The Fourth Prince accompanied Emperor Kangxi on a private trip. When he left, he only took Su Peisheng, Cui Da and Cui Er, Li Wei, and two guards with him. There were seven people in total. The Fourth Prince only took one carriage to transport his luggage, which consisted of eight boxes.

Neither the Tenth Prince nor the Fourteenth Prince brought any female relatives. Apart from a few trusted ministers, Emperor Kangxi surprisingly didn't bring any concubines, only seven or eight guards and a few maids, all dressed as ordinary merchants. The Fourth Prince, Tenth Prince, and Fourteenth Prince looked more like young masters accompanying their master on business.

When Kangxi left, he didn't let anyone see him off. He directly appointed the eldest prince, Prince Heshuo, and several senior ministers to oversee the country. The third, eighth, and ninth princes felt rather uneasy when they saw that Kangxi hadn't chosen them this time, but instead unusually brought along the fourth prince.

After Kangxi left, the princes stopped attending court. Since the eldest prince, Prince Heshuo, held the reins of power in the palace, they didn't have to worry about anything. The Eighth Prince had even been stripped of his position in the Imperial Household Department by Kangxi, and now he was just a bald prince with nothing to do with him.

On this day, Ninth Master came to Eighth Master's residence and saw that he hardly ever left the house. Feeling anxious, he ran to Eighth Master's residence, wanting to take him out to play.

“Eighth Brother, what are you doing cooped up like this every day? Come on, let’s go to Tantuo Temple! It’s said that the incense there is very effective, let’s go burn some incense!” Ninth Master said.

"You must have something to ask for when you burn incense. What is it that you are asking for?" Eighth Master sat in his study, spending his days reading and painting, living a carefree and peaceful life.

"I, I!!" Ninth Master looked at Eighth Master's calm face and couldn't utter a few words. Because they were close in birth order and similar in age, and because Eighth Master had taken the initiative to approach and befriend them, Ninth Master had always been on good terms with Eighth Master. After they started working together, they often drank and talked all night, sharing their ambitions. But now, looking at Eighth Master's unusually calm face, Ninth Master suddenly felt for a moment as if he had never known this Eighth Brother before him. This feeling arose spontaneously, but he quickly dismissed the thought.

"Now that Father has personally said that I was born to a lowly woman from the Imperial Household Department, I have no right to aspire to that position. Ninth Brother, let's just treat everything that happened before as a passing breeze. Now, we can only quietly watch Prince Zhi and Fourth Prince from our respective residences." Eighth Prince said calmly, his eyes as serene as a forest after a heavy snowfall, clean yet somewhat mysterious.

After a long silence, Ninth Master finally couldn't help but speak: "If Eighth Brother no longer has that ambition, then I will cut off all the connections that might be detrimental to him. Those matters will no longer be our concern!"

Eighth Prince peeked at Ninth Prince, deeply grateful to his half-brother. He had initially approached him to gain more support, drawn by his maternal family. Furthermore, his marriage to a daughter of the Guo Luo Luo clan naturally connected him to Consort Yi's family. However, Eighth Prince was truly moved by the support and help Ninth Prince had shown him over the years. Ninth Prince would tirelessly assist with anything, big or small, within his household, never asking for anything in return.

"Ninth Prince, thank you! You're not getting any younger, and your wife still hasn't given you a legitimate son or daughter. Stop spending your days indulging in pleasures outside. You should have your wife bear you a child properly. Father Emperor values ​​these things; isn't 'childlessness' one of the thirty-two major crimes?" The Eighth Prince's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly when he said those two words. In fact, he did have a son, born to Princess Zhang, and now he also had a daughter each born to his wives, Chen and Mao. However, in Kangxi's eyes, illegitimate sons and daughters were not considered legitimate offspring.

Ninth Prince is now quite childless; his Ninth Princess has yet to bear him any children, although several of his concubines have given birth to daughters. In this respect, Ninth Prince and Eighth Prince are quite similar, neither of them having many offspring.

“Eighth Brother, why don’t you go to Tantuo Temple to pray for a child? Father is not in the capital anymore, what are you doing locking yourself in your room?” Ninth Prince continued to persuade him.

Eighth Master pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "Why don't you bring your family along? You should also let Ninth Sister-in-law come along, and your Eighth Sister-in-law go too."

Ninth Prince nodded, and after discussing with Eighth Prince the time to go to Tantuo Temple to offer incense, he left the Eighth Prince's residence.

Upon returning to his residence, he reflected that he had been married for seven or eight years, yet his wife still bore him no children. He thought that since marrying into the family, Lady Dong'e had seemingly never bothered to discipline him. She was more like a decoration, a mere "Ninth Prince's Consort," simply placed there. She would only appear when the Ninth Prince needed her; otherwise, she never summoned him unless he went to the main courtyard. He had always been a womanizer, and besides the princesses bestowed upon him by his father and Consort Yi, he had taken several commoner women he had fancied as concubines. The Ninth Prince's Consort seemed to never concern herself with these women, even exempting them from the traditional monthly greetings to the Prince's Consort on the first and fifteenth of each month.

"Master!" Suddenly, a clear and delicate voice, like a nightingale's song, came from the doorway. Without even looking, Ninth Master knew it was one of his newly favored concubines, who turned out to be the daughter of a wine seller named "Meilong." Meilong had narrow shoulders, a wasp waist, an oval face, and large eyes; she was the spitting image of a vixen, very charming and alluring, and quite favored by Ninth Master.

Ninth Master watched as Meilong, dressed in a light pink cheongsam, gracefully walked towards him. The gilded jade headdress she wore made her look exceptionally charming and elegant, though her status was not worthy of such an outfit.

As Ninth Prince recalled what Eighth Prince had said, he suddenly realized that he was favoring a concubine while neglecting his proper Ninth Prince's wife, not even knowing what makeup she wore or what clothes she wore every day.

"Who let you in?" Ninth Master suddenly felt a surge of irritation and angrily said to Meilong.

Meilong, who had been wearing a charming smile, froze on her face as if she had fallen into an ice cellar upon hearing Ninth Master's almost roaring words. Seeing Meilong like this, Ninth Master felt even more disgusted with her.

"Little Wu, drag her out and lock her up. She's not allowed to come out without my permission!" Ninth Master turned his eyes away, as if he never wanted to see Meilong again.

Xiao Wuzi, who had been waiting outside the house, immediately ran in and said to Meilong, "Madam, please!"

Meilong was momentarily confused about what she had done to offend this man, so she refused to leave, covering her face with her handkerchief and saying, "My lord, what did I do wrong? What are you doing?"

Ninth Master was only acting out of anger. If Meilong had obediently gone down now, he might have let her go later. But seeing her stubborn and unforgiving attitude, Ninth Master became even more annoyed.