Chapter 112 Investigation

That night, the candles in Xian'an Palace burned brightly for a long time.

As dawn broke, Emperor Kangxi emerged from Xian'an Palace, still appearing as the aloof and supreme Son of Heaven, looking down upon all things. No one knew that it was on this very night that he made up his mind and began to reconsider his choice of heir apparent.

On the surface, nothing had changed. The momentum for recommending the crown prince in court had been dampened by the Eighth Prince's defeat. But greed blinded them, and the allure of the crown prince's position was too great, so great that even knowing it would displease the emperor, the ministers continued to test the waters.

One after another, memorials urging Kangxi to establish an heir, ostensibly in the name of righteousness, piled up on the emperor's desk. No one, civil or military official, or member of the imperial family, was spared.

Faced with these officials' probing, Kangxi remained indifferent. He neither opposed nor agreed, keeping his stance unexpressed, thus refusing to reveal his true attitude.

The court officials were anxious, but there was nothing they could do. After all, it was just a test; no one dared to actually confront Kangxi directly. Completely baffled, they could only rely on their gut feeling.

After all, with the disintegration of the Crown Prince Party and the Eighth Prince Party, many ministers lost their organizations and drifted outside of factions. It was really hard to get used to not having a patron.

Thus, following the Crown Prince and the Eighth Prince, the Third Prince Yinzhi and the Seventeenth Prince Yinli gained many more supporters. Even the First Prince Yinzhi, who had been retired for a long time, regained some supporters.

After all, the eldest prince is the eldest son, and even if he can no longer draw a bow and shoot arrows, his status and position are still there; the third prince is the eldest son after excluding the eldest prince and the deposed crown prince, and he is both literate and martial, so he seems worthy of following; the seventeenth prince is young and his strength is not yet apparent, but he is favored, and the emperor loves his youngest son, so it is very likely that he is favored.

As for the other princes, the Fifth Prince, Yinqi, was raised by the Empress Dowager and naturally had no chance of vying for the throne. The Seventh Prince had a leg ailment, the Ninth Prince was a playboy, and the Tenth Prince... Hmm? Another one that slipped through the net has been caught.

The Tenth Prince, Yinzhen, was usually unassuming, but now everyone realized that he had the best background besides the deposed Crown Prince. Realizing this, Lady Niohuru felt emboldened and tried to curry favor with him. Unfortunately, the Tenth Prince was ungrateful, dismissing everyone and bluntly stating that he wasn't cut out for it.

Looking further ahead, the twelfth prince, Yin Tao, was raised by Su Ma La Gu, just like the fifth prince; the thirteenth and fourteenth princes had insignificant maternal families and were both involved in the cases of the deposed crown prince and the eighth prince, and were disliked by the emperor, so they were not good choices either.

The remaining princes were almost invisible and not considered by everyone.

As for the Fourth Prince, Yinzhen, who was deliberately overlooked by everyone, it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. After all, those ambitious and opportunistic people were pragmatic, but not blind. They were also aware of Yinzhen's merits and abilities. However, a prince being too capable was not a good thing for ministers with their own agendas.

Not to mention that no one has forgotten Yinzhen's reputation as a "Xiezhi" (a mythical beast), and how could someone accustomed to opportunism not have committed any illegal or disorderly acts? Even if he himself hasn't, how can he guarantee that his family members haven't?

Therefore, while Yinzhen was indeed capable, he was too capable and difficult to control. Consequently, the court officials almost unanimously opposed choosing him.

Of course, there wasn't a single person in the imperial court who approved of Yinzhen. Those who could recognize Yinzhen's strengths and value him were mostly upright officials who were loyal to the emperor and loved their country. But the more such people were, the less likely they were to easily take sides or get involved in investing in a particular prince for potential future benefits.

Therefore, for a time, in the bustling court, Prince Yong, Yinzhen, appeared as alone as ever.

Emperor Kangxi saw all of this. He knew everything about the court officials' evaluations of the princes and their choices.

The assessments of the court officials were quite accurate; Emperor Kangxi actually thought the same way. Upon closer inspection, the number of suitable candidates was actually quite small.

To put it bluntly, seventeen was not within his consideration.

His true candidates were his eldest son, Yinzhi, his third son, Yinzhi, and his fourth son, Yinzhen. However, considering their past achievements, Yinzhen was the most outstanding of the three. Kangxi knew in his heart that his eldest son, Luzhi, and his third son, Wenruo, were both inferior to Yinzhen.

However, Kangxi still hesitated. On the one hand, Yinzhen was too upright and saw things in black and white. Such a personality was not really suitable to be an emperor, but rather fit the image of the regent he had hoped for in the past.

On the other hand, Yinzhen was too perfect. Apart from being too rigid in politics, which was not really a flaw, Kangxi thought carefully and realized that his fourth son had not been bad at all over the years.

Just as court officials felt that Yinzhen was too capable and therefore unwilling to pledge allegiance, Kangxi also had some reservations about Yinzhen because he seemed too perfect.

Therefore, even though he privately considered his eldest, third, and fourth sons as candidates for investigation, his investigation of Yinzhen was the most thorough and meticulous.

...

[Host, host, there are so many sneaky people in the manor.] 555 jumped into Yinzhen's arms, its cat eyes warily scanning the surroundings, quietly reporting the news, showing a strong sense of protecting its host.

In fact, ever since 556 suddenly went crazy and started fawning over Yinzhen, trying to find ways to demonstrate his value and share Yinzhen's burdens, 555 has developed a strong sense of crisis.

In order to secure her position, she frantically rummaged through her belongings and then tried to coax Yinzhen into taking over his duties of overseeing the mansion.

Seeing the little system's unusual enthusiasm, Yinzhen didn't want to discourage it and agreed. So during this time, even his mental energy slumped, and without any external release, Yinzhen appeared listless.

Upon hearing 555's words, Yinzhen simply stroked its body casually, slowly raised his eyes, and said softly, "It should be one of Kangxi's men... his secret guards..."

[One, two... five, six, host, I counted. Even with the water out, a total of six strange people entered. Two in the front yard, four in the back yard, and two more among the vendors near the Prince's mansion...]

"Little Fifth is amazing. Remember to hide the secret passage to the Eighth Prince's residence well."

【Received, mission accomplished!】 555 raised its little paws in a very proper salute, which made Yinzhen smile. He suddenly thought of 556, who was "on a business trip" in the palace. He wondered what new things 556 had gained or if it had had another good night's sleep.

At this moment, 556, who had volunteered to help Yinzhen with live video broadcasts because he didn't want to compete with 555, was fast asleep on the roof beam of Xian'an Palace, completely unaware that he had already been seen through.

556: Business trip = vacation, it's so nice to slack off on business trips!