Chapter 140 – Qing Transmigration Tale (49)
The enoffments this time turned the atmosphere of the capital even more odd.
Eighth Princess Consort pushed Eighth Prince and said, “Ye is overthinking. Ye feels that the emperor does not want you, otherwise, he will not have pulled out Fourth Prince. But in my view, it is the opposite of what Ye thinks. Ye, do you want to hear this?”
Eighth Prince looked helplessly at Princess Consort. “Just speak. Regardless of whether I listen or not, you will speak.” Inside, he thought, this woman needed to have a child. Otherwise, her attention will all be on other matters. He did not know when it started that Princess Consort started to pay attention to politics. Regardless of the matter, she liked to interfere. He truly did not like this. He had put Hong Wang and the eldest gege in her courtyard for her to rear them. He thought if she did not have children in the future, the two of them would be recorded under her name. But she did not pay any attention to the children at all. Rearing children in the courtyard, do some needlework, and even watching operas at home everyday was much better than paying so much attention to the matters outside like she did now. When he thought of this, he could not avoid impatience in his tone.
Eighth Princess Consort’s expression immediately changed. “Ye looks down on me? Feels that me, a woman, has no knowledge?”
Eighth Prince wanted to hit himself. In the past, when husband and wife had been very good, he was used to telling everything to Princess Consort and listen to Princess Consort’s views. But now, Eighth Prince was not the Eighth Prince of the past, and the matters right now were not the trifles of the past. He could not discuss every matter with Princess Consort. She was always in the inner courtyard, and her knowledge was shallow.
But he could not fight with Princess Consort on this matter. He truly was tired now. He wanted to come back and rest, but his ears were not allowed to rest.
Eighth Prince turned around to face Eighth Princess Consort. “You speak, Ye will listen.” During the day, he had to be the virtuous eighth prince who would listen to advice. During the night, he still had to play this role.
Life could not be worse than this.
Eighth Princess Consort was satisfied now. She leaned against Eighth Prince. “Does Ye remember the enoffment last time? Back then, Ye was titled along with your older brothers. Fourth Brother became a beile like Ye. But now the princes have been promoted, and just not Ye. I feel it is because in the emperor’s mind, Ye is not the same as them. You think, the ones who should be commandery princes have become promoted, and the princes of first rank have also received their titles. They have taken over these positions. Does this not mean that they will not be able to take the position of crown prince?”
Eighth Prince stilled. If thought like this, it was understandable. The emperor had called for recommendations for the crown prince. Then, it meant that someone would be titled the crown prince in the near future. But at this time, his older brothers were all promoted. It did seem like these people were to be eliminated from being the crown prince. Making Fourth Brother a title of prince of first rank seemed more like a comfort. He was the most competitive. Giving him a prince of first rank, and distinguishing him from the rest was likely because he would feel it unjust.
Eighth Prince raised a hand to rub his chin. He was a bit uncertain. He got up immediately. He had to discuss with his advisors. “You make sense, you may have helped Ye greatly. They all say to marry a virtuous wife. Ye‘s princess consort is not just virtuous, she is beautiful.”
When he was happy, his mouth was like honey.
Eighth Princess Consort knew he was just speaking nonsense, but she could not help but feel sweet.
Unlike the eighth couple, the fourth couple were sitting opposite each other, their expressions not very good.
“…… The emperor has seen that Eight is too popular, and wants Ye to blunt him.” Si Ye leaned back on the cushion and sneered, “Eight wants to be the crown prince, but Ye does not want to be Commandery Prince Zhi.”
Lin Yu Tong sighed as well. The situation right now was still a trap. It just depended on who could be patient. Luckily, Si Ye was able to control himself, but it was tiring to even see.
This prince of first rank was not easy to be.
“What does Ye plan to do? I fear that the people who come tomorrow will want to crush your threshold.” Lin Yu Tong was irritated. The imperial edict had just been announced, and she got two large boxes of notes from women who wanted to visit.
Right now, there were two large baskets placed outside the gates of the Garden of Perfect Brightness. People who wanted to visit just had to place in their notes.
The gatekeepers receiving the notes were not enough.
Eighth Prince appeared very popular, but there were not many who were truly loyal to him. Most people would sway with the wind and follow their benefits.
There were many people who felt that the emperor had a high opinion of Si Ye and would come to curry favor. These people did not hope that Si Ye would meet them. They sent in their notes wanting to show they wanted to be close, and then express that they supported and liked Si Ye.
But this was very attention-catching and unlikable.
Lin Yu Tong flipped through the notes for a long time today, fearing that she would miss an important one. She even called Moyaqi to come help. She had not even heard of some of these families.
Si Ye shook his head. “The emperor rewarded us with this garden. People will not charge in. You do not have to fear.”
So, Si Ye became a complete shut-in.
He did not go anywhere, did not accept any invitations, and just stayed in the garden like this.
The emperor wanted to use him to control Eight, and he just slacked off like this, not understanding the emperor’s intentions at all.
Each day, other than watching over Hong Hui, Hong Yun, and Hong Shi’s classes, he would even take Hong Zhao along. When he had free time, he would design clothing and jewelry for Lin Yu Tong. He even designed clothing for Hong Zhao and his lion dog.
When it was the start of spring, he even asked for an edict to start farming in the Garden of Perfect Brightness, acting like he did not want to be involved in the matters outside at all.
The emperor did not make it difficult for Si Ye for some reason, and even granted it.
Hong Hui left for Changchun Garden in the morning, and only returned in the afternoon.
He got close to Si Ye and said in a whisper, “A-ma, this son saw Khan-mafa‘s hand trembling when he flipped the page.”
His hand was not steady! It meant that he was truly getting old.
Hong Hui’s expression was a bit disappointed and frustrated. Si Ye patted Hong Hui’s shoulder and did not speak for a long time.
During dinner, Si Ye’s appetite clearly decreased. Most likely, Si Ye was a bit sad about what Hong Hui had said after coming back.
Honestly, Si Ye would count as a very sentimental person.
Hong Hui could not disturb Si Ye so he anxiously went to Lin Yu Tong. “Eniang, should this son not have said anything?”
“No! You can say what you want to your a-ma.” Lin Yu Tong comforted Hong Hui. This child was soft hearted. Because he had been with Kangxi recently, he had some feelings for the other. He felt that the old person was alone and old, without anyone to even talk to him, and pitiful.
She originally wanted to talk about “keeping the ruler company was like keeping a tiger company” but then she refrained from doing it.
In the imperial family, such words were taboo. Also, if the child’s attitude suddenly changed, the emperor would be able to see it, with his cleverness. It was not good to be too clever.
She sent Hong Hui to sleep and then looked at Hong Zhao. When Lin Yu Tong returned to the rooms, Si Ye had come back from the study.
“Ye does not feel well?” Lin Yu Tong laid down and said.
Si Ye hummed. In his memories, Khan A-ma was always large, but how many years had it been since he carefully looked at Khan A-ma. Even though he was the son, he could not look at the ruler directly. So, Khan A-ma had grown old already?
This understanding caused him to feel unwell.
“If people come to get Hong Hui tomorrow, Ye wants to go along,” Si Ye said in a low voice.
But before Si Ye went to visit his Khan A-ma who he thought was old now, an edict came the next morning that the emperor was going to tour around the capital.
Because it was around the capital, Si Ye, Eighth Prince, Fourteen, Fifteen, Sixteen, and Seventeen were selected to keep company.
Lin Yu Tong packed up for Si Ye once again.
In reality, touring with the emperor was not a good duty. It appeared very respectful, and only they knew the hardships involved.
It was the end of the second month, and there was just a bit of spring. The temperature in the mornings and evenings were not high.
The wind was not cold when blowing on faces, but not comfortable. In front of the emperor, they could not ride in the carriage, and were all on horses.
At this time, Fourteen’s advantage appeared.
Op the horse, he was a bit handsome. “Fourth Brother, it is not me wanting to criticize you, does this count as riding the horse? You have to have it gallop.” Fourteen returned after running far on his horse. Everywhere were cheers for Fourteen.
Sixteen twisted his lips and said to Fifteen, “Brother, do you think that Fourth Brother and Fourteenth Brother came from the same eniang?” It did not look like it. People would not destroy their own brother’s support like this.
Fifteen changed expression. “Stop!” How could he dare to say these things? Which of the older brothers were easy to get along with? It was better to stay far away, and not get involved in their business.
Eighth Prince laughed. “Fourth Brother and I cannot compare to you in this. Fourteenth Brother, you are not kind.”
Fourteen said, “Eighth Prince, you are humble. I know that your riding and shooting is not the same as Fourth Brother.”
Were there people like this who would step on their own brothers to flatter others?
Sixteen thought that he had gained a lot of knowledge. If he dared to be like this to Fifteenth Brother, the other would have beat him a long time ago.
Should he say that Fourteenth Brother’s brains were not useful? Or say that Fourth Brother had good composure?
They were riding horses, and could not be far from the emperor’s imperial procession. So the emperor clearly heard Fourteen’s words.
A hint of anger flashed through his eyes. They were all his sons. He did not want his sons to fight. But he also did not want to see one son flatter another like a servant.
He was a bit irritated with Fourteen’s attitude towards Eight.
He was so certain the one to rise would be Eight, and because of this, he was willing to step on his own brother to create a path for Eight.
What kind of person was he?
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