CH 21

Chapter 21: Barbecue

Giuseppe Castiglione, Qazak Paying Tribute of Horses to Qianlong Emperor, 1757.

Back at the starting point, Kangxi was already sitting at the top of the platform. This year he was closer to his forty and dressed in riding clothes, he looked heroic and extraordinary.

*Remember Kangxi is 37.

Standing close by, there was the Crown Prince and in front of him there was a lot of prey piled up, and even a strong doe could be seen. When he noticed the three brothers coming over on horseback, he took a glance at the prey behind them with a smile and silently sat down in his place.

“Erchen[1] greets Huang Ama,” the three brothers voiced as they knelt down on one knee, and subsequently, Yinyou heard the thud of the guards kneeling as they also greeted Kangxi.

“Get up,” Kangxi seemed to be in a good mood, and when he spoke his voice was boisterous. “Fourth, seventh, and eighth, all of you did well today.” After finishing speaking, his eyes fell on Yinyou who was kneeling at Yinzhen’s right. “Old seven[2], how does it feel to hunt for the first time?”

“Erchen’s ashamed, Erchen could only hunt a few roe deer, foxes, and rabbits.” After saying this, he bowed and continued, “This evening Erchen just hopes that Huang Ama and the elder brothers will share some good things with Erchen.”

Kangxi was not angry because of Yinyou’s unambitious words, “Despite being young and weak, you still hunt these things, this is alright. But if you want to ask for good things from me and your brothers, then it won’t work.” After he finished speaking, he chuckled twice.

Seeing this scene, the Crown Prince guessed that Huang Ama was concerned that the lame seventh brother would feel sad when he saw his brothers’ prey so he quickly backed the emperor’s words by saying, “Huang Ama, the seventh brother practiced riding and shooting very hard and the results are good. Gu [3] feels that it is very good that the seventh brother can achieve these results in his first hunt, after all, he is still a bit unfamiliar with live prey.”

Yinyou knelt on the ground without speaking. At this time, the princes and ministers present were quite a few. It was true that the Crown Prince helped him by saying good things, but he didn’t know what his real intentions were.

Kangxi nodded slightly, “Well, let’s all get up, there is no need to pay attention to so many rules today.”

“Huang Ama, the eighth brother seems to have a lot of prey today,” suddenly, the eldest brother standing aside spoke out.

Kangxi glanced at the eldest brother, then his eyes slowly fell on the eighth brother, and he gave a faint nod, “Old eight is not bad.” These simple four words made people unable to guess whether the emperor felt joy or anger.

Idiot! The Crown Prince sneered in his heart. Who didn’t know that the eighth brother was raised by Concubine Hui?[4] Different from what one might think, the eldest prince wasn’t actually praising the eighth brother, but rather mocking the seventh brother for having caught less prey than his younger brother. A pity that Huang Ama had already spoken on this matter, and he could only make Huang Ama unhappy by going against it. This brother really was a thing with muscles and not a hint of brain.

The eighth prince’s heart skipped a beat but on this occasion, anything he said might displease Huang Ama, so he could just lower his head and keep quiet.

[4] Concubine Hui is the biological mother of the eldest prince. Since the eighth brother was given to her to raise him, in the eyes of others they’re in the same faction. This is why later Yinyou says “pig-like teammates”, he’s referring to the eldest brother being a stupid ally to the eighth brother. Anyways they were never really allies, it’s just that from the perspective of outsiders they should be closer than other brothers.

Yinyou was mocked in front of so many people. No matter how thick-skinned he was, he still felt ashamed, but in this situation, the eldest brother who said this had already displeased Kangxi, and even the eighth brother was shot down. These words really sacrificed a whole line of happy princelings.

“The fourth brother has grown up a lot recently.” Kangxi’s eyes fell on the deer hunted by the fourth brother, and he smiled again, “Zhen will reward the fourth brother with a good horse, the seventh elder brother with a good bow... and the eighth brother with two fox skins”.

“Erchen thanks Huang Ama.”

The three then stood aside. Yinyou glanced at the still-calm eighth brother and remembered a wise saying: “not afraid of opponents who are like gods, but teammates who are like pigs”.

Did the eldest brother really hate the eighth brother, or did he hate him, or did he truly hate him?[5]

After returning to the tent and changing clothes, Yinzhen went inside Yinyou’s tent with a book in his hand.

“Fourth brother,” Yinyou came out from the inner tent and saw Yinzhen sitting on the stool. Feeling somewhat baffled, he walked up to Yinzhen to sit down, and said, “Fourth brother, why are you here?”.

“I was bored so I thought of bringing you some travel notes to let you pass the time by flipping through them.” Yinzhen put the book on the table, glanced at Yinyou’s clothes, and added, “It’s windy at night, remember to wear extra clothes.”

“Alright,” Yinyou took the book, which was a travelog of a former dynasty, and he smiled, “Thank you, brother.”

“Don’t mention it,” Yinzhen stood up, “I’ll go back first. It’s almost time to light a bonfire for tonight’s barbecue, I’ll call you when the time comes.”

He walked two steps, and then suddenly thought, “By the way, Cheng E-Niang was ill last winter, this year you should take back the furs I got, and make fur coats for Cheng E-Niang so that she won’t suffer from the cold in winter.”

“Alright,” Yinyou accepted Yinzhen’s kindness, “In spring she will be healthy again. And fourth brother, you still need to save some of your furs for yourself and De E-Niang. What’s more, this year, Huang Ama may bestow you a marriage, so you have to leave some for the future fourth sister-in-law.”

Yinzhen’s hands hidden under the sleeve robe clenched tightly, and then slowly loosened as he barely suppressed the emotions in his heart, “It’s just a woman.”

Seeing that Yinzhen’s tone seemed to be a little off, Yinyou just thought that the other party didn’t like these jokes, so he smiled and changed the subject, “Then I’ll wait for you to call me in the afternoon, fourth brother.”

Yinzhen took a glimpse at Yinyou’s eyes and fair neck, closed his eyes slightly, turned around, and left the tent without answering.

After sending Yinzhen out, Yinyou casually thumbed through the book. The first chapter was an introduction to the customs of various places, and there were some annotations made by the fourth brother. From the corner of his eyes, he saw the word “one” in a certain sentence circled carefully with a brush, and then the next sentence was “you will be safe if you avoid it”.

“If you avoid one, you’re safe”[6]? Yinyou turned the page with his index finger, poked his fingertips lightly, only to hear a rustle, and then he had a torn piece of paper in his hand. He frowned in distress and said to the eunuch not far from him, “Put it away for your Master. If you break it a little bit, you will waste the fourth brother’s heart.”

“Aye, aye.” The little eunuch took the book with both hands and entered the inner room.

Did the fourth brother think he would mess with the eldest brother? Yinyou spread out his palms, and the word “one” was pinched into a ball the size of a grain of rice. The fourth brother didn’t know him well enough. To this eldest brother, Yinyou never had the desire to be close.

But this child really worked hard for him. There was a saying that the oldest brother would be like a father, could it be that the fourth brother found something like fatherly love in him? As an old uncle, Yinyou felt he was under a lot of pressure.

When Yinzhen came to call Yinyou, the sky was already dark. Coming along with Yinzhen were the fifth and the eighth brother. Looking at their calm expressions, Yinyou once again felt that acting was really a piece of cake for these children.

The four of them arrived at the place together. There, several bonfires were already lit in the center, surrounded by some short tables, with futons beside the short tables, and some people sat cross-legged on them.

Yinyou found a suitable place to sit down. When Kangxi arrived, he said some polite words, drank two glasses of wine, and then everyone dispersed to start the barbecue. The brothers had many options such as, if you wanted to do it, you could cook yourself, and if you didn’t want to, then there were eunuchs to serve you.

Yinyou found a fire that was no longer burning hot and took the eunuch who was serving him to peel and clean a few rabbit legs and roe deer meat, then he brushed a layer of sauce on these things and slowly started to roast them.

The eunuch serving brought a complete set of things: all kinds of seasonings, sauces, and small knives for cutting meat, he basically handed over whatever he wanted.

After the meat was roasted, Yinyou picked out the best-looking one and asked the little eunuch to present it to Kangxi. Only then did Yinyou start to eat with a small knife. The taste was not bad, but the catch was that he wanted to hold the entire rabbit legs and chew on them but thinking of his reputation, he gave up.

“Your Majesty, this is the barbecue presented by the seventh brother,” Li Dequan bowed in front of Kangxi with a plate of grilled meat that had already been sliced.

Kangxi tasted one slice and it turned out to be good. He nodded and said, “This meat is roasted well.” After finishing speaking, he ate yet another one, “Did little seventh roast it himself?”

Li Dequan said, “Answering back to the Emperor, this slave just now happened to pass by the seventh brother, and it was indeed cooked by the seventh brother himself.”

Hearing this, Kangxi was pleased, so he rewarded Yinyou with a glass of wine.

For his part, Yinzhen gave a portion of the roasted deer leg to Kangxi and Yinyou and then asked the servants to roast some for each brother. Sweeping his gaze around and seeing the leisurely and carefree seventh brother squatting beside a bonfire, Yinzhen felt a little bit disappointed.

“Master, the seventh brother called this minion to bring this to you,” Xiao Luzi brought a whole two rabbit legs, although they looked a little burnt, they smelled good.

“How do the people around little seventh serve and roast his food like this?” Yinzhen’s face became stern, looking rather unhappy.

Xiao Luzi quickly measured the distance between the seventh brother and his Master and reckoned that the seventh brother must not have heard what his Master said just now. Reassured, he answered back in a whisper, “Master, this rabbit leg was roasted by the seventh brother himself.” After saying this, he lowered his voice a bit more, “The ones in the other elder brothers’ hands were roasted by the servants around the seventh elder brother.”

Yinzhen’s expression eased. He sliced a piece of meat, and then nodded, “It was roasted very well, although the appearance is not good, the taste it’s good.”

Xiao Luzi stepped back silently. He understood everything, really.

That night, Kangxi summoned Concubine De to accompany him, and after the two talked for a while, Kangxi suddenly said, “This child, Yinzhen, seems to be making progress. Pay attention to this year’s xianus.”

Hearing this, Concubine De immediately understood and hurriedly said, “Chenqie will pay attention”.

Seeing Concubine De’s face was mild, Kangxi added, “Zhen heard that the daughter of the Feiyanggu family is good. When you have time arrange it.”

Feiyanggu was the Minister of Internal Affairs and was favored by the emperor. Concubine De’s heart was like a mirror[7], “Chenqie thanks the emperor on behalf of Yinzhen.”

She didn’t know which concubine mentioned the daughter of Feiyanggu in front of the emperor, but as a matter of fact, she was satisfied with this result.

This daughter of the Feiyanggu family had long been looked down on by several imperial concubines, and Concubine De had no intention of pleading with Empress Dowager for a better marriage. Since the emperor had opened his mouth, she would push the boat along the water.

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▲ Footnotes

[1] Erchen. 兒臣 ér chén. ‘Er’ is child while ‘chen’ means I, your servant (used in addressing the sovereign). This is the way princes address the Emperor.

[2] 老 lǎo - old. Chinese like to put “old” in front of the person they are addressing (my name or by title), to emphasize closeness and respect. At home, we call our fathers “lao ba” (“old dad”), and our mothers “lao ma” (“old mom”). Husbands would be called “Lao gong” (“old hubby”, or more literally, “old man”), and wives would be called “lao po” (“old lady”). When you call someone “old so-and-so”, it is like in English calling someone “good ol’ so-and-so” or “good old friend”. (Quora).

[3] 孤 gu: how a king or crown prince refers to himself, similar to zhen (朕) for the Emperor (15). From Dreams of Jianghu. → I added this since the original text in Chinese doesn’t have a noun, but in English is needed.

[4] Concubine Hui is the biological mother of the eldest prince. Since the eighth brother was given to her to raise him, in the eyes of others they’re in the same faction. This is why later Yinyou says “pig-like teammates”, he’s referring to the eldest brother being a stupid ally to the eighth brother.

[5] Chinese writers tend to emphasize this way, and they also have a habit of repeating 3 times for importance.

[6] “If you avoid one, you’re safe”. One means the first prince and eldest prince (Yinti). So he’s saying to Yinyou to keep a distance from Yinti.

[7] 下心如明鏡 - the heart is like a mirror. A fancy way of saying “got ya”. From Baidu: “Refer to the thorough observation and perception of people and things that appear in front of you”.