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

Chapter 283 Good news doesn't travel far, but bad news spreads inside.

As the saying goes, good news doesn't travel far, but bad news travels fast. The news that Yinzhuo had taught himself to be depressed spread like wildfire through the loudspeaker, the Fourteenth Prince, as if it had grown wings. It quickly spread to every corner of Changchun Garden. Not only did his brothers, who loved to watch the drama, come to visit, but his father also didn't let him off the hook.

"Is it really that funny? Father, it's one thing for my older brother and the others to mock me, but why are you joining them in laughing at me? Do you know how hard I've been these past few days? People used to say that dragons have nine sons, and each one is different, but I didn't believe it. These past few days, Fourteenth has really opened my eyes. You have no idea how stupid your son is. He's practiced addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of a dozen three-digit numbers over and over again, but he still just can't figure it out. When I was teaching Ninth, he didn't struggle this much. He doesn't just understand things instantly, but he also makes rapid progress. And look at Fourteenth... it's just indescribable..."

Now, whenever Yinzhuo mentions the Fourteenth Prince, he gets two words: headache. Kangxi had originally hoped to see Yinzhuo make a fool of himself, but seeing him frowning and rubbing his temples with worry whenever the Fourteenth Prince was mentioned, he had no intention of making fun of him anymore. He got up and walked to Yinzhuo's side, pulled his hand off his head, and looked at his red temples. The biased old father felt sorry for him again.

"You know, if he's not bright enough, we just won't teach him. Why make yourself suffer like this? Besides, that kid's always been tough. If you're really angry, why not beat him up to vent your anger? Why make yourself so upset? And your older brothers, they know you're in a bad mood, and instead of offering a few words of comfort, they take turns going over to watch you make a fool of yourself. When you see them again, I'll give them a good talking to. Alright, stop being angry. Didn't you say you wanted to put a red coral tree in the main hall of Shufeng Pavilion? A few days ago, a new one was presented as tribute. Yesterday, I had Liang Jiugong bring people back to the palace to fetch it. It's in the study now. Father will take you to see it..."

Yinzhu went to Qingxi Study and brought back a red coral tree. This quickly replaced the topic of Prince Zhao's breach of defense at the top of Changchun Garden's trending topics list. Yinzhu, as the person involved in this trending topic, didn't care much about it. After all, he was a person who was always at the top of the trending topics list. What kind of big scene hadn't he seen? This was nothing...

"Hey, Third Brother, you've circled this coral tree several times already. Why don't we sit down and take a look? You're making me dizzy."

Spinning it makes you dizzy? Why don't you say that your coral tree makes me dizzy too? Go ask around the whole capital, no, the whole world, and find out who can own two coral trees of such good quality and such a large size, and sit there looking at them? Can I sit still right now?

As the saying goes, it's not that Yinzhi is shallow or hasn't seen anything good; it's just that comparisons are odious. For people of Yinzhi's status, red coral isn't exactly a novelty, but the one in Yinzuo's room, with its quality and size, is truly rare. Not only did they obtain such a treasure that is hard for ordinary people to see, but they also have another one of similar quality and size. Who wouldn't be envious? Especially Yinzhi, who loves collecting such things.

"Third Brother, don't glare at me. This really wasn't something I asked Father Khan for. It's compensation for my emotional distress. You know about what happened a few days ago when I taught Fourteen math. That guy was so stupid that I almost became depressed. They say the son pays for the father's debts, and the reverse is also true. Fourteen is Father Khan's son, so isn't it reasonable for him to compensate me on behalf of Fourteen?"

Is that reasonable? If we follow your theory, can't I go to Qingxi Bookstore and ask my father for compensation for emotional distress right now? Even though Yinzhi despised Yinzuo's explanation, he still said, "Everything is fate."

With the guidance of Emperor Kangxi, Yinzhuo quickly overcame his depression and became cheerful again. As the year drew to a close, there were a lot of things waiting for Kangxi to handle in the palace, and it was obviously inconvenient to stay in Changchun Garden any longer. So, at Kangxi's command, Yinzhuo took his wife and children and followed his father back to the capital.

For a nobody like Yinzhuo, who rarely gets a chance to turn his life around, it doesn't really matter where he lives. Before, he was holed up in the Shufengxuan Water Pavilion, but now he's just lying in a different place. If there's anything different from before, it's that he's a bit farther away from his father. Before, it was just a few steps to go to Qingxi Study, but now, even if he goes to Qianqing Palace, he has to ride in a palanquin for a while.

"Amma..."

"Akshang, prepare the horses."

With Yinzhuo's order to prepare the horses, the once quiet courtyard immediately became lively. Although no one knew what their master was up to in the middle of the night, in this Prince Zhao's mansion, Yinzhuo was the emperor. His words were practically the same as an imperial edict to the servants of the Prince Zhao's mansion.

"Your Highness, you're having a nightmare. The palace is already locked in the middle of the night. Even if you went there now, you probably wouldn't be able to get in. Why don't we wait a little longer..."

Dexi had been waiting outside. Yinzhuo shouted "Father!" so loudly, how could he not hear it? But Yinzhuo's mind was filled with only two words—entering the palace. He couldn't listen to Dexi's advice. By the time they finished getting ready, Akshang had already brought the horse over!

Yinzhuo's residence was not far from the Forbidden City. It would only take a few minutes to reach the Forbidden City gate by horseback. Even though Yinzhuo had a gold token bestowed by Emperor Kangxi that allowed him to enter the palace at any time, there was no imperial decree in the middle of the night. How could the guards at the palace gate dare to open the gate and let him in without authorization?

Even though Yinzhuo was anxious, he was not unreasonable. He understood that it was their duty, so he did not intend to make things difficult for them.

"Send someone to Qianqing Palace right now to bring Liang Jiugong to me. I'll give you a maximum of two quarters of an hour. Once that time is up, I'll go in even if it means breaking in."

Everyone working in this palace knows Prince Zhao, the emperor's darling and the apple of his eye. No one would want to offend him. Although going to the Qianqing Palace to find the chief eunuch in the middle of the night is quite risky, as the saying goes, they can't afford to offend Liang Jiugong, and they can't afford to offend the man in front of them even more.

"My lord, you should wipe the sweat off your brow first. Catching a chill is no small matter. Even if the messenger is fast, it will take a while for him to come and go. Let me help you to sit over there."

Dexi was extremely worried. He didn't know what his master had dreamed about in the middle of the night, insisting on going to the palace to see the emperor at this time. But he had served Yinzhuo for many years and knew that with his master's temper, he probably wouldn't go back if he didn't see the emperor today. So after Yinzhuo rode out, he hurriedly had someone carry a palanquin and a charcoal brazier to catch up. See, this came in handy.

So what exactly did Yinzhi dream about that made him rush to the palace to see the emperor in the middle of the night? Even though some time had passed, Yinzhi still couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine whenever he thought of the scene in his dream. In his memory, Emperor Kangxi had always been majestic, powerful, gentle, and loving. He had only seen him lying on the couch, pale and barely breathing, like in his dream, once before, in the 29th year of Kangxi's reign. Although Yinzhi knew very well that the dream was not real, he still resisted the urge to go to the palace to see for himself.