Chapter 94 Yinzhi and Yinxiang were very familiar with each other…

Yinzhi and Yinxiang, familiar with the place, sneaked into Chonghua Palace through the back door. The palace servants, used to it, said that Yinzhen was discussing matters with Tian Wenjing in the study.

The two had just reached the study door when they heard Tian Wenjing gritting his teeth, his voice filled with rage.

"In Henan province alone, millions of people have been exploited by these corrupt officials. Even the emperor knows about it but turns a blind eye. If we wait until the troops return to the capital, where will justice and innocence be found?"

Just as Yinzhen was about to tell Tian Wenjing to calm down, Yinsi and Yinxiang poked their heads in.

"Fourth Brother, did I disturb your meeting with Lord Tian?"

Tian Wenjing was one of the few who knew the true relationship between Yinzhen and his two brothers. After all, Yinzhen and Yinsi had acted together in Jiangnan and when he was arranged to marry, and his father-in-law was a man from a villa in the capital. He couldn't hide it from them, nor was there any need to.

"Your humble servant greets the Eighth Prince and the Thirteenth Prince." Tian Wenjing rose to greet Yinzhi and Yinxiang.

Yinzhi waved for him to get up, and he and Yinxiang sat down next to Yinzhen.

"What are you talking about? I heard Lord Tian's impassioned speech outside. Who has offended you this time?"

Yinzhen threw the list that Tian Wenjing had compiled to Yinsi.

Yinzhi took it, and Yinxiang also came over to look at it together.

"So many people." Yinzhi chuckled upon seeing the list, then handed it to Yinxiang, who was peeking in from the side. "It must have been difficult for Lord Tian to collect all this, right?"

"This is all my duty, but Your Majesty... sigh!" Tian Wenjing couldn't help but sigh whenever he brought it up.

Yinxiang was stunned: "It's completely rotten from top to bottom."

Tian Wenjing's list included everyone from the governor to the county magistrate. Although it didn't include all the officials in the province, it was still a shocking sight.

"I am fortunate to have the trust of all the princes, so I must be self-disciplined, honest and upright. The officialdom is corrupt, yet the court celebrates and pretends to be at peace, ignoring the suffering of the people."

Tian Wenjing was heartbroken. The peaceful scene in the court after his trip to the capital shocked him, especially Kangxi's attitude towards the matter, which chilled him to the bone.

“Lord Tian, ​​the most important thing for the court right now is to send troops to Galdan. If we follow your list, the Henan officialdom will probably be in great turmoil. How can we devote ourselves to the war if one province is not at peace?” Yinzhi comforted him.

"It's not that Father Emperor doesn't want to get involved, but the matter is of great importance and cannot be accomplished overnight; it must be addressed gradually."

In short, the timing was wrong.

Even dealing with this list of embezzlers and bribe-takers would be a major undertaking, turning the entire province of Henan upside down. Let alone now, with a military campaign imminent, Emperor Kangxi lacked the mental strength and felt that this was a minor matter compared to the military campaign and could be postponed.

In his later years, Emperor Kangxi, for the sake of his reputation as a benevolent ruler for posterity, liked to compromise and appease, and the phenomenon of "everyone agreeing to a friendly relationship" in officialdom was already beginning to emerge.

"And Lord Tian, ​​have you ever considered why Father Emperor transferred you to be the Prefect of Jingzhao at this time?" Yinzhi asked.

Tian Wenjing: "This... I don't know, please enlighten me, Eighth Prince."

Tian Wenjing was initially surprised by the sudden transfer to the position of Prefect of Jingzhao. The Prefect of Jingzhao was in charge of all matters, big and small, in the capital. Although the official position was not high, it was a lucrative post with real power. Why would the Emperor think of him?

"You are the only official recommended by Fourth Brother in the court, so Father Emperor naturally regards you as Fourth Brother's confidant." Yinzhi took a sip of tea and said, "Placing you in the position of Prefect of the Capital at this time is so that you can help Fourth Brother stabilize the capital. This is the most important thing you should do first, understand?"

Even Yinzhi had to admit that his father had gone to great lengths for his fourth brother this time, leaving behind troops and appointing Tian Wenjing as the Prefect of Jingzhao, taking all aspects into consideration.

After listening, Tian Wenjing understood what Yinzhi meant: he should not lose sight of the bigger picture for the sake of small things, and should focus on doing the most important thing at hand first.

But how could the plight of millions of people in Henan be a trivial matter...?

His trip to the capital had already been leaked, and he dared not even imagine what those corrupt officials would do if things dragged on any longer.

After a long silence, Yinzhen said, "Expanding territory is certainly a major event, but the national economy and people's livelihood are no less important. It's just that it's a bit difficult to be in two places at once."

Yinzhen and Tian Wenjing were essentially the same kind of people, but Yinzhen had a broader perspective and was more adaptable than Tian Wenjing.

Yinzhen did not think that the livelihood of the people in Henan Province should be a minor matter after the military campaign. However, he also understood that the campaign against the Dzungars was already inevitable and had to be launched. Kangxi's decision to postpone the Henan matter was somewhat out of necessity.

Only Yinxiang was furious: "Absurd, utterly absurd! The governor of Henan not only exploits the people, but also extorts officials at all levels, demanding that they pay silver every year according to their rank?"

Are these officials of the Qing Dynasty or his private soldiers?

Tian Wenjing sighed and said, "Your Highness, you may not know this, but many officials who were originally honest have been forced to prey on the people. Those who are upright and would rather die than submit have no way out. They are either dismissed from their posts or imprisoned. In recent years, a lot of the disaster relief funds for drought and locust plagues have been embezzled by them at each level. The people of Henan are living in misery."

Tian Wenjing was only safe because he had Yinzhen and Yinsi backing him up, so no one dared to touch him. Instead, they would lie to him and keep it from this seemingly simple-minded prefect. As a result, the area under Tian Wenjing's jurisdiction was one of the few places in Henan where people could live and work in peace and contentment. Many people from other parts of Henan heard about this and moved their families there. It was only after a long time that Tian Wenjing noticed something was wrong from some minor details.

So Tian Wenjing carefully collected evidence and finally investigated these corrupt officials. Just then, Emperor Kangxi issued an edict to transfer him to the position of Prefect of Jingzhao. He thought that after arriving in the capital, he would present his findings to the emperor in person and rectify the atmosphere of the officialdom.

The fact that Kangxi didn't seem to care at all made him feel particularly disheartened.

Yinzhen and Yinsi exchanged a helpless glance, while Yinxiang grew angrier the more he listened.

“These people should all be arrested and beheaded. Fourth Brother, Eighth Brother, what do you say?”

Yinzhi shrugged: "The timing is indeed a bit off now."

With the Emperor having just left, and a ton of things waiting to be dealt with in the capital, there's simply no time to spare.

Yinxiang thought about it and realized that Yinsi was right. With the Crown Prince and Suo'etu both eyeing the city covetously, he was indeed stretched thin. But what about the people of Henan…

After pondering for a long time, Yinzhen finally said firmly, "Do it! The affairs in the capital cannot be neglected, nor can the affairs in Henan be ignored."

Fourth Brother.

Yinzhi frowned, somewhat disagreeing with Yinzhen's idea.

"Now that there are so many people watching you, the fourth prince who is in charge of the country, this matter is quite risky."

Yinzhen: "Since Father Emperor has entrusted me with the responsibility of overseeing the country, I should take on this responsibility. How can I ignore such a matter when it comes to me?"

Although Tian Wenjing was straightforward, he understood that the Fourth Prince was in a precarious situation. Under such circumstances, the Fourth Prince was still willing to stand up for the people, which moved him deeply. Indeed, Heaven had chosen a wise ruler for the Qing Dynasty!

“Alright! Fourth Brother, don’t worry, I’ll take care of this for you!” Yinxiang also volunteered.

Yinzhi felt a headache coming on as he looked at the three people.

He was risking his life to accompany this gentleman.

“It’s fine to do it, but we can’t rush it.” Yinzhi still stopped him. “This is no small matter; we need to think carefully about how to handle it.”

Yinzhen naturally understood this principle, and immediately nodded and began to discuss it with the others.

"Is this governor of Henan one of Tong Guowei's men?" Yinxiang asked.

The group all looked at Yinzhi.

Yinzhi: "Why are you looking at me? The Tong family is known as the Tong family of half the court, with countless disciples and former officials."

"Is he taking advantage of Tong Guowei to act arrogantly?" Yinxiang sneered and said, "Tong Guowei's judgment is really terrible. He actually picked such a person to be in charge of a province."

After discussing the matter, Yinzhi and Yinxiang told Yinzhen about their encounter with the Third Prince.

"Song'etu and the fourteenth brother?" Yinzhen looked puzzled. How did these two get involved together?

The Fourteenth Prince always followed behind the First Prince, while Suo'etu was the Crown Prince's maternal uncle. How could these two people, who seemed to have nothing in common, have a secret meeting at the Yujing Pavilion?

Moreover, the Third Prince was there to protect them.

"Is it that Fourteenth Brother has finally realized that his elder brother has no hope and is preparing to seek refuge with the Crown Prince?" Yinxiang said.

Yinzhi smiled and said, "Judging from the current situation, the Crown Prince is the one who has no hope."

Tian Wenjing couldn't say anything about matters concerning the princes, but since Yinzhen and the others didn't avoid him, he sat quietly to the side and listened to their conversation.

"Speaking of which, I just came from Yanxi Palace. Fifth Sister said that Fourteenth Brother went to see her yesterday and seemed to have said something. Fifth Sister wants to tell Fourth Brother in person." Yinxiang suddenly felt that there was a thousand connections between them when he thought of this.

Yinzhen suddenly realized that both the capital and the palace seemed to be a tightly connected tangled web of threads, intertwined and entangled, forming a vast and inescapable net.

Things seemed to be more complicated than they had imagined.

Yinzhi frowned and pondered, "There haven't been any unusual movements from the Fourteenth Prince's side recently, so the current situation is really quite unexpected."

But now that we know he's made a move, we're sure we can find some clues.

Yinzhen, stroking the dark pattern on his sleeve, suddenly looked up: "Fourteenth Brother, you wouldn't be thinking of taking advantage of the chaos to seize power yourself by relying on the Crown Prince and Suo'etu, would you?"

Yinzhen and the others knew from the beginning that the Fourteenth Prince would never submit to anyone. Following the First Prince in the past was just a temporary measure, and now that the Crown Prince's power is declining, joining the Crown Prince's faction at this time would be pure foolishness. Therefore, he must have his own ulterior motives.

"It's hard to say," Yinzhi said. "What if my elder brother instructed him to do something before he left, that he wanted to join forces with the Crown Prince to bring down your fourth brother?"

After listening for a while, Yinxiang felt that what his two older brothers said made sense.

"Anyway, nothing good will come of it." Yinxiang waved his hand and said, "It's no use guessing here. Fourth Brother, why don't you take some time to see Fifth Sister? Eighth Brother, you should also send more people to keep an eye on their movements."

Yinzhi was delighted to see Yinxiang start issuing orders.

"And you, do you indulge in eating, drinking, and having fun, or are you living a life of debauchery?"

“I’m helping Lord Tian handle matters in Henan,” Yinxiang puffed out his chest. “I’m familiar with this, don’t worry.”

Yinzhi coughed and secretly kicked Yinxiang from below. Could he say that in front of Tian Wenjing?

Yinxiang realized he had misspoke and quickly said, "I've seen myna birds do this quite often, so I'm quite familiar with it, haha."

As it was lunchtime, Yinzhen invited Tian Wenjing to dine with him. Yinxiang thought for a moment and then sent someone to Yikun Palace to ask the Fifth Prince and his wife to come and have a meal together if they hadn't left the palace yet.

Consort Yi was already angry because the Fifth Prince had run away halfway through the conversation. She was also worried about the Eleventh Prince's recent health issues. Now that the Fifth Prince was married, he was still being mischievous. Fortunately, the Ninth Prince came to pay his respects to Consort Yi, which saved the Fifth Prince.

Just then, Yinxiang sent someone to invite the Fifth Prince, so he hurriedly said that he would go over in a while. Consort Yi glared at him, but she really couldn't stop him from going to Chonghua Palace.

When the Ninth Prince heard that Yinzhi was also there, he insisted on going along and also sent someone to inform the Tenth Prince.

The Fifth Prince felt depressed as he looked at the ever-growing group of people who wanted to freeload.

It seems like the last time was similar, a bunch of people went to Chonghua Palace and then something terrible happened.

He didn't even eat properly.

Fortunately, the eldest prince is not in the capital this time, and the crown prince is under house arrest, so there should be nothing to worry about.

When Yinzhen saw that the Fifth Prince, the Ninth Prince, and the Tenth Prince had all arrived, he felt helpless.

Yinzhi has been very busy lately, and the Ninth Prince and the Tenth Prince haven't seen him for a while. They both came up to him and kept calling him "My Brother" this and "My Brother" that.

"Why are you two here too?" Yinzhi asked.

“I happened to be there when my thirteenth brother sent someone to invite my fifth brother.” The ninth prince smiled at Yinzhen and said, “So I called my tenth brother along. I hope my fourth brother doesn’t mind.”

Yinzhen: "Do as you please."

Since they're already here, he can't just kick them out.

"Eighth Brother, what brings you to Fourth Brother's place?" Ninth Prince whispered to Yinzhi.

To outsiders, the two brothers had much less contact since the Fourth Prince moved into Chonghua Palace. Yinxiang would often come over to visit, while Yinsi rarely did.

Yinzhi tilted his chin to one side; Yinzhen was talking to Tian Wenjing.

"When Lord Tian came to the capital to report on his duties, my fourth brother asked me to come along so we could catch up."

It's no secret that when Emperor Kangxi made his southern tour, Yinzhen and Yinsi publicly supported Tian Wenjing. They were both benefactors of Tian Wenjing, but later Yinzhen promoted Tian Wenjing more.

The Ninth Prince nodded: "Tian Wenjing has done a good job these past few years, and now he is the Prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture. We should talk to him more often."

Yinzhi smiled but remained silent.

Yinxiang and the Fifth Prince played together, squatting on the ground watching Fuqi and Laifu play together.

After meeting Dai Zi, Lady Tian returned and spoke with Lady Fucha in the inner room with Fifth Prince's wife.

The meal went smoothly, with both host and guests enjoying themselves. When the meal was over, the Fifth Prince even clamored that he would come to Yinzhen's place for a free meal next time he went to the palace.

Yinzhi didn't stay either, leaving with the Ninth and Tenth Princes. Yinxiang stayed a little longer, eating fruit, and asked, "Fourth Brother, when are you planning to see Fifth Sister? Is there anything I can prepare for you?"

If it's a meeting at Yanxi Palace, he can act as a go-between.

Yinzhen thought for a moment and said, "Let's meet at Xianfu Palace. Have Consort Min take Fifth Sister to pay her respects to Mother."

Xianfu Palace was the most airtight place, and it was the most carefully protected by Yinzhen and Yinsi.

Wen Shan has been lying in Xianfu Palace for the past two days. She's been too lazy to go out lately, and Consort Yi, Consort Min, and Consort Liang occasionally come to talk to her.

Consort Min would sometimes bring Consort Mi along, which was a bit strange. Consort Mi had been in the palace for many years and was one of the people promoted by Wen Shan back then, but she had never had any contact with Wen Shan since entering the palace. Consort Min couldn't figure it out, thinking that the two of them should get along very well.

Consort Yi happened to be there that day. Consort Min and Consort Mi were talking with Wen Shan, but when they saw Consort Yi arrive, the four of them decided to play mahjong together.

Consort Yi's luck was ridiculously good today. Wen Shan even suspected that she was cheating. She won with all sorts of fancy hands, and after a few rounds, the box of gold leaves in front of Wen Shan was empty.

Consort Yi made a fortune and couldn't stop smiling.

"What's gotten into you today? You're having such good luck!"

Wenshan refused to believe it and started shuffling the cards again, asking Pearl to get some more chips to prepare for a few more rounds.

"Yinzhi started to feel better yesterday, and I'm so happy," Consort Yi said with a smile.

Wen Shan understood: "So it's because people are in high spirits when they have good news."

Consort Min and Consort Mi also congratulated Consort Yi.

The girls didn't care about the chips while playing cards. When Consort Yi saw that they were going to play a few more rounds, she returned all the gold leaves she had just collected to them. It was just for fun, and there was no need to spend money.

Wen Shan was not short of money, and Consort Mi, who was always favored, did not care about such things. Yinxiang was filial to Consort Min, so he was naturally not short of money either. They all declined and asked Consort Yi to accept them.

“We’re not the kind of people who can’t afford to lose. You should stay here so we don’t lose everything and have nothing to offer,” Wen Shan said, raising an eyebrow.

Consort Yi laughed heartily: "Alright, then I won't stand on ceremony."

Consort Min brought Wenke, Dunke, and the Fifth Princess over today. The three princesses were playing on the side. Consort Mi glanced at them and said, "I really envy Consort Min. The princesses are so well-behaved and obedient. What good are sons? They only cause trouble all day long."

Wen Shan calculated that, apart from Consort Min, all four of them had sons raised in the palace, which made the three little princesses all the more precious.

Consort Min smiled and said, "That's because the Fifteenth Prince and the Sixteenth Prince are still young. When they grow up, they will surely be sensible and filial. Look at the Fourth Prince and the Eighth Prince, as well as the Fifth Prince, the Ninth Prince, and the Eleventh Prince in Consort Yi's palace. Aren't they all very sensible?"

"Little Five and Little Eleven are fine, but Little Nine is anything but well-behaved and sensible." Consort Yi picked up a card and said, "With the Emperor away from the palace, he has the opportunity to sneak out and do his big business again."

Consort Yi was quite opposed to this. What kind of prince would associate with merchants and be busy with money all day long? Does the palace lack him for drinks or clothes?

However, the older the Ninth Prince got, the less she could control him. In addition, the Eleventh Prince had been unwell recently, and she was too busy to do anything about it, so she could only let him be.

"What I'm thinking about now is for the Emperor to arrange a marriage for him as soon as possible, so that he can settle down after he gets married," Consort Yi said.

Wenshan said, "It's only a matter of the next two years, so you don't need to worry."

Yinzhi is getting married next year, and the Ninth Prince will be the next one after him.

As the four were playing happily, Pearl came in and said, "Your Majesty, Consort Tong sent someone to say that Consort Wuya is ill in Yonghe Palace and asked for your opinion on how to handle the situation."

The group paused, and Wen Shan looked up, somewhat puzzled: "If you're sick, just call the imperial physician. What's the point of asking?"

The Fifth Princess, who was standing nearby, naturally heard the news and immediately became tense, staring intently at the scene.

Consort Min noticed and beckoned her over.

"It's okay, don't worry."

The fifth princess bit her lip with worry, hesitated for a moment, and asked, "Mother... what's wrong with Mother?"

Pearl shook her head: "Fifth Princess, please forgive me. The messenger didn't explain clearly, only saying that Consort Wuya had fallen ill."

Consort Yi idly fiddled with the cards in her hand, thinking that it was quite remarkable that Lady Wuya had managed to hold on until now before falling ill.

"Then quickly summon the imperial physician to treat her!" the Fifth Princess said anxiously.

Consort Yi smiled and said to Wen Shan, "Your Majesty, have you forgotten? Consort Wuya is a criminal. When she was imprisoned, the Emperor said that no one would be allowed to enter or leave Yonghe Palace in the future. How could the imperial physician have entered?"

"..."

This is clearly nitpicking. Although she was imprisoned, Uya still held a title and was not demoted to a commoner. If she fell ill, having the imperial physician treat her would not be considered disobeying Kangxi's decree. However, if she wanted to deliberately prevent others from treating her, this explanation would be plausible.

Consort Tong clearly didn't want to get involved in this matter, which is why she sent someone to ask Wen Shan for her opinion.

The Fifth Princess looked at Wen Shan with tears in her eyes, and knelt down with a thud.

"Your Highness, please save my mother!"

"Pearl, quickly help the princess up!" Wen Shan hurriedly had someone help the fifth princess up.

She couldn't bring herself to say anything too cruel in front of the child, so she could only say, "Go to the Imperial Hospital and summon the imperial physician to treat Consort Wuya. Tell Consort Tong that it was my decision."

Pearl accepted the order and went to relay it.

The Fifth Princess breathed a sigh of relief, but she was still extremely worried. After hesitating for a long time, she asked again, "Your Highness, can Wen Xian go to Yonghe Palace to take a look?"

"Fifth Princess, it's already a great act of compassion that the Imperial Concubine sent someone to treat her," Consort Yi said slowly. "His Majesty originally said that no one was allowed to enter or leave, so allowing the imperial physician in was already an exception. Please don't make things difficult for the Imperial Concubine."

Uya and Consort Yi were sworn enemies, and with Consort Yi around, the Fifth Princess was always silenced by her.

Although Consort Yi's words were a bit harsh, the truth was indeed so. Ever since Lady Uya was imprisoned, the Fourteenth Prince had repeatedly asked Emperor Kangxi to let him visit, but Emperor Kangxi had never granted his request.

He even reprimanded the Fourteenth Prince for not taking his orders seriously.

Just then, Yinzhen and the others arrived.

Yinzhen had already informed Wenshan, who knew they were there to speak with the Fifth Princess. So she immediately said, "Yinzhen, you've come at the right time. Come and play with your sisters in the side hall for a while."

Yinzhen responded and, together with Yinxiang, led the three little princesses to the side hall. Yinsi stayed in the main hall and had an embroidered stool brought to him to sit behind Wenshan.

"Mother has a good luck today," Yinzhi said with a smile.

"Consort Yi is having a lucky day." Wen Shan turned her head to look at him: "Don't you have anything to do today?"

Yinzhi nodded: "No matter how busy I am, I must come and see my mother."

Consort Yi and the other two couldn't help but praise Yinzhi for his sweet talk and obedience. Wenshan laughed and said, "You all better stop praising him. If you keep praising him, he'll fly to the sky."

Just then, Pearl suddenly rushed in again.

"Your Majesty, the Fourteenth Prince learned that Wuya had agreed to force his way into Yonghe Palace despite his serious illness, and even injured several guards."