Yin You spent the night in a daze, dreaming of a hazy shadow that bounced and hopped beside him.
Yin You curiously examined the shadow: “Who are you?”
The shadow said, “I am the Sword Spirit of the Seven Stars.”
Yin You frowned, “Who are the Seven Stars?”
“The Seven Stars are the sword you touched.”
“Then what is a Sword Spirit?”
“…”
This question seemed too difficult to explain to a two-year-old child, so the other party avoided the topic: “You are the Golden Virtue Star Lord of the heavens, the God of War who governs weapons and warfare, possessing immense strength and unmatched bravery.”
Yin You blinked his big eyes: “I don’t understand.”
“…”
“The Seven Stars are your sword, and you are my master.”
Yin You reached out his finger to touch the shimmering light, “Can you play with me from now on?”
“I am merely a spiritual entity formed from the sword aura of the Seven-Star Sword, without a physical form, but I will always follow you and protect you when you are in danger.”
Yin You frowned skeptically, “But ever since you appeared, I’ve been sick.”
Sword Spirit: “Don’t worry, with me by your side from now on, you won’t get sick anymore.”
Early the next morning, Yin You woke up in Chengqiangong, his fever having already subsided.
The Imperial Noble Consort had stayed by his bedside all night without even undressing, and she finally breathed a sigh of relief when she saw his fever break.
Raising a child was like taming an eagle—except it was the child tiring her out.
At that moment, a palace maid from the outer chamber brought hot water for Yin You to bathe and change clothes.
Yin You rubbed his eyes, recalling last night’s dream, but his memory was hazy. He only vaguely remembered a shadow telling him that he was a celestial being with immense strength.
The little one was overjoyed and told Li Xi about it while bathing. Hearing talk of celestial beings and immense strength, Li Xi dismissed it as childish chatter and coaxed him, saying, “Then from now on, the Seventh Prince will be the Baturu of the Great Qing.”
Upon hearing the words “Baturu,” he excitedly jumped up and down in the bathtub: “I am the Baturu of the Great Qing! I will protect E’nang and Nanny Ukuma, and also protect Nanny Su and Aunt Xi!”
After finishing the morning court session, Kangxi’s first task was to visit Yin You in Chengqiangong. As soon as he entered the bedchamber, he heard his son’s bold declaration.
Well, this time he didn’t even rank above the palace maids—he had completely lost his place in his son’s heart.
So, he pretended to be serious and asked, “Great Qing’s Baturu, why won’t you protect Ama?”
Yin You turned around, saw Ama, and happily smiled: “Ama is also a Baturu, and together with Xiao Qi, we will protect E’nang and Nanny Ukuma.”
Kangxi was thoroughly amused by his son’s response, and the Imperial Noble Consort behind him silently gave her son a thumbs-up in her heart.
From that day on, “Baturu” replaced the “immensely strong celestial being” as the label Yin You gave himself in his heart.
Since the imperial physician diagnosed Yin You with a cold and the Imperial Noble Consort noticed some redness and swelling in his throat, she kept him in Chengqiangong for a few more days to avoid infecting the Grand Empress Dowager.
Yin You was still happy to spend every day with his mother and brother, but his mother’s demands were too strict—she wouldn’t allow his brother to kiss or hug him, nor could they play with toys together.
Kangxi had thought that after falling ill that day, Yin You would no longer insist on attending school with Yinzhen. Little did he expect that just two days later, he would see the boy again in the imperial study.
Over the course of several days, Kangxi noticed an interesting phenomenon.
Although Yin You was still too young to understand what he was saying, the child firmly kept the promise he had made on the first day—to behave well, without fuss or noise.
Even more remarkably, with Yin You by his side, Yinzhen was able to concentrate better and study more efficiently.
On this day, Kangxi went to the South Study to discuss matters with his ministers, assigning Yinzhen homework to practice calligraphy in the Hongde Hall.
When Yin You followed his brother out of the study, they happened to encounter a group of ministers waiting outside. Upon seeing the two brothers, the ministers all looked up to observe them, and their gazes unanimously settled on the younger one.
Mingzhu thought to himself, “When the First Prince was this age, he was much taller and stronger than this child.”
Songgotu thought, “Clumsy and foolish, he can barely walk steadily. Compared to the Crown Prince, he falls far short.”
Only Tong Guowei, seeing his own family’s child, found him utterly adorable and well-behaved. He could hardly resist waving his hand, wanting to call the child over for Guoluomafa to hold.
However, what these esteemed gentlemen did not know was that in the eyes of the young Seventh Prince, the three of them were no different—they were all strange old men.
Yinzhen was focused on practicing calligraphy in a side hall of the Hongde Hall, while Yin You, unable to sit still, soon crawled over the threshold on hands and knees and made his way outside.
First, he stood on tiptoe to look at the fish kept in the Taiping vat, but being too small to see, he gave up. Then, he crouched by the wall to admire the flowers and plants in Han Ama’s palace. Faintly, he heard voices speaking on the other side of the wall.
The voice did not sound friendly; in fact, it seemed a bit harsh.
Frowning, Yin You passed through an arched gate and walked along the base of the wall for a while before seeing the speaker—a guard who was reprimanding a young eunuch.
The guard spoke in an unfriendly tone, “The Emperor spared you out of his benevolence. If anything were to happen to the Seventh Prince, let’s see if your head would remain on your shoulders!”
This young eunuch was the one Liang Jiugong had assigned to watch over Yin You while he slept a few days earlier. The person reprimanding him was Tong Guowei’s third son, the Imperial Noble Consort’s younger brother, and an imperial guard—Longkodo.
Regarding the incident where Yin You had fainted from a high fever, Kangxi had originally intended to punish the palace maids and eunuchs involved, especially this one.
However, the Imperial Noble Consort saw that the young man was not inherently bad—he was an honest and sincere child who had not acted intentionally. Moreover, as this child was Liang Jiugong’s apprentice and Liang was a favorite of Kangxi, he naturally pleaded for leniency on his behalf.
Once Kangxi’s anger subsided and the child recovered, the matter was not pursued further. The eunuchs on duty that day were only lightly punished as a warning.
But Longkodo could not swallow his anger. The Seventh Prince was his sister’s only child, and the future honor and prosperity of the entire Tong family, with its dozens of members, rested solely on the Seventh Prince. Even if he lost a single strand of hair, the Tong family would be more anxious than the Emperor himself.
If the negligent eunuch had delayed any longer that day, and the Seventh Prince had lain on the ground with a raging fever… Just the thought of it filled Longkodo with lingering fear.
“Se… Seventh Prince.”
When the young eunuch looked up and saw Yin You standing behind Longkodo, he was so frightened that his voice trembled.
“You dare mention the Seventh Prince…” Before he could finish his sentence, Longkodo suddenly realized something and turned around to see a little toddler not far away, frowning as he stared at him.
Yin You was displeased. He rarely felt this way, because whether in Cining Palace or Chengqangong, everyone around him was gentle and kind. No one had ever spoken to him so harshly.
He remembered that his brother had once asked E’nang about this, but E’nang had only said that if it was an unintentional mistake and hadn’t caused serious consequences, appropriate punishment was enough. But using it as an excuse to vent one’s anger on others was unnecessary.
Truthfully, Yin You didn’t fully understand E’nang’s meaning, but he believed she was right!
Seeing no one else around, Longkodo walked over to Yin You, crouched down to look at the little one, and replaced his fierce expression with a flattering smile: “Come on, call me uncle.”
Yin You took a step back, bit his lower lip, and said, “My Ama and E’nang have already forgiven him. You can’t be mean to him.”
Longkodo continued in a teasing tone: “He made you seriously ill. I’m just standing up for you.”
The young eunuch immediately knelt before Yin You: “This servant has already realized his mistake.”
Yin You said, “Get up. I don’t blame you either.”
The young eunuch was only fourteen or fifteen years old. Liang Jiugong had taken him as a disciple and kept him in the Qianqing Palace to handle miscellaneous tasks because he found the boy’s appearance pleasing, his work efficient, and, most importantly, he was quiet and sincere.
Longkodo couldn’t resist reaching out to pinch Yin You’s cheek: “Being so kind will get you bullied in the future, but the entire Tong family will stand by you.”
Yin You took half a step back to avoid his hand: “I won’t call you uncle.”
“I’m your E’nang’s younger brother. I am your uncle.”
“Hmph…” Yin You pouted, “I don’t like you. I like Rongruo and Ziqing.”
As soon as Yin You said this, two soft chuckles came from behind the arched gate, and two men dressed as guards stepped out from behind it.
Both stood tall and straight, with handsome features. Even though they wore the same guard uniforms as Longkodo, their demeanor was entirely different.
One stood with his hands behind his back, his eyes carrying a certain charm, exuding an air of carefree ease. This was Cao Yin, Cao Ziqing, whom Yin You had mentioned.
Standing beside him was another man, who also wore a faint smile but carried an unshakeable melancholy between his brows, giving him a somewhat somber air.
This was Nalan Chengde, the son of Mingzhu’s family.
When it came to interacting with people, the little one relied first on instinct and second on judging by appearance.
Yin You turned and saw the two of them. His previously furrowed little face, which had looked like a wrinkled bun, immediately broke into a wide smile. He spun around and dashed toward them.
He was too small, with short legs, and even walking was unsteady for him. Running made him sway left and right, like a little penguin losing its balance, stumbling until he threw himself against Rongruo’s leg.
Rongruo looked down at him, a faint smile unconsciously curling at the corner of his mouth.
Yin You also tilted his head up to look at him, his eyes sparkling with expectation, as if his little face were practically spelling out five big words—”Pick me up, please.”
Rongruo clearly didn’t grasp his intention, still wondering what he was trying to do.
But the little one, not getting the response he wanted, wasn’t having it. He clung to Rongruo’s leg, his small body leaning softly against it: “Oh, I can’t walk anymore. I’m going to fall.”
Cao Yin, standing nearby, was utterly charmed by him and quickly nudged the person beside him with his elbow. “What are you standing there for? Hurry up and give him a hug.”
Seeing such an adorable little bundle, Rongruo felt the gloom that had been weighing on his heart suddenly dissipate quite a bit.
A cheerful smile finally spread across his face as he bent down and scooped the child up in his arms. “Let’s get this straight first—you can’t let your Ama know about this.”
Yin You loved beautiful people, and he especially loved being held by them. Wrapping his little arms around the other’s neck, he giggled happily. “Mm-hmm, I won’t tell Ama.”
“Hmph!” Just then, Longkodo also walked over but kept a certain distance from the two.
The Emperor was his cousin, and the Imperial Noble Consort was his own elder sister. No matter how you looked at it, his little nephew should have been closer to him.
Yet, for some inexplicable reason, the little fellow clearly preferred Cao Yin and Nalan.
But after all, the child was his sister’s. Even if Yin You didn’t want to be close to him now, he would naturally understand the goodness of his own uncle when he grew up.
Those two were members of the Luan Yi Guard by the Emperor’s side, while he was merely a third-rank guard. Even as the Emperor’s maternal uncle, what could he do? He could only turn away resentfully.
Cao Yin couldn’t help but reach out a finger to poke Yin You’s cheek—so tender and soft, like carved jade and molded powder, utterly endearing.
He said to the person beside him, “Since he likes you so much, shouldn’t the great talent show some appreciation too?”
Rongruo chuckled. “You’re not so bad yourself.” Then he looked down at Yin You in his arms. “Seventh Prince, how about I teach you to read and write in the future?”
“No!” Yin You clenched his little fist. “I don’t want to read or write. I want to be a Baturu!”