Chapter 12: Of Age

 

“Master, the fourth brother, and the thirteenth brother have gone out of the palace.” Fu Duo hesitatingly glanced at his Master who was standing quietly in front of the bookcase practicing calligraphy. For a while, he couldn’t understand what his Master thought. In the past two years, the fourth brother and the thirteenth brother had gotten closer and closer. Did the Master ever think that the thirteenth brother could take his place one day?

Yinyou didn’t even raise his head. With a movement of his wrist, a big “fortune” (福) character appeared on the paper. 

 

He put down his brush and studied the character. After feeling that it was passable, he finally looked at Fu Duo, “Go and wash the brush for Master.”

“Yes,” Seeing his expression, Fu Duo knew that his words were beyond his duty as a servant, and he didn’t dare to say more. He took the brush and quietly left.

After Fu Duo retreated, Yinyou asked the other servants in the room to also retreat. For this thirteenth brother, Yinyou had quite some affection. Or at least much more affection than to the third brother. 

Yinxiang, this person, if you treated him well, will also be true to you. In history, after Yinzhen became emperor this younger brother was heavily used. In addition to his loyalty, he also had his own abilities, otherwise, even if he was loyal, the emperor would not put to work a useless person.

The reason why they became so close was probably due to familiarity. The thirteenth brother was given for Concubine De to raise under her knees, and at this time, Yinxiang became friendly with the fourth brother who was not doted on by Concubine De. It’s just that while the two of them were getting cozy, the fourteenth brother didn’t choose to be close to his full-blooded sibling, but rather to the eighth brother Yinsi. 

The brains of these princes were really unfathomable to ordinary people. 

Reaching out and putting away the paper on the table, Yinyou sighed. Now that the Crown Prince had married the Crown Princess, there was even more conflict with the eldest brother. Right now, the fourth brother belonged to the Crown Prince’s Faction. This political game was not a joke. Why should he get unnecessarily involved? After all, there was the thirteenth brother. Yinyou only needed to be a mediocre idle prince who relied on his elder brother.

After Tong Jia-shi’s departure, he slept with Yinzhen for a few nights. Although he couldn’t eliminate Yinzhen’s pain over the loss of his mother, at least he could accompany him. All these years, Yinzhen had treated him sincerely. Why should he calculate so many things?

 

The 30th year of Kangxi was originally an uneventful year in the harem. Some concubines were promoted and the day of the draft approached. This year, the contention between the Crown Prince and the eldest brother aggravated, the third brother was a wallflower, the eighth brother remained unclear, and he as well as the fifth brother were not involved at all.

As for the thirteenth brother, he was quite favored by Kangxi. He was only five years old but was already praised by Kangxi for his wisdom.

He picked up the doubled hot tea on the table and warmed his somewhat cold hands. The thirteenth brother’s birth mother was the favored Concubine Min, it was no wonder why Kangxi looked at the thirteenth brother a few times.

Uncovering the lid of the tea, the faint scent of tea came into his nose. Yinyou tightened the fox fur on his tight-fitting clothes, opened the window, and saw the thick snow in the yard. With such big snow, Yinzhen took Yinxiang, who was only five years old, out of the palace. What were they doing?

The historical records of later generations documented that Kangxi’s sons had to go study whether it was cold or hot. Only when he transmigrated did he know that it was not the case. At least when it was snowing this heavily, Kangxi still let his sons stay inside the house. Therefore, historical records often brought untruths. Whatever it the truth was, how could others know except for the parties involved?

 

Walking into the small path of the yard, Xiao Luzi saw Yinyou standing in front of the window, and hurriedly stepped forward to greet him, “Servant greets the seventh brother.”

“Get up,” When Yinyou saw that it was the eunuch next to the fourth brother he had a hint of a smile on his face, “Xiao Luzi, what does the fourth brother ask you to bring to this Master?”

Xiao Luzi got up, took out a few bags wrapped in paper, and said, “Back to the seventh brother, this are some folk snacks that Master and thirteenth brother asked this servant to bring back to you. Master said to bring it to you quickly, lest it gets cold and then the seventh brother won’t be able to eat it.”

“Appreciate it, the fourth brother’s thinking of me,” Yinyou personally took the folk snacks from Xiao Luzi,, rewarded him with an ingot of silver, and told him to serve his Master with all his heart before letting him retreat.

Then, Yinyou began to open the paper bags. One package contained half a roast duck, another package contained crunchy candy, and even brought two candied haws. The other bags also contained some scattered gadgets.

 

 

 

 

Looking at these things, Yinyou laughed a little bit. Yinzhen really coaxed him like a child. He picked up a piece of crunchy candy and put it in his mouth. Although it was a little sweet and greasy, it had a different taste than those delicate things in the palace did not have.

The taste of roast duck was also very authentic, better than what he had eaten in his previous life, but because of the distance, it was a little bit cold and a little bit hard.

“Master,” Fu Duo walked into the house and saw that his Master was eating these foods without scruples, and knelt down with a thump of fright, “Master, these things...”

“It’s okay, they’re from the fourth brother, don’t worry,” Yinyou took out his handkerchief and wiped the corners of his mouth, “Why are you here?”

“The eighth brother sent someone to deliver a plum cake, and asked Master to taste it.”

Yinyou heard the words and said, “Get up, where are the people?”

“This servant told him to wait in the front hall,” Fu Duo stood up and stepped aside.

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“Clean up this place,” Yinyou got up and walked to the door, and said to the palace girl waiting outside the door, “Go and ask the eighth brother’s people to deliver the things.”

“Yes,” the palace girl bowed and walked in the direction of the front hall.

 

Yinyou sat back on the fur-covered chair and drank tea. In the past two years, the eighth brother walked steadily in the palace and treated him very politely. It’s just that if he got something interesting, he usually gave him a copy. Now, frankly speaking, Yinyou was a little puzzled. It was impossible for Yinsi to not know that he didn’t want to intervene in the battle between their princes. Why did he need to send him things? This was a completely thankless task.

“Servant greets the seventh brother,” The servant who came in was not unfamiliar to Yinyou, he recognized him as the one who usually served beside the eighth brother. 

Yinyou retracted his gaze and raised his hand, “Get up, it’s hard work for the eighth brother.”

The little eunuch hurriedly said when he heard the words, “The seventh brother is too serious.”

Yinyou said a few polite words, rewarded him with something and asked him to go down. As he opened the lid of the basket and looked at the two plates of pastries inside, he sighed softly. Why were these people sending him food? Did they think he only knew how to eat?

The taste of plum blossom cake was not greasy and tasted very good. It’s just that after eating crunchy candy and roast duck, Yinyou couldn’t continue to eat after two pieces. After taking two sips of tea, his throat felt comfortable.

 

“The minion greets Master,” the little eunuch knelt on the ground, not daring to raise his head.

“Get up,” the eighth brother asked with a warm expression, “Did the seventh brother accept it?” He was sitting by the bookcase, holding a copy of the Book of Rites in his hand.

“Back to the Master, the seventh elder brother said he liked it very much,” the little eunuch stood up and buried his head, “It’s just that when this servant saw the fourth brother’s servant coming out from the house.”

Yinsi chuckled when he heard the words, “The fourth brother has a heart too,” after turning a page of the book, he asked again, “Do you know which servant next to the fourth brother?”

The little eunuch replied, “Xiao Luzi, the one who often serves beside the fourth brother.”

“Xiao Luzi,” Yinsi squinted and put down the book in his hand, “You go down.”

“Aye,” After the little eunuch withdrew, he felt that the momentum of the eight elder brothers was amazing. The cold wind poured into his neck, and he couldn’t help shuddering. This winter, it was exceptionally cold.

 

Yinzhen took Yinxiang back to the palace, but the five-year-old Yinxiang tracked behind Yinzhen and exclaimed, “Fourth brother, let’s go to the seventh brother.”

“It’s so late, you should go back, otherwise Min E-Niang will be worried,” Yinzhen replied.

“But the seventh brother promised to draw a piggy for me the other day,” Yinxiang was a little unwilling, “The seventh brother said, he will draw me a very fat piggy.”

Yinzhen said helplessly, “Your seventh brother got sick a few days ago. When he gets better, the fourth brother will ask him to draw it for you right away, okay?”

Since Yinxiang discovered the puppy that the seventh brother had painted for him two years ago, in his heart he dreamed of a little piggy for himself. Now it looked like he hasn’t forgotten about the piglet yet.

“The seventh brother is sick?” When Yinxiang heard that Yinyou was sick and he spot clamoring for Yinyou to paint, “Then the seventh brother will paint for me when he is well.”

Yinzhen nodded, “When the time comes, the fourth brother will help you find the seventh brother, but you can’t bother your seventh brother in these few days, alright?”

After Yinxiang agreed, Yinzhen sent Yinxiang back to Concubine Min. Then he turned around and walked to the Crown Prince’s Yuqing Palace. 

As his feet stepped in the snow it made a creaking sound.

 

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▲ Footnotes 

[1] Wikipedia: The Palace of Heavenly Purity, or Qianqing Palace. During the Qing dynasty, it often served as the Emperor's audience hall, where he held council with the Grand Council. (Wikipedia).

[2] Wikipedia: “Palace of Earthly Tranquility or Kunning Palace, one of the three Inner Palaces of the Imperial Palace, was the resting hall for empresses in the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty. It was first built in 1420 during the Ming Dynasty; destroyed twice in 1514 and 1596 during the Ming Dynasty, and rebuilt in 1605”.

The Palace Museum says: “In Qing times, the empress did not live here. It was the bridal chamber for the Kangxi (r. 1662-1722), Tongzhi (1862-1874), Guangxu (r. 1875-1908), and the abdicated Xuantong (r. 1909-1911) emperors. The couples only spent their first two days of marriage in this palace. Then they moved to live in the Palace of Heavenly Purity (Qianqing gong) or the Hall of Mental Cultivation (Yangxin Dian).” 

[3] Wikipedia says: “From the reign of the Yongzheng Emperor onwards, the Empress moved out of the Palace following the Emperor's move out of the Palace of Heavenly Purity. However, two rooms in the Palace of Earthly Harmony were retained for use on the Emperor's wedding night. The wedding ceremony would be held in the main room, and afterward, the Emperor and Empress would retire to one of these rooms.” This is why the author says that Tong Jia was the last woman in history to live there.

[4] 凝神 茶. Specifically, a kind of tea that soothes the mind, helps to concentrate and helps to sleep better, like if you have insomnia.

[5] From Wikipedia: “Traditionally, white clothing is symbolic of the dead, while red is not usually worn, as it is traditionally the symbolic colour of happiness worn at Chinese weddings.” 

[6] 寅時 yín shí.  3-5 am (in the system of two-hour subdivisions used in former times).

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