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Chapter 29: Stealing a Kiss
You must remember this: A kiss is still a kiss.
A sigh is just a sigh.
The fundamental things apply as time goes by.
Song [1] Gege [2] didn’t want to enter this quiet courtyard, nor did she wish to try her best to attract the attention of the Master [3], but now Fu Jin was about to enter the mansion and she was not favored by the Master. At least, she had to try and keep a child by her side, even if it was just a daughter, it was also good.
She remembered that the day she was carried into the mansion, the Master looked at her with no warmth in his eyes. After that night, he never went to her yard again. She knew that there was nothing outstanding about her appearance and she didn’t have any talents. Now except for this stupid way, what other way she had to curry favor?
Outside the curtain, her hand holding the tray trembled a little. Hearing the rustling sounds from the inner room, she let out a long breath and repeated, “Master, have you rested yet?”
He had a guest over, and it was not the time to rest. Could it be that Master had important matters to discuss? Thinking this, she was startled and bit her lips, “Qie was being reckless, qie will leave.”
“So it’s the fourth sister-in-law outside, please come in,” a clear and bright boy’s voice came from the room. Master’s voice was calm, this voice was clearly not his, and there seemed to be a slight smile in the boy’s tone. Song Gege realized that this was probably the seventh brother. The panic in her heart gradually scattered. The maidservant behind her also breathed a sigh of relief, and opened the curtain for her, “This maidservant  greets Master and the seventh brother.”
“Qie greets Master and the seventh brother.” Song Gege walked into the room with her head down, not daring to look up.
Yinyou originally wanted to avoid meeting her, but thinking that he was not yet an adult [4] and that the fourth brother was present, there was really nothing to criticize, so he casually saved this woman from embarrassment. Yinyou scrutinized the little girl, who was only fourteen. At this age, her appearance was not outstanding. At best she was handsome, and even the hand holding the tray was shaking from nervousness.
[4] This a reminder that it’s still 1691. Yinyou’s 11 and Yinzhen’s 14.  In the Chinese calendar, they should regard themselves as one or two years older.
“It just so happens that I’m also a little hungry.” Yinyou took the tray from Song Gege’s hands and put it on the table. He took a piece, and swallowed, feeling his throat a little bit dry, he turned his head to look at the expressionless Yinzhen, “Fourth brother, pass me the tea.”
Yinzhen felt the teacup and found that it was already a bit cold. He frowned, and spoke loud to the boy outside the door, “Come in with two cups of scented tea.”
The pastry tasted good, neither sweet nor greasy, it softly melted in his mouth. Yinyou couldn’t help but eat another piece, and sat down beside Yinzhen with a plate in his hand, “Fourth brother, the desserts made by my little sister-in-law taste very good, fourth brother, try it.”
Yinzhen looked at the smile on Yinyou’s face and thought secretly, it’s just a Gege, it’s not worth calling the seventh brother her little sister-in-law, but he looked away, and replied carelessly, “As long as you like it.”
“Master, the tea is ready.” The servant came in with the tea, put it on the table, and then backed out. Standing in the middle of the room, Song Gege looked at the tip of her shoe helplessly.
“Go down,” Yinzhen didn’t look at Song-shi, but lifted the lid of the teacup and handed it to Yinyou’s mouth.
Yinyou took a sip of tea from Yinzhen’s hand, and smiled at Song Gege, “Thank you, little sister-in-law.”
He didn’t recognize this woman. In the Qing Dynasty history, the women that Emperor Yongzheng publicly recorded were relatively few. Most of the titled women were women serving him for a long time when he was a prince living in the mansion, and after he became emperor, when he accepted concubines, mostly if not all of them, were recorded as Guiren [5].
[5] èČŽäșș guĂŹrĂ©n. Below the pin/Concubine title, low rank. / Bambi: Because the Yongzheng emperor rarely gave women a higher rank than Guiren after becoming emperor, he didn’t gain the fame of being lustful. And because the women he did award were women he had been having relationships with for decades, it made him a man that didn’t easily favor women but knew how to appreciate loyalty, he thus gained a good reputation. I think he was a very clever man.
“Seventh brother is too polite,” Song Gege raised her head inadvertently and saw her always cold-faced Master holding a teacup, clearly waiting for the seventh brother to finish speaking before letting him drink tea with his own hands. At this moment, Yinzhen turned his head and saw her surprised eyes, and she hurriedly looked away, and bowed, “Qie will retire.”
After walking out of the courtyard, Song-shi was truly relieved. She never wanted to go into this courtyard again, even if she was not favored and was left out in the cold, it was alright. As for what she saw, she saw nothing, thought nothing, and knew nothing.
“Gege, you
”, the maid behind her saw that her Mistress’ face was pale, and began speaking, “Just now
”
Before she could finish, Song Gege, who had always been gentle, slapped her on the face, “Shut up, you, a slave is not allowed to comment on the Mistress’ affairs.”
“Yes,” the servant girl was stunned for a while, but seeing her Mistress’ serious expression, she didn’t dare to say another word. She was clearly standing behind the curtain just now, and she obviously didn’t hear the Lord say something unusual, why was the Mistress being so strict?
Song Gege clasped the handkerchief in her hand. She always thought that the Master and the seventh brother’s relationship was simply a little bit better than the other princes, but who knew that the two were so close? The two of them were actually so close, afraid that if someone in the future dared to take advantage of the seventh brother being the Master’s soft spot, he will suspect that she leaked these words out.
In any case, she must forget about this matter. Although she didn’t understand the conflicts between the princes, she still understood one truth: smart and talkative people often don’t live long.
That night, Song Gege received a lot of rewards, but there was no trace of joy on her face. When she touched the extremely soft silk, her palms felt cold. If she said something wrong, what she got might not be this damask silk, but three-foot of white silk [6].
On a spring night as cool as water, Yinyou sat on Yinzhen’s bed, pondering seriously this question, “Fourth brother, do you don’t have any other rooms in your house?”
Yinzhen talked to him while being served by Xiao Luzi to take off his robe, “Why, do you don’t want to sleep with the fourth brother?”
Yinyou lay on the bed and spread himself out into a big character, “Fourth brother, I have grown up.”
The expression on Yinzhen’s face stiffened slightly, “What, you don’t want to stay with your fourth brother now that you’re older?”
Yinyou sat up from the bed, “Fourth brother, you’ve wronged me again.”
“Okay,” Yinzhen waved Xiao Luzi to step aside, and he walked to the bedside and touched Yinyou’s head, “It’s late at night, let’s settle down earlier, what are you thinking?”
After speaking, he turned over and lay down beside Yinyou. Yinyou moved into the bed, pulled the quilt to cover himself and Yinzhen tightly, and then spoke again, “I'm almost thirteen, fourth brother, don’t treat me like a child.”
“When did I treat you like a child?” Yinzhen turned over and faced Yinyou, but there was a faint smile on the corner of his mouth.
Xia Luzi put down the bed curtains and exited the room without making a sound, but he was secretly amused, wondering why the seventh brother was suddenly being so awkward.
Yinyou twisted his body, feeling slightly cold, and rubbed against Yinzhen’s body, “It’s just a feeling I got.”
“If you really feel it
” Yinzhen smiled wryly, but couldn’t say anything after all.
“What?” The night wind blew the gauze curtain, and the candlelight reflected on Yinyou’s face, flickering on and off making him feel like he could see everything clearly, but he actually seemed to see nothing at all.
“Forget it, go to sleep.” Yinzhen stretched out his hand and gently embraced the person next to him, he dared to do this step, and he didn’t dare to go one step further.
“Fourth brother, I’m not a child.” Someone protested.
“I know, go to sleep.” Yinzhen reached out and patted the back of the person in his arms, and sighed softly.
A long time went by. Xiao Luzi entered the house and put out the candles; the person in his arms fell asleep; and the drums outside called the time [7]; it was not until all of this passed that Yinzhen slowly let go of the person in his arms, and tenderly kissed his warm and soft lips, licked bit by bit, and then slowly let go.
One night without dreams.
When Yinyou woke up, Yinzhen had already gotten up.
Yinyou also rose from the bed and in a daze, he was served to change clothes and wash. Although it was a bit late to go to Wuyizhai at this time since Kangxi ordered him to stay overnight, he had nothing to worry about.
Yinyou sensed another advantage of having a prince’s mansion. After the morning court, he still had some independent time; even better, the time for going to court was a full hour later than when they went to Wuyizhai. This schedule was a whole different from the princes who were still in the palace, they worked all the time, all day long, from morning till night.
He glanced enviously at Yinzhen’s court clothes and turned his gaze away. He had survived more than ten years, and the remaining two years were not too far away.
Seeing that Yinyou kept taking glances at his court clothes, Yinzhen asked, “What’s the matter?”
Yinyou sighed, “I don’t know when I can be a dandy who teases birds and raises flowers.”
The few servants inside the room were all silent going on about their own things, as if they hadn’t heard anything. Yinzhen’s hand holding his court collar [8] paused, but he didn’t say anything and he looked out of the dark window, thinking that he would always give Yinyou the opportunity to live freely.
.
After morning court, Kangxi suddenly became concerned about his three sons who were studying in Wuyizhai and brought a group of eunuchs, maids, and guards to Wuyizhai. At this time, the three brothers were all endorsing seriously. Kangxi’s eyes fell on Yinyou, who was seriously answering the teacher’s question and nodded in satisfaction. It seemed that little seventh didn’t slack off because he let him stay at the old four’s house yesterday.
When Yinyou saw Kangxi approaching the study room, his heart twitched. As soon as Kangxi came, he always had to ask some questions. One not only had to know the exact words and speak them without a mistake but even had to draw inferences from one instance. Kangxi was even scarier than his old high school teacher.
After Kangxi asked the three brothers what “propriety” and “knowledge” was, he rewarded the three brothers with some pens, ink, paper, and inkstones, and left gracefully.
Yinyou suddenly thought wickedly, when he had a son, he must randomly check his homework, otherwise, how could he enjoy the superiority of being an old man?
In the 32nd year of Kangxi, Kangxi bestowed Ula Nara’s formal gifts [9], and to her parents silver. At the engagement banquet, the Crown Prince, princes, internal ministers, guards, and officials above the second rank were all present at the engagement banquet, making the scene very lively. Yinyou was in the inner palace, and he didn’t need to be there so he simply sent someone to send a gift to Lord Feiyanggu’s house that day.
“Seventh brother’s arrows are more accurate,” Yinsi looked at the target shot by Yinyou, and praised, “Younger brother admires it.”
Yinyou handed the bow to the companion behind him, and smiled lightly, “Eighth brother praises absurdly, it’s just a coincidence.” After finishing speaking, he got off the horse.
Yinsi too got off his horse and walked beside Yinyou, “Master Feiyanggu’s house must be very lively today.”
Hearing this, Yinyou showed a narrow smile on his face, “Could it be that the eighth younger brother also wants to find an eighth Fu Jin? Ask the House of Internal Affairs to help with the engagement banquet.”
Yinsi looked at the smile on Yinyou’s face, and laughed out loud, “Why does the seventh brother know how to make fun of the younger brother? I don’t know who will marry Fu Jin first.”
The fifth brother looked at the two younger brothers who were smiling equally brightly. The arrow he shot was slightly deflected and stuck on the edge of the red heart. He sighed slightly. He was not as good at this as the other brothers.
***
The author has something to say:
In fact, when Ula Nara married Yinzhen it was not the 31st year of Kangxi (it seems that the marriage was given in the 30th year of Kangxi? I read the information before writing the novel, but I forgot, huh, but it should not be the 31st year). The engagement banquet does not seem to be in the 32nd year, and the time when Song Gege entered the mansion is not clear, but she gave birth to the eldest daughter of Yongzheng emperor born in 33rd year, and after Yongzheng became emperor, her status seemed to be the lowest, so let’s arrange her to appear in this way. If there is something wrong, please ignore it.
Bambi’s note: According to Lady Ula Nara’s Wikipedia page, “Lady Ula Nara was born on the 13th day of the fifth lunar month in the 20th year of the reign of the Kangxi Emperor, which translates to 28 June 1681 in the Gregorian calendar. In 1691, she married Yinzhen, the fourth son of the Kangxi Emperor, and became his primary consort. On 17 April 1697, she gave birth to their first son, Honghui, who would die prematurely on 7 July 1704.”
____________
â–Č  Footnotes
[1] Wikipedia. Concubine Mao (懋ćŹȘ) of the Song clan (ćź‹æ°) (1677 – October/November 1730). Titles: Mistress (栌栌 Song Gege) → Concubine Mao (懋ćŹȘ Mao Pin). 1st daughter (10 April 1694 – April/May 1694) and 3rd daughter (8 January 1707 – January/February 1707).
[2] Wikipedia, the Gege title: “When a Manchu prince had concubines, the status of the wives, from highest to lowest, are the following: difujin (the official wife), cefujin (the first rank concubine), and gege. Historically, there were many gege, but few ever ascended to the status of cefujin”. From Royal and noble ranks of the Qing dynasty, Wikipedia: “Mistress (栌栌, pinyin: gĂ©gĂ©), little consort (ć°çŠæ™‹, concubine (ćŠŸ, qie) or (ćș¶çŠæ™‹, pinyin: shufujin) was granted to concubines of imperial princes, dukes and generals.
[3] 爷 yĂ© n. grandpa (father’s side); respectful address for an elderly man; old term of address for a rich man; master, lord; god.
[4] This a reminder that it’s still 1691. Yinyou’s 11 and Yinzhen’s 14. In the Chinese calendar, they should regard themselves as one or two years older.
[5] èČŽäșș guĂŹrĂ©n. Below the pin/Concubine title, low rank. / Bambi: Because the Yongzheng emperor rarely gave women a higher rank than Guiren after becoming emperor, he didn’t gain the fame of being lustful. And because the women he did award were women he had been having relationships with for decades, it made him a man that didn’t easily favor women but knew how to appreciate loyalty, he thus gained a good reputation. I think he was a very clever man.
[6] ć°ș癜綟 chǐ bĂĄi lĂ­ng: three-foot of white silk. Baidu: “White silk was often used in ancient times when the Emperors bestowed the self-judgment on sinners. Three feet refers to the length, in fact, it does not necessarily mean exactly three feet, as long as it is enough for hanging. (...) The origin of three-foot white silk comes from The Palace of Eternal Life,  a play written by Hong Sheng (æŽȘ昇/æŽȘ捇) in the Qing dynasty”. The Palace of Eternal Life, according to Wikipedia: Focuses on the everlasting love story of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang and his favorite consort Yang Guifei. This story has been translated into English and published by the Foreign Languages Press.”
[7] Gēng (曎) is a time signal given by drum or gong. The drum was sounded by the drum tower in city centers, and by night watchman hitting a gong in other areas. The first gēng theoretically comes at sundown but was standardized to fall at yǒu shĂ­ or 19:12. The time between each gēng is 1⁄10 of a day, making a gēng 2.4 hours—or 2 hours 24 minutes—long. / So Yinzhen waited two hours or so.
[8] 朝珠 chĂĄo zhĆ«: court beads (derived from Buddhist prayer beads)
[9] 愀ćčŁ. Literally, “ceremonial coins”. But I’m guessing it’s the usual marriage gift that the Emperor bestows.