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

Chapter 42 Have you ever seen the capital city at the hour of Chou (1-3 AM)?

Little Fourteen didn't care whose words those were. Now that he had the red envelope, the little guy carefully put it into his pocket, grabbed one of his older brothers by the hand, and started walking into Yonghe Palace, calling out to the house as he went.

"Mother, Fourth Brother, Sixth Brother are back. Now you can let the kitchen prepare to cook dumplings."

With Yinzhuo mediating in the past two years, although Consort De still doesn't particularly like her son Yinzhen, the relationship between mother and son has improved considerably. In addition, with the Fourteenth Prince as a source of joy, the atmosphere in Yonghe Palace is exceptionally pleasant.

The dumplings were quickly cooked and served. Because they were waiting for Yinzhi and the others to return from Qianqing Palace to celebrate the New Year together, the fourteenth prince had only eaten some pastries to fill his stomach before. When he saw the dumplings being served, his eyes lit up instantly. His adorable little face made even the usually serious Yinzhen laugh. Needless to say, Yinzhi was the one laughing the loudest in the room.

Although Fourteen was young, he wasn't stupid. Seeing everyone's reaction, he knew they were laughing at him, and he immediately became unhappy. What? Now he wasn't allowed to go hungry? What's wrong with being hungry? He thought hunger was a basic human instinct.

"Mother, look at Fourth Brother and Sixth Brother, they're bullying their son..."

What do children do when they're unhappy? Of course, they'll go to their powerful backer to complain. And the little rascal knows that his backer is incredibly powerful, capable of dealing with the two people opposite him with ease. Sure enough, as soon as she received her youngest son's complaint signal, Consort De's glare was immediately directed at the two brothers, Yinzhuo and Yinzhen.

"How old are you two? Why aren't you eating properly? Why are you making fun of our Fourteenth Brother? Be good, Fourteenth Brother, we'll ignore your two older brothers and let your mother feed you dumplings."

Seeing his two older brothers being disciplined by their mother, the little guy was extremely proud. He obediently moved closer to Consort De and opened his little mouth, waiting for his mother to feed him.

"Indeed, it's always the laughter of the new bride that's heard, and the tears of the old one never heard. Look, now it seems that only Little Fourteen is her precious darling. I think I once fed my son with such tenderness..."

Consort De was picking up a dumpling to feed the Fourteenth Prince when she heard Yinzhuo's resentful tone. She paused, turned her chopsticks, and handed the dumpling to Yinzhuo's mouth.

"Come on, open your mouth. Don't say your mother is being biased. Your mother will feed you first."

If someone were to feed him with chopsticks like this elsewhere, even if Yinzhuo had the thickest skin, he would still feel a little embarrassed. But right now, besides the palace servants, there were only the four of them—himself, his mother, and his mother—in Yonghe Palace. He didn't feel embarrassed at all. Since his mother had put the dumplings right in front of his mouth, there was absolutely no reason for him not to eat them.

Little Fourteen watched as the dumpling he was about to eat turned into his Sixth Brother's stomach in the blink of an eye. How could he stand for that? He immediately pouted and tears welled up in his eyes. It was the New Year, so naturally, the child couldn't be allowed to cry. Consort De quickly put down her chopsticks and comforted him.

"Don't cry, Fourteenth Brother. Mother will give you more. We won't pay attention to your Sixth Brother. Haven't you been waiting to eat dumplings? They won't taste good if they get cold."

Seeing that the little guy was about to cry, Yinzhuo naturally stopped teasing him and quickly picked up a dumpling from his plate and held it to the little guy's mouth to comfort him.

"Fourteen, you can't cry during the New Year. Sixth Brother was wrong just now. How about this, Sixth Brother ate one of your dumplings, and I'll give you another one as compensation?"

No matter how clever the Fourteenth Prince is, he is still a child. Children's emotions come and go quickly. Just now he was sad and about to cry because Yinzhuo took a dumpling from him, but now he is happy again after Yinzhuo returned a dumpling to him. It is clear that greed is one of the characteristics of this child. No sooner had Yinzhuo fed him a dumpling than he swallowed it and his eyes turned to Yinzhen beside him.

"Sixth Brother, I'll only forgive you if Fourth Brother feeds Fourteenth Brother a dumpling too."

Seeing his smug little eyes, Yinzhu was completely speechless. What, do you have to prove to me that you are the most favored kid in this family?

"Hey, hey, hey, Fourth Brother, hurry up and feed him. I've figured it out today. This guy isn't here to join the family; he's clearly here to compete with me for my affection."

Yinzhuo was speechless at the Fourteenth Prince, and Yinzhen was also speechless at the moment. The thought that these two would most likely be under his control in the future made Yinzhen suddenly feel a headache.

"Stop talking. I think you've wasted your years. You're three years old this year. You're probably the same age as Fourteen."

After eating, they played for a while longer. Little Fourteen was still full of energy. Naturally, he refused to go to the back palace to sleep. He kept pestering Yinzhuo and Yinzhen to accompany him back and forth between the rooms. In the end, Consort De couldn't bear to see him tormenting his two brothers like this, so she had someone forcibly take him back to the back palace to shut him down. Only then did Yinzhen and Yinzhuo have a chance to catch their breath.

"He was the first one to give up during last year's New Year's Eve vigil, but I didn't expect him to be the one who could last the longest this year. How can this guy have so much energy? Doesn't he get tired at all? It's like he can charge for five minutes and stay up all day..."

As soon as the Fourteenth Prince left, Yinzhuo was immediately relieved and collapsed onto the couch next to Consort De, too lazy to move. It wasn't until the clock struck midnight that Yinzhen pulled him up from the couch. He groggily followed Yinzhen to say goodbye to Consort De, and was then dragged back to the Southern Third Palace.

Time flies, and several years have passed. Soon it came to the thirty-second year of Kangxi's reign. In this year, our sixth prince finally ushered in the dawn he had been looking forward to for many years - he, Yinzhuo, had finally graduated from the Imperial Study.

"Sixth brother, I really didn't want to spoil your fun, seeing how happy you are, but I have to remind you that graduation might not be a relief but the beginning of something even darker. Have you ever seen what the capital city looks like at 1-3 AM? Have you ever seen what the palace gates look like at 3-5 AM? Have you ever seen how the palace gates open? Let me tell you, I've seen all of these things..."

Speaking of attending court, Yinzhi was truly in tears. When he lived in the palace, it was alright. They only needed to get up at the end of Yin hour to get ready and then stroll slowly to Qianqing Palace. But ever since he moved out of the palace last year to establish his own residence, his nightmare began. Since then, he has never had a full night's sleep. Every day, he has to get up and get ready shortly after Chou hour, and around Yin hour, he has to arrive at the palace gate and wait with the ministers attending court for the gate to open. Then he walks with everyone to Qianqing Gate. Every step of this process is torture for Yinzhi.

When Yinzhu heard this, he thought, "Good heavens! This is even more arduous than studying in the Imperial Study. At least in the Imperial Study, they only needed to arrive before dawn to avoid missing class. But attending court requires getting up two whole hours earlier than in the Imperial Study."

"Third Brother, if I go to Khan now and tell him I don't want to go to court, do you think he'll beat me so badly my buttocks will bleed?"

Yin Zhi felt that if he dared to do that, it wouldn't just be a matter of his buttocks being bruised and battered; he would probably at least have his legs broken.

"Sixth brother, I advise you not to do this. But I think you really dare to do it. Your height should be reduced by at least half."