Chapter 52
No matter how much he regretted it now, it was of no use. Yinzuo looked around and hurriedly asked a palace maid next to him to bring another bowl.
Yinzuo stood obediently with the bowl on his head, and said pitifully to the crown prince, "Brother Crown Prince, please help us put in a good word with the Emperor."
The prince suppressed his laughter and said, "I'll give it a try."
After the crown prince went in, the fifth prince and Yinzuo whispered, "I want to go too. Should we go outside the capital? I have never hunted before, so I don't know if I can shoot a fox. I want to give the Empress Dowager a fox fur cape."
Yinzuo also whispered, "Brother Crown Prince said it was a hunting ground surrounded by a large grassland, where we can ride horses freely."
Yinzuo then said, "Let's not talk now. We have to ask the Emperor to let us go."
After saying this, Yinzuo stood straight with a serious look on his face.
When Kangxi came out, he saw that the two men had a very good attitude of accepting the punishment. They did not bend over or look around. Their posture was just like that of the imperial guards on guard.
It was not until Kangxi stood in front of him that Yinzuo's expression changed. He looked up at Kangxi and admitted his mistake: "Father, I know I was wrong."
"Just now, my son reflected deeply on himself. My father is so busy every day, and I am still worried about him. This is really wrong."
"Don't worry, Father. My son has made up his mind to turn over a new leaf this time."
Kangxi looked at this boy and couldn't believe it. He looked at the Fifth Prince and said, "Don't follow him. You will learn bad things instead of good ones."
The Fifth Prince also hurriedly said, "Father, I know I was wrong."
Kangxi said to the two sons who admitted their mistakes, "Stand for two full hours, and don't even think about escaping by taking shortcuts."
Yinzuo cried out that he was wronged and said to Kangxi, "If my son really knows he is wrong, he will definitely stand for the full two hours, not a single breath less."
"My son has also decided to write a letter of apology and repentance to give to the Emperor."
Yinzuo looked at Kangxi pitifully with his clear eyes: "This time my son has sincerely realized his mistake."
The Fifth Prince immediately followed suit: "My son is just like my Sixth Brother. My son will also write a letter of apology and repentance to give to Father Huang."
Kangxi looked at the two men suspiciously, especially Yinzuo. He thought something was wrong if he was abnormal. He said, "Okay, then write it."
After Kangxi finished reading the two boys, he went back to look at the memorials from the previous dynasty that the prince was going to review. The prince had grown up now, and studying and practicing martial arts were only part of his training. Kangxi now began to train the prince more in analyzing court affairs. The affairs of the current dynasty were one aspect, and the memorials from the monarchs and ministers of the previous dynasty were also a good training material.
After Kangxi finished instructing the prince, the father and son had tea and snacks, and inevitably talked about the two people standing outside. The prince said to Yinzuo: "For a long time, my sixth brother has been honest and has not been lazy in his studies."
Kangxi nodded, agreeing with this, but said: "It's better for you guys to be less troublesome. You always have to be urged to do things, and now you have to bring Xiaowu with you."
The prince thought, isn't it that the fifth prince himself is also a person with a fickle mind? The prince said, "Sixth brother is just a little more active, but he also listens carefully to the teacher's explanation in the study room, and Sixth brother is actually very smart in learning."
Kangxi: "This time he admitted his mistakes actively and even offered to hand me a letter of confession and repentance."
"I want to see what kind of confession of guilt he can write."
The prince laughed and said, "Father, please show it to me. I want to see it too."
Then the prince said to Kangxi with a smile: "Father, why don't you take my sixth brother with you on this hunting trip to Mulan? He has been talking to me about this since the beginning of the year."
Kangxi suddenly realized: "I thought he was so well behaved today. So this is the reason."
When the prince left Kangxi's place, Yinzuo was still standing with the bowl on his head. He asked the prince anxiously in a low voice: "Brother Prince, brother Prince, what did the emperor say about accompanying us on the autumn hunt?"
But the prince only said to him mysteriously: "Behave well these few days."
He knew this, so he would go back and write a letter of apology and regret, and he would definitely not make his royal father angry again.
When Yinzuo and the Fifth Prince had been standing for two hours, the stars came out in the sky. They stood for two hours without any compromise. Their legs were as stiff as sticks, but they did not dare to complain.
Just as he was leaving, Yin Zuo thought about it and couldn't help but called Liang Jiugong and whispered, "Eunuch Liang, where are the fish we caught?"
They are still in the bucket. I caught five of them in total!
Liang Jiugong asked, "Sixth Prince, do you still want to take her back?"
Yinzuo: "I've caught all the fish." Yinzuo hesitated: "Eunuch Liang, do you want to leave one for the Emperor to try?" If he didn't leave one, it would be unfilial, but if he did, he was worried that it would offend the Emperor.
The corner of Liang Jiugong's mouth twitched: "...Leave it, leave one."
Yinzuo: "Okay."
Yinzuo and the Fifth Prince dragged their exhausted bodies back. The Fifth Prince was in a good mood and was in a good mood to say, "Sixth brother, please cook the fish in the small kitchen in the yard. I will go to your place to taste it tomorrow."
Yinzuo nodded: "Then I will call everyone together and send a separate one to the crown prince."
The two of them divided up today's fishing results properly. If they hadn't learned today about the autumn hunt outside the capital, neither of them would regret their actions today.
Yinzuo sighed and said, "We didn't choose the right time. We need to write a letter of apology and repentance carefully."
The Fifth Prince also thought so: "Sixth brother is right."
The next day, while eating breakfast, the Third Prince touched Yinzuo's little head and said, "How does it feel to hold the bowl on your head?"
Not very good. My back and waist ache and my legs are stiff after standing for so long.
Yinzuo said to his third brother with a bitter face: "Third brother, I want to write a letter of apology and repentance to give to the emperor. Please help me think about it and tell me your thoughts."
The Third Prince smiled with gloating delight and said, "I, your Third Brother, have never written anything like this."
Before this kid entered the study, all the brothers were diligent and hardworking, but the third prince was actually a little envious of his sixth brother. Others were afraid of angering the emperor, but his sixth brother was braver than others since he was young.
But even though he envied her, he couldn't do it. By then, before the emperor scolded him, his mother would not forgive him. His mother now had higher and higher expectations for him. Putting aside the prince, not to mention archery and horse riding, in terms of Confucian classics, calligraphy and painting, according to his mother, he was better than the eldest prince back then.
"There's nothing to be proud of, eldest brother. I was just born a few years earlier than you." His mother told him.
His mother is really good at comparing.
Moreover, he was born a few years earlier, so he was the eldest son. In comparison, he was the crown prince, but he was never taken seriously. He didn't want to be taken seriously either. Neither the eldest son nor the crown prince was a good person, and both the eldest and the legitimate son were highly valued by the emperor. He, who was neither the eldest nor the legitimate son, had little weight in the eyes of the emperor, so how could he have any say?
The Third Prince expressed his envy of Yinzuo's ease and ability to take a break from his busy schedule. None of their mothers were as broad-minded as Concubine De and the Empress Dowager. The Fourth Prince frowned slightly, but he had no right to discipline or speak about Sixth Brother's affairs.
Since no one else could be relied upon, Yinzuo and the Fifth Prince got together to discuss the writing ideas of the confession of guilt. The two of them agreed: "We should not delay for too long. Let's try to write it today."
That's right.
But the fish we caught must be eaten first, otherwise it will die. The eldest prince did not go back to him, but followed Yinzuo to his yard and said, "Let me see the fish you got by standing with the bowl on your head for two hours."
Yinzuo had forgotten about the backache and stiff legs from standing yesterday, and happily shared the joy of fishing with his elder brother. He said to him, "Brother, you can try it too. You will be very happy when you catch a fish."
"It's a great sense of accomplishment. Yes, it's called a sense of accomplishment."
The eldest prince smiled and said, "I don't want to stand on my head as punishment."
Yinzuo nodded: "Yes, but you also want to try the fat fish in Huang Ama's lake, right?" Then he was hit on the forehead by the eldest prince: "I think Huang Ama's punishment is too light."
Yinzuo sighed with a sad face: "It doesn't matter whether I will be punished or not. I don't know if I can go to Mulan's hunting this time."
The other princes also came one after another. There were three fish left. One was made into fish soup, one was steamed, and one was braised. While eating, Yinzuo talked to everyone about Mulan's hunting.
There was not a single prince confined in the palace who was not moved by this matter.
But no matter how excited I am, I can only wait for the Emperor's arrangements.
After everyone left, Yinzuo racked his brains to write a letter of repentance. He even squeezed his eyes to try to let a few tears of repentance fall on the paper, but unfortunately he failed to do so.
He regretted not having enough words when he needed them. After writing only two lines, he had to go to his fifth brother for help - he didn't know how to write many words.
The Fifth Prince knew more characters than Yinzuo, but he said, "We can't write the same characters."
Yinzuo nodded: "You are right." Yinzuo tried his best to be self-reliant. Writing was not enough to express himself, so he added paintings.
Although the attempt to squeeze out tears failed, the little man in the painting had two obvious lines of tears flowing like a river.
So that day, Kangxi received two letters of repentance with the ink not yet dry. The handwriting of his fifth son was ugly! The handwriting of his sixth son was even uglier!
Oh, his sixth son also drew a picture. From the very simple lines, you can tell it's a person. It's not the style taught by the master in their study, nor is it from any school of painting. It's just a child's doodle, with big words "I was wrong" on his head and black tears painted on his face. It's ugly like a ghost and hurts the eyes!
How could this kid admit his mistake? He clearly wants to run out and play again!
Look, look, at the end of this confession, he even dared to write whether the fish looked good or not! Although Kangxi also ate the fish that Yinzuo caught yesterday at noon, it was indeed not delicious. But is this what should be written in a confession?
Yinzuo went to ask Kangxi again, but Kangxi didn't say whether he would take him on the trip, which made Yinzuo behave himself for several days.
The Fifth Prince and Yinzuo gathered together and said, "We made a mistake. The Emperor may not take us with him."
Yinzuo was also dejected. He comforted the Fifth Prince and said, "The Emperor will be away for a long time this time. If the Emperor is not in the palace, we can relax a little."
Fifth Prince: "You still want to go fishing? Last time we only brought back the fish, but forgot to bring our fishing rods."
Yes, miscalculated.
Fifth Prince: "It's easy to make a new one."
Yinzuo said to the Fifth Prince: "I won't go fishing this time. The fish is not tasty."
Yinzuo thought for a moment and said, "I don't know what it's like on the roof. I've long wanted to climb up on the roof and lie down."
The Fifth Prince opened his eyes slightly, his voice weakened, and he began to stutter: "Don't, don't."
Yinzuo: "Let's move the ladder, just be careful." Yinzuo is quite safety conscious.
The Fifth Prince said weakly, "Father, Father Emperor."
Yinzuo: "Yes, it's just right when the Emperor is not in the palace." Why is his fifth brother still so timid? He is afraid of this just by thinking about it.
The Fifth Prince looked like he was about to cry, and said to Yinzuo in a voice so low that it was almost inaudible, "The Emperor is right behind you."
Yinzuo was stunned and frightened. At this moment, he and his fifth brother were practicing archery together. They were just chatting, intimate conversations between brothers. Why would his royal father eavesdrop on their conversation?
Yinzuo turned his head and looked at his father's dark face. He was neither justified nor confident, and stammered to his father, "Think about it, just think about it."
(End of this chapter)
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