Chapter 4

  At night, a rain shower fell, and the petals and leaves covered the ground. The air was filled with the fragrance of mud, refreshing and sweet. Yinzong had opened the window and sat on the couch reading a book. Quan Pei burned incense, washed her hands, changed her clothes, and sat on the mat-covered floor making tea.

  The Han people are good at the art of tea, and Yin Zhen has also seen boiling tea, but he didn't know that if he took it seriously, it would look so good. He put down his book and looked at Quan Pei, who poured out the first round of boiling water, then added new water, and only removed it from the fire when hot air emerged. The first round of tea was poured into a cup and then discarded, and only when half a cup remained was it considered well-brewed.

  It seems as if I have traversed the millennia, with some accumulated aura of tens of thousands of years coming towards me. These are elegant cultures lost in the long river of history.

  Ruan Wan picked up the teacup and lightly sniffed it, a hint of satisfaction finally appearing on her face. She looked up at Yongzheng with a dignified and elegant smile: "Try some, Your Majesty."

  Outside, Song Shi saw Yongzheng through the window and turned to look at Li Shi beside her. She looked down again after a glance. The yard was small, and many things dared not be said, fearing that if one side spoke, the other would know. Li Shi felt suffocated by Song Shi's gaze and also looked at Yongzheng through the window. Why could Fu Jin let Gong Ye hold onto him all the time?

  Quan Pei's daily routine was almost fixed, after drinking tea, she would open the history book to read. Li's maid was peeking outside, Xiaoyue went out to ask: "What's wrong?"

  "We usually sleep a bit late at night and wake up early feeling not very comfortable."

  Yongzheng heard it inside and asked: "What's going on?"

  Xiao Yue hurried in and said it all over again. Yongzheng turned his head to see Quan Pei looking very serious, so he got up: "I'll go take a look."

  Li's house was not big, simply decorated with a few pieces of furniture. To be honest, it was not as spacious and luxurious as when she was at home as a young lady. But that's how it was in the imperial palace, where even the princes' houses were not very large. She lay on the couch with her hair half undone, wearing an old dress, looking pale. When she saw Yongzheng come in, she remembered and sat up. Yongzheng sat beside her, supporting her: "Lie down, you're not feeling well?"

  Li looked at the maid behind Yongzheng and said: "It's just a little uncomfortable, not worth worrying about, rest for a while and it will be fine."

  Yongzheng held Li's warm hands: "You should also take good care of yourself and give birth to a child for me as soon as possible."

  Li's eyes lit up, and she felt that the cold treatment she had received in recent days was not worth mentioning. She straightened her back, grasped Yongzheng's hand, and said: "I know you truly care for me!"

  Occasionally, a few soft laughs came from Li's house. After finishing the book, Quan Pei heard the laughter and smiled: "It's still a bit less with just one Li, wait until we leave the palace, it'll be better to have a few more."

  Xiao Yue really couldn't understand: "Why must you..." At the same time, she helped Quan Pei take off the jade bangle from her hand and wash it clean with clear water.

  "The Song family is not very pleasing to the eye, but the Li family is still somewhat to Grandfather's liking. This way, how can we serve Grandfather well? We are not a humble household, so it would be a shame for Grandfather to have to put up with this. So let's get a few more good ones."

  The princess's thoughts were sometimes inexplicable, and it wasn't that she could understand them, but even if she wanted to advise her, she didn't know where to start. She just opened and closed her mouth, but in the end, not a single word came out.

  Li's pretending to be ill couldn't fool Yinzhen, it was just a small squabble over favoritism, and Yinzhen was also happy about it, he also liked Li's beauty, so at night he would stay in Li's house.

  Song Shi lay straight on the bed, listening to the movements next door, and couldn't sleep all night. She was a palace maid who had been serving Master Gong since she was a child. De Fei thought she was honest and simple, so she chose her to teach Yongzheng about human affairs. Before Li Shi and Fu Jin came, Yongzheng was hers...

  Ruan Pu walked past the archery field and saw Ninth Brother, Tenth Brother, Twelfth Brother, Thirteenth Brother and Fourteenth Brother there. The chubby Tenth Brother patted his waist and said: "Fourteenth, you're really too bad at this! You can't even hit the target from such a close distance? I was able to do it when I was four years old!"

  The thin and tall Ninth Brother raised an eyebrow: "What's there to compare with him? His own brother isn't good enough, so they're all the same!"

  Quan Pu stopped in her tracks, turned around and walked towards the few people.

  Fourteen's face turned red with anger, clenching his fists as he stared at Ninth Brother and Tenth Brother. Quan Pei patted Fourteen lightly on the back, and Ninth Brother and Tenth Brother became guarded upon seeing Quan Pei. Ninth Brother cleverly said: "We didn't bully him! He just can't do it!"

  Quan Pei personally took a bow from beside her, skillfully nocked three arrows on it, drew the full bow towards the target, and fired the three arrows simultaneously. Each arrow hit the bullseye.

  A group of young men were stunned, looking up at Quan Pei as if they were looking at a god descending from the sky.

  "When you've reached this point, it's no use laughing at others. You're not qualified yet." Quan Pei said, holding onto Shi Si's hand as they left the Bukou arena.

  Kangxi said to Ma Qi and Suo Ertu a few steps away, "Look, doesn't she look like a majestic female general?"

  Suo E Tuo exclaimed: "I really didn't expect that Si Fu Jin was actually a master of this, the imperial family is indeed a place where dragons and tigers are hidden."

  Kangxi fanned himself and walked towards a shaded area under a tree: "Fourth Imperial Concubine is quite a character."

  The fourteen little ghosts followed Quan Pei for a long time before they couldn't help but speak up: "Fourth Sister, you're really amazing!"

  Jian Quanbai didn't say a word, and then said: "Fourth sister, you teach me from now on, I guarantee I'll be better than them!"

  "Are they formidable? Why do we need to be stronger than them?"

  At fourteen, he suddenly stopped speaking, puffed out his cheeks and held back for half a moment: "Then I will be the strongest in the Qing Dynasty in the future!"

  Quan Pei stopped in her tracks: "This is close to Nan Shu Fang too, I won't see you off anymore."

  Fourteen still had a lot to say to Quan Pei, from the moment Quan Pei drew his bow, Quan Pei became his hero in his heart. He stood still and refused to leave, waiting for him to look up, but Quan Pei's figure had already disappeared into the alley. He kicked randomly at the ground in frustration before quickly running towards the South Study Room.

  The emperor must attack Galdan, Yongzheng sat on the kang to do his official duties, occasionally saying a few words to Quan Pei, who was sitting opposite him with her chin in her hand, watching him work hard. She took over a document and glanced at it, then casually threw it aside. Yongzheng was taken aback: "How can you just throw this away?"

  Quan Pei unfolded the letter and handed it to him: "Take a look, these few big sheets only mean one thing 'Fourth Master is wise'. What's the use of looking at this kind of flattering letter? Just remember the person's name and pay attention next time."

  Yongzheng felt the same way, but said: "It's so long, how did you finish reading it in just a few glances?"

  Having helped the empress for so many years, not to mention personally reviewing many of them herself, how could she not understand the tricks in this? She smiled lightly with her eyes cast down: "It's probably innate talent."

  Fortunately, Yongzheng didn't dwell on this and pushed the remaining documents towards Guan Pei: "You take a look first, give me the important ones, and either approve or show me the unimportant ones."

  Under the quiet and bright candlelight, it seemed as if she had returned to the deep night of thousands of years ago when she was reading memorials. She and Jie Ze were both accompanying the Empress. Was it from that time on that she started liking this meticulous and considerate man? She gently rubbed her forehead, and occasionally, confusion and fatigue flashed in her eyes.

  With the help of Yu Pei, he quickly finished reading it. Yongzheng casually flipped through several of Yu Pei's comments, and the handwriting was very similar, but it made him laugh: "He is a bit silly, why do you have to mock him for not knowing the value of oil and rice?"

  "Keep your eyes closed, if you're foolish, just know it yourself. If people like this can still get promoted in the future, they must be investigated thoroughly. You'd better remember this, and maybe you can help me out someday."

  "Are these also from history books?"

  Ruan Wan only hummed softly in response. She never slept late, and when it was time to sleep, she would fall asleep immediately. Yongzheng didn't disturb her and called for Yatou to come in and attend to her.

  The official business that was originally supposed to take three days to complete, Yongzheng finished in one day. Kangxi brought some documents over to look at, and Yongzheng stood by with his hands hanging down.

  They were just some unimportant documents, and Yongzheng almost never annotated them. He only occasionally glanced at them with a look of impatience and made a few sarcastic remarks. For more important documents, he would carefully circle any typos or ask pointed questions that got to the heart of the matter. Although he had just taken office, he seemed to have grasped the essentials already.

  Kangxi pushed the memorial to one side: "I originally only wanted you to go in and gain some experience, I didn't expect that such a heavy task would be handled so satisfactorily by you, it makes me very pleased."

  The prince said on the side: "Fourth brother has always been serious about doing things, and it's expected that he can do so well."

  Kangxi thought for a moment and said to the crown prince: "Let your fourth brother help you with the preparation of military rations."

  The crown prince hastily said: "This is for the best!"

  After working so hard for so long, he finally got the recognition of the emperor, Yin Zhen was somewhat excited, respectfully responded with a "yes", even though the task ahead would not be easy, but he was still full of energy.

  The folded paper was returned to the official, and some of the humorous taunts on it were seen by others, causing everyone to burst out laughing: "Who would have thought that Fourth Master was so sharp-eyed, able to see through such an incompetent person at a glance!"

  Some people also said: "From now on, no one will dare to underestimate our Fourth Master again. The Emperor has even entrusted the heavy responsibility of preparing military rations to Fourth Master!"

  The Emperor thought of Yongzheng's hard work and gave him a day off, saying: "Thirteen is not good at math, I remember that you were quite good when you were young, if you have time, teach him."

  Yongzheng nodded and said, although it was said that there was a vacant position to be taught, but the emperor's words were not dared to be taken lightly by Yongzheng. He directly let Su Peisheng find him in his study at thirteen o'clock.

  Thirteen followed Su Peisheng with some excitement and asked Su Peisheng: "Is Fourth Aunt around?"

  "The mistress is here!"

  Thirteen clenched his fists, it's all right. Fourth Sister is so formidable, if she is willing to give him some pointers, he won't be bullied by Ninth Brother and Tenth Brother in the future.

  The quiet study opened the window, thirteen was placed on a large chair, two short legs far from the ground, Yongzheng stood behind him to watch him do his homework, or read his own book, as soon as he lowered his head, thirteen stretched his neck through the window to look outside.

  In the courtyard, two little maids were watering flowers. The windows of the main house were also open, with only the muslin curtains hanging down, and no sound could be heard, so I didn't know what Fourth Sister was doing?