Once she knew Yinzhen was willing to help her correspond with her family, Li Wanran spent the evening writing a thick letter to give to him. In the letter, she didn’t say much of consequence, mostly just rambling about her daily life in the prince’s residence. She also told them she was doing very well and that the Fourth Prince treated her kindly, urging them not to worry.
The entire letter followed the principle of reporting joy but not sorrow. The current Li Wanran was no longer the little girl who would cry and act spoiled toward her mother over a scraped knee. Regarding her previous ankle sprain, she didn’t mention a single word.
Thinking of this, she picked up her brush again, took out a fresh sheet of paper, and gloomily told her mother that the neighbor girl’s words weren’t entirely trustworthy and should be taken with a grain of salt.
Knowing that Yinzhen would surely check the contents of the letter, Li Wanran specifically wrote a few lines at the end about how she was already deeply in love with the Fourth Prince and could no longer bear to be without him. The image of a young girl lost in love leapt off the page.
Looking at the finished letter, Li Wanran arched her eyebrows triumphantly and blew on the paper to help the ink dry faster. It was a pity she wouldn’t see Yinzhen’s expression when he read the final part; Li Wanran shook her head with regret.
A few days later, at the Drill Grounds.
After finishing his morning studies of poetry and history, Yinzhen came to the drill grounds to practice horsemanship and archery. This had always been his weak point; sometimes, he was even inferior to his younger brothers. It was a reality he found difficult to accept.
Yinzhen drew his bow with both hands, his aura sharp as he let an arrow fly. Seeing the less-than-ideal result, his phoenix eyes narrowed slightly. He rubbed the bow’s riser, intending to start over.
Just as he notched another arrow, a familiar voice came from behind him, its tone as gentle as ever. “Fourth Brother.”
Turning around, he saw the Eighth Prince, Yinsi, standing behind him in a deep green robe. He was looking at him with a smile, appearing every bit the gentle, polite, and upright gentleman. The coldness around Yinzhen dissipated significantly, and his expression softened. He casually tossed the bow and arrow to a small eunuch waiting nearby.
He strode toward Yinsi. “When did you arrive?”
Yinsi rubbed his head and said warmly, “I came with the Ninth and Tenth brothers this morning. I got tired from practicing and went to the side hall to rest. Once I felt refreshed, I came out first.”
At these words, the smile on Yinzhen’s face faded quite a bit. The hand behind his back rubbed his fingers together a few times. He then nodded casually to show he understood and shifted the topic. “By the way, how has your calligraphy practice been these last few days?”
Seeing Yinzhen’s poor expression, Yinsi knew he wasn’t happy to hear about the Ninth Prince. He was about to say something to change the subject, but was caught off guard by Yinzhen bringing up his calligraphy. While he wanted to change the subject, he didn’t want it to be this subject. For a moment, he couldn’t think of anything else, and a pained expression crossed his face.
He simply couldn’t stand the words “practicing calligraphy.” He truly didn’t understand why the Imperial Father insisted he practice until he was perfect; shouldn’t it be enough as long as the handwriting was neat and legible? Much like the Fourth Brother was not gifted in martial arts, he truly had no talent for calligraphy. From the time he began his education until now, his writing could only be described as “passable,” and nothing more. The Imperial Father had scolded him several times for it, but it was of no use; he remained exactly as he was. Later, the Emperor simply assigned the Fourth Brother to mentor him, hoping a top student could motivate a struggling one.
But… the results still showed no improvement.
“Fourth Brother, you know me best. Let’s not mention practicing calligraphy,” Yinsi said. At this point, he didn’t look like much of a gentleman; he just wanted Yinzhen to stop harping on the matter.
“You…” Looking at him, Yinzhen knew he had been lazy again.
Yinzhen pursed his lips and was about to offer some advice when a crisp voice rang out from the distance. “Old Fourth, if you have the spare time, you should spend it practicing your own horsemanship and archery before worrying about others.”
The Ninth Prince (Yintang) and Tenth Prince (Yin’e) were walking over from the entrance of the side hall. Yintang’s beautiful peach-blossom eyes were filled with mockery. “We Manchus won the world on horseback, yet your skills in archery and riding are even worse than Eighth Brother’s calligraphy. It’s embarrassing to the Aisin Gioro name.”
The atmosphere instantly turned icy following Yintang’s words. The eunuchs serving behind the princes all lowered their heads sharply, wishing they could become blind and deaf.
“Fourth Brother, you know Ninth Brother’s temperament. He’s just a bit blunt, but he certainly means nothing by it.” The veins on Yinsi’s forehead throbbed. He reached out and pulled Yintang behind him. Seeing that Yintang still looked defiant, Yinsi shot him a warning glance, signaling him to shut up. Are you just dying for Fourth Brother to hit you?
Though Yintang still wanted to say something, he gave Yinsi face and remained silent, standing indignantly behind him. Beside them, Yin’e stepped in front of Yintang, helping to smooth things over with a guileless expression, telling Yinzhen not to take it to heart.
Standing alone opposite them, Yinzhen took a deep breath as he looked at the three of them. For a fleeting second, they almost looked like brothers born of the same mother. He then gave Yinsi a long look before averting his gaze and sneering, “As for my skills in archery and riding, I won’t trouble the Ninth Brother to worry about them. However, as for the Eighth Brother’s calligraphy, it was the Imperial Father who ordered me to teach him.”
His cold gaze landed directly on Yintang and Yin’e. “If the Ninth Brother has any dissatisfaction with this, why don’t you go directly to the Imperial Father and speak with him?”
Even though they were standing in the sunlight, Yintang and Yin’e felt as if a cold wind had blown over them. Yinsi opened his mouth, wanting to say something to de-escalate; to him, both sides were close brothers, and the situation was truly difficult. However, Yinzhen didn’t give him the chance. After speaking, he left the drill grounds without looking back. Even though Yinsi called out “Fourth Brother” several times behind him, Yinzhen never turned.
“Why did he suddenly act like that?” Yinsi blinked, feeling a bit dazed. He and the Fourth Brother had lived together in Empress Xiaoyi’s palace when they were children, and their relationship had naturally been very close. Because of his mother’s lower status, his life in the back palace hadn’t been easy, and it was always the Fourth Brother who stayed by his side to help him.
As they grew up, he had become closer to the Ninth and Tenth brothers, doing almost everything together. Due to a grudge held since childhood, every time the Ninth Brother saw the Fourth Brother, it was like lighting a firecracker. Gradually, the number of times he and the Fourth Brother met alone dwindled.
While he was lost in his memories, Yintang and Yin’e began bickering. With Yinzhen gone, Yin’e breathed a sigh of relief. He had truly been afraid that the Fourth Brother would lose his temper on the spot and get into a fight with the Ninth Brother. Though unlikely, the Ninth Brother’s tongue was simply too irritating.
Actually, Yin’e didn’t have much against the Fourth Brother, but since he was closest to the Ninth Brother, he didn’t usually associate with Yinzhen. He glared at Yintang with annoyance. “Ninth Brother, why do you always act like a porcupine when you see the Fourth Brother? Do you just feel uncomfortable if you don’t sting him a few times?”
He paused, then added helplessly, “Are you still nursing a grudge because he cut your braid when you were little?”
“Whose side are you on? Everything I said was the truth! And it wasn’t your braid that got cut—I’m never finishing with him in this lifetime!” Yintang hopped with rage at the comment.
Having been snapped at, Yin’e rubbed his nose and muttered resentfully, “If you hadn’t been such a troublemaker yourself, taking scissors and cutting the hair off someone’s pet dog for no reason…”
“It wasn’t—” Yintang’s eyes widened as he prepared to argue with Yin’e.
Yinsi, who had developed a headache listening to them, rubbed his temples. The matter of Yinzhen was pushed to the back of his mind once again as he helplessly stepped forward to act as the fire brigade captain. “Alright, alright, stop arguing you two. I’ve just acquired a new novelty; come to my place and have a look at it.”
In the Hall of Supreme Harmony, Kangxi listened to the report of what happened at the drill grounds but said nothing. It was normal for brothers to squabble; they would reconcile soon after.
He was more concerned about other matters. Putting down his vermilion brush, he frowned and said, “Old Fourth’s archery and Old Eighth’s calligraphy are both in a sorry state.” One of these days, he would have to carefully select a master from among the officials to fix their shortcomings.
Thinking of this, Kangxi’s thoughts turned to the Crown Prince, whom he had raised personally. Without waiting for a response from the eunuchs nearby, he smiled and said, “Baocheng, on the other hand, is excellent in every way. One day, I should have him teach those youngsters so they can learn properly from him.”
The head eunuch finally found an opportunity to speak, nodding repeatedly with a flattering smile. “The Crown Prince is exceptionally brilliant, and since he was taught personally by Your Majesty, of course he is excellent in every way.” This flattery hit Kangxi just right, making him visibly more cheerful.
He then remembered the memorial from the Imperial Household Department regarding the distribution of mansions. After thinking for a moment, he said, “The mansions built by the Imperial Household Department are nearly finished. Go and summon the Fourth, Fifth, and Eighth Princes, and let them choose where they want to live. There is plenty of time now; once they’ve chosen, any changes they want can still be made.”
The head eunuch quickly bowed. “This servant will go at once.”
In the Palace of Eternal Longevity, Consort De was unaware of the happenings at the Hall of Supreme Harmony. She was sitting on the couch in the side room complaining to Nanny Li.
“How did Old Fourth get into an argument with Old Ninth again? No matter how you look at it, he is the older brother. If the Emperor finds out, what if he gets angry and blames me?”
Nanny Li poured a cup of clear tea and handed it to her to cool her temper, comforting her: “Your Ladyship worries too much. It’s common for brothers to even get into physical fights; the Emperor won’t take it out on you for this.”
Consort De felt there was some logic to that, but the irritation in her heart remained bottled up, refusing to dissipate. When she heard the report, she immediately remembered how, years ago, Yinzhen had cut Old Ninth’s braid over a mangy dog. Not only was he scolded by the Emperor for being temperamental, but she also had to take a pile of gifts and apologize humbly to Consort Yi in the Palace of Earthly Honor, losing a great deal of face in the back palace.
The more Consort De thought about it, the more she felt that the Fourth Prince was her karmic debt from a past life. She irritably placed the tea on the small table and turned her head toward Yinti (the 14th Prince), who was unusually well-behaved and hadn’t run off to play, but was instead crouching nearby teasing a cat. Her frustrated mood instantly smoothed out.
She warned him in a soft voice, “You mustn’t learn from your Fourth Brother in the future, do you understand? Acting so recklessly over an animal—what kind of behavior is that?”
Yinti didn’t speak but nodded perfunctorily, his hands never stopping as he smoothed the fur of the cat lying on his lap. He looked down at the “Great General” on his lap—a cat with pure white fur and crystal-clear eyes like glass, looking at him adorably. For once, he felt a rare sense of empathy for the actions of his older brother, whom he usually didn’t get along with.
If anyone dared to cut the hair of his Great General, he certainly wouldn’t let that fellow off either!
In the evening, as the sun set, the sunset clouds in the sky were brilliant to the extreme. Li Wanran was standing beside Yinzhen with great interest, looking at the layout of the mansion where they would live in the future. The Imperial Household Department was quite fast; Yinzhen had only mentioned this to her a few days ago, and today they were picking which mansion to live in.
“Have you been out of the palace to see what it looks like?” Li Wanran tilted her head curiously. You couldn’t really tell the specifics just by looking at the drawings.
Yinzhen shot her a side glance and said, “Naturally.” After they had each made their selections at the Hall of Supreme Harmony, he had gone out of the palace with the Fifth Prince and the others to see their respective future manors.
“It’s a bit small.” Yinzhen pointed at the location of the kitchen and the stables, deep in thought. “This area is too narrow; there isn’t even a place to store fodder and stalks.” With that, he picked up a brush and circled the two areas so the Imperial Household Department would know exactly what to change later.
Li Wanran leaned over to look at the two circled spots. She couldn’t see how they were narrow; they were far larger than the place she currently lived. Suddenly, Yinzhen’s finger pointed at a certain courtyard, signaling her to look. “Take a look at this. Is there anything that needs changing?”
Li Wanran’s mouth hung open slightly in surprise as she pointed at herself. Seeing Yinzhen’s “is there a problem?” expression, she put on an act of polite refusal. “I am just a mistress; it wouldn’t be very appropriate, would it?”
“This is the place where you will live in the future. What’s inappropriate about it?” Yinzhen said dismissively.
The place I’ll live in the future? Li Wanran’s eyes instantly lit up. Since this concerned the comfort of her future life, she stopped saying things about being “inappropriate.” Her eyes darted around the drawing, examining it meticulously to see if any area felt wrong.
Joking aside, if she didn’t voice her opinions now, once they moved in, she would have to bottle up any dissatisfaction. However, she didn’t say anything about the courtyard being too small or needing an extension—she couldn’t bring herself to say that. The courtyard looked several times larger than her current one.
Li Wanran pressed close to Yinzhen and said excitedly, “I want to put a grape trellis next to this pond. That way, when autumn comes, we can make our own wine.”
“Next to the grape trellis, we need a swing. Then, we should create flower beds on both sides of the courtyard corridors. That way, we can not only sit on the swing and admire the flowers, but also use them to make all kinds of flower cakes.”
“And the pond! We should scatter lotus seeds in the pond. When summer comes, we can sit under the grape trellis to stay cool and enjoy the lotuses, and we can even pick lotus seeds to eat.”
Yinzhen watched with a smile as she animatedly described their future life. His hands never stopped moving; for every thing Li Wanran mentioned, he added a mark to the drawing. Through her sparkling eyes, Yinzhen felt as if he could truly see such a beautiful life. In every part of the future she looked forward to, he was there—and not just as an extra presence.
The setting sun reflected through the window, casting golden light over Li Wanran. To the eye, it looked as if she were glowing. From the enamel crown-eared incense burner at the corner of the desk, a wisp of sandalwood smoke rose, its elegant fragrance filling the air.
Yinzhen’s heart felt warm. If things could truly be as she said for the rest of his life, it would be for the best. What he had once sought seemed to have truly come to his side, he thought.