activa-t Chapter 395 This barbecue meal was really hard-won!
Chapter 395 This barbecue meal was really hard-won!
After waiting for so many years, Yinzhuo finally got this opportunity to avenge himself. Although he could not fight on the battlefield due to his own reasons, he was unwilling to remain a bystander with no sense of participation.
If you ask Yinzhuo what he can do for this war, he will definitely tell you—be the top donor and send it some big rockets. Wars cost money, right? And he happens to have some savings now.
"Yinzuo, I heard from the Eighth Prince that you've been sending silver to the Ministry of Revenue for the past few days. What's wrong? Have you become addicted to being a spendthrift? Not only are you spending my private treasury, but now you're even planning to give away all the things in your own household?"
It's no wonder that Kangxi said that, mainly because the amount of silver that Yinzhuo had sent to the Ministry of Revenue in the past few days was indeed quite large. As Kangxi's darling, Yinzhuo's importance to Kangxi was beyond doubt, which meant that Kangxi paid much more attention to him than to his other sons.
Kangxi knew exactly what Yinzhi did every day, what he ate, where he went, and even how much silver he had in his household. The four million taels of silver that Yinzhi sent to the Ministry of Revenue in the past few days was probably all the wealth he had accumulated over the years.
While Emperor Kangxi was moved by his son's act of emptying the family coffers to support him, he couldn't help but feel a little worried. After all, his son had been pampered since childhood and had never lacked money. It's easy to go from simplicity to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to simplicity.
Compared to Kangxi's worries, Yinzhuo himself didn't take the matter to heart at all. The saying "It's easy to go from simplicity to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to simplicity" is true, but don't forget that his current status is that of a prince, and a prince who is favored by the emperor. Even if he were to go simple, how simple could he go?
“Father, you don’t need to worry at all that your son will have a hard time in the future. Let’s not even talk about how Xiao Jiu and I will get our share of the profits from our business at the end of the year. Have you forgotten that all these years I’ve been living on your rations for food, drink and other necessities? And Hongxu is being raised by Fourth Brother now, so he doesn’t cost me any money. The money I’ve kept is enough for the household expenses.”
Goodness, this is the first time I've heard someone talk about taking and eating so confidently. But war is indeed an expensive affair. Although the national treasury is still quite full, more money coming in is never a bad thing.
Since Yinzhuo said that he had enough money now, Kangxi didn't say anything more. He just had someone go to his private treasury to pick out some things that Yinzhuo liked and send them to him. Yinzhuo naturally accepted all the care from his father.
Spring comes and autumn goes, cold comes and heat goes. In the midst of the hustle and bustle of life, another year has come to an end. Yinzhuo lay on the soft couch by the bed in the Qianqing Palace, staring at the snow falling outside the window for a long time before turning his gaze to Kangxi, who was sitting opposite him with glasses, reviewing memorials.
"Father, this snow has been falling for almost a day, and it shows no sign of stopping. I had plans to have a barbecue with Second Brother and Xiao Jiu at the courtyard of the South Third Institute tonight. If this snow doesn't stop, do you think they'll be able to come?"
"Hey, you've finally asked me a question," Kangxi said, putting down the memorial he was holding, taking off his glasses from the bridge of his nose, and looking up at Yinzhuo. But out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly caught sight of two figures walking towards him through the wind and snow outside the window.
"Don't worry, you're guaranteed to have barbecue tonight. Look outside and see if those two are your second brother and Yinzhen."
Yinzhuo had pretty good eyesight. Even though snowflakes were flying outside and both Yinreng and Yintang were wrapped up tightly, he still managed to identify the two people outside as his second brother and Yintang from some subtle details in their walking posture.
"Wan Quan, hurry up and go to the back to get two hot water bottles. Eunuch Liang, could you please go and get two pairs of shoes? And whoever you're calling, go and prepare some hot tea. Father, you go ahead with your work, I'll go to the door to greet them..."
Because of the arrival of Yinreng and Yintang, the once quiet flower hall of Qianqing Palace instantly became lively. Kangxi watched as Yinzuo quickly got off the bed, put on his shoes, and headed towards the door. He did not stop him, but simply raised his hand and called over a palace servant who was waiting nearby, instructing him to take a cloak and follow him.
"Second Brother, Xiao Jiu, you must be freezing on the way here. Come on, quickly put on your shoes and come in to warm up. Oh, Xiao Jiu, why are your hands so cold? Wan Quan, where's the hot water bottle I asked you to get? Quickly bring it here..."
Yinreng and Yintang have good stamina. They looked quite a distance from the Qianqing Palace just now, but by the time Yinzuo circled around from the flower hall to the main gate, the two of them were already there.
Yinzhuo's joy at their decision to brave the snow to keep their appointment was palpable. He expressed his happiness and concern in a simple and unpretentious way, and his warm and attentive manner made Yintang tremble with emotion.
Now that they had arrived at the Qianqing Palace, the first thing Yinreng and Yintang wanted to do was naturally to go and pay their respects to Emperor Kangxi. So after changing their shoes at the door, the two of them didn't delay and pulled Yinzuo into the room.
"Your son greets Father Khan. May Father Khan be blessed."
Kangxi had already put his glasses back on. Upon hearing this, he turned his head to look at Yinreng and Yintang, who were kneeling on the ground. He raised his hand to signal them to get up, and then looked at Yinzuo behind them.
"Didn't you say you were going to have a barbecue at the South Third Courtyard later? I'm free tonight, so I'll join you all for the fun. Yinreng, come here and help me review these memorials. Yinzuo, these greeting memorials are yours. Yintang, don't just sit there, go to the South Third Courtyard and make some preparations. Have someone sweep the snow off the ground and set up a tent. The barbecue will be smoky, so we can't do it indoors..."
Good heavens, look at how clearly they divide the work! Yinzhuo felt dizzy just looking at the stack of greetings memorials that Kangxi was pointing to. No, he was just wondering, how come these ministers are so idle? After they finish dealing with this huge stack of memorials, will he still be able to eat his roast meat?
Fortunately, neither Yinreng nor Yinzuo were new to these kinds of memorials, so they handled them with relative ease. Kangxi, holding a teacup, looked with a smile at his two sons who had been brought to the couch to do hard labor, nodded in satisfaction, took a sip of tea, got up, and strolled out of the flower hall with his hands behind his back.
Although Yinzhu was busy with his work, his eyes weren't just fixed on the memorial in his hand. Seeing Kangxi stroll out of the flower hall with his hands behind his back, he couldn't help but let out a loud sigh.
"Second brother, I really feel like I went through so much trouble to eat this barbecue..."