Zhongcui Palace was located to the east of the Forbidden City.

At this moment, the sun was sinking westward, and the heavy shadow of the palace walls pressed down over the courtyard.

The glazed roof tiles gleamed brilliantly in the sunlight. The stark contrast between light and shadow made the shaded courtyard feel even more oppressive, as if something unclean were truly lurking within it.

Master Dehai and Daoist Zhang were swept along by a crowd of palace attendants and, before they quite knew what was happening, found themselves in the courtyard of Zhongcui Palace too.

The two religious men were not only male, but they were also Han Chinese.

We've ended up in the emperor's harem? Are we even getting out of here alive? Cold sweat streamed down their backs.

Fortunately, both were well-traveled and experienced, so they steadied themselves quickly.

Master Dehai sat cross-legged on the ground, holding his prayer beads and chanting sutras, whether praying for the mother and child within Zhongcui Palace or driving something away, it was hard to tell.

Daoist Zhang was even more theatrical. He pulled out a talisman, bit his fingertip and dabbed blood onto it, then yanked the wooden sword ornament from his waist and planted it into the ground. Half-kneeling with eyes closed, he muttered incantations under his breath.

The actions of the two religious figures made even Emperor Kangxi a little uneasy.

He gripped Yinreng's hand tightly. So tightly it hurt.

The Grand Empress Dowager asked anxiously, "What's happening? Is something wrong? Why is she screaming so terribly? This isn't Lady Ma-Jia's first time giving birth!"

The midwife lay prostrate on the ground, trembling. "Wh-when the baby was about to be delivered, somehow the position shifted. If it can't be corrected…"

The Grand Empress Dowager's vision went black, and Sumalagu had to support her.

Lady Ma-Jia's pregnancy had been smooth, and she had barely shown any symptoms. The Grand Empress Dowager thought that the palace would finally welcome another healthy child. But who would have thought that the fetal position would suddenly turn at the very moment of birth?

This was a curse. This had to be a curse!

She looked toward Yinreng with hope. But upon seeing his innocent, childlike face, she immediately withdrew her gaze.

"It's alright. With the master and the Daoist here, everything will be fine," she said, forcing calm into her voice. "Take Baocheng away. It's too chaotic here, don't frighten him."

For a fleeting moment, she really had pinned her hopes of saving the child by letting Yinreng draw the curse away.

But the Crown Prince being fine now didn't mean he would remain unharmed if he absorbed too much of it. Compared to the uncertain fate of the child in Lady Ma-Jia's womb, the Crown Prince was clearly more important, and her feelings for him ran deeper.

"Don't worry. I'm already attracting the curse." Yinreng said, looking at the monk and Daoist sitting and kneeling in the snow. He forced himself to concentrate, bringing his adult mind to the forefront.

Late February in Beijing was a spring cold snap, colder even than midwinter. Though the two men sat and knelt on the snow, their backs were soaked with sweat.

They were terrified.

How could they not be, when this involved imperial heirs?

I dragged them into this. Yinreng thought as he closed his eyes, unable to bear it.

He could court death himself, but he wasn't going to drag others into dying for it. Kangxi wouldn't kill his own son, but he would kill countless outsiders for his son's sake.

As Yinreng closed his eyes, memories from his past life came flickering through his mind once more, like a revolving lantern.

The blurred faces of those who had died in groups, because Kangxi used the excuse of the Crown Prince's tyranny, kept flashing before his eyes.

The original, native-born Crown Prince Yinreng didn't care about those people. Back then, he only felt anger and fear over the deaths of people he personally knew.

But this Yinreng, the tiny dumpling whose values had been formed in modern society, couldn't be indifferent.

For the first time, he truly felt how hard it was to court death without dragging others down with him.

"Baocheng!" Seeing the usually muddle-headed little child suddenly show such a mature expression, Kangxi was alarmed.

Ignoring the onlookers, he pulled Yinreng tightly into his arms. "Baocheng! You are not allowed to draw in the curse! You are the Crown Prince, you are my most important child!"

Yinreng opened his eyes. Kangxi's anxious expression overlapped with the aged face he remembered from his past life.

They really were nothing alike.

This lifetime's Father is more handsome, kinder to me, and more open with his feelings.

"It's alright. That's also Father's child, my younger brother or sister. Protecting the younger siblings is what an older brother should do. And I'll be fine. I'm the Crown Prince, the Baturu of the Great Qing."

Yinreng hugged Kangxi's face with his chubby hands and rubbed his slightly wind-chilled cheeks against Kangxi's equally cold ones.

"Baocheng is angry. Baocheng doesn't like the dark thing bullying Father and our family. Baocheng is a man, and he can protect Father and the family. Father, let the master and the Daoist leave. They can't do anything. Only Baocheng can…"

Just as Yinreng was racking his brain to take the responsibility on himself and let the two men escape unharmed, he suddenly felt something warm against his cheek.

He froze, letting go of Kangxi's face, staring blankly at Kangxi's reddened eyes.

Uh… no way. No way. Did I overact and make emperor-dad cry?

Now that everyone here has seen this embarrassing scene of me making emperor-dad cry, am I done for?

Don't, Dad! You're making me feel guilty!

"Your Majesty! Grand Empress Dowager! It's working! It's working! The position has been corrected!"

At that moment, another midwife rushed out, overjoyed.

Yinreng: "……"

Wait, hold on. Third brother, aren't you being a little too cooperative? I was just about to climb the wall, and you've already installed the escalator?

As expected of my diehard supporter from my past life. Big brother's got your back from now on!

Yinreng let out a breath of relief. The third prince was safely born, and the monk and Daoist were saved.

He was quietly celebrating to himself, but the announcement of good news didn't bring the expected joy from the two most powerful figures in the palace.

Kangxi pulled Yinreng tightly into his arms again, buried his face in the little cap atop Yinreng's head, and said nothing.

The Grand Empress Dowager tilted her head back, staring at the gleaming golden roof tiles, her expression blank and pained, like a statue.

As the sun continued to move, the light and shadow over Zhongcui Palace shifted again. Though it was almost dark, the courtyard seemed to grow brighter.

A perfectly ordinary change in evening light, but to those present, it carried a different meaning.

Master Dehai and Daoist Zhang opened their eyes at the same time.

They exchanged a glance, and both let out a long sigh.

They hadn't seen any "dark thing," and their rituals hadn't seemed to do anything. But right after the Crown Prince spoke, the laboring lady had suddenly been saved. So that "dark thing" must exist after all.

A loud cry rang out.

From within Zhongcui Palace came the vigorous wailing of a newborn, full of energy, sounding very healthy.

Another attendant came out to announce, "It's a prince! A perfectly healthy prince! Your Majesty, Grand Empress Dowager, Lady Ma-Jia and her son are safe!"

And yet, after the announcement, the courtyard remained quiet, save for the whispering wind.

Clinging to Kangxi's neck, Yinreng whispered, "It's a healthy little brother. Father, it's all over now. Little brother is fine, and so is Baocheng."

Kangxi rubbed his face hard against Yinreng's little cap. When he lifted his head again, aside from the faint redness at the corners of his eyes, he had returned to the unreadable emperor of the Great Qing.

"Reward!"

His voice was firm, decisive.

The Grand Empress Dowager closed her eyes. When she opened them again, the kindness that had filled her gaze for years was gone, replaced by the sharpness of an eagle over the steppe. Just as it had been when Shunzhi suddenly contracted smallpox and died, and when she established her eight-year-old grandson on the throne.

"Reward."

——————

Master Dehai and Daoist Zhang both left the palace.

Kangxi bestowed rewards upon them, without uttering a single word of warning.

He didn't need to. The monk and the Daoist would never dare speak of what had happened inside.

After returning, both men settled their affairs and passed their teachings on to others. Then both came back to Beijing, Dehai finding a Buddhist temple, Daoist Zhang a Daoist monastery, and they remained there for the rest of their lives, never stepping beyond the city again.

That night.

Whether from standing too long in the cold wind or from the strain of intense concentration draining too much of his strength, Yinreng came down with a low-grade fever.

It wasn't serious and just needed to rest. He had run a similar recurring low-grade fever the previous year for nearly half a year, yet remained as lively as ever.

To prevent Kangxi from linking it to backlash from the "curse," Yinreng deliberately complained at length about why Kangxi had made him wait outside in the freezing weather to begin with.

Normally, shouldn't you be sitting by a stove in the side hall next door?

Kangxi flicked his forehead until it swelled. "Normally? Normally, when a concubine gives birth, neither your great-grandma nor I would be standing guard at all!"

Clutching his forehead, Yinreng rolled around groaning.

The nerve! I'm sick, and you're still hitting me! Tyrant! Trash dad!

Kangxi snorted. Taking advantage of the fact that Yinreng rarely cried, he pinned the squirming child across his knee and went at his bottom with a flurry of slaps.

Even the usually self-protective imperial physician was alarmed and rushed in to stop him.

You can spank your son anytime, but not when he has a fever!

Kangxi understood that perfectly well, but he simply couldn't hold back.

He compared Yinreng's medical records from last year and found that the periods when Yinreng fell ill matched up exactly with the periods when his health improved. How could he not suspect something and not feel the urge to discipline his son?

Yinreng felt utterly wronged.

Young children simply have weaker immune systems and fall sick easily. Age three is a hurdle. Age six is another. Each time they pass one, their health improves significantly. Last year, Yinreng had crossed the three-year-old hurdle, and his health had been better ever since. Wasn't that perfectly natural?

But given this coincidence, he couldn't explain himself, and didn't dare to. So he could only cover his head and endure the spanking.

Fortunately, his dad pitied him for being sick, so the blows were light. As long as Yinreng wailed a bit for show, it would be over quickly.

"If your grandpa tells you anything else, you must remember it well."

After beating the child, Kangxi personally fed him bitter medicine and popped a candied fruit into his mouth.

Smacking his lips, Yinreng nestled against Kangxi's leg and closed his eyes to sleep, showing none of his earlier dramatic howling. His acting was completely unconvincing.

Kangxi tapped his little nose. Yinreng wrinkled it like a piglet and swatted weakly at Kangxi's hand with a chubby little palm. Then the medicine's drowsiness took hold, and he sank into deep sleep.

Kangxi carried him aside, tucked a small blanket around him, then spread out paper and picked up a brush.

The next day, an imperial edict was issued.

The Fifth Prince was to be sent out of the palace, to be raised in the household of Garu, Chief Minister of the Imperial Household Department.

When Concubine Ula-Nara received the edict, her heart jolted. The cup in her hand slipped and shattered on the floor.

The events at Zhongcui Palace had been tightly sealed off by Kangxi and the Grand Empress Dowager. Yinreng and Kangxi had spoken too softly for anyone but those close at hand to overhear, and she had no knowledge of any "curse."

Kangxi's sudden order to send her son out of the palace made Ula-Nara suspect that her family's secret contact with the Yehe Nara clan had been exposed.

 

 

Author's Note:

According to historical records, when Yinreng was made Crown Prince at age one, the imperial edict had already used his formal name with the generational character 胤 (Yin). From this we can infer that the First Prince had likely also received his formal Yin- name by then, while "Baoqing" and "Baocheng" were both childhood milk names.