bookrandom Chapter 179 Father, your idea is a bit dangerous!
Chapter 179 Father, your idea is a bit dangerous!
As expected, Yinzhuo kept his word, saying he would come to see his father after he had had his fill of playing. Before that, he didn't set foot in the Qianqing Palace once. And what was he busy with every day? If you were to list them all, he was incredibly busy…
First of all, he wakes up quite late every day. He has to visit his mother every few days, right? If he goes to his mother's place, then how can his maternal grandmother be left out? And he has to take care of his brothers, right? Since he came back, Little Fourteen has almost grown up in his little courtyard.
This is just what's inside the palace. It's been so long since he's been to Yajixuan. Now that he has some free time, why not go there to drink tea and listen to stories? And then there's Enzeyuan. Although Suhaqi manages it and there's nothing to worry about, I still have to go and take a look since he has some free time. After all, it's his own property. There are so many delicious and fun places in the capital. Recently, he's become obsessed with cockfighting. If he wasn't worried about causing chaos in the Southern Third Palace, Yinzhuo would definitely bring a couple of cockfighting cocks back for himself to play with.
"Liang Jiugong, how long has it been since Yinzhuo last came here? What has he been busy with lately?"
As Liang Jiugong's primary focus, he could at least give a general idea of Yinzhuo's whereabouts these days, if not know it perfectly. So when Kangxi asked, he answered immediately.
"Your Majesty, Prince Zhao has not visited the Qianqing Palace for almost half a month. In the past few days, Prince Zhao has been going to the Yaji Pavilion the most, but in the past few days he seems to have become obsessed with cockfighting and has been spending the most time at the cockfighting arena."
Hearing that Yinzhi had been spending a lot of time at the cockfighting arena lately, Kangxi's first reaction was to summon the boy and discipline him. However, thinking of Yinzhi's temper, he could only console himself, "The child is still laughing; it's inevitable that he'll be curious about things he hasn't encountered before. As the saying goes, it's better to guide than to suppress..."
"Liang Jiugong, go and find that brat for me."
Well, it seems the old man's self-pity failed. So, Yinzhuo, who was having a great time at the cockfighting arena, was dragged back by the men his father sent. Standing at the gate of Qianqing Palace, Yinzhuo was still completely bewildered. What was wrong with his father this time? He hadn't provoked him recently. Was he angry because he'd been too busy having fun and hadn't had time to visit him? But even so, was it really necessary to send imperial guards to arrest him?
"Father, is there something important you need from your son? He's having a great time playing over there, and he's about to win..."
"Hmm, I can see that now. After all, there's a chicken feather on his head. He's having a lot of fun." Kangxi frowned, got up and walked to Yinzhuo's side. He was about to reach out and remove the chicken feather from Yinzhuo's head when he suddenly seemed to be frozen in place by something. His hand paused, and he took a few steps back with a look of disgust.
"Yinzuo, did you go to a cockfighting arena or a chicken coop? Why do you smell like that? Liang Jiugong, come here right now and take him away to wash him properly before bringing him back. The smell on him is too strong..."
Although Yinzhu didn't go into the chicken coop, he knew that spending too much time in the cockfighting arena would inevitably leave him with the smell of the chicken coop. He knew that he didn't smell good at the moment, so he didn't argue with Kangxi's words and obediently followed Liang Jiugong to the back bathroom to wash himself thoroughly as his father had asked.
"Father, smell me, there's no smell on your son now, right? You haven't answered my question yet. Why did you call me here in such a hurry? Is there something important?"
When Kangxi first learned that Yinzhuo had been spending several days in a row at the cockfighting arena, he was indeed quite angry. At that time, he only thought about bringing the boy back and giving him a good lesson. But now that the boy was actually standing in front of him waiting to be taught a lesson, the father's love began to overflow again. Since he couldn't bear to hit or scold him, it seemed that the only way left was to educate him with a gentle and patient approach.
"Yinzuo, I heard from the servants that you've been going to the cockfighting arena outside the city quite often these days. It's not that I forbid you from playing, but you must know that everything should be done in moderation. You must not let yourself become obsessed with frivolous pursuits. Tell me honestly, have you participated in any gambling at the cockfighting arena...?"
Yinzhuo had no idea what his father was imagining again. Seeing that his father's words were getting more and more outrageous, he quickly stopped him. He was afraid that if his father continued to make things up like this, he would be burdened with countless unfounded accusations.
"Stop, Father, what are you thinking? Although your son is mischievous, there are three things he will never touch in his life, and gambling happens to be one of them. Besides, your son just thinks cockfighting is interesting, so he bought two cocks to keep there for fun. It's not like he's wasting his life on frivolous pursuits. Don't you know your son? Apart from money, I don't have such a strong attachment to anything else. Don't worry, once the novelty wears off, even if you make me go to the cockfighting arena, I won't go."
Yinzhuo made a good point: over the years, apart from money, he really hadn't shown much interest in anything else. He liked quite a few things, but most of them were just fleeting interests. So it was obvious that Kangxi was convinced by his words.
"Okay, just keep your own judgment in mind. But cockfighting arenas are a mixed bag, so it's best to avoid going there too often."
Indeed, just as Yinzhuo himself said, he got tired of going to the cockfighting arena after a while. He didn't want to go to the cockfighting arena anymore, and he was also tired of listening to storytelling at the Elegant Gathering Pavilion. Apart from having to go to the Ministry of Works every few days to make an appearance, there wasn't much to do. And since the weather hadn't fully warmed up yet, Yinzhuo simply stopped going anywhere. He spent his days either holed up in his small courtyard in the South Third Palace or lounging around at his father's place. This continued until the weather outside finally warmed up.
After spring arrived and flowers bloomed, Yinzhuo received two pieces of news, one good and one bad. The good news was that the mansion his father had bestowed upon him was finally completed after more than a year of renovation and expansion. The bad news was that he hadn't had a chance to move in for the past two years. It wasn't that his father had gone back on his word and wanted to take the mansion back, but rather that his future mother-in-law had suddenly fallen seriously ill and passed away, so his wedding, which was scheduled for August of this year, had to be postponed.
"Tell me what's going on here. At the last minute, things have changed. If I had known this would happen, I should have let you two get married in the first place. Urentuya is such a stubborn girl, insisting on staying faithful for three years. But how old will you be after three years? How about this, I..."
Kangxi was clearly quite upset about the postponement of Yinzhuo's marriage. Although he didn't finish his sentence, Yinzhuo felt that his father's unfinished words were somehow dangerous. Could it be that he was planning to find him another marriage?
"Father, your idea is a bit dangerous. Why don't we calm down and talk about it again?"