Chapter 95: Great Governance

Emperor Kangxi clearly had never expected Yan Yan to answer him in such a way, and for a moment he could not think of a reply. But who was Kangxi? He naturally gave no thought to Yan Yan’s feelings. Instead, he pointed at the child in her arms and asked, “Is this the eldest or the second?”

Seeing that the emperor had been led away by her answer, Yan Yan finally let out a quiet breath of relief. She took two steps forward and offered Hongzheng into his arms. “Father Emperor, this is Hongzheng. Would you like to hold him?”

The Ninth Prince immediately stepped forward and caught hold of Yan Yan’s wrist. “Yan Yan...”

Yan Yan looked at him in surprise, her wide eyes full of innocent bewilderment. Kangxi had already glared at the Ninth Prince several times, but still reached out and took Hongzheng into his arms. Hongzheng was only a month old, yet his large eyes clearly took after Yan Yan’s, bright and full of life.

The moment he met Kangxi’s gaze, he let out a soft, babbling laugh: “Heh...”

That little sound was oddly comical, and it instantly lifted Kangxi’s mood. Smiling at him, he said, “You know your imperial grandfather, do you?”

“Heh...”

Hongzheng laughed again in that same lilted way, and Kangxi grew even more pleased. He turned to Wu Dan beside him and said, “This child can actually understand what I am saying, and he is only a month old.”

Yan Yan felt a little awkward. She thought Kangxi’s self-regard was simply too great. What could a one-month-old possibly understand? He only wanted to smile at the moment. But the Ninth Prince and his brothers did not see it that way.

The Ninth Prince naturally believed his own son could do anything under heaven or sea, that in all of Great Qing there was not another child as clever as his eldest son. As for the other princes, they began to feel that the Ninth Prince was truly lucky. After all, Kangxi had so many grandsons—how many had he ever held himself, let alone a tiny one barely a month old, a child too young to show much of anything?

No, not too young to show anything at all. Kangxi had already given him a verdict: clever. That was the emperor’s imperial word, spoken with absolute authority. Even the Eighth Prince’s gaze toward the Ninth Prince turned complicated, let alone anyone else’s.

Kangxi held Hongzheng and played with him for quite some time. Hongzheng also cooperated beautifully—he did not fuss, did not cry, and of course did not wet the emperor’s robes. By the time Kangxi handed him back to the Ninth Prince, Hongzheng even gave a few symbolic little sounds of protest, which made Kangxi smile with even greater satisfaction.

As the Ninth Prince took Hongzheng back and returned him to Yan Yan, he quickly murmured, “Hurry and take your leave.”

Yan Yan understood at once. She secured Hongzheng in her arms and was just about to bow when Kangxi asked, “Where are the other two children?”

Yan Yan hurriedly replied, “In answer to Father Emperor, the Sixth Princess and the Second Prince are asleep at the Nine-Flavors House. Hongzheng has been wide awake, so this consort brought him out for a little stroll.”

Kangxi gave a quiet “Mm,” and for a while said no more.

Yan Yan was again preparing to take her leave when Kangxi asked another question. “Was the arrangement of this produce shop your idea?”

Yan Yan’s heart gave a small jolt, and she glanced at the Ninth Prince. Seeing that he gave no signal, she answered, “In answer to Father Emperor, at the beginning I had wanted to open the shop myself, but the staff was limited, so I came up with this arrangement. Later, Your Highness felt that such an arrangement would make things a little more comfortable for the common people, so he took it up again.”

Kangxi nodded once more, his expression unchanged. Yan Yan truly felt that she was not suited to dealing with someone like Kangxi. Every exchange with him left her feeling blocked up and uncomfortable. Thinking it over, she still preferred the Ninth Prince. Though he could be emotional at times, he was far easier to communicate with.

This time Yan Yan did not wait any longer. She simply made Hongzheng cry in her arms, used the excuse that the child was hungry, and hurriedly took her leave.

Kangxi looked after her retreating figure, then suddenly said to the Ninth Prince, “Miss Yan is an intelligent woman. You should pay more attention to her in the future.”

The Ninth Prince felt a little embarrassed. He did not know what exactly lay behind Kangxi’s words, so he could only agree over and over.

Meanwhile, the emperor’s sons all felt a sudden tightness in their chests. When would they ever receive such warm, spring-breeze concern from Kangxi? Instead of living each day on edge, wondering which duty they had failed and whether they would be scolded for it?

Kangxi made a full circuit of the Nine-Flavors Shop, asking about the price of every kind of vegetable and also inquiring which produce the Ninth Prince could guarantee a steady supply of through the winter. It was already the end of the ninth month, and winter would soon arrive—the most serious test for a produce shop.

Kangxi’s questions made it clear to all the princes at once. This produce shop of the Ninth Prince’s had certainly been opened with Kangxi’s approval, since the emperor knew its workings so well.

Just as everyone was racking their brains, trying to remember when Kangxi had ever given instructions about the shop, the Ninth Prince suddenly curved his lips into a mischievous smile. “Father Emperor, I have already calculated the profits from these past few months. When should I send them to you, sir?”

Kangxi gave a quiet hum. Only after all the princes had widened their eyes did he speak slowly. “Keep them for now. I will send someone to collect them another day.”

If anyone were to study the expressions on the princes’ faces at that moment, they could easily compile an entire album.

So the Ninth Prince’s shop had been Kangxi’s from the very beginning.

So all the money the Ninth Prince had earned was really the emperor’s private purse.

No wonder the Ninth Prince had been rising so swiftly of late. No wonder fortune had suddenly turned in his favor. It turned out he had long ago latched onto Kangxi’s line, and long ago tied his interests to the emperor’s.

Naturally, Kangxi had no idea that his sons behind him were all pounding their chests in frustration. In high spirits, he even sampled the braised delicacies from the Ninth Prince’s shop and gave them a fine review. That made the young man in charge of the braised dishes nearly weep with joy, and the Ninth Prince seemed to see silver and white money flowing straight into his own pockets.

After lingering in the shop for a long while, Kangxi finally put on a stern face and began to lecture the Ninth Prince. “Why has the memorial concerning the martial palace examination still not been presented? Even if there is no silver, there is no need to fear it. You have so many brothers. Are they going to watch you go bankrupt?”

The Ninth Prince’s brothers immediately felt that life had become impossible to bear, but they still told him earnestly that if he had any difficulty at all, he should speak up without hesitation.

Kangxi nodded with satisfaction, and only then did he return to the palace with Wu Dan and a company of guards.

None of the Ninth Prince’s brothers left. They all silently looked at him, their eyes gleaming with the ferocity of wolves and tigers. The Ninth Prince gave a strained little smile. “Brothers, let us go drink.”

At once, his brothers thought of something: since they would have to fill the Ninth Prince’s coffers sooner or later anyway, they might as well drink enough tonight to make it worth their while. So when night fell, many imperial relatives appeared all over Beijing, staggering slowly with hands on the walls, simply because they had eaten far too much.

Yet even after eating themselves nearly to bursting, everyone still had to admit that the Ninth Prince truly knew a great deal about food. The meal they had today tasted even better than the palace’s grand Manchu-Han banquet.