Rebirth: I'm a Daddy's Darling in the Qing Dynasty

Chapter 303 Hmph, if you want to find fault, you can always find a reason.

Yinzhuo's fishing endeavor ultimately ended in failure. Although there were countless reasons for the fishing failure, no matter how you summarize it, the blame ultimately fell on Yinzhi, the Fourteenth Prince, who helped with the baiting. It truly exemplifies the saying, "It's better to blame others than yourself."

"Hmph, if you want to find fault, you can always find a reason. Sixth Brother, you are utterly shameless and insane. Isn't it because your skills are not up to par that you can't catch any fish? We didn't help you, nor did we stand by and watch. At most, you grabbed us and beat us up to feed the fish. This boat has been moving the whole time. Even if we helped you bait the spot, that spot is still a long way off now. So you're trying to find a lost sword by marking the boat? Father, you saw it today. This is how Sixth Brother always wrongs us."

Yes, Kangxi saw it, but so what? He had no intention of getting involved in the disputes between Yinzhuo and his brothers. So he pretended not to hear what the Fourteenth Prince said and naturally turned his head to chat with Yinreng next to him.

At this moment, Fourteen felt that his current situation was just like the tune his sixth brother always liked to hum. It was like cold, icy rain slapping his face randomly, but what could he do? His father was blind, blind in heart, and biased. Even if he was frozen solid, his father would probably only be able to see three words: "cannot see."

Since boarding the ship, Yinti and his brothers have been suffering from seasickness and vomiting. They were exhausted both physically and mentally. Although Yinzuo seemed carefree when he was making a fuss earlier, he couldn't help but worry when he saw Yinti and Yinreng's pale faces and furrowed brows. But as the saying goes, there's no cure for seasickness. If there were any other way, he wouldn't have had to vomit all the way.

"Big brother, second brother, third brother... Fourteenth brother, have some hot tea to calm down. I have experience with seasickness. If you feel really uncomfortable, close your eyes and rest for a while. You'll feel much better when you wake up..."

Indeed, when it comes to seasickness, no one present has more experience than Yinzhuo. Anyone who has experienced seasickness or motion sickness knows that once you start feeling seasick, it's not something that can be cured by just vomiting. Although Yinti and the others had already emptied their stomachs, they were still feeling dizzy and their stomachs were still upset. In order not to continue to embarrass themselves in front of Kangxi in the second half of the trip, the brothers got up, apologized to Kangxi, and went to rest in the back cabin.

Once Yinti and Yinreng left, only Kangxi, Yinzuo, and the palace servants remained in the large reception hall. Yinzuo was still energetic and playful when he had company, but as soon as the people who had been playing with him left, he immediately became listless. However, unlike Yinti and the others, he did not apologize and go to rest. Instead, he dragged his feet to Kangxi's side, kicked off his shoes, stepped onto the couch, leaned against his father as if he had no bones, closed his eyes, and went to sleep.

Yinzhuo's entire sequence of actions was incredibly fluid and natural, indicating that this wasn't the first time he had done this in front of Kangxi. Kangxi's nonchalant reaction confirmed this. It must be said that Kangxi's tolerance for Yinzhuo was truly remarkable. If someone else had done the same thing, the best outcome for them would probably have been kneeling on the ground.

"I don't know who this kid took after. He's so old, but he still has to sleep next to me. Look, he's already fast asleep in no time. It's windy on the lake. Liang Jiugong, go inside and get a blanket for him. He's not very strong to begin with, and he's stubborn and doesn't like taking medicine. If he catches a cold, I'm afraid I won't have any peace and quiet."

Liang Jiugong had been by Kangxi's side since childhood, and half his life had passed. How could he not understand what his master was trying to express with these words? In fact, it was nothing more than two words—showing off. Let's not talk about who this young master took after, but the reason why he became like this is largely due to Your Majesty. If it were any other prince who was sick and refused to take his medicine, would Your Majesty still have the patience to coax him? You probably would have just turned around and left.

Yinzhu slept well. When he opened his eyes again, Yinti and the others had already returned. Through the transparent glass on both sides of the cabin, he could see that the ship was still moving. He just didn't know whether the ship was on its way to its destination or on its return journey.

"Father, what time is it? Which way are we going? Are we going back?"

At this moment, Emperor Kangxi was sitting on his couch, passing the time with a book in his hand. At a table not far from him, Yinreng and Yinzhi were playing chess. Most of the others were sitting around the table watching Yinreng and Yinzhi play chess. Only the thirteenth and fourteenth princes were huddled together next to Yinti, whispering and gesturing wildly, talking about something. When Yinzuo spoke, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked in his direction.

"You're awake? I thought you'd fallen asleep. Now that you're awake, don't just lie there. Get up and move around; the ship is about to stop."

With a tug from Kangxi, Yinzhuo got up, picked up the teacup and teapot on the table, poured himself a cup of water to moisten his throat, and his somewhat groggy mind finally cleared up. Since Kangxi said the boat was going to stop, it meant that they were about to reach their destination. Their destination was Dongshan in Suzhou, where there was a place used by Kangxi to enjoy the lake view—Qiyuan. Of course, at this time, Qiyuan had not yet been built. It was just a low-lying area for raising fish and growing vegetables, but its location was indeed an excellent place to enjoy the scenery of Taihu Lake. Kangxi decided to disembark at the dock here.

Despite Yinzhu's earlier claims that he wanted to thoroughly enjoy the scenery of Taihu Lake, once he arrived, his initial excitement was short-lived, quickly fading into indifference.

“Father, let me ask you a question. How far is it from Suzhou? Fifty or sixty li? Or even further? How did you manage to go through such a long detour to get here? Also, even if you're going to admire the scenery, we should at least find a better spot, right? Look, I think that hill over there looks nice. I think there's a pavilion on it. They say, ‘When you reach the summit, you can see all the mountains below.’ Let's climb up and take a look… Oh, Father, did you see something flash over there…”

While Yinzhuo was still pondering what had emitted that fleeting light, Kangxi and Yinti had already become alert. Anything that could flash under the sunlight was very likely an arrowhead.

"Yinzuo, come to your father's side quickly. Yinreng, don't just stand there, come over here too. Yinti, Yinzhen, Thirteenth, Fourteenth, take your men and bring this person here. I want to see who this person is, daring to assassinate me with the audacity of a bear and the heart of a leopard."