Among them, only Prince Zhi could make fun of the tenth and fourteenth princes as if they were his own sons.
He was certainly qualified to be the crown prince, but he kept his distance from his brothers. He had an innate aura of a crown prince and rarely joked.
The third prince needs no mention, and Yinzhen needs even less.
Seeing the tenth and fourteenth princes falling so earnestly, their trouser legs and robe hems covered in dust, the Crown Prince couldn't help but say, "I remember when the fourteenth prince was born, he was only so small. The fourth prince would always secretly go to see him. Now he has grown into a brave and strong man."
Yinzhen lowered his head slightly and agreed, "Yes, the Fourteenth Prince eats a lot and is also very strong."
After speaking, looking at Yinreng's slightly handsome and thin face, he was somewhat moved, but he was also mindful of the little eunuch who was always by his side, so he could only whisper, "Second brother, please take care of yourself. You seem to have lost a lot of weight these days. Is the food not to your liking?"
Only then did Yinreng smile and say, "Fourth brother, you are a sincere person, your brother knows that." Then he refused to say another word.
Yinzhen could only sigh slightly.
Meanwhile, Yinzhi's eyes flickered.
After Buku finished falling, Fourteenth clamored to shoot an arrow, so everyone took turns shooting an arrow.
After going through the rounds, the best one wasn't the Crown Prince, but Prince Zhi.
The crown prince comes second.
Faced with this result, the Crown Prince remained unmoved, only offering a faint compliment: "Brother's skills haven't declined."
Yinti's eyes flickered slightly as he squinted at his younger brother, who had been designated as the crown prince since birth.
The prince was facing away from the sun, and the light behind him seemed to cover him with a hazy halo, appearing and disappearing, yet dazzling.
Yinti sneered, "That's right, he won on purpose, so what?"
When his father was alive, he couldn't win because he had to give face to the crown prince. Since Yinreng was the crown prince, he should be number one in everything.
If he wins against the Crown Prince, his father, the Emperor, will be happy on the surface, but he will be dissatisfied behind the scenes.
Yinti already knew.
The third and eighth princes were nothing more than abandoned sons of the Emperor. The only one the Emperor truly cared about from beginning to end was Yinreng.
Neither the Emperor nor Yinreng ever considered the other princes as rivals, because their competition was always with each other.
Indeed, this father and son, who held the highest positions in the Qing Dynasty, were also the greatest enemies.
Ironic, isn't it? Yinti glanced at the little eunuch behind Yinreng out of the corner of his eye. His father was so wary of him; he wondered if his beloved younger brother, the Crown Prince, was feeling any pain. Was there any bloodshed?
But this is nothing. Do you think I'm any less injured than him?
Yinti said he would wait and see, and let him see how much imperial strategy this younger brother, who was made crown prince when he was an infant and grew up on his father's lap, had learned, and how many rounds he could survive under his father's control.
Can he really break out of this deadlock?
Under Yinti's provocative gaze, Yinreng remained unmoved, accepting the handkerchief offered by the person beside him with great dignity and wiping his hands.
There's no point in continuing to train on the drill ground. Su Peisheng had already instructed people to prepare hot water, and it was boiling in every kitchen. He was afraid that there wouldn't be enough to supply all the princes.
Yinzhen led his brothers back to wash up and rest. They would be able to have a meal soon.
The dinner was ordered by Changning, and the eunuch Ma was in charge of preparing it, along with fifty or sixty other kitchen eunuchs.
In the middle is a large pot of fragrant and spicy lamb spine hot pot.
Large chunks of lamb spine are a hearty and satisfying meal. The meat is stewed until incredibly tender and savory; with just a slight suck, the bones fall off. The freshness of the lamb lingers on your palate, complemented by the aroma of chili peppers, making it exceptionally enjoyable.
After finishing the meat, you can continue to cook vegetables in the pot. There are about twenty kinds of side dishes prepared, such as duck blood, white radish, frozen tofu, Chinese cabbage, and vermicelli. They are all unique to the village and are freshly picked from the vegetable garden.
There was also a large pot of spicy lamb trotters, a whole rack of roasted lamb chops, and various specialties from the different kitchen eunuchs, including bear paws, fish lips, sea cucumbers, abalone, and tripe—all laid out on the large round table.
Previously, if the brothers were all together and ate together, they would have to have their own table during palace banquets, rather than sitting together to eat.
It was quite a novel sight to see the brothers sitting together around such a large round table.
Several kinds of pots were prepared. In addition to the lamb spine hot pot, there was also a copper pot with pickled cabbage, pork belly, blood sausage, and pork stew. The dipping sauce was minced garlic. The pickled cabbage soup was bubbling and boiling, which made people's mouths water. Yinzhen first had a bowl of pickled cabbage soup, which he had learned from Changning.
The fifth prince grew up with the Empress Dowager and his eating habits were more Mongolian. He ate the sizzling roasted lamb chops with great relish, and then ate two pieces of cucumber salad to cleanse his palate. He praised, "Fourth brother, the chefs in your household are really good. These lamb chops are quite tender. And are these cucumbers grown in your vegetable garden?"
Yinzhen nodded and smiled, "You don't need to rush. Take a rest today, and I'll take you to the vegetable garden first thing tomorrow morning. Shoes are all ready, and there's plenty of farm work to do."
Everyone present laughed.
Seeing that the Crown Prince hadn't touched his food much, Yinzhen asked softly, "Second Brother, don't you have an appetite?"
Yinreng and Yinzhen had always had a better relationship than their other brothers, so he didn't want to make things difficult for him. Even though he wasn't in the mood to eat, he still served himself a bowl of sauerkraut soup and praised it, saying, "This soup is good, it's appetizing and refreshing."
"Autumn is here, it's good to eat some mutton to nourish yourself." Yinzhen put another piece of roasted mutton on the Crown Prince's plate, which was fragrant with cumin.
Seeing that his brother hadn't served him any food and was only trying to please the Crown Prince, Fourteenth Prince couldn't help but purse his lips.
What? The Crown Prince is no longer a threat, and Father Emperor has almost wiped out all of Prime Minister Su's henchmen.
Since his inspection tour to the borderlands a few years ago, Prime Minister Suo has been seriously ill and has not recovered. It seems he doesn't have many days left to live.
The Crown Prince's greatest reliance is this maternal uncle. If Prime Minister Suo is gone, how long can he remain the Crown Prince?
However, he only dared to mutter these words to himself and dared not say them out loud. Besides, he was not sure if the Crown Prince was really incompetent. In terms of political insight, the Fourteenth Prince believed that he was still somewhat lacking, but he felt that he should be able to lead troops into battle.
This fourth brother has a good relationship with the Crown Prince and also has a decent relationship with the eldest brother, so why doesn't he mention it to me?
He was really siding with outsiders, and he was a little angry. He ate the lamb bone fiercely and aggressively.
Yinzhen had originally brought two jars of wine, but none of his brothers drank them, especially the eighth brother, who said he had to get up early to work the next day, so he had no choice but to give up.
Rooms were arranged for them that evening, and they all went to rest.
Yinzhi watched the Crown Prince's retreating figure, wanting to step forward, but then caught a glimpse of the little eunuch out of the corner of his eye and stopped in his tracks. He could only bow slightly and say, "Your Highness, please rest well."
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