Chapter 24 – The Crown Prince Returns to the Palace

The words Consort Yi had spoken during the morning greetings that day—“The stove isn’t even warm yet”—were still fresh in everyone’s minds. But at the time, no one in the harem had taken them seriously. Who could have imagined that in just a short while, the Noble Lady of Changchun Palace would come to enjoy a degree of favor reminiscent of Consort Yi’s prime?

The entire palace was abuzz: that cold, neglected stove in Changchun Palace had actually warmed up after all.

As for Kangxi, he paid no mind to what the harem thought. He simply felt that his days had been especially carefree of late. And after spending this time together, Kangxi believed he could now remain completely unmoved by Yu Ying’s unfiltered thoughts.

Indeed, precisely because of this “heart-voice,” nothing she thought could be hidden from him.

And all of that perfectly catered to Kangxi’s subtle desire for control.

Just as he was about to summon Yu Ying to attend him as usual that evening, Liang Jiugong came in from outside the study, bringing a message.

The Crown Prince had returned to the palace.

At that very moment, he had just passed through the Gate of Heavenly Purity and was on his way to pay respects to His Majesty.

Kangxi was so delighted he immediately rose from his chair, clasped his hands behind his back, and began pacing to and fro in excitement.

My Baocheng has come home?

“Liang Jiugong! Go tell the kitchens to prepare all the dishes the Crown Prince likes best, and have the tea room ready the tea. I want to dine with the Crown Prince tonight!”

Ever since the Crown Prince left the palace to study independently, several months had passed. Since the moment of the Crown Prince’s birth, Kangxi had never been apart from his Baocheng for so long. It had nearly triggered the Emperor’s separation anxiety.

Now that he was finally about to see his long-missed son again, he even felt a nervous anticipation, the kind one feels when approaching home after a long journey.

From the moment he first heard Lady Wei’s heart-voice, he had sent men galloping out to summon the Crown Prince home. But when the Crown Prince declined on the grounds that his studies were unfinished, Kangxi had been thinking of him constantly ever since.

Though that day he had learned that he would remain on the throne for a very long time to come, and though he worried that in the future there might be brother fighting brother or father and son set against each other, he still believed no one would ever be able to shake Baocheng’s place as Crown Prince. After all, he liked to think of himself and Baocheng as akin to Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang and his heir, Zhu Biao.

With such thoughts in his heart, he had longed to see the Crown Prince the very next day.

Who would have thought the Crown Prince would refuse to return to the palace?

Poor Kangxi—so much fatherly love, and nowhere to pour it out.

What’s that? You ask about the other princes? How could those other sons possibly compare to his Baocheng?

Kangxi was still thinking fondly of his precious child when a refined, cool-tempered young man entered.

This was none other than his long-missed Crown Prince, Yinreng.

“Father Emperor, your son has returned.” Yinreng knelt before the imperial desk and bowed.

Kangxi hurried around the desk, both hands reaching to lift his Crown Prince to his feet.

“My Baocheng…” Kangxi’s eyes brimmed with tears as he looked at his son—shorter by a head, travel-worn, clearly exhausted from his journey back. For a moment, a thousand words crowded his throat.

Yinreng often felt helpless before his father’s excessive displays of affection, but he did not wish to disappoint the old man, so he said:

“Your son has come to offer his apologies. Some days ago, when you summoned me back with all urgency, I failed to comply with your decree. I am here to request your punishment.”

As he spoke, he was about to kneel again.

Kangxi could not bear to let him. “Baocheng, I have never blamed you. It was I who acted hastily without considering everything before calling you home. You did right—your studies must always take precedence!”

Even if, deep down, it left this father’s heart a little sour.

And so, defying a direct order—which for any other prince would have cost at least half his life—was, in the Crown Prince’s case, no fault at all.

Kangxi, you are such a blatant double standard.

When Kangxi insisted he stay to dine and planned to quiz him on his lessons afterward, the Crown Prince finally couldn’t help but interject:

“Father Emperor, Baocheng wishes to return to Yuxing Palace to bathe.”

Given the choice between enduring his father’s outpouring of feeling while caked in road dust, and simply going to wash, he didn’t hesitate long before choosing the latter.

Kangxi glanced at his son’s dusty, travel-stained appearance and seemed to realize that dining like this wasn’t too fitting. But he still couldn’t bear to part from him.

“Liang Jiugong, have the servants prepare hot water for the Crown Prince’s bath! And send someone to Yuxing Palace to fetch fresh clothes!”

“Baocheng, just bathe here in the Palace of Heavenly Purity. I will have them bring your clothes over. Father will wait to dine with you.”

Yinreng opened his mouth, then closed it again. “…Yes, Father Emperor.”

While father and son were having their reunion in the Palace of Heavenly Purity, things in Changchun Palace were far from idle.

For some reason, Kangxi had lately developed a sudden enthusiasm for playing the teacher.

If he wasn’t instructing her in calligraphy, he was teaching her to play chess.

Chess was fine—at least it counted as entertainment. But calligraphy? The moment Yu Ying laid eyes on those strange Manchu characters, she felt her head ache. Even though she had the original host’s memories and could just barely muddle her way through by guessing, brushwork was another matter entirely.

She had truly done her utmost.

This really wasn’t something one could master overnight. Fortunately, the original host hadn’t been literate either—otherwise she would have given herself away, and Kangxi might have thought her some kind of monster and had her executed!

Yu Ying looked at the blank sheets spread over the writing desk and heaved a long sigh. Who would have thought that in modern times she couldn’t escape English, and now, in the Qing dynasty, she still had to study Manchu?

She tried to write her first character. It looked nothing like a proper horizontal or vertical stroke—crooked and clumsy. Never mind any elegance; she couldn’t even manage basic neatness. But she couldn’t skip it—Kangxi would be checking.

She recalled what he had said: “The last one I taught was the Crown Prince. If you don’t practice well, it won’t just be my reputation you tarnish—it will be the Crown Prince’s, too.”

She had wanted to say she wouldn’t tell a soul.

But seeing the slight threat in Kangxi’s expression, she’d thought better of it.

Utterly bored, she lay slumped across the desk, fiddling with her brush. Qing Tao watched anxiously. In her view, the Emperor personally teaching her mistress to write was an enormous honor. Yet her mistress just couldn’t bring herself to care—how could she not be worried?

Meanwhile, over in the Palace of Heavenly Purity, father and son had finished dinner. Kangxi was now helping the Crown Prince handle memorials.

He had set a small table below his own imperial desk, especially for the Crown Prince to study at. In the past, while Kangxi read through memorials, Yinreng would read his books below; now that the Crown Prince was older, the books had been replaced by memorials Kangxi had already reviewed.

The two of them wore equally solemn expressions.

From time to time, Kangxi would look up to see his son bent over the documents, his manner so composed and proper that a flicker of pride rose in his heart.

As expected of his Baocheng!

Kangxi remembered how, when the Shizu Emperor had been alive, he had never once guided him. That was why, upon ascending the throne, he had struggled so bitterly. His Baocheng would never suffer the same fate—he would personally see to it that Baocheng surpassed him in every way!

Late into the night.

At last, Kangxi relented and allowed Yinreng to return to Yuxing Palace, but not before reminding him to come dine together again after court the following day.

Once Kangxi was alone in the bedchamber, he actually felt a bit out of sorts.

Getting along so well with Lady Wei was one thing, but it was also true he still hoped to glean more knowledge of the future through her heart-voice. Yet after all this time, he had not heard any particularly useful information.

He thought back to the last time she had let something slip—it had been on the day the thirteenth prince was born. What about Baocheng? If she saw Baocheng, might she not reveal even more?

It seemed that tomorrow, he ought to summon Lady Wei to the Palace of Heavenly Purity to meet Baocheng face to face.