Chapter 13: The Empress Dowager has returned to the palace!

Chapter 13

As August approached, the weather gradually became cooler, and it became even more obvious after the Mid-Autumn Festival. Yinreng had already taken off his summer clothes and put on autumn clothes. He was standing next to Kangxi in an apricot-yellow robe embroidered with silver silk pythons, looking forward to it, and behind him stood the concubines and princes of the harem.

Nothing else! The Empress Dowager has returned to Beijing!

The imperial carriage entered the palace, and everyone knelt down to pay respect. Kangxi stepped forward and personally helped his grandmother get off the carriage. Yinreng cleverly ran over and supported the other side, standing on Kangxi's left and right.

"Mother Wuku! How come you were gone for so long? It's been almost half a year. I thought you had forgotten about Baocheng!"

The Empress Dowager looked down at him with a smile on her face, "Our Baocheng is so cute, how could Mother Wuku forget about him?"

Yinreng's eyes lit up: "Does Mother Wuku miss Baocheng? Baocheng thinks about Mother Wuku day and night!"

"Yes! Of course!"

Yinreng was even happier.

The Empress Dowager touched his head lovingly and asked, "I heard Baocheng was ill. Is he better now?"

"That happened half a year ago, and he's much better now! I'm sorry to have made Mother Wuku worried!"

Seeing that he was in good spirits and ruddy, and that he had grown taller and stronger, the Empress Dowager was relieved. She asked all the concubines to stand up, called out a few princes, and asked a few polite questions, but he was already showing signs of fatigue. Seeing this, Kangxi ordered everyone to leave and personally escorted him back to the Cining Palace.

Yinreng followed closely behind like a little tail. When the Empress Dowager took off her clothes and leaned on the couch, he waved his hand like a little adult: "Khan Ama, you still have government affairs to take care of. I'm here. I'll take care of Mother Wuku!"

Kangxi didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "You know how to take care of others? It's good enough that you don't need others to take care of you."

I was about to scold her, but the Empress Dowager smiled and said, "Baocheng is right. Emperor, business is more important. Go and do your work."

Kangxi did have important matters to attend to, so he readily accepted the advice. Before leaving, he glanced at Yinreng and said, "Don't make trouble. Your mother Wuku is tired. Don't disturb your mother Wuku's rest. Talk to your mother Wuku for a while and then go back to Yuqing Palace."

As soon as Kangxi left, Yinreng complained to the Empress Dowager: "I have grown up, but Khan Ama still thinks I am a three-year-old child. Who said I can't take care of people!"

After saying this, the Empress Dowager and Su Malagu both lowered their heads and laughed.

Yinreng was angry and snorted, as if to prove himself. He competed with the palace maids for work, poured tea and water for the Empress Dowager, peeled fruits and vegetables for her, and even undressed her with his own hands.

The Empress Dowager was very pleased and asked while lying on the bed: "Are you sleepy?"

A six-year-old child has limited energy. Yinreng was really a little sleepy, but he didn't lie against his will and nodded directly.

"Come up and sleep with Mother Uku!"

If it were any other prince, he would not dare to do so, and would have to kneel down to thank him. But Yinreng was different. The Yuqing Palace was only built this year. Before that, he lived in the Qianqing Palace with Kangxi, and often stayed in the Cining Palace. He was used to it. After hearing this, he kicked off his shoes, climbed onto the bed, and snuggled into the arms of the Grand Empress Dowager.

He was really close to this great-grandmother. Because she was the only one who treated him well in the whole palace besides Kangxi. But Kangxi was different from him. Even though Kangxi loved him the most, he was not ruthless to other sons. His father's love was divided into many parts. He was just lucky to get the biggest part.

The Empress Dowager was old and had stopped caring about things. No matter how many great-grandchildren she had, she only had so much energy to take care of them. In addition, Kangxi was afraid that the people in the harem would disturb her peace, so he would not let anyone come to him casually, even to pay respects. Therefore, the other princes rarely saw him, and only showed him face. Yinreng was the only exception.

Yinreng slept for a long time. When he woke up, he found that he had been moved to a soft couch, separated from the bed of the Empress Dowager by a screen. Behind the screen, he could see a familiar figure sitting in front of the bed. It was his Khan Ama Kangxi.

"Ma, is he okay?"

Yinreng was about to call for help, but when he heard this, he closed his mouth again.

"Very good. Although Mount Wutai is not as rich as the palace, it is not as poor as we thought. With the things you send him every year, he has everything he needs. The temple also assigned two young monks to take care of his life. It's just that his life is a bit boring. Apart from copying scriptures and chanting Buddha's name, there is not much else to do. But he enjoys it and feels more free."

Kangxi breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good. When I have completely pacified the Three Feudatories and have time, I will go visit you."

Ama? There is only one person in the world that Kangxi can call Ama, and that is Shunzhi. Combined with what the Empress Dowager said. Yinreng felt that he had discovered a shocking secret! Historical records show that Shunzhi died of smallpox and was buried in the Xiaoling Mausoleum of the Qing Dynasty. Although there is a saying that he became a monk, isn't that just a rumor? Could it be that the rumor is true!

Yinreng's back stiffened and he quickly closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep.

The Empress Dowager said, "No need. He is already dead in the history books. People outside think he is buried in the Xiaoling Mausoleum. I am old now and believe more in karma. I can go there in the name of worshiping Buddha. You are the emperor, and countless eyes are watching your every move! It is not appropriate. His affairs should not be known to the outside world."

Kangxi was very hesitant.

The Grand Empress Dowager continued, "He doesn't want us to go either. He said that he is now a person outside the world and has long cut off all thoughts of the world. When he sees me, he only calls me a donor and a believer. He told me not to come in the future, and the same goes for you. Even if you come, he won't see you again."

The words were full of bitterness, and also contained a bit of sadness and self-mockery.

"Ama must be concerned about your old age and doesn't want you to travel long distances."

The Empress Dowager shook her head and smiled bitterly. No one knew better than herself what was going on between her and Fulin.

In the early years, they lived together in the deep palace, and their relationship was good. But later, Fulin became the emperor and took power when he grew up. She was worried about many things, and she wanted to help him take a few more steps by relying on the power and connections she had accumulated during the years of fighting wits and courage with Dorgon. However, she forgot that the young emperor was also the emperor. Even if they were mother and son, there were some things that they could not tolerate.

Coupled with the affair between Mengguqing and Dong E, the rift between them grew wider and wider, so that even though she later came to her senses and took the initiative to give in, even giving in again and again, the mother and son were still on the verge of breaking up.

Fortunately, she did not make the same mistake again with Xuanye. Xuanye was also a good person.

The Empress Dowager patted the back of Kangxi's hand. She was unwilling to complain about her father's faults in front of him, so she simply skipped the topic and asked about what had happened in the palace during this period.

Kangxi also followed her lead and said, "Grandson has something he wants to ask Mama's opinion on. Grandson wants to adopt the Seventh Prince to Prince Chunjing."

Prince Chunjing Longxi was the seventh son of Shunzhi and the half-brother of Kangxi. He died of illness on the Ghost Festival last year at the age of 19. He did have a son, but he failed to raise him and the son died at the age of two. Therefore, there is no one to inherit the title now, and it is considered broken. According to the rules, the emperor wanted to continue the bloodline for the sake of brotherhood and adopted his son, which was fine.

But Yinreng knew that Kangxi had little affection for his younger brother. And even if he wanted to adopt a child, why didn't he adopt the child earlier or later, but only after the seventh prince was born? And the seventh prince Yinyou was born with a leg disease. This is a bit tricky.

Yinreng felt a little uncomfortable. How could a father give his son away just because he saw that his son was not good enough! However, he also knew that the ten fingers were of different lengths. He was still the one who was favored. So even if others could say this about Kangxi, he was the only one who could not. The love he received had already made him lose this qualification.

The Empress Dowager frowned, "I saw Yinyou today, too. He was plump and fair, and smiled whenever he saw people. He was quite likable. If the emperor has decided, then we'll do as the emperor wishes. But I think even if you want to adopt a child, it doesn't have to be your own child. There are so many royal family members, there's always someone to choose from. If you want to choose a prince to show your favor, Yinyou is not suitable."

Adopting a disabled person to someone else? Is this a genuine act of kindness? It is inevitable that outsiders will say something.

"Ma'am is right. My grandson has the same concerns. But Dai Jia said that Prince Chunjing is the seventh child, and Yinyou is also the seventh child, which is a kind of fate. Although Yinyou has a disability, it is not serious. The imperial physician also said that if he exercises more in the future, it will not be a big problem, and it will not hinder his riding and archery."

"Did Dai Jia propose it herself?" The Empress Dowager was stunned for half a second.

Yinreng was even more puzzled: Dai Jia herself proposed to adopt out her own son who she had survived many hardships? What was she thinking! How could she bear to do that?

As a woman in the palace, the Grand Empress Dowager was surprised, but she quickly guessed what Dai Jia was thinking. But Dai Jia's intentions were not bad, and she would not hurt anyone, so it didn't matter whether they succeeded or not. She had already retired and didn't care about palace affairs, so she was too lazy to expose it, and just said, "Your Majesty, please do as you wish!"

Kangxi nodded: "Adoption is a big deal, there is no need to rush. I will think about it again."

Yinreng: ...

First, Shunzhi became a monk, and then Yinyou was adopted. Today's information is a bit too much, he needs to digest it!

The author has something to say:

Mama means grandmother in Manchu, and Wuku Mama means great-grandmother. Those who often read Qing Dynasty novels should be familiar with these two titles. The other is the Empress Dowager, the self-proclaimed title of the Grand Empress Dowager. The title of Aijia only exists in novels and film and television dramas. The empress dowagers in history did not call themselves that. They usually called themselves Yu or Ben Gong. So I also use these two. Because the title "Yu" is a bit difficult to pronounce, let's just change it to "I".

In the text, Yinreng called himself "Gu" to palace maids, eunuchs or court officials. To Kangxi and Xiaozhuang, he called himself "Erchen" or "I". The conversation with the system was quite casual, so he just used "Gu" and "I".