Translator: Jalyss
Editor: Odyssey
Chapter 33
It wasn’t just Liang Jiugong who was surprised, even Kangxi was taken aback for a moment. He suspected that he had heard it wrong.
After regaining his senses, the emperor’s furious face slowly softened. The corners of his mouth raised slightly, and his tone was no longer cold.
“Bring it in,” he said.
In the past half month, Kangxi came to Yikun Palace almost every day. He sometimes stayed for a quarter of an hour, sometimes for an hour.
The emperor used the name of Little Nine as a ‘good reason’ to talk to Yun Xiu. He was not annoyed at all when Yintang urinated on his dragon robe every now and then. Over time, he developed the special intuition of a baby daddy—
Yintang’s mouth deflated and looked as if he was about to cry. Kangxi’s mind rang an alarm, and he evaded it as fast as the wind!
This made the reborn Ninth Master very aggrieved. He cursed the old man countless times in his heart.
The old man was so shameless, even going so far as to bully a baby!
It was not an exaggeration that the father and son were fighting a battle of wits and courage. After this went back and forth for several rounds, Yun Xiu could no longer maintain a cold face.
After many days, her anger was gone. The emperor was not annoyed at all. He was still courteous. She couldn’t believe what the emperor was like in this reality. Compared with her dream, he seemed to be a completely different person.
He had a very high tolerance for her, allowing her to be completely unbridled. He couldn’t fake a fatherly heart towards Little Five and Little Nine… This included the matter of promoting concubines. Yun Xiu was grateful for these things.
During her labour, Yun Xiu suddenly learned of the news that Yinqi had fallen into the water, so she lost her composure. She said all those disrespectful ‘evil words’.
When she thought about it later, wasn’t this just venting her anger?
Dreams and reality were completely different. The reality had deviated from the original path. The emperor would never say something like ‘Consort Yi is domineering and disrespectful’, and she shouldn’t take this for granted.
Her original resistance and rejection turned into deep helplessness. When the crown prince came to her in confusion and asked her what he should do, Yun Xiu also came to her senses.
In the future, in order to compete for the throne, she would appear on the stage after the princes’ parts, and there would never be a smooth day. Now that she had made up her mind and had chosen the crown prince, she would not just watch the throne fall and the position of consort dowager slip through her fingers!
Very early on, Yun Xiu carefully considered helping the crown prince out of interest in order to protect herself and her children.
Little Five had absolutely no possibility of inheriting the throne. As for Little Nine… Well, the person in Little Nine’s body… The more she looked at him, the more familiar he became. Even though she had a rough guess, she hadn’t confirmed it, so she couldn’t be sure.
If it is what she thought, then it would definitely not be peaceful.
Getting back to business, Empress Renxiao died early on and the crown prince was not close to any concubines. If she helped him ascend the throne then first, it was justified, and second, there would be no second empress dowager to oppress her and no one could bully her.
Now that the crown prince was still young, and he hadn’t been led astray by Suo Etu, and had not created a rift with the emperor, it was less stressful to support him than supporting anyone else, right?
…
Yun Xiu’s heart softened later on when she got to spend more time with the crown prince. She sincerely wanted to help him.
Yinreng was sensible and sweet-talking, and he took good care of Little Five and Little Nine. Who would hate this child?
When she thought of the crown prince losing his mother when he was young, she felt even more sympathetic.
Devising these strategies was, in the end, just a form of empty talk. In the end, it was not the courtiers or the wishes of the people that affected the succession of the throne, but the emperor’s will.
When seizing the throne, whoever got close to the emperor’s heart would take advantage of it.
Besides, the emperor lived a long life. When he got old, he would inevitably feel jealous of his son. It could result in failure, so she had to keep an eye on the situation all the time!
It didn’t matter if she refused favour, and it didn’t matter if they treated each other coldly. After several decades passed, her eyes had darkened due to the battle for the throne. Even if she wanted to cry, she couldn’t…
After thinking it through thoroughly, Yun Xiu pondered for several days and came up with a brilliant idea.
Everything in the dream became a knot in her heart. It was impossible to merely eat and sleep for the rest of her life, but she could be a Beautiful Flower, and the closest and most trusted person of the emperor.
With the status of a Beautiful Flower, even without the title of the favoured consort, no one would dare to offend her.
Yun Xiu felt like this was a hit to her face when she thought of this. A cluster of small flames sprang up in her heart and she felt faintly uncomfortable.
It was Us who went back on Our word first.
With an ashen face, she ordered in a cold voice, “Rui Zhu, bring a bowl of lotus seed and lily soup to the emperor. Put in more lotus seeds and make it thick.”
Consort Yi made the soup to reduce anger, but she actually made it for herself.
If anyone who didn’t know Yun Xiu saw her expression, they would think that she was going to send a bowl of poison to Qianqing Palace…
Yintang, who was lying beside her and nibbling his feet, widened his eyes for a moment. He made a few sounds of grief and indignation. He kicked his feet and his saliva flowed uncontrollably.
Why did mother bow her head to the old man?!
Yintang may have had this reaction, but Rui Zhu didn’t notice. She shrank back and asked cautiously, “Consort, forgive this servant for being deaf, you are talking about lotus seeds and not the yellow lotus?”
“…” Yun Xiu took a deep breath. Her face turned greener. “We don’t want to seek death to that extent.”
Wet Nurse Dong glared at Rui Zhu with a suppressed smile. Rui Zhu had a guilty conscience and ran away in a hurry.
On the other end, Kangxi drank the lotus seed and lily soup that Yun Xiu sent. He felt his anger disappear. His entire body felt warm and harmonious, and he was incredibly relaxed.
The emperor showed a gentle smile, which made Liang Jiugong, who was peeking at him secretly, dumbfounded. He thought that a bowl of soup from Consort Yi was no different from an immortal medicine.
Ever since the ninth prince was born, Steward Liang could finally relax a little.
He almost burst into tears. Wasn’t this bowl of soup a sign that the past matters would no longer interfere with the present?
The two finally reconciled and he no longer needed to wait on Kangxi in fear. He sent his thanks to God and Buddha. He finally saw the light and no longer had to be criticised!
Kangxi, who was soothed by a bowl of well-timed soup, recovered his usual calm after laughing.
He took a brand-new brush, dipped it in cinnabar, lowered his head and wrote on the paper. He said as he wrote, “When Mrs. Wuya was in confinement, she led people to clean the inner palace and removed her spies.”
“Her” referred to the restless imperial concubine and young master. These words were addressed to Liang Jiugong.
The emperor paused for a moment, and then said, “Pass down my order. Ming Zhu and Suo Etu will work together to clean up the Imperial Household Department. As for her family… If there is someone covering for her, don’t remove their official position.”
His tone was light, but it contained a sharp coldness.
Official Ming and Official Suo… These two people worked together, but would not obey the other. Ming Zhu would pull out Mrs. Hesheli’s spies while Suo Etu would eliminate the power of the Tong family and the Nala family. They would not have any misgivings against the Wuya family.
The harem needed to be purged.
…
The emperor actually addressed Consort De as Mrs. Wuya.
Liang Jiugong didn’t have time to sigh. He lowered his head slowly, hiding the turmoil in his heart. The emperor… The emperor was going to clean all the inner chambers of the imperial palace!
He quickly patted his cuffs, bowed his head and said, “This servant… will obey the order.”
***
At the same time, at the martial arts training ground in the study area, the sun was gradually setting. The breeze brought the cool air in, and the afternoon riding and archery class was coming to an end.
The little crown prince was sweating all over. After he got off his horse, he took the handkerchief from Haha Zhuzi. He wiped his cheeks and downed a few mouthfuls of cold water.
The crown prince was standing in a corner and was about to straighten out his rolled-up sleeves. Suddenly, the eldest prince, Yinti, rode in on a full-grown brown horse towards him. He got extremely close while kicking up dust. This was mixed with the smell of horses. Yinti stopped right in front of the crown prince’s face.
“…”
The crown prince turned around and coughed uncontrollably.
Yinti quickly pulled on the reins, as if he had just noticed the crown prince. He got off the horse nimbly, cupped his hands, and said in shame, “Second younger brother, I’m sorry! Just now, eldest brother was so fascinated by riding and ended up surprising you…”
The title “Second Younger Brother” was the title the crown prince hated the most.
Age only mattered after seniority. He was the crown prince of the Qing Dynasty first, and then Yinti’s younger brother!
In formal occasions, Yinti had always addressed him as crown prince, but when there weren’t many people, he had this kind of behaviour.
In the past, when the eldest prince provoked him, the little crown prince would always turn pale and clench his fists, but today was very different—
After finally stopping his cough, the crown prince said in a hoarse voice as he waved his hands, “Eldest brother likes to ride and shoot, so We are very happy. How can We be surprised? We should be more brotherly towards each other.”
Yinti choked. His eyes widened slowly and he swallowed his next words.
Between brothers? He was very happy?
Did Yinreng take the wrong medicine?!
The eldest prince was incredibly shocked for a long time. He didn’t know what to say. After a long time, he reluctantly replied, “What you said…is very true.”
The attendants looked over. The fourth prince, who was learning how to mount a horse, and the third prince, who was frowning also noticed the commotion around the eldest prince and crown prince.
When Yinzhi saw the eldest prince standing with the crown prince, he felt a tremble in his heart. He feared that the two would fight. Yinzhen looked at the crown prince with worry, pulled on the sleeve of the third prince and walked. “Let’s go and see…” See what their eldest and second older brother were talking about.
The third prince was reluctant, but allowed the fourth prince to drag him along.
When the crown prince saw Yinti’s slightly blue face, his attitude became more cordial.
From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the third and fourth princes heading over and his smile deepened. “A few days ago, We wrote an acceptable article. After imperial father read it, he rewarded Yuqing Palace with a few fine foals. We know that eldest brother loves horses, so why don’t you follow Us to have a look and you can choose one? How does that sound?”
The crown prince’s expression couldn’t be more sincere, but if one listened to his words, then what was he saying?
Wasn’t the crown prince showing off his talents and imperial father’s favour?
Yinti’s face darkened, and he said ‘no need’ forcefully. He turned around with big strides and led the horse away quickly.
The crown prince said softly, “Eldest brother, walk slowly”, which made the two puddings break out in goosebumps!
When Yinzhen saw his second older brother, he opened his mouth slightly. The doubts in his mind were bubbling.
The crown prince smiled and said, “Third younger brother, fourth younger brother, go to Yuqing Palace with second older brother to see the foals. Pick one you like! He Zhu’er, go to Cining Palace to invite the fifth prince.”
Little Seven and Little Eight were too young. He would call them when they grow up…
After saying that, the crown prince paused, “Also send someone to Yonghe Palace to ask Little Six if he would like to choose a foal. The foals are docile and won’t kick anyone.”
Hearing this, Yinzhi immediately became excited. He happily called out ‘thank you, second older brother’, but Yinzhen bowed his head and looked a little unhappy.
The crown prince naturally knew why his fourth younger brother was unhappy.
Sighing softly, he pulled Yinzhen aside, and said in a low voice, “Consort De just gave birth to a little princess… We heard that your younger sister is weak and needs to be cared for carefully. Because of this, Consort De does not have enough time to take care of the sixth younger brother. We are his older brothers, so we should invite him. Why are you so awkward?”
It was just awkward!
The brothers from the same mother have been awkward for a long time.
Yinzhen didn’t say anything, but his face suddenly turned red.
He pursed his lips, rubbed his fingers, and said after a long time, “I will listen to second older brother. I just want to treat sixth younger brother better…”
It seemed he was reluctant.
The crown prince heard Yinzhen’s ‘insincere words’. He touched Little Four’s head with a smile, and coaxed him. “Good! Listen to second older brother. You can settle the score with a glib tongue.”
Then, he said loudly, “…Third younger brother, let’s go!”
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