20demayo Chapter 55 Those who are favored are always fearless
Chapter 55 Those who are favored are always fearless
Ever since the day Yinzhu escaped from his mother's clutches but was caught and reprimanded by his fourth brother, Yinzhu didn't leave his Shufeng Pavilion for several days. It wasn't that he was angry with Yinzhen or avoiding his mother; it was simply that his fourth brother's words were venomous. He had just said that Yinzhu was living a free and comfortable life, and now he was being harassed by the people from the Ministry of Revenue.
For several days in a row, a string of tails followed him wherever he went. Although their flattery was indeed quite good, making Yinzhu feel very comfortable, he could patiently answer all sorts of questions all day long. At first, he could even answer them patiently, and even offer a "buy one get one free" deal. But after a while, no matter how much they praised him, he couldn't stand it for even a minute.
"Dexi, hurry up and help me get ready. We need to get out of here before the Ministry of Revenue officials arrive. I can't take another second of this misery..."
But once people actually escaped, where to go became a major problem. Since the completion of Changchun Garden in the 26th year of Kangxi's reign, Yinzhuo had accompanied Kangxi to live here for several months almost every year. No matter how beautiful the scenery of Changchun Garden was, he was tired of visiting it and had grown weary of seeing it.
As Dexi followed behind his master, he finally understood why his master had stopped trying to trick the Fourteenth Prince into being the donkey pulling the millstone these past few days. It turned out that the prince had taken the job himself.
"Your Majesty, you've been wandering around here for quite a while now, but you still can't decide where to go? Otherwise, this servant will accompany you to Enze Garden. We haven't been there since His Majesty bestowed this garden upon you."
Upon hearing this, Yinzhuo thought, "That's right. I've been begging and pleading to get to the garden for a while now, but I've been held back by all sorts of things and haven't even had a chance to go see it yet. Since I'm out here to enjoy some peace and quiet today, I might as well go and take a look."
"Then what are we waiting for? Lead the way! I need to take a good look at this garden that Father Khan bestowed upon me. If I'm not satisfied..."
Although Yinzhuo only said half of what he meant, Dexi had served him for so many years and knew his master quite well. Judging from this, if he was not satisfied with what he saw at Enze Garden, he would have to go to His Majesty and argue with him.
"My lord, if I may be so bold, even if you don't quite like the garden when we get there, please don't cause trouble for His Majesty. Although His Majesty dotes on you, there are still so many other princes watching over you. He can't be too blatant in favoring you, can he? Besides, in my opinion, our Enze Garden is quite nice. It's right next to Changchun Garden, and it's only separated from His Majesty's Qingxi Study by Enyou Temple..."
De Xi was extremely worried about preventing his master from doing anything reckless and tried his best to persuade him to give all the benefits of Enze Garden. He was afraid that if his master didn't like what he saw, he might suddenly decide to cause trouble for His Majesty.
"Alright, I know what you mean. You're just saying that we've already made quite a splash lately, so it's best to keep a low profile from now on. Understand? Even if I'm not satisfied with Enze Garden, I won't go to Khan's place to cause trouble. At most, I'll just swindle him a little more money and renovate it to my liking. You're right about one thing: Enze Garden is indeed in a good location, close to Khan's Qingxi Study. It'll be convenient for us to go there and beg for money in the future."
Well, all that talk just now was for nothing. Dexi felt that His Majesty must have owed his master a great debt in his past life, which is why he was sent here to collect it in this life.
Previously, Emperor Kangxi had always said that Enze Garden was a small garden with a small area, which disappointed Yinzhuo. He thought that the garden was probably not much bigger than Shufeng Pavilion, where he currently lived. However, when he arrived at the site and saw with his own eyes the vast area, the beautiful scenery of lakes and mountains, and the magnificent Chinese garden, Yinzhuo had to admit that he had indeed spoken too loudly. It turned out that he was indeed ignorant. What Emperor Kangxi thought was small and what he thought was small were two completely different things.
“Dexi, I was indeed being petty. You’re right, Father really loves me. Go find someone familiar with the garden and have him show us around. If there’s anything we’re not satisfied with, we can borrow a few people from Father to fix it up for us…”
Well, it's a bit too early to relax. Didn't you just say that His Majesty loves you? But I haven't seen you soften your heart and let him off the hook.
Letting him go is definitely not an option. If Yinzhuo knew what Dexi was thinking at this moment, he would definitely tell Dexi, "I was only doing this for his own good. Was I just trying to take advantage of him? I was clearly giving my father a preventative measure."
Yinzhuo figured that since his father's treasury would eventually be emptied by the officials, why should his own private treasury be so full? He was still Kangxi's son, after all. Rather than facing a mountain of beheadings when debts came later, he'd rather squander his father's treasury now, making anyone who dared to borrow money from him shudder. This way, the treasury would be saved, his fourth brother's reputation would be preserved, and the ministers' heads would be spared—a win-win situation. Yinzhuo felt his act of charity was far superior to those who performed only one good deed a day.
The Sixth Prince, who had just been feeling incredibly proud of himself, quickly became too tired to think about such things. The paternal love his father had given him was simply overwhelming. Led by the garden manager, Yinzhu strolled around for over an hour, only to discover that they hadn't even covered half of the garden.
"Alright, Suhazi, let's call it a day. Go find someone to carry me over. I'm really too tired to walk anymore. This garden that Father gave us is nice, but walking around it is a bit exhausting..."
Before Yinzhu could finish speaking, he felt a slap on the back of his head. Turning around, he saw Yinzhi and Yinzhen standing behind him with dark faces.
"Isn't this what they call 'the drought is killing the drought, and the flood is killing the flood'? If we want a garden, we have to work hard and earn credit to get it. But you, with just your mouth, you got such a nice garden without lifting a finger, and you still have the nerve to complain about this and that. You're a waste of time to walk around, aren't you? If your third brother doesn't mind, why don't you give me this garden?"
Well, I knew it! Who would dare to ambush me from behind? So he's been provoked again. But no matter what Yinzhuo thought, he had already been slapped on the back of the head, and he certainly wouldn't dare to provoke his third brother again.
"Yes, yes, there's a saying, 'What you can't have always stirs your heart, and those who are favored always take it for granted...' "
Already envious, Du Yinzhi thought, "Good heavens, is this a direct attack on me? You're really taking advantage of me!" Soon enough, our Sixth Prince's head was also attacked.