EBE Chapter 217, sentence 1: What a waste!
Chapter 217, sentence 1: What a waste!
Kangxi knew the answer to the question asked by Yinzhuo. He stared at Yinzhuo's monkey-like face for a while before glancing at Yinti, Yinreng, and the others not far away.
"That's easy. If your maternal grandmother asks how you got this face, just say that jealousy makes people unrecognizable."
Yinti, Yinreng, Yinzhi, Yinzhen, and Yinqi—the five of them moved in unison. As soon as Kangxi finished speaking, their eyes turned to him. Seriously? Don't you have any idea why we're acting this way? Jealous? With your biased nature, we'd be doing you a disservice if we didn't show some jealousy. We were enjoying watching the show with you, so why is it all our fault now?
Kangxi felt somewhat embarrassed by the stares from Yinti and the others. He raised his hand, clenched his fist, and coughed lightly before turning his gaze to Urentuya, who had been standing to the side with a smile.
"Alright, the tea has been served, the formalities have been observed, and the commotion has been over. Weren't you going to Shou Kang Palace and Yong He Palace? Well then, I won't keep you any longer. I imagine the Empress Dowager and Consort De are getting impatient waiting for you. Go on."
Normally, Yinzhuo would have argued with his father, but today, with his new daughter-in-law Urentuya present, he had to consider his father's feelings. So, when Kangxi gave the order to leave, Yinzhuo obediently pulled Urentuya aside, bowed to Kangxi, and took his leave.
"I had only heard that Your Highness was particularly favored by His Majesty, but seeing you today, it seems that Your Highness also has a good relationship with all the princes."
While they were in the Qianqing Palace, Urentuya simply stood aside with a smile, watching the father, son, and brothers having a good time. Now that they were out of the Qianqing Palace and only the husband and wife remained, she dared to speak and laugh.
"Of course! Your grandpa here is universally loved and admired. Not to mention my father and my brothers, I've never met anyone who doesn't like me in my entire life!"
Yinzhuo's words were utterly shameless. Wurentuya paused, looked up and scrutinized her husband for a long time before nodding with difficulty. Fine, isn't it said in the Central Plains that a woman follows her husband wherever he goes? She's married to a shameless man now, so she has to accept it.
The young couple's first stop after leaving Qianqing Palace was Shou Kang Palace. The Empress Dowager had been looking forward to their arrival. Upon hearing that Yinzhuo had brought his wife, she hurriedly had her maidservant go out to greet them.
"Grandma, your grandson and your granddaughter-in-law have come to pay their respects."
Yinzhuo was the old lady's favorite grandson, and Urentuyana was a girl from their Khorchin. The old lady smiled broadly when she saw the two of them. After the two of them bowed and served tea, she hurriedly signaled the nanny beside her to bring over the things she had prepared. In addition to the usual rewards, the most eye-catching thing was the very heavy booklet.
"Here, this is what your fifth brother's maternal grandmother promised you when he got married. It's exactly the same as what your fifth brother received, so you can't say that your maternal grandmother was biased now."
Yinzhuo respectfully took the booklet from the old lady's hand, glanced at it casually, and put it back on the tray. Then he walked a few steps to sit down next to the Empress Dowager, put his arm around the old lady's arm, and addressed Urentuya below.
"See, I told you I was right. I'm just that kind of lovable person, and everyone likes me."
Okay, okay. You're so adorable, everyone loves you, flowers bloom for you, bees and butterflies flock to you. Let's keep a low profile from now on, otherwise I'm afraid you'll incur public wrath and drag me down with you.
After leaving Shou Kang Palace, the next stop was Yong He Palace. Although Yinzhuo was no longer Consort De's only little darling, he was still his mother's beloved son. Consort De, out of love for Consort De, couldn't possibly treat her daughter-in-law, Urentuya, badly. She drank the tea served by the two, gave them a gift, chatted with them for a while, and then let them go back.
Nine days after the prince's wedding, he was supposed to return to his parents' home. However, Urentuya's family was located on the grasslands, so returning home was impossible. Therefore, he could only go through the motions of kowtowing in the direction of his hometown, which was considered as meeting his family.
Yinzhuo's wedding was in August, and after all that fuss, the weather turned cool. Since the weather had turned cool, Kangxi naturally didn't want to go through the trouble of going to Changchun Garden anymore.
"My lord, the weather is nice outside today. Why don't we go for a stroll in the garden? His Majesty sent over a lot of chrysanthemums a few days ago, and they're in full bloom right now."
Yinzhuo's life after marriage was not much different from before. Apart from moving out of the palace and having another wife, there was no difference. He would go to the palace to see his father every few days, and occasionally go to the Ministry of Works to make an appearance. Since it was more convenient to go anywhere outside the palace than before, when he was bored, he would either invite the Ninth and Tenth Princes to drink tea and listen to storytelling at the Yajixuan, or invite the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Princes to accompany him to ride horses outside the city. If all else failed, he could go to the residences of his brothers to freeload. He lived a very carefree life.
"Sixth brother, I really envy you. Let's not even talk about how your palace far exceeds the standards of a prince. Just look at the location! If I lived here, I could sleep in at least an hour later every day. You have no idea how much it's been for me to get up every morning since the weather got cold..."
Yinzhi's words clearly struck a chord with everyone present. In this freezing weather, having to get out of bed before dawn was truly inhuman torture. At this moment, looking at Yinzuo, the words "envy" and "jealousy" couldn't even begin to express their feelings. His residence was so close to the palace, yet he didn't have to get up early for court. Who could they complain to? In short, giving such a good place to this guy was truly a waste.
"Hey, everyone, please don't look at me like that. Believe me, I truly understand how you feel. You know I've always had a hard time getting out of bed. Just thinking about having to crawl out of my warm bed before dawn in this freezing weather makes me feel awful..."
When people tried to understand Yinzhuo's situation, they responded with eye-rolls that seemed to stretch to the heavens. "You understand my ass! How could someone like you, who sleeps until noon every day, possibly understand the hardships we endure, braving wind and snow to attend court?"
Don't let Yinti and his gang's eye-rolling fool you; when it comes to taking advantage of the wealthy, they're all ruthless. At the brothers' gathering, Yinzuo suffered a heavy loss. Not only were most of the things his father had sent him the day before consumed and taken by Yinti and his gang, but even several pots of beautiful rare and exotic plants displayed in his residence were stolen by Yinzhi. Yinzuo, however, didn't seem to care much. He simply said, "What's gone is gone; I'll just go back to my father and take more."