Chapter 39
Yinzuo walked back slowly, taking three steps at a time. The Fourth Prince had already walked for a long while when he turned around and saw that he was still crawling like a turtle behind him, he almost turned back to pull him over.
The dejected boy looked so pitiful, which made people angry and funny.
The Fourth Prince endured it and finally went to the study room first.
When Yinzuo returned to his seat and picked up the brush to practice calligraphy again, he felt that the look in the master's eyes in the study room seemed as if he wanted to tell on someone.
I sat in the study room all morning, and had a horse riding and archery class in the afternoon. It was finally a bit more relaxing than in the morning, and it was okay to talk to everyone. Yinzuo took a small bow and arrow, and the Seventh Prince taught Yinzuo hand in hand.
The horse riding and archery class ended not too late, but I still had a lot of homework to do when I got home.
As they were walking on the road, Ah Fu told Yin Zuo about the Eighth Prince asking him for his cloak. Yin Zuo suddenly realized, "It turned out to be the Eighth Brother."
Yinzuo did not return to the prince's residence first, but went to his mother's place first. His mother and his sister were already waiting for him.
Defei was very concerned about his first day of class. Actually, if Yinzuo told him about the learning content, he was not opposed to it, but he got up too early and was not allowed to take a break.
Yinzuo lifted his sleeve to show Concubine De his wrist, on which were still marked the marks from pinching himself to resist sleepiness.
Defei felt extremely distressed: "You got up too early." But Defei could only complain with Yinzuo. No matter how much favored the emperor was, Defei could not say anything about this matter.
Defei and Yinzuo stood in the same line: "Yes, it's so uncomfortable to sit there all the time."
The little princess listened for a long time and said to Yinzuo: "No!"
It's impossible not to go.
Yinzuo returned to the courtyard of the prince's residence, opened the book, picked up the pen and dipped it in ink, and started doing his homework.
Before he had written two words, someone came. It was the Eighth Prince.
The two of them are now at the same learning pace, and the Eighth Prince said, "Sixth Brother, I'll do my homework with you."
Yinzuo: "Okay."
They not only learned Chinese, but also Manchu and Mongolian. They did their homework one by one. Yinzuo was writing, then turned around and compared his eighth brother's writing with the ink ball, and said, "Our writing is equally ugly."
Eighth Prince: "...it will look better if we write more in the future."
Yinzuo nodded and practiced Mongolian and Manchu with the Eighth Prince.
While they were doing their homework, they had freshly baked hot cakes and delicious drinks. Yinzuo would even pull the Eighth Prince up and walk around.
Yinzuo was quite impressed when chatting with the Eighth Prince: "Eighth brother, weren't you sleepy when you were in the study? Thanks to you for calling me, otherwise I would have fallen asleep under the master's nose. You also covered me with a cloak and prevented me from falling into the porridge bowl."
As Yinzuo spoke, he counted one, two, three on his fingers, and became more and more ashamed: "I am the elder brother, and I should take care of my younger brother."
The Eighth Prince smiled, his smile as gentle as the warm breeze: "Sixth Brother, you are too serious. It's just a small matter."
But Yinzuo still felt guilty. He picked up the hawthorn honey drink and handed it to his eighth brother: "Eighth brother, try it and see if you like it. It tastes sour and sweet."
The Eighth Prince quickly reached out to take it and drank it himself, while Yinzuo picked up a piece of chestnut cake and handed it to him, saying, "It tastes especially good with the chestnut cake."
The Eighth Prince didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He bit the chestnut cake handed to him, then took it with his hand and said to his Sixth Brother, "I can do it myself."
Yinzuo once again asked in admiration: "Can you get up in the morning? Are you not sleepy at all?"
The Eighth Prince would not sleep until dawn like Yinzuo before entering the study. He would get up earlier, but not as early as today, so he was also woken up from his sleep today. However, he felt much better after washing his face with cold water.
As for the daytime, there were times when he felt tired and listless. The Eighth Prince looked at Yin Zuo holding a cup and drinking sweet and sour tea until his eyes narrowed slightly. His eyes flickered. He was different from the beloved Sixth Prince. He would never let himself fall asleep in the study.
The Eighth Prince glanced at the furnishings in Yinzuo's room. Although they were all residences of princes and they had moved in on the same day, they were very different.
The two of them took a break and continued to do their homework. At the end, Yinzuo felt sleepy again. He rubbed his eyes and insisted on finishing it, but he planned to go to bed after finishing it. He even lost interest in the dinner he had originally planned to make up for, but he resisted the sleepiness and said to the Eighth Prince: "Eighth brother, you can do whatever you want here. I am your brother, don't be polite to me. You can stay here and have another meal before going back."
Yinzuo's eyes were filled with tears: "I won't accompany you anymore. I'm going to sleep."
How could you just leave someone behind and go to sleep?
His sixth brother is quite casual.
But maybe it's because he doesn't treat us as outsiders.
The Eighth Prince stopped the person who wanted to go to sleep and said gently, "Sixth Brother, you should go to bed later."
"Otherwise you will wake up after sleeping for a while, and you will not be able to fall asleep at night, and you will not be able to get up tomorrow morning, and you will feel sleepy during the day."
Yinzuo blinked hard: "I just ate something and drank some water, and now I feel sleepy."
The Eighth Prince thought for a while and said, "Then how about I play tossing pot with Sixth Brother? Maybe Sixth Brother won't feel sleepy after playing for a while." The Eighth Prince patiently persuaded in such a kind voice.
Yinzuo shook his head and suddenly felt that the younger brother in front of him was more like his brother than he was. This made him feel embarrassed. Ah, this won’t do. Yinzuo pinched his wrist again: "Oh, okay, I’m not sleepy now."
"Eighth brother, play pot tossing with me."
After Yinzuo stood up, he added: "I am the elder brother, I have to take care of my younger brother."
The Eighth Prince smiled.
It was noticed that every time they got together, the spoiled Sixth Prince would always look at his younger brothers and sisters. This brother, who was only one year older than him, would check on each of them like an old hen looking at her chicks.
But in fact, there are many people who can be brothers in the palace, and the brothers are not that close to each other.
The Eighth Prince glanced at Yinzuo, who was walking unsteadily, and thought that although this man was his sixth brother, every time they were together he always felt that this man was much more childish than himself.
When Yinzuo held the chips for pitching pots, he finally perked up and said to the Eighth Prince, "I've been playing pitching pots since I was a little over a year old, and I'm pretty good at it!"
The Eighth Prince nodded and followed Yin Zuo's words, "Yeah, very impressive."
After playing so much, Yinzuo's throwing accuracy is indeed quite good. He raised his chin and said to the Eighth Prince: "Come on, you try it, let me see how you play?"
The Eighth Prince didn’t play as much as Yinzuo, so he couldn’t compare to him in this regard.
Yinzuo was proud. Today, there was finally something that made him feel like a big brother. He smiled at the Eighth Prince and said, "I'll tell you the secret. I won't keep it from you!" Now he was no longer sleepy.
As the two were playing like this, the Third Prince came over, and then the Seventh Prince also came over. They both had played together with Yinzuo since childhood, and they came over to take a look after finishing their own homework.
Later, the eldest prince also came, and when he arrived, he asked the small kitchen to cook him a bowl of noodles.
Later, the Fifth Prince also came over. Even the Fourth Prince, who had originally wanted to avoid Yinzuo, heard the noise here. He also heard the eunuchs around him go out to inquire and come back to say that everyone was over there. After thinking about it, he also went to Yinzuo's side - everyone was there, and his absence made him more conspicuous.
With so many people gathered here, the food prepared by the small kitchen was not enough. However, the eldest prince took the lead in suggesting eating noodles and cooked some noodles for others, so everyone ate happily.
Yinzuo ate his meal with a smile and felt that living in the prince's residence was not bad.
The Eighth Prince was sitting in the midst of all the excitement, his eyes flickering slightly. So many people were gathered here, and so many people were close to him, the Sixth Brother. Wasn't it because the Emperor doted on him?
Is this closeness really as close as it seems? Is there any jealousy mixed in?
The emperor has many children, and when there is injustice, there will be discontent. When there is comparison, there will be jealousy.
Yinzuo stretched out his hand and waved it in front of the Eighth Prince who seemed dazed. "Ah, Eighth Brother, are you sleepy?" Yinzuo raised the end of his voice when he spoke, and he sounded quite happy.
The Eighth Prince smiled and said, "Not bad."
The Third Prince took the lead in talking about the things he had to endure when he first entered the Upper Study. He smiled as he recalled the past and said, "Oh, by the way, at that time, Sixth Brother said he wanted to accompany me to the Upper Study. I thought it was some fun place."
"How are you now? Do you regret it?"
Yinzuo: "I don't regret it either."
The others also talked about their own discomfort in the first few days after entering the Shangshufang, especially the Fifth Prince, who had a lot to complain about. Although the Empress Dowager was not as well-known for spoiling the Fifth Prince as Concubine De, the Mongolian Empress Dowager was also quite lenient in raising children of different generations. This could be seen from the fact that the Fifth Prince did not learn a single word before entering the Shangshufang.
Everyone said it, except the Fourth Prince. When everyone's eyes fell on the Fourth Prince, he hesitated for a moment and followed the crowd and said, "It's the same for me. I'm having difficulties too."
Yinzuo was satisfied, and so was everyone else.
The meal was over and we had almost finished chatting. The elder brother/younger brother had just moved in and they came to visit, so everyone gradually dispersed. It was time to go to bed early because we had to get up early tomorrow.
After a few days in the study, Yinzuo gradually adapted to the situation. The adaptation here refers to arriving at the study on time every day. His other brothers had arrived long before him and reviewed yesterday's lessons first. Only he came in at the same time as the master of the study every day. Although he was the first one to arrive this time, he still stood out.
Another reason is that he went to the toilet frequently and for a long time. Yinzuo did not stay in the toilet all the time, but he strolled back and forth to the toilet, and even took a break in the middle to look at the clouds or be in a daze for a while.
Then, Kangxi, the patriarch of the family, was reported to the master in the study.
Kangxi called Yinzuo over. At first, he ignored Yinzuo and continued to review his memorials, leaving Yinzuo there.
This was a kind of psychological pressure, but it was useless to Yinzuo. He even whispered to Liang Jiugong: "Will the Emperor take longer?"
"If it takes a long time, can Yinzuo wait outside?"
He wanted to take a look at the long swords of the guards outside.
This kid didn't realize at all that he had been sued or that he had made a mistake.
Kangxi looked up from his memorial and asked Yinzuo, "I heard from your teacher that you always go to the purification room?"
Speaking of this topic, Yinzuo's eyes flashed with guilt, but after the guilt flashed, he raised his head and said: "You can't stop your son from going to the toilet."
No.
Kangxi looked at him and said, "Then I'll ask the imperial physician to come and take a look at you. You go to the toilet so frequently and for such a long time. Is there something wrong with you?"
The imperial physician would definitely expose the truth once he came, so Yinzuo said with a grumble, "No, no need, Father."
Kangxi looked at his son who looked so well-behaved. Humph, he would not be deceived by his fairy-like appearance. Kangxi stared at his son until his head dropped down, and then he said: "Yinzuo, you are almost six years old, you are not a child anymore, you have to be more respectful."
This made Yinzuo's head droop even lower.
"Your two younger brothers are still in the study room with you. Don't they always say they are the older brothers?"
"Can you still uphold your brother's honor?"
Yinzuo blushed and couldn't raise his head. He attached great importance to his brother's status.
Kangxi, this bad father, made his son sad with just a few words.
After a while, Yinzuo said to Kangxi: "But it's boring to sit there and study all the time."
Kangxi said to Yinzuo: "How can it be boring? Isn't there Chinese, Mongolian, Manchu, Western learning, arithmetic, and even music, chess, calligraphy and painting for you?"
"After learning Chinese, I learn Mongolian to change my mind, then learn arithmetic to take a break, and then learn Western literature for fun. How come I get bored and tired?"
Yinzuo looked at Kangxi with his mouth wide open. "Take a break from studying arithmetic?" Is this a break? Is this a break? Is it to learn astronomy and calendar from Western studies for fun?
Yinzuo felt confused by his royal father's self-righteous attitude and always felt something was wrong.
Yin Zuo put this matter aside for now and talked about another point: "Can those who work in the upper study room for ten days or half a month have a day off? The masters in the upper study room are not beasts of burden, and we can't let them work too hard."
Kangxi said calmly: "You have only been in the study for less than ten days, and you have a lot of suggestions to make."
"Don't worry about your masters. Didn't you notice they are on rotation?"
Yinzuo: “…”
The masters in the upper study took turns, and the prince's students also wanted to take turns.
(End of this chapter)
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