CH 16

Chapter 16: Reconciliation

“Little seventh,” Yinzhen heard someone coming, looked up, and saw Yinyou in fox fur walking towards him. 

This was the fox fur bestowed upon him by Huang Ama when he went hunting in autumn, and then he gave it to Yinyou because he thought this fur would make of good-looking robe for him.

Yinzhen assumed that Yinyou would still walk straight towards him as before, but who knew that when Yinyou approached, he instead bowed to him politely, “Younger brother greets the fourth brother.”

“Litte seventh.” Yinzhen’s heart sank to the bottom. He never thought that the seventh brother would treat him like this, just like other brothers, polite and alienated.

Yinyou raised his eyebrows slightly, “What’s your order, fourth brother?”

Yinzhen frowned slightly, “Little seventh, there is no need to be so polite in front of  your fourth brother.”

“The younger brother should respect the elder brother.” Yinyou straightened up, “The wind is strong and the snow is heavy. Fourth brother should go back and rest, don’t catch a cold.”

Although Yinzhen was hearing words of concern, he just found it unbearable. He felt as if there was a wall between him and Yinyou. This kind of distance made him feel flustered, which was a new feeling. None of the brothers have ever made him feel this way. Even when the Crown Prince was suspicious of him, he could still deal with it calmly, but facing Yinyou’s alienated attitude, he suddenly felt lost.

Xiao Luzi looked anxiously at the two elder brothers standing in the snow. These were two princes of the Qing Dynasty, if something happened to them due to the cold weather, he, a slave, would lose half of his life, and if he didn’t die, he would scrape off at least layers of skin.

Yinzhen watched the snow slowly start to accumulate on Yinyou’s shoulders, took a few steps forward, untied the cloak on his body and draped it over Yinyou’s body. It was a little long for him, and its hem was dragged on the ground.

“This old slave greets the fourth brother and the seventh brother,” Li Dequan walked out from the same path as Yinyou, holding an umbrella in his hand.

“Granpa Li, please get up,” Yinzhen stretched out his hand to help Li Dequan, “What’s the matter?” 

“The emperor saw the snow was heavy and worried about the seventh brother thus asked this slave to bring him an umbrella, it’s good that the seventh brother has not gone far,” Li Dequan handed the umbrella to Yinzhen, “Now that I meet the fourth brother, I feel relieved. The two brothers should walk slowly, this old slave will return.”

“Thank you, Granpa Li,” Yinyou smiled faintly at Li Dequan, and when Li Dequan walked away, he glanced at the umbrella in the fourth brother’s hand without saying a word.

Yinzhen used his eyes to let the servants stay behind them, and opened the umbrella himself before putting it above his and Yinyou’s heads, “Fourth brother doesn’t have an umbrella, why don’t we go together.” 

The fourth brother’s behavior was ingratiating, clearly trying to get in his good graces. In Yinyou's heart, the fourth brother was only a half-grown child. At this time, he ignored the fourth brother because he wanted to show him his attitude of not wanting to meddle in these affairs. It’s just that he thought that the fourth brother would get angry or alienate him, but he didn’t expect that the fourth brother would come looking for him on his own initiative. Thinking of this, as a prince born in the palace, it was already very difficult for him to do this. And let’s not talk about how the fourth brother treated him with genuine kindness yet Yinyou didn’t want to help him in the disputes between brothers. As a younger brother who lived under Yinzhen’s care, he was already unrighteous.

If he was Yinzhen, he might think that his younger brother was a white-eyed wolf, where would he wait in the snow for such a long time So in the final analysis, it was him who was selfish, not Yinzhen who had always treated him well. He simply wanted to have everything and kept playing tricks in front of a teenage boy. After thinking all of this, when he compared himself with Yinzhen who only took advantage of him once it may be he who was more sorry for his brotherly love. 

Coming to this conclusion, Yinyou stood on tiptoe and patted the snow off Yinzhen’s shoulders. Then he looked faraway knowingly and asked, “Fourth brother,  why are you here?”

Because of Yinyou’s action, Yinzhen felt happy, so he opened his mouth and said, “The maid next to you said that you were called to the Qianqing Palace by Huang Ama, so I just walked around.”

“You just decided to stay outside Qianqing Palace?” Yinyou heard his words, looked up at the umbrella tilted mostly to his side and reached out to the hand of Yinzhen holding the umbrella to cover him too but who knew, it was really terribly cold. “Fourth brother, why are your hands so cold?” Yinyou trembled from the chill, and pulled out the leather glove on his hands, stuffed it in Yinzhen’s hand and took the umbrella from him. “I’ll hold the umbrella, you cover your hands,” he continued, then turned to look at Xiao Luzi and said, “Next time you must see that your Master goes out with a hand-warmer or gloves”.

“Yes,” Xiao Luzi saw that the atmosphere between the two elder brothers wasn’t as stiff as before, so he added, “This afternoon Master was coming to see you, seventh elder brother, so I was in a hurry to go out. It’s all because this servant has a bad memory, alright, seventh brother please forgive me.”

“Come on, don’t I still know your mouth,” Yinyou was amused and helpless from his words and turned his head to look at Yinzhen, “Next time you go out like this, I’ll beat this slave for you, then you won’t feel pain.”

Yinzhen could still feel Yinyou’s body temperature from the leather gloves, and he felt that his cold body seemed to come alive. The corners of his mouth curled up involuntarily, “Don’t speak of hitting a slave, even if you wanted one, fourth brother wouldn’t care”.

After saying this, Yinzhen’s expression froze. He remembered that the knot between them was caused by him sending that maid to Yinyou. Thinking of this, his eyes fell on Yinyou unconsciously. Fortunately, the other party’s expression was still as usual, and he didn’t seem to think much about this matter.

But how could Yinyou not understand Yinzhen’s thoughts. He lowered his eyelids slightly, and slowly let out the words, “Fourth brother, I gave that maid to E-Niang, and just now Huang Ama said to let this maid go clean the Buddhist hall.”

The sound of snowflakes falling on the umbrella was very soft, and because the surroundings were very quiet, only this inconspicuous sound could be heard. Yinzhen looked at the boy holding the umbrella with his head lowered for a long time before speaking, “Seventh brother, I…”

“I understand,” Yinyou interrupted Yinzhen, with a trace of self-mockery on his face, and his grip on the umbrella seemed to bring a lot of strength, “When Huang Ama asked today about this maid, I said that because E-Niang enjoys drinking tea, I begged you to give the maid to me”.

Like this, it became the younger brother who begs for the elder brother’s things, and not the elder brother plotting against the younger brother.

When Yinyou said this, he just wanted to show Yinzhen his own position, and at the same time, he also told the fourth brother Kangxi’s attitude towards the Crown Prince. For the children in the palace who could see thought every little thing clearly, what else could he say?

Yinzhen didn’t know what to say for a while. He wondered what kind of mood Yinyou had when he noticed. Was he sad, angry, or disappointed? Suddenly, he panicked. If he were to chose again, he would definitely not sent the maid to little seventh.

Yinyou seemed unaware of Yinzhen’s thoughts and breaking up the unspeakable atmosphere between the two, he looked at Xiao Luzi with a smile in his eyes, “Xiao Luzi, what are you holding in your hand? Covering it like a baby.”

“Seventh brother, this is a gift from the Emperor that Master received a few days ago. This servant has never seen it before. I heard it is called a diarama. Master thought you would like it, so he asked this servant to bring it to you”. 

How could a slave not understand his master’s thoughts, Xiao Luzi spared no effort to speak favorably of his Master.

“Diorama?” The smile in Yinyou’s eyes became more and more obvious, “Fourth brother, was this the reward you got for the autumn hunting this year?”

Yinzhen was uneasy in his heart, but his face looked calm, “Do you like it?” It’s just that the words revealed the timidity in his heart.

Yinyou sighed in his heart. It was already rare for the young Emperor Yongzheng to value him so much. He himself was such a big man, how could he have the heart to let this child who had suffered all kinds of court struggles still worry about him, “It’s very novel, but it’s best for it to stay with you, fourth brother. After all, it was bestowed by Huang Ama. When I want to play with it in the future, I will come to you.”

“Then don’t forget to come and find the fourth brother in the future,” Yinzhen felt relieved, “Actually, if you like it, it’s okay to gift it to you.” 

Yinyou bent the corner of his mouth and he tilted his head to look at the white-capped ground and he replied, “You are my fourth brother.”

Yinzhen froze, took off the leather glove on his left hand, and covered Yinyou’s hand with it, “I won’t do it in the future.” The cool but smooth touch under his hand gave him an indescribable comfort.

He didn’t say what he wouldn’t do, but Yinyou understood what Yinzhen meant, and he felt a little guilty, “Fourth brother, I will sleep with you tonight, I haven’t slept with fourth brother for a long time. Tomorrow morning let’s go together to greet  De’s E-Niang and E-Niang.”

Yinzhen nodded, “Okay.” The worry in his heart was finally put down.

In the afternoon, the two brothers read a book in the warmly lit study room next to the fireplace. Xiao Luzi secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the two masters reconciled, otherwise he would have to suffer for several days.

Because it was winter, night time came quickly. After the two of them were served to bed by the servants, they climbed to the bed.

Two people lying on the bed were much warmer than one person, Yinyou lay next to Yinzhen, inhaling the faint sandalwood fragrance in the room, “Fourth brother, the incense smell in your room is quite good.”

“It’s just incense. If you like it, I’ll ask someone to send you some tomorrow.” Yinzhen pressed the corner of the quilt on Yinyou’s back to prevent him from getting cold, “We haven’t gone to Wuyizhai for days because the weather was so bad, so don’t  you walk around by yourself. The road is slippery, and if you fall you will be the one who suffers.” And it will be worse if you met the eldest brother or the Crown Prince, or someone with dark intentions, then they’ll definitely do something and it will be even more troublesome. 

“Alright,” Yinyou yawned, his voice soft.

“Sleepy?” There was an indistinct smile in Yinzhen's voice.

“Well, I haven’t slept well in the past few days.” It was especially difficult to fall asleep when one wanted to express one’s attitude without offending other brothers, especially the Crown Prince and you, future Emperor Yongzheng.

“Then go to sleep.” Hugging the slightly thin body into his arms, Yinzhen’s heart gradually warmed up. He had let Yinyou down. He had calculated too many people, but little seventh didn’t want him to be like that with him, to calculate everywhere and be on guard at all times.

Smelling the faint fresh smell of Yinyou’s body, Yinzhen gradually fell asleep, but a strange and charming dream filled the dream.