Smallpox was a universally known incurable disease. Even Shunzhi himself had died of smallpox.

The fact that Kangxi had survived smallpox in his youth and was unlikely to die young from it was one of the reasons Shunzhi had favored him as his successor.

Now that the Crown Prince had also broken out in pox, everyone was waiting for news.

Whether they were waiting for news that the Crown Prince had successfully come through it, or news that he had inadvertently died young, remains unknown.

The Grand Empress Dowager made offerings to the Smallpox Goddess* and prayed devoutly every day. The consorts in the palace shut their doors and recited scriptures daily. (T/N: 痘娘娘 [Dou Niangniang] — folk deity invoked for protection against and recovery from smallpox.)

Kangxi had every department's memorials moved into the palace, and spent his days accompanying Yinreng… accompanying Yinreng as he went dashing wildly around the room.

Setting down his brush, Kangxi rubbed his forehead. "You're still running a low fever. What are you running around for?"

Yinreng lifted his pock-covered little face. "My face is itchy. Trying to distract myself."

Emperor Kangxi sighed.

Had he been this lively when he had smallpox? He'd been very young at the time and didn't remember clearly, but surely not like this!

Why was Yinreng still so full of energy with smallpox? It was giving him a headache.

"Quiet down. I need to revise memorials," Kangxi sighed.

Yinreng pouted.

Being locked up indoors was so boring, and he wasn't even allowed to run around? His bones felt like they'd gone slack from lying about.

The imperial physicians said smallpox patients couldn't be exposed to wind, so the windows were sealed tight.

The palace windows were all covered with paper or silk, letting in very little light. Once the doors and windows were shut, the room was dim, with only flickering candlelight providing any illumination. The atmosphere was very oppressive.

Yinreng wasn't used to such gloomy darkness and wanted to relieve the pressure in his chest by moving around. But Kangxi kept holding him still, saying he was too noisy.

Yinreng sighed like a little old man. This was worse than just being left alone.

Kangxi had no idea that personally serving this little ancestor had only earned him the little ancestor's silent disdain.

After finishing the day's memorials, Kangxi picked up a book to read to Yinreng.

When Yinreng contracted smallpox, Kangxi was so anxious that he almost fainted.

But seeing how energetic Yinreng was, his chances of surviving the pox seemed good. Kangxi finally relaxed, and a smile returned to his face.

This had to be the protection of their ancestors, the protection of the Qing's dragon aura. As expected of his Crown Prince.

But as Kangxi read aloud, his smile gradually faded, and he started wanting to hit his son.

Yinreng asked far too many questions, most of them strange and unexpected, leaving Kangxi unable to answer them several times.

Emperors all cared deeply about saving face. Would Kangxi admit he couldn't answer? Of course not.

He forced himself to maintain his composure while racking his brain for answers.

Yinreng: "Sweet potato seedlings already existed in the Southern Song Dynasty. Why were they only widely cultivated in our Qing Dynasty?"

Kangxi: "Probably because they were stupid." Was that even true?

Yinreng: "Why did the previous Ming burn their large ocean ships?"

Kangxi: "Because the maritime expeditions emptied the national treasury…"

Yinreng: "But the officials who pushed for the maritime ban had their own families running overseas smuggling operations. If they could profit, why couldn't the Ming?"

Kangxi: "Probably because the Ming emperors were stupid." Was that also true?

Yinreng: "The world is so big. England's colonies are so vast that they're called the empire where the sun never sets. Why don't we have any colonies?"

Kangxi: "We've only just crossed into the pass… Wait, how do you know about England?"

Yinreng shifted the blame: "Grandpa told me."

Kangxi frowned, his displeasure rising.

His Crown Prince was his to teach. Why is Khan-Father interfering?

But putting himself in the man's place, Khan-Father could only speak to simple-minded Yinreng now. Of course, he would teach him.

And besides, that was his own father, so Kangxi really couldn't say anything about it.

Kangxi quickly closed the book to prevent any more unanswerable questions.

Changing the subject, he asked, "When did Mafa say all this? You've never mentioned any of it to Father before."

Yinreng reflexively reached up to scratch his cheek before answering, but Kangxi caught his hand.

Yinreng's face had been wrapped by Kangxi himself in several layers of breathable bandages, leaving only his eyes, two nostrils, and a small mouth exposed.

"No scratching, your face will be disfigured." Kangxi was very satisfied with the wrapping job he'd done. He pulled out a Western mirror to show Yinreng.

Yinreng saw the zombie baby in the mirror and hesitated to speak.

Great. He was charmed by his own appearance.

As expected of you, Yinreng! Even as a zombie baby, you're still this cute!

"Grandpa said a lot. I can't remember it all." Yinreng touched his bandaged cheek. "Just suddenly remembered. Father, you didn't ask."

Kangxi: "……So now this is Father's fault?"

Yinreng: "Yes! Ow!"

Kangxi opened Yinreng's palm and slapped it sharply.

If he couldn't flick the brat's forehead or spank his bottom, was he not even allowed to slap his palm?

This brat needs to be disciplined.

"I'm sick!" Yinreng wailed at full volume, "Father, you can't hit me!"

"Slapping your palm doesn't count as hitting." Kangxi hauled the would-be escapee back. "What else did Grandpa say?"

Yinreng repeated his line: "Can't remember."

Kangxi sighed. This rascal. Apart from occasionally remembering something on his own, it seemed he could only answer when asked specific questions.

Kangxi asked, "Besides England, what other countries do you know?"

Squirming under Kangxi's arm and trying to escape again, Yinreng said, "Netherlands! Beat them to death!"

"The Netherlands that occupied Taiwan and got driven out by Zheng Chenggong? Yes, they should be beaten to death." Kangxi pressed Yinreng back into his chest and gave his palm another smack. Yinreng finally settled down.

Once the Three Feudatories were dealt with, Kangxi fully intended to point his sword at Taiwan. He already regarded Taiwan as Qing territory. So in his eyes, the Netherlands, which occupied Taiwan during the chaos at the end of the Ming, was a hostile foreign power eyeing his territory.

Yinreng went on, "France! Lots of land! Soil so fertile you scatter seeds and they grow without any tending!"

Kangxi was skeptical. "Is there really anywhere more prosperous than our Great Qing?"

Yinreng asked, "Father, have you been there to see it?"

Kangxi: "……No."

Yinreng's big eyes peered out from the bandages, gleaming with disdain. "Seeing is believing, hearing is doubting. Grandpa said so."

Kangxi: "……"

Yinreng rocked his head back and forth. "Xuanye, you've read so many Han books you've gone stupid."

Kangxi: "……" That tone, that bearing. Was Yinreng imitating Khan-Father?

From childhood on, he'd been almost entirely self-taught, choosing what books to read for himself.

You died young, and you've still got the nerve to call me stupid for reading too much?

Yinreng pointed dramatically at the sky. "Whatever foreign lands have, our Great Qing must have too! Those fertile lands overseas, if they can occupy them, the Great Qing can too! The Great Qing should be the true empire on which the sun never sets!"

Kangxi fell into thought.

So bold? Was this really my Father's character? Wasn't he always being suppressed by Dorgon and Imperial Grandmother? Wasn't he the sentimental sort who… wait. Suppressed?

Kangxi began to understand why the "Grandpa" Yinreng spoke of was completely unlike the Shunzhi he himself had known.

When Khan-Father was young, he'd been suppressed by Dorgon. Once Dorgon was gone, he'd been suppressed by Imperial Grandmother. He'd used all kinds of extreme methods to vent his dissatisfaction, and in the end, he'd won out every time. That kind of temperament didn't sound like someone without ambition.

Unfortunately, Khan-Father had died of smallpox in his prime, and his grand ambitions were buried with him. He'd probably bottled up a chest-full of frustration, hoping his sons and grandsons would inherit those ambitions and carry them forward.

The grandson might be a bit slow for the moment, but he could serve as a megaphone for Khan-Father's brilliant, intelligent son.

It's just that this megaphone was a little annoying.

Kangxi patted his clamoring son. "Overseas… Is overseas really that good?"

At this stage, Kangxi had not yet developed the "our Great Qing is vast and rich, the Heavenly Court of all nations" mindset.

The Qing Dynasty had only crossed into the pass two generations ago, and Shunzhi hadn't accomplished much before his early death. The foundations of Great Qing were being laid by Kangxi himself.

Once everything stabilized, after Kangxi had witnessed the prosperity of a less chaotic Chinese realm, heard countless flatteries, and read countless tribute-essays, he might as well grow arrogant and self-satisfied. But for now…

While the east of the Qing wasn't in chaos, the west was. Moreover, the south was flooded while the north was drought-stricken. Even young Kangxi had moments of restless frustration, wondering why this place had so many wretched problems.

"Yes!" Yinreng saw Kangxi taking the bait and immediately got excited.

Father and son were both bored while locked in the palace, so Kangxi finally had time to listen to Yinreng prattle on. Normally, Kangxi would tease his son a bit, ask a few questions about the curse, then immediately go off to handle other affairs.

Yinreng was not good at making things up, and he often stuttered when he lied.

Fortunately, he was young, and his tangled-up lies sounded more like the truth for it. If Yinreng's reasoning had been too coherent and his speech too fluent, Kangxi would have suspected a conspiracy.

Yinreng leapt from the vast plains of North America to the dense forests of South America. He chattered from Africa's countless gold, silver, and gemstone mines to the wild game so abundant on Australia's grasslands that it was hardly ever hunted. With one stick in hand and one mallet in the other, he jumped from one location to another just as Kangxi was beginning to take an interest. This constant movement drove Kangxi to the brink of impatience.

The Qing had Western missionaries, but they always said the East was good and the West was bad. Were they deceiving him?

Kangxi started entertaining conspiracy theories.

Once suspicion had taken root, Kangxi found himself deepening the conspiracy theory by paying attention to every small detail.

Many of the improvements in the Qing Dynasty, such as red-coat cannons, were adaptations of Western cannons. Sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn were introduced from the West, along with several essential medicines. In addition, valuable items like Western mirrors and clocks were imported from abroad. It seemed clear that the West had much to offer.

Kangxi muttered to himself, "Then why are the Western missionaries so respectful toward the Qing?"

Yinreng asked, "Is it the same kind of respect that the Qing Dynasty showed the previous Ming Dynasty?"

Kangxi sighed. "Baocheng, why would you say that? Did Granpa tell you so?"

Yinreng nodded. "Granpa said this is called 'qián...' (front)."

He got stuck.

What was the phrase again?

His grasp of idioms had been handed back to his Chinese teacher the moment he finished the college entrance exam. Now, wanting to deploy an idiom to demonstrate "this is the high-quality phrasing Grandpa uses," he couldn't for the life of him remember how it went.

Sigh, if only I could go online and search now. I'll never complain about you again, Baidu!

Yinreng rocked his bandaged head back and forth, muttering "qián..." (front) then "hòu …" (back) until Kangxi laughed out loud.

"It's qián gōng hòu jù (respectful at first, arrogant later)," Kangxi explained. "The allusion comes from the Strategies of the Warring States. The original is qián jù hòu gōng (arrogant at first, respectful later), but depending on the situation, it can be used in reverse. I've read this allusion to you before. How come you remember nothing?"

Clutching his head, Yinreng said, "Oh."

This grandpa* may be illiterate, but my confidence shines on. (T/N: 爷 [yé] — slangy first-person used by men, lit. "grandpa/master"; modern internet swagger.)

As long as the goal is achieved, everything is fine.

 

 

 

 

Author's Note:

Emperor Kangxi still harbors some affection for Emperor Shunzhi. If Yinreng were to bring up Shunzhi again when he is ten years older, he would likely fulfill his dream of being imprisoned.