CH 42

In the 35th year of Kangxi, the fourth brother and the seventh brother returned to the Capital. The emperor was very happy, and the rewards continued to pour in, thus their biological mothers were also rewarded by the emperor.

After Yinyou returned to the palace, he first reported to Kangxi, and after washing up, he rushed to pay his respects to Consort Cheng. 

Consort Cheng’s eyes became red when she saw her only son walking unnaturally. She was already aware of the news of him being injured on the battlefield, but now seeing Yinyou like this, after all, she still felt sad. Looking at the maids and eunuchs around her, she forcibly endured her pain.

Seeing Consort Cheng’s anxious appearance, Yinyou’s heart warmed, and he talked to her for a long time before returning to his residence, although not before having lunch with her.

The eldest brother listened to the news from his subordinates and looked at the rewards list. In the end, he sneered, “The fourth and that useless seventh have made a big splash this time.” 

It stands to reason that since the Crown Prince supervised the country, he, as the eldest son, should have been the one to hand over the military rewards to the soldiers.

The seventh brother had stayed in the barracks for a period of time and was familiar with the soldiers, so it made sense to let him do it, but what was the point of letting the fourth child stay and reward the army? He, as the eldest son, had already fought Galdan six years ago, and also made lots of contributions this time. Could it be that he was still not as good as the fourth child?

“Eldest prince, from this servant’s point of view, the Emperor is probably just trying to build momentum for the Crown Prince,” said an aide with some hesitation. “The fourth brother is in the same side as the Crown Prince, and the emperor has always favored the Crown Prince”

The eldest prince hammered the table bitterly, his face gloomy and ugly as he yelled, “To Huang Ama, all my contributions can’t compare to that second child who likes to molest and mess around with eunuchs!”

In Yuqing Palace, the Crown Prince was obviously in a good mood. At first, he was still a little jealous of the fourth brother, but seeing that Yinzhen had quickly found an opportunity to greet him not long after returning to the palace, the deadly suspicion in his heart was suppressed. 

“The fourth child has worked hard this time, you’ve lost a lot of weight.”

“Thank you, Crown Prince, it’s no hard work.” Yinzhen then roughly talked about some things he encountered during the marching, cryptically expressing some puzzlement as for why he left behind to reward the army; his attitude was respectful but not flattering.

“Huang Ama is wise, He wishes his sons to do things according to his orders.” The Crown Prince took a sip of tea and said, “You have done a good job, fourth.”

This time he intentionally found a way to get the eighth and the fourth together, just to suppress the eldest brother and the fourth brother, and it seemed that this move was going well.

Yinzhen raised his eyes, then lowered his head to drink tea, “What the Crown Prince said is true.”

The Crown Prince smiled when he heard his words. “Gu heard that the seventh brother’s foot was injured, how is he now?”

Yinzhen put down his teacup, frowned slightly and replied. “The seventh brother got injured on the battlefield and missed two toes. After participating in the battle, he rushed back to the Capital. Now his foot injury has not healed yet. I’m afraid he will have to take care of it for a few days.”

Was he physically disabled? The corners of the Crown Prince’s mouth widened, but soon he changed into a worried expression, “Gu still has some medicine for conditioning one’s body. Old fourth, you help me out and send it to the seventh brother. When Gu is free, Gu will visit the seventh brother.”

“Thanking the Crown Prince on behalf of the seventh younger brother,” Yinzhen replied.

The Crown Prince smiled when he heard this; he knew that the fourth child and the seventh child were close friends, so sending medicine was just taking care of the fourth child’s face. As for that lame younger brother who was now missing toes, afraid he was simply unlucky, and he honestly didn’t care much about him.

Yinyou’s wound no longer hurt, but now it was starting to form a scab which made him unable to resist scratching. Because of this, he only wore soft shoes and socks. Right now, when he entered the room, he simply took off the shoe on his left foot and leaning on the Tianshi armchair, he lazily flipped through a travelog.

“Master, the fourth brother is here.” Seeing his Master’s lazy appearance, Fu Duo stepped forward to help him put on his shoes.

“Don’t, it’s fine like this. Let the fourth brother come in and you go and make the new tea that Huang Ama gifted me.” Yinyou waved his hand, too lazy to make a fuss. 

Anyway, he didn’t feel like he needed to toss so much if he only was going to be in Yinzhen’s company.

“Aye,” Fu Duo was ordered by his Master so he had no choice but to back out, yet secretly, he was a bit worried about his Master’s trust in the fourth brother.

As soon as Yinzhen entered the door, he saw someone sitting on the grand Tianshi chair with his left foot bare, holding a book in one hand, a cup of steaming tea on the low table next to him, and two plates of appetizing snacks on one side, looking extremely lazy.

“I see you’re enjoying yourself.” Sitting down on the chair beside him, Yinzhen slowly let go of his worries.

“Just stealing half a day of leisure1偷得浮生半日闲 tōudéfúshēngbàn rì xián. It means to get rid of boredom and frustration, and go to an elegant and refined place to cultivate your body and mind. (I suppose reading has always been a well-regarded hobby.).” Yinyou put down the book and took a sip from his teacup, “It was hard to come back but now I enjoy myself, I naturally can’t waste this opportunity.”

“I think you’re just lazy,” Yinzhen laughed, and glanced at the left foot that was still wrapped with bandages. “Don’t go to the Ministry of Revenue these few days, lest the wound festers again.” 

The wound was healed at the end of June, but who knew that they had to go to war again in July, and then rush back to the Capital. In the end, the wound never had time to properly heal. 

On the way back, he sometimes thought, if the Crown Prince suffered such an injury, who would dare to go on the road disregarding the Crown Prince’s health? But it was the seventh brother who was injured. Not only did he have to go forward with the army, he couldn’t even complain, otherwise people would say he used his military exploits to run amok, or say that the seventh brother misbehaved and acted recklessly. This thought took root in his mind, but he couldn’t get rid of it or even say it.

At this moment, Fu Duo brought the tea, and Yinzhen took a sip. Seeing that Yinyou had no objection to what he said earlier, he added, “Just now the Crown Prince asked me to bring you some tonics, I have already given them to Fu Duo.”

Yinyou saw that Yinzhen’s complexion was not good before, so he didn’t say anything, but now seeing that Yinzhen didn’t seem to have any abnormal expression, he slowly changed his sitting position.

“I will find a chance to thank him. Fourth brother you just came back, don’t you need to go and check on the women in your house?”

“The mansion is well taken care of, I have nothing to worry about,” Yinzhen replied calmly and took a bite of a piece of pastry.

He savored it; it was slightly sweet. After he swallowed, he took another sip of tea.

Seeing him like this, Yinyou knew that he probably didn’t have much affection for the women in his mansion, so he smiled and changed the topic. “By the way, fourth brother, Huang Ama has ordered my mansion to be built, and it’s not far from yours. In the future, it will be convenient for me to come to your house.”

“Good, you can count on me,” Yinzhen smiled, but then remembered that Huang Ama had pointed out Hada Nara shi to Yinyou, and felt depressed again.

He forced a smile and commented lightly, “When you have Fu Jin and side Fu Jin, you won’t remember to go to the fourth brother’s house.”

Yinyou frowned; subconsciously, he didn’t hold much affection for the stranger who would become his Fu Jin. He knew that he couldn’t have only one Fu Jin, because even if he didn’t want any more women, Kangxi would send them to him. To offend the emperor for the so-called monogamy only known in modern times? How could he dare. Not to mention that both Manchurian and Mongolian nobles in The Great Qing, who of them didn’t have a concubine at home?

The only thing he could offer to his Fu Jin was respect. He will definitely  not take the initiative to get a concubine, but he was not so naive as to talk about monogamy. What’s more, those women didn’t necessarily want to be a prince’s wife and concubines. 

In the eyes of men in the Qing Dynasty, women were tools for giving birth, and all he could do was respect them. The relationships between men and women didn’t hold much affection, so how could he disregard Yinzhen for them?

Thinking of this, Yinyou gazed seriously at Yinzhen. “I only have one fourth brother, you are different from them.”

Hearing this, Yinzhen slowly loosened the hand that was holding the teacup, and gently put it down. He smiled wryly, “That’s enough.”

Yinyou seldom saw Yinzhen showing such a smile. This handsome and indifferent face seemed to be incompatible with this kind of smile. Seeing how the grown-up child finally became more and more mysterious, he subconsciously felt a little sad in his heart. Maybe when Yinzhen became the emperor, no one would be able to understand him.

There was a saying that being in high places would make one cold and lonely… Yinyou suddenly smiled. As long as Yinzhen treated him well, he would not lie to Yinzhen. If in the beginning he was close to Yinzhen because he was the future emperor, at this time he has already put this person in his heart. It was said that in the imperial family there were no true feelings. From the age of three to now, hadn’t this child still protected him in the harem for more than ten years?

“Fourth brother, did you treat me differently when you married Fu Jin?” Yinyou turned his body slightly, and leaned his head to get close to Yinzhen. “I will be the same.”

Quietly looking at his handsome face, Yinzhen suddenly wanted to stretch out his hand to caress those beautiful peach blossom eyes, but this only lasted for a moment.

He raised the corner of his mouth, stretched out his hand and flicked Yinyou’s forehead. “Then I will watch carefully. If you treat your fourth brother badly, I will lock you in a room so that you can’t see the women in your house.”

Side-eying Yinzhen, Yinyou retracted his head, took another sip of tea, and raised his chin, “Fourth brother, you won’t have the chance.”

“It’s fine as long as I don’t get the chance,” Yinzhen looked at him with a smile.

He picked up the teacup and lifted the lid. When he took a sip, something flickered in his eyes, and finally turned into a smile.

Yinyou glanced at Yinzhen and faintly had a weird premonition. He secretly sighed in his heart, could it be that he was born to endure hardship, so that when he went back to the palace to drink some good tea and eat some exquisite snacks, his heart was still full of anxiety…

At the eighth brother’s house, Yinsi handed over several invitation cards to an eunuch beside him, and looked to the outside with a smile on his face.

It’s rare that the weather was so good, and the brothers were all in the capital, so how can they not have a good get-together?

The translator has something to say:

Yinsi: *shit-stirring the pot*

Yinzhen: *drinking vinegar*

Yinyou: *holding his chin* hold up, i sense something… noup, it’s gone. Surely it’s nothing! After all, what could go possibly wrong? 

I really like when Yinzhen is jealous 3