Chapter 47
Yinzuo didn't understand: "Why don't you want to leave the palace?"
Seventh Prince Yinyou would find it difficult to speak to other people, but to his sixth brother, who grew up with him, Yinyou could say it even though it was difficult.
Yinyou lowered his head and said, "I am different from others."
Different? Yinzuo didn't react to what his seventh brother was talking about for a moment. It took him a while to finally realize what his seventh brother was referring to.
When the seventh brother was born, his foot was deformed and he walked with a limp, but other than this difference, there was no other impact and he had forgotten about it.
The Seventh Prince said to Yinzuo, "You will be laughed at and embarrassed."
The Seventh Prince had always been very careful to make his limp not obvious, but it was still visible.
Yinzuo frowned: "No way!" Yinzuo was a little angry. Even if it was the Seventh Prince who said this, he was still angry and unhappy.
After all, the Seventh Prince was a master in the palace, so Yinzuo had never heard anyone make fun of him for this. He was very resistant when he heard this: "Why is it embarrassing? My brother is so outstanding!"
"I taught him to walk and watched him grow up!"
"No one dares to laugh at me!"
"I will beat up anyone who laughs at you."
Yinzuo didn't know what to say. No matter what he said, it was not enough to express his feelings. He felt very uncomfortable. He went forward and hugged the Seventh Prince, patted him, and apologized to him: "I'm sorry."
The Seventh Prince was stunned for a moment. The person who was hugging him was hugging him very tightly, and the low self-esteem and resentment suppressed in his heart were about to be shattered. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Why are you apologizing to me? It's not your fault."
Yinzuo touched the Seventh Prince's head and said in a self-blaming voice: "I didn't notice this and didn't know you were sad."
Well, actually, Seventh Prince's lameness does not have any impact on his life. Everyone has gotten used to it. Sixth Brother is not such a delicate and sensitive person, so it is normal that he didn't expect it.
The Seventh Prince smiled again, this time with a gentle smile. He said to Yinzuo, "I would prefer you to treat me normally."
Yinzuo said hurriedly: "Brother, don't be sad. Brother has done nothing shameful. Brother is good at riding and archery, and is also good at learning and writing. Brother is a very good brother."
The voice of this little Sixth Brother is very gentle and firm, and he is also very warm. The affirmation from others can shatter one's own hesitation. Although the Seventh Prince works hard, he has always been inferior.
The Seventh Prince smiled and said, "Okay, I know." He felt that the one who was frightened and panicked now was the Sixth Brother who was hugging him tightly.
Yinzuo slowly let go of the Seventh Prince, carefully looked at his face, and found that he was fine.
The Seventh Prince said to Yinzuo again: "Go back and go to bed early. I have nothing to do here."
But Yinzuo couldn't move. It would be fine if his seventh brother didn't go out of the palace to play because of illness, but the reality was that his seventh brother said that he would be laughed at and embarrassed. He felt upset and couldn't bear to leave his seventh brother alone.
Yinzuo hesitated and took the Seventh Prince's hand and said, "Do you want to go out together tomorrow? No one will laugh at you. If anyone laughs at you, I will beat him up."
"I can't beat him, but there is still the Emperor. The Emperor can beat him."
The Seventh Prince's eyes flickered. He was worried about the strange looks he would get from the outside world, and even more worried that the Emperor would think he was embarrassed. The Emperor probably didn't want to take him out, but since they were all together, he didn't ask to leave him out alone.
So it's good for everyone if he stays in the palace, right?
But his sixth brother, who grew up with him, looked at him with clear and moist eyes, worried about him.
"I……"
Yin Zuo: "It is said that the streets outside will be very lively, with people who can breathe fire and bets on boat races. It should be very interesting to go and see it with your own eyes. What others do is not as important as your own happiness."
The Seventh Prince had only gone out with everyone else to escape the summer heat. He had never experienced hiding his identity and watching the bustling street scenes. Although the children in the palace were precocious and good at self-suppression, weren't they curious and yearning for it?
Of course the Seventh Prince also wanted to go out and take a look. How could it be pleasant to be left alone in the palace?
The Seventh Prince was deeply shaken. He heard himself say, "Then I will come with you?"
Yinzuo hurriedly said: "Together, together."
The Seventh Prince lowered his eyes. He also wanted to know what the Emperor would do tomorrow. Would he think that his son with a foot disease was embarrassing him?
When the Seventh Prince once again told Yinzuo to go back to bed early, Yinzuo suddenly said, "Brother, I will sleep here with you today."
On a whim, Yinzuo thought this was a good idea, and suddenly thought of a word, and said to the Seventh Prince: "This is called sleeping with feet touching each other. Good brothers should sleep with feet touching each other." Then he ran to the Seventh Prince's bed and said: "I've washed up, you should go and wash up too."
Seeing his sixth brother's enthusiastic look, the Seventh Prince shook his head, but he had been close to his sixth brother since childhood and was used to his sixth brother's playful and mischievous nature. When he heard his sixth brother said he wanted to stay overnight, he did not object.
He just said, "Can you get used to sleeping on a mattress that is not as comfortable as yours?"
His sixth brother was raised by Concubine De and became famously spoiled. The bedding he used on his bed was not those provided by the elder brothers, but was softer and warmer.
Yinzuo himself did not feel that he was being squeamish. He quickly climbed onto the Seventh Prince's bed, rolled over excitedly, and said, "Yes, yes."
Wow, it’s good to have good education. He didn’t even know there was such a thing as sleeping with feet touching each other. He wants to try it.
Yinzuo urged the Seventh Prince: "Hurry up, hurry up."
She also said to the Seventh Prince: "When you were a little baby, I sang songs for you to put you to sleep."
The Seventh Prince's mouth twitched: "What little darling? Sixth Brother is not even one year older than me." The word "little darling" is embarrassing to him. But his mother said that when he was very young, Sixth Brother often came to see him and fed him.
Yinzuo said: "Anyway, he is older than you, so he is your brother, and you are my precious brother."
The Seventh Prince blushed with embarrassment. He was originally in a complicated mood today, and he couldn't calm down even after they decided to leave the palace together tomorrow. He felt uneasy and expectant at the same time, but now those emotions were disturbed by his Sixth Brother.
This sixth brother of his often makes people unable to control themselves when he opens his mouth.
The Seventh Prince quickly washed up and lay down on the bed: "Sleep, sleep."
The Seventh Prince was worried about Yinzuo again: "Is it okay?"
Yinzuo: “Not bad.”
Seventh Prince: "Then cover yourself up." The weather is warmer now, and everyone will not feel cold with a quilt, but the Seventh Prince still asked his Sixth Brother if he wanted another quilt. He knew that his Sixth Brother was not in good health.
Yinzuo: "It's covered, warm."
"Brother, sleep with your feet touching each other." Yinzuo tried hard to stretch his feet out from under his quilt, wanting to touch feet with those of the Seventh Prince.
The Seventh Prince's expression was indescribable. Why are you still going to be so honest?
But the Seventh Prince looked at Yinzuo trying to stretch his feet out with a look of pure interest on his face and a hint of tenderness in his eyes.
In fact, he was very sensitive about his feet and felt inferior, but it was obvious that his Sixth Brother had forgotten about it. The Seventh Prince also didn't want his Sixth Brother to find out about his sensitiveness and inferiority, so with an indulgent mentality, he also longed to stretch out his feet.
He himself did not expect that this action was not as difficult as he thought, nor did he feel any embarrassment or inferiority. He could not help but smile when he heard his sixth brother: "Wow, is this what it means to sleep with your feet together?"
After touching his feet, the Seventh Prince didn't want to continue this silly thing of sleeping with his feet outside, so he took his feet back and said to his Sixth Brother, "Cover yourself up, be careful of catching a cold, you can't go out to play tomorrow."
As soon as he was told that he couldn't go out to play tomorrow, Yinzuo obediently retracted his feet, but he didn't want to sleep like this. He wanted to talk to his seventh brother, talk about what to buy tomorrow, and wonder if they could go boating too...
The Seventh Prince also answered Yinzuo's words, and they both fell asleep gradually. The Seventh Prince thought that he would toss and turn and have trouble falling asleep tonight, but in fact he slept soundly. The next day, they both woke up early. Yinzuo said he would change his clothes and go out of the palace to play.
The clothes they were to wear today must not reveal their status as princes. Yinzuo checked the silver and copper coins he had brought with him, and then hurried to call his brothers, fearing that any of them would dawdle and waste time.
Today was the Dragon Boat Festival, and Kangxi did not have to attend the morning court. However, it was just daybreak outside, and he had just practiced his boxing and reading some memorials when he heard some noise outside. He was actually blocked by a group of his sons early in the morning.
The prince was embarrassed, but Yinzuo insisted on sending people here, saying that it would be a big loss if they were late.
The prince spoke up amid the expectant gazes of everyone who entrusted him with an important task: "Father, can you please change your clothes and then we can leave the palace?"
Kangxi was speechless with these impatient guys and said, "I have never seen you guys so impatient when doing other things. It's not even time for breakfast."
Isn't it anxious? Yinzuo interrupted and said, "Father, let's go out for breakfast. We haven't had breakfast outside yet."
As they wished, Kangxi changed his clothes and took them out.
Kangxi was followed by a string of boys, but there was no need to give them many instructions, as none of these sons would run around, except for one who was looking around.
The ignorant Eighth and Seventh Princes thought that there would be few people on the street in the morning, but the morning market was lively, with all kinds of hawking and voices interweaving together. Men, women, old and young, dressed in all kinds of clothes were crowded on the street. They saw steaming buns from steamers, fried dough sticks, fried sugar cakes, meat soup, people selling all kinds of jewelry and sachets, and people selling piles of flowered cloth...
Everything they saw before their eyes was a bustle and bustle of market life that none of the princes had ever seen before. They were all looking at it with great ignorance, as if they had suddenly entered another world.
Oh, except for one person. Yinzuo accepted it faster than his brothers. Don't just watch. Yinzuo stood in front of the fried dough sticks stall and said, "I want one!"
"No, I want it..." Yinzuo turned around: "Father, do you want it?"
The prince shook his head. How can I eat this? There is no place to eat. Should I stand and eat? Or should I eat at the small table over there with those people? The prince frowned.
Kangxi walked over and pulled Yinzuo back a little. Standing so close to the oil pan, he was not afraid of the hot oil splashing on him.
Kangxi: "Let's take this one first." He said to Yinzuo: "I'll take you to eat first."
Although these people find the morning market novel, no one can stand eating on the street, excluding those who want to take a bite of the fried dough stick as soon as they receive it.
It’s not that the palace doesn’t have fried dough sticks, but they always want to taste the ones fresh out of the pot. They eat them while walking on the street, blowing air on them. The prince can’t help but ask him, “He Gong, how about the ones at home?”
Yinzuo: “It tastes better!”
The eldest prince who was listening on the side didn't believe it. How could the food outside be as delicious as the ones cooked by the imperial chefs in the palace?
Yinzuo saw that the man selling beef soup could no longer walk.
Kangxi brought the person over and said, "Everything will be available soon. Let's go to the restaurant to eat."
Yinzuo: "Does the store have them? All the ones on this street? And that one, that pancake looks delicious, but I don't know what it's called. I'll go ask."
Kangxi stopped the man and said, "Can we ask people to buy what we don't have? Do you still want to go shopping with a bowl of meat soup?"
Okay, Yinzuo has been good.
But he still couldn't help looking around, and it wasn't just him, all the princes did the same.
Amid the hustle and bustle, Yinzuo suddenly moved his little ears. The child's crying was quite penetrating and attracted him to look over.
Don't worry, there was no tragedy. It was just a kid getting beaten by his father.
Yinzuo listened and had no other thoughts. The child was crying because he was greedy for the spicy rabbit meat. His father refused to buy it for him, and throwing a tantrum was useless, so he just beat the child.
揍小孩这种事情，小孩子可不喜欢看，让人同病相怜，正被康熙给揪住的胤祚，小眼神瞄了一眼康熙，嘟囔道：“当爹的怎么都这么爱打小孩？”
So when can the child beat the father? When he grows up to be as old as his father? Yinzuo thought unbalancedly.
Kangxi had no idea of the rebellious thoughts in Yinzuo's mind. He glanced at Yinzuo and said, "Look at other children who are disobedient. What do their fathers do?"
Kangxi was a very self-righteous father and he usually didn't beat his children.
Yinzuo smiled like a flower: "Of course my son's father is the best father in the world. How can he be the same as others?"
The sound of the child howling over there was heartbreaking. Yinzuo touched his purse and said to his royal father, "Father, my son has brought money!" He had considered everything very carefully and did not have to roll around and cry like that little kid to ask his father to buy him things.
He is so smart!
Yinzuo's smug look with his chest puffed out made Kangxi instantly understand what he meant. He tapped him on the forehead. If he hit this guy, it would not be because of money.
"Ama, Ama, let's eat that rabbit head too."
“I have money!”
Kangxi: "Oh, would you like to have some for me, Father?"
Yinzuo nodded: "Okay!"
"Where are your elder brother and younger brother?"
Yinzuo: "Of course you can."
Yinzuo asked everyone what they wanted to eat, and no one had any objections, so they just followed his lead. They soon arrived at a restaurant, which was also noisy and bustling, but it was much better when they went up to the second floor and entered the private room.
The Crown Prince and the eldest prince breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that a place like this was more comfortable.
They brought the menu. There were so many of them, so they ordered everything they had never eaten before. Of course, Yinzuo had not forgotten the things he had seen on the street, so he asked people to buy them all.
When Kangxi brought his sons out, he of course arranged for people to protect them. Not only did they do a good job of protecting them, they were also quick in buying things. When the food from the restaurant was brought over, they also bought back various breakfast foods from the street outside.
The eldest prince believes that the imperial meals in the palace must be more delicious than the meals outside the palace. In fact, this is not so true. There are many rules in the palace, and all kinds of heavy flavors are not allowed. The dishes outside the palace have a different taste from those in the palace.
The spicy rabbit head that made the children cry was also delicious to Yinzuo, but he was not used to spicy food so he didn't dare to eat too much. As for the mutton soup, although the fishy smell was not so removed, it still had its own unique freshness and fragrance. However, Kangxi insisted that the stinky tofu be taken out.
Yinzuo felt sorry that he hadn’t tasted it yet!
They had a very long breakfast, but everyone was very happy. After the meal, of course they had to pay the bill. Yinzuo took out his purse and said he would treat his father and brothers to a meal!
But there is not enough money!
Yinzuo's eyes widened: "Impossible! I've asked around, things outside are very cheap, don't lie to me."
The waiter bowed and said, "We are a century-old brand. We do honest business and never cheat our customers."
"Young Master, we use the finest ingredients here, and we have spent a lot of money to hire the best chefs, so it is more expensive than other places, but there is a reason for it. Not only is the food delicious, but our environment is also great. You can see that the back is facing the lake and you can enjoy the view from the window. This is one of the best places to dine in the capital."
The waiter had a very good attitude, because everyone present looked extraordinary and they would not be the ones who could not afford to pay him. Moreover, the one who came out was such a young boy, which made him look funny.
So he was not worried at all that this table of people would not pay for their meal at the restaurant.
But the waiter said so many things in a very nice manner, and Yinzuo could only draw one conclusion from what he heard, which was that he didn't have enough money and couldn't pay the bill!
He tilted his little face and looked at his royal father.
Kangxi smiled and said, "Why don't we use you to wash dishes here? The wages from washing dishes can cover our meal expenses."
The other princes lowered their heads and held back their laughter, thinking, who let this kid brag about being rich in front of the Emperor?
Now I have become poor.
(End of this chapter)
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