Chapter 102 The Great Law of Time

Uya Chengbi's momentary scheming backfired spectacularly, leading to the decline of her family, the alienation of her children, and resentment from other concubines. Trapped in a side hall of Yonghe Palace, Uya was filled with resentment towards Yinzhen and even Yinzhen himself, but it would be a lie to say she didn't regret her actions.

Unfortunately, everything is already set in stone. Having lost most of her manpower, she is clearly no longer capable of causing any trouble.

When Nian Shilan received the message from Nian Xiyao and learned about the tragic situation of the Wuya clan, her anger subsided considerably, and she was finally able to settle down and focus on her pregnancy.

However, she disliked Rouze even more, even though the investigation revealed that Rouze had nothing to do with her. But since the person who harmed her was Rouze's maid, Nian Shilan began to target Rouze with all her might.

In December of the 45th year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, Lady Geng, due to being confined to her quarters and overthinking, gave birth prematurely to Hongzhou, the fifth son of Yinzhen. Hongzhou was weak and was placed in the main courtyard of Lady Yixiu by Yinzhen. It appeared that Lady Yixiu was raising him, but in reality, Yinzhen, seeing that Hongzhou was of interest, gave his younger son to his eldest son to raise.

Out of respect for Honghui, and also because Yixiu found Yinzhen somewhat unreliable, she fulfilled her duties as a consort in raising Hongzhou. After all, it was rather pitiful that the frail little prince became a toy for the father and son right after birth.

In early spring of the third month of the forty-sixth year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, Nian Shilan gave birth to a little princess, the second daughter of Yinzhen. The little princess was lovely and beautiful, and even at her one-month birthday, one could see her extraordinary beauty and charm. She was deeply loved by Yinzhen and named Galudai.

In June, the Yellow River breached its banks. Emperor Kangxi ordered funds to be allocated for disaster relief, only to discover that the original 5 million taels of silver in the national treasury had been emptied by civil and military officials, leaving the court with no means of providing disaster relief.

Helpless, Emperor Kangxi knew that this was caused by the man's own initiative to ask for help. He could only allocate funds from his private treasury for disaster relief and spread the word in court, signaling to the officials to repay the debt. However, despite Kangxi's repeated hints, the officials remained unmoved, and no one dared to be the first to step forward. They all stubbornly refused to repay the money despite the pressure.

Emperor Kangxi was furious and ordered the debt to be recovered. However, no one in the court dared to take on this important task. In the end, Prince Yong, Yinzhen, was appointed to the mission and ordered to recover the debt.

Yinzhen started collecting debts from the princes and imperial relatives. Except for the crown prince, who received a partial subsidy from Kangxi, the other princes, regardless of their true intentions, all repaid a portion after Yinzhen came to their door. Seeing that the princes, including the crown prince, had repaid, most of the other imperial relatives did not dare to delay and sent people to repay the debts to the national treasury before Yinzhen even came to their door.

With members of the imperial family taking the lead in cooperating, it was clear that Kangxi was determined to get money, and the ministers dared not refuse.

After all, everyone still remembers Prince Yong's reputation as a "Xiezhi" (a mythical beast). The imperial relatives and ministers who pretended to be poor had even investigated how many times their children went to brothels each month and how much jewelry their female relatives bought. They reported this to the emperor in front of everyone at the grand court assembly.

Those ministers not only had to repay the money, but they also had their official hats removed. Naturally, others were unwilling to repeat the same mistake.

Finally, by December, Yinzhen had recovered most of the national debt, a remarkable achievement. Although he extended the repayment period for officials who, after investigation, were indeed unable to repay, Yinzhen's reputation for being heartless spread even further, offending most of the court officials and making him a veritable "lone minister."

This put the Crown Prince at ease, who had been wary of Yinzhen's methods of handling affairs. He thought Yinzhen was just blindly loyal and only knew how to get things done. What great things could he possibly achieve by offending the court officials?

On the first day of the first month of the 47th year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, while holding the traditional Manchu sacrificial ceremony, the Kangxi Emperor suddenly had an ominous feeling, as if "something was about to happen."

Emperor Kangxi was restless and increasingly agitated by the fierce factional struggles in the court. He repeatedly reprimanded the officials, creating an atmosphere of fear and unease among the people.

Sure enough, something happened in February.

The Governor-General of Fujian and Zhejiang, Liang Nai, and the Textile Commissioner, Li Xu, respectively submitted secret reports to the emperor: The monk Yi Nian from Suzhou, using Zhu San Taizi as a rallying cry, gathered a band of rebels in Dalan Mountain to resist the government troops.

Emperor Kangxi was furious. Despite repeated attempts to suppress the rebellion against the Qing and Ming dynasties, the rebellion persisted. He specially appointed the thirteenth prince, Yinxiang, and the fourteenth prince, Yinzhen, as commanders to lead troops to quell the unrest.

After three months, the thirteenth and fourteenth princes achieved remarkable results, successfully quelling the riot and capturing Zhu San Taizi and Yi Nian, among others.

Emperor Kangxi was overjoyed and bestowed many rewards upon the two princes. The thirteenth prince, Yinxiang, had previously joined the Crown Prince's faction under Kangxi's subtle hints and the Crown Prince's influence; this victory can be considered a triumph for the Crown Prince's faction.

The Fourteenth Prince, Yinzhen, was young and, due to his mother's transgressions, was not valued by the court officials and had always remained outside the political factions, though he appeared to be closer to the Eighth Prince's faction.

The results of this military campaign drew attention to Yinzhen's extraordinary abilities. Before others could act, Kangxi clearly intended to push him into the Eighth Prince's faction to maintain a balance.

Even though he was maintaining the balance of power in the court and quelling the unrest among the people, Emperor Kangxi was still not at ease, worried that "the matter is not yet fully resolved."

Time flew by, and it was June 2nd. Emperor Kangxi moved into the Rehe Imperial Palace. Due to his restlessness, he ordered a hunting expedition.

On July 18th, the emperor departed from the Rehe Imperial Palace to hunt at the Mulan Hunting Grounds. For this hunt, whether due to an ominous premonition or other reasons, all princes from the eldest prince Yinzhi to the eighteenth prince Yinxi were brought along by the emperor.

Crown Prince Yinreng was puzzled by Kangxi's state of mind. He had noticed Kangxi's restlessness since the beginning of the year, which made Yinreng both worried and uneasy. Due to the intense factional struggles of recent years, the father and son had become quite estranged. Yinreng found it increasingly difficult to understand Kangxi's thoughts and grew more and more wary of his imperial father.

Yinreng was terrified, worried that Kangxi might be displeased with him as the crown prince. He also noticed that Yinreng had taken all of his brothers out of the capital, leading him to suspect that Kangxi was planning something big in Beijing and wanted to avoid them.

Suspicion breeds distrust. With something on his mind, Yinreng tried to find out what Kangxi was doing and often secretly spied on the emperor's whereabouts. However, Kangxi, who was in a state of tension, discovered this and became "cautious and restless day and night".

Therefore, Emperor Kangxi decided to return to the capital ahead of schedule to conduct further investigations.

Just then, the eighteenth prince, Yinxi, who was not yet eight years old, fell seriously ill and his condition worsened. It seemed that there was no hope of recovery. Emperor Kangxi was extremely anxious. The two matters were intertwined, and he could not eat or sleep.

Kangxi's body, already weakened by the previous incident where he fell into the water due to Suo'etu's schemes, became unwell again, and he suddenly fell ill.

During his illness, Emperor Kangxi pondered deeply and suddenly realized that Crown Prince Yinreng showed no affection for his father or younger brother. Recalling Yinreng's teachings, he felt no remorse, often flew into a rage, indulged in extravagance and debauchery, disregarded the stability of the court, and embroiled himself in factional disputes.

After pent-up emotions for more than half a year, Kangxi suddenly decided to depose the crown prince.