Chapter 76
Yinzuo's illness was slowly and steadily improving, and the atmosphere in the palace finally eased. Everyone thought they could finally wait for the New Year in peace and contentment, but unexpectedly, another big event happened before the New Year.
The Imperial Concubine died of illness.
When the Imperial Noble Consort passed away, all the princes, princesses and concubines in the harem had to attend the funeral rites. However, because Yinzuo was ill, Kangxi issued a separate decree and he did not have to show up.
Defei knelt in the crowd, lowered her head with a faint smile in her eyes. The emperor's order was good. Not to mention that Yinzuo was still weak, even if Yinzuo could come now, she would vomit to death if she asked Yinzuo to kneel down to the murderer.
In the past, the Imperial Noble Concubine was wary of the Fourth Prince’s contact with her, and Concubine De treated her like that and didn’t hate her. But this time, after the Sixth Prince’s incident, things were different. She felt that it was a good thing for this woman to die.
Even when he was sick, he didn't do any good deeds for himself, and he had bad intentions towards his little Xiaoliu. Now what happened is that God has opened his eyes.
I heard that when she was about to die, she finally called the emperor to see her before her death. It must have been an uncomfortable feeling at that time, ha, she deserved it!
Concubine De knelt among the crowd, feeling very happy.
The Fourth Prince, who was kneeling on the other side, had a stiff, numb and even dazed expression. Although he was not the Imperial Noble Consort's biological son, they had been in a relationship of mother and son for more than ten years, and the Imperial Noble Consort had only thought about and protected him in the palace. He had not yet repaid the kindness of her upbringing, and now he was about to be separated from her forever.
The Fourth Prince knelt in the cold winter day, feeling an empty and confused feeling in his heart.
Because of the Imperial Noble Consort's funeral, there is still no joy in the palace this year.
However, he secretly gave Yinzuo the large amount of New Year's money that the Fifth Prince had promised.
Yinzuo counted the silver coins and ingots and exclaimed, "Fifth brother, you have a lot of money."
The Fifth Prince raised his chin and said, "That's right." The Queen Mother loved him and would give him money in private.
The Fifth Prince even looked down on Yinzuo: "None of my brothers is as poor as you." The main reason was that Yinzuo loved to go out before, and once he went out, he had to spend money, so he couldn't save any money.
But after Fifth Prince said this, he hurriedly said, "Don't even think about asking me for it again. I've put most of my savings in here for you."
The Fifth Prince even whined and said, "Little Nine doesn't even have one, so don't tell anyone else." It must be that Yinzuo suffered a great punishment this time, otherwise he would not have been willing to let him go.
"Most of it was given to me as New Year's money? Fifth brother is so good to me." Yinzuo said with a smile: "Thank you, fifth brother. I will buy you something nice in the future."
While Yinzuo and the fifth prince were talking, the fourth prince Yinzhen came over. Upon hearing him coming, Yinzuo and the fifth prince Yinqi stopped talking and laughing at the same time.
Yinzuo hasn't seen the Fourth Prince for a long time, probably more than ten days. He heard from his Seventh Brother and others that the Fourth Prince talks even less now.
Yinzuo looked at his fourth brother who walked in and found that he had lost weight. Yinzuo: "...Fourth brother, my condolences." He had nothing else to say about the death of the Imperial Noble Consort, just these two words.
The Fourth Prince hummed. The Imperial Noble Consort realized that Huifei Soetu and the others were trying to harm Yinzuo, and she watched coldly, hoping to take advantage of the situation. This was an awkward topic between the Fourth Prince and Yinzuo, and no one wanted to talk about it.
The Fourth Prince came here just to show some concern and visit Yinzuo. He asked if Yinzuo had walked around for a while and how his meal was going.
He is quite taciturn and has a serious face, which makes people feel unhappy.
Yinzuo looked at him and said, "Take care of yourself too."
"Fourth brother looks thinner."
The Fourth Prince nodded: "Yes, I know."
The Fourth Prince didn't stay for long and left after a while.
The Fifth Prince and Yinzuo said, "It seems that our Fourth Prince's temper is getting colder and colder."
One month after the Imperial Noble Consort was buried, Kangxi issued an edict that the Fourth Prince return to the side of Consort De. The Fourth Prince is eleven years old this year. He is not too old, but not too young either. It is better to have a mother to care for him, but the prince who has already lived in the Prince Residence can actually do it on his own.
The key point is that although they are biological mother and son, the relationship between them is really cold and awkward.
The first time the Fourth Prince went to pay his respects to Concubine De's palace, the two of them were almost in silence, even worse than a non-biological mother and son.
The Fourth Prince bowed and called "mother". Concubine De responded and then said that if there was anything missing, she could let her know. The Emperor asked her to look after her, but after all, you were grown up and lived with the princes, so there was only so much she could do.
The Fourth Prince said yes, and then said that he was doing well in the Prince's Residence and there was no need for his mother to worry.
There was nothing else to talk about between the two of them. They felt like worse than strangers. There was not even a polite smile. It was so awkward.
Now that the Imperial Noble Consort is no longer around, it feels even worse than when the Imperial Noble Consort was around and the two of them occasionally met.
The Fourth Prince bowed again and said, "Then I will not bother you any more. Yinzhen takes his leave."
After the Fourth Prince left, the nanny looked at the indifferent face of Consort De and said, "Your Majesty, now that the Imperial Noble Consort is no longer in the middle, the Fourth Prince is your biological son after all, why don't you be more friendly to him?"
"It also helps to cultivate the relationship between mother and child."
De Fei said, "I feel uncomfortable when I think of that woman. She didn't let me contact Yinzhen, but I didn't offend her, did I? I don't owe her anything, do I? She still wants to harm my Yinzuo."
"Anyway, I feel unhappy when I think of her, and I can't feel warm to Yinzhen either."
"And the boy has deep feelings for that woman. The woman underground is the mother in his mind."
Defei never thought that her son would come back one day, but she found it difficult to have maternal love for this strange son. The feeling was completely different from when she thought of Yinzuo.
The fourth prince Yinzhen returned to his own courtyard. He actually felt that the emperor's actions were unnecessary. He had seen Concubine De's motherly love for Yinzuo and the little princess, but she was only cold to him.
Sometimes the Fourth Prince would doubt whether the fact that he was born to Concubine De was true or not, because he did not feel that he was special to Concubine De in any way.
Fortunately, he had no expectations.
After the Fourth Prince returned to his own courtyard, he practiced a few more pages of calligraphy. After finishing the practice, he felt calm and at ease again.
.
Yinzuo leaned closer to his mother and asked, "Is fourth brother back?"
Concubine De: "What do you mean your fourth brother is back?"
Yinzuo smiled and said, "Isn't Fourth Brother my biological brother from the same mother? That's why he's back." Yinzuo didn't think as much as Concubine De and the Fourth Prince. He simply thought it was a happy thing.
Defei looked at the smile on Yinzuo's face and said, "Aren't you closest to your eldest brother and the crown prince? I think your relationship with the fourth prince is just like that."
Speaking of the eldest prince and the crown prince, Concubine De has another heart attack. Now Concubine De dislikes the eldest prince, the crown prince and the fourth prince. She thinks the seventh prince, who she played with when they were young, is better. It makes people feel at ease to play with him. The seventh prince's mother, Dai Jia, is also a timid person who doesn't think much.
As for the others, in Concubine De's opinion, one has to be more careful when dealing with them.
Yinzuo and Defei said: "No, my fourth brother and I are also very close."
Defei asked Yinzuo, "Are you happy?"
Yinzuo: "It should be mother who is happy." Yinzuo paused and asked: "Is mother not happy that fourth brother is back?"
However, Defei was not willing to express her complicated feelings towards the Fourth Prince in front of Yinzuo. She had long thought that this son had been given away for life, and his return did not make her feel happy.
Under her son's gaze, Concubine De said, "I'm happy."
Yinzuo also told Concubine De: "Fourth brother may not be able to adapt and feel uncomfortable. Mother, we have to understand."
"The Imperial Concubine just passed away not long ago. Fourth Brother has been in a bad mood recently. Mother and I will not misunderstand you. Please pay more attention to Fourth Brother during this period."
"Mother, do you think we should prepare a welcome gift for Fourth Brother? I can't do anything else right now, how about making him a paper rabbit?"
Concubine De: "...Why did you give him a rabbit?"
Yinzuo blinked and said, "Because my son only knows how to fold rabbits." He had used this trick to appease many of his brothers and sisters in the palace, and it worked very well.
I just don’t know if it will work on a grown-up kid like my fourth brother.
Yinzuo and Defei said, "Mother, why don't you make a pair of warm gloves for Fourth Brother? The pair that Mother made for me is very comfortable for my son to use."
Concubine De: “…” Not really.
Concubine De said, "You have made clear arrangements for your mother. Your mother will handle it herself. Didn't you say last time that it was inconvenient to put on and take off your shoes? Mother is thinking of making you some new soft-soled shallow-mouth shoes. They are not waterproof or windproof. Wearing them outside will make your feet cold, but they are convenient to wear indoors."
Yinzuo smiled at Concubine De: "My son just said that, but mother is already thinking about it."
"Mother is so good to her son."
"Thank you, mother."
When Defei left Yinzuo's place, Yinzuo said regretfully that his fourth brother was in the study at that hour, otherwise his mother could have seen him.
Defei and Yinzuo said that Yinzhen had paid his respects to them, but of course they omitted the awkwardness between the two of them, which was so awkward that they were worse than strangers.
I just told Yinzuo to worry less, as he was already nagging at such a young age.
After Defei left, Yinzuo was still a little depressed, and complained to Ah Fu, who was now serving him again, "Am I, your master, so long-winded?"
Ah Fu smiled and said, "A little bit."
Yinzuo: “…”Okay, he won’t be so long-winded anymore.
.
The Fourth Prince was a little confused when he received the paper rabbit. He originally thought it had some meaning, but when he heard that it was sent by the Sixth Prince, he was not so surprised anymore and immediately realized that it had no meaning.
The fourth prince looked at the little rabbit for a while and asked, "Do the eldest brother and the others have it?"
Liu Xiang, who was beside the Fourth Prince, said, "The eldest prince and the others didn't have any, so they only gave them to you, the master."
Did you just give it to him?
The Fourth Prince twirled the paper rabbit in his hand, wondering if it was because the Emperor had ordered him to return to Concubine De to express his friendship to him?
The Fourth Prince placed the little rabbit on the desk.
Although they were born of the same mother, Yinzuo enjoyed the endless love of Concubine De, and the Imperial Noble Concubine was also blamed by the Emperor for his last days before his death. Although he knew that Yinzuo was innocent, the Fourth Prince actually had a gap and even resentment towards his brother Yinzuo.
However, the Fourth Prince fiddled with the little rabbit on the table and thought of the pair of eyes that told him to take good care of it, and he still felt close to it.
Liu Xiang thought for a moment and said, "Oh, right. The fifth princess, the sixth princess, the seventh princess and the other little princesses also have the little rabbits that the sixth prince gave them."
The Fourth Prince paused as he was fingering the little rabbit's hand.
Liu Xiang: “…”
Did he say something wrong?
Liu Xiang thought for a moment and added, "But those were all given by the Sixth Prince in the past."
"This time I only gave it to you, my master."
"The older brothers are only owned by you, the master."
The Fourth Prince completely withdrew his hand from playing with the little rabbit. The more Liu Xiang talked, the more he was wrong.
After Yinzuo heard his mother say that she would handle it, he stopped nagging her about his fourth brother. He didn't even know whether his mother had made any protective gloves for his fourth brother.
As for Yinzuo, the warm soft-soled shallow-mouth shoes were quickly made by Defei, which were convenient and comfortable for him to wear in the house.
The shoes were so shallow that the backs of the shoes were almost gone. They were easy to put on and take off, but they looked a bit weird. They made a clattering sound when Yinzuo put them on.
When Yinzuo saw his fourth brother looking at his shoes, his brows slightly frowned, and he hurriedly walked properly and spoke in a low voice.
His fourth brother was also a very conservative person. Yinzuo returned to the bed and carefully said to his fourth brother: "It's easy to put on and take off, and it's comfortable to wear."
The Fourth Prince finally relaxed his brows, hummed, and didn't say anything about the weird shoes.
Anyway, my sixth brother never goes out and never meets outsiders.
If you are not feeling well, it is okay to just be more comfortable in front of your own people.
Seeing Yinzuo looking at him, the Fourth Prince was not so happy. Was he that kind of harsh and pedantic person?
Yinzuo was not as casual and natural with him as he was with the eldest prince and the crown prince.
The Fourth Prince feels a little unwell.
Speaking of which, logically speaking, his relationship with Yinzuo should be even closer.
The Fourth Prince pursed his lips, thinking that he was not as good at playing and talking as the Eldest Prince and the Crown Prince. Others said that he had a colder personality, but the Sixth Brother never minded his silence.
The sixth brother is indeed close to him, but compared with the eldest prince and the crown prince, there seems to be a big gap.
He was definitely not jealous, that was not the case at all.
That’s right, I just feel that, doesn’t Sixth Brother now know that they are brothers from the same mother?
They should probably be closer.
(End of this chapter)
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