Rebirth: I'm a Daddy's Darling in the Qing Dynasty

Chapter 40 The Sixth Prince, a Fox Borrowing the Tiger's Power

Although Galdan escaped at the last minute, Kangxi still achieved his strategic objective in this expedition. Now that the war was over and his body, which had been weakened by illness, had recovered considerably after a period of rest, Kangxi naturally had no reason to leave the well-maintained capital and remain in this desolate northern desert.

Unlike the anxiety and relentless journey on the way there, the return trip was much more comfortable for Yinzhuo. He usually stayed in the spacious and comfortable Imperial Palace with Kangxi, and when he got tired of it, he would go out for a ride with the eldest prince, Yinti. Even when they were almost in the capital, Kangxi somehow found him a set of armor to wear, and he rode a tall horse behind Kangxi, looking very proud and arrogant, all the way through Ding'an Gate, which allowed him to enjoy the feeling of being a bully.

"Sixth brother, I really envy you. Yesterday, the army returned victorious, and you were so impressive. You were in full armor, riding a tall horse, and you and your elder brother followed behind Father Khan, one on each side, through Ding'an Gate and into the palace without dismounting..."

"Yes, Sixth Brother, I also really admire you. I just want to grow up quickly so I can go to the battlefield with Father and fight the enemy..."

It's no wonder that Yinzhi and the others were so jealous. Just ask any of the princes who went to greet the emperor outside the palace yesterday; they all envied Yinzhuo. The scene was so shocking to them that it almost gave them a case of envy.

"Third brother, ninth brother, do you think I wanted to show off? Father Khan has already spoken, how could I refuse? Besides, I was just relying on Father Khan's favor to bully others. This victory in the campaign had nothing to do with me. If you want to envy someone, you should envy eldest brother. His prestige was earned through his own abilities. You have no idea how exaggerated Father Khan is. My eldest brother just got a small cut on his arm, and he was extremely distressed. Not only did he exempt Uncle Yu and all the generals from kneeling because of it, but he also called my eldest brother to the imperial tent to inquire about his well-being. I felt so envious watching him..."

Yesterday's boasting was quite exhilarating, but the aftereffects of this overly flamboyant display are now quite evident. Yinzhuo still can't understand why Kangxi did that yesterday. Was it just to make him the target of jealousy? Yinzhuo didn't want everyone's attention to be focused on him at this time, so he simply tried to shift the blame, adding fuel to the fire and distorting the truth, hoping to divert everyone's attention from him to the First Prince.

In fact, Yinzhuo misunderstood Emperor Kangxi this time. Kangxi's actions this time were not at all intended to use him. He genuinely liked his son now. Seeing that Yinzhuo seemed very interested in the armor of the eldest prince Yinti along the way, he ordered someone to find a set for him, thinking it would be good for him to wear it and have some fun. As for the matter of letting him follow behind him on the left and right sides when entering the city yesterday, along with Yinti who had made military achievements, it was naturally for the same reason. In the end, the Aisin Gioro family's habit of wanting someone to live when they love them and wanting them to die when they hate them is probably hereditary.

This tactic of shifting the blame was indeed effective. Everyone's attention immediately shifted from Yinzuo to Yinti. The main reason was that everyone present knew that what Yinzuo had said earlier was true. The reason he received the same treatment as the eldest prince Yinti yesterday was entirely due to the emperor's favor. The eldest prince, on the other hand, earned it through his own abilities.

Yinzhi and his companions have tried for so many years to win the Khan's favor through their own charm, but now it seems hopeless. However, after years of studying hard in the Imperial Study and practicing archery on the field, they believe they still have some real skills. In the future, when they go to court to perform their duties, they will have to rely on their real abilities. At that time, they will surely have a chance to catch the Khan's eye.

"Speaking of my elder brother, he's really riding high these days. Not only did he achieve military merit in this campaign, but his third child is also due in a few months. If it's a son, he'll be Father Khan's first grandson..."

When the topic of Kangxi's first grandson comes up, Yinzhuo can't help but think of his sister-in-law, who was incredibly unlucky to marry his elder brother. You see, his elder brother had gone to great lengths over the years to give birth to Kangxi's first grandson before Crown Prince Yinreng's wedding, having a child almost every year. But his luck was truly terrible; he had many children, but he just couldn't produce a son.

Yinzhuo naturally knew that his elder brother was destined to be disappointed again, and he also knew that this battle of the eldest grandson of the emperor would ultimately end with Crown Prince Yinreng coming from behind to win. But obviously, these were not the issues he was concerned about right now. What he wanted to know was whether his troublesome brothers had gathered here so early in the morning just to say a few sarcastic things to him. If that was the case, Yinzhuo could only think, "They really are just bored."

"I'm asking you guys if you have anything important to do. If not, then you can all do whatever you want. I was really sleepy when you woke me up this morning. I can go back to sleep if you leave."

Although Yinzhi and his brothers were quite upset yesterday, they didn't come to see Yinzuo today just to spite him. When they heard that he was thinking of going back to sleep, Yinjiu immediately objected.

"Sixth Brother, how can you do this? We brothers haven't seen each other for months. It's one thing if you don't say how much you miss us, but you're already thinking of sending us away as soon as we meet. We came to see you this time because we have something important to discuss with you."

When facing Yin Tang, Yin Zuo was not as polite as when facing Yin Zhi and Yin Zhen. Seeing that he was getting angry, he couldn't help but raise his hand and slap him on the back of the head.

"Hey, didn't you say you had something to discuss with me? Ninth Brother, isn't this how you ask for help?"

Having been disciplined by Yinzhuo many times, Yintang naturally knew that he couldn't confront his sixth brother head-on. Seeing that Yinzhuo's tone was off, his arrogant tone immediately softened.

"Sixth Brother, it was all my fault just now. Please forgive me this time, okay? It's Grandma's birthday in a couple of days. In previous years, we usually gave Grandma Buddhist scriptures that we copied ourselves as gifts. This year, we were thinking of giving something else in addition to Buddhist scriptures, but we couldn't come up with any good ideas after thinking about it for a long time. Now that you're back, we thought you usually have the most ideas, so we came to find you early this morning."

Good heavens, if Yinzhi hadn't mentioned it, Yinzhi would have almost forgotten that the old lady's birthday was in a couple of days. Thinking about how his brothers had all prepared gifts and he would have to go empty-handed, Yinzhi couldn't help but feel grateful that Yinzhi and the others had come today.

"Grandma's birthday is in two days, and it's too late to think of anything else now. Do you remember the birthday cake I made for Fourth Brother last year? It wasn't difficult to make, and it looked quite unique. Why don't we make a birthday cake for Grandma? What do you think?"

Yinzhuo's suggestion was quickly approved by everyone. After all, as Yinzhuo said, it was impossible to prepare other things in two days. They had all tasted the birthday cake. It was soft and easy to digest, which was suitable for the Empress Dowager. Moreover, the cake looked novel and unique, so it would be appropriate to make something fresh to give to the Empress Dowager on her birthday.

Since everyone agreed on the idea, the next step was naturally to start preparing the ingredients for making the cake. The Qing Dynasty didn't have ovens, but the palace had one. The imperial chefs dealt with ingredients every day, so making a cake base was naturally not a difficult task for them. Moreover, they had the experience of their previous success, so this step was almost a breeze.

After the cake base is made, the most difficult step in making a cake is making the cream. There is only one ingredient needed to make cream, which is milk. Yinzhuo also adopted the simplest way to make it at that time, which is to pour the milk into a pot and boil it, let it cool, take the milk skin on top, add butter and sugar and whip it. The simplified version of cream is ready.