CH 9

The afternoon class was not canceled despite the hot weather. This time the brothers were being taught riding and shooting and the feeling of standing under the scorching sun was really uncomfortable. While practicing how to draw the bow, Yinyou secretly glanced at the elder brothers riding on the horses, took back his eyes, and continued to pull the bow with difficulty.

The current Yinyou couldn’t draw the bow fully, but he can still look the part. He had the fortune of being a lame prince who was not valued, so the Master who taught both riding and archery wasn’t too harsh on him. It’s just that he really didn’t dare to be lazy because of his identity as the son of Emperor Kangxi and prince of the Qing Dynasty.

In less than two incense sticks [1], Yinyou’s eyes were dripping with sweat, making him uncomfortable. He squinted his eyes, took an arrow from his companion’s [2] hand, aimed at the nearest target, and pulled the bow to aim and released it. Right in the middle of the target, good.

Yinyou put down his bow, breathed a sigh of relief, rubbed his knees, frowned, and thought that maybe his knees might already be bruised. Any tender-skinned eight-year-old child who had been kneeling in a standard kneeling posture for nearly two hours, afraid his knees couldn’t stand it. Ordinary children in ordinary families were punished to kneel and dared to be lazy, but when he knelt he didn’t dare to move an inch.

At this moment, he couldn’t remember any health tips. Yinyou took a cup of half-warm tea from the little eunuch and drank a few sips before he felt better.

After studying in Wuyizhai for nearly two years, he has been able to mount and dismount freely and run on horseback. Although he was not as elegant as his elder brothers the Crown Prince, and the fourth brother, he didn’t look bad.

He tilted his head and glanced at the eighth brother. The other party’s fair face was ruddy after being exposed to the sun, but his eyes were full of seriousness. Then he only heard a swooshing sound, and an arrow flew out and stuck right into the red heart, this was having outstanding skills.

Looking back, Yinyou stretched out his hand to wipe the sweat on his forehead, handed the bow and arrow back to his companion behind him, and said to the eunuch, “Go and bring your Master’s horse.”

His horse was given to him by Kangxi on his seventh birthday, and it was just a little pony at the time. This horse was not a rare breed. When Kangxi gave it to him, his demeanor was as if he was coaxing a child. Yinyou didn’t care. For him, it was enough to have a horse that could run and jump and wasn’t unruly.

After the horse was brought, Yinyou turned over and got on the horse, and as soon as his legs were caught in the horse’s belly, the horse ran. The horse’s running finally brought him a little coolness, but the sun was still burning hot on his head.

“Little seventh’s riding skills are getting better and better,” the Crown Prince saw Yinyou entering the racecourse and restrained the reins of the horse to lower his speed and walk side by side with Yinyou, “Do you want to compare with your second brother.”

“Don’t, don’t,” Yinyou glanced at the Crown Prince’s towering black horse. At first glance, one could see that it was a good horse. He said with a mournful face, “Compared with the Crown Prince brother, seventh brother needless to say will lose. But if we do a race of who can run slower, then I will really be the winner”. 

The Crown Prince smiled and changed the subject, “Little seventh, in the future you must not do what you did this morning. Huang Ama has high hopes for us as his sons, how can you be doing something else when you should be studying?”

Yinyou hurriedly pleaded guilty, “Crown Prince brother, this younger brother knows that he was wrong, this younger brother thought that the fourth brother was not there, and so he was lazy…” 

The Crown Prince smiled, and although there was no reproach on his face, he said, “Don't do this in the future.”

It seems that the seventh brother’s diligence on weekdays was the result of the fourth brother’s effort. Such a brother was really useless, but fortunately, it did not represent a hurdle. Since Yinyou’s brain was not good, in the future, he didn’t need to spend too much thought when he needed to control him. Thinking of this, the Crown Prince gave a light smile to Yinyou, “You learn slowly, second brother will take a step first.”

“Yes,” Yinyou cupped his hands and watched the Crown Prince go leisurely away, and slowly, he resumed riding his horse.

After school, when Yinyou led his companion and Fu Duo back to his courtyard his lame foot was more conspicuous than usual when walking. Halfway through the road, he sent his companion away. Fu Duo behind him hesitated for a while before saying, “Master, the fourth brother’s people came to tell me in the afternoon that the fourth brother hoped you would be able to go to his residence after school.”

Yinyou paused, “Has the fourth brother eaten today?”

Fu Duo lowered his eyebrows and replied, “Yes.”

“That’s good,” Yinyou continued to walk in the direction of the Southern Three Places [3] and after walking for a few steps, he lowered his voice, “You send someone to talk, just say... I’m too tired today, so I won’t go there, and by the way, say a few words for your Master, tell the fourth brother to take good care of his body and be sure to eat on time.”

Fu Duo raised his eyebrows in surprise, but he only saw the thin back of his Master. He buried his head and didn’t dare to ask any more questions, “Yes.”

There were all kinds of cakes on the table in Yinzhen’s room, but after waiting for so long, he didn’t get to see Yinyou, but a little eunuch.

“Where’s your Master?” Yinzhen looked indifferently at the little eunuch kneeling on the ground.

“Answering back to the fourth elder brother, Master said that it was too late today, so he would not come. He also asked the servant to say he hoped that the fourth brother would have a good rest, remember to eat on time, and take care of his health.” The little eunuch thought of his Master limping when he came back from Wuyizhai today and he couldn’t help but shake when thinking of what the Master had suffered in Wuyizhai, but he was just a servant, how could he dare to say such things?

Yinzhen looked coldly at the servant who didn’t dare to lift his eyes, “It’s too late... Is that what your Master said?” 

The eunuch trembled slightly, “Back to the fourth brother, yes.”

“Step back,” Yinzhen waved away the little eunuch and looked at the trays of delicate pastries on the table, his face sinking like water. After a while, he returned to his usual expressionless face, and spoke to the one standing at the door, “Xiao Luzi.”

“The servant is here,” Xiao Luzi entered the room. Glancing at the cakes on the table, he hurriedly knelt down in front of Yinzhen, “Master.” 

“What happened in Wuyizhai today?”

It was summer now. Daylight lasted longer. Yinyou saying he would not visit him because it was getting dark was a poorly made excuse.

Xiao Luzi hesitated for a while, but when he realized that his Master was unhappy, he spoke the truth, “This morning the seventh brother was punished by the emperor because he was not paying attention in class”.

“Little seventh was punished?” The anger in Yinzhen’s heart calmed down a lot, “What happened?”

“It is said that he was punished because he was drawing small people during the lecture of Master Tang.” Xiao Luzi thought, and said, “The seventh brother was punished to kneeling outside for two hours until noon, and in the afternoon, the brothers still practiced riding and shooting. The seventh brother already has foot problems, so...  what this servant heard was that the seventh brother walking posture on the way back was not right. People say that… they said that the seventh brother looked rather bad. It seems as if… as if he was… about to faint.”

Yinzhen stood up when he heard his words, “Confused! Why don’t you tell me these things?!”

Xiao Luzi was so scared that he knocked his forehead on the ground a few times before saying, “The minion saw that the seventh brother’s original intention was to hide it from the Master. In addition, Master was resting in the afternoon, and the seventh brother didn’t seem to have anything serious, so the minion was confused for a while and didn’t tell Master. Master, please forgive the minion, the minion knows his crime.”

Yinzhen thought of the three lovely drawings he received in the morning and his hands were already clenched into fists. He knew that he could not go to see Yinyou at this time. If he did, it would send the message that he was dissatisfied with Huang Ama’s punishing little seventh, and it would only cause trouble for himself and little seventh.

He took a deep breath, picked up the tea on the table, and took a sip before suppressing his impulse, “Send to little seventh the ointment that activates blood and reduces stasis. You ask someone to wait outside the Southern Three Places. If there is anything wrong with little seventh, come back and report it right away.”

“Yes,” Xiao Luzi was relieved when he saw that his Master did not mean to punish him. When he stepped out of the room, he sighed secretly.

When Yunzhu covered Yinyou’s dark blue knees with a hot handkerchief, he let out a gasp. Still, he knew that if the congestion was not rubbed away, he might not be able to go to the riding class tomorrow afternoon. At that time, he didn’t know what he would look like in Kangxi’s eyes. Complacent or unmotivated?

Yunzhu frowned in distress when she saw her Master’s face in pain. While fanning Yinyou, she changed the now lukewarm handkerchief, “Master, you have to bear it, it will be fine soon.”

Just as the room was full of busy minions, Xiao Luzi arrived with a few bottles of medicine, and from outside the door, he begged to see him. Yinyou let down his trousers and let Xiao Luzi enter the room.

Xiao Luzi glanced at Yinyou who was sitting on the soft couch and then looked at the steaming copper basin beside him the servants hadn’t had time to clean up. He bowed and said, “Seventh brother, these are some medicines that our Master has just received recently and that he asked us to prepare for you. If you use them, you will be able to cope with minor injuries and pains when you practice riding and shooting in the future.”

“Appreciate fourth brother’s hard work”. Yinyou sat rigidly on the soft couch, rewarded Xiao Luzi with something, and let him back down.

Xiao Luzi went out of the Southern Three Places and thought helplessly, does the seventh brother really think that in this harem people have no eyes, and he can hide from his Master with such clumsy acting?

No wonder none of the brothers in the palace have schemed against him. A prince who didn’t have a powerful maiden family and was even lacking the most basic connections, who would pay him any attention?

At this point, the eighth brother was much more threatening than the seventh brother, it’s just that the eighth brother’s limelight was too strong, and it was difficult to guess what everyone would look like when the brothers got to the age where they could run errands.

Suppressing his thoughts, Xiao Luzi wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeves and hurriedly walked back. When he got back, he half-heartedly disclosed to his Master what he had seen, including Yinyou’s actions of covering up his bad state when he invited him into the room. 

After Xiao Luzi stepped back, Yinzhen took out the three drawing from his bosom. He thought of Tong Jia-shi, of his birth mother, and then he thought of Yinyou again. He tapped his finger on the head of the fat kid holding the chicken leg, and in his eyes, there was a touch of light.

He picked up a piece of sweet-scented osmanthus ice-sugar cake and took a bite. It was not particularly delicious, and even a little bit too sweet and greasy. He really didn’t know how the seventh brother could like this cake. He thought that tomorrow he would still ask the kitchen to make some more for him. Wondering where was it exactly delicious, unconsciously, he still ate most of the cloyingly sweet pastries.

Yinyou woke up in the middle of the night because of leg pain. His left foot, which was originally sick, was aching like there was no tomorrow. He gritted his teeth and sat in the dark for a long time before he spitted out a sentence in the dark, “Transmigrate your sister!”

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▲ Footnotes 

[1] An Incense Stick of Time is a poetic way of referring to a short time span, generally 5 minutes. 

[2] 哈哈珠子 hāhāzhūzi. I wrongly translated this word as “ bracelet made of beads” in Chapter 6: Enrollment. In fact, it’s a Manchu word meaning young servant. It can be translated as little boy in Chinese. Baidu says “During the Qing Dynasty, some officials let their young children and grandchildren go to the emperor and the prince to do things, bring tea and water, or run errands, deliver letters, walk the dog, play with eagles, etc. Accompany you to read and write. The purpose is to cultivate feelings and get a good future in the future.” You can read more here.

[3] I changed the way I translated “South Three Halls” to “Southern Three Places” as this is the way Wikipedia translated it. Wikipedia only speaks of this palace where Yinyou lives as “To the north-east are the Southern Three Places (南三所) (K), which was the residence of the Crown Prince”. 

Chinese Wikipedia says “In the Southern Three Places there was originally a hall named Xiefang Hall, where people from the palace of the prince Yinreng used to live in the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty. Yinreng was only two years old when he was established as the Crown Prince. At the age of six, Emperor Kangxi built Yuqing Palace for him to live and study.” As I said before, I believe this is one of the ways the author is making us see how Kangxi favors Yinyou.