"Why?" Fourth Master asked.

“The Fourteenth Prince is not yet twenty years old, and is by nature a military general. How can he bring peace and stability to the country? If the Qing Dynasty is taken over by such a person, I am afraid that it will soon be plunged into war and conflict,” Longkodo said.

Seeing that Longkodo's analysis was accurate, the Fourth Prince said, "But this is the Emperor's decree. No matter who he chooses, we, as his subjects, can only obey."

Longkodo turned to the memorial tablet of Empress Tongjia and said, "My elder sister once told me that Yinzhen is no ordinary child. If he can take charge of the Qing Dynasty, he will definitely manage the country well."

Such words could not possibly have come from Empress Tongjia. At that time, Emperor Kangxi was still middle-aged, and Empress Tongjia would certainly not have dared to say such a thing. It was Longkodo himself who said it, but he deliberately said it in front of Empress Tongjia.

The Fourth Prince felt a pang in his heart. After all, standing before the memorial tablet of Empress Tongjia, in the palace of the woman he used to call "Mother," the Fourth Prince felt as if he were still a child, unwilling to disappoint this woman. Therefore, Longkodo's words truly made the Fourth Prince very uncomfortable.

Seeing the expression on the Fourth Prince's face, Longkodo said, "Emperor Taizong of Tang was not destined to be a wise ruler. If he hadn't rebelled, the Tang Dynasty would have belonged to Li Jiancheng. Whether the Tang Dynasty would have had the later Zhenguan era is unknown. Zhu Li, the only decent emperor of the Ming Dynasty, also seized the throne from his nephew."

The Fourth Prince slowly clenched his fist, a resolute look gradually appearing in his eyes as he stared intently at the memorial tablet of Empress Tongjia. He couldn't help but be moved. For a long time, the Fourth Prince had missed Empress Tongjia, because she had been devoted to him wholeheartedly, regardless of whether it was for the wealth and glory of the Tongjia family. At least at that time, she was devoted to him. Consort De, his own mother, on the other hand, couldn't be so devoted to him, and she also had a younger brother, the Fourteenth Prince.

“Your Highness, the Emperor summons me every day to ask him about matters of the court. Why don’t we take advantage of that time to retrieve it and have a look?” Longkodo said hastily.

"No. It's not the right time. Let's wait a little longer." Fourth Master still couldn't make up his mind.

Seeing that the Fourth Prince was quite hesitant, Longkodo knew that no matter how anxious he was, it would be useless if the Fourth Prince did not make up his mind to do this. So he had no choice but to agree.

After the two left Changchun Palace, they went their separate ways. The Fourth Prince naturally went to Consort De's place, because Lanqin and her daughter were still there.

But when he arrived at Yonghe Palace, Consort De and the others were not there; they had all gone to Qianqing Palace to visit Emperor Kangxi.

Emperor Kangxi was already able to get out of bed and walk. He was very happy to see Consort De coming with her daughter-in-law and granddaughter. When he saw Lanqin, he thought of the Third Princess who had passed away many years ago, and he felt quite emotional.

"You look just like me, girl. You've come to see me several times these days," Kangxi said with a smile.

"Ushiha has been spoiled by his daughter-in-law and has become quite unruly. I'm sorry to have made Father Emperor laugh at him." Lanqin looked at Kangxi, who had become as thin as a film producer, and couldn't help but feel sad. No matter who it is, even an emperor, they will all be born, grow old, get sick, and die.

"Father, the Fourteenth Prince and his wife have sent a letter. They say they are very worried about your health and want to come back to see you." Seeing that Kangxi seemed to like Lanqin and her daughter very much, Wanyan quickly mentioned the Fourteenth Prince.

"I'm doing just fine, letting him stay peacefully in the military camp. If he comes back and there's no one there to keep order, it could cause instability in the army, and that would be bad," Kangxi said.

Consort De looked at the Fourteenth Prince's wife and quickly said, "The Fourteenth Prince is also worried about the Emperor."

Kangxi nodded and said, "I know that the Fourteenth Prince is a filial son, but he should prioritize the affairs of the state. There is no need for him to return. I will personally issue an imperial edict to him later so that he can rest assured over there."

Immediately under the watchful eye of Consort De, Lady Wanyan uttered a few words of thanks.

Lanqin and the others stayed for a while longer before withdrawing, not daring to disturb Kangxi's affairs. It was clear to everyone that Kangxi's health was indeed very poor.

"Mother, I will not return to Yonghe Palace with you. I still need to go back to take care of Honghui and Hongshan," Wanyan said to Consort De after she came out.

Consort De naturally agreed, so only Lanqin and her daughter went back with Consort De.

When Consort De saw that the Fourth Prince had arrived at Yonghe Palace, she told them to go to Wuxiha's room to rest, while she herself went to rest, as she had been busy for most of the day and was quite tired.

The Fourth Prince had just returned from the memorial tablet of Empress Tongjia and found that Consort De did not seem to care about him. She only exchanged a few words with him before hastily dismissing him, which made him increasingly unhappy.

"Your Highness, let's have dinner with Mother tonight. I'll cook a meal for her myself," Lanqin said to the Fourth Prince.

"Judging from Mother's expression just now, she didn't seem very happy. Perhaps we should go back." The Fourth Prince felt that Consort De's expression was not good and did not want to stay in Yonghe Palace any longer.

"That's because Mother is exhausted today. She's been busy since early morning, and someone her age can't keep up," Lanqin said.

"Why did the Fourteenth Princess Consort suddenly come today?" The Fourth Prince saw the red ginseng that Wanyan had left here.

"They said they came to see Father Emperor. But they insisted on seeing him before going back. It seems that the Fourteenth Prince is very concerned about Father Emperor. The news of Father Emperor's fainting was not spread, but the Fourteenth Prince, who is far away in the Northwest, still found out," Lanqin said.

Fourth Master frowned and said, "Alright, I'll stay here tonight and have dinner with Mother."

Lanqin nodded and then took the Fourth Prince to the small kitchen of Yonghe Palace. While Consort De was resting, the two of them began to prepare a meal in the kitchen. The Fourth Prince didn't know how to cook, so Lanqin asked him to prepare the raw materials and then taught him to make some simple dishes, and he managed to make one or two dishes.

The cooks in the kitchen were instructed by Lanqin to prepare ingredients. After an hour of work, Lanqin and the Fourth Master had actually made seven or eight dishes. The Fourth Master sighed: "So cooking is such a hard job."

After Lanqin instructed the servants in the kitchen to put away the dishes that the two of them had worked so hard to prepare, she then stopped the Fourth Prince from paying his respects to Consort De.

"I'd better not go!" The Fourth Prince refused to go. He had never fawned over Consort De like this before; it was really not his style.

"What's wrong with paying respects to your mother? Take this opportunity to mention that you've prepared dinner for her." Lanqin said sternly, as if coaxing a child, seeing that the Fourth Master looked uncomfortable.

"It's something I've never done before, so it feels awkward," Fourth Master said, sounding aggrieved, like a child.

“Get started now. Your mother gave birth to you, so what’s shameful about paying your respects and cooking her a meal?” Lanqin continued, her face stern.