Concubine Min died. The pain of losing his mother was a great blow to him. At this time, Yinzhi's behavior made him sad and angry, and at the same time, he became a little obsessed. He felt that it was because he was weak and useless that Yinzhi dared to act like this.
Yinxiang thought he had let it go long ago. After all, the emperor had punished him at that time. But after hearing this belated apology, Yinxiang realized that he had not. It was not until this moment that the knot hidden deep in his heart was truly untied.
When Yinzhi saw that the corners of his eyes suddenly turned red, he realized the harm his casual behavior had brought to him, and he felt regretful and embarrassed for a moment.
"What's wrong with Thirteenth Brother?" After the little guy noticed that the atmosphere was wrong, he leaned close to Yinzhi's ear and asked in a low voice.
"Third brother has made your thirteenth brother angry, you should coax him." Yinzhi said in a low voice in his ear and pushed him over.
The little guy immediately came over and hugged Yinxiang, patted his back and said, "Don't be angry, Thirteenth Brother, An An will help you beat Third Brother, okay?"
After all, so many years had passed since the incident, and Yinxiang was just suddenly emotional when he recalled the anger and helplessness he felt at that time. Although Yinzhi's apology was a little late, Yinxiang was able to let it go.
Hearing the little guy's words, Yinxiang lowered his head and asked, "Can you beat him?"
"I can beat him!" the little guy said and turned to pat Yinzhi, but his hand was raised high and fell gently, obviously he was reluctant to hit him hard.
"Okay, An An will help Brother Thirteen beat him~"
Yinzhi let him pat him, and only felt relieved when he saw Yinxiang was amused by him.
After that, Yinzhi didn't mention the matter of shaving his hair again. Instead, Yinxiang touched the little guy's head and asked him why he didn't want to shave his head.
"You won't look good if you cut your hair." Cheng An told him in a baby voice.
Yinzhi immediately said with a straight face: "You mean that Third Brother is not good-looking?"
The little guy immediately shook his head, pointed at himself and said, "Say An An!"
"Who is An An?"
"An An, it's me!"
"Look, you're still talking about me."
"It's not me, it's An An..."
Seeing that the little guy was about to be annoyed by him, Yinxiang quickly interrupted and said, "Third brother, stop teasing him."
Yinzhi stopped talking at this point, but expressed his willingness to teach Cheng'an how to paint.
Compared to reading, the little guy was more enthusiastic about learning painting and immediately nodded in agreement.
At the beginning, Yinzhi was really prepared to teach him how to paint, and even asked him what he wanted to paint.
"Brother Huada!"
Hearing this, Yinzhi suddenly felt a little sour: "Third brother taught you to paint, but you want to paint your eldest brother?"
"Then Hua San Ge~" The little guy changed his words quickly.
Yinzhi had no interest in painting his own portrait, so he raised his lips and said, "I'm not going to paint my third brother, today I'm going to paint Cheng'an."
The little guy was quite happy to hear about drawing himself, and nodded and said, "Okay!"
Everything was normal at the beginning. Yinzhi held Cheng'an's hand and outlined the little guy's figure on the paper with a few strokes, and then slowly added various details.
Yinxiang stood by and watched. Seeing that he hadn't painted his hair for a long time, he felt that something was wrong. Sure enough -
Yinzhi intentionally left the hair at the end of the painting, and also drew the little guy after shaving his hair, saying, "Isn't this pretty?"
Cheng An blinked and looked at his bare-headed self on the paper, and the next second he burst into tears.
Yinzhi just wanted to tease him on a whim, but he didn't expect that he would cry. Even though he found that the little guy was just howling with his head tilted back, he was still a little anxious and quickly looked at Yinxiang.
Seeing that he had nothing to do but to make the little one cry, and then came to see him after the kid finished crying, Yinxiang immediately took two steps back and gave him a helpless expression.
"Why are you crying? Your hair is still there, isn't it? I just want to tell you that Cheng'an will still look good even after shaving his hair. If you don't believe me, ask your thirteenth brother!" Yinzhi hurriedly coaxed.
Yinxiang echoed, "Yes, Cheng'an looks good no matter what."
Cheng'an stopped crying for a second when he heard his brother's sweet words, but when he glanced at his own bald head on the paper, he immediately continued crying.
After all, his hair wasn't really shaved, and the little guy's crying was just thunder with no result.
But even this was enough to make Yinzhi anxious, and he quickly took a pen to add in his hair.
"Okay, okay, look, Brother San has painted your hair for you!"
When the little guy heard what he said, he looked at the paper and stopped crying after making sure that he had hair.
"Is it that serious?" Seeing that he had finally coaxed the person into submission, Yinzhi raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his head.
"An An has hair!"
There was still a little moisture in the corners of the little guy's eyes. He pointed at himself on the paper and smiled again.
Crying and laughing...
When Yinxiang saw how quickly his expression changed, he thought it was no wonder that the saying goes, "The weather in June is like a child's face, it changes in an instant."
After that, Yinzhi didn't dare to tease the little guy deliberately anymore. He taught him to paint honestly until almost noon when he quickly took Yinxiang away.
Yinxiang guessed that he left so quickly because he was afraid that the emperor would come back and know that he had made Cheng'an cry, so he smiled inwardly and cooperated with him to leave quickly.
After they left, Cheng'an returned to his own drawing table. He tilted his head and looked at the painting in front of him for a while, then suddenly reached out and picked up the small brush.
Not to mention, he hasn't learned much about the formal painting skills, but he has learned some of Yinzhi's momentum in picking up the brush and dipping it in ink.
The painting in front of him was the one that Yinzhi had just taught him to draw. It was a group portrait of the princes.
The little fellow picked up the pen again, not knowing what to add. He was painting so seriously that he didn't even notice when Kangxi came back.
Seeing that he seemed to be painting, Kangxi immediately raised his hand to signal Liu Cai and others not to greet him. He quietly walked behind him to see what he was painting so seriously, but when he saw him, his expression was indescribable.
"Okay!" The little guy was quite happy with his painting. After finishing, he put down his pen and nodded affirmatively.
"What are you doing?" Kangxi couldn't help but speak after he put down his pen.
The little guy was startled when he suddenly heard his voice, and patted his chest before asking, "What did Ama say?"
"Why would you destroy the painting when it's in good condition?" Kangxi asked, pointing at the painting on the table.
The originally good-looking group of princes now all had a large amount of ink on their heads, giving a feeling of a dark cloud covering their heads.
"No!" The little guy looked at the painting and didn't understand why he said that.
Seeing that he still refused to admit it, Kangxi pointed at the ink blob on the painting and asked, "What is this?"
"It's the hair!" Cheng An said without hesitation, and laughed, "An An is drawing brother's hair~"
Kangxi was at a loss for words when he heard this.
"Is Ama good-looking?" Seeing that he didn't say anything, the little guy took the initiative to ask.
Kangxi met his expectant eyes and finally said, "Go ask them yourself when you have time."
After he finished speaking, Kangxi saw that his palms were stained with ink and motioned for someone to bring a basin of water over.
"No playing in the water."
As soon as the little guy put his hand into the basin, he heard Kangxi's reminder. He was about to play for a while, but he immediately became obedient.
When washing hands, I would at most secretly use my fingers to stir the water.
After he washed his hands, Kangxi took him to sit on the Luohan bed and asked, "I heard that you cried this morning?"
"No!" Cheng An refuted, and then explained under his gaze, "An An is like this, wuwuwu, not crying..."
As the little guy spoke, he clenched his fists and placed them next to his eyes to show that he was not really crying.
His skin is very tender, and if he really cried, his eyes would definitely still be red.
When Kangxi saw that the circles around his eyes were normal, he believed that he did not really cry.
"Then why are you pretending to cry?"
"Third brother drew An An's hair missing!" When talking about this, the little guy couldn't help but puffing his cheeks.
Kangxi imagined the scene and smiled: "So you want to draw hair on them all?"
“It looks good with hair!”
"As a man, why do you need to look so good?"
“It has to look good!”
Kangxi was too lazy to argue with him, so he poked his head and thought to himself that he should be patient for a while longer, and would definitely shave his hair when he grew up a little.
The little guy didn't know what he was thinking, so he turned around and told him about how the Queen Mother praised him today.
Kangxi was very pleased to see that he was willing to visit the Empress Dowager more often to show his filial piety, and thought that just for this, he could let him keep his hair for a few more months.
In early July, urgent news came from Qinghai that Yinzhen had defeated Dace Lingdun Dob and put down the Tibetan rebellion.
"good!"
After reading the memorial, Kangxi was immediately delighted.
"Ama, what's wrong?" The little guy who was playing nearby heard the sound and immediately ran over.
Kangxi picked him up and shared his joy with him: "Your fourteenth brother has lived up to my expectations and won the battle."
"Wow! Brother Fourteen is awesome!" The little guy clapped his hands when he heard his brother won, then looked up and asked, "What about Brother Da?"
"He's not bad either." Kangxi was in a good mood and praised him.
Yinzhen was not a person who would take all the credit for himself, and he also recommended credit for Yinzhi in his memorial. Naturally, Kangxi would not ignore this.
"Are Brother Da and Brother Fourteen coming back?" Cheng An asked expectantly.
Yinzhi is slightly better, but the little guy Yinzhen hasn't seen him for a long time since last year, and he misses him very much.
The rebellion in Tibet was quelled, but the main culprit, Dzungar Khan Tsewang Arabtan, had not yet been dealt with, so Yinzhen naturally could not come back so soon.
When Kangxi heard his words, he shook his head and said, "Not yet."
Upon hearing this, the little guy immediately showed a disappointed expression.
"Your eldest brother and fourteenth brother have important matters to attend to. Besides, it's not like they won't be back." Kangxi touched his head and, in order to comfort him, he immediately said that today was a good day and he could order his own food.
Cheng'an was a little happy at this, but after lunch, he immediately ran to write letters to his two brothers.
Qinghai.
After resolving the issue of Daze Lingdon Dob, Yinzhen ordered people to send the newly-appointed Dalai Lama to Tibet, and finally he was able to relax for a few days and wait for Kangxi's next instructions.
At the same time as they received Kangxi's reply, the two brothers also received a letter from the little guy.
Kangxi's reply was just as they expected. He asked them to continue conquering Dzungar.
This is normal. After all, Tsewang Arabtan dared to invade Tibet. If we just repel him and then withdraw our troops, it would really damage the reputation of the Qing Dynasty.
After reading Kangxi's reply, the two brothers read the little guy's letter together.
"Oh, after not seeing him for a while, he can write now!" Yinzhi saw the two crooked words "brother" on the first piece of paper, and an expression of surprise and joy appeared on his face.
This is probably the case for beginners in writing. The little guy’s two words almost fill up the entire piece of paper.
Yinzhen also laughed and praised: "This calligraphy is good."
I can only say that all of them, the older brothers, have filters.
This means that even if I can barely recognize the words, I can still praise them with my eyes open.
Yinzhen was just praising him, but Yinzhi even started to criticize him: "It's really good, much better than the tenth brother's calligraphy back then, but this
I only saw the word "brother"
"Could it be that ink accidentally dripped on it..." Yinzhen was halfway through his words when he realized that ink could not drip into such a shape. After taking a closer look, he guessed, "Could it be a book?"
After saying this, Yinzhen looked at him more and more like him, and even felt that he understood what the little guy meant: "Cheng'an should be trying to tell us that he is studying!"
Yinzhi thought this was possible, nodded in agreement and looked at the next one.
On the next piece of paper, there was a crooked word "sheep" written on it, and a round sheep was drawn next to it.
"The sheep that Cheng'an draws is getting better and better," Yinzhen praised.
Yinzhi looked at it and although it was still dark, at least he could vaguely see some wool texture instead of a black sheep body. He smiled and said, "I think it's more round as it's drawn."
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