This was Yinzhi’s first time meeting Yintang.
He had been sent away from the palace at a young age and only returned a couple of years ago. After spending just a few days with his mother, he moved into the A’ge Institute. He didn’t care for children, finding those little creatures who cried and fussed all day extremely annoying. Thus, he had never paid attention to his younger brothers and hadn’t bothered to notice the little princes during grand banquets.
Yintang was still wearing his favorite lake-blue robe today. The small black birchwood bow on his back gleamed in the sunlight, making him look like a spirited little leopard cub. When he stepped forward with his chest puffed out, even Kangxi couldn’t help but want to cheer at his energy.
Yinzhi watched as the little figure walked to the shooting position, somewhat clumsily taking down his small bow, nocking an arrow, and assuming the aiming posture—it actually looked quite convincing.
If not for the target standing before him that was even taller than himself, breaking the illusion.
How boring, Yinzhi thought.
If they were testing archery skills, they should do it properly. Placing such a large target right in front—were they afraid the Ninth Prince would cry if he missed?
It seemed this ninth brother was just another spoiled little prince from the deep palace, nothing special, Yinzhi concluded.
Yintang stared at the target ahead, a slight smirk curling one corner of his mouth.
In competitions, there always had to be a last-place finisher to bear the pressure. As long as someone performed worse than himself, even if his own performance fell short of expectations, the disappointment wouldn’t feel so heavy.
Yintang settled his shoulders and rotated his arms, drawing the small bow to its full draw. With a release of two fingers, the little arrow went “whoosh” through the air.
All eyes in the arena focused on that arrow.
Logically speaking, with the target so close and the Ninth Prince’s shooting form quite standard, hitting the bullseye was entirely possible. Kangxi already had words of praise ready on his lips.
However, after flying straight for a short distance, the arrow suddenly veered like a kite with its string cut, “thudding” into the ground right in front of the target.
The crowd: …
Yinti pinched himself hard to keep from bursting into laughter before Kangxi. Shooting this poorly would surely bring tears later—he looked forward to watching the drama unfold.
Both Yinreng and Yinzhi wore expressions of speechless dismay.
Yinzhen cast a comforting look toward Yintang. Although the ninth brother’s archery skills were absurdly poor, his room for improvement could be said to be enormous.
Yinqi widened his eyes, his face full of admiration. With a target so close you could almost touch it by raising your hand, it would be difficult for anyone to perform poorly. Yet the ninth brother had managed it. Truly worthy of being the ninth brother!
Kangxi glanced at Ashumuergen, unable to suppress some schadenfreude. Look at this old fellow about to ruin his reputation—taking on a disciple only to have him make such a spectacle during the first evaluation. Then he felt a moment of pity for the little bun—hopefully he wouldn’t be reduced to tears by the old man’s scolding later.
Yintang scratched his head, flashed a toothy grin, retrieved his bow and returned to the line, appearing as if he’d never been bothered by the incident at all.
Yinreng thought to himself, just as he’d observed before, this little bun was indeed a simpleton—missing the shot yet remaining perfectly cheerful.
“Ashumergan Anda, please evaluate the princes’ performances today,” Kangxi said with mixed emotions. Originally, he should have been the one to provide commentary and deliver some warnings to the Crown Prince and Fourth Brother. But with Little Nine’s disruption, he now wondered how to critique the little fellow without compromising his own dignity or making him shed golden tears.
After much deliberation, he decided to simply toss the hot potato to the old fellow. Let him deal with his own disciple’s headaches.
Ashumuergen complied, offering critiques one by one. His comments were fair and pointed out areas each needed to focus on and improve. The Princes, both older and younger, nodded frequently in agreement.
Finally, he stood before Yintang. Ashumuergen looked at the little bun whose eyes were full of anticipation and said with a smile, “The Ninth Prince’s posture is standard, his strength ample. His bow drawn full like the full moon, his release decisive like a shooting star—he shows great promise in archery.”
Ah, after all, he’s just a three-year-old child. Encouragement should be the priority. Moreover, that earlier stance was quite impressive—no, full of spirit—it’s just that he hasn’t practiced enough. The Emperor is truly unreasonable, testing the Ninth Prince after just one lesson. Ashumuergen thought to himself.
Yintang nodded happily, his little head held high with pride.
Kangxi clenched his fists: Old man, do you even know what you’re saying?! When I missed as a child, you never spoke to me like that!
Yinqi: As expected of my Ninth Brother! He actually earned praise from Ashumuergen Anda, who rarely compliments anyone!
Yinti, Yinreng, Yinzhi: …Your favoritism is a bit too obvious.
Yinzhen also felt Ashumuergen Anda’s words made sense. With more practice, Ninth Brother would surely become skilled at archery.
Yinsi whispered to Yintang, “Ninth Brother, you’re amazing! Even Ashumuergen Anda praised you!”
Yintang modestly replied, “Anda was just encouraging me.”
Kangxi, overhearing their conversation: …
Remembering the differential treatment he received as a child, Kangxi left in a sour mood. Yinti glanced triumphantly at Yinreng, curled his lips, and strutted away arrogantly. Yinzhi, who had been leisurely packing his things since Kangxi left, also departed.
Only Yinreng remained among the elder Princes on the field.
Seeing that it was still early and noticing that Yinzhen, Yinsi, and Yintang were all present today, Yinqi suggested going to play in the imperial garden. It was rare for Han Ama to leave so early, and since there was nothing to do back at Cining Palace anyway, why not go fishing for shrimp in the pond?
However, Yinsi shook his head, his tone firm and without any longing for fishing: “Fifth Brother, I haven’t trained today. I need to go practice now.”
Yinzhen hesitated. He really wanted to go fishing in the pond, but he had performed the worst among the younger Princes today. If he were to go play with Yinqi and Han Ama found out, he would be scolded again. After much thought, he could only regretfully shake his head: “Fifth Brother, I need to go practice too.”
Yinqi looked at Yintang like a drowning man grasping at a straw.
Yintang hadn’t gone fishing with Yinqi in a long time either, and having just witnessed his Fifth Brother being rejected by both Fourth Brother and Eighth Brother, he felt rather sorry for him. However…
He turned to look at Ashumuergen.
Earlier, Ashumuergen had thrown caution to the wind to support him. Although Yintang was a lazybones, he still believed in repaying kindness.
“Fifth Brother, let’s skip it for today. I’ll play with you another time, okay?” Yintang reached out his small hand and actively took Ashumuergen’s large one: “Anda, let’s go train!”
Ashumergan had originally thought that if the little pink dumpling really wanted to play, he might as well let him go. Unexpectedly, Yintang declined Yinqi’s invitation and voluntarily asked to continue training.
After a moment’s reflection, he understood—the Ninth Prince must have felt his performance today was unsatisfactory, bringing shame to his Ashumergan Anda, and wanted to practice hard to excel next time and make up for it.
What a wonderful child! Ashumergan felt his eyes grow moist.
Yinsi and Yintang returned to their small archery range and practiced for a while.
Then Yintang discovered that Yinsi also possessed the qualities of an overachiever.
He had intended to practice for a bit and wait to finish with Yinsi, but as the sun dipped westward and birds returned to their nests, Yinsi showed no sign of leaving.
Yintang quietly asked Yinsi’s Anda, “What time does the Eighth Prince usually finish practicing and return?”
The Anda glanced at the sky, “Probably around lantern-lighting time.”
That meant after sunset.
So competitive, truly too competitive.
Yintang felt some regret. He should have asked this person earlier. Had he known Yinsi was also an overachiever, he would have left sooner instead of waiting. While waiting today, he ended up practicing an extra quarter-hour beyond the planned half-hour—really not worth it.
Go, go, go, go, go. Not being eager to finish class indicates problematic thinking. With his mind on his ant observation box, Yintang bid farewell to Ashumergan and headed toward Yikun Palace with Baofu.
Halfway there, Yintang remembered something, patted his shoulder, and exclaimed, “Oh no!”
Baofu, carrying him, stopped and asked, “Young master, is something wrong?”
Yintang said, “I forgot to bring my little bow back.”
Baofu reassured him, “Young master, don’t worry. The servants there will keep it safe for you. They’ll have it ready when you return in a couple of days.”
Yintang shook his head, “No, if Yin E visits these days, he’ll surely ask me to demonstrate. If he finds out I left his gift outside, he’ll be upset. We should go back and get it.”
So they turned back.
With this delay, the sun had completely set. Palace servants could be seen lighting lanterns along the way, casting faint, dancing shadows through the trees on both sides.
The Forbidden City imposed a curfew at the first watch, so they quickened their pace.
Arriving at the practice field, they encountered Yinsi preparing to leave. Surprised to see Yintang return, Yinsi listened to his explanation and smiled, “Then Ninth Brother should hurry back. Yikun Palace is quite far, and curfew will start soon.”
Yintang slung the little bow over his shoulder, “Eighth Brother, I’m heading back.” As he turned to leave, Yinsi suddenly called him back.
Yinsi summoned an accompanying eunuch, took the lantern he was carrying, and handed it to Yintang with a warm smile, “The night path is difficult to navigate. Ninth Brother, take this lantern. I still have two more here, which is enough for me.”
The candlelight filtered through the silk lantern shade, enveloping Yinsi in a warm glow. His fair, delicate face took on a gentle hue, his features resembling distant mountains reflected in spring water.
His mother, Liangfei, was renowned in the palace as a graceful beauty, and her son had perfectly inherited her genes. This youthful face before him gradually overlapped with the historically influential “Virtuous Prince Yinsi,” causing Yintang to momentarily lose himself in thought.
“Ninth Brother?” Yinsi’s voice brought him back to reality.
Yintang quickly accepted the lantern from Yinsi, passed it to Baofu, then turned back with a sweet smile, “Thank you, Eighth Brother!”
Yinsi nodded. With his gentle disposition and reserved emotions, he didn’t show it outwardly, but deep down he was quite fond of this ninth brother. The little dumpling was pink and chubby, naturally endearing—Fourth Brother and Fifth Brother often spoke of him. Sometimes he even envied Fifth Brother for having such a younger sibling like Ninth Brother.
But now it was perfect: Ninth Brother would be learning archery with him, so he’d get to see him frequently from now on.
When Yintang was returning, he passed by the Archery Hall and saw rows of lanterns already lit at varying heights, illuminating the night as bright as day. Inside, numerous figures were still moving back and forth, as if some princes were still practicing.
Seriously? Even Fourth Brother is grinding this hard? Remembering that Yongzheng was historically notorious for his relentless work ethic, Yintang suddenly found this entirely reasonable.
He took a few steps closer to the Archery Hall to peer inside but didn’t spot Yinzhen in his usual small archery range. Instead, on the opposite side—precisely in the Eldest Princes’ practice ground—a figure in apricot-yellow robes was galloping between straw targets on horseback. The billowing dust kicked up by the hooves startled a flock of crows into flight.
Who else could it be but the Crown Prince?