Chapter 20: The Incident

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If anyone worried about the Lis, it was Yuyan, but before she could even worry long about her own mother, the matter of Xingde writing on her behalf was exposed. The two of them stood there like quails, heads bowed and shrinking back. Yinzhen snorted coldly and spread ten sheets of calligraphy practice on the table before Yuyan. "What? You think because there’s so much going on at the palace, your father wouldn’t check carefully? Don’t say there are only ten sheets—if there were fifty, I’d still examine each one."

Yuyan only knew that Yinzhen was meticulous, but she hadn’t expected him to be so strict about handwriting practice. Glancing over the five sheets Xingde had written for her, she honestly couldn’t see any difference.

How had it been discovered? She looked at Xingde with some grievance. Surely it wasn’t that this boy was careless and the noble consort had found out, leading to their actions being so plainly reported to her father?

"Don’t look at him," Yinzhen said, feeling a headache coming on. This nephew from the noble consort’s family had been a perfectly decent child, but after playing with his daughter for a couple of days, he’d been led astray. "Come look for yourself."

Yuyan dragged her feet and slowly approached Yinzhen’s desk. No matter how she looked at those five sheets, she couldn’t spot any differences, so she humbly asked, "Father, I really can’t see it."

"Xingde, come here too."

Yinzhen sighed, pondering how to educate these two children as he beckoned Xingde over.

Xingde’s pale, fair face flushed deeply. Biting his lip, he came to Yuyan’s side and carefully compared the ten sheets over and over. His voice was soft as a whisper, "Cousin’s characters have a hooked stroke at the end..."

Yuyan widened her eyes and examined the practice sheets on both sides. Each of her characters ended with a small hooked tip, especially the vertical strokes, but Xingde’s lacked this. Although both were clumsy, the individual characteristics were glaringly obvious.

Yinzhen nodded in approval of Xingde’s observation, then turned sternly to Yuyan. "How old are you, already scheming to deceive others into doing your homework?"

Yuyan felt her face burn with shame and bowed her head like a little rooster, too embarrassed to speak. Xingde was even more at a loss; though Yinzhen’s words were directed at Yuyan, he stood silently, unsure whether to speak. After all, it wasn’t his place to interrupt while her father was admonishing his daughter.

But weren’t those words meant for him as well? If Linzhu was the “mastermind,” he was certainly an “accomplice.”

As Yinzhen scolded, Xingde’s eyes quietly reddened. Now fully aware, he shuddered with fear. His cousin was the noble consort’s daughter—at worst, she’d be lightly punished—but he? The thought of Aunt Qi sternly warning him to behave or be sent home to become a pitiful orphan sent chills through him, his teeth chattering.

Yinzhen was engrossed in his lecture and hadn’t noticed Xingde trembling below. Yuyan, listening, glanced around and caught sight of her friend’s reddened eyes and shaking fingers.

Was it really that frightening? Her father wouldn’t eat people, would he?

Yuyan was puzzled, but seeing her companion on the verge of fainting, she bravely stepped forward. "Father! This was my doing—I tricked cousin into it. He’s just a child; it’s nothing to do with him. If you want to scold anyone, scold me."

Hearing that, Yinzhen couldn’t help but laugh and cry. His daughter was barely older, yet always acting like a little adult. If you really considered it, Xingde was older than her!

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Xingde suddenly lifted his head from its lowered position. Yuyan basked in the admiring look from his small eyes and felt like a heroic savior, rescuing someone from deep trouble. She spoke with more vigor, "Father! Everyone must take responsibility for their own actions! Please let cousin go."

Not bad—at least he was responsible.

Yinzhen tugged at the corner of his mouth and for the first time entertained the thought that it might have been better if Linzhu weren’t a princess. Why hadn’t the Lis borne him a son? But then again, thinking of the current turmoil with the eldest brother and the crown prince at the palace, he felt that a clever and bold sister like Linzhu was not so bad after all.

That said, punishment was still necessary. Yinzhen cleared his throat and said, "Though your cousin can only be considered an 'accomplice,' he helped you cheat on your studies. Very well. Xingde, copy fifteen sheets of large characters. As for Linzhu… double that—thirty sheets."

Xingde took it in stride, but Yuyan felt faint at hearing it.

Thirty sheets! She had already been dragging her feet over the ten sheets assigned earlier. To be honest, she found calligraphy boring and preferred doing something fun. Now asked to write thirty in one go, she felt as if her life was over.

After finishing the reprimand of the unfortunate Yuyan and Xingde, Yinzhen’s mind, troubled by matters at court, gradually settled.

This southern inspection tour was primarily due to repeated breaches in the Yellow and Huai rivers, flooding downstream areas. In recent months, millions of taels had been spent from the treasury on building dikes to prevent breaches, but after years of investment, no tangible results had appeared. The emperor had set out to inspect the river courses, give directives, and examine local officials and the welfare of the people.

What he found was troubling.

Repairing the rivers inevitably involved the former river governor Jin Fu, who was skilled in flood control but had died back in the 31st year of Kangxi’s reign. Now, the current governor, Yu Chenglong, had some expertise in water management but was old and unable to handle many tasks personally, delegating duties to subordinates. This delegation led to a major blunder—someone embezzled the flood control funds.

During the Kangxi emperor’s earlier southern tour, he had been pleased with the newly built dikes and the improvements to the Yongding River. The old man even ate a few mouthfuls during those days. But on the next day’s inspection, he noticed the wooden stakes along the riverbank were not the same as those previously reported to the court. The materials were short and unable to withstand the water flow. The purchasing agents must have mixed inferior goods with good ones, pocketing the difference.

The emperor valued flood control greatly. Once this scandal surfaced, it was handed over for investigation but no conclusion had yet emerged.

Historical records are filled with tales of official corruption. Yet when such matters landed squarely before Yinzhen, he couldn’t help but want to strike down these parasites on the nation’s body. Especially during his southern tour, seeing the people ruined by floods, homeless and hungry, his feelings reached a peak.

Meanwhile, Yuyan returned dejectedly to Lady Li’s chamber.

Lady Li lay reclined on the couch, wearing a soft apricot-colored silk cloak. One hand propped her head on a pillow, the other loosely held Hongfeng, who was playing with a nine-ring puzzle. She yawned lazily and smiled at her daughter. "Weren’t you supposed to be studying with your father? Why have you come back so soon?"

Chen Auntie and the others thought Yuyan was there to study, so for appearances, she replied vaguely, "Mother called me back to practice writing."

Practice writing, yes, but thirty sheets couldn’t be finished in a short time. Though Yuyan didn’t give up entirely, she wasn’t ready to think about the sudden increase in homework. Instead, she patted Hongfeng’s small bottom and played with him.

"I’ve noticed your brother seems thinner lately," Lady Li remarked.

Yuyan was playing a pushing game with Hongfeng. Hearing this, she lifted his little clothes. Seeing his round, chubby belly, she nodded with satisfaction. "Not thinner, not thinner. It’s getting hot soon. If he gets any fatter, he’ll be covered in sweat, and that’ll cause prickly heat."

Prickly heat was truly uncomfortable!

Hongfeng was no newborn baby; as he grew, he vaguely understood more and more. Being suddenly exposed like this, he burst into tears, hiccupping and calling his sister bad, which made Lady Li very distressed.

"Don’t be fooled by how small he is—he’s very proud," Lady Li said, laughing as if recalling something. "Last time I told aunt about him wetting the bed, he cried loudly like this—he can’t bear us speaking a word against him."

Yuyan understood then—her brother was probably going to be sensitive.

The mother and daughter chatted and laughed until mealtime. Yuyan was never picky about food; whatever the kitchen brought, she ate heartily. Hongfeng, who usually just drank milk, saw his sister eating well and clamored for rice too.

"You’re just like your sister—both mountain pigs who can’t eat fine bran," Lady Li sighed, patting Hongfeng’s head. "Oh well, I’ll make some steamed egg custard for the second young master."

With her belly full, Yuyan couldn’t help but retort, "People grow strong by eating grains. Look at my uncles’ families—they all drank milk until they were three or four. Which one is healthier than me now?"

Yuyan was not exaggerating. Thanks to Yinzhen’s support, she could now ride the Red Steed for a few laps. Compared to her elder uncle’s children, not even her peers or the one-year-older Hongyu could ride a horse.

The eldest prince and eldest noble consort treated this son like a precious treasure, afraid he might break, afraid he might melt away. As a result, besides developing a haughty temper, he was always sickly.

Though Lady Li rarely left the house, all the maids were from the palace, and with many sisters, they often chatted idly and knew the general situation in the other brothers’ households. Her daughter’s words were not without merit. She had been weak as a child, but since dining with them, her health had improved.

"Isn’t your birthday tomorrow? Around what time?"

Lady Li glanced at her. "Tomorrow you won’t be able to sleep in. Around the hour of the snake, Guo Luomama will arrive. She’ll have lunch here before leaving. In the afternoon, the emperor has invited a troupe for an opera performance. The noble consort and two other princesses will be there. You’re the birthday girl—you can’t avoid it."

Yuyan had no plans to run away. She was just calculating the time needed to write the large characters. With the birthday tomorrow, she definitely wouldn’t be able to write. Then she remembered Yinzhen hadn’t said when to submit the thirty sheets, so delaying a few days wasn’t a big deal. Relieved, she went back to teasing her brother.

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