The Virtuous Concubine

When Kangxi saw the prince so happy, he felt a little angry. How could he get along so well with Concubine De?

He suddenly didn't know whether he was jealous of the prince or the Defei.

But Kangxi was still happy to see his son. He put down the book and asked the prince, "Where have you been playing tricks again?"

The father and son had a very good relationship, but Kangxi would not hide the fact that he was always monitoring the prince. He just pretended not to know where he had gone.

Upon hearing this, the prince smiled with relief, "I just came back from Yonghe Palace. Xiao Si told me that De'en's progress in learning the zither is very slow, and she urges him to learn the Rakshasa language every day so that he can talk to the red-haired zither player. But he gets scared when he sees the Rakshasa, so he asked me to help take a look."

After hearing this, Kangxi's eyes flashed with interest: "Oh? Why doesn't Concubine De learn the Rakshasa language herself? This is new. Is that red-haired zither player the Sophia zither player beside you?"

The prince nodded and said, "It is the zither player who is very proficient in both Chinese and Manchu. The strange thing is that De'enniang said that her zither skills are superb, but there is a language barrier and it is a bit difficult to communicate."

Kangxi's face darkened immediately. He wrote down this matter and then said, "It's a good thing that Concubine De is eager to learn. If you can help, it will also be a filial piety. More exposure to foreign languages ​​and customs will also be of great benefit to your future governance. But you don't need to worry about the rest."

The prince smiled and replied, "I think so too. Moreover, I am also quite interested in the Rakshasa language. I only dabbled in it before. Now, Father, can you say that I am allowed to spend more time on it?"

After saying that, Kangxi shook his head with some dissatisfaction: "Little Four, too, can you be scared when you see a Rakshasa?" There was a hint of blame in his tone, but more of it was concern and expectations for his son.

Seeing that his father was somewhat displeased, the prince quickly explained, "Father, Xiao Si is still young, and it is normal for him to be a little afraid of unfamiliar things."

After hearing what the prince said, Emperor Kangxi's expression eased a little: "I am very pleased that you think this way. As a prince, you must not only be knowledgeable, but also courageous. I hope you can be a role model for them and take good care of your younger brothers."

The prince picked up a piece of cake, took a bite and put it down before replying to Kangxi: "I will remember your father's teachings."

Kangxi looked at it and guessed that it was time for dinner. Yinreng was hungry, so he announced the meal and asked Wei Zhu to punish the palace maid who made snacks today.

The prince only took one bite and then put it down, which was definitely not what he wanted and he should be punished.

Kangxi didn't think about it. These were the dishes that the prince was used to eating on weekdays, and they dared not not pay attention to them. How could they go wrong? After Wei Zhu received the order, she tasted it herself and found that there was nothing wrong. . .

But he still went down and told Aunt Shu Yu to beat the girl who made snacks with twenty sticks and then drive her out of the Qianqing Palace.

The prince just watched coldly, without trying to stop him. There was no emotion in his eyes, as if he had long been accustomed to the cruelty and ruthlessness in the palace.

The emperor paid close attention to his every move and every bite, but this concern was both warmth and a shackle.

Of course he wouldn't explain, saying that he felt the snacks he had at Concubine De's place were more delicious, and that these snacks would taste a bit unpleasant to those who were used to them.

The prince knew that behind the emperor's tolerance were stricter rules and order. If he explained, Kangxi might let the maid go at the moment, but he would only punish her more severely later, and people would be more resentful of him. Kangxi might even ask Concubine De to make snacks for him every day.

Then he will be alone again.

Trapped in the magnificent and lonely city, he lost his freedom and right to choose early on.

The current crown prince may not have realized this problem yet, but he has adapted and learned how to find a small spiritual reserve of his own amidst Kangxi’s suffocating fatherly love and desire for control.

The father and son were having a meal together. Kangxi saw a dish and said with a smile, "Your mother is best at cooking rabbit meat. I remember when I was in Mulan, we hunted a lot of rabbits. She was able to make a whole rabbit feast with them."

The prince nodded, "I have heard about this as well. Xiao Si saw golden pheasants for two days but he didn't catch them, only rabbits. He even asked me for three or four of them, saying he was going to give them to De'er Niang. He is really filial... His filial piety moved the heavens."

Kangxi laughed out loud: "What filial piety is there in him! It was Concubine De who gave him the order, saying that if he didn't catch a hundred, he would go back and discuss with Concubine Hui and let the eldest prince be responsible for teaching him riding and archery."

The prince laughed so hard that he dropped his chopsticks. "No wonder, the fourth prince is so concerned about his reputation, he would definitely not agree. The fourth prince is so stubborn, I didn't expect that he couldn't do anything to Concubine De."

Kangxi picked up a piece of rabbit meat for him with chopsticks and said with a smile: "Each monkey has its own way of tying it up. You will understand it when you meet more ministers in the future. Some people are as stubborn as a rock, stubborn and hard. You cannot use the usual methods of bribery and coercion."

Listening to Kangxi's constant teachings, the prince lowered his head: "I didn't think so much. I just felt that the Fourth Prince and De'niang had a deep mother-son relationship. Yinreng... Yinreng envied them."

Kangxi's eyes softened when he heard this, and he felt a little distressed for his son who lost his mother since birth: "Do you miss your mother?"

Yinreng nodded, but he had lost his mother since birth and was brought up by Kangxi himself. What he missed and yearned for was his mother's intention, not Empress Hesheli herself.

Now, in his heart, the person who is closest to this intention is Concubine De.

If he was Defei's biological son, then Xiao Si and the twins would be his brothers. Wouldn't this farce of adoption have been avoided, and he would have had his mother to accompany and protect him?

Kangxi picked up some more dishes for the prince and said, "Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. Let's eat first. When I have time later, I will take you to Gonghua City."

In the 19th year of the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Zhu Di built the Gonghua Palace as a temporary residence for the emperor during the Northern Expedition. Emperor Kangxi chose this place as the place for the coffin of Empress Hesheli to rest.

In the three years after Hesheli's death, Kangxi visited her eighty times.

But afterwards... Yinreng remembered very clearly that when he was very young, he often saw portraits of his mother, and that Kangxi held his hand and burned incense for his mother.

But after that, Yinreng could only look at his mother during the two major festivals in spring and autumn when worshipping the ancestors. The emperor would not even glance at her.

The prince pulled himself together and thanked Kangxi: "Thank you, Father Emperor. I'm sure my mother's spirit in heaven will be happy that Yinreng still remembers her and is her best son."

Unexpectedly, just this one sentence touched Kangxi's sensitive nerve in recent days.

Kangxi dropped his chopsticks and his expression changed: "Yinreng, what do you mean by this?"

The prince was used to being favored by Kangxi, so he was not afraid of a verbal dispute with him. He simply laid his cards on the table and replied with his neck stiff: "It means exactly what it says!"