Chapter 235 Live Broadcast from the Sky (15)

"Mother, are you talking about me?"

The four-year-old seventeenth prince was standing next to his biological mother, looking at the contents of the sky with a blank expression.

Consort Chen, Yinli's birth mother, hugged her son and looked at the sky with a mixture of disappointment and anticipation. "That's talking about another little seventeenth prince. But I believe that when my Yinli grows up, he will become just as amazing."

"Yes, Mother, don't worry, I will become very powerful."

As young Yinli watched the story of another seventeenth child unfold on the sky, a seed of striving was planted in his heart.

Since we've mentioned the seventeenth, let me introduce our beloved seventeenth brother, Aisin-Gioro Yinli. He was the seventeenth son of Emperor Kangxi, born on the second day of the third month of the Dingchou year of the Kangxi reign (1697), at the hour of Yin (3-5 AM). Before the age of three, he was relatively unknown, but later his birth mother suddenly became Kangxi's "true love," though everyone knows the extent of the controversy surrounding this.

Because of his mother's high status, his birth mother was granted the title of Consort Shu, and he became Emperor Kangxi's most beloved youngest son. In the early years, he was taught by important officials and was treated like royalty by Emperor Kangxi, with his treatment second only to the Crown Prince.

Later, after the potato appeared in the world, Kangxi, for political reasons, put Yongzheng in charge of teaching the seventeenth prince.

We don't know if Kangxi was sincere, but Yongzheng and Yinli were both sincere about this matter.

As we mentioned before, Yinli became a big fan of Yongzheng after their first meeting at the New Year's banquet. Therefore, he was extremely happy about Yongzheng's instruction of him.

One taught with dedication, and the other learned with dedication; the brotherly bond between them was cultivated through this teaching process.

How close were they? Seventeen had his own courtyard in Prince Yong's mansion, and going there was practically like going home. Because he and Honghui were close in age, they could be said to have grown up together. Emperor Yongzheng and Empress Xiaojing raised him almost like a son.

Later, in order to boost Honghui's reputation, Yongzheng sent him to negotiate with Tsarist Russia. Under the threat of firearms from the powerful Qing Dynasty, the negotiations with Tsarist Russia were just a formality, and the merits were easily obtained.

Even at such a time, Yongzheng did not forget Yinli, sending him and Honghui together to share the credit and ensure his name would be recorded in history alongside his own son. No wonder our seventeenth brother could boast about such favoritism for a lifetime. Although he was always ostracized by his elder brothers for his boasting, Yinli never tired of it.

There was no way around it; Yongzheng was too important to Yinli. He himself acknowledged Yongzheng as "a brother, a father, a teacher, and a friend," a guiding light in his life. Unfortunately, that light extinguished too soon, so soon that after the age of seventeen, he could only live on memories. Every time he boasted, wasn't it a reflection of his longing for his beloved imperial brother?

What others noticed was unknown to Kangxi, but what he did notice was the negotiations with Tsarist Russia that passed through the area around the sky.

In 28 years, he signed the Treaty of Nerchinsk with Tsarist Russia. However, judging from the meaning of the celestial screen, it was clear that Tsarist Russia was at a disadvantage at that time, which made Kangxi, who understood the strength of Tsarist Russia, pay attention to the "firearms" mentioned in the celestial screen.

What kind of firearm could it be? Are firearms really that powerful? Did the Qing Dynasty expand its territory using firearms?

"Someone, summon Dai Zi back."

This was the first person Kangxi thought of when he mentioned firearms; he wasn't unaware that Dai Zi was innocent. However, because Dai Zi was Han Chinese, he was unwilling for something like firearms to have come from his hands. But the future depicted in the painting was so promising that it made him lower his guard against Han Chinese.

[Let's hold off, Seventeenth Brother, and continue with the last major event before Yongzheng ascended the throne—the deposition of the Crown Prince.]

Upon hearing this, everyone was shocked, but Yinreng remained unmoved. Instead, he felt a sense of relief and relaxation, as if the event had finally arrived. He wanted to see how Yinreng in that world was deposed and how he became the right-hand man of the later emperor, and whether there was anything he could learn from him.

The Qing imperial family all had a touch of mysticism about them; let's leave aside the unsolved mystery of the white jade thumb ring. And there's something to say about Emperor Kangxi as well.

On the first day of the first month of the forty-seventh year of his reign, when Emperor Kangxi was holding the traditional Manchu sacrificial ceremony, he suddenly had an ominous feeling, as if "something was about to happen."

Emperor Kangxi was a superstitious man, so naturally he felt uncomfortable and his temper became much more irritable.

In February, a rebellion broke out in Suzhou under the banner of Zhu San Taizi, enraging Emperor Kangxi. "Very well, so this is a troublemaker trying to overthrow the Qing and restore the Ming!" Therefore, he specially appointed the thirteenth prince, Yinxiang, and the fourteenth prince, Yinzhen, as commanders to lead troops to quell the unrest.

He thought the matter was resolved and everything should be fine, but Kangxi still felt uneasy and agitated. So in July, he went hunting at the Mulan Hunting Grounds. Because of his bad feeling, he brought all the princes, from the eldest prince Yinzhi to the eighteenth prince Yinxi, without missing a single one.

As a result, something happened. Crown Prince Yinreng became suspicious because Kangxi had taken everyone away. He wondered if Kangxi was planning something in the capital, so he paid close attention to Kangxi's behavior.

This wasn't the first time Yinreng had done something like this. But Kangxi was uneasy at this time, and was "cautious and restless day and night" because of it. So he decided to return to the capital to investigate Yinreng thoroughly.

Unfortunately, at this time, the eighteenth prince, Yinxi, who was on his first long trip, fell seriously ill and was on the verge of death. Emperor Kangxi, who was about to face the pain of losing his son, also fell ill under the torment of many emotions.

On the fourth day of the ninth month, the eighteenth prince, Yinxi, passed away. Logically, all the princes should have come to bid him farewell.

Emperor Kangxi was deeply affected by the loss of his youngest son. He was arranging the funeral for the eighteenth prince while his body was still weak. However, all the other princes were present, but the crown prince was the only one who did not come.

Emperor Kangxi was furious, and this also implicated the thirteenth prince, Yinxiang. We will explain why he was implicated later.

In short, Kangxi ordered someone to summon Yinreng, only to find that he showed no grief and reeked of alcohol despite his brother's death. He was furious on the spot.

But at this time, Yinreng was also very assertive. When questioned by Kangxi, he directly said that he was not familiar with the Eighteenth Prince and that everyone else was just pretending. Who was really sad?

These words nearly enraged Emperor Kangxi, who immediately summoned all the officials and relatives, listed ten major crimes committed by Yinreng, and announced that he would depose the crown prince.

The ten charges he laid out on the spot... I suspect that Kangxi had been considering deposing the crown prince for a long time, and had already prepared a draft. Saying, "The empire I have brought to peace cannot be entrusted to this person," is nothing compared to Kangxi's truly venomous tongue. I've listed the ten charges; take a look. I think the one Yinreng would find most unacceptable is the eighth charge: that he was "born to bring misfortune to his mother." Who could tolerate such words?