Before the lotus flowers bloomed fully in the pond before Chengrui Pavilion in the Imperial Garden, Yintang’s long-prepared toy room was finally about to open.
Thanks to the previous instant success of the ant exhibition and the gossip about the Ninth Prince being spanked by the Emperor, news of the toy room had already spread throughout the Eastern and Western Six Palaces of the Forbidden City months ago. Currently, reservation requests from various palaces were scheduled from summer through autumn.
Even the Grand Empress Dowager and Empress Dowager in Cining Palace had heard about it.
As for Kangxi, it went without saying—he occasionally took away a few small toys under the pretext of inspecting the toy room’s construction progress, claiming he was bringing them to his younger siblings.
But last time Yintang followed his fifth brother to Qianqing Palace, he clearly saw several small trinkets on the antique shelf that were exactly the toys he had painstakingly made!
Hmph!
But since it was about to open, it needed to look the part.
Ancient times couldn’t compare to modern days with developed social media, and there was no official announcement method. They certainly couldn’t have Baofu and Lian Zhu standing at the entrance of Yikun Palace shouting “The Ninth Prince’s toy room is open!”—they’d probably be dragged away by guards within a quarter of an hour.
After much thought, Yintang came up with an idea.
Today also required archery practice.
When Yintang arrived, Yinsi had already taken a leisurely ride on his horse.
Nowadays, his horsemanship had become increasingly proficient—whether galloping or jumping over low obstacles, he could control everything with ease.
Seeing Baofu carrying Yintang over, Yinsi quickly rode up to meet them. As usual, he reached out toward Yintang.
Yintang, envious of his horseback riding, had begged A Shumergen Anda several times to assign him a small pony to play with, but was unsurprisingly rejected every time.
Looking at the small bundle held in Baofu’s arms, Yinsi thought A Shumergen Anda had made the right decision.
It was too dangerous for his ninth brother to ride alone—it was much safer for him to satisfy Yintang’s craving by riding with him.
Therefore, it had become an unspoken agreement between them for Yinsi to carry the little one on horseback from the outskirts of the archery range to the training grounds.
Seeing Yinsi approach, Yintang happily called out “Eighth Brother” and patted Baofu’s shoulder, signaling him to lift him onto Yinsi’s horse.
Once mounted, Yintang remembered something and waved for the little eunuch following Baofu to come forward. He pulled one sheet from the thick stack of papers the eunuch was holding.
Yinsi glanced down and saw colorful little objects drawn on it.
Though curious, since Yintang didn’t mention it, he didn’t ask. But while riding, he couldn’t help stealing occasional glances.
When they reached the small archery range, Yinsi dismounted first, holding the reins with one hand while supporting Yintang on the horse with the other.
“Eighth Brother, look at this!” Yintang waved the paper in his hand, making rustling sounds: “My toy room is opening! Please visit often!”
This was the brilliant idea he had come up with.
Distributing flyers.
Flyers were both clear at a glance and easy to disseminate. With the princes from both large and small archery ranges spreading the word, he believed his little flyers would cover every palace in the Forbidden City by tomorrow.
Moreover, he had another small motive.
Yinsi would be moving into the A’ge Institute in a few months, meaning they would no longer train together and would see each other less frequently. With the toy room, he would have another opportunity to see Yinsi.
As they spoke, Baofu, who had been trotting along behind them, finally caught up breathlessly and lifted Yintang down.
Only then did Yinsi lower his head to carefully examine the paper.
It turned out to be a promotional flyer depicting various small objects—round, square, tall, and flat. Though somewhat abstract in style, their shapes were still vaguely distinguishable.
Some items were familiar to him, like fruits, vegetables, and small animals, but most were things he had never seen before, their purposes unclear.
Beneath each item was a name, listing over a dozen novel terms such as “terrestrial globe,” “playing house,” and “puzzle.”
At the top of the paper were bold characters announcing: “Yikun Palace Toy Room Grand Opening!”
As Yinsi read these words, he finally connected the objects to his memories.
When he had previously visited Yikun Palace to see the ant exhibition, he recalled spotting similar items on a small shelf inside.
At the time, he had curiously examined them a bit longer, and Yintang explained they were “toys” made for the siblings in the palace. Though he only half-understood then, today he realized these “toys” were playthings for children. He never expected his ninth brother would stir up such a commotion over them.
“Ninth Brother, this…” A trace of concern flickered in Yinsi’s gentle eyes.
Such an act seemed far too bold within the rule-bound Forbidden City.
But voicing this directly to his ninth brother might dampen the little one’s enthusiasm.
He chose a more tactful phrasing: “Might this be a bit too conspicuous?”
Yintang couldn’t help but marvel inwardly—Yinsi truly was a gentle soul. Even as a mere companion with a slightly closer bond, he couldn’t help worrying on behalf of others.
“It’s fine, Eighth Brother,” the little one patted his small chest. “At worst, Han Ama will just spank my bottom again.”
The incident where Yintang’s remark, “the dog doesn’t bark,” made him infamous throughout the imperial court and inner quarters—earning him thirty hard spankings delivered personally by Kangxi—was well-known to all.
“Pfft.” Yinsi recalled the event and couldn’t hold back a laugh.
Indeed, his ninth brother’s mischievous nature was like that of a reincarnated monkey—fearing neither heaven nor earth. Since this wasn’t a matter serious enough to warrant strict discipline, even if it displeased Han Ama, the punishment likely wouldn’t be too severe.
Yintang gazed contentedly at Yinsi’s smile.
This smile was different from his usual gentle, restrained ones—it was a naturally bright, childlike laugh.
That’s more like it, Yinsi thought. When Eighth Brother laughed like this, he looked truly splendid—his gentleness now infused with a touch of unrestrained charm, a rare brilliance that was utterly captivating.
“Eighth Brother, Ninth Brother, what are you looking at? Let me see too!” Yin E’s chubby little frame squeezed between the two.
Yin E had been particularly drowsy lately with spring fatigue, often lingering in bed after his midday nap before getting up.
Yintang, who already woke late in the mornings, couldn’t sleep long at noon and would rise early. Their schedules often didn’t align, so sometimes Yintang would come over first.
Yinsi handed the paper to Yin E, while Yintang quickly summoned a little eunuch to bring another copy for him.
“Eh, a toy room?” Yin E scratched his head. “Ninth Brother, so this is what you’ve been busy with all this time!”
No wonder, he thought, whenever he had gone to find Ninth Brother to play recently, nine out of ten times their fun was cut short when Ninth Brother shooed him back to Yongshou Palace. He’d secretly stewed over it more than once!
The moment Yin E realized it wasn’t that Ninth Brother didn’t want to play with him and had sent him away early, but was genuinely busy with important matters, he felt both happy and somewhat embarrassed by his own pettiness.
The three little ones chatted and laughed as they walked when suddenly Yintang’s gaze fell upon a corner.
It was Yinyou’s small training ground, where he sat resting on a chair while curiously watching the three little ones.
Yinyou had heard the cheerful voices of his eighth, ninth, and tenth brothers from afar.
Naturally curious about what had them so delighted, he felt too self-conscious to approach with his lame leg. So he remained seated, watching from a distance, hoping their conversation would grow louder, loud enough for snippets to reach his ears.
Just as he strained to listen, he saw Yintang running toward him, a brightly colored paper clutched in his small hand.
“Seventh Brother, Seventh Brother,” the little bun panted, out of breath from running, as he shoved the paper into Yinyou’s arms. “This is for you! It’s a flyer for my toy room!”
Yinyou looked down, and his eyes unconsciously widened.
He had visited Ninth Brother’s ant exhibition twice before.
The first time, Ninth Brother hadn’t made any requests of him. But he had heard about the rules at Yikun Palace and knew that if he visited again, he would need to bring something novel.
Coincidentally, since the end of last year, Consort Tong Jia’s health had worsened, so Yinsi was temporarily placed under Consort Hui’s care and moved to Yanxi Palace, where he stayed with Yinyou.
When Yinyou went with Yinsi, he learned that Yintang had given Yinsi a “task” slip. He quietly asked Yinsi about it.
Yinsi’s “task” was to make a puzzle. After reading the task description, Yinyou, based on his own understanding, drew a design of Houyi shooting the suns, intending to have the Imperial Workshop produce it.
But as an unfavored prince, the Imperial Workshop often ignored his requests. Ninth Brother had likely considered this and deliberately refrained from making any demands of him.
Yinyou didn’t hesitate long, clutching the draft of his Houyi shooting the suns puzzle. Gritting his teeth, he went to seek Consort Hui’s help.
He had never been one to ask for favors, preferring to keep things to himself. His heart pounded as he approached Consort Hui, but to his relief, she agreed readily.
With Consort Hui’s assistance, he successfully obtained the Houyi shooting the suns puzzle.
Unexpectedly, Ninth Brother had used the very Houyi shooting the suns design he submitted for the puzzle in his toy room’s… promotional flyer.
Though the drawing was somewhat abstract, Yinyou recognized it at a glance.
There had been murmurs in the palace, claiming that Ninth Brother’s requests for the little princes and Gege to make items were nothing but forced transactions, that he was obsessed with money.
Some went even further, saying the Ninth Prince, despite his young age, was cunning and eloquent, using these items to curry favor with the Emperor.
Yinyou never believed any of it.
See, with this flyer, he had effectively silenced those gossipy servants!
He carefully folded the flyer neatly and tucked it into his robe. “Ninth Brother, is this what you were just talking about?”
The little bun nodded. “That’s right. Seventh Brother, please come play often!”
He had specially prepared educational toys for older children like Yinyou, and even teenagers like Yinti and Yinreng had age-appropriate toys available.
A sparkle lit up Yinyou’s eyes.
This was the first time the little bun had ever asked him for anything. Though it might just be polite courtesy, he responded as earnestly as possible. “Certainly.”
Yinti felt the atmosphere at the archery range was rather peculiar today.
Yinzhen and Yinzhi had stopped practicing archery and were huddled together, murmuring over a piece of paper for a long time. It was unclear what they were examining.
The personal eunuchs of the Crown Prince and Yinzhi had also handed sheets of paper to their respective masters.
During a break in his training, Yinzhi glanced at the paper, paused thoughtfully, then dismounted and casually found a chair to sit in. He immediately began studying it carefully, frequently nodding as if he had considerable insight into its contents.
Yinreng swept his eyes over the paper’s contents, then removed the bow case from his back and tossed it to the young Anda attending nearby. He directly unfolded the paper and began reading it while still on horseback.
Yinti’s training area was close to Yinreng’s, allowing him to clearly observe every move and even the expressions on his face.
He noticed Yinreng was reading with great concentration, occasionally breaking into a pleased smile as if he had encountered some brilliant literary discourse.
This smile made Yinti’s heart itch with curiosity, making him increasingly eager to know what they were all reading.
Yinti scanned his surroundings and finally sensed something amiss.
Why did everyone else have one, but not him?
Suddenly realizing, he turned to his motionless personal eunuch and demanded, “Hey, where’s mine?”
“Y-Your what?” The eunuch, seeing his master’s displeased expression but unable to pinpoint what had displeased him, asked tremblingly.
Yinti furrowed his brows and raised his riding crop. “Blind fool! If you don’t know, go and find out immediately!”
The eunuch scrambled away, muttering to himself in confusion.
Yinti waited a while, but the eunuch had not returned.
His curiosity burned fiercely, like a hundred cats scratching at his heart, making it unbearably itchy. He wished he could lash the foolish servant with his whip and drag him back for answers.
After waiting left and right, Yinti could no longer contain himself and decided to take the initiative.
However, his relationships with the other Princes were not good, and he couldn’t bring himself to swallow his pride and ask directly. After much deliberation, he finally came up with a clever idea.
He guided his horse closer to Yinreng’s archery range, pretending to be practicing archery and unintentionally passing by. Carefully, he lightened his horse’s steps and quietly stopped behind Yinreng.
Yinti stretched his neck like a goose, trying to peek at the paper in Yinreng’s hand.
He only caught a glimpse of colorful patterns and numerous small drawings on the paper. But before he could see clearly, the youth’s slender, pale, and well-defined fingers leisurely folded the paper.
Ah, why is he putting it away already?
Yinti grew anxious but didn’t dare make a sound to stop him. Instinctively, he leaned his body further, hoping to catch another glimpse of two-four-five-six before Yinreng completely folded and stored the paper.
Suddenly, Yinreng sped up folding the paper. He tucked it into his robes, then turned to look at Yinti behind him.
Damn, Crown Prince Second Brother has spotted me!
No way, I absolutely can’t let him figure out I was trying to sneak a peek at what he was holding!
Yinti hurriedly straightened his posture, whistling while looking up at the sky, putting on an “I was just passing by” act.
Yinreng didn’t seem angered. He simply turned his horse to face Yinti directly and offered a rare, approachable smile. “Does Eldest Brother want to see?”
Huh? Crown Prince Second Brother is actually asking me?
While Yinti was still wrestling with whether to admit it, he saw Yinreng’s thin lips curve slightly as he softly uttered two more words.
“Not giving.”
After saying this, Yinreng turned his horse around and rode off leisurely, leaving no opportunity for Yinti to confront him.
From the Crown Prince’s swaying gait, Yinti could tell he was in rather high spirits.
Author’s note: Yinti: QAQ You’re all bullying me!