activa-t Chapter 168 Is this kid Yinzhuo not your own son?
Chapter 168 Is this kid Yinzhuo not your own son?
Yinzhuo was indeed living a carefree life, but he couldn't enjoy it for long. By the end of September, Kangxi seemed to suddenly realize that he had been away from the capital for too long and hurriedly began to catch up on his work.
The procession from Khorchin to Shengjing moved at breakneck speed. Even sitting in the relatively stable imperial carriage, Yinzhuo felt uncomfortable from the swaying. He couldn't help but worry about his grandmother, thinking that if they continued to sway all the way to Shengjing like this, the old lady would surely suffer a concussion.
"Father, we're not in a hurry, let's take it slow and stroll along. You can see that you feel the swaying quite a bit even inside the imperial carriage, so you can imagine how it is for Grandmother. We're young and can still manage, but are you sure Grandmother can handle this swaying?"
Kangxi, who had been resting with his eyes closed, immediately opened them upon hearing Yinzhuo's words. He gave Yinzhuo a disapproving look. Did he think he wanted to do this? He was also feeling uncomfortable from being shaken around, but wasn't time tight and the task heavy? The date for the ancestral worship ceremony had been set in advance, and even as the emperor, he dared not change it easily.
"Do you think I wanted to do this? But there's nothing I can do. The date for the imperial pilgrimage was set beforehand and cannot be changed. We wasted too much time in Rehe, and now we have to make up for that time on the road. Go, go, go! If you think the imperial carriage is too slow, go outside and find your elder brother and the others to go for a ride. Don't nag me here; it's annoying..."
Haha, didn't I tell you before that this impulse is the devil, but you just wouldn't listen? Let's see if you dare to throw things around like that again. Now you're annoyed by all this commotion, too late.
Yinzhuo was obedient this time. His father told him to go down and find Yinti and the others to ride horses. Without saying a word, he climbed out of the imperial carriage. To be fair, although the sun was a bit strong outside and riding a horse was a bit more tiring than lying in the carriage, at least his head didn't feel like it was going to be shaken yellow.
Fortunately, the journey from Khorchin to Shengjing was not too far. Traveling at this speed, the group arrived in Shengjing in just five or six days. The moment they stepped off the carriage, everyone from Emperor Kangxi and the Empress Dowager to the princes and concubines breathed a deep sigh of relief. These torturous days were finally over.
It was already early October, and Emperor Kangxi had been away from the capital for three months. Therefore, he did not plan to stay in Shengjing for long. After paying respects to his father at the imperial tombs on the day of the ceremony, he stayed for two more days before ordering his troops to set off back to the capital.
Since it was the return journey, there was no rush. The procession moved at about the same speed as when they came. As the weather outside grew colder, Yinzhuo became increasingly lazy. Along the way, he either stayed in his own carriage and didn't go anywhere, or he stayed in the Emperor Kangxi's carriage to freeload. You say horse racing? What horse racing? Prince Zhao had stopped that sport a while ago.
By the time they made their way back to the capital, it was already early November. The capital in November wasn't exactly freezing, but it wasn't much better either. When Yinzhu peeked out from the imperial carriage, he almost shivered from the cold. If it weren't for the fact that Emperor Kangxi was standing behind him and there was a large group of people waiting below, he would have shrunk back into the carriage.
"Third brother, fourth brother, eighth brother, it's been so long! I've missed you all so much..."
As soon as Yinzhuo stepped off the imperial carriage, he rushed over to Yinzhi, Yinzhen, and Yinsi, who were standing next to the carriage, with great enthusiasm. But before he even got to them, his elder brother's loud voice came from behind!
"You three, don't believe this kid's nonsense. He doesn't have time to think about you. He's living a carefree life. While we're busy as bees, he's running all over the grasslands with Thirteen and Fourteen. While we're struggling to keep up on horseback, he's nestled in his father's carriage, eating and drinking to his heart's content. He just eats and sleeps all day, plays when he's awake, eats again when he's tired, and sleeps again after eating. If he says he misses you, he's probably only thinking about you in his dreams..."
Yinzhuo didn't care at all about his elder brother's criticism. He had already gotten the benefits, so let others criticize him a little. It wouldn't hurt him.
"Brother is right, but my comfortable life is about to end. In a few days, I will be just as miserable as you. Father told me to go to work at the Ministry of Works after I come back, but I don't want to go, what should I do?"
Although Yinqi and his comrades had been getting up before dawn every day for court for several years, seeing Yinzuo's miserable state, they still went forward to comfort him out of brotherly respect. However, they soon realized that their brotherly affection was misplaced, because the misery Yinzuo described was completely different from the misery they had imagined...
"Is this what you call miserable? Little Six, do you even know what time it is?"
Yinzhuo clearly hadn't expected to see his brothers at the Ministry of Works. He rubbed his eyes, turned around, and went back to the door to make sure he wasn't in the wrong place before walking back.
"Big brother, second brother, third brother...aren't you all busy today? How come you all got together? Did you come here for a team-building event?"
This made Yinti even angrier. He was sitting quite close to Yinzuo, so he reached out and slapped Yinzuo on the forehead.
"You still have the nerve to ask? Isn't today your first day on duty at the Ministry of Works? Do you even know what time it is? And why didn't I see you at the morning court session this morning? Do you know what the punishment is for missing the morning court session without a valid reason? Have you even thought about how Father Khan will punish you?"
Yinti didn't hit him hard, so Yinzuo didn't feel much pain. However, he understood that his elder brother and the others had come to the Ministry of Works today because they hadn't seen him at the morning court session and were worried that his absence without reason had angered their father. He appreciated their kindness and stood up to bow to them.
"Yinzhuo thanks all his elder brothers and younger brothers for their concern. But you don't need to worry. I had already spoken with Father Khan beforehand. He said I could come to the Ministry of Works to work, but it was absolutely unacceptable for me to attend the morning court before dawn. Father Khan agreed, so my absence from the morning court today was not without reason."
It has to be said that when they saw Yinzhuo say those words as if nothing had happened, all the princes present, including Yinreng, were filled with jealousy. Good heavens, Father, could you be any more biased? It seems that they had underestimated the situation before. This boy Yinzhuo is not just your biological son, he might not even be your biological son!