Inside the main hall, Kangxi left only Li Dequan, Shu, and Shuzhu, who were his personal attendants, and sent the rest away. He understood Yiken'e's situation.
Both Yin and Qingyan were very curious about what the twins had prepared.
Yiken'e directed the guards to bring over a large packaging box. Kangxi glanced at Yin with slight surprise and found that Yin was very curious. He became even more certain that Yiken'e really hadn't said anything.
"Hutu Lifengsheng Zhalafen, you open it!" Yiken'e's chubby little face had a faint smile on it, somewhat like the smile of Emperor Kangxi.
Hutu Lifengsheng Zhalafen walked up to Emperor Kangxi and Consort Tong and bowed first.
"Grandfather, Grandmother, we'll be having a banquet outside for the Double Ninth Festival. Our gifts are a bit inadequate, and it was really something that I, Princess He, came up with together!" Hutuli Fengsheng Zhalafen's soft, sweet child voice was like a clear spring, making Kangxi feel much more comfortable.
Consort Tong became even more interested. What could the little ones prepare?
Hutu Lifengsheng Zhalafen opened the box, inside was a peach-shaped screen, composed of ninety-nine "longevity" characters. Each "longevity" character was written by the twins from the time they learned to write until now, their writing improving over the years. At the base of the screen was a large "longevity" character, in Yiken'e's current handwriting.
"Grandpa, this... I embroidered it. Grandpa taught Ah Hun and me to read and write these characters together. These are all characters we left behind," Han Tang Yuefu said directly. "Although, Ah Hun drew the base and had it made by the imperial workshops!"
“Mafa, this gift is small. I prepared it with Hutuli Fengsheng Zhalafen. We even paid for the wages and bonuses for the inner workers ourselves!” Yiken’e said happily, blinking her phoenix eyes.
Emperor Kangxi looked at the small screen in front of him, its embroidery rough, and his eyes became slightly moist.
As the princes grew up, the items brought to the palace each year became increasingly precious, and there were very few things left that could truly express their inner feelings.
The hall fell silent. Consort Tong turned to look at Emperor Kangxi, a faint smile appearing on her face.
"Hutulifengsheng Zhalafen, when did you start preparing?" Consort Tong looked at the two children and noticed some shadows under their eyes. She felt a pang of heartache and even slightly blamed Yin.
The mansion has been busy preparing for the Double Ninth Festival, so they certainly won't be able to take care of the children as they used to.
“Grandma, we did this in our spare time, not during our sleep!” Hutuli Fengsheng Zhalafen had just finished speaking when he was glared at by Yiken’e.
"Yiken'e, what did Mafa say to you?" Kangxi was moved by the two children's filial piety, but he did not want them to harm their health.
“Mafa, we stayed up until midnight on the last two days and found that my sister couldn’t finish embroidering. She said she wanted to embroider everything herself so that she could express her feelings!” Yiken’e said again, “Let her do the tracing herself.”
“Mafa, I just wanted to show you that Hutuli Fengsheng Zhalafen is practicing her embroidery skills, unlike what those people say, that she doesn’t touch the needle and thread!” Hutuli Fengsheng Zhalafen kept the words of the palace servant firmly in mind.
Consort Tong felt a warmth in her heart as she looked at the two children; they truly warmed her heart.
"Alright, this is the last time!" Kangxi spoke directly. "Li Dequan, bring over the dragon and phoenix jade pendant that was sent from Xinjiang some time ago!"
The General of Yili specially sent a pair of dragon and phoenix pendants made of mutton fat jade from there. The quality of the jade was excellent. After Emperor Kangxi received the jade pendants, he told Consort Tong to keep them safe and to give them as a reward when Yiken'e performed well in the future.
"Thank you, Mafa." The twins knelt down and bowed.
Li Dequan bowed and carried in a tray. On the tray were a pair of mutton-fat jade pendants tied with bright yellow rope. When the two jade pendants were together, they formed a circle; when separated, they formed a dragon and a phoenix.
"Father...this is too precious!" Yin noticed the dragon-shaped jade pendant, which was a five-clawed dragon, something only the emperor could use.
"Get out of the way, Yiken'e. Your father has given you this jade pendant, but you can't wear it yet. You can only wear it when you are truly able to become a pillar of the nation. Your father hopes to see this scene in his lifetime!" Kangxi hoped that Yiken'e could become the most outstanding prince. Yin had already been listed as the successor under the crown prince, so Yiken'e hoped to be Yin's successor.
"Yes!" Yiken'e understood Kangxi's words and nodded directly.
Kangxi watched as the twins put the jade pendant into their purses, nodded in satisfaction, and then turned to look at Yin.
The two children were busy until so late, and their father, Yin, didn't even notice. This infuriated Kangxi, and his anger was directed at Yin.
Yin was taken aback; his father, the Emperor, was actually angry.
"Father, it's my fault for not taking good care of the twins!" Qingyan quickly took the blame when she saw Yin's somewhat dark expression.
“Recently, you’ve been busy with the Double Ninth Festival preparations and haven’t had time to take care of the children. Can you really be so carefree?” Kangxi looked at Yin and thought it was understandable that Qingyan might not have time.
Yin was busy with his duties, and there were no women in the mansion who needed to be balanced, so it was unacceptable that he didn't help.
"Father, your son knows he was wrong!" Yin went to see, and the twins had actually started to outwit him. When he went over, they were always sleeping peacefully, but when he left, they got up immediately.
"Who is serving the twins!" Consort Tong, though ill, would not blame Yin, but she had to take care of the servants around the twins.
"They are governesses!" The twins had their governesses changed once after they turned three, and the two governesses they have now are both personally appointed by Emperor Kangxi.
Kangxi's face darkened further. He must have been unhappy that his child was being neglected.
“Father, the two little ones have indeed grown up, and the nannies definitely can’t keep an eye on them.” Yin thought that the two nannies were personally selected by Kangxi, so there must be no problem with them.
"Fourth Prince, is the nanny I give you necessarily good? If she's not good to the children, you can send her back to the Imperial Household Department directly," Kangxi said, glancing at Yinzhen.
The twins overheard this and quickly thought to themselves that they must behave themselves. Their current two nannies were quite good; if they were replaced, they would have to readjust.
"Grandpa, the nannies are very good. We will do our best and won't let them take the blame again!" Yiken said, tilting her little head up.
Emperor Kangxi was very satisfied. The twins were extremely good to the servants, and he would still give important positions to those who were loyal.
“Yes, Grandfather, I think the nannies are really good!” Hutuli Fengsheng Zhalafen’s eyes widened as she decided to stand on Ahhun’s side and keep the nannies.
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