EBE Chapter 48 The Adult's Perverse Pleasures
Chapter 48 The Adult's Perverse Pleasures
"Mother is still packing up, and the yard is a mess. She doesn't have time to look after me at all. But I did say hello to her when I came out, so she knows I'm here with Sixth Brother. Sixth Brother, can we go catch some fish now?"
Six-year-old Yinzhen was a bit mischievous and spoiled by Consort De, making him somewhat domineering. However, he wasn't a difficult child overall, especially around Yinzuo, where he was very well-behaved. After all, his sixth brother would never indulge him. If someone else bullied him, he could complain to his mother, but if his sixth brother bullied him, he would be completely helpless. After suffering a few losses, Yinzhen realized that he wasn't actually his mother's only little darling.
"No rush. It's almost noon now, the hottest time of day. Let's rest for a while and go in the afternoon when it's not so hot. Come on, let me ask you, why is it that even though Fourth Brother lives closer to you and is more accommodating to your requests than me, and his place is surrounded by water on three sides with a nice view, why don't you go to him instead of coming all the way here?"
Upon hearing Yinzhuo's words, Yinzhen's little eyes darted around, and he grinned as he moved closer to Yinzhuo.
"Fourth Brother is very good to me, but he's always so serious. I get nervous around him. Sixth Brother, you have a lot of interesting things here, and you're more fun than Fourth Brother. You always come up with some novel ideas. Although Fourth Brother's place is surrounded by water on three sides and has nice scenery, he's stricter with me than you are. Even if I asked Fourth Brother to help me catch fish, he definitely wouldn't agree easily."
Yinzuo originally intended to tease Yinzhen, but he didn't expect that the little rascal could speak so eloquently. After hearing his reasons, Yinzuo couldn't help but reach out and pinch Yinzhen's chubby little face.
"Hey, don't let your small stature fool you, you're quite shrewd. Alright, I'll remember that. When I see Fourth Brother later, I'll have to tell him all about it, so he knows what kind of image he has in your heart. But forget about catching fish today, I don't have anything here for you to catch fish. I can take you somewhere to play in the water, but it's probably not fun just the two of us. How about this afternoon we invite Ninth Brother, Tenth Brother, and Thirteenth Brother along, the more the merrier!"
It must be said that compared to the strict rules of the inner palace, the beautiful Changchun Garden was much more free and comfortable to live in. After lunch, Yinzhuo first forced the Fourteenth Prince, who was eager to run away, to take a nap. When he woke up, he found that it was still early, so he simply asked Dexi to go and inform Yintang and the others to come over. He then took a copy of the Thousand Character Classic from the bookshelf and called the Fourteenth Prince to his side, preparing to give him a surprise check on his studies.
When Yinzhu was a student, the thing he hated most was definitely facing Kangxi's surprise homework checks. But now that he's the one checking other people's homework, he suddenly finds it quite interesting. No wonder Kangxi used to enjoy checking their homework so much. It turns out that watching others nervously and cautiously deal with him is indeed due to the adults' perverse sense of humor.
"Heaven and earth were dark and yellow, the universe was vast and boundless. The sun and moon waxed and waned, the stars and constellations were arrayed. Cold came and heat went, autumn harvested and winter stored. Leap years made up the year, the musical scales harmonized the seasons..."
The Thousand Character Classic is the basic primer for students in the Imperial Study. This is what Yinzhen is learning now, so he can recite it fairly fluently. After reciting it, the little guy looked at Yinzuo with bright eyes. You could tell from his expression that he was asking for praise, and Yinzuo naturally wouldn't be stingy with it.
"Not bad, Fourteen is really smart, just like your Sixth Brother when he was young. Keep up the good work."
When Yinzhen heard Yinzuo praise him for being as smart as he was when he was a child, he was very happy. After all, who in the palace didn't know that his sixth brother had gained the favor of the Khan with his clever mind and had been personally taught by the Khan for many years? If his sixth brother praised him for being as smart as he was when he was a child, didn't that mean that his fourteenth brother was also very smart?
Just as the two brothers were enjoying themselves, a commotion suddenly came from outside. Although he hadn't seen anyone yet, just from the noise, Yinzhuo knew that it was Yintang, Yinxi, and Yinxiang who had arrived.
"Sixth Brother, Ninth Brother, Tenth Brother, Thirteenth Brother are here. Can we set off now?"
Upon hearing the commotion outside, Yinzhen couldn't sit still any longer. He excitedly stood up and pulled Yinzuo to run outside. Yinzuo sighed helplessly. What could he do? He had brought this trouble upon himself.
Thirteen and Fourteen were still young, and Yinzhen and Yinzhen were not very reliable. More importantly, Yinzhen was afraid of water. Therefore, Yinzhuo never intended to take them to a lake or any deeper water. He simply had someone find a stream nearby that was just deep enough to reach their calves and led them there.
Fourteen had been looking forward to this for so long, and now he was finally going to see the water. Catching fish wasn't the point for him; he just wanted to play in the water. So, as soon as he got to the stream, Yinzhen couldn't wait to take off his shoes and socks. Before Yinzuo could even stop him, he had already bravely marched into the stream. Once he got into the water and felt the cool touch on his feet, he couldn't help but cheer excitedly!
"Wow~ Sixth Brother, Ninth Brother, Tenth Brother, Thirteenth Brother, the water is so cool and refreshing, you should come down quickly."
Fearing that the boy might fall into the water in his excitement, Yinzhuo quickly asked Yintang to go and look after him. He then took Yinxi, who was a little afraid of water, and Yinxiang, who was about the same age as the fourteenth prince, to a shallower part of the stream. He planned to settle Yinxi first and then bring Yinxiang over.
“The water is shallower here. Yin’e can take off his shoes and socks and get used to it. Once you feel fine, you can go to your Ninth Brother’s place. Dexi, keep an eye on your Tenth Master. Once he’s settled in, take him over. Thirteen, come with Sixth Brother. It’s lively over there with your Ninth Brother and the others. I’ll take you to find them.”
Yinzu handed the Thirteenth Prince over to Yintang to handle the two, while he went to the stream and found a flat-looking rock to sit on and relax. The deepest part of the water here was only up to Yinzu's calves, so even if one of them fell, they wouldn't drown. Besides, there were so many servants watching over them, so Yinzu wasn't worried about any accidents. Now, he only needed to help suppress the Fourteenth Prince when Yintang couldn't control that mischievous monkey, and he completely washed his hands of the matter.
Taking care of children is never an easy task. Even though Yinzhuo only had to talk to them while Yintang did all the physical work when they were by the stream in the afternoon, he still felt that there was no brotherly love left when he brought them back to Shufeng Pavilion in the evening.
"Dexi, help me take the Fourteenth Prince back to Mother's. Tell her that I don't want to see him for the next month and that he should stop bothering me. Ninth Prince, Tenth Prince, and Thirteenth Prince are in your hands. Make sure you get him back to his place safely. Okay, now everyone disperse and go home."