CH 22

Chapter 22: Playing dumb

After three days of hunting, Yinyou’s bones were almost worn out. In the end, he had quite successfully gotten some furs and was bestowed a bow and arrows by Kangxi. Like this, on the way back to the palace, he no longer had any emotion regarding the hunt and was rather indifferent.

The entourage had both men and women; princesses, and concubines, and the Crown Prince had even brought his Fu Jin to accompany him. Yinyou seldom saw these women. At this time in the reign of Kangxi, people already paid more attention to the separation of the sexes.

In front of him, there were the elder brothers in their horses. Yinyou peeked at the tall horse under Yinzhen enviously. The horse that Huang Ama gave the fourth brother was completely different from the one that was given to him. The fourth brother had an actual horse while he was given a foal.

(Bambi: Guessing Yinzhen got a horse because he was 14 while Yinyou got a foal because he was 11.) 

Some people in the later generations said that Kangxi didn’t dote on the fourth brother and Yinyou hadn’t realized this was a rumor until he transmigrated. In fact, Kangxi had always attached great importance to the fourth brother; although Kangxi was not as good to him as he was to the Crown Prince, he certainly did not have the same attitude he had toward him and the fifth brother. 

He remembered that a few years ago when Kangxi had left the palace for business, the second he heard that the fourth brother was seriously ill, he turned back halfway and only left the palace when the fourth brother’s condition got better.

If the sick person was changed to him, Kangxi would’ve just sent one or two Imperial Physicians.

“What is the seventh brother thinking about?”. The princes were arranged according to their age, so the eighth brother and Yinyou walked side by side. Seeing Yinyou’s absent-minded appearance, Yinsi reminded him, “Be careful when on horseback.”

Yinyou came back to his senses, and tilting his head he smiled at Yinsi, “Ah, the weather is so good, maybe it made me a little sleepy.”

“So it’s like this,” Yinsi raised his head and squinted at the sun in the sky. Hearing Yinyou’s perfunctory answer, his face remained unchanged as he replied, “the seventh brother is really open-minded.” To be able to get sleepy on horseback, one must have a broad mind besides courage.

While controlling the speed of the horse, Yinyou replied, “It’s probably because of the laziness in the bones.” Can this kind of thing be related to the mind?

Yinsi curled the corners of his mouth. He had also heard about Yinyou’s habit of not going out, he didn’t even visit the garden. Yinsi didn’t know if the seventh brother was actually lazy, or if he just didn’t want to meet certain people. He let out a low sigh, “It’s true, it’s good to steal half a day’s leisure.” There was a sense of satisfaction on his face.

If Yinyou didn’t know the records about Yinsi in history and saw Yinsi looking like this, he would really think that Yinsi was a brother who was indifferent to the world. Yinyou nodded and said, “It turns out that the eighth brother is also a lazy person.”

“Could it be that in the eyes of the seventh brother in the past, this younger brother was a very motivated person?”  In the past two years, Yinsi learned to hide his strength and bide his time, but this also had side effects, one of which was having a reputation for a mild temperament.

Yinyou had a faint smile on his face, “I’ve always been very bad at judging people.” So, whether you were motivated or lazy, as long as you were clear, why did you need me to give you an answer?

Yinsi just smiled when he heard his words and changed the subject, such as a certain book, and a certain story, and even discussed the content of the travelogue that Yinzhen gave Yinyou recently.

Yinyou also cooperated with him and chatted peacefully. Since the fourth brother gave the book under the noses of so many people, how could he not read it? There was always someone with some free time to inquire. Yesterday the Crown Prince tried it once, the third brother tried it once, and the eighth elder brother was already too late.

As an experienced uncle, Yinyou was not bothered. 

“Seventh brother is very familiar with this book,” the eighth brother smiled softly and even the corners of his eyes were tinged with smiles.

“A few days ago, the fourth brother was afraid that I would be bored at night, so he just gave me this book. Fortunately, there were some annotations by the fourth brother so it wasn’t difficult to read,” Yinyou disclosed graciously. During the whole process, it seemed as if he didn’t notice the other party’s intention to inquire.

“Fourth brother has always been kind to the seventh brother,” The eighth elder brother smiled and his voice lowered by two notes, seeming envious and melancholy.

Yinyou nodded, “Well, the fourth brother is very kind to me, but the Crown Prince brother, the third brother, and the fifth brother have also sent me a lot of books. If you are interested, it’s okay to send a servant to take a look.” 

Brother, you are wrong, I treat you so innocently and kindly, why do you have to play tricks at this time? Although he didn’t want to form a clique with the fourth brother, he didn’t want to hold back the fourth brother either. This would be a serious crime.

The eighth brother stopped talking. Of course, he didn’t dare to say that these elder brothers were also good to the seventh brother, as long as this was said, it may become that the eighth brother was dissatisfied with his elder brothers and how dare he provoke the Crown Prince? After a long time, the eighth elder brother had no choice but to sigh, "Seventh brother had always been very good.”

Yinyou wasn’t happy to get a good person card and was confused as to why the eighth elder brother needed to put so much energy into this harmless man. He was an elder brother with no power, ah, could it be possible that he saw his good relationship with the fourth brother and wanted to win him over to be a spy? This was overestimating him! He really didn’t have a clue whatsoever of Yinzhen’s activities.

After returning to the palace, Yinyou asked the servants to take a lot of the skins he had obtained, as well as the beaten rabbit meat and roe meat, to concubine Cheng, and to also share some, according to the rules, with the concubine De, and the rest of the concubines. After he sent them out, he asked his servants for hot water. He would go and greet concubine Cheng after taking a bath.

After changing clothes, it was already lunchtime, Yinyou thought that his E-Niang might be waiting for him to come and guessed that he was going to have lunch at concubine Cheng’s place.

When he arrived at Yonghe Palace, concubine Cheng really hadn’t started eating yet. After seeing Yinyou, concubine Cheng showed a proud smile, “Little seventh has grown up.” Her eyes were slightly red.

Yinyou felt a little clumsy, so he could only smile and say, “E-Niang, this son is here to rob you of a meal today.”

“You child," she said, asking someone to bring in the food. There was a small kitchen in Yonghe Palace. Concubine Cheng asked the maid to make some rabbit meat, and when the deer meat was served, she endured the sourness in her heart and said, “Now that you are growing up, E-Niang hopes that you will be healthy, E-Niang doesn’t ask for anything else.”

(Bambi: She’s saying she doesn’t wish for him to be the Emperor and doesn’t wish him to be honorable or famous, she only wants him to be an idle prince. She’s telling him to stay low and be safe from the throne’s struggles).

Although concubine Cheng’s words were cryptic, Yinyou understood immediately and nodded. Looking at the dishes made from the game he caught, he suddenly thought of the parents from his previous life. When they were still alive, they nevertheless had some good times. Thinking about himself and the woman in front of him, although she couldn’t keep him by her side, her heart towards him was the same.

The meal was very satisfying. Yinyou was casually chatting with concubine Cheng when he heard that a eunuch had come to announce a decree. It turned out to be Kangxi’s reward from the hunt to the harem ladies. Unexpectedly, concubine Cheng also got some: one rabbit fur, one white fox fur, two rabbit legs, and a catty of venison.

After stuffing the silver taels to the eunuch who announced the decree, concubine Cheng slowly recovered, reached out, and caressed Yinyou’s fair cheek, without saying anything. In the past few years, she could only get what she deserved, and there was no special reward. The Emperor thinking about her share, afraid it was because of Yinyou’s face.

There was comfort and there was worry; thunder and rain were all due to the grace of the Emperor, and who could guess his thoughts?

(Bambi: Kangxi only gave concubine Cheng some game thinking of giving Yinyou some status in the harem, not because he favored her).

Seeing concubine Cheng like this, Yinyou just said some interesting things and didn’t dare to say anything else. Who knew that Fu Duo would come in a hurry, saying that Kangxi had summoned him?

After leaving the Yonghe Palace, Yinyou hurriedly rushed to the Qianqing Palace, only to find that several elder brothers who accompanied him to hunt were there. Kangxi’s face showed no joy or anger. After he invited him in, he quietly stood aside.

“Zhen’s very satisfied with the performance of you brothers in the paddock,” Kangxi allow them to seat and then spoke slowly, “But I want to hear from your own mouth what shortcomings you still have.”

Yinyou suddenly realized that it turned out to be a summary meeting.

After listening to the modest self-examinations of each brother, Yinyou got up and reported back, “Huang Ama, Erchen has benefited a lot from this hunt. Erchen hunted by himself, but the prey was less. Erchen roasted meat by himself, but some meat seemed to be burnt.” Then, there was no more to say, let him say that he was lacking, he was only really lacking hunting skills. He did not speak about whether his body or character had gotten better. To a certain extent, he was honest.

Kangxi raised his eyebrows and looked at Yinyou, “Are you done?”

Yinyou’s face turned pale, “And... Erchen hid some of the rabbit’s hind legs.” There was a trace of admiration and panic in his eyes that Huang Ama already knew about this and also fear of being punished.

“Oh?” Kangxi's expression was very serious, but there was an unspeakable smile in his eyes, “Why didn’t you share these with the brothers?”

Yinyou’s face turned red and then white, white and red again, his eyes glanced at the Crown Prince and at the fourth brother, seeing that neither of them had any intention of helping him, he knelt down and said, “Erchen won’t dare next time.”

“Forget it, as a son of my Aisin Gioro family, you must not be petty. If Zhen finds out that you have such careful thoughts in the future, Zhen will let you try the board.” Kangxi’s expression had become sterner the more he spoke and caused the child on the ground to look paler. He slowly eased his expression, and said to Li Dequan, “Li Dequan, give little seventh two of my rabbit legs so that he won’t secretly hide those two little rabbit legs in the future. He’s still an ignorant child after all.” The emperor’s words could sentence you and it was up to him to decide whether you were an ignorant child or a selfish person who didn’t love his siblings.

Yinyou kowtowed very knowingly, “Erchen thanks Huang Ama.”

Kangxi waved his hand as if saying “you should hide away and stop provoking me”, he then added, “The Crown Prince and the fourth child will take care of little seventh more in the future. You can’t let him learn these petty tricks.” 

The Crown Prince forced his smile down and stated, “Huang Ama, Gu thinks the seventh brother must not be a stingy person, it’s just that this is the first time he hunts something and found it rare, he’s still young. Gu hopes Huang Ama is not bothered by him.” But luckily the seventh brother’s mischief made Huang Ama’s complexion better. Moreover, Huang Ama’s words revealed the meaning of trusting him and the fourth child. Fortunately, the fourth child was on his side, so he didn’t have to be afraid that his opponent would have another bargaining chip.

Kangxi also saw that Yinyou’s ideological awareness was not high enough, and didn’t hear the hidden meaning in his words. He only replied dryly, “Forget it, Zhen also knows that you brothers have always loved little seventh. Now, little eight, you speak next”. 

The Crown Prince smiled when he heard the words, and glanced at Yinyou who was burying his head; it seemed that Huang Ama watched carefully over Yinyou’s matters and was not as indifferent as he acted, indeed this brother wasn’t as invisible and useless as he appeared.

Yinyou took a seat back with the elder brothers with his head lowered. Although he looked as if he was repenting and punishing himself, he was greatly relieved. At this time when Kangxi was asking the elder brothers to talk about his shortcomings if he was not careful, he might offend the other brothers. The best solution was better to place himself as the worst and make a fool of himself. 

Anyways, in front of Kangxi, he had always maintained an image of being honest, petty, and occasionally silly.

In short, Kangxi should be able to accept this. When he was a child, he wrote crooked, later, in school, he drew little cartoons, and now, he hid some rabbit’s legs. Anyway, there was a tenth brother who was more reckless, impulsive, and simple-minded than him, so Kangxi’s ability to accept his own shortcomings should not be too low.

And, it was always a good feeling to have someone be worse than you, Yinyou thought without feeling ashamed.

***

The author (Butterfly’s Shadow Beneath the Moon) has something to say: 

Butterfly: Your Majesty, why did you give the fourth brother a horse, the seventh brother a small bow, and the eighth brother furs?

Kangxi: I have a deep meaning.

Butterfly wiped her tears, roaring in her heart: The horse was here to ride, the bow was here to shoot, and the fur was here to wrap. Asshole! You are against my CP*!

*CP means couple/ship.

(Bambi, the translator: I have… no clue what she means.)