Chapter 53 Schemes

Having ruled for many years, Emperor Kangxi's suspicion had become instinctive. Even when the whole matter was perfectly clear, and even when his heart was filled with disappointment and anger towards the Tongjia clan, he still sent people to investigate the ins and outs of the whole affair.

Regardless of whether Lady Tongjia deserved her fate, Emperor Kangxi needed to clearly understand what role Yinzhen had played in it.

Fortunately, the people sent out investigated thoroughly and found that the incident stemmed from Yinzhen's wife, Ulanara, visiting the palace to pay respects to Consort Tongjia. There, she encountered Consort Wuya being wronged, so Yinzhen took her out to relax. Since the visit to the palace was initiated by Consort Tongjia, it was naturally not a deliberate arrangement by Yinzhen.

Encountering Li Si'er was also a coincidence, after all, he learned about Li Si'er's "heroic deeds" through the people he sent out. In Kangxi's eyes, it was already quite rare for this domineering woman, who routinely caused trouble for people, to have survived until now and finally encountered a tough opponent.

As for Yue Xing'a, he was indeed a clever child who knew how to assess the situation. In the past, he dared not speak out because of Longkodo's power. But after hearing the news that the Fourth Prince had arrested Longkodo, he seized the opportunity to boldly appeal to the Emperor, and he was indeed prepared to die.

Kangxi believed he had a good eye for people, and considering the whole incident, it was just too coincidental. The only thing that might be related to Yinzhen was probably his reputation for being upright and incorruptible, which was so great that Yue Xing'a only dared to complain after hearing that it was Yinzhen who arrested Longkodo.

Looking at how Yinzhen behaved these past few days after the incident, he did not associate with court officials, did not seek personal gain from the matter, and did not even say much.

Wow... looking at it this way, he really raised a Bao Zheng!

Seeing that Yinzhen had once again passed his test, Emperor Kangxi was overjoyed. With a wave of his hand, Yinzhen's title was restored, and he once again became the Prince of Yong.

Three days later, upon receiving Kangxi's reward, Yinzhen raised an eyebrow, pleasantly surprised. Adhering to the principle of doing more and talking less, Yinzhen remained diligent, respectful to his superiors, friendly to his subordinates, and fair in his dealings, which earned Kangxi's repeated nods of approval and great satisfaction.

Furthermore, they witnessed firsthand the incident of Yinzhen suing Longkodo. Regardless of how Suo'etu and Mingzhu raised the "Yinzhen threat theory" because of Yinzhen's promotion, Yinreng and Yinti, the two brothers, have no doubt about Yinzhen's character at this stage.

What do you know? Yinzhen, he's such a loyal and capable minister, a truly capable and loyal general!

At this moment, the two brothers were remarkably in sync, and they both took a liking to Yinzhen. However, one wanted to make good use of his fourth brother, while the other wanted to win him over before using him properly.

...

The turmoil in the previous dynasty gradually subsided, but the waves in the inner court were far from over. Rewind time to the day one should leave the palace and return home.

Because of Uya's threat, Yixiu had no choice but to agree to bring Rouze into the palace, which naturally made her unhappy. Since Uya's rank had been repeatedly lowered, and Yixiu herself had both status and children, her fear of Uya had gradually dissipated. Therefore, before leaving, Yixiu ruthlessly tricked her once again.

In the palace, even the stones could speak. Taking advantage of this, Yixiu deliberately feigned a disheveled appearance as she left Yonghe Palace, as if she had been reprimanded by Empress Wuya. Of course, this wasn't fake; a touch of genuine emotion in an act naturally makes it less likely to arouse suspicion.

After all, the people in the palace are all respectable and used to wearing a false mask. Even if they are truly wronged by those in power, they generally won't show it in front of the maids and eunuchs.

Yixiu's behavior naturally led everyone to believe that Wuya had gone too far, to the point that even the Fourth Prince's wife couldn't hide it.

Uya's reputation had already declined considerably, so almost no one suspected that Yixiu had successfully framed her. Uya, who had been repeatedly questioned and reprimanded by Yinzhen and Kangxi, naturally reacted with fury and launched a relentless counterattack.

In order to retaliate, Uya contacted Longkodo through a secret agent and exaggerated his accusations. Of course, she has now successfully sent Longkodo away.

Secondly, they used spies from Yinzhen's household to stir up trouble in the inner court.

In retrospect, she kept Qi Yuebin by her side only because she received benefits from the Qi family. By marrying him off to Yinzhen, she deliberately opposed the Tongjia clan and wanted to ruin her original plan.

However, she didn't genuinely want the two to develop a childhood sweetheart relationship, nor did she want to see Yinzhen actually gain control of the Qi family's military power because of Qi Yuebin. Even if the Qi family's abilities were mediocre, Lady Wuya simply didn't want Yinzhen to profit from it.

So she devised a plan to subtly prevent Qi Yuebin from having any children through medicine and incense. Without children, she was like a rootless duckweed, and the Qi family naturally wouldn't choose to rely on Yinzhen for a daughter who could fall out of favor at any moment. On the contrary, in order for Qi Yuebin to live well in Yinzhen's harem, they had to keep currying favor with her, and the benefits were still given to her, Wuya Shi.

Uya's plan was well-thought-out, and everything had proceeded according to her plan. Unfortunately, Yinzhen changed the imperial genealogy, and Qi Yuebin, under Yinzhen's hints, discovered the truth early on and informed the Qi family.

So much so that the unsuspecting Uya clan was still carrying out her insidious plan, trying to frame Yixiu for Qi Yuebin's infertility and use Qi Yuebin to cause unrest in Yinzhen's harem.

To ensure that Lady Wuya's efforts wouldn't be in vain, and also to watch the show, Yinzhen specially took Yixiu out, giving Lady Wuya a chance to perform. Under his leniency and subtle suggestion, the "double agent" beside Qi Yuebin began to perform just as Lady Wuya had expected.

"Consort..." Qi Yuebin's head maid, Ruyi, rushed back, her face filled with fear and unease.

"What's wrong?" Qi Yuebin knew that Ruyi was not a reckless person, and seeing her like this, he figured something serious must have happened. So he waved away the other servants in the room, leaving only Ruyi inside.

"Consort..." Seeing everyone else leave, Ruyi swallowed hard, looking at Qi Yuebin with great unease, and said cautiously, "This servant... this servant just went to collect this month's allowance, and on the way I overheard people in the main courtyard talking, saying, saying..."

"What did she say?" Qi Yuebin frowned, puzzled. Had something happened in the main courtyard? Or was Yixiu planning something?

"They said that the Fujin (princess) disapproved of your childhood sweetheart relationship with the Prince, and didn't want you to take things further, so she drugged you and made you unable to have children."

After Ruyi finished speaking, she lowered her head, looking terrified. She completely failed to notice the sudden, cold look in Qi Yuebin's eyes as he stared at her after she finished speaking.

Qi Yuebin had not told Ruyi about her infertility before. Because it concerned Wuya Shi, Qi Yuebin was extra cautious. Although Ruyi was her head maid, she was not like Jixiang, who had been born into the Qi family since childhood.

So she secretly entrusted this matter to Jixiang to investigate and handle. It was clearly and unequivocally the work of Wuya. When Wuya took action, Yixiu hadn't even entered the manor yet.

So, is Ruyi's statement a deception by someone with ulterior motives, or is she herself a spy for the Wuya clan?

"Where did you hear that from?" Unsure of Ruyi's loyalty or treachery, Qi Yuebin was certain someone was pulling the strings behind the scenes. He decided to follow her lead and see what the person behind the scenes was up to.

"I was passing by the garden when I saw a maid from the main courtyard and a servant boy from the household physician's side secretly meeting behind the rockery. Out of curiosity, I went closer and overheard them."

Ruyi explained in a low voice, which sounded quite reasonable: the head physician and the royal physician were in cahoots. If Qi Yuebin hadn't known the truth beforehand, and hadn't known that the royal physician was the prince's man, she would definitely have been suspicious as well.

"Could it be that the physician and the head physician are colluding?" Qi Yuebin frowned, looking hesitant.

“That must be it, otherwise how could the concubine not be able to feel your pulse? Why don’t I ask a doctor to take your pulse privately, and let Sister Jixiang check your daily food utensils?”

"good."

Seeing Ruyi's loyal and protective demeanor, Qi Yuebin, who had observed for a while without finding any major flaws, nodded in agreement. She would follow Ruyi's plan and see who was behind it all, and who was plotting against her...