Chapter 65: The Salted Fish Who Brings Back Old Ten is Afraid

As mentioned before, Kangxi's harem was very peaceful, with no palace intrigue or power struggles.

The sixth prince was almost six years old and was about to enter the Imperial Study to study, but he suddenly died without any illness or disaster. His death was also mysterious and no one knew the reason. This shocked many concubines in the palace who had children.

The death of the Sixth Prince immediately became a taboo in the palace. All the concubines, maids, and eunuchs in the palace kept the matter a secret, and no one dared to mention it or discuss it.

The reason no one mentioned this matter was not because the death of the Sixth Prince concealed any earth-shattering secret or conspiracy. It was simply because, among all the people in the palace, apart from the Sixth Prince's birth mother, Consort De, no one knew why the Sixth Prince had died young.

The Sixth Prince was raised by his birth mother, Consort De, in Yonghe Palace. He was not yet old enough to study in the Imperial Study, so he usually stayed in Yonghe Palace and rarely went out. Few people in the palace knew him well, and everyone knew very little about the Sixth Prince.

However, the concubines in the palace at least knew that the Sixth Prince was a very healthy prince, and there was no congenital deficiency or illness. Moreover, no imperial physicians were summoned from Yonghe Palace before the Sixth Prince's untimely death, which ruled out the possibility that the Sixth Prince had suddenly fallen seriously ill.

Consort Tong, holding the position of secondary empress, was in fact the de facto head of the harem. The sudden and inexplicable death of the Sixth Prince, a prince who seemed poised for a stable future, naturally compelled her to investigate.

But Consort De was very uncooperative.

It's unclear whether Consort De was traumatized by the death of the Sixth Prince or whether her long-standing resentment towards Consort Tong was now erupting. She acted erratically, refusing to allow Consort Tong to enter Yonghe Palace and forbidding her from approaching the deceased Sixth Prince.

The sudden death of the Sixth Prince made it difficult for Consort De, who had just experienced the pain of losing her son, to hold Consort Tong against her lack of decorum and disrespect.

In addition, since the Fourth Prince, whom Consort Tong raised, was Consort De's biological son, Consort Tong inevitably felt somewhat uncomfortable in front of Consort De. She couldn't force Consort De to bow her head, so she forced her way into Yonghe Palace to check on the situation.

However, the sudden death of the Sixth Prince was no small matter. A perfectly healthy prince, without any illness or disaster, was gone just like that. The truth of the matter had to be found out, and the whole story had to be reported to the Emperor to give him an explanation.

Consort De harbored hostility towards Imperial Noble Consort Tong and resolutely refused to allow her to enter Yonghe Palace to investigate the cause of the Sixth Prince's death. Imperial Noble Consort Tong had no choice but to report the whole matter to Emperor Kangxi and ask him to handle it personally.

When Kangxi arrived at Yonghe Palace, Consort De, with her hair disheveled, was holding the Sixth Prince's small, gradually cooling body and weeping uncontrollably.

At first, Consort De refused to let the imperial physicians get close to the Sixth Prince, and even forbade them from examining the Sixth Prince's body.

Later, it was only after Emperor Kangxi ordered that the powerful old woman forcibly remove Consort De that the head of the Imperial Medical Academy was able to access the body of the Sixth Prince and investigate the cause of his sudden death.

Is it a sudden illness, poisoning, injury, or... some other accident?

The head of the Imperial Medical Academy examined the body of the Sixth Prince and his expression changed drastically. He was shocked and reported the cause of the Sixth Prince's death to Emperor Kangxi privately.

In the end, Kangxi said nothing to the public, but kept the true cause of the Sixth Prince's death a closely guarded secret.

Apart from the imperial physician who examined the body of the Sixth Prince, no one else knew why the Sixth Prince had died so suddenly.

Perhaps Consort De, as the birth mother of the Sixth Prince, knew some of the inside story.

Strangely, after the death of the Sixth Prince, Emperor Kangxi, who was usually very gentle with his concubines, showed no concern for Consort De, who was grieving the loss of her beloved son. He did not send any comforting gifts to Yonghe Palace, nor did he offer Consort De any words of solace.

Quite suddenly, after the death of the Sixth Prince, Consort De, who had always been favored, fell out of favor, and Emperor Kangxi suddenly became cold towards her.

Because Emperor Kangxi never publicly announced the cause of the Sixth Prince's death and remained silent on the matter, the concubines in the palace who had children were plunged into great fear.

After the death of the Sixth Prince, the concubines who had given birth to princes in the palace became terrified. While they pondered the cause of the Sixth Prince's death, they also kept a closer eye on their own children, fearing that they would follow in the Sixth Prince's footsteps and die mysteriously in the palace.

Some people have wondered if there was a conspiracy behind the death of the Sixth Prince, or perhaps it was a result of factional infighting. After all, the character "Zuo" in the Sixth Prince's name was quite conspicuous.

However, the conspiracy theory is not very tenable. Although the Sixth Prince's name contains the character "Zuo," the possibility of him succeeding to the throne cannot be said to be completely impossible, but it can only be said to be very low.

The Sixth Prince's mother, Consort De, came from a lowly family and rose to the rank of consort solely through her son's influence. She could not offer the Sixth Prince much assistance and might even have been a hindrance to him.

The Sixth Prince was a son born out of wedlock, and his maternal family were only bondservant families, so he was neither a legitimate son nor a nobleman.

As for being the eldest, he had nothing to do with the sixth prince. After the order of birth was rearranged, the eldest prince, Yinti, born to Consort Hui, became the eldest son. Indeed, Yinti was favored by Emperor Kangxi because of his status as the eldest son, and he was Emperor Kangxi's second most important son.

Based solely on his name, the sixth prince, who was neither the eldest son nor of noble birth, nor even favored by Emperor Kangxi, was simply fantasizing about competing with the crown prince for the throne.

Even if Emperor Kangxi was confused, the Empress Dowager was still alive, and her most valued and close great-grandson was always the Crown Prince!

With the support of the Empress Dowager, the Crown Prince's position as heir apparent is as secure as a mountain, and even the eldest son, the First Prince, finds it difficult to shake.

Moreover, it's unlikely that Emperor Kangxi was confused; the Crown Prince was Kangxi's most beloved and cherished son. Even the eldest prince, being the eldest son, had to back down, so how could the sixth prince compare to the Crown Prince's position in Kangxi's heart?

Conspiracy theories are unfounded, but this does not prevent concubines with children from paying more and more attention to the health and safety of their princes and princesses.

It was their carelessness; quite a few children died young in the palace in previous years, but the number has decreased in recent years.

The death of the Sixth Prince serves as a wake-up call for the concubines in the harem, reminding them that children in the palace are never easy to raise, and they cannot afford to be complacent for even a moment, or they will suffer the same fate as Consort De, whose son, whom she had already raised, was lost so inexplicably.

The Imperial Concubine became even more cautious, keeping a closer eye on Yin'e and forbidding him from running off to play on his own again.

The Consort no longer allowed Yin'e and the Ninth Prince to go to the Imperial Garden alone with their servants, as they had done before. She kept Yin'e under her watchful eye, taking care of him in everything she did, not wanting him to be out alone without her protection.

Consort Yi was the same; she took even better care of Yinzhi, who was born with congenital deficiencies and was weak, and cherished him as if he were the apple of her eye.

And the Ninth Prince, Consort Yi did not relax her protection of him either.

She gave the Ninth Prince's wet nurses a stern lecture, instructing them to take good care of him and stay close to him on weekdays. Unless he went to Yongshou Palace, which was adjacent to Yikun Palace, the Ninth Prince was not allowed to run around in the palace.

Yin'e accepted the restriction of his freedom well; he didn't want to go out even though it was a hot day.

The weather in May is hot, so staying at Yongshou Palace is just right. As for the Imperial Concubine's exercise in the Imperial Garden, it can simply be changed to the small garden in Yongshou Palace. It's just that the environment is a bit more cramped, and you have to walk around the small garden a few more times when you take a stroll.

Yin'e was as surprised as everyone else in the palace by the sudden death of the Sixth Prince.

At the same time, Yin'e was also puzzled about the cause of the Sixth Prince's death - the Sixth Prince really died very suddenly. He did not show any signs of serious illness before his death, and there was no outbreak of epidemic in the palace.

As for the possibility of an accident, it is said that the Sixth Prince did not leave Yonghe Palace on the day he died, and stayed in Yonghe Palace the whole time.

How could the Sixth Prince have encountered an accident in his own mother's palace? Could it be that Consort De did not even have complete control over the palace where she had lived for many years, allowing others to take advantage of the situation?

Aside from being surprised by the sudden death of the Sixth Prince, Yin'e did not feel particularly sad or grief-stricken. Just like when Yin'e died, he only sighed and felt a sense of loss.

No... After the Sixth Prince died, the emotions that arose in Yin'e's heart were even more intense and profound than when Yin'e died.

Although Yinyu and the Sixth Prince were both half-brothers of Yin'e, Yin'e had never met Yinyu, but had met the Sixth Prince several times and had spoken a few words to him—albeit just a few greetings.

Undoubtedly, the Sixth Prince could be considered an acquaintance of Yin'e, while Yin'e was a complete stranger to him.

The death of the Sixth Prince affected Yin'e more deeply than the death of Yin'e Yu, a complete stranger. He also felt even more strongly that the heavy burden of fate pressing down on him was unavoidable and unchangeable.

Yin'e did not know the true cause of the Sixth Prince's death, but there was no doubt that all his efforts had been in vain. The Sixth Prince did not survive his destined death and died at the age of six.

This frightened Yin'e somewhat. He began to worry whether he could change the fate of the Consort's early death, whether he could save her and prevent her from dying young like in history.

The death of the Sixth Prince shocked or upset not only Yin'e and the Imperial Concubine, but also other concubines in the palace. Emperor Kangxi was also greatly affected by the death of the Sixth Prince.

The Sixth Prince died just months before he was six years old and would have been able to study in the Imperial Study. He was the oldest of all of Kangxi's princes who died young, and the cause of his death was the one that Kangxi found most unfair and unacceptable.

Having lost a healthy, established son, Emperor Kangxi was deeply grieved and seemed unable to accept the loss of a second son.

Not long after the death of the Sixth Prince, Emperor Kangxi sent people to bring back the Seventh Prince, who had been sent to the Prince Chun's residence.

What's baffling is that before bringing the Seventh Prince back, Emperor Kangxi had him recognize the wife of Prince Chun as his adoptive mother. The Seventh Prince became Prince Chun's adopted son, but Kangxi never mentioned adoption again.

To put it bluntly, Emperor Kangxi was being unreasonable. He wanted the Seventh Prince to remain his son and not be adopted out, but he also wanted the Seventh Prince to inherit the title of Prince Chun when he grew up.

Having just lost one son, Emperor Kangxi was reluctant to give up another son.

However, Emperor Kangxi was also reluctant to part with the princely title he had arranged for his seventh son. The seventh prince was born with a disability, and his physical impairment would only hold him back. Even if he put in twice the effort, he might not be able to catch up with the other princes and earn a share of the family fortune through his own abilities.

Emperor Kangxi was a loving father with a compassionate heart. It was true that he was concerned about the Seventh Prince's background, but it was also true that he genuinely cared about the Seventh Prince's future.

If Emperor Kangxi hadn't been the emperor, his fickle and deceitful behavior would certainly have earned him the reputation of being a scoundrel.

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Author's note: Sorry for the lateness.

P.S.: There was no conspiracy behind the Sixth Prince's death; he was "killed" by Consort De, who was too "ambitious."

P.S.: The Fourth Prince entered the Imperial Study a year early. Also, others didn't take the character "祚" (zuo, meaning imperial destiny) to heart, but Consort De was released. Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants between 2023-03-15 11:46:17 and 2023-03-15 21:06:06!

Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: 20 bottles of "Mei Who Can Never Go Back";

Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!