The Virtuous Concubine

The next morning, Kangxi went to court early. Malu saw Kangxi off and was about to prepare a schoolbag for Xiao Si'er and decorate the study to make a small study corner for him, when Liang Jiugong hurried over with the emperor's reward.

Liang Jiugong brought not only the books used by the prince in the past and Kangxi's own notes, but also two old eunuchs who served pens and arranged books in the imperial study. These two old eunuchs were well-educated and knew the texts and books like the back of their hands.

Although Kangxi knew that Malu had beautiful handwriting and was well-educated, he was really afraid that Malu's philosophy of taking things as they come (or just living a life of idleness and waiting for death) would influence his son, so he carefully selected two old eunuchs who served as pens and sorted books in the imperial study to be responsible for teaching little Si'er.

Of course, it is not as great as the honor of the emperor personally enlightening the prince, but it is far better than the treatment of other princes.

Ma Lu also knew these two old eunuchs. They were always by Kangxi's side whenever he summoned ministers, so she treated them like treasures and wanted to worship them.

From now on, these two people will be Xiao Si'er's first team. Kangxi will not teach Xiao Si'er the mindset of an emperor, so he lets these two eunuchs tell Xiao Si'er stories!

Xiao Si'er has been busy since today, and Malu is happy to have some free time. Anyway, looking at Xiao Si'er's attitude, he will not hurt his younger brothers and sisters, so what is there for her to be afraid of?

Children naturally have their own little secrets in their hearts, which is a necessary part of their growth. Malu chose a tolerant attitude. She was like an ostrich. After confirming that there was no danger around, she stopped speculating too much about Xiao Si'er's inner world. She believed that if Xiao Si'er wanted to share his secrets one day, he would take the initiative to come to her to confide. Before that, she was willing to give him enough space to let him explore himself freely.

Ma Lu's life is very comfortable now. Apart from taking care of the land, checking on the children, accompanying Kangxi, and occasionally taking the children to pay respects to the Cining Palace and Shoukang Palace, there is nothing else to do.

But she couldn't bear to see the fourth prince studying like crazy every day. How could a child torture himself like this? Aren't they afraid of hurting their body? So she often looked for opportunities to take the fourth prince to play with the fifth prince.

The Fifth Prince is the son of Concubine Yi who was raised by the Empress Dowager. However, our diligent Fourth Prince seems to be able to live in peace with him, but in fact he really dislikes the Fifth Prince's lack of ambition.

How could a prince of the Qing Dynasty be so free and easy?

When the younger princes, led by the eldest prince and the crown prince, got up collectively for morning reading and morning exercises, our fifth prince was still sleeping soundly in the Queen Mother's arms. Who dared to wake him up?

Even Kangxi didn't dare to do that! Once, Malu took Xiao Si'er to Shoukang Palace to pay respects to the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother was awake that day, but Xiao Wu was still sleeping. Malu was a generous person, and she loved to sleep in, so she could only envy him, not play tricks on Xiao Wu.

The Queen Mother also liked this about Malu. She felt that Malu really appreciated the way she raised her children. She was not like others who always said behind her back that she had ruined the Fifth Prince. But it was useless for the two of them to like each other. Kangxi also came today!

At this time, Xiaowu was woken up and hurriedly put on his clothes. When he came out, all the buttons on his body were buttoned in the wrong place. Kangxi thought it was ridiculous and really couldn't stand it. He only dared to tell Xiaowu to pay attention to his clothes.

The Queen Mother was of course a protective child. She just said that this was at home, so why bother with the details? She even didn't let Xiaowu out during the next visit, fearing that Kangxi would find fault with the child again and hurt the child's feelings.

Kangxi was not in a state of indifference. He felt that the Fourth Prince had been receiving enlightenment for a while, and the Fifth Prince was only a few months older than him, so his enlightenment should also be put on the agenda.

Unexpectedly, the Queen Mother refused in every possible way. If Xiaowu went to school, what would she do? Wouldn't she return to the lonely days of touching bricks! However, in order not to delay the child, the Queen Mother was willing to personally teach Xiaowu.

But the Queen Mother came from the Khorchin grasslands, and she didn't know any Chinese, and could barely speak a few words in Manchu. How could she teach her children? The Fourth Prince could recite books fluently, quarrel with the Third Prince, and flatter Emperor Kangxi and the Crown Prince, but the Fifth Prince, my grandmother's good grandson, could only babbled a few words in Manchu.

If the path of civil governance is not feasible, then martial arts will be fine, right? You know, the eldest and second princes have been learning horse riding and archery for a year, and the fourth prince also wanted to learn horse riding and archery, but Ma Lu suppressed him. The empress dowager would never let her beloved fifth prince learn horse riding and archery.

The Queen Mother came from Khorchin, how could she not know the dangers of riding and shooting? Impossible, absolutely impossible. The Fifth Prince had better never ride a horse in his life!

Kangxi couldn't do anything about the old lady. Forget it. She had many sons, and if one was abandoned, it was abandoned. Raising one of them would make the empress dowager happy, so it was worth it.

However, Malu quite likes the Fifth Prince, thinking that he is loyal, kind, honest and not fussy about trivial matters. It would be nice if he could balance out the cunning Fourth Prince. The Fourth Prince was once jealous because of this, but he didn't mind that his mother loved her younger brother.

This is a bad little waste who can compete for the favor of his mother, right? However, as they interacted more, he gradually realized the kindness of the Fifth Prince. But as time went by, he gradually felt the sincerity and kindness of the Fifth Prince. People always yearn for the qualities they lack. In his interactions with the Fifth Prince, Xiao Si'er was gradually infected by his simplicity.

As their relationship became closer, Xiao Si'er began to take the initiative to teach Wu A'ge Chinese, hoping that he would lose fewer people. However, Wu A'ge's learning was also sporadic. What's more interesting is that Xiao Si'er even learned to imitate Wu A'ge's innocent demeanor and way of doing things, which is really mean!

Malu didn't care about anything. She had worked hard to get promoted and have children, and finally got the position of concubine. Now her eldest son was smart and ambitious, and the twins were lively and cute. She only needed to give birth to another pair of children in the second half of her life, let them cultivate their relationship, and then use some power from the previous dynasty to give Xiao Si'er a good start after leaving the palace. She didn't need to worry about the rest, and she just had to wait for the task to be completed.

The system didn't agree: "Isn't it true that the more powerful you are, the safer you are! How come it has become just a gesture?"

Malu felt that the system still didn't understand Kangxi well enough: "Nalan Mingzhu is powerful, Suo'etu is powerful, look at them, did the princes they supported have a good ending? Dominating the court will only make Kangxi feel that you are a threat, and then eliminate you in advance. It's better to develop slowly first. As long as our children are united, they will be busy fighting each other and collapse on their own."

What she didn't say was that besides waiting, she only needed to send Kangxi away at the right time. However, it was difficult for her to grasp the timing now, so that Kangxi would realize the ambitions of the prince and others in advance, be disappointed with the prince, and take a fancy to her own little fourth child.