Chapter 73 Consort Hui's Escape

The next day at court, Kangxi looked as energetic as ever, showing no signs of having stayed up all night.

He wore a bright yellow silk brocade court robe, with a complete dragon embroidered on the front, back, and shoulders. The dragon's head was raised high, its eyes wide open, and it sat on the dragon throne with great pomp and circumstance, exuding royal majesty.

The courtiers shouted "Long live the Emperor!"

The ceremonial eunuch announced in a shrill voice, "Speak if you have something to say, otherwise the court may adjourn—"

An elderly imperial censor with a white beard stepped out of the queue, bowed deeply, and said, "Your subject has a memorial to present."

The blue-topped eunuch took the memorial from the censor, quickly approached the throne, and respectfully presented it.

As Kangxi reviewed the memorials, the censor began quoting classical texts, directly pointing to Mingzhu: "...forming cliques for personal gain, disregarding the order of the court...unfit to be an official."

After saying this, the censor immediately knelt down: "What we have said is absolutely true."

Emperor Kangxi remained silent.

Mingzhu knew he was doomed. This censor was known for his upright character, stubborn temper, and definitely had solid evidence.

He stepped to the left, out of the queue, removed the peacock feather from his headdress, and knelt down to await his fate.

Emperor Kangxi: "Mingzhu shall be immediately stripped of all his official posts, confined to his quarters to reflect on his mistakes, and await further punishment."

Mingzhu breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that the Emperor did not want him dead for the time being and had not imprisoned him.

The censor remained kneeling, then pulled a memorial from his sleeve. "I have another memorial to present."

Mingzhu's heart was in turmoil again.

He's not going to wipe out his subordinates and friends too, is he?

Kangxi nodded, and the censor began his long speech: "...Prince Zhi acted rashly, implicating court officials...to serve as a warning."

Mingzhu felt relieved. It wasn't a serious crime; at most, Prince Zhi would be confined to his quarters, which wouldn't affect anything else.

Emperor Kangxi: "Prince Zhi shall remain secluded at home for a month to reflect on his actions and shall not be allowed to leave without an imperial edict."

Thinking the matter was over, Mingzhu moved her old, numb legs, and was about to get up when the censor pulled out another memorial from his sleeve.

Mingzhu: ······

Forced to listen to a long and tedious memorial, Mingzhu extracted the core message.

This time, he impeached Prince Cheng for his procrastination in compiling books, Prince Si for his rigid actions, Prince Wu for his inability to shoulder heavy responsibilities, Prince Qi for his extravagant lifestyle, and Prince Ba for his factionalism. In short, he impeached every prince who was on duty at court.

One censor was impeached, and another knelt in the center of the hall.

Seeing the adult princes kneeling neatly on the ground, the court officials gradually came to their senses.

Does the Emperor dislike all his sons?

These memorials submitted by the censors were definitely at the Emperor's behest.

Some courtiers, being shrewd, began to ponder when they didn't see His Highness the Crown Prince in a familiar spot.

Could it be that a prince tried to harm the crown prince, but the emperor failed to catch him, leading to this whole mess?

However, the punishments for the princes were not severe. Prince Zhi was only confined to his quarters for a month, and the other princes were only confined for half a month. If the crown prince had really been in trouble, there shouldn't have been such a fuss.

After the court session ended, the officials discussed among themselves, all wanting to know what Mingzhu and the princes had done to displease the emperor.

They need to be careful not to make the same mistake again.

-

Regardless of what Lord Mingzhu was thinking after being suddenly struck by misfortune, Baoqing felt an immediate sense of peace—thank goodness, the punishment was over, and the matter was over.

After that, the Crown Prince and Emperor Kangxi seemed to have reached some kind of tacit understanding. Kangxi relaxed his control over the Crown Prince, and the Crown Prince no longer mentioned requesting to be deposed.

However, after Baoqing's confinement ended and he began working with the Crown Prince, the more time they spent together, the more he felt something was amiss.

My dignified, noble, and elegantly spoken younger brother, who often looked down on people with a disdainful gaze, seems to have turned into that kind of "confrontational personality" that Mother used to talk about?

The familiar Qianqing Palace, the three familiar main characters, but the unfamiliar attitude of the Crown Prince.

He pointed out Kangxi's mistakes in his work with righteous indignation: "Father should not have sent the Vice Minister of Works to deal with the floods in Jiangnan this time. Father has been doing this for the past few years, inexplicably promoting some people who are not worthy of their positions. As the emperor and father of all the people, do you not know what the consequences of doing this will be?"

The Crown Prince has truly come to terms with things now, or perhaps one could say he's come to too much of a change.

The Aisin Gioro clan had no tradition of killing their own sons; the worst outcome for them was imprisonment, and they would not even be demoted to commoners.

Who can blame the Emperor for becoming increasingly concerned with his reputation in recent years, wanting to be known as 'benevolent'?

What does he have to fear? He's going to end up in a bad situation anyway, so why not make himself more comfortable now?

Although his way of making himself feel better was to annoy Emperor Kangxi.

Emperor Kangxi was truly annoyed, and rubbed his temples: "Baocheng, I didn't send you and Baoqing here to investigate responsibility."

The crown prince looked directly at him without fear.

Bao Qing was happy to watch the show from the sidelines.

Alas, even the Crown Prince has become so suspicious of his father that he's gone mad. It's all the Emperor's fault.

Kangxi was already irritable, and seeing the smile on his lips only added fuel to the fire. He threw a memorial at him and said threateningly, "Baoqing, what are you laughing at?"

Baoqing subconsciously suppressed his smile. "Father, I just remembered something happy."

The crown prince glanced at his unreliable elder brother.

Hmph, it seems my older brother is quite pleased to see him arguing with Father Emperor.

I wonder where in the manor Lord Mingzhu, who was implicated by her elder brother, is now shedding tears in sorrow.

-

Mingzhu truly felt wronged.

He hasn't done anything that crosses the line with the Emperor lately. As for forming cliques, isn't that just his basic practice? The Emperor has tacitly approved of it.

Although Songgotu is gone, his rival has also lost his value.

But surely the emperor wouldn't be so quick to discard someone after they've served their purpose? He originally thought he could work hard for another year or two.

But now, sigh—

Mingzhu sat in his once bustling study, now empty and desolate, sighing, utterly perplexed as to why the Emperor had suddenly turned against him.

Kangxi had given a gag order to everyone from the imperial physicians to the eunuchs who served him that day, forbidding them from uttering a single word. So Mingzhu could only continue to rack his brains trying to figure out what he had done wrong.

-

Perhaps it was this kind of crown prince that made Kangxi uncomfortable, because just after the New Year and the ice breaking on the river, an imperial edict was issued.

According to Bao Qing's own understanding, this is the case: I am going on another southern tour. Last time, the Crown Prince was not used to the climate, so I will not take him with me this time. The Crown Prince should stay in the capital to oversee the country. Of course, I am still not very at ease with the Crown Prince, so I have left Grand Secretary Ma Qi and my brother-in-law Longkodo to supervise the Crown Prince. You two had better behave yourselves in the capital.

Bao Qing scoffed.

Anyway, the Crown Prince is staying in the capital, so he doesn't believe that his father, the Emperor, won't return to the capital.

Of course, it was impossible for Emperor Kangxi not to return to the capital.

However, his journey that year was exceptionally rushed. He had just returned to the capital after his southern tour and was resting when Prince Cheng, understanding the emperor's intentions, welcomed his father to his residence for a family banquet. After that, Kangxi did not stay in the capital for long before he immediately toured the border regions and various Mongol tribes.

His relationship with the Crown Prince was mostly limited to correspondence.