Hongxi said, "I'll have someone escort Steward Liang."

Liang Jiugong declined, saying, "Prince Hongxi has many things to attend to, so there's no need to trouble your people to deliver it."

Liang Jiugong knows every road in the palace well, so he really doesn't need someone to escort him.

Hongxi was not surprised. He simply handed over a purse and said, "Have some tea for Steward Liang."

After declining a couple of times, Liang Jiugong accepted it, which was an unspoken "rule" in the palace and was also permitted by Emperor Kangxi.

After seeing Liang Jiugong off, Hongxi returned to his study.

"Manager Liang is as stubborn as ever."

The servant standing nearby, upon hearing this, thought to himself, "That's right, those who serve His Majesty are truly capable."

"Keep an eye on those newcomers. Although they were sent by Huang Mafa's people, there's no guarantee that someone won't take advantage of them. We can't be careless."

"Yes, this servant will certainly pay attention."

Hongxi said a lot more before letting him leave.

On the other side, the Crown Princess had only recently learned about Hongxi's affair. Upon learning this, she calmly said, "It seems I really underestimated him. They say a barking dog doesn't bite, and it seems that's true. He even schemed against me."

As a stepmother, the Crown Princess naturally had to be careful around Hongxi, whose biological mother had passed away, but she did not mistreat him.

She had no intention of harming Hongxi, nor did she intend to help him. But Hongxi was quite capable; he came to see his daughter yesterday and fell ill today. It wasn't serious, but she was worried and stayed by his side the whole time. Moreover, none of the people around Hongxi came to report to her.

Others might not see Hongxi's scheme, but the Crown Princess could.

Her daughter is so young, yet he is truly ruthless. To have such cunning at such a young age is truly astonishing.

She can't touch him, but we'll see how things go in the future.

"Your Majesty, don't be angry. It's not worth ruining your health. Since Prince Hongxi dared to do this, he must be relying on His Majesty's favor. There's plenty of time! There will always be a way to let His Majesty know his true colors."

"I've taken note of this matter. There's plenty of time in the future. I'll open the storeroom and send some good things over there, so that others won't say I'm mistreating him."

The Crown Princess was furious. She could see clearly that with the Crown Prince in his current state, he had virtually no chance of becoming the Crown Prince. No matter how much Hongxi jumped around, it was useless. He was just a clown and really didn't understand his own worth.

"Yes, Master."

After all the people around Hongxi were replaced, his behavior improved a lot. Two days later, Hongxi sincerely apologized to Hongzhao and Hongqing. Kangxi happened to see this and praised him highly.

Then, a rumor suddenly appeared, saying that Prince Hongxi had an extraordinary demeanor.

This commotion had a wide reach; Tong Cheng'er heard about it even outside the palace, and ordinary people in the capital were praising Hongxi. She felt something was amiss.

“I’ve met Hongxi a few times, and he seems alright, but this kind of excessive pampering is hard for anyone to handle. What’s going on?”

Yinzhen: "He only has himself to blame."

Tong Cheng'er asked curiously, "What do you mean?"

Yinzhen: "Hongxi is the Crown Prince's son, and the people around him are not really good-for-nothings. How could he be easily swayed by others? The incident a few days ago when he was fighting with Hongzhao and the others was intentional. You were not in the palace, so you probably don't know. Since that incident, Father Emperor has paid much more attention to Hongxi."

Tong Cheng'er was a little confused when she heard this. She remembered that Hongxi was not that old! The age of a modern elementary school student, yet he was scheming like this. Tong Cheng'er shuddered.

That's really... scary.

"Then what about this matter?"

"He started it himself, and then someone else took the opportunity to add fuel to the fire."

Although Yinzhen knew about Hongxi's scheme, he had not yet intervened to seek revenge. This matter was probably the work of the First Prince and the Eighth Prince.

The third brother probably got involved too.

Hongxi deserves what he got.

He was too self-important. He wanted to have a good reputation in the capital, but he was still too young. What he considered to be a well-thought-out plan was full of loopholes in the eyes of others.

This gives off a clownish vibe.