As noon approached, the carriage convoy slowly left the city gates of the nine gates. The carriages of the four families of Yin, Yin, Yinxiang, and Yin were slowly heading towards Jiangnan. Kangxi had specially dispatched four princes, along with Yin and Yinzhi, hoping that they could handle the officialdom in Jiangnan and Guangdong properly.
Inside the carriage, Qingyan felt drowsy from the swaying. She leaned against Yin's chest, nuzzling her face against him.
The twins and Hafeng were asleep in the carriage behind them; they were really too tired from seeing off Emperor Kangxi that morning.
"Fourth Prince, aren't you going to sleep?" Qingyan asked, half-asleep, when she noticed Yin was intently working on the memorials. A look of helplessness crossed Qingyan's face.
Yin shook his head. There were many things that needed to be dealt with before going south, and these involved the officialdom in the south, so of course he had to read them all.
"Little darling, you can sleep a little longer, it's okay!" Yin said to Qingyan.
Before lunch, Yin nudged Qingyan's shoulder to wake her up and prevent her from getting sleepy.
"Sisi, I haven't slept well yet!" Qingyan pursed her pink lips and complained softly.
"Lunch is almost ready. The children will be here soon. Are you still sleeping here?" Yin knew Qingyan. If she knew the children were coming, she would definitely wash and dress up. She would never let the children see her looking disheveled.
Qingyan exclaimed "Ah!" and quickly went around the screen to start washing and dressing.
"Sisi, should we travel day and night, or disguise ourselves as a caravan and take our time?" Qingyan pondered. If they disguised themselves as a caravan, they would definitely need her help.
"Disguise as a merchant caravan? No need. This time, it's the young masters of the Emperor on an outing." Yin quickly shook his head; Kangxi didn't want them to go to the south under the guise of merchants again.
The first two times, they went to the south under the guise of merchants. If they used the same identity again, the officials would definitely be on guard.
"Changed identities?" Qingyan became curious, wondering what identities they used this time.
"We used the sons of officials to travel to the south. The first three times, it was all merchants associated with Yuelai Inn or Linglong Pavilion who went on the trip. Some government officials have already become suspicious. This year, we can use a different identity." Yin informed Qingyan of the information he had gathered.
Ugh!
Qingyan was taken aback. No wonder the managers came back saying that it was much easier to do business in the south. Every time they arrived, many people would come to greet them, as if they were trying to curry favor.
"I knew it! Every time things go smoothly in the south, the managers are always on edge, afraid that someone is plotting against them!" Qingyan chuckled.
Later, the twins and Hafeng got into their carriage. Hafeng hadn't seen Qingyan all morning and missed her terribly. The moment he saw her, the little guy immediately stretched out his arms and rushed towards Qingyan.
"Alright, you can all leave now." Qingyan waved the wet nurse away; she didn't like having the wet nurse around.
Yinze was asking the twins about their studies. Yiken'e was very intelligent and had a strong memory, which surprised the tutors in the Imperial Study. However, in accordance with Kangxi's wishes, they began to increase the amount of homework for Yiken'e.
"Father, why does Ah Hun have to write policy essays, and why do I have to write them too?" Hutuli Fengsheng Zhalafen tilted his little head and asked Yin.
At their age, they shouldn't have been writing these things; they should have been studying the Four Books and Five Classics. However, Emperor Kangxi didn't make them study by rote.
"Have you finished writing?" Yin asked.
He had read the policy essays written by the twins at Emperor Kangxi's court and had to admit that the twins were truly capable, and their thoughts were different from those of ordinary people.
“Of course!” Yiken’e said, straightening his chest. “Father, Grandfather left us a lot of homework. There are four essays on policy alone. Moreover, he left someone behind, saying that once we finish the homework, we should have that person send it back.”
Upon hearing this, Yin looked at Yiken with suspicion.
"Who is it?" Yin asked curiously, as Kangxi rarely sent people to the third generation of children.
Yiken'e mentioned a name, and Yin felt a surge of relief. This was the very person Erlu had taken a liking to, hoping to cultivate him into a confidant. Unexpectedly, this person turned out to be one of Kangxi's men.
"Yes, you just need to do as Father Emperor says, and from now on, this person will follow you!" Yin told Yiken'e.
“Okay!” Yiken nodded. “Father, is it really okay for me to use this person?”
"It'll be fine!" Yin replied.
The twins exchanged a glance, and the huge weight that had been hanging over their hearts was instantly lifted, making them feel completely relaxed.
"We're away from home, so we definitely won't have a lot of time for you to do your homework. You have to make good use of every spare moment!" Yin began to instruct his two children.
Qingyan sat to the side, watching the children without showing any impatience. On the contrary, Yiken'e listened very attentively to Yin's teachings, which made Qingyan very curious.
"Fourth Brother, stop lecturing here. Yiken'e will definitely not do anything outrageous!" Qingyan quickly said.
As soon as she finished speaking, Su Zhu led the maids to bring up lunch. The imperial chefs were preparing the food in the last three carriages, and it would be delivered directly at mealtime.
A refreshing meal was laid out on the table, and the three children's eyes lit up instantly when they saw the delicious food.
After a quick lunch, Hafeng insisted on staying close to Yin, wanting to sleep next to him, while the twins obediently returned to their carriage.
Qingyan leaned against Yin's shoulder, looking at Hafeng sleeping soundly with a faint smile on her face.
"With Hafeng by your side, you won't be bored!" Yin really liked his youngest son. Yiken'e had been trained by Kangxi to be too clever, making it impossible for Yin to interfere in Yiken'e's education.
Hafeng is different; he was brought up by Yin.
"Of course, this brat, whenever he does something wrong, he becomes exceptionally clingy, that won't do!" Qingyan complained. "Hafeng is a boy!"
“Hafeng is young, we can teach him slowly. You can’t expect him to turn into Yiken’e right away.” Yinxiang was very protective of Hafeng, so Qingyan became the strict mother instead.
The two cooperated well; if Yin chose to be the loving father, Qingyan would have to be the strict mother.
“Isn’t Yiken’e good enough? Even you said he’s outstanding. You’re always pampering Hafeng here.” Qingyan noticed that Hafeng was opportunistic, but in terms of interpersonal skills, he was much better than Yiken’e.
“You said it yourself, Yiken’e is the eldest son and needs to be tempered, so let’s give Hafeng a wonderful childhood,” Yin said, looking at Qingyan.
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