EBE Chapter 5, the Sixth Prince's Tragedy
Chapter 5, the Sixth Prince's Tragedy
As the saying goes, good news doesn't travel far, but bad news travels fast. Unsurprisingly, Yinzhuo's boastful words spread like wildfire throughout the palace the very next day. While other palace residents might just listen to the spectacle, Consort De, who desperately wanted her son to succeed, frowned and poked Yinzhuo's forehead.
"You child, what can I say to you? It's one thing not to think about working hard and improving yourself to share the Emperor's burdens in the future, but you actually want to be a playboy who eats, drinks, and has fun, squandering the Emperor's private treasury. How can you say such things so casually? What will your father think of you? What will the people in the palace think of you? Your mother still has to rely on you for the future..."
Yinzhuo paid no attention to Consort De's worries. While dodging his mother's poking finger, he pushed his teacup toward Consort De in an ingratiating manner, hoping to appease his mother and make her nag him less.
"I was just saying that, how did it make you so angry? Mother, have a glass of water to calm down. I've heard that anger is bad for your health, so please don't let me upset you."
Yinzhu felt that his mother was being a bit of an overreaction. Despite the rumors flying around about him, he thought people were just bored and watching the show. Besides, he was only six years old, and no one would take his childish words seriously. As for the rumors about Kangxi, Yinzhu wished he would take them seriously.
He said these words to Kangxi, as a way of giving him a heads-up. He didn't want Kangxi to fail every subject after he entered the Imperial Study and cause him a serious problem. If he lowered Kangxi's expectations of him to the lowest level from the beginning, then every bit of progress Kangxi made would be a pleasant surprise for him.
"You can't say things like that again. If I hear you say it again, your mother will never forgive you. You'll be starting school in two months, so you'd better study hard. Your mother is counting on you for the future..."
It's no wonder that Consort De was so fond of Yinzhuo. Even though she was driven crazy by Yinzhuo's grand words, her anger dissipated as soon as she saw the little guy's pitiful attempts to please her. In the end, she simply lifted him up and then gently put him down. Since she couldn't bear to punish her precious son, she could only try to persuade him with a kind and gentle touch.
"Excuse me, Mother, I'm interrupting you. I can't say anything about the future, but there's one thing I can guarantee: I'll definitely be a playboy. Don't expect me to be successful in the future, because you can't count on me at all. It was a joke before that I squandered Father's private treasury. After all, even if I wanted to squander it, Father wouldn't let me. But it's true that I want to be a playboy who eats, drinks, and has fun. You'd be better off relying on Fourth Brother."
It would have been fine if Yinzhen hadn't been mentioned, but the moment Yinzhen was mentioned, Consort De acted as if a taboo word had been touched, and her attitude instantly changed from that of a loving mother who doted on her child to one of bitterness and sarcasm.
"Looking for him is pointless. He only recognizes that woman in Chengqian Palace as his mother now. He doesn't even remember that he crawled out of my belly. That woman raised him well. He doesn't even recognize me, his own mother. How can I count on him in the future..."
Hearing Consort De's words, Yinzhu shook his head. He said that since the other party didn't acknowledge him as their own mother, and given his attitude towards her, it was already a sign of her magnanimity that she was being so gentle with him now. Moreover, he realized that his mother didn't hate his fourth brother at all; she clearly hated Consort Tong of Chengqian Palace. However, she also knew that she couldn't do anything to Consort Tong, so she hated Yinzhen as well.
Although Yinzhuo thought Consort De was being a bit dramatic and disapproved of her behavior, he didn't intend to try to persuade her. After all, once someone gets stuck in a rut, nothing can pull them back. Consort De's mind was probably beyond redemption. Yinzhuo could only hope that he would spend more time with his adopted fourth brother from now on, hoping to cultivate a deep brotherly bond. He hoped that after his fourth brother ascended the throne, he would be more lenient with his dramatic mother and his dim-witted younger brother out of consideration for him, so that one of them wouldn't end up in the imperial mausoleum while the other guards it.
Of course, Yinzhuo's bold words were not without their side effects. Since the words had already reached Consort De's ears, Kangxi, as the master of the palace, could not possibly have been unaware of them. The words were spoken yesterday, but the rumors started today. Before it even got dark, the person who had boasted about squandering the private treasury came knocking on his door.
"Little Six, I heard that you not only plan to become a playboy in the future, but also want to squander my private treasury. There are quite a few good things in my private treasury. Come here to your father and have a good talk with him about how you plan to squander it."
Although the other party was speaking gently and had a good attitude, Yinzhuo knew that this was just the calm before the storm. If he didn't say something right, he would probably get a beating. But what could he do? The other party was his father and he was his son; the other party was the ruler and he was the subject. He dared not disobey when asked to step forward.
So Yinzhuo first cautiously glanced at his father, who was sitting on the couch, drinking tea with a normal expression, and then looked pitifully at his mother sitting opposite Kangxi. The meaning was clear: Mother, save me.
When the mother and son's eyes met, Consort De merely gave Yinzhu a look that said "good luck" before looking away. Yinzhu sighed helplessly, realizing that he could no longer rely on his mother and that he could only depend on himself now.
So Yinzhuo's pitiful expression vanished, replaced by a fawning smile, and he ran towards Kangxi. Once in front of Kangxi, he didn't care about anything else, leaned into his father's arms, raised his hands, hugged his father's neck, and began to act cute and shift the blame.
"Father, I was just joking. Who knew that my eldest and fourth brothers would be so disloyal? Not only did they laugh at me on the spot, but they also told others about it afterward, making everyone laugh at me. Father, you must seek justice for me. Although I haven't been to the study, I know that a person cannot stand without integrity. My eldest and fourth brothers broke their promise. They clearly promised me that they wouldn't tell anyone."
Kangxi didn't come here today to interrogate him. He was just teasing the child to see how Yinzhu would react. He found it amusing that the little guy first looked at him with a guilty expression and then pitifully asked Consort De for help. Who would have thought that after the child's pleas went unanswered, he would come over and hug him and start acting cute!
Emperor Kangxi became a father more than a decade ago, and now has more than a dozen sons and daughters. However, he is not really close to his children. When his children are with him, they are mostly respectful but not affectionate. Even Crown Prince Yinreng, whom he personally raised from a young age, would only lean on him and act coquettishly when he was very young. As he grew older and became more concerned about his image, he naturally stopped doing so. And none of them dared to hug his neck like Yinzuo.
As for why the original owner of the body, Yinzhuo, was so arrogant and domineering yet so much liked by Kangxi, it was firstly because he knew how to pretend and was sweet-talking, and secondly because he was bold enough to get close to Kangxi, giving Kangxi's fatherly love room to run wild. Now, Yinzhuo is following suit, boldly hugging his father and shaking him around, and he has actually managed to shake out Kangxi's loving fatherly heart.
"Not bad, you know that a person cannot stand without integrity. But you don't need to make the first accusation. Putting aside other things, how come I didn't know that your eldest and fourth brothers promised you yesterday not to tell anyone?"
Seeing that Guo hadn't managed to shake him off, Yinzhuo's smile froze for a moment, but he reacted quickly; if one plan failed, he would just come up with another.
"Father is indeed wise and powerful. You saw through my little trick immediately. I was in the wrong this time. Father, you are very magnanimous and love your son the most. Please forgive me this time..."
As the saying goes, flattery will get you everywhere. Yinzhuo showered Kangxi with compliments as if they were free, and sure enough, Kangxi beamed with joy. Meanwhile, Consort De, who had been on tenterhooks ever since Kangxi entered the room yesterday, finally breathed a sigh of relief as she watched the father and son bickering.
However, Yinzhuo, who thought he had escaped a calamity, soon found his joy turned to sorrow, and the culprit of the tragedy was naturally his scumbag father, who was a professional at raising his child.
"Now that he has recovered, there is no need to wait until autumn for his enrollment. Have someone pack up for Yinzhuo tomorrow and move him to the South Third Palace. He will officially begin his studies in the Imperial Study in three days."
Seeing his father leave behind a single sentence and return to his palace with Consort De, Yinzhuo raised his hand and slapped himself hard across the face.
"Sigh, it's all because of this foul mouth."