Although the things made by my mother did make people subconsciously stay away, Yinzuo had been drinking milk for several months and his mouth was very bland. At least this porridge tasted different from breast milk, so he was not picky and finally finished the small bowl.
Seeing that, Yinzhen, who was watching him from the side, couldn't help but wonder, could it be that there was something wrong with his sense of taste? Why did Yinzuo seem to be eating so deliciously?
Although little Yinzuo was still weak and suffered from minor illnesses, such as coughing or fever, fortunately the symptoms were mild each time and did not become serious, so he slowly recovered. In addition, as he grew older, he started to eat some nourishing foods.
Except for being a little smaller and developing a little later than other babies, everything else is pretty good.
One day, when Rouwan was feeding the little guy, she suddenly saw a little white tip coming out of his two middle lower milk teeth. She was immediately very happy.
"Look, has Xiaoliu started to grow teeth? Am I seeing things?"
Aunt Qing, Rouwan's personal maid Lianxin, and Yinzuo's wet nurse Cheng Ma all came over to take a look.
"It's teething!"
"I saw it too!"
"Empress, we should prepare something of moderate hardness and softness for the Sixth Prince to grind his teeth. When children are teething, the roots of their teeth will itch. If the Sixth Prince feels uncomfortable and bites something too hard, the newly grown teeth will not be straight." Madam Cheng suggested.
"The Ministry of Internal Affairs sent us some of the styles commonly used by the princes and princesses in the palace. Aunt Qing, go and look for them. After you wash them, give them to Xiaoliu to try first."
"Yes, I will go right away. Lianxin, come with me."
"good."
Yinzuo licked his newly grown teeth out of curiosity. He could hardly remember what it felt like the last time his teeth grew. These past few days he only felt itchy gums, and he thought it was because of his poor health and low immunity that caused the inflammation.
The tooth sticks were boiled in boiling water before being brought to Yinzuo. They were all long and narrow in shape, with depressions on the surface that were just enough for the growing baby teeth to rest in the small grooves.
There are many materials, and the three available ones are prickly ash wood, amber and jade.
Yinzuo tried biting them one by one, and finally chose the amber with the best taste. He then held it in his hand and bit it very hard.
Seeing that he liked this, Rouwan instructed Lianxin, "Tomorrow, ask the Ministry of Internal Affairs for two more amber ones. I see that Xiaoliu likes it, so remember to pick out some other styles for him."
"Don't worry, Madam. I will definitely pick out the best ones for our Sixth Prince."
Yinzuo put down the tooth stick in his hand and said to Lianxin: "Hey hey hey ah~" Lianxin has worked hard to run this trip~
"Is Sixth Prince also giving instructions to this servant?"
Lianxin squatted down and looked at him with a smile. The Sixth Prince was the darling of everyone in Yonghe Palace. Although he was weak, he had a good temper, loved to laugh, and was also very handsome, making him especially popular with everyone.
Yinzuo spoke again seriously: "Pu Pu! Eeyeeeeeeee~" No, I mean thank you for the trip.
In fact, no one present could understand what he was saying. They just thought he was so cute because he was so young but babbling so seriously.
"Okay, okay, I will definitely bring you your tooth-gritting stick, Sixth Prince. I'll go right away!" Lianxin ran out happily.
Life is not easy, Yinzuo sighed, wondering why no one listened to him carefully. He was tired, so he decided to continue grinding his teeth.
Kangxi hadn't been to the harem for some time. Today, when he saw Yinzhen in the Imperial Concubine's Palace, he thought of his frail and sickly brother, so he left Chengqian Palace and went to the Yonghe Palace next door.
As soon as I entered the gate of Yonghe Palace, I found it was quiet and there were not many people inside. As soon as I stepped into the hall, I saw a little guy sitting on the ground who was so white that he was glowing. No matter how many times I see this child, I will still be moved by his cute appearance and feel pity for him.
"Hehehe~" My good father is here~ Yinzuo showed an exceptionally bright smile when he looked at him.
Everyone followed the young prince's gaze and saw a bright yellow figure standing at the entrance of the palace.
"This servant pays respects to His Majesty."
"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you. Why are you here suddenly at this time?" Rouwan, who had her back to the door, turned around and saluted, holding a small rattle in her hand.
Kangxi thought: It seems that all the masters and servants in the room are playing with the little guy, no wonder they didn't notice him coming in.
He walked forward and helped Depin up, took the exquisite little rattle from her hand, and squatted on the ground to tease little Yinzuo just like they had just done.
"I'll play with Xiaoliu for a while. Do you still remember me, Xiaoliu?"
The first time little Yinzuo saw his adopted father, he remembered that he had to "show his filial piety" so as to save up a birthday gift for his brother. Naturally, he had to behave himself well and make him happy first.
So he greeted him with a smile and babbled something in response. Whether the emperor could understand him or not was one thing, but Yinzuo felt that he had to show a positive and enthusiastic attitude first.
Sure enough, when Kangxi saw that the child cooperated with him so well and there was no sign of unfamiliarity, he was very happy.
"Rouwan, look, this little guy still remembers me. He knows that I am his royal father, so he smiles so happily and is not afraid at all." Among his sons, except for the crown prince, the others are afraid of him.
"Of course. Xiaoliu is always thinking about his father coming to see him."
"The Three Feudatories Rebellion has finally been quelled, and the Yunnan-Guizhou region is still in the final stages of finishing things off. We will be busy for a while. When Yinzuo is older, I will take you and your son out of the palace for a stroll. Folk toys are also very interesting, and I think our Yinzuo will definitely like them."
"Then Yinzuo and I will wait for the day when the emperor takes us mother and son out to play."
"Since I have made a promise to you and your son, I will never break my promise." Kangxi shook the rattle twice and continued to tease the little guy in front of him.
However, while Yinzuo was cooperating with his father, his clever little eyes were often wandering elsewhere. He was thinking quickly about how to start.
Kangxi played for a while, his legs felt numb from squatting, so he stood up and walked to the couch next to him and sat down. The palace maid from Yonghe Palace promptly brought him a cup of pre-rain Longjing tea.
Depin sat down on the other side holding Xiaoliu, and picked up a teether from the box on the table and put it in the little guy's mouth to grind it.
"What is Yinzuo eating?"
"It's a teething stick made of amber. He's started to grow teeth recently, and he always feels itchy and uncomfortable if he doesn't have something in his mouth to chew."
"Besides amber, is there anything else that can be bitten?" Kangxi saw his youngest son biting this thing so enthusiastically. However, the amber looked gray and was really not worthy of such a lovely son of his.
"There are also pepperwood and jadeite." But Xiaoliu doesn't like either of them.
Before Depin finished her next sentence, Kangxi took over.
"Jadeite? There are a few pieces of decent quality in my storehouse. I'll ask the Ministry of Internal Affairs to carve them into shape and then send them to Yinzuo. Change to more beautiful colors so he can play with them." There is no shortage of these in the palace, and she couldn't let her child down.
Depin thanked him with a smile and did not explain further. After all, it was the emperor's own will.
Yinzuo gritted his teeth and stared blankly with his eyes wide open. No, he hadn't even tried hard yet, so how come the Emperor had come to him on his own?
That's jade! He gave it to me as soon as he said it would be made into a tooth stick. Yinzuo opened his mouth, took the tooth stick in his hand and spread it out in front of his eyes. It looked really ugly.
But it’s a good thing. Considering the time, my brother can use it now. It takes until the age of three for all the baby teeth to come out.
Yinzuo decided that the first birthday gift for his brother would be a teething stick made of jade!
"What is this little guy thinking about?" His expression was so rich that Kangxi couldn't help but want to pinch his face.
But just as Kangxi reached out his hand, Yinzuo quickly turned his head and buried his face in his mother's arms, leaving only his round back of his head to his cheap father. He was not such a casual child. No one was allowed to touch his face!
"Are you still hiding? Are you playing hide-and-seek with me?"
The father and son were playing a childish game in which one was trying to hide while the other was poking him on purpose. Kangxi amused his younger son for quite a while, then got up and left as he had some important government affairs to attend to. After a while, the mother and son had an early dinner together.
Yinzuo felt it was too hot and wanted to go out for some fresh air, so he pointed at the gate of Yonghe Palace and signaled to his mother.
Depin was a little hesitant, and Yinzuo immediately flooded the Jinshan Mountain, as if saying, "If mother doesn't take me out, I will cry my heart out."
The child is already half a year old, and has only gone out once when he was one month old. Such a delicate-faced, frail little guy looks pitifully in front of you, wanting to cry but not crying, and his big round eyes are filled with crystal tears as he looks at you. Unless you are really heartless, you will not be able to refuse his request at this moment.
Evening is the coolest time of the day in summer, especially by the pool, where the gentle evening breeze blows on your face, bringing a touch of moisture, eliminating the stuffiness brought by the daytime, and also eliminating the dryness in people's hearts.
It was a rare occasion that Depin was willing to take Yinzuo out for a walk without worrying about the mother and son. They saw a lot of koi by the pond.
They swam so happily that Yinzuo wished he could become a fish so he could jump in and swim to cool off. It was all because of his weak constitution. His mother only allowed him to put a small basin of ice in his room every day, but it would all melt by noon. For the rest of the afternoon, he could only rely on manual fanning to get a little cool breeze.
"These are fish. This is the first time you've seen them, Xiaoliu. Aren't they beautiful? Look how fast they swim."
Yinzuo corrected his mother and said, "Yiya, yiwu." It was not the first time he had seen it. His brother had even installed a large fish tank for him at home that was more than one meter wide when viewed from the front. He also raised many tropical fish specially for him to watch. They were so beautiful.
When he said this, Yinzuo wanted to find his brother.
Coincidentally, a brother in apricot-yellow clothes happened to appear here.
The prince had just been sitting in the Wangchun Pavilion not far away admiring the sunset. After hearing the clear and pure laughter of a child, he thought for a moment and guessed that it was his sixth brother. There were only a few children in the palace, and only his fifth and sixth brothers were of the right age. The fifth brother was raised by the empress dowager, who would not allow him to go out at this time, so the child could only be the sixth brother born to Concubine De.
"How is Concubine De? Are you bringing my sixth brother to see the fish?" Although the prince is only six years old, he already looks like a little adult, with elegant manners and good manners.
"Your Highness, I hope you are well. I saw that the temperature was suitable, so I took Xiaoliu out for a walk. Xiaoliu rarely leaves Yonghe Palace, and he was so happy when he saw the fish that he didn't even blink."
The prince still remembered how adorable he was when his sixth brother smiled at him at his full moon banquet a few months ago.
So he walked up to him and looked him in the eye.
"Sixth brother, do you still remember me? I am your elder brother, the crown prince. When you learn to speak, you can also call me second brother."
Yinzuo just felt that the Crown Prince and the Emperor were indeed biological father and son. Every time they saw him, they asked the same question: What? Does the sky have to fall if they don't remember you two?
"Xiaoliu, don't you remember? The longevity locket you wore a few days ago was the full-moon gift given to you by your brother the Crown Prince." Depin tried to smooth things over. The child was still young, and more than half a year had passed. How could he possibly still remember the Crown Prince whom he had only met once?
When Yinzuo grinned, the pair of dimples that were almost invisible when he was just born were now very obvious. Two small milk teeth as big as rice grains were also exposed. He looked like an innocent little rabbit, looking very cute.
It turns out that the most beautiful longevity lock was given by the prince! When he was one month old, he received many gifts, not to mention the most basic ones such as gold and silver ingots, such as longevity locks, jade ruyi, bracelets with bells, anklets and so on.
The most precious of them is the gold-inlaid jade longevity locket given by the prince. The lock is made of a piece of lustrous Hetian jade, inlaid with gold and embellished with more than a dozen gems of various colors. Although it is not very big, it is made of exquisite materials and workmanship, and is a rare treasure.
Because it has the highest appearance value, it is also the one that Yinzuo likes the most and is also the one he wears the most.
"Since you like it, I have a similar bracelet, so I will give it to you for your enjoyment."
There were many treasures in the prince's private treasury, and he now wanted to be on good terms with his sixth brother, so he didn't feel sorry for giving them away and just gave them away.
"Eh, eh!" Thank you! Yinzuo thanked him politely. As expected of a prince, he was generous.
"Sixth brother, are you talking to me?" No matter how mature Yinreng was, he was only a six-year-old child. When encountering such a rare scene, he couldn't help showing some childishness.
"Maybe Xiaoliu is thanking the prince." Depin said softly.
"Xiao Liu is really smart. When you learn to walk, I will ask someone to go to Yonghe Palace to pick you up and take you to Yuqing Palace to play, okay?"
Little Yinzuo nodded, his big eyes full of curiosity and excitement. One of the things he wanted to do most now was to tour the entire palace!
"Then this is a private agreement between the two of us." The prince of this age attached great importance to this kind of private promise, and he was very serious when he made this promise.
Little Yinzuo nodded his head and uttered soft, incomprehensible mumbling words.
The noble prince felt his hands a little itchy. His sixth brother's face looked so soft. He wondered what it would feel like to pinch it.
At this moment, Wan Liuhe, who had entered the palace on the same day as Depin, also happened to appear here. Unfortunately, Wan Liuhe was not favored and was now just an inconspicuous little concubine. She was also timid, and seeing the prince here, she dared not say anything, but Depin saw that she seemed to have encountered some difficulties.
So she smiled and said to the prince, "I'm going to get some fish food. Would you mind if you stay here and look after Xiaoliu for a while?" Although she said that, in fact, Xiaoliu was still protected by a wet nurse and several palace maids. She said that just to give the prince face.
"Empress Depin, please go. I will stay here to watch over your sixth brother and wait for your return." The prince agreed responsibly.
Depin took Wan Liuha to a place not far away where fish food was stored, so they could talk in private on the way.
The prince saw Xiaoliu staring at the fish in the pond, so he said to him, "Xiaoliu, since you like the fish in the pond so much, why don't I ask them to catch some for you and take them back to Yonghe Palace to keep for fun."
After the prince said this, he immediately raised his hand and two young eunuchs jumped into the pond to catch fish.
Yinzuo was stunned. This was the first time he faced the cruelty behind the time and space he was in. The prince had been praised by everyone since he was a child. He was too arrogant in some ways. In order to please his brother, he casually asked people around him to jump into the dirty pool to catch fish in the dark. Of course, in his opinion, this was not a big deal, but he didn't care about the slaves around him. If he ascended the throne to become emperor in the future, how would he treat the people of the world?
Just when little Yinzuo was stunned, the prince reached out and pinched his little chubby face.
"Sixth brother's face is really soft." The prince smiled proudly after succeeding.
Yinzuo was very angry. How could this person touch his face so casually? He didn't even get his consent! He didn't think that giving him two gifts would make him agree to touch his face! Even though his cheap father paid a lot of jade, he still couldn't touch his face!
The little Yinzuo in front of him was so angry that his bright eyes seemed to be about to spit fire. Both sides of his face were flushed with anger. The prince couldn't help but reached out and poked him.
This get out of class completely pissed off Yinzuo.
"Ahh! Eh! @#￥%"
Yinzuo was very emotional and started scolding the little prince in front of him.
But the prince showed a bright smile. He felt that his sixth brother was the most genuine person among all the people he had met. His sixth brother was so young, but he immediately got angry with him after he offended him. There had almost never been such a person around the prince. It felt really good.
"Ah! So funny! Sixth brother, I like you so much. I never thought that you are not only cute when you smile, but even cuter when you get angry."
Yinzuo choked up. No, is this little prince suffering from a cat disease? What kind of weird habit is it that he just likes to see others get angry?
The author has something to say:
In fact, the prince just felt too lonely. Everyone around him flattered him and greeted him with a smile. He could not distinguish other people's true emotions, so when he met Xiaoliu, he felt that the door to a new world had opened.
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