The Virtuous Concubine

After Malu returned, she began to carefully plan the task assigned to her by Kangxi. But first she had to call her son to help her take the blame.

She walked to the side hall and saw Xiao Si'er reading a book. She suddenly felt like playing a prank and snatched the book away in a flash, scaring Xiao Si'er.

When Xiao Si'er saw that it was his biological mother, he felt a little helpless: "Mother, I only have two pages left to finish."

Ma Lu then noticed that Xiao Si'er was very knowledgeable. People in Yonghe Palace called her mother, and outside they called her mother. She had a bright future! Of course, this was just a small matter. She sat down without hesitation, pulled Xiao Si'er and asked, "Xiao Si'er, do you want to learn how to swim?"

Seeing Xiao Si'er's confused face, she thought she had used the wrong word: "Mother meant swimming."

Xiao Si'er shook his head: "I don't want to learn."

Xiao Si'er looked at Malu with doubts in his eyes, not understanding why his mother suddenly had such an idea. Malu gently stroked his head and patiently explained: "Xiao Si'er, swimming is a very important skill. It not only exercises your body, but also protects you when necessary. Mother hopes that you can learn to protect yourself, understand?"

Xiao Si'er thought his mother cared about him, and although he was touched, he still refused: "Don't worry, mother, I won't go to the water to play around."

Malu shook her head: "No, you want to, you really want to, starting tomorrow, you're going to ask to learn how to swim."

what?

Seeing the Fourth Prince's confused look, Malu felt a little sorry. I'm sorry, son. I'm going to trick you this time! If something like this happens in the future, it will be your brother or sister's turn.

According to Malu's plan, she was going to repeat the same trick. First, the Fourth Prince wanted to learn how to swim, and she had no choice but to agree. Then, she naturally researched some swimming-related things for her son, which were then discovered and adopted by Kangxi.

I didn't expect the Fourth Prince to be so stubborn! He doesn't like riding and shooting, and he doesn't like swimming either.

But a forced melon is always sweet, so Malu assigned the initial task to the Fourth Prince and walked away leisurely.

When she left, she was still wondering in her heart whether she should build a swimming pool for training first?

The fourth prince was so distracted by her brilliant idea that he thought about it until midnight, and he didn't understand what his mother was going to do. The next day, the fourth prince got up with two small dark circles under his eyes, washed and ate, ignoring Jingyi's eager gaze beside him - when will you start your performance?

By the afternoon, he couldn't stand it anymore, sighed, and said, "I want to learn how to swim."

Jingyi was delighted: "What? Fourth Prince, please speak louder. I didn't hear you clearly."

Xiao Sier repeated helplessly, "I - want - to - learn - how - to - swim -"

Jingyi repeated happily: "Quick, pass it on, the fourth prince wants to learn how to swim, he really wants to learn, he can't sleep at night!"

The news spread quickly in Yonghe Palace, and the palace maids and eunuchs were quite surprised. In their opinion, although the Fourth Prince was young, he had a steady personality and did not seem like someone who would suddenly ask to learn swimming.

But the Empress Defei really doted on her children. When the Fourth Prince mentioned it in the morning, the Empress was already studying all things related to swimming in the afternoon. Malu first found a young eunuch from the south who was good at swimming to explain it to her, and then she gradually understood the current situation of swimming in the Qing Dynasty.

In ancient times, swimming was divided into three steps. The first was wading, which was walking in shallow water; then floating, which was the ability to float and swim in the water; and finally submerging, which was swimming underwater. It all started with bathing, followed by playing in the water.

This young eunuch was from Zhenjiang. When he was explaining, he even mentioned that during the Song Dynasty, there was a prefect of Zhenjiang who, in order to train the navy, often threw gold into the river, and whoever found it would get it. Such an incentive naturally cultivated a group of elite soldiers with extremely refined water skills, who could swim for several miles underwater, go in and out of the stormy waves, and even cover the ground.

Ma Lu was also amazed. However, for her, this story was just an introduction. More importantly, it inspired her how to teach the Fourth Prince to swim. Ma Lu immediately ordered the servants to prepare a huge bathtub that was large enough to accommodate four adults. She planned to let the Fourth Prince get used to walking in the water in this relatively safe environment and gradually overcome his fear of water.

Although it was just a prelude, Malu had no intention of fooling around. In addition to letting the Fourth Prince get used to the feeling of water in shallow water, such as standing in waist-deep water to feel the buoyancy of the water on the body, she also asked the Fourth Prince to practice breathing techniques and lung capacity, and then practice hand and leg movements separately.

The study plan was very detailed, and the study locations were also planned, including a washbasin, a bathtub, and finally a small pond in the palace. Eunuch guards who were proficient in water and Imperial Physician Rong accompanied us throughout the whole process, ensuring safety while providing professional guidance. It was simply perfect.

Our Fourth Prince lived up to everyone's expectations and failed at the washbasin stage.

He followed the eunuch's instructions, took a deep breath, and then put his face in the basin, successfully drinking the first mouthful of water for washing his face in the morning, and then choked himself until his face turned red. Seeing this, the palace maids and eunuchs nearby hurried forward to help, handing him a towel and patting his back.

The embarrassed Fourth Prince was now showing his stubbornness! How could it be possible that I, who has conquered the world, could not even master the art of swimming? Impossible, absolutely impossible! He secretly swore in his heart that he must learn it, learn it well, and swim for his mother to see!

But he didn't want to see the washbasin again, so he kicked it over and ran to the bathtub that Malu had prepared for him, ready to try it. He had many years of experience in bathing and was not afraid.

The water in the bathtub was so clear that you could see the bottom. The Fourth Prince stood by the tub, mustered up his courage, climbed onto the back of the little eunuch, and then slowly immersed his body in the water.

Xiao Si'er clung to the edge of the tub, feeling proud. This was no different from taking a bath! And then... what should he do next?

The eunuch next to him quickly instructed: "Fourth Prince, now try to relax your body and let it float naturally on the water. At the same time, you can start practicing kicking the water with your feet, just like you normally do when you walk."

The Fourth Prince tried hard, but failed.

He was like a heavy log nailed to the side of the bathtub. He couldn't float at all, let alone do anything after floating up, and his hands hadn't even let go of the bathtub!

The young eunuch was getting a little anxious and kept asking the Fourth Prince to relax. However, the more he said, the more he couldn't relax, which made all the palace maids and eunuchs around him laugh. Finally, with Ma Lu's permission, the young eunuch simply got into the bathtub and taught him step by step.

The fourth prince followed the eunuch's instructions and relaxed his body. After a while, he felt the buoyancy of the water lift him up. He began to try to kick the water. His movements were a bit clumsy at first, but he soon found the feeling. The water splashed gently with his movements, making pleasant sounds.

Malu could see that Xiao Sier had let go of his initial defenses and began to enjoy the process of learning to swim, so she left with peace of mind. She still had a lot of things to prepare, so she let Xiao Sier play by himself.