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Chapter 28: Fortune and Misfortune
Chapter dedicated to Bee, thank you for the ko-fi <3.
The bed was warm in spring and was therefore conducive to a pleasant sleep.
Yinzhen glanced at the person who was carried to the bed by him but still wouldn’t wake up. He stretched out his hand to cover Yinyou with the quilt, sat on the head of the bed, and gazed absentmindedly at his sleeping face in a daze.
Yinyou’s eyebrows were not as thick as those of northern men, but rather shallow, along with his fair complexion, his face held an elegant flavor. His facial features were more like his concubine mother, but his eyes still resembled Huang Ama a bit. The corners of his eyes were slightly raised, and his smile had a hint of peach-blossom beauty.
What was undeniable was that the seventh brother had a good face, not inferior among the brothers. It’s just that the seventh brother’s usual goofy actions made his handsome face wooden and simple.
Perhaps even the seventh brother himself didn’t know that whenever he was in front of him, the seventh brother’s eyeballs would always roll around, not acting dull at all like when he was in front of the other brothers, but more like a little fox. However, in the eyes of the seventh brother, he was just a trustworthy elder brother, not...
Uncomfortable, Yinzhen stretched out his hand to poke the face of the person on the bed. Unexpectedly, the person turned his face away and Yinzhen’s finger pried open his moist lips. The warm and soft touch made Yinzhen’s eyes change. Looking at the person who was sleeping soundly on the bed, he slowly bent down and moved closer to those rosy lips.
“Master, the emperor has come, please go and pick him up quickly.” The steward’s voice was a little hurried, but without panic.
Yinzhen sat up straight, sighed, pressed the quilt for Yinyou, and strode out. At that time, the person on the bed snorted, twisted his body, stretched his legs, and half of the quilt fell to the ground, leaving only a small half covering his tummy.
(B: The author has made repetitive mentions of Yinyou’s habit of kicking his quilt. Most recently, in chapter 25.)
Yinzhen hurriedly went to the front hall, and knelt to pay his respects, “Erchen greets Huang Ama.”
“Fourth, get up, Zhen is just here to look at your mansion. It seems that the people below still know how to do things, it is very well built,” Kangxi put his hands behind his back, “Now take me around.”
“Yes,” Yinzhen got up, made a gesture of invitation respectfully, inadvertently glanced at Li Dequan, saw that he seemed to be calm, looked away, walked to Kangxi, and said, “Huang Ama, this way please.”
(B: Usually, one’s servants show whether the master is in a good mood, or not.)
After strolling several places, Kangxi entered Yinzhen’s courtyard. Looking around, he nodded, “Well, solemn but not so extravagant, as a prince, remember you have to be elegant and proud. Fourth son, you have done this well.”
“Erchen is ashamed” Yinzhen’s complexion changed slightly, and he lowered his eyelids.
Kangxi smiled, glanced at the trees and flowers in the yard, and suddenly said, “Zhen heard that little seventh’s still camping in your mansion and has not left yet. Could it be that since he gave you a gift, right now he’s busy eating two more meals to make it worth it?”
Yinzhen coughed dryly when he heard the words, “Seventh brother just had dinner, maybe he felt sleepy, so he went to take a nap in erchen’s room.”
“Oh, this little seven is lazy,” Kangxi raised his eyebrows, “Take me to have a look.”
Seeing that Kangxi didn’t seem angry, Yinzhen personally led Kangxi to his room and stretched out his hand to open the curtain of his inner room for Kangxi.
When Kangxi saw the situation on the bed, his complexion changed. He didn’t seem to be angry, but instead, he quickly suppressed a smile, and then turned his head to glance at Yinzhen, “Is he like this usually?”
Yinzhen looked up and instantly, he felt a little helpless. On the bed, Yinyou was curled up, one hand was dangling on the edge of the bed, and the other hand grabbed the corner of a quilt, despite that most of the quilt was on the ground. This sleeping appearance was really too lacking in manners!
Just when Kangxi was about to step forward, he saw how the person on the bed turned over and fell along with the quilt on the ground with a grunt. Trying to roll over, Yinyou became more and more wrapped in the quilt, and although he tried for long seconds, he still couldn’t free himself out of this quilt. In the end, Kangxi didn’t see people crawl out.
The servants who came in behind all lowered their heads, holding back their smiles. They didn’t have the courage to make fun of the seventh prince, it’s just that this scene was really...
“Pfft,” the person who couldn’t help it was none other than Kangxi. Waving his sleeves, he said, “Fourth brother, Li Dequan, pick up little seventh. Only now I found that people could still fall asleep like this.”
Earlier on, Yinyou was dreaming that he owned an unlimited card and that he wouldn’t have to worry about buying anything, when suddenly the ground shook, and from pure surprise, he woke up.
Opening his eyes a little, Yinyou rubbed his face, “So strange, how could I dream of Li grandpa?”
Li Dequan suppressed a smile and replied, “Seventh brother, you aren’t dreaming about this slave.” He brought close the seventh brother’s coat and continued, “This slave will serve the seventh brother to change.”
Let Li Dequan wait for him to change clothes?! Yinyou’s mind suddenly cleared up, and he turned his head to peek out, only to see Kangxi sitting on a chair looking at him calmly with a steaming cup of tea, and Yinzhen standing behind him.
What should he do in this situation?
Yinyou suddenly covered his face with a quilt, “Huang Ama, just pretend you didn’t see erchen, erchen is too ashamed to face people.”
At this moment, the servants in the room couldn’t hold back anymore, and several of them laughed. Kangxi didn’t mean to blame them, and his face also showed a smile. He put down the teacup, “Li Dequan, make this shameless bastard decent for me, let him get dressed.”
An uncle getting dressed under several staring pairs of eyes, and he even had to endure Kangxi’s theater-watching eyes. Yinyou was indignant, this group of bastards who didn’t pay to watch his show!
After putting on his clothes, Yinyou nodded to Li Dequan and spoke in a weak voice, “Thank you, Li Grandpa.”
Li Dequan smiled and said, “Seventh brother is being too polite.” Then he retreated behind Kangxi.
Yinyou glanced at Yinzhen, then at Kangxi, and he finally kneeled and said, “Erchen pays his respects to Huang Ama.”
Kangxi just quietly looked at him.
Seeing this, Yinzhen knelt too and spoke out, “Erchen asks for forgiveness. Huang Ama, the seventh brother’s still young and ignorant. As an elder brother, erchen let his younger brother be idle and did not teach him well. Erchen is guilty.”
Yinyou looked at Yinzhen who was kneeling in front of him, feeling indescribably complicated. It was useless for Yinzhen to help him take the blame for his crimes at this time. He had just built his prince’s mansion and he needed to form a good reputation for being reliable in front of Kangxi. If he made Kangxi angry, it will not bring him any fortune.
“Get up the two of you, “Kangxi spoke with a calm face, and he didn’t seem to be angry, “This is little seventh’s mistake. Old fourth, whether you indulge him or not, him being like this has nothing to do with you.”
Yinyou breathed a sigh of relief and immediately kowtowed, “Erchen knows his crime.” It’s just that he was unlucky, and caused trouble for others. This was harming others and harming himself.
Kangxi didn’t really care. He took a sip of tea, “Because you have a deep relationship with the fourth brother, I will spare you this time, but you must not be lazy in the future.”
“Erchen will remember the teachings of Huang Ama,” Yinyou knelt on the ground, not knowing whether to get up or not.
“Don’t get up yet? Could it be that you really like being on the ground, sleeping and rolling on the ground is not enough, and even now you’re still on your knees, do you not want to get up?” Kangxi laughed as he scolded him, “Tell me, when have you made me feel at ease?”
Yinyou twisted his body, got up, and whispered, “Erchen has never fallen to the ground in erchen’s own yard.”
“Listen, fourth child, he blames your bed for being bad,” Kangxi chuckled, “Zhen thinks you are protecting this little bastard for nothing.”
Seeing that Kangxi was not angry, but was joking with Yinyou, Yinzhen knew that he did not mean to blame him, so he said, “It must be that erchen’s bed is too small. Tomorrow, erchen shall let someone make a bigger bed and put it in the mansion, and when the seventh brother comes in the future, he will use erchen’s bed.”
Kangxi glanced at Yinzhen, then at the blushing Yinyou, and revealed a smile, “Okay, that’s all. Zhen was only here today to see how your house was doing, and won’t stay any longer.”
Yinzhen also understood that Huang Ama was busy with government affairs, and many times he was busy with memorials until dawn, how dare he tell him to stay?
Seeing this, Yinyou was also ready to follow Kangxi back to the palace. When he arrived at the gate of the fourth brother’s mansion, Kangxi looked at the servants, big and small, who were kneeling on the ground, and said to Yinyou, “Little seventh, Zhen knows that you and the fourth brother have always had a deep brotherly love, so you will stay at the fourth brother’s mansion today.”
When Yinyou heard him say this, although he didn’t understand Kangxi’s intentions, he didn’t dare to refuse either, he simply knelt and said, “Erchen thanks Huang Ama.”
“You should thank the fourth brother, you’ll eat what he has and live with him,” Kangxi spoke with a smile, “Contrary to what one might think, your fourth brother has a good appetite.”
Yinyou was startled, and he didn’t recover until Kangxi left. When Kangxi said that the fourth brother had a good appetite, was he referring to something else, or was it purely a compliment?
After returning to the palace, Kangxi looked at Li Dequan who was standing by, and said, “Li Dequan, how do you think the fourth brother treats the seventh brother?”
Li Dequan replied respectfully, “Naturally, the fourth brother treats the seventh elder brother well.”
Kangxi opened a memorial. It was nothing more than some nonsensical praise to the emperor, Kangxi wrote the word “good” with a vermilion pen, and continued speaking, “A few days ago, Zhen heard that little seventh went to the Buddhist hall to pray for blessings. Did you see the sachet on the fourth brother?”
Li Dequan replied, “The minion’s eyes were clumsy and he didn’t see clearly. He only saw that there was indeed a sachet hanging on the fourth brother. This minion heard that the seventh brother had brought two sachets to the Buddhist hall when he was praying for blessings in the past few days. His appearance made several concubines laugh.”
Naturally, Kangxi would not ask Li Dequan where he heard his news. There was a smile on his face, “It’s that so. Li Dequan, hang up the sachet Zhen got yesterday.”
Li Dequan bowed and said, "Yes.” But it suddenly dawned in his heart that the sachet turned out to be a lucky sachet from the seventh brother. No wonder it smelled of sandalwood, and the workmanship was unlike other concubines who embroidered mandarin ducks or golden dragons.
In the house of the fourth brother, Yinyou sat on the soft couch with a serious face, thinking seriously about Kangxi’s words. The fourth brother sat by his side and drank tea leisurely, looking at Yinyou’s solemn look, he didn’t ask or say much.
Suddenly, a delicate female voice came from outside the door, “Master, qie [1] made some snacks for you and the seventh brother, please have a taste with the seventh brother.”
After the lady finished speaking, there was no reply from Yinzhen, and she did not dare enter carelessly.
Yinyou looked at his fourth brother, wondering if he should escape to the inner room.
Yinzhen looked at the shadow outside the curtain, his face becoming colder and colder.
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▲ Footnotes
[1] 匞 qiè: concubine / I, your servant (deprecatory self-reference for women).