94. Chapter 94: Full Moon

The Ninth Master pressed his lips together, savoring the faint bitterness in his mouth, a bitterness that soon gave way to sweetness. Yan Yan had called it chocolate, saying it embodied the taste of love. Once it melted on the tongue, it was exquisitely sweet, smooth, and tender. Whether it was that cloying delight or the faintly bitter torment beneath it, it all felt like the sweet suffering love brings to one’s heart.

In truth, this was not the first time the Ninth Master had tasted chocolate. Mu Jingyuan had once let him try it as well. But after a single bite, he had lost all interest in it. He had never expected that, tasting it again in Yan Yan’s hands today, he would find it so pleasant after all.

Could it be that the same food, prepared by different hands, truly tasted different?

To him, though, under Yan Yan’s silk-soft, seductive gaze, the chocolate seemed almost indescribably wonderful.

The Ninth Master held Yan Yan tightly in his arms. Truth be told, he had missed her, missed her with a longing carved deep into his bones. But her body had not yet fully recovered, and he knew he must not act recklessly.

At that thought, he could not help but sigh. His life was simply too tragic: the woman he loved was in his arms, and yet he could do nothing at all. Then it suddenly struck him that he had not gone to spend the night with any of his other wives and concubines for quite some time. Even during the days after Yan Yan’s confinement, he had either slept in the study or remained here in the Garden of Dreaming Silk.

Cold sweat broke out on the Ninth Master at once. Favoring one woman too exclusively was not a good thing; he could not spoil Yan Yan too much. If he lost all sense of proportion in the future, that would be troublesome. Thinking of this, he made as if to push Yan Yan away, only to see her leaning against his chest with a drowsy expression. His heart softened again. “Are you sleepy?”

“Mmm...” Yan Yan drawled the word, and the Ninth Master’s mouth curved upward before he could stop it.

In the end, the Ninth Master still did not leave the Garden of Dreaming Silk. It was not as though he could not go flatter his other women tomorrow. Besides, tomorrow would be the children’s first-month banquet; he could not bring himself to make Yan Yan too heartbroken today. Yes, that was right. He was doing all of this for the children.

On the twenty-third day of the ninth month in the forty-fifth year of Kangxi’s reign, it was the day the Ninth Master’s triplets turned one month old. In fact, nearly the whole city of Beijing remembered the date. Those who passed by Nine Delicacies Hall early that morning, and those who went to the Nine Delicacies Vegetable Shop to buy produce, all offered cheerful congratulations to the shop assistants. The assistants, for their part, were smiling from ear to ear. Whether customers came for breakfast or vegetables, they all noticed that the assistants were giving a little extra to everyone, and so the stream of people arriving to offer congratulations only grew larger.

At that very moment, in a teahouse across the street, Emperor Kangxi sat at a table dressed as an ordinary commoner, looking at Wu Dan beside him. “It seems the Ninth Prince has quite the reputation. Congratulations have been pouring in since early morning.”

Wu Dan looked at Kangxi awkwardly. How was he supposed to answer that? Kangxi had recently come to dislike the princes forming cliques and currying favor with one another. If he praised the Ninth Master now, would he be lumped together with the Eighth Prince’s faction? The thought alone made him uneasy.

Kangxi shot him a glare, and Wu Dan immediately stopped overthinking it and replied obediently, “Your Majesty, the Ninth Prince actually does not have a very good name among the imperial clan and the nobles. The people coming to congratulate him are all common folk. Recently, the Ninth Prince has been buying vegetables from the farmers at a fair price and selling them through the vegetable shop at a standardized rate, earning little more than labor costs. The farmers are all very grateful to him.”

After hearing this, Kangxi felt somewhat helpless. Who would have thought that the Ninth Master, so often denounced as a greedy profiteer, had turned into a prince beloved by the common people? At that thought, Kangxi suddenly narrowed his eyes and asked, “Has the Eighth Prince still been spending a lot of time with the imperial clan members lately?”

Wu Dan did not know what Kangxi was planning, so he could only nod silently. After all, the Eighth Prince had recently been making the rounds in the social circles of the ladies, and the Eighth Princess Consort had practically become the best friend of every noblewoman in Beijing. Everyone knew this. So Wu Dan nodded without the slightest pressure.

Kangxi’s gaze darkened again, though he did not ask anything further. Instead, he turned his attention back to Nine Delicacies Hall. By now, the entrance was a hive of carriages and horses. All male guests entered through the front, while the ladies’ carriages went straight to the back door and into the inner courtyard.

The decorations outside Nine Delicacies Hall also caught Kangxi’s eye. On the wall, painted in bright colors, were smiling images of three little children. One had to admit, the painting was truly lifelike; even Kangxi felt as though the three little ones might really look that way.

That wall had drawn a crowd early that morning, and Kangxi thought that if his own policies were painted on a wall like that, perhaps the common people would understand them more clearly.

By the time the princes and imperial relatives, as well as the nobles, had all arrived one after another, Kangxi could no longer sit still. He said to Wu Dan, “Let us go and have a look as well.” Only then did Wu Dan help him up and slowly descend the stairs.

Because Kangxi was traveling incognito, the Ninth Master knew nothing of it beforehand. At that moment, he was standing at the entrance to Nine Delicacies Hall in a festive sapphire robe, all smiles. Since he belonged to the Plain Blue Banner, he had deliberately dressed in blue that day. He had originally wanted to wear the formal auspicious robe of a prince, but then decided that would be somewhat too proper.

Yan Yan was also dressed in blue today, as were the babies. When Donggo Shi saw them outside the Garden of Dreaming Silk, her nose nearly twisted with fury. Just look at those five people—they were the perfect picture of a family.

The Ninth Master, however, did not think there was anything wrong with dressing this way. When he met Donggo Shi’s obviously stunned gaze, he even felt a little dissatisfied. It was Yan Yan who felt she had been careless; when she had the clothes made, she had not thought of Donggo Shi at all. Now, it seemed a little improper. And when the Ninth Master saw the clearly apologetic look in Yan Yan’s eyes, he became even more convinced that Donggo Shi was utterly lacking in grace.

Kangxi had not yet seen Yan Yan and the children, so he felt that the Ninth Master’s attire suited him very well. Before anything else, he silently gave the Ninth Master a favorable impression. The Ninth Master first noticed Wu Dan, and after a brief moment of surprise, he finally saw Kangxi. His face flushed with excitement, and he hurried forward. “Royal Father, what brings Your Majesty here?”

Kangxi swept him a glance and ignored that particularly clumsy remark, continuing to walk forward with long strides. Everyone present was from the court; there was not one among them who did not recognize Kangxi, and they all knelt at once.

Yet the way they looked at the Ninth Master became even more serious. Recently, he had been making quite a name for himself—first as the prince assigned to the Court of Colonial Affairs, and then with the emperor’s early bestowal of names upon his children. Most children in other households were nearly two years old before they were formally named, and only after they had truly survived infancy. Now, Kangxi had even come personally to attend the Ninth Master’s children’s first-month banquet. That alone was enough to make people think more deeply about the matter.

As for the Ninth Master’s brothers, their expressions turned even more interesting. Aside from the Crown Prince, who had not come because of his position, every other prince was present. Seeing Kangxi treat one so unequally, they all felt somewhat ill at ease.

So even though the dishes at the Ninth Master’s banquet were excellent, and the little baby cakes served as gifts were novel and charming, it did not stir much appetite among the guests. And after three rounds of drinks, Kangxi not only did not ask to see the children, but instead told the Ninth Master to take him next door to the Nine Delicacies Vegetable Shop for a look around.

By then it was midday, and aside from the shop assistants, there were almost no customers in the vegetable shop. The Ninth Master naturally understood such rules and did not have anyone clear the shop in advance. He simply supported Kangxi and led him in, while his brothers followed behind as a matter of course. Once the whole group had gone, the atmosphere at the banquet finally became lively again, and cups began to clink once more.

What the Ninth Master had never expected was that the moment he stepped into the vegetable shop with Kangxi, he would see Yan Yan holding the eldest young master, Hongzheng, and looking over the vegetables.

The Ninth Master clearly wanted to call out to Yan Yan, but Kangxi stopped him.

Yan Yan evidently had not noticed Kangxi and the others arriving. Holding Hongzheng in her arms, she stood before a row of tomatoes and said in a childish voice, “Be good, Hongzheng. This is called a tomato, and it is red. When Hongzheng gets a little bigger, Mama will cook noodles with tomatoes for you. They contain lots of vitamins, which can help strengthen your resistance. When Hongzheng grows up, you’ll be as tall and mighty as Father.”

Hearing this, the Ninth Master felt warmth well up in his heart.

As for his brothers, they all curled their lips in disdain. Among this whole crowd, only the Ninth Master had the most delicate features, all right? He was tall enough, yes, but there was nothing remotely mighty about him.

Kangxi had clearly also noticed Yan Yan’s robe, as well as the child in her arms, whose clothing matched the Ninth Master’s exactly. His brow furrowed slightly, and he too felt that the Ninth Master’s indulgence toward a side consort had gone too far. So he spoke up. “What are vitamins?”

That was the difference between an emperor’s attention and a prince’s attention. The princes had only been busy envying the Ninth Master for having a concubine who praised him, and none of them had noticed the new term coming out of Yan Yan’s mouth.

Yan Yan was clearly startled. Hongzheng in her arms nearly slipped, and the Ninth Master’s heart jumped into his throat. Fortunately, she quickly steadied herself, and after holding Hongzheng securely again, she curtsied to Kangxi. “Your daughter-in-law pays respects to Royal Father. May Royal Father be blessed.”

Kangxi grunted in acknowledgment, then led the princes into the shop. The assistants in the vegetable store were already terrified senseless; where had they ever seen a scene like this? They all knelt in the corners, too afraid to speak.

After rising, Yan Yan could not help looking toward the Ninth Master, wanting to read something from his expression. Who would have thought that Kangxi would notice her little movement and ask again, “I am asking you a question. Why are you looking at the Ninth Prince?”

Yan Yan felt that she truly had no way to explain what vitamins were, so she could only steel herself and say, “In reply to Royal Father, the Ninth Master is your daughter-in-law’s husband, so your daughter-in-law naturally must act according to her husband’s wishes.”

“Are you afraid of him?” Kangxi seemed to be in an excellent mood, actually discussing such a matter with Yan Yan.

The princes could not help having black lines appear on their foreheads. Yan Yan did too, but she still said, “In reply to Royal Father, your daughter-in-law is not afraid of the Ninth Master. Your daughter-in-law simply wishes to listen to the Ninth Master.”

The Ninth Master’s face reddened slightly, while the other princes looked at him with contempt.

What a fast road to ruin all this lovey-dovey business was.