CH 15

Chapter 15: Snow

Waking up from a dream in the middle of the night, Yinyou suddenly remembered something. The Crown Princess’s father was Shi Dutong, and her mind must not be simple. How could she easily get rid of the palace ladies around her, let alone allow the Crown Prince to give them to the fourth brother? Why did he fail to notice this?

This Hai Yun also didn’t look like a simple maid too. She was around fifteen or sixteen years old, and she looked pretty. Although she was thin, he never saw her show a trace of timidity in front of him.

The fourth brother was fourteen years old this year and everyone was aware of this. Even if the fourth brother wanted a woman, he had his own E-Niang. How could he need the Crown Prince to send him a woman?

Was the Crown Prince confused? Why did he send a girl to the fourth brother? To send a eunuch it was alright, ah, but now… Even if the Crown Prince said that the fourth brother took a liking to this girl so he gave her to the fourth elder brother, then it would be justified, but to give it like this, without saying anything, it was a bit eye-catching for the Crown Prince to do it like this.

The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt. This palace girl couldn’t stay by his side. Whether it was her strange identity or the Crown Prince’s calculations, he didn’t want to mess anything up. The Crown Prince seemed gentle, but he was extremely vindictive. If he ruined the Crown Prince’s plans, it would cause him a lot of trouble, it’s just that because of the fourth brother he had to pretend not to know anything. So all in all, he must think of a way to distance himself from the palace girl, but also pretend to be unaware of everything.

“Come in,” Yinyou put on his shoes. Immediately a night watchman eunuch came in. As he lit the lamp, he asked, “Master, did you have a bad dream?” 

Yinyou adjusted the expression on his face, “Go and call Fu Duo. Master wanted to drink Fu Duo’s tea tonight, do you understand?”

“Yes,” the eunuch’s face changed slightly, and then gently retreated out.

Yinyou put on an outer robe. The snow outside was not visible, and the swishing sound annoyed him for no reason.

“Master,” Fu Duo came in after a while. He was wearing neat clothes and he had some watermarks on his feet as if he had just come back from outside.

“Have you figured out this Hai Yun’s identity?” Yinyou took a sip of herbal tea, feeling that his whole body was completely cooled, and his heart was calmer.

“Returning to the Master, this slave had some drinks with the good brothers in Yuqing Palace tonight. From what I heard, this Hai Yun is an orphan. Her mother passed away, and she was sent to the Crown Prince. After the maid selection, she was left at the Crown Princess’ side because she made good tea, and was very valued by the Crown Princess, so she was raised at her side as a high-ranking maid.” Fu Duo paused before he spoke again, “A few days ago, she lost some jewels of the Crown Princess, and somehow ended up at the fourth brother’s place.”

Yinyou put down the cold teacup and rubbed his forehead. He knew that the Crown Prince liked to indulge in women, and he even heard about him molesting eunuchs. It’s just that the Crown Princess had always been virtuous. She was generous to the Crown Prince’s concubines, so how could she not tolerate this Hai Yun, also if this girl had in fact become the Crown Prince’s woman, it was absolutely impossible to send her to the fourth brother.

Or, this may be a good play between the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess. Although the fourth brother said that he was loyal to the Crown Prince, because the Crown Prince wanted to hold the fourth brother even more tightly in his hands, so he might’ve decided to send him a woman.

It was not too outrageous for the Crown Prince to send one or two women to his younger brother who already knew about human affairs, and the fourth elder brother couldn’t refuse. The only thing that wasn’t in the plan was that Yinyou just happened to take an extra look at this maid.

“A few days ago, I heard that E-Niang enjoyed tasting new teas. Tomorrow you will send this Hai Yun girl to E-Niang to let her serve for a few days.” Yinyou rubbed his forehead, “It’s late, go down.”

“Yes.” 

Fu Duo was aware of the position of his Master. As a slave, if his Master was honored, he would also follow. If his Master fell, as a slave he could only be worse than an animal. His Master was not favored and had a bad foot, but his mother was a bannerman woman, and his status wasn’t as low as the eighth brother. Master was also not a stupid person. To be a slave, you didn’t have to be extremely capable, but it was a must to have good eyesight. Following such a Master he was much better than those slaves who danced on the edge of the knife every day.

“Xiao Luzi.” After lunch, Yinzhen asked, “Has little seventh not been feeling well these days?”

Xiao Luzi’s face froze. He knelt on the spot and replied, “Master, the seventh brother has been reading and writing in his courtyard for the past few days, and he has never summoned an imperial physician.”

Yinzhen held rubbed the rim of the cup in his hand without drinking it, musing, “Then how come little seventh hasn’t come to me these past few days.”

“Master,” Xiao Luzi stammered. Finally, he replied, “Maybe the seventh brother is busy with other things.”

But in his heart, he felt bitter. Before, the seventh brother would come to see the Master almost every day, and even if he didn’t come, he would call the servants below to speak on his behalf. Counting today, the seventh brother hadn’t come or sent any servants to come and deliver a message for three days.

“What do you think he is mad at?” Yinzhen didn’t seem to see Xiao Luzi’s nervousness, and continued with a soft voice, “Did Master wrong him?”

Xiao Luzi hurriedly put his forehead on the ground, “Master has always treated the seventh brother well”.

Crack! The teacup was thrown on the ground, tea splashed everywhere, and the vapor curled up. Yinzhen’s expression was somber, and this time he spoke in a low voice, “Then why is he losing his temper?” He never thought that there would come a day when Yinyou would alienate him. Deep in his heart, he felt that he would always be by his side. He took for granted that as long as he stretched out his hand, little seventh would be within reach.

It turned out that when he was not around, he felt flustered. Was it because he watched him grow up, so he took him too seriously?

Xiao Luzi hesitated and said, “Master, I heard that the seventh brother sent the maid you gave him to Concubine Cheng.”

Yinzhen’s face changed, “When did it happen?”

Xiao Luzi didn’t dare to look up, “I heard she was sent there today.”

After hearing this, Yinzhen’s eyes fell on Xiao Luzi, and he didn’t say anything for a long time. Xiao Luzi trembled.

“Little seventh is filial. Get up, take the diorama [1] that Huang Ama bestowed last time, and let’s go see little seventh,” Yinzhen stood up, his expression was completely devoid of the previous anger, it’s just that there seemed to be some eagerness in his demeanor.

“Yes,” Xiao Luzi hurriedly stood up and backed out, heaving a sigh of relief. No wonder he thought something was wrong with Master these past few days, it turned out this was what had been bothering him.

Braving the snow to go to Yinyou’s residence Yinzhen saw the palace maid Yunzhu who served closely by Yinyou walking towards him from a distance, “Maidservant greets the fourth brother.”

Yinzhen glanced in the direction of Yinyou’s study, “Where is the seventh brother?”

Yunzhu replied respectfully, “Back to the fourth brother, just now Eunuch Li came and said that Master was summoned by the Emperor, he must still be there at this moment.”

Yinzhen felt like he was hitting cotton [2]. The anxiety ins his heart and all the explanations he had thought of, slowly turned into uneasiness, as for what he was uneasy about, even he himself was a little unclear. Logically speaking, little seventh wasn’t of much help, yet he couldn’t help but care about him.

[2] Hitting the cotton with fists means that when a person quarrels or fights with others angrily, the other party does not fight back at all, do not fight back, or even does not speak, and the whole attitude is soft, making people want to scold or fight, The anger in the heart can’t be vented.

The child who stumbled behind him back then, the child who he taught to write stroke by stroke, had slowly grown up till this day. He trusted him but he was also very smart. This time when he gave him the maid, did he feel he was regarded as a pawn, so he simply decided to stay away from him?

Because he regarded him as a trustworthy elder brother, at this time, Yinyou will lose his temper and stay away from him, instead of being hypocritical.    

“Fourth brother,” Yunzhu was worried when she saw him standing still in the snow, and spoke up, “Why don’t you wait inside the house for a while? Master has been gone for more than half an hour, maybe he will come back later.”

“No,” Yinzhen tightened the cloak on his body, turned around, and walked towards Qianqing Palace.

“Master,” Xiao Luzi followed him worriedly, “You are…”

“Master wants to look at the landscape, does Master have to report to you?” Yinzhen spoke coldly.

“Servant doesn’t dare”, Xiao Luzi hurriedly lowered his head, but he also understood in his heart that Master wanted to go to Qianqing Palace and used the snow scene as an excuse.

In Qianqing Palace, Yinyou was looking at the chessboard with a bitter face. The white pieces on it had already eaten most of the black pieces. He wished he could eat a handful of white pieces, but it was a pity that Kangxi was the one playing chess with him now.

When Kangxi called him suddenly, he was more surprised than happy, like this, he played chess with a stupefied brain, and the result was a terrible loss.

After a stick of incense, Yinyou was completely annihilated. He shook his head and spoke sadly, “Huang Ama, you should show some kindness to Erchen.”

“Little seventh, your chess skills are really bad,” Kangxi replied in a good mood, “Tell me, how many times have slacked on chess, your brothers, except you who would be so sloppy, none would lose this badly when playing with Zhen.”

Yinyou rubbed the fine piece of chess in his hand, “Huang Ama, who told you to be better than Erchen? You are the father, and I am the son. I’m just a little foolish. If you don’t say how I lost to you, how could my brothers know”.

Kangxi heard this, and his smile remained intact, “How do you know I won’t tell on you to those brothers.”

“Huang Ama, please don’t scare Erchen,” Yinyou said with a heartbreaking face, “If the Crown Prince and the third brother know, Erchen will definitely be dragged to learn how to play chess. If the fourth brother finds out, I will be criticized to death by him, and those younger brothers will definitely laugh at me.”

Still smiling, Kangxi put down the chess pieces. Li Dequan quickly stepped forward to clean up the chessboard, and then a court lady brought tea.

Holding the teacup, Yinyou said, “But my younger brothers like my paintings very much.”

“Ah, those paintings that you draw where people don’t look like people, and pigs don’t look like pigs,” Kangxi took a sip of tea, “it’s also just your younger brothers who like those.” After saying this, Yinyou who was sitting opposite him lowered his head.

Every father wanted his children to be close to him, but it was a pity that he was an emperor, and his children respected him too much. Like this, none grow to be close to him. Although this seventh son was a bit mediocre, his words revealed a son acting like a baby to his father. Perhaps he had neglected him all these years, so when Yinyou just entered the door, he looked at him with a bit of incredulity.

Kangxi calmly turned his attention to the child across from him. Yinyou’s appearance was also quite good. Holding the teacup with his white and slender fingers, he showed a child’s immaturity. The child he had been neglecting had already begun to slowly grow up.

“I heard that you gave the maid beside you to your mother?”

Yinyou, who was immersed in drinking tea, suddenly heard this sentence, and he put down his teacup, “Returning to Huang Ama, it’s like this, I heard that E-Niang enjoyed tasting tea a few days ago, and it just so happened that the maid beside the fourth brother made good tea, so Erchen asked the fourth brother for this maid, and let her serve E-Niang.”

“Well, it’s indeed suitable to be next to your E-Niang,” Kangxi nodded, and said casually, “In a few days let her go and clean the Buddhist hall.”

Yinyou was slightly startled, Kangxi obviously wanted to help the Crown Prince to suppress the matter, after all, the Crown Prince was the one who didn’t do well. Yinyou spoke regretfully, “Then my E-Niang servants should learn more from her, otherwise, E-Niang will be reluctant to let her go.”

“That's not necessary,” Kangxi said with a smile on his face, “I’ll ask Li Dequan to send her a servant who is good at making tea later.”

“Erchen thanks Huang Ama for my mother.”

“Well, if you really want to thank your Huang Ama, you should work harder. I’m tired too, now you go play by yourself.” Kangxi waved his hand, obviously still in a mood good.

“Erchen will leave, Huang Ama please take care of yourself.” Yinyou hurriedly stood up and saluted, then quietly retreated.

“Seventh brother please walk slowly and watch your step carefully, the snowy road has been slippery in the past few days,” Li Dequan sent Yinyou outside Qianqing Palace with a smile on his face.

“Many thanks for the reminder, Granpa Li,” Yinyou spoke politely and walked for a while when he saw a familiar figure with a lot of snow on his shoulders.

That was the fourth brother, why was he standing here? Yinyou was taken aback for a moment but his footsteps gradually accelerated and then he walked up to the person.

***

The author has something to say: Fuck, what should I do? Sister will tell everyone right now that my son entered illegally into the Qing Dynasty. Saying that he’s lazy and incompetent is too bad, hum!╭(╯^╰)╮

In addition, this is a fictional work. I hope everyone will not be too strict. For example, what are the princes’ ranks, do they eat dim sum, and is this dim sum sweet or salty, and what kind of fillings, whether it was northern or southern… 

Another example is how many dishes did the emperor eat and how many clothes did he change in a day? Did the princes like to eat steamed buns or something else? For another example, what should the tableware be, what kind of wood should the furniture be made of, and what color should the maid’s clothes be… I’m just writing this as I’m going and did no further investigation. So please don’t pay too much attention to these issues, or I will cry. Really, I will definitely cry (ㄒoㄒ)~~ 

I’m just following the general direction of history and moving forward. I always make some small detours or delete something, otherwise, the plot will be slow, and it will not proceed.

Everyone is welcome to advise me on historical issues, but please allow me to write the plot without following the historical facts because if everything was based on history, there would not be danmei, no ambiguity, and no passionate things.

This is actually just a fictional story, but I will still abide by what should be obeyed, please don’t be too strict.

Come on, everyone read silently with me, in fact, this is a fictional novel with the background of the Qing Dynasty, ~(@^_^@)~