Chapter 138 Brotherly Friendship After a few rains, the autumn atmosphere on the grassland deepened...
After a few rains, the autumn atmosphere on the grassland deepens, and the days when the grass is green are numbered.
It was a gray, cotton-white sky. The temporary imperial camp lay quietly on the grassland, one tent after another.
The Eighteenth Prince complained of illness on the way and happened to be caught in the rain. The child was well-behaved and worried that his illness would delay the emperor's return, so he forced himself not to say anything until he could no longer bear it and his illness left him.
When the youngest son suddenly fell ill, Emperor Kangxi immediately announced that the army would stop marching and found a place nearby to set up camp. Every day, he would go to the Eighteenth Prince's tent to sit and see how he was doing.
There seemed to be a breeze outside, making the felt curtain at the entrance of the tent snap. The attendants hurriedly found a pendant to fix the felt curtain, so as not to disturb the noble inside.
In order to let the Eighteenth Prince rest well, the lights were not turned on in the dim tent, but the room was still dark. Emperor Kangxi sat beside the couch and saw that the sleeping child's face was still red as if he was sick. He stretched out his hand and pressed the Eighteenth Prince's forehead, which was burning hot.
It's burning again. Emperor Kangxi frowned and said, "Cold handkerchief."
The chief eunuch Liang Jiugong hurriedly took the soaked handkerchief from the young eunuch and handed it over respectfully. Emperor Kangxi took it and gently placed the handkerchief on the forehead of the Eighteenth Prince.
The imperial physician felt the pulse, knelt on the ground, and touched his forehead to the ground: "Eighteenth Prince's high fever is up and down. I'm afraid we still need more imperial physicians to consult and prescribe a prescription."
Emperor Kangxi didn't even look at him, but only looked at the sleeping Eighteenth Prince: "You guys serve me well."
After all, they were on a tour, and the doctors and medicines they brought were limited. They had sent messages to the capital and Guihua respectively, asking them to bring more doctors and medicines. Calculating the time, the fourth princess from Guihua City should be here in the next two days, and the doctors from the capital should also arrive in two days.
Emperor Kangxi sighed softly, hoping that the Eighteenth Prince could survive until then.
Perhaps, he shouldn't have brought this child out. After all, he was young and prone to illness and difficult to recover.
Emperor Kangxi looked at the appearance of the Eighteenth Prince, and the memories of those little princes who had died in his early years resurfaced before his eyes, like the rising tide at sunset, rising up little by little and making him upset.
He stood up, and with an expressionless face, he ordered the accompanying imperial physician and attendants to take good care of him, then strode out of the Eighteenth Prince's tent.
There was wind blowing in our face, causing the green grass to bend down, revealing its grayish-white roots.
Emperor Kangxi stood in the wind for a while, and the eldest prince came over to greet him and comforted him, "Khan Ama, Xiao Shiba will get better slowly."
"I hope so."
Emperor Kangxi turned his head and saw Baoqing standing there, healthy and strong. This was his first child who grew up safely, ending his pain of losing four children in a row. Emperor Kangxi reached out and patted his shoulder: "It would be great if Xiao Shiba was as strong as you."
As they were talking, they could faintly hear the sound of horse hooves in the distance, with flags fluttering, looking like a triumphant team.
"What's the noise?" asked Emperor Kangxi.
The eldest prince squinted his eyes and looked at it, saying, "It looks like Baocheng is back from hunting. He must have caught some good prey and is very happy."
Emperor Kangxi frowned: "Hunting?"
"Yes, it seems that he led people out hunting early in the morning." said the eldest prince.
Emperor Kangxi's face darkened and he ordered, "Summon the crown prince immediately."
Soon, Crown Prince Yinreng came over with a bow on his back and a whip tied around his waist. Behind him, two guards were carrying a yellow goat, which was obviously the prey of the day. The goat was still dripping blood from the place where the arrow hit it, leaving a dark red streak on the grass.
Seeing Emperor Kangxi, the prince smiled and said, "Father Khan, I have hunted..."
"Your brother is sick, yet you still want to go hunting." Emperor Kangxi interrupted him.
The prince's smile froze on his face. He tried to explain: "I think of Khan Ama's hard work these days--"
"I don't need you to worry about that." Kangxi's voice was not loud, but it was slightly angry. "Your brother has a high fever and the doctors are helpless. As an elder brother, you don't stay by his bedside to care for your younger brother, but go hunting instead. Is this your way of being filial and brotherly?"
There was complete silence; all the guards lowered their heads, not daring to make a sound.
The prince clenched his hands into fists, his knuckles turning white.
"Didn't you say yesterday that the fever has subsided?"
"Is the fever gone?" Kangxi stared at him. "How old are you now? Do you think that a child this young will be cured just by a little improvement?"
The prince was originally in a good mood, but after being scolded several times, he couldn't help but raise his voice and speed up: "I just thought that Khan Ama has been worried about my eighteenth brother recently. He doesn't eat much rice every day, and there is nothing good to eat when camping on this grassland, so I thought of going hunting! I'll bring you some new dishes."
"Is this what I want? Do you think you are a filial son? Do I need this piece of yellow sheep meat?" Emperor Kangxi pointed at the yellow sheep fiercely, "You are the prince! The heir to the throne! So many eyes are staring at you, even if you have to pretend, you should pretend to be a brother!"
The prince looked up suddenly, a hint of anger flashing in his eyes.
"I don't understand why Khan Ama is so harsh. My eighteenth brother is sick, so the imperial physician should take care of him. Does it mean that everyone has to gather outside the tent to show that he cares about me? Or do I have to stand by and serve him medicine every day to show that I am a good brother?"
"Shut up!" Kangxi shouted, "As the crown prince, you don't care about the relationship between brothers and dare to talk back to me?"
The prince was so angry when he was accused of being unfilial and disloyal that his fingers began to tremble: "I dare not. Yes, when my eighteenth brother was sick, we should all stay by his side with sad faces. He is so lucky. When he recovered, everyone from Khan Ama to his brothers were by his bedside."
Unlike him, after Khan Ama fell ill, he passed away, and only Soetu came to guard him, which became a crime.
Kangxi's face suddenly turned pale: "What do you want to say?"
"What can I dare to say?"
Kangxi took a deep breath and said, "Okay, okay, okay. You are thinking about Suo Etu, the number one sinner of this dynasty, again, right?"
The prince's chest rose and fell violently: "I dare not."
The Thirteenth Prince, who had hurried over, knelt down immediately upon seeing this and said, "It's my fault. The Crown Prince had asked me to keep an eye on Little Eighteen. I should have informed him this morning, but I fell asleep today and forgot. So the Crown Prince didn't know about it. It's all my fault!"
As the Thirteenth Prince spoke, he tugged at the Crown Prince's sleeve and looked at him anxiously.
The prince knelt on the ground, still with his neck stiff, and did not beg for mercy.
Emperor Kangxi took a deep breath and said, "It gives me a headache to see you. You should kneel here for a full hour! Think carefully about where you went wrong!"
After saying that, he turned away.
The eldest prince glanced at the two of them with a smug look in his eyes. Then he immediately caught up with Emperor Kangxi and asked him not to be angry.
"I really want to whip him to death." The prince knelt on the ground, put his hands on the whip at his waist, and stared at the back of the eldest prince as he walked away with gritted teeth.
The Thirteenth Prince looked up at the sky in silence for a while before saying, "Second Brother, you really should control your temper."
"Why, even you want to teach me how to do things?"
The Thirteenth Prince shut up and said nothing. If he continued, the Crown Prince would probably spank him.
Well, he is usually a normal person, even if he is a little spoiled sometimes, but once he gets angry, he will not care about anything else.
After kneeling for nearly half an hour, a eunuch who served in front of the emperor came over and whispered, "It's almost time, please stand up, my prince."
The prince snorted coldly and stood up suddenly, but his legs became stiff from kneeling for so long that he almost lost his balance and his body swayed.
The Thirteenth Prince and the eunuch rushed to help him, but he rudely pushed them away: "Get lost! Don't touch me!"
Then he staggered a few steps, found his horse, jumped on it, and hit him hard with his whip.
The horse felt pain, let out a long whistle, and rushed out like an arrow.
The prince lay on his horse, letting the wind blow past him, wishing only that the horse would go faster and farther, leaving all these unpleasant things behind.
He thought, if only this horse could carry him all the way back to the past, back to his childhood.
When he was a child, he had smallpox. Khan Ama stopped attending court for thirteen days and stayed by his side day and night.
When he woke up, I held him tightly in my arms, as if I was holding a priceless treasure that I had lost and found again, and cried with joy.
That was one of his earliest vague memories, Khan Ama's tears falling on his little hands, hot.
But that was a long, long time ago.
He didn't know how far he ran. When he came to his senses, he was alone in the wilderness.
It's getting dark.
Mu Xue arrived at the place where the imperial carriage was stationed when the last ray of sunlight in the sky was about to disappear.
When I met Emperor Kangxi in the imperial tent, I saw that he looked very tired.
"It's hard for you to come so quickly."
Mu Xue said, "I heard that my eighteenth brother was ill and was very worried. I brought the best doctor and precious medicinal materials from the princess's mansion."
Emperor Kangxi nodded slightly and said, "You are so thoughtful. Please sit down."
"I wonder what my eighteenth brother is like now."
"It's always going back and forth, and there's never a good time."
Emperor Kangxi spoke a few words to her, occasionally taking out his pocket watch to look at it.
Mu Xue saw him checking his pocket watch and asked, "Khan Ama, is there something important you want to deal with? I will take my leave now."
"No." Emperor Kangxi snapped his pocket watch shut and said, "I'm just a little upset."
He asked Liang Jiugong: "The prince hasn't come back yet?"
Liang Jiugong replied cautiously: "The Thirteenth Prince has already taken people to look for him, and he will probably be back soon."
Mu Xue listened quietly, it turned out that something happened to the prince again.
Wait, at this time, is it time to depose the crown prince? She couldn't get involved in this matter casually. So she just sat quietly and didn't say a word.
Emperor Kangxi snorted coldly: "What a good prince! He is still acting so arbitrarily at this time. It's ok that he can't share my worries, but I have to assign people to take care of his affairs!"
He said angrily, "When the prince comes back later, tell him my order that he should reflect on his mistakes in his own tent and not run around."
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