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

Chapter 50 The bolder the man, the greater the harvest.

Besides the later world-famous Yuanmingyuan, there were many other gardens of varying sizes next to Changchun Garden. Most of these gardens were private gardens left over after the fall of the Ming Dynasty. In the early Qing Dynasty, they were taken into the Imperial Household Department and used as the emperor's private property to be bestowed upon members of the royal family or princes and ministers. The garden that Kangxi bestowed upon Prince Yu was one of these gardens.

Yinzhuo was invited to a banquet at Prince Yu's bestowed garden. He left happily, but when he returned, he was so jealous that he almost had a relapse. It wasn't that Yinzhuo was shallow or hadn't seen anything good; it was just that the magnificent garden that Prince Yu had built was too tempting for him.

Imagine a working-class person who lived in the 21st century. Faced with the temptation of owning a vast private garden in the capital city where land is incredibly expensive, who could resist? In any case, Yinzhuo was greatly stimulated.

"Dexi, do you think if I go to Khan now and tell him I want a garden like Prince Yu's, will he give it to me?"

Since returning from the banquet, Yinzhuo had been pondering this for several days. If he wanted to obtain a garden bestowed by Emperor Kangxi, there were essentially two ways: one was to strive for excellence, achieve great deeds, and exchange merits for rewards, just like his uncle, Prince Yu. This was undoubtedly the most respectable way to obtain it.

The second method was to swallow one's pride and beg Emperor Kangxi for it. After much deliberation, Yinzhuo finally felt that although the process was somewhat shameful, the success rate of the second method was much higher than that of the first method.

"My lord, please don't make things difficult for me. How could I dare to speculate about the relationship between you and His Majesty? It's almost noon. Why don't you think about what you'd like to eat, and I'll have someone prepare it for you?"

Although Dexi had always known his master was audacious, he never imagined he would be this bold—to ask the Emperor for a garden. It was like an old man trying to cross a latrine—a death wish! If he actually succeeded, the princes' vomit would probably flood their Shufeng Pavilion.

"It's noon again? That's perfect, we won't prepare lunch here today. You can come with me to Qingxi Study."

As the saying goes, the bolder you are, the more you will achieve. Take a gamble and you might just turn a bicycle into a motorcycle. Opportunity is right in front of you. How will you know if you can succeed if you don't try? In short, after saying all that, Yinzhuo's thoughts can be summed up in one sentence: No one can stop me.

Dexi wanted to stop him, but he knew his master's temperament. Although he usually seemed flexible, once he got stubborn, nothing could stop him. Dexi didn't want to leave Shufeng Pavilion at all, but what could he do? As the saying goes, if the King of Hell calls you to die at midnight... Alas, he had no choice in the matter.

Unlike Dexi, who followed Yinzhuo with his head drooping as if he had lost his father, Yinzhuo's current mood could be described in one sentence: he was excited to succeed or die trying. In short, the moment you saw him, you felt a sense of crisis, as if you were a fat sheep being targeted.

Kangxi sensed this sense of crisis as soon as Yinzhuo entered the room. After all, you couldn't help but feel it, because the other party was being completely direct with you, without any beating around the bush!

"Father, your son has a question for you."

These few words conveyed a sense of unease, and to be honest, Kangxi didn't really want to pay attention to him. He always had a feeling that if he responded to him, he would lose something!

However, Yinzhuo's eager eyes were too hard to ignore, and as a kind father, Kangxi felt he should reluctantly answer him.

"ask."

"Father, what I want to ask is, do you have quite a few gardens like the one you bestowed upon your Uncle Prince Yu?"

Kangxi paused involuntarily, filled with regret. He wished he had never spoken up, even if it meant dying to do so. It seemed this kid had his eye on his garden now, after his private treasury.

"Yinzuo, what did you just say? Say it again. Your father didn't hear you clearly."

Upon hearing Kangxi's words, Yinzhu thought to himself, "He's not that old, so why is he hard of hearing?" But if he didn't hear clearly, it wouldn't be a problem. He could just say it again. As long as he could get his hands on the garden today, he would be willing to repeat it a hundred or a thousand times.

"Father, your son just said that you bestowed a garden like the one to your Uncle Yu Prince. Do you have quite a few of those gardens?"

"Not that sentence, the one you said when you came in."

Now that things had come to this, Yinzhuo understood that his father didn't want to give it to him and was planning to cheat like he was doing.

“Father, I know you heard me clearly. I won’t beat around the bush and will be frank with you. A few days ago, I went to a banquet at the new garden that my uncle, Prince Yu, acquired. After returning, I was so jealous that I almost had a relapse. I also want a garden like the one my uncle has, but I know that I don’t have the same abilities as him. I probably have no chance of getting a reward from you based on my own merits in this lifetime. So after thinking it over, I came here directly to ask you for it.”

When Kangxi heard Yinzhuo's shameless words, he almost laughed out of anger. He thought to himself, "Why aren't you beating around the bush anymore? Every word you've said since you came in has been straight to the point. You know you're incompetent, so why aren't you working hard here? If everyone likes you and comes to me with whatever they want, then what I have is probably enough for you to take."

This is why Yinzhi didn't know what Kangxi was thinking. Otherwise, he would definitely have said, "Hey, you're looking down on me, aren't you? I'm working hard right now, trying to get a garden from you. How can you say that's not a way of working hard?"

"You insolent brat, just because you want something, does that mean I have to give it to you? If one day you want this spot under my butt, does that mean I have to give it to you too?"

Kangxi's words were undeniably heavy. As soon as he said this, everyone in the vast Qingxi Study except Kangxi knelt down. Although Yinzhuo was kneeling on the ground, he was not actually afraid. After all, he had long said that he did not want the throne, and his words and actions had been consistent over the years. Even if Kangxi did not believe him completely, he had to believe him at least halfway.

"Father, how can you do this? It's one thing to not give me what I want, but now you're using what I don't want to scare me. What do I need that seat of yours for? I just want to find a chair to sit on. There are so many chairs in Qingxi Bookstore, can't I just go and move them myself..."

Yinzhuo knew, of course, that what he said to Kangxi was completely different, but so what? He came to ask for the garden, not to challenge the firmness of the board at Qingxi Study.

"You're still scared? I think you're quite bold. Alright, get up and go back to where you came from. Don't get in my way."

Kangxi's words just now were actually just a slip of the tongue after he was angered by Yinzhuo. The father and son had been together for many years, and he naturally knew that although Yinzhuo had many ulterior motives, it was true that he had no interest in the throne. Alas, they say that children are all debts, and Yinzhuo is probably his biggest creditor from his past life.