The Fourteenth Prince and the Tenth Prince had always been close. Knowing that the Tenth Prince had feelings for Heyue and that the Thirteenth Prince was close to Heyue, the Fourteenth Prince wanted to stand up for the Tenth Prince.
Thirteen has always disliked the Tenth Prince's condescending attitude, while the Tenth Prince, seeing that Thirteen is young and easy to bully, spares no effort in bullying him. The two of them have grown increasingly incompatible.
When he was young, the thirteenth prince endured it all because he had a mother of high status. Even after his biological mother passed away, he still had Consort Yi to protect him and his maternal family to rely on. However, the thirteenth prince's biological mother was just a concubine without a title. Although Consort De treated him not coldly, she was not warm either.
If it weren't for my fourth brother protecting me when I was little, I don't know how badly I would have been bullied.
Now that this hothead dares to covet Heyue and even instigates the fourteenth brother to oppose him, how could the thirteenth brother possibly agree? Someone like him, what right does he have to say he likes Heyue? Does he even deserve her?!
Aside from having a mother of high status, what about him deserves special treatment?!
The Fourth Prince understood him and naturally stopped trying to persuade him.
The Thirteenth Prince got up and went out. He had just reached the tent entrance when he saw Li Shun'er running towards him, panting, "Master, Master, Thirteenth Prince!"
"What's the matter? Why are you in such a hurry?" The Thirteenth Prince frowned and scolded.
Li Shun'er took a breath, swallowed hard, blinked, and stood obediently: "Master, someone from the Emperor's side is looking for you!"
The Thirteenth Prince wondered, what could have happened so early in the morning?
With a sudden thought, the Thirteenth Prince hurriedly went to Kangxi's tent.
Fourth Prince also sensed that something was wrong and quickly got up to follow.
The thirteenth prince came out of the imperial tent in less than a quarter of an hour, but his face was ashen, his lips were trembling, and his steps were unsteady.
The Fourth Prince was standing not far away. Upon seeing this, he rushed over and grabbed the Thirteenth Prince's arm, his expression changing: "What happened?!"
The thirteenth prince stopped in his tracks, looked up at the fourth prince in a daze, his mouth trembling, and almost cried out: "Fourth...Fourth brother, Father Emperor wants me to return to the palace. He said...he said...Mother is gone!"
At this point, the Thirteenth Prince could no longer utter a word. He pushed away the Fourth Prince's hand and hurriedly ran outside.
The Fourth Prince's mind went blank, and he stood there, watching the Thirteenth Prince run away. At this moment, Wei Zhu came out, saw the Fourth Prince at a glance, breathed a sigh of relief and stepped forward: "Fourth Prince, the Emperor is worried that the Thirteenth Prince might have an accident on the way, so he asked you to accompany the Thirteenth Prince back to the capital and persuade him well."
The Fourth Prince frowned, hastily replied, and then chased after the Thirteenth Prince.
Traveling at breakneck speed, the Fourth Prince and the Thirteenth Prince returned to the Forbidden City on the evening of the sixth day and entered the palace without stopping.
Because she was only a concubine, everything in the palace remained as usual, except that a simple mourning hall was set up in the side hall of Yonghe Palace where Zhangjia lived.
Consort De and two other lower-ranking concubines were sitting inside Yonghe Palace. Consort De held a string of Buddhist prayer beads in her hand and looked exhausted.
Both the thirteenth and fifteenth princesses looked panicked and lowered their heads to sob.
The weary thirteenth prince entered and immediately knelt before the mourning hall, breathless.
Upon seeing their own brother, the two princesses rushed forward and embraced the thirteenth prince, their tears flowing even more fiercely.
"Thirteenth Brother, you're finally back! Mother's gone..."
The thirteenth prince looked at his two younger sisters who were hugging him and crying sadly. His bewildered and sorrowful gaze focused, and he suddenly realized that his mother was really gone. In this world, he and his two younger sisters were all left to depend on each other.
He was perfectly fine when he left the capital. Mother's health had always been good, so how could she just suddenly pass away? How could this happen?
But looking at the mourning hall in front of him, and his two younger sisters crying their eyes out, he couldn't convince himself that this was just a dream.
The Fourth Prince entered, first paying his respects to Consort De, then kneeling before the mourning hall and kowtowing three times. He offered a word of comfort and then reminded the Thirteenth Prince, "Thirteenth Brother, please accept my condolences and pay your respects to Mother."
The Thirteenth Prince lowered his head, suppressing his grief and refusing to let his tears fall. He turned around, knelt before Consort De, and kowtowed: "Your son greets Consort De. I have lost my composure today, please forgive me."
With a loving expression, Consort De helped the Thirteenth Prince up, her voice choked with emotion: "Good child, your mother's greatest concern before she passed away was for the three of you. Don't grieve too much and harm your health, lest you worry your mother."
"Thank you, Mother De." The Thirteenth Prince's eyes welled up with tears, and he finally couldn't hold back his grief, choking back a sob.
Consort De summoned palace servants and led the Fourth Prince and the Thirteenth Prince to the main hall to change their clothes before returning to the mourning hall to continue kneeling.
At this time, the princes who remained in the palace, including the crown prince, also came over.
Consort De was tired these days, and now she was being helped back to rest by the palace servants.
The thirteenth prince and his two younger sisters knelt before the coffin, their expressions either sorrowful or blank.
※
When Heyue woke up from her nap, the sun was already setting. She drank a bowl of white fungus and lotus seed porridge and was lying on the kang (a heated brick bed) reading a book when she was about to fall asleep again.
Just then, Hailan rushed in and was about to speak when Yuying, who was fanning Heyue, quickly put her index finger to her lips.
Hailan covered her mouth, widened her eyes, and remained silent.
Yu Ying put down her fan, carefully took Hai Lan's hand, and walked outside, asking softly, "What is it?"
Hailan then lowered her voice and leaned closer to Yuying: "I heard that the Thirteenth Prince has returned and has already entered the palace."
Yu Ying was stunned for a moment, then came to her senses, frowned and sighed: "The Thirteenth Prince is really pitiful. Mother is gone just like that. I don't know how sad he must be now."
"Indeed, it's such a pity that the Thirteenth Prince was such a good person." Hailan could not hide her sorrow.
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