My father-in-law is Kangxi

Chapter 1731 Getting Rich
Because they had to travel further, the brothers discussed dinner arrangements and then dispersed.

The team set out again, and because the official road was flat, they arrived at Yaoting Palace at noon.

The people from the Ninth Prince's Mansion had already bought ten barrels of fresh fish and sent them over.

The Ninth Prince directly called the palace steward and said, "Today is my birthday, so add more dishes tonight, it's my birthday. Eight dishes will be served to the Imperial Court and the Empress Dowager, six dishes will be served to the Consort's mother and the Crown Prince, four dishes will be served to the Imperial Concubine's mother, and two dishes will be served to the Noble Lady, the First Concubine, and the Thirteenth Concubine..."

At this point, he said, "Prepare another table of food and send it to your residence. Use a little rice wine and shochu, and prepare a portion of fruit water."

The palace steward bowed in response.

The Ninth Prince knew that there were no good chefs in the imperial palace kitchen, so he said, "See which chef among the escorts is idle, and give him some money to make him work harder in the afternoon..."

As he said this, he asked He Yuzhu to take the purse to the steward and said, "It's my birthday, thank you for all the trouble they have put in. Please give the silver to them on my behalf."

The steward took the silver and knelt down, saying, "It is the Ninth Master's birthday. I congratulate you and wish you a long and healthy life."

The old people in the Imperial Household Department do not dare to treat the Ninth Prince badly just because he is no longer the head of the Imperial Household Department. Who knows when the Ninth Prince will come back.

Besides, there is the twelfth prince in the Ministry of Internal Affairs now. That low-key prince happens to be in charge of the Construction Department.

The accounts of these palaces outside are also managed by the Twelfth Prince.

The Ninth Prince smiled and said, "You are quite good at talking. I appreciate your good words."

After signaling He Yuzhu to give the tea envelope as a reward, the Ninth Prince sent the man away.

When only the master and servant were left, the Ninth Prince's brows furrowed.

He asked He Yuzhu, "Master, just give one gift to the Crown Prince. Should that be enough? It's not good to have dinner at night. I can just mention the Crown Prince. My brothers are fine. They are not guests either. I can just call them..."

He was having a great time in the morning preparing for the evening banquet, but when the banquet came, he thought of the prince and felt a headache.

The crown prince is also a prince, not a brother.

The Ninth Prince was somewhat avoiding the Crown Prince.

He Yuzhu whispered, "If the prince were here, I'm afraid the master would be unhappy, and the younger princes would also be uncomfortable."

The ninth prince's brows relaxed and he nodded, "That's what I think, too."

It’s better to keep the prince as a idol and not get too close to everyone, otherwise everyone will feel uncomfortable.

If they get together, trouble may easily arise, and then the host will have to take responsibility.

He Yuzhu hesitated for a moment and said, "Didn't the gift to the Empress Dowager and the Imperial Court only go there before? Why did you add several ladies and noble ladies this time?"

It’s okay for others, but Hepin is too old and the adult princes also need to avoid it.

The Ninth Prince said helplessly, "What can we do? When we come across something delicious, we eat and drink to our heart's content, ignoring the elders? They are the biological mother of Fourth Brother, the biological mother of Thirteenth Prince, and the biological mother of the two younger princes..."

On his birthday, he should have gone to kowtow to the empress, but she was not there.

Although his biological mother is not here in the palace, there are a bunch of his brothers' biological mothers, so he should show some respect to them.

Only Hepin relied on nothing, but since she was showing filial piety to her mother, the imperial concubine, she followed the crowd.

If others find fault with this, they are just making trouble out of nothing.

He Yuzhu asked, "Where are those princesses?"

This refers to the Fourth Prince and the women around the Crown Prince.

The Ninth Prince shook his head and said, "Don't worry about it. Why should we be so thorough? If we send them as gifts, then do the others in the Palace of Heavenly Purity have to agree to send gifts as well? Even if they are of low status, they are still Khan's Ama's palace maids, more precious than the princes and princesses."

When I came out in the morning, I made an appointment with several older princes, but the younger one has not yet said anything.

The Ninth Prince instructed He Yuzhu, "Go on my behalf and tell the younger princes to come over for dinner in the evening."

He Yuzhu agreed and went out to pass on the message.

He Yuzhu came to the Fourteenth Prince first.

Fourteenth Prince slapped his forehead and said, "I was so distracted by studying these days that I forgot about Ninth Brother's birthday. I'll go over and wish him a happy birthday soon."

He Yuzhu smiled and said, "Our grandfather said that we got up early because there was river food in Miyun, so we decided to go there. We are all family, so we are not afraid of neglecting it."

The Fourteenth Prince nodded and said, "Ninth Brother is right. We are not strangers. We are all brothers. Do we still need to send invitations?"

After He Yuzhu reported the news, he went to the fifteenth and sixteenth princes.

The Fourteenth Prince stroked his chin and complained to the people around him, "We are almost in the capital, and yet we are still planning a birthday celebration. What God of Wealth? He is just a money-grubber, and he is finding ways to ask for rewards from the elders!"

The people around him didn't dare to speak carelessly, and only asked carefully: "What about the birthday gift from the master?"

The Fourteenth Prince snorted and said, "Can you save any more? Pick out four gifts from the gifts you received in Rehe. There is nothing you can do when you are away from home."

The man agreed and went down to make preparations.

The fifteenth and sixteenth princes had already been reminded by the eunuch An Da and the nanny that it was the ninth prince's birthday, so they had changed their clothes and were planning to go and deliver the birthday gifts.

When he heard that the Ninth Prince was having a feast in the evening, the Fifteenth Prince said, "Well, well, we'll go over then."

The Sixteenth Prince smiled and said, "Even if Ninth Brother doesn't make arrangements, we are still planning to eat Ninth Brother's longevity noodles today."

He Yuzhu said, "Our master remembered that the two masters loved to eat fish balls, and he specifically ordered that fish balls be served tonight."

The child had no patience to eat fish, and he felt uncomfortable eating with the servants serving him.

The fish balls have been boneless, making them just the right size for a salty and fresh taste.

The Sixteenth Prince was even more excited and asked, "Is it stuffed or not?"

He Yuzhu said: "I ordered both. The stuffed ones will be made into clear soup fish balls, and the unstuffed ones will be made into sweet and sour ones..."

The Sixteenth Prince immediately said, "Then I will eat less at noon and wait for the dinner in the evening..."

*
At the Ninth Prince's place, Nanny Bai came to deliver a birthday gift.

There are so many grandchildren, but the Empress Dowager can only remember the number of them on one hand.

The reason why the Ninth Prince was remembered here was because both the grandfather and grandson were present during the two northern tours, and the Mongolian princes sent the Ninth Prince birthday gifts, so the Empress Dowager took note of it.

Birthday gifts are not those empty things.

A suit of ermine fur coat, a sable hat, a pair of deerskin boots, and twenty kilograms of silver noodles.

Most of them are wearable and are specially prepared.

The jacket is made of pomegranate red Ning silk with a swastika pattern.

The Ninth Prince liked it very much and said, "Grandmother is really good at choosing colors. I like this bright one."

Nanny Bai smiled and said, "The Madam made two such coats, both in this color."

The Ninth Prince's eyes lit up and he became even happier. He said, "When the time comes, I will wear the same clothes as Mrs. Fu and go over to kowtow to the Empress Dowager."

Nanny Bai was a loyal servant. She knew the Queen Mother's love for her grandson and his wife, and she was happy to see that the Ninth Prince appreciated her kindness.

The Ninth Prince still asked someone to give him tea bags.

But after Nanny Bai left, the Ninth Prince instructed He Yuzhu, "Tell the palace steward to make two more dishes, one for Steward Liang and one for Nanny Bai..."

I often deal with these two people on weekdays, and since today is a good day, everyone added a dish.

As for Wei Zhu, that’s not the point.

The Ninth Prince used to act in a rough manner, but now he has become more thoughtful.

He knew that the lower the status of the person, the more respect he should show them.

This way, the other person will feel comfortable and you will feel comfortable too.

Of course, this is also related to the identities of the two people, and it can be regarded as another kind of "love the house and love the dog".

Not long after Nanny Bai left, Wei Zhu came and was told to deliver a birthday gift.

A plate of beeswax court beads, a pair of kesi belts, a pair of blue gold eight-treasure pendants, and ten rolls of sable fur.

The Ninth Prince received the reward, and then realized it belatedly, and said to Wei Zhu: "Today, I will make a small fortune..."

The Empress Dowager and the Imperial Court both gave birthday gifts, so the Crown Prince and the other concubines had to follow suit.

Wei Zhu smiled and said, "It's Master Jiu's birthday, so I can't just kowtow to celebrate. I just happened to collect an 18-bead bodhi bracelet in Rehe a while ago, so I'll give it to Master Jiu as a birthday gift."

After saying that, he took out a purse from his sleeve and presented it to the Ninth Prince with both hands.

The Ninth Prince immediately took it and said, "You have always had good taste, so I won't be polite with you."

When the money was emptied from his purse, he looked at the plain bodhi bracelet and put it on his hand. He said, "I have collected a lot of tourmalines for my wife in the past few years. I have almost all the colors. Whatever color you like, I will make one for you later..."

Wei Zhu knew that the Ninth Prince was collecting pink tourmalines for the Ninth Lady, so she smiled and said, "Green or black is fine. The bright colors will also be eye-catching when I wear them."

The Ninth Prince nodded and said, "Then I'll give you two strings, one black and one green."

Wei Zhu went back to report.

He Yuzhu looked at the bracelet and said, "Sir, doesn't this need to be consecrated?"

The Ninth Prince shook his head and said, "Wei Zhu is young, but he is very thoughtful. He must have been blessed."

As he spoke, he raised his arm and smelled the bracelet. In addition to the scent of the Bodhi seeds themselves, there was also a faint scent of sandalwood, which must have been offered before the Buddha.

As soon as Wei Zhu left, the people sent by the prince arrived.

The Ninth Prince also asked He Yuzhu to prepare the tea seal.

Before dinner, gifts from several ladies arrived.

However, due to her status, Concubine Wang was not qualified to prepare a gift for the prince.

She was very surprised to see the dishes added by the Ninth Prince on the dining table, but when she heard that several concubines and imperial concubines also had them, she understood the reason. However, she was still struggling for a while as to whether or not to send an additional birthday gift.

She now enjoys the same status as a concubine, but has not been decreed to be a concubine. It would be presumptuous for her to prepare a birthday ceremony for the prince in a big way.

Concubine Wang put the matter aside and planned to wait until the Ninth Lady’s birthday to add the return gift to the two young princes’ gift list…

*
In front of the emperor, Kangxi looked at the table full of fish and knew that it was the Ninth Prince's trick.

These are not standard dishes in the palace, most of them are new dishes.

Kangxi felt a little uncomfortable when he knew that the Ninth Prince had started his feast.

I was thinking of inviting my brother or calling him my younger brother. My Khan father is also here, but the Ninth Prince didn't even think of inviting me over.

Unfilial son!
While eating the sweet and sour fish balls, Kangxi raised his eyebrows.

He didn't like the sweet and sour taste, which was sticky and not refreshing enough, but he remembered that Hepin loved to eat it.

He said to Liang Jiugong: "This dish is for Concubine He..."

As he spoke, he thought of Lady Wang, who was from the south of the Yangtze River and loved fish, so he pointed to another dish of fish slices in sour soup and said, "This is for Lady Wang..."

Liang Jiugong did not respond immediately, but reported: "Your Majesty, Jiuye sent someone here early this morning to buy ten buckets of fish. In addition to the Imperial Court and the Empress Dowager, he also presented them to the Crown Prince, several ladies, and noble ladies..."

Kangxi was a little surprised.

Although the Ninth Prince was generous, he still followed the rules when presenting gifts to the palace.

Among the main seats in the inner court, except for Ningshou Palace and Yikun Palace, only Concubine Hui had been paid tribute a few times, and there was a reason for that.

When Concubine Yi gave birth to the eleventh prince, the ninth prince was taken care of by Concubine Hui in the Yanx Palace.

"How do you show respect?"

Kangxi asked.

Liang Jiugong had already asked in advance, so he described in detail several dishes in each place.

Kangxi nodded and said, "It's really thoughtful, which is rare!"

The same applies to the Crown Prince and Consort De, the two concubines, and the two princes' wives and the noble ladies.

Lady Wang...

Concubine Wang is an outlier in the palace.

Because of her background, it is not easy to give her a high title.

Otherwise, after entering the palace for more than ten years and giving birth to three princes, it is normal to have one concubine.

The Ninth Prince even respected Concubine Wang because he respected his Khan Ama.

Kangxi's expression was calm. Thinking about how the Ninth Prince took care of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Princes, he said to Liang Jiugong, "The Ninth Prince follows the example of Concubine Yi. Although Concubine Yi is harsh in her words, she is kind and compassionate to the weak. She also takes good care of the noble ladies and concubines below her..."

(End of this chapter)