Taoyuan
Now that he no longer needed to study in the palace, Hongxuan leisurely finished breakfast with Jiaming. Just as he was about to take his leave and return to the front courtyard, Jiaming called him back.
"etc."
Hongxuan looked at Jiaming with a puzzled expression: "Mother, is there anything else?"
Jiaming pointed to the chair next to Hongxuan, "Sit down first, your mother has something to say to you."
Hongxuan obediently sat down, then looked directly at Jiaming: "Mother, you speak."
Jiaming smiled and said, "Xuan'er, you've spent most of your time studying in the palace and haven't had much time to spend with your sixth brother. If you have time, spend more time with him, otherwise he'll forget about you."
Hongxuan: "...Sixth Brother has a very good memory. My son tested him, and he didn't forget."
Jiaming glared at Hongxuan.
Hongxuan felt confused; he hadn't said anything wrong.
Jiaming: "You haven't seen your sixth brother. He's just too well-behaved. He'll eat if you give him food, and drink if you give him water. Besides sleeping, all he thinks about all day is planting things. As his older brother, you should hurry up and take him out for a walk whenever you have free time."
Hongxuan suddenly realized, "So, Mother, you were worried that Sixth Brother was thinking about these things all the time. You should have said so earlier. Before, you just kept saying that you didn't spend enough time with Sixth Brother and that he would forget about you."
Jiaming: "...Isn't this just setting the stage?"
Hongxuan was speechless; this buildup was a waste of time.
"Alright, Mother, I'm not talking to you anymore. It's just taking Sixth Brother out for a stroll. I'll go find him right now."
When Hongxuan found Hongxu, Hongxu was with his servants, carrying his little shovel, preparing to go out and play in the mud and turn the soil.
Hongxuan stopped the little guy.
"Fourth Brother?" The little guy looked up at Hongxuan with a puzzled look in his eyes.
Hongxuan picked up Hongxu in one swift motion, then pried open Hongxu's hand holding the small shovel, handed it to a servant, and said, "You're not busy farming today, how about your fourth brother takes you out to play?"
Hongxu tilted his head and asked Hongxuan expectantly, "So, when we go out to play, do we go out to plant things, water the grass, weed them, and fertilize them..."
"No." Hongxuan quickly interrupted Hongxu.
Hongxu was instantly disappointed, and then refused, saying, "Then I won't go, Fourth Brother, you go by yourself!"
Hongxuan: "...How did I end up with such a weird younger brother like you, who actually likes farming? Whatever, you have to go out today whether you want to or not."
Hongxu refused and struggled incessantly.
Hongxuan held him tightly, afraid that he might lose his grip and fall to the ground.
“It’s actually quite nice to go out. We can see many plants that we don’t have in our manor.” Hongxuan was quick-witted and immediately came up with a way to calm the little guy down and get him to go out with him.
Sure enough, Hongxu immediately became interested upon hearing this.
And the little guy changed his mind so quickly, he grabbed Hongxuan's neck and urged him impatiently, "Then I want to go, Fourth Brother, hurry up, let's go now."
“Not yet, I have to go back to Fourth Brother’s courtyard. Fourth Brother needs to change his clothes.” As he spoke, Hongxuan looked Hongxu up and down and then said, “You also need to change your clothes.”
Hongxu was a little depressed, but he quickly cheered up, grabbed Hongxuan's hand, and ran towards his room.
Hongxuan personally picked out clothes for Hongxu and helped him put them on. Then, he took Hongxu's hand and led him back to his own courtyard in the front yard.
He left Xiao Li to stay outside with Hongxu, then quickly changed into casual clothes, came out, picked up Hongxu, and walked towards the gate.
Hongxuan did not take Hongxu to see any flowers and plants that were not in the manor, but instead took him to the street.
Show him the market, take him shopping, and buy him delicious snacks.
Hongxu had never seen what the outside world was like before. The novel scene made him forget about the flowers and plants he had been longing to see.
Unfortunately, after a while, the little guy lost interest in the market and started thinking about the flowers and plants he wanted to see.
"We'll see about that later. Fourth Brother is hungry and wants to eat at a restaurant. Would you like to accompany him to eat first, Xu'er?"
Hongxu nodded obediently, "Okay."
At the restaurant, Hongxuan was having a meal with Hongxu when suddenly, the people he had left at home came looking for them.
"Your Majesty, someone from the palace has arrived."
Hongxuan immediately realized what was happening, stopped eating, and took Hongxu back to the mansion.
Hongxu was very well-behaved. Seeing that his fourth brother Hongxuan had something to do and was in a hurry to return to the mansion, even though he still wanted to eat, the little guy behaved himself and did not make a fuss.
Upon returning to Prince Yong's residence, they found Liang Jiugong waiting for them.
“Prince Hongxuan, His Majesty has been talking about you these past few days. So today, he invited you to come into the garden to keep him company and play some chess.”
Hongxuan nodded and said, "I'll change my clothes and go right away."
After saying that, he looked at Hongxu in his arms. He wanted to ask someone to take him back to Taoyuan, but when he thought of what his mother had said before, he realized that because he had to go to the palace to study, he only came back for one or two days a month. He really had very little time to spend with his younger brother, much less than when Hongjing was a child.
Moreover, I promised to take care of my younger brother today and take him to see more varieties of flowers and plants.
Hongxuan's eyes darted around, and he thought to himself: There are plenty of flowers and plants in Changchun Garden. Perfect, this fulfills his promise and leaves a good impression on his younger brother, so he won't think he's a liar and never trust him again.
So he said to Liang Jiugong, "Master, take Sixth Brother with you! It's a good opportunity to show Sixth Brother the Emperor's garden."
Liang Jiugong didn't stop him. He knew how much the Emperor doted on Prince Hongxuan. He figured that even if Prince Hongxuan brought weapons into the garden, it wouldn't be a problem, let alone if he only brought his younger brother.
Not long after Hongxuan left, a person came out of his courtyard and went to Taoyuan to deliver a message.
In Taoyuan, Jiaming blinked after hearing what the visitor said, then suddenly put down the storybook in her hand and stood up from her chair.
"You mean the Fourth Prince took the Sixth Prince with him to Changchun Garden to see the Emperor?"
The messenger nodded and replied, "Yes, Consort. The Fourth Prince said you don't need to worry, the Sixth Prince will take good care of him."
Jiaming thought about it and realized that she had made a mountain out of a molehill. Hongxuan was not an unreasonable person. If she took Hongxu with her, he would definitely be able to take good care of him.
So, after waving her hand to let the messenger leave, she relaxed and read her storybooks, occasionally eating and drinking, living a very leisurely and carefree life.
Upon entering Changchun Garden, just as Hongxuan had predicted, Kangxi saw Hongxuan leading a small child, both of whom were paying their respects to him.
He had no objections whatsoever. Instead, he asked the little boy, "Is he your sixth brother, named Hongxu?"
"Grandpa has a good memory." Hongxuan looked at Kangxi with admiration.
And so, Hongxuan took Hongxu with him, feeding him food and drink from time to time, while talking to Kangxi all the time.
Hongxuan and Kangxi were not talking about official court matters, but rather about ordinary daily life.
Little Hongxu was always well-behaved, listening attentively, and eating and drinking whatever was offered to him.
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