Chapter 3: Innocent playmates

Yinyou never thought that there were really white lotus women in the harem, so he didn’t really think that Tong Jia would let Yinzhen take care of him just because she pitied Yinyou.

Who was Tong Jia-shi? She was Kangxi’s cousin, a famous concubine in history. Kangxi may not have love [1] for her, but she must have his respect [2]. Kangxi’s attitude towards her was different from that of other women. Because she had no children under her knees, she had long regarded Yinzhen as her own child, and a mother always calculated for her own son.

[1] 爱情 àiqíng  - romance; love (romantic). 

[2] 敬爱 jìng'ài - respect and love; esteem, admiration.

If Yinzhen took care of other princes, he might be suspected by Kangxi of being young but still having a deep mind, he might even be suspected of forming a faction. However, taking care of Yinyou, who didn’t have a powerful family behind him, and was unlikely to inherit the throne will only make Kangxi feel that Yinzhen was kind and loved his younger brother.

The people of the royal family were always ruthless, but they also hoped that other people had feelings and good intentions. The psychology of an emperor was sometimes so strange.

During the Qing Dynasty, only two meals were used. Yinyou thought with some apprehension. No wonder the high-ranking concubines in the harem always had snacks in the house. Isn’t it just that they were afraid of going hungry?

At lunch, Tong Jia-shi ate with the older brothers. She glanced at Yinyou sitting next to Yinzhen. Although he was only three years old, he sat in a good posture and wasn’t a naughty child. She nodded secretly in her heart. If it were this child, even if Yinzhen got closer to him, it wouldn’t matter much.

No one spoke at the dinner table. Yinyou was waited by the eunuchs around him to eat, occasionally raising his eyes to look at the Crown Prince and the others. Although the Crown Prince was only ten years old, his words and deeds carried the unique majesty of the royal family and his elegant behavior was really pleasing to the eye.

Later generations have also recorded the wisdom of this Crown Prince, but some TV series always portrayed the prince as stupid as a pig. If you think about it, you will know that the Crown Prince taught by Kangxi himself cannot be stupid, only smart. Otherwise, how could Kangxi love this prince for so many years, and even after the prince was abolished, he pushed for the restoration of the Crown Prince.

The Third brother also had his own aura, but he was less majestic than the Crown Prince. In general, he was also a brilliant figure.

He glanced at Yinzhen beside him. Although he was only six years old, his waist was straight, he didn’t make the slightest noise when eating, his expression was serious, and he didn’t lose half of his elder brother’s demeanor, but somehow, Yinyou just felt that Yinzhen was a bit cute.

Could it be because of Yinzhen’s good-looking face? Yinyou sincerely despised his habit of judging people by their appearance.

After finishing the meal, Tong Jia-shi personally wiped Yinzhen’s face clean. The warmth in her eyes was not at all false. Yinyou stood aside obediently, looking at the big Western clock [3] in the room in a daze.

[3] The Qing emperors’ interest in clocks and watches multiplied as Western-originated ones were considered chic and had novelty value. In 1648, the Qing imperial palace began making copies of Western clocks and doing simple repairs. Emperor Kangxi was diligent and studious, and had a strong interest in Western science. (Read more here.)

After the prince and Tong Jia-shi talked for a while, he got up and left. Seeing that the Crown Prince had left, the Third brother naturally had no reason to stay and followed him out.

Seeing that both of them were gone, Yinyou naturally didn’t want to stay in Zhongcui Palace. He got up and said to Tong Jia-shi, “Tong E-Niang, Yinyou should also leave.”

Tong Jia-shi got up, took his hand, and sat him down, wiping his face with a fragrant handkerchief, “You child, you have no homework, so you are in a hurry to go back and do something, ask your Fourth brother to take you to the house to play.”

Tong Jiashi-shi saw how the child’s round face blushed, and although he seemed a little embarrassed, his eyes were shining, “Doesn’t the Fourth brother have homework?”

Obviously, he wanted to play with Yinzhen, but he was still thinking about his brother’s homework. He was indeed a good boy. The smile on Tong Jia-shi’s face became warmer and warmer, and she turned and touched Yinzhen’s head, “Yinzhen, go.”

Yinyou looked at Tong Jia-shi, then at the cute little Yinyou, and took the initiative to take his hand, “Seventh brother, I will take you to play.”

Yinyou glanced at the hand he was holding, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly. Do good friends hold hands? Suddenly, he felt that it was… a bit suffocating to have a six-year-old child as a playmate.

Yinzhen didn’t know Yinyou’s thoughts. He led Yinyou to his room and took out a few gadgets that children liked: a bunch of glass beads and a ring puzzle [4], which were all piled up in front of Yinyou, “These are for you to play with.”

[4] 九連環 jiǔliánhuán: Chinese rings, a brainteaser toy consisting of nine rings interlocked on a looped handle, the objective being to remove the rings from the handle. You can watch this video of how they play with it.

Yinyou looked at the things on the table and thought with some emotion that this was the gap between the princes. In his room, there were only a few glass beads at most. In this pile of things that the Fourth brother brought him, there were also several small animals carved out of jade and opals. Put these things into modern times, and you could buy a few houses in Beijing.

Seeing Yinyou motionless for a long time, Yinzhen’s tone was a little cautious, “You don’t like it?”

Yinyou recovered and hurriedly took a ring puzzle, “Brother, how do you play this?” By the way, attach a smiley face.

Yinzhen took the ring puzzle, hesitated for a while, then said, “You have to call me the Fourth brother [5], not brother [6].” The seventh brother was still too young. If he only calls him “brother” in front of the other brothers, he will definitely offend the other brothers.

[5] 四哥 sìgē - Fourth brother. Formal calling.

[6] 哥哥 gēgē - Brother. Informal calling that shows closeness.

Then Yinzhen saw that the smile on the face of the child who was still happy had faded, but he still called “Fourth brother” obediently. Seeing the child standing there restlessly, Yinzhen, who was only six years old, somehow thought of his newborn puppy, cute and pitiful.

“From then on, when there are only two of us, you will call me brother, and if there is someone else around, you will call me Fourth brother.” The six-year-old child felt distressed, and in his heart, he also wanted the child to call him, so he pulled the child's hand and stuffed the two opals into his hand, “This is for you, don’t be sad.”

Yinyou put the opal into the small purse hanging on his body and stretched out his hand to hug Yinzhen’s soft body, giving him a smile, “Brother.”

Well, this six-year-old child was so soft and comfortable to hold, and right now the Yongzheng Emperor has not yet advocated the style of frugality [7]. It’s not too embarrassing to take advantage of this opportunity to get two opals by selling cute, right? As the younger brother without power behind him, and a mother who was not favored, letting him call him brother was well-needed favor [8].

[7] Yongzheng Emperor cracked down on corruption and reformed the personnel and financial administration. (Wikipedia). He’s the emperor who’s keeping accounts of how many taels he has, how much he owes and is owed, what should he spend on and whatnot, and so on. 

[8] 恩 ēn - favor / grace / kindness.

Yinzhen also smiled. The seventh brother was so cute. His little body seemed to have this milky fragrance, just like a white and soft bun. Yinzhen didn’t know that this white and soft bun looked cute, but it was actually filled with black sesame seeds. [9]

[9] The author’s calling Yinyou “black belly”, lmao. It’s a Chinese term used often in online novels and it refers to someone who is secretly evil, sly or manipulative. Secretively is the key point: most people won't realize the person's true nature or the person will portray a different image. The term exists because someone will only know what that person’s true nature is only after “being eaten up.”

Ming Ruo was ordered by Tong Jia-shi to see how the two children were getting along. When she opened the door, she saw that the Seventh brother was seated on the table holding a brush and writing something, and the Fourth brother was standing behind the seventh brother seriously guiding him.

Ming Ruo approached with the dim sum, put it on the table and said, “Fourth brother, Seventh brother, use some dim sum.” She looked at the table and saw several “Yinzhen” written crookedly on the white paper. The penmanship was still immature and even some of the words lacked a few strokes [11]. If she didn’t look closely, she might not be able to tell what it was.

[10] Yinzhen is written as 胤禛. 胤 yìn means ‘descendant / heir / offspring / posterity / to inherit’ and 禛 zhēn is ‘to receive blessings in a sincere spirit’. All of Kangxi’s sons have this ‘yin’ in their names: Yinyou, Yinzhen, Yinreng, Yinsi, Yinqi and so on. Later, all the brothers had to change the character Yin (胤) in their names to Yun (允) to avoid naming taboo; because the reigning emperor's personal name contained the character Yin. their names were changes from ‘yin’ to ‘yun’. That’s why their wikipedia pages have this names iniciation on ‘yun’, like Yunti.

[11] I think some words lacked strokes because Yinyou was writing modern day characters which are more simpler than the traditional Chinese, haha. Look at the picture to understand. In fact, this is a common problem for transmigrated characters.

Seeing Ming Ruo, Yinzhen touched Yinyou’s head like a little adult, “Seventh brother, would you like a snack?”

Yinyou put down his brush and glanced at the sky outside. It should be around noon now. According to the work and rest time of the Qing Dynasty, it was appropriate to use dim sum at this time. He raised his head to smile at Yinzhen and nodded obediently, “I want to eat.”

He touched his own head. At this time, he was still young and hadn’t shaved his head. At the time he had to attend school, he might have to shave his head half bald. The aesthetics of the Qing Dynasty people were really incomprehensible. Half of his head was naked, which was uglier than the whole bald head.

Ming Ruo asked the little eunuch waiting outside to fetch water to wash the hands of the two brothers, and then quietly exited the door. When she was leaving, she couldn’t help but look back, just in time to see the Seventh brother take a piece of dim sum and raise his hand high for the Fourth brother to eat.

Ming Ruo retracted her gaze when she saw this and left with a smile on her face.

When Yinyou returned to the Southern Three Hall it was almost time to turn on the lanterns, and he was still holding a ring puzzle that Yinzhen had given him. The eunuch Fu Duo beside him stuffed some golden melon seeds for the little eunuch who sent Yinyou back by order of Imperial Noble Consort. This eunuch was also a person in the palace of the Imperial Noble Consort, how dare they neglect it.

The eunuch did not refuse, said a few auspicious words, bowed to Yinyou, and returned to Zhongcui Palace.

Seeing Yinyou coming back, the palace maid Yunzhu hurriedly asked the people below to wash Yinyou’s face and hands and waited for him to fall asleep, before lightly extinguishing the candle and retreating.

Yinyou remembered watching some Qing Dynasty TV series in his previous life. In those series, the palace ladies and eunuchs around the brothers always talked nonsense. Now that he was here, he knew that those who are minions, no matter what the Master does, they can’t ask, only watch. In the harem, those talkative minions were not qualified to serve the master. Therefore, these TV dramas without a standard were not good for the development of the audience’s IQ.

Yinyou rolled over on the bed, bowed, and held his slightly deformed left foot. Now it was more than 20 years before the Crown Prince would be deposed. If he was not careful, afraid that he won’t be able to wait for Yinzhen to seize the throne, he would have already gone to see the King of Hell.

He was not afraid of death, but he wanted to live long and well. The Crown Prince was good, as well as the Fourth and Eight brothers at least, and he won’t intervene if the Ninth brother takes the throne, but he has to make plans for himself and for his E-Niang. Since he occupied the body of E-Niang’s son, he must fulfill his responsibility as a son.

Now he can’t help his mother be dignified [12], but after he goes out and establishes his own Mansion, he must help her be even more honored than her son.

[12] 母以子貴 mǔ yǐ zǐ guì. Explanation: This means that the mother is honored by the promotion of her son’s status. He means that if he has merits, and rises in ranks, he can help his mother raise her head and be more respected in the harem.

This woman, who had been in the palace as a concubine since she was in her teens, was not favored by Kangxi in all her life, and she was not promoted to Consort [13] until Kangxi’s 57th year. She entered the palace in the best years of a woman and wasted her life, and only she got such an inconspicuous title.

[13] As you can see in the image, she only rose one rank, from Imperial Concubine to Consort in all those years. 

Therefore, in this life, for this woman and himself, he must be a good brother who Kangxi loves and who will not become a thorn in the eyes of all his brothers.

Touching the slightly cool instep, Yinyou smiled slightly. In this life, he was extremely fortunate that he had a disease on his foot, otherwise many things would not be so simple.

In Zhongcui Palace, after Yinzhen had reviewed the homework for tomorrow, he got up and put away the book. He picked up the Four Books [14] and saw the paper pressed under the book. He took it out and took a look. It was the caligraphy that the Seventh brother was practicing in the afternoon.

[14] The Four Books (四書; Sìshū) are Chinese classic texts illustrating the core value and belief systems in Confucianism. They were selected by intellectual Zhu Xi in the Song dynasty to serve as general introduction to Confucian thought, and they were, in the Ming and Qing dynasties, made the core of the official curriculum for the civil service examinations.

His name and seventh brother’s name were written randomly on it. Yinzhen looked at these crooked characters with a not-so-obvious smile on his face, and then folded the crumpled paper and put it inside the Classic of Mountains and Seas book [15]. Yinzhen was very proud and thought that when the Seventh brother grows up, he must take out these pitiful characters and laugh at him.

[15] 山海經 shānhǎi jīng. The Classic of Mountains and Seas, also known as Shan Hai Jing, formerly romanized as the Shan-hai Ching, is a Chinese classic text and a compilation of mythic geography and beasts. It is largely a fabulous geographical and cultural account of pre-Qin China as well as a collection of Chinese mythology.

In the days that followed, Yinzhen sometimes went to the South Three Hall to see Yinyou after school, and Yinyou occasionally went to Zhongcui Palace to find Yinzhen. Just as the relationship between the two brothers was getting better and better, New Year’s Eve in Kangxi’s 23rd year was approaching, and in the Forbidden City, snow fell.

***

▲ Footnotes 

[1] 爱情 àiqíng  - romance; love (romantic). 

[2] 敬爱 jìng'ài - respect and love; esteem, admiration.

[3] The Qing emperors’ interest in clocks and watches multiplied as Western-originated ones were considered chic and had novelty value. In 1648, the Qing imperial palace began making copies of Western clocks and doing simple repairs. Emperor Kangxi was diligent and studious, and had a strong interest in Western science. Totally fascinated by those clocks, an embodiment of modern science and technology in his eyes, Kangxi set up a chime clock center as an institution for the collection, manufacture and maintenance of royal timepieces. During his grandson Emperor Qianlong’s reign, the chime clock center was changed into the clock-making office, responsible for the making of geng clocks and chime clocks among others. (Read more here.)

[4] 九連環 jiǔliánhuán: Chinese rings, a brainteaser toy consisting of nine rings interlocked on a looped handle, the objective being to remove the rings from the handle. You can watch this video of how they play with it.

​​[5] 四哥 sìgē - Fourth brother. Formal calling.

[6] 哥哥 gēgē - Brother. Informal calling that shows closeness.

[7] Yongzheng Emperor cracked down on corruption and reformed the personnel and financial administration. (Wikipedia). He’s the emperor who’s keeping accounts of how many taels he has, how much he owes and is owed, what should he spend on and whatnot, and so on. 

[8] 恩 ēn - favor / grace / kindness.

[9] The author’s calling Yinyou “black belly”, lmao. It’s a Chinese term used often in online novels and it refers to someone who is secretly evil, sly or manipulative. Secretively is the key point: most people won't realize the person's true nature or the person will portray a different image. The term exists because someone will only know what that person’s true nature is only after “being eaten up.”

[10] Yinzhen is written as 胤禛. 胤 yìn means ‘descendant / heir / offspring / posterity / to inherit’ and 禛 zhēn is ‘to receive blessings in a sincere spirit’. All of Kangxi’s sons have this ‘yin’ in their names: Yinyou, Yinzhen, Yinreng, Yinsi, Yinqi and so on. Later, all the brothers had to change the character Yin (胤) in their names to Yun (允) to avoid naming taboo; because the reigning emperor's personal name contained the character Yin. their names were changes from ‘yin’ to ‘yun’. That’s why their wikipedia pages have this names iniciation on ‘yun’, like Yunti.

[11] I think some words lacked strokes because Yinyou was writing modern day characters which are more simpler than the traditional Chinese, haha. Look at the picture to understand. In fact, this is a common problem for transmigrated characters.

[12] 母以子貴 mǔ yǐ zǐ guì. Explanation: This means that the mother is honored by the promotion of her son’s status. He means that if he has merits, and rises in ranks, he can help his mother raise her head and be more respected in the harem.

[13] As you can see in the image, she only rose one rank, from Imperial Concubine to Consort in all those years. 

[14] The Four Books (四書; Sìshū) are Chinese classic texts illustrating the core value and belief systems in Confucianism. They were selected by intellectual Zhu Xi in the Song dynasty to serve as general introduction to Confucian thought, and they were, in the Ming and Qing dynasties, made the core of the official curriculum for the civil service examinations.

[15] 山海經 shānhǎi jīng. The Classic of Mountains and Seas, also known as Shan Hai Jing, formerly romanized as the Shan-hai Ching, is a Chinese classic text and a compilation of mythic geography and beasts. It is largely a fabulous geographical and cultural account of pre-Qin China as well as a collection of Chinese mythology.