Rebirth: I'm a Daddy's Darling in the Qing Dynasty

Chapter 24: Remembering the past, yet moving forward with great strides.

“Father, how can you do this? Aren’t you just fooling people? If the ministers find out that this ‘Fu’ character was written by their son, they’ll be heartbroken and won’t be able to celebrate the New Year properly. Besides, you are the Emperor of the Great Qing Dynasty. What kind of nonsense is it for your son to practice your calligraphy every day…”

That's right, Yinzhuo was once again dragged to the Qianqing Palace by Kangxi to work as a laborer. From the time he started learning calligraphy, it can be said that Kangxi taught him by hand. So, it's inevitable that his calligraphy bears some resemblance to Kangxi's. One year, during the New Year, Kangxi wrote the character "福" (fortune) to bestow blessings upon his ministers. Yinzhuo, who found it interesting, picked up a brush and copied a few characters from Kangxi's writing. Unexpectedly, Kangxi thought his calligraphy was quite good and casually assigned the task to him. What's even more unexpected is that when the calligraphy was bestowed, no one noticed that it was different from the previous ones. So, for the next two years, Yinzhuo was miserable. Every New Year, Kangxi would send people to drag him over to work as free laborers.

"Stop talking nonsense. I'll tell you to write, so just write. I'm not afraid, so why are you?"

Upon hearing this, Yinzhuo, who had been slapped on the back instead of complaining, couldn't help but purse his lips. "Nonsense, you're certainly not afraid, but I am. You know, the imperial family is the most ruthless. Although he only has this one 'Fu' character that resembles Kangxi's handwriting, what kind of past record does he have? If anything happens in this area in the future, he will be the first suspect."

But what could he do about his dissatisfaction? He had no choice but to bow his head under the eaves, so as Yinzhuo wrote furiously, he cursed Kangxi in his heart countless times.

Fortunately, although the world is vast and the court is full of officials, there are not many people who are qualified to receive the "Fu" character written by Emperor Kangxi himself. Yinzhuo would spend an hour every day in the Qianqing Palace and finish his work on the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month.

On New Year's Eve, Emperor Kangxi put down his pen, and the princes, including Yinzhuo, who were still studying in the Imperial Study, finally got a rare holiday.

It was rare for Yinzhuo not to have to get up early one day a year. The night before, he had specifically told Dexi not to wake him the next day. He slept until almost noon before waking up. Even after waking up, he stayed in bed and didn't move. It wasn't until mid-afternoon that Dexi pulled him out of bed. After carefully tidying him up and using some simple things, he slowly led Dexi to the Qianqing Palace.

On New Year's Eve, Emperor Kangxi would hold a family banquet in the Qianqing Palace. In addition to the princes, some members of the imperial family would also attend. When Yinzhuo first arrived at the Qianqing Palace, he really looked forward to the New Year's Eve family banquet. However, after attending it once, he started to dread it every year at this time. In his words, this banquet was only high-class and offered some rewards. There was nothing else to it. Not only was the food and entertainment bad, but he also had to keep his mind on high alert at all times, reminding himself to pay attention to the rules and etiquette and not to behave improperly in front of the emperor. It was simply torture.

"Sixth brother, you've arrived. It's still early before the palace banquet starts, so come and see what your fifth brother brought you."

As soon as Yinzhu arrived at the Qianqing Palace and found his seat according to the seating arrangement, the Fifth Prince Yinqi, who was sitting in front of him, turned around and mysteriously handed him a purse, gesturing for him to open it and take a look.

"Fifth Brother, you're always the best to me. You always think of your younger brother when you have something good..."

The purse felt heavy in his hand, and the contents were hard little pieces. At first, Yinzhuo thought it contained some snacks to pass the time and didn't pay much attention. But when he casually picked up a plate from the table and opened the purse to empty its contents, he was immediately dazzled by the bag full of glittering gold.

"Fifth Brother, are you giving all of these to me?"

As a prince favored by Emperor Kangxi, Yinzhuo was not lacking in these things in his daily life, but as the saying goes, who doesn't love gold? He planned to be a playboy and spendthrift in the future, so the more gold and silver he had, the better.

"Yes, this is for you. It's a new design from the Imperial Household Department this year. I just sent it to Grandma Empress this morning. She gave me quite a few, and I thought it looked new, so I brought some for you."

Emperor Kangxi valued filial piety above all else. After the death of the Empress Dowager, as the only elder in the palace, any good things would naturally be sent to her first. As the prince who was raised by the Empress Dowager's side, Yinqi was the most favored by her, so these things were naturally not lacking to him as well.

"Thank you, Fifth Brother, I really like these things..."

The two brothers were huddled together examining the design on the gold nugget in their hands when Emperor Kangxi arrived. Everyone saw him and quickly stood up to pay their respects.

"No need to pay tribute."

Kangxi walked to the head seat and sat down. He raised his hand to call for people to rise, glanced around at the princes below, and was about to instruct the palace servants beside him to prepare for the banquet when his gaze swept over Yinzhuo and he noticed what looked like a plate of golden things on the table in front of him. He couldn't help but pause.

"Yinzuo, where did this gold nugget come from?"

If Kangxi hadn't mentioned it, honestly no one would have noticed what was extra on Yinzhuo's table. But as soon as he said that, everyone's eyes immediately turned to Yinzhuo. Despite being stared at like that, Yinzhuo wasn't flustered at all. What was there to be afraid of? He hadn't stolen or robbed it.

"Replying to Father Khan, this was just given to me by my fifth brother. Today, the Empress Dowager bestowed some gold coins upon him, and my fifth brother thought the design was novel, so he gave some to me."

Emperor Kangxi had only asked casually, and upon hearing this, he simply nodded indifferently and turned to instruct the palace servants beside him to begin the banquet.

After the banquet began, Kangxi, as was customary, first said a few words, nothing more than reminiscing about the past and looking forward to the future. Then the Crown Prince, as the heir apparent, stood up, raised his wine cup, and toasted Kangxi. Next came the eldest brother, Yinqi. The rest of the ceremony was simple; everyone just lined up according to their rank.

"Happy Chinese New Year, Father! Your son wishes you a blessed new year filled with happiness, longevity, good health, and all the best. May you be in excellent physical condition and have a great appetite..."

You should know that paying New Year's respects to Emperor Kangxi is no easy task. This is the moment that Yinzhuo looks forward to most every year at the palace banquet. If the old man is happy, there will definitely be plenty of rewards. At this moment, Yinzhuo can almost see money beckoning to him.

Sure enough, amidst the other princes' solemn congratulatory speeches, his unconventional act caught Kangxi's attention.

"You're in great health and have a good appetite. It seems you've revealed your birthday wish for this year ahead of time. But I think this blessing is quite good. Liang Jiugong, can't you see how eagerly people are waiting for it? Why don't you show it to your Sixth Prince?"

Having received the reward, Yinzhuo paid no attention to Kangxi's teasing. With a smile in his eyes, he accepted the small plate that Liang Jiugong brought over and bowed to Kangxi to express his gratitude.

"Your son, Yinzuo, thanks his father, the Khan, for the reward."

Yinzhuo was in a good mood until the end of the banquet. As was customary, after the palace banquet, the princes would go to their respective mothers' palaces to keep vigil for the New Year. So, as soon as Kangxi left after the banquet, Yinzhuo got up and went to find Yinzhen.

"Fourth Brother, let me accompany you to Chengqian Palace for a stroll, and then we'll go to Mother's place together."

For most people, this New Year was no different from any other year, but for Yinzhen, it was a completely different story. In previous years, after the palace banquet, he would go to Chengqian Palace to spend the New Year with the Empress. But this year, the Empress was not there. Yinzuo knew that Yinzhen actually preferred to visit Chengqian Palace rather than Yonghe Palace, so he took the initiative to suggest it.

"it is good."

From the outside, Chengqian Palace seems no different from before, but once inside, Yinzhen felt it was unusually desolate. Some of the palace servants who used to serve here had gone to the imperial mausoleum to guard the empress's tomb, while others had gone to serve in the Southern Three Palaces according to the empress's last wishes. Now, only a few eunuchs were left to sweep and tidy up the place. At this moment, the eunuchs were sitting around the side hall entrance warming themselves by the fire. When they saw Yinzhen and Yinzuo enter, they hurriedly got up and came over to greet them.

"Get up, you all go about your business. Fourth Brother and I just came to take a look and will leave in a little while."

The two brothers did not stay there for long. They only visited the main hall where the Empress had lived before leaving. After exiting the Chengqian Palace, Yinzhuo glanced at Yinzhen, who was looking downcast, and patted him on the shoulder.

"Fourth Brother, we may reminisce about the past, but we also need to look forward. Let's go, Mother is waiting for us."