20demayo Chapter 421 Your sixth brother has only two words for me now: rich.
Chapter 421 Your sixth brother has only two words for me now: rich.
The Fourteenth Prince's current title is Beile, with an annual salary of 2,500 taels of silver and an additional 2,500 dou of rice. In addition, there are other miscellaneous incomes from his household, which is more than enough to support the people in his household. Therefore, when faced with the Fourteenth Prince's complaints of poverty, none of his brothers present, except for those who were just watching the show, sympathized with him.
Fourteenth Brother had been singing, reciting, acting, and fighting for a long time when he turned around and found that all his brothers were staring at him with wide eyes. Among them, Yinzhuo, the one he was trying to play the victim with, was watching the most enthusiastically. Look, he even had offstage guidance.
"Fourteenth Brother, not to criticize you, but you really need to work on your acting skills when you get back. Do you know how your performance just now made people feel? Let me tell you, it can be summed up in two words—over-the-top. Not only was the emotion lacking, but the acting was also too forceful. In short, it looked fake at first glance. Alright, I know you're poor. So, when you leave later, I'll have Dexi give you 100,000 taels of silver to tide you over, so you won't be wearing this old cloak and crying about being poor all the time during the New Year..."
Upon hearing Yinzhuo's words, the Fourteenth Prince immediately beamed with joy. To be grabbed by the ear, twisted a few times, and scolded a few times for receiving 100,000 taels of silver—where else could one find such a good deal? If it weren't for the many people sitting around, the Fourteenth Prince would have really wanted to return his ear to his Sixth Brother so he could twist it a few more times. Otherwise, he would feel guilty taking 100,000 taels of silver.
"Sixth Brother, my family is so poor that we can't even afford to eat. How about this, I'll send my son Hongtun to you tomorrow. You don't need to give me 100,000 taels, 50,000 will do."
Well, as they say, one is influenced by one's company. With a troublemaker like the Fourteenth Prince around, it's no wonder that a good boy like the Thirteenth Prince has been corrupted by him. However, compared to that brat, the Thirteenth Prince's life is a bit harder. Yinzhuo likes this younger brother quite a bit, and since he's not short of money, he naturally doesn't mind the Thirteenth Prince learning from the Fourteenth Prince.
"Alright, it seems your sixth brother really has to play the role of a generous benefactor again today. You're starving, aren't you? Fine, Dexi, go and get two hundred thousand taels of silver for your thirteenth master. But thirteenth, you don't need to send this child to your sixth brother. After all, you know I really don't have any talent when it comes to educating children."
Thirteen was just following the trend and joining in the fun, but he didn't expect to have such an unexpected gain. Looking at the stack of silver notes that Dexi handed over, he didn't know whether to accept or refuse.
"Sixth Brother, I was just joking with you. Please take the silver note back. My salary isn't much, but it's enough to support my family."
The Fourteenth Prince reacted strongly to the Thirteenth Prince's obvious refusal of Yinzhuo's offer of money. He quickly walked a few steps to Dexi's side, grabbed the stack of silver notes from his hand, turned around and went to his Thirteenth Brother, stuffing the silver notes into his hand.
"Thirteenth Brother, you absolutely have to take this money. If you don't, how am I supposed to get it? And Sixth Brother, you're being unfair! Why did you give Thirteenth Brother 200,000 taels, while I only got 100,000 taels?"
Yinzhuo was initially taken aback by the Fourteenth Prince's bandit-like behavior, but when he heard what the Fourteenth Prince said to the Thirteenth Prince, he couldn't help but chuckle. No, did he really look like such a stingy person? The money had already been given away; did he expect to get it back from him?
"What's wrong with giving you 100,000 taels? If you think it's too little, then give the money back to me. Thirteen, if you ask me, you should learn from Fourteen. Look at his thick skin, it's truly impervious to swords and spears. Take the money, your sixth brother is all about money these days. Once I give something away, there's no going back. And Fourteen, what I just said wasn't just for Thirteen's ears. Don't you dare send your little rascal here tomorrow, or you'll see how I deal with you..."
While the brothers were making a ruckus, the kitchen delivered the roasted mutton. Yinzhuo hadn't eaten properly at noon because he was looking forward to this roast meat dinner. Now that the food had arrived, he naturally had no intention of arguing with the Fourteenth Prince. He had Dexi lead the men to set the food on the table in the pavilion and then got up to invite his brothers to sit down.
The chef on Yinzhuo's side was brought from the imperial kitchen of Emperor Kangxi, so his culinary skills were naturally excellent. The mutton he roasted was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, making it very delicious. Because Yinzhuo was such a heavy drinker, in order to prevent him from sneaking a drink when no one was looking, Yinti and the others simply had the wine removed. The brothers gathered together, so there was no rule of not speaking while eating or sleeping. Although there was no wine to enhance the atmosphere, they ate and chatted, which was quite pleasant.
They were eating when snowflakes started falling outside. Yinzhuo was sitting right in front of the waterside pavilion window, so he noticed it immediately. He lost all interest in eating and just stared blankly at the increasingly dense snow falling outside the window.
"Hey Xiao Liu, what are you staring out the window for instead of eating? It's just snowing, nothing special. Here's what we'll do: if the snow gets really heavy, your big brother will take you skiing in the mountains later."
Snowfall was nothing new to Yinzhuo, but he was clearly interested in Yinti's suggestion of going skiing in the mountains. Hearing this, he withdrew his hand from his chin and looked up at Yinti, who had just spoken.
"Brother, is what you say true? If the snow falls heavily, will you really take me skiing in the mountains?"
Faced with Yinzhuo's expectant gaze, Yinti nodded without hesitation. It's just going skiing on the mountain, what's the big deal?
"Of course it's true. As long as the snow falls heavily enough, I'll take you skiing in the mountains. We can bring tents and heaters, and if we stay on the mountain for a couple more days, we might even get some unexpected surprises. You don't know, last winter, Fourteen and I were skiing in some mountain in Japan and we even hunted several deer and wild goats."
Because of Yinti's words, Yinzuo became obsessed with the idea of snow. Every day, the first thing he would ask Dexi when he opened his eyes was, "Did it snow today?" But it seemed as if the weather was deliberately making things difficult for Yinzuo. Until the twelfth lunar month, there were only a few light snowfalls, far from enough to make skiing possible.
Everyone says that Emperor Kangxi doted on his children. Look how much Yinzhuo longed for snow. With the New Year approaching, he dumped all the affairs of the capital on Yinzhen and took his sons Yinzhuo, Yinreng, Yinti, and others to Chengde to play in the snow. Of course, this father wasn't completely indifferent to his son Yinzhen. Look, he left Yinqi, Yinzhi, and the thirteenth son with him.