The Virtuous Concubine

After arranging this matter, Malu's mind turned to other things. She was quite interested in the progress of the Fourth Prince's western studies, so she asked softly, "Yinzhen, how is your progress in western studies? I heard that there is a kind of iron wire piano in the West with a melodious sound. Can you get one for mother?"

She had wanted to learn piano since she first came here, and now was the right time. Kangxi would definitely ignore her for a long time, and she was not suitable to be in the limelight during this period, so she had to find something to do.

The Fourth Prince felt full of guilt towards Malu, so of course he had no choice but to agree. He immediately said, "Don't worry, mother. I will find you a good Western iron wire piano as soon as possible."

Yinzhen felt that if he had not been friendly to Queen Tong and had not been so sad about her death, Kangxi might not have thought of adopting him.

He thought about it and thought that this might be a clever excuse from his mother to let him go to the prince and get closer to him, so as to pave the way for the future. After all, the prince was proficient in Western learning and was even better at playing the Western iron wire piano.

The Fourth Prince immediately had a plan in mind and went to Yuqing Palace to visit the Crown Prince the next day.

The prince was quite surprised by the visit of the fourth prince. His fourth brother was a good man. He owed him a favor in Mulan. But he was still impartial. Even if the eldest prince was more proactive, he still had a lukewarm attitude.

As the crown prince, he would not be like the eldest prince, rushing to please his younger brother. So he thought that his relationship with the fourth prince was not as warm as it is now. It was also thanks to Kangxi's advice to him to interact more with Defei Xiao Si'er that he received the meeting.

"Second brother Crown Prince, Yinzhen came here to ask for a favor." The Fourth Prince never talked nonsense and went straight to the point, which made the Crown Prince like him even more.

You really don't consider yourself an outsider!

The prince smiled slightly and exempted him from the formalities: "Why are you so polite, fourth brother? Just tell me what you want to say."

Seeing the prince calling him his fourth brother, Yinzhen felt relieved and showed some shyness: "To be honest... I am here to ask for something. De mother has been unhappy recently, so Yinzhen wanted to ask the prince for something to appease her."

When the prince heard this, he was extremely surprised: "What can I do to make Madam Defei happy?"

The Fourth Prince smiled innocently, "Mother De is proficient in music and loves all kinds of rare musical instruments. The other day I heard the Crown Prince playing the Western iron wire piano, and I wanted to ask for a reward when the Emperor was happy, but now I am a little anxious, so I want to ask the Crown Prince if he can give your piano to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for reference in two or three days so that they can make one."

It's all information! But the prince was very sensible and didn't ask Concubine De why she was unhappy. He shouldn't have asked, and the women in the harem were just for favor and offspring.

He also felt that the opportunity was perfect. The Fourth Prince came to him to make connections, which was much better than the First Prince throwing himself at him!

He waved his hand generously: "Fourth brother is really a filial son. This is not difficult. I happen to have an extra iron wire piano in my palace that I got from a Western missionary. The sound quality is extraordinary. It is a spare for me to practice. Don't go to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. This is a tribute. The Ministry of Internal Affairs cannot make it in two or three days. Today I will give it to your mother as a token of my appreciation."

Yinzhen was delighted and quickly thanked him: "Thank you, Your Highness, for your generosity. Yinzhen and my mother will definitely remember your kindness."

The prince waved his hand nonchalantly, saying it was just something he didn't need. Then he asked, "Fourth brother, are you interested in Western learning? The Western harp is not simple, and you need a certain amount of music theory to play it."

Yinzhen nodded, with a hint of yearning in his tone: "Yinzhen is indeed interested in Western learning, especially those novel knowledge and skills. If Your Highness the Crown Prince is willing to teach me, Yinzhen will be very grateful."

The prince laughed, and was satisfied with the fourth prince's attitude of liking such tricks. This brother is good, he knows his limits and is not ambitious. He is much better than the eldest and third princes who try to surpass him in civil affairs or martial arts! He readily agreed: "Since the fourth brother has such ambitions, I am naturally willing to share what I have learned."

The fourth prince was secretly delighted. It seemed that although the prince had been exposed to Western learning, he did not really take it seriously. While he was feeling grateful for having a good mother, he followed the prince to see the appearance of the Western iron wire piano.

The prince was a good man and packed up a zither player and a zither boy to send to Yonghe Palace with the fourth prince. Yinzhen was really shocked. He knew that the prince was favored and he had been an emperor himself, but today's request for a zither made him fully realize how favored the prince was.

There were a total of three zithers as tribute, one was with Kangxi and the other two were with the prince, because they were afraid that one of them would break while he was practicing and that would ruin his mood.

The people who understood this zither were all foreigners. Kangxi actually arranged four zither players and eight zither boys to serve the prince in playing the zither. It didn't matter if two of them were assigned to Yonghe Palace, as they would be filled soon anyway.

Moreover, wherever one looked in the prince's study, there were exquisitely crafted treasures and extremely luxurious decorations. Such luxury was truly astonishing.

Based on the experience and perspective of his previous life, Yinzhen believed that even if the expenses of his royal father, concubines, and offspring were added together, they would not amount to more than one-third of that of Crown Prince Yinreng alone!

With the zither and the person given by the prince, Yinzhen returned to Yonghe Palace. He reported to his mother everything about his visit to the prince today, and mentioned his observations of the prince's study in a slightly implicit way. After hearing this, Malu's beautiful eyes widened and she showed an expression of disbelief.

Malu was extremely surprised, but she was not surprised because of the prince's spending, but because she was surprised that Xiao Si'er could predict so accurately.

She held the handkerchief over her mouth and asked him, "You are really a smart kid. I thought you were only focused on learning the knowledge of governing a country, but I didn't expect you to have such a thorough insight into economic affairs. You are very accurate."

She paused before adding, "My mother only realized after taking over Concubine Hui's share of the palace affairs that the Crown Prince alone accounted for nearly 80% of all the expenses of the royal harem. It's about the same as your guess of one third."

Such a waste! In his previous life, Yinzhen, whose hobby turned into a confiscated property because the treasury had no money, felt a pang of pain in his heart. This is all pure silver!

Seeing her son's face darken, Ma Lu couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking. She smiled and said, "Your father is just like that. He loves those he wants to live, and hates those he wants to die. So this matter must be handled by the crown prince."

Yinzhen nodded, without any guilt for taking advantage of the prince. You spent so much of my money, it's only right.

He nodded: "Mother, I understand. But I also think that as princes, we have the responsibility to consider the country and the people. As the future pillar of the country, the crown prince should set an example and be frugal."

Malu was very happy to hear this. As expected of her son, he was very conscious! She told Yinzhen: "My mother will stay in the palace due to illness. You can just come to see me occasionally. Don't worry."