Reborn in the last years of Kangxi

Chapter 68
Bahrain Right Banner, Xinggong.

Rumors of Cao Yong's engagement were passed around and even reached Kangxi.I don't know if this old man was in his spare time recently, he even called Cao Yong to the imperial court for questioning on this matter.

When he knew that he was only the sixteenth elder brother, he used Cao Yong's family letter to make use of the topic. Kangxi just nodded and smiled, and finally said to Cao Yong in a comforting way: "Now you are far away from your parents and work in front of me. Your marriage is a big deal, and I will take care of it." Take it to heart, I will always point you to a matching marriage!"

Cao Yong listened, dumbfounded, a little embarrassed to thank you.Brother Sixteen and others saw it, and they all thought that Cao Yong was shy when he heard about the marriage.In fact, he blamed Kangxi in his heart for worrying too much, doing nothing wrong when he had nothing to do, but being a "matchmaker".

After more than three months of retinue, Cao Yong didn't come to Shengjia many times, but he could feel Kangxi's kindness every time.For an emperor, kindness seems to be a joke, but Cao Yong has this feeling. Kangxi treats him not like a courtier or slave, but like an elder.No wonder later generations of red scholars have concluded that Kangxi treated the Cao family as family and confidants, so throughout the entire Kangxi dynasty, the Cao family has always been favored by the emperor.Originally, Cao Yong thought it was just the emperor's control technique, but he could understand what Kangxi did from another angle.

In Kangxi's eyes, the Cao family was a slave in Baoyi, someone who could be relied on and trusted.And because of the upbringing grace of the grand dame of the Sun family, the relationship between him and the Cao family has gone beyond a simple master-slave relationship.Compared with those royal family members who need to be on guard at any time, an unconditionally loyal family like the Cao family can make Kangxi feel at ease.

*
Perhaps because of the death of the thirteenth princess, or because of his age, Kangxi's physical condition has not been very good since late July.

In order to show the emperor's kindness and strengthen the connection between the Mongolian ministries and the imperial court, a few days after the Mid-Autumn Festival in Bahrain, the holy car was transferred, from east to west, choosing a place with good water and soil, and parading for recuperation.When Kangxi was in a good mood, he would occasionally ride around on horseback. Although he was still a little thin, his spirit was getting better day by day.

*
Entering September, Shengjia turned back from west to east, and on the ninth day of September, Shengjia turned back to Mulan Paddock on the north side of Rehe River, and held a large-scale "walking round" here, which is the famous "Mulan Autumn Festival". .In addition to the Eight Banners of Manchuria, those who participated in the siege also included the retinues of the princes of various Mongolian ministries.

The leaders of the various tribes in Mongolia outside the Great Wall have all been on the northern tour of Kangxi for several months, and rushed to the camp to meet His Majesty the Emperor, for example: Horqin, Ujumqin, Khalkha, Erut, Ordos, Abagai, Abagai Lu Horqin, Zaraite, Sunite, Guoerluosi, Sizi Tribe, Abahina, Zhalut, Tumed, Aohan, Naiman and other ministries.

After the siege was over, Kangxi rewarded the Mongolian princes, county kings, Baylor, Beizi, forehead, Gong, Taiji, etc. who came to the court with clothes, hats, and silver.So far, a goodwill drama between Manchuria and Mongolia has come to an end.

On the tenth day of September, Shengjia left Mulan Paddock and returned to Rehe Palace.The Mongolian kings who felt the sway of the emperor's favor dispersed afterwards, waiting to pay homage to the emperor again next spring or next autumn.

On September [-]th, Shengjia arrived at the Jehol Palace.After resting here for a few days, Shengjia will end his trip beyond the Great Wall and return to Beijing.

Cao Yong's small life was quite leisurely, and he was still hanging on the errand of the imperial guard, doing the so-called "accompanying reading" by the sixteenth elder brother.It is said to be a companion, but it is more like a companion. In Cao Yong's eyes, he regards Elder Sixteen as a younger brother like Cao Song.Sometimes, he would also feel that he was a little funny, and the identity change was indeed a bit quicker.

Sometimes when thinking about the matter of Uliji's son, Cao Yong would wonder who is behind the scenes, but as Brother Sixteen said, all the adult princes seem to be suspicious.I don't know if this counts as the old man Kangxi teaching his children well, all the princes have their own strengths, and half of them are ignorant and incompetent.Even sometimes, Cao Yong thought maliciously, might it be the fifteenth elder brother who seems to be the most honest and friendly on weekdays.Because the mother is a Han woman and her status in the harem is low, the fifteenth elder brother and the sixteenth elder brother have always been regarded as fringe princes.Although he is very sacred, he doesn't have the qualifications and bargaining chips to win the heir.The fifteenth elder brother is not as straightforward as the sixteenth elder brother in his actions. If he secretly seeks refuge with some elder brother, it is justified.However, after all, it was just thinking about it, without any clue.

Recently, Xiaoman was a little depressed and nagged Cao Yong many times.Because, the new little maid, Wu En, is always pestering him, wanting to learn Chinese from him.Xiao Man is 13 years old, when he is a monkey, how can he be quiet and become a teacher.But that little girl always looked pitiful, and it was impossible to refuse.

After hearing this, Cao Yong told Xiaoman to be patient and learn some Mongolian while teaching Wuen Chinese.If you have learned it, you will still bring it out with your followers when you have the opportunity in the future.After hearing this, Xiao Man's eyes brightened a lot, and he went to find Wu En willingly.

That's right, it is Wu En, the little slave girl of Balin County Prince's Mansion, who is now taken out of the County King's Mansion by Cao Yong.Maybe it was touched by the little girl's heart-piercing cry, or maybe seeing the old wounds on her hands and neck, Cao Yong saw the shadow of Wenxiu's suffering in her, and made him, a lazy person, take the initiative to go The county palace begged for this little slave girl.

Cao Yong is not a person who likes to make his own decisions. Before asking for someone from the palace, he found a colleague who can speak Mongolian, and had a simple exchange with the little girl, asking if she would like to go back to the capital with him.

Perhaps it was because with a stepmother, there would be a stepfather. The little girl didn't have any nostalgia for the relatives in the palace, but asked where her sister's bones would be buried.The elder sister in her mouth naturally refers to Wenxiu, and the little girl has been with Wenxiu since she was three or four years old.For her, Wenxiu is both a mother and a sister.

Cao Yong asked his colleagues to tell Wu En in Mongolian that her sister wanted to go home, and he would fulfill the wish of the deceased and take his bones away from the grassland.

After hearing these words, Wu En cried and knelt down in front of Cao Yong, begging him to take her away with her. She wanted to watch her sister's burial and was willing to guard the tomb for her sister.

In this way, when Cao Yong left Bahrain Right Banner with his retinue, there was an extra little maid beside him who could not speak Chinese.Because Cao Yong lived in the guard camp, it was not suitable for arranging female relatives, so Wu En was placed at the sixteenth elder brother's place.

Wu En is not yet ten years old, Cao Yong just felt sorry for Wenxiu and felt sorry for the child brought up by Wenxiu, and had no intention of using child labor.However, although Wu En was young, he was used to being diligent, and he went to Cao Yong's side early every day as an errand.If Cao Yong sent her back, she would look like she was about to cry, muttering, "The cloth doesn't seem to be five".She is learning Chinese, but she can't speak it well.She was afraid that Cao Yong would dislike her for not working and throw her on the grassland again, so she kept turning around in front of Cao Yong, wanting to do something.Cao Yong was dizzy from her turn, so he sent a message, asking her to find Xiaoman to learn Chinese.

*
If there is anything happy about this trip beyond the Great Wall, it is that I got to know Sukhbaru, a friend.Although Suhebalu is not good-looking, he is a typical Mongolian man, simple and honest, honest and loyal enough.

After Mulan's fall, Suhebalu did not return to Horqin with his father and brother, but stayed in front of the imperial court and was named a second-class guard.Wearing brand-new guard uniforms every day, he is valiant, high-spirited, and has the posture of being an errand.Because it was stated that there were not enough guards at all, there were only eight of them, among whom Cao Yong was only named and had not been on duty for a long time, so Suhebalu was assigned here.

Shuming was worried that Suhebaru would put on airs as a prince and would not obey the rules, but later he realized that he was worrying too much.In addition, Suhebalu and Cao Yong are good friends, and they are familiar with these guards, and they get along very well.

Suhebalu stayed, besides Cao Yong, there was naturally sixteen elder brothers who were happy.

For the "Halbala" that Suhebalu tamed on the grassland, Elder Sixteen has always been somewhat unwilling. "Halbala", which means "black tiger" in Chinese, is the name Sukhbaru gave to that black horse.

When Suhebalu tamed "Albara", elder brother Shiliu and Cao Yong happened to be present.After the three got to know each other, Elder Sixteen really liked the dark horse, but also wanted to test his new friend's behavior, so he asked for it.

Suhebalu is a straightforward Mongolian man. Although the black horse is also considered his favorite, he still gave it to the sixteenth brother without hesitation.However, this dark horse has a bad temper, whether he let the whip or the high-quality forage, he would not eat soft and hard, and he only recognized Suhebalu.

Brother Sixteen hated his teeth so much, but he couldn't bear to kill "Albara" to vent his anger, so he had to let it be at ease.However, after all, he was not reconciled, and every once in a while, he always went to play with it in front of it.And "Albara" is more like a nobleman among the horses, always turning his head arrogantly, making a nasal sound, and completely ignoring all kinds of provocations from Brother Sixteen.

Seeing this situation, Sukhbaru always scratched his head in embarrassment, thinking that he had not trained "Albala" well.Cao Yong, however, prefers to see Xiao Shiliu deflated, because only at this time Xiao Shiliu really looks like a 14-year-old boy.

*
On September 48th of the [-]th year of Kangxi, Shengjia returned to Luan from Rehe after a six-day rest.

On September 48, 23th year of Kangxi, Shengjia returned to Changchun Garden.At this point, Cao Yong ended his first entourage career.

(End of this chapter)