35
When Kangxi walked past me, he took a look at me kneeling on the ground and said, "Get up!" I kowtowed and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty!" and stood up. Kangxi sized me up and smiled at Li Dequan, saying, "Isn't this Ma Er Tai Jia's 'Desperate Thirteen Sister'?" Li Dequan hastily replied that it was indeed her. Kangxi didn't say anything else and left directly. It wasn't until then that I realized my back was already soaked through - I was so scared to death! I thought to myself, really thanks to that Tenth Princess whom I had never met before, it seems Kangxi is very fond of her.
After that incident, Li Dequan seemed to have taken me as a 'lucky general' and used me whenever similar things happened. Fortunately, although I had to rack my brains every time and take risks, it usually worked. Wang Xi stood aside and whispered, "Sister, go in yourself!" I nodded and walked into the house quietly.
As soon as I walked into the house, I saw Li Dequan standing beside Kangxi nodding slightly at me. I also nodded my head slightly and quietly approached Kangxi, pretending to change the tea water, picked up the teacup, quickly glanced at the geometry problem Kangxi was doing, and slowly retreated.
He entered the tea house, brewing tea while thinking that the topic wasn't difficult after all. The Kangxi Emperor had just misplaced an auxiliary line. Geometry proof questions were always like this - once you got stuck in a corner, it would take some time to react. If he didn't do it now and saw the question again tomorrow, he would surely lament how foolish he was yesterday for not thinking of simply adjusting the auxiliary line.
It can be imagined that I couldn't go forward and tell him how to add auxiliary lines and how to prove the question. After all, I wasn't taught mathematics by Jesuits like Verbiest, Zhang Cheng, or Xu Dashou from Portugal. If Kangxi asked me how I could do it, what should I say?
He gently placed the tea on the table, composed himself, and called out in a soft voice: "Your Majesty!" Kangxi didn't lift his head, just gave a casual "uh-huh". I paused for a moment before continuing: "I'm afraid those foreigners won't dare to explain geometry problems to Your Majesty again." Kangxi gave another "uh-huh" without looking up, still engrossed in the problem. A little while later, he suddenly lifted his head and looked at me, and I hastily bowed my head, speaking softly: "They teach these things to Your Majesty thinking they are good, but if Your Majesty becomes so preoccupied that you neglect your meals and harm your body, won't they be held responsible for this?" Pausing again, seeing Kangxi still hadn't reacted, I added: "Besides, didn't those foreigners say that sometimes taking a moment to calm one's mind can make it easier to solve these geometry problems?" Finishing speaking, my heart was racing with anxiety, and I was sweating. After a short while, Kangxi put down his brush, stood up, stretched his waist, and said: "Li Dequan! You're at it again!" Li Dequan hastily smiled and bowed, saying: "Your humble servant is truly worried about Your Majesty's health." Kangxi chuckled and said: "Alright! Prepare the meal!" Li Dequan quickly responded with a "yes" and swiftly walked to the door to instruct Wang Xi.
Kangxi looked down at me and said, "You're getting bolder and bolder, letting Li Dequan manipulate you." I quickly knelt down on the ground, "I'm also worried about Your Majesty's health." After finishing speaking, I hastily kowtowed. Kangxi said, "Get up!" I quickly stood up. He then said, "You're quite careful, having served by my side several times, you've remembered all these words." I hurriedly replied, "It was just that at the time it sounded novel, so I paid attention." Kangxi didn't pay any more attention to me, and while walking out, he casually said, "If everyone in the Qing dynasty had this kind of enthusiasm, why worry that no one would come to pay tribute from all directions?" After finishing speaking, he had already walked out of the room. I also let out a sigh, thinking that it's not easy to change. For thousands of years, China has been vast and rich, with the idea of being the center of the world. To truly accept new things is absolutely not something that can be changed just because an emperor is interested. It must go through painful struggles, almost becoming a slave to a ruined nation, before truly realizing that we need to learn from the outside world. Kangxi was not only lonely because he was called "isolated and solitary", but also because he understood too much, his eyes saw too far ahead, making him lonely. Since ancient times, wise men have been lonely, let alone him being the emperor!
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It wasn't my turn today, but I suddenly thought that some new tea was coming this afternoon and I was afraid that Yu Xiang and Yu Tan wouldn't store it properly, which would affect the flavor. So I hurried out of the house to take a look. As I walked along the forest path, I saw tenth brother and fourteenth brother walking towards me from the opposite direction. I quickly stepped aside and stood by the side of the road to pay my respects. Tenth brother said in a rough voice, "What's with all the courtesy when there's no one else around?" Fourteenth brother just gave a cold hum and didn't say anything.
I stood up, smiled at the tenth brother and asked: "Are we going back to the mansion?" He smiled and said: "We're leaving the palace but not returning to the mansion. We're going to eighth brother's place." I thought for a moment and said: "It's been many days since I've seen eighth brother, help me greet him and wish him good fortune!" The tenth brother hadn't had time to respond when we heard fourteen, who was standing off to the side with a cold expression, say: "If you really miss eighth brother, there's no need for these empty formalities. If your heart is thinking of someone else, why bother putting on this show?" Myself and the tenth brother were both taken aback, unsure where he was coming from. The two of us exchanged a puzzled glance, staring at fourteen in confusion. After finishing speaking, fourteen seemed impatient, urging: "Tenth brother, are you going or not? If you're not going, I'll go first." He didn't wait for a response and set off immediately.
The tenth brother looked at me with a puzzled expression and hastily chased after him. I turned around, furrowed my brow, and watched the two of them disappear into the distance. Meanwhile, I couldn't help but think about when I had offended the fourteenth brother. Was it because of the thirteenth again? But over the past few years, he had long known that the thirteenth and I were very close, so why was he angry again?
