"Your Majesty, it's done."

Consort Hui smiled, looking very happy.

“If His Majesty finds out that a prince is infertile, he will certainly not allow him to inherit the throne. If my son is not doing well, why should he be?”

The old woman said, "Your Highness, besides these, is there anything else I need..."

Consort Hui shook her head: "We don't need anything else for now. Once we've swept away the eight tails, we'll just wait and see. When Consort Liang finds out that she personally sent a palace maid to drug her precious son, making him unable to have children, let's see if she can still laugh."

The old woman smiled and said, "Your Majesty is wise."

Consort Hui's methods weren't particularly sophisticated; they were common practices in the inner court. It doesn't matter if a method is old or not, as long as it works. The fact that Consort Hui was able to accomplish all this without the Eighth Prince and others noticing was because the Eighth Prince underestimated her.

The foolish behavior of the eldest prince over the years has led the eighth prince to mistakenly believe that Consort Hui is not very smart either. He thinks that Consort Hui has not used any tricks on him, but rather that she disdains to use tricks on him.

Now that her family has fallen and her son is almost crippled, Consort Hui has nothing left to worry about. To seek revenge, there's nothing she wouldn't dare to do.

Compared to the Eighth Prince's triumphant rise, Yinzhen has been much more low-key lately. It seems that Kangxi has forgotten about him, throwing him into the Ministry of Works and then ignoring him. Yinzhen doesn't seem to mind, and is working hard in the Ministry of Works.

He felt that the Ministry of Works was very good and had done a lot of projects that benefited the country and its people. Although they didn't seem impressive, they were all useful projects.

Compared to the other ministries, the Ministry of Works was somewhat inconspicuous, and gradually, Yinzhen became like an invisible person in the court.

The Eighth Prince's advisor flattered him, saying, "There is no one in the court who can compare to Your Highness now."

The Eighth Prince said, "We still need to pay more attention to the Fourth Prince."

Although Yinzhen now appears leisurely and carefree, seemingly indifferent to power, the Eighth Prince always felt that something was amiss.

Those who lack ability would all want to compete for it if given the chance. Yinzhen was capable, and quite capable at that. How could he be so open-minded and have no worldly desires at all?

The Eighth Prince felt this was illogical.

It's puzzling that the Eighth Prince felt that Yinzhen wasn't indifferent to power, but rather that he kept it hidden too well.

He didn't believe there were people in the world as without desires as he was.

Another aide spoke up disdainfully: "My lord, I have inquired and found that Prince Yong is currently getting along very well with a group of low-level craftsmen in the Ministry of Works. He really doesn't care about his status or reputation. How could anyone be willing to follow such a person?"

The social hierarchy is: scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants. While artisans are not the lowest class, they are not considered upper class either. If a prince were to associate too closely with a group of artisans, it would be a loss of face and dignity for others to know about it. Who among those with some means would want to associate with such a person?

Eighth Prince: "That may be true, but I'm still a little uneasy. It's always good to be cautious."

“What you say is true, Master.”

The Eighth Prince did have doubts, but those who heard him didn't take it to heart. After all, Yinzhen's behavior didn't seem like that of a person with ambition, and in their eyes, he was nothing to fear. In short, they didn't take him seriously.

...

"Your Majesty, the Yellow River, which flows through Anhui, has breached its banks."

This is not good news; the Yellow River has breached its banks, and it happened in the section of the river in Anhui.

Emperor Kangxi, his face contorted with rage, said, “I remember that funds were allocated last year to repair the river embankment. Could it have been built with mud? It’s going to burst at the slightest erosion. Who was responsible for repairing the embankment?”

"Your Majesty, it is Lord Chen Wenqi."

"Where is he?" With such a big mess, why hasn't he made a sound?

"Your Majesty, Lord Chen has committed suicide by drowning."

Upon hearing this, Kangxi slammed down the teacup on the table: "Very well, he caused all this trouble and died a quick death, leaving behind a prefecture of displaced and wandering people. That's really good!"

"Your Majesty, please calm your anger!"

"Calm down, how can I calm down? Where are Chen Wenqi's family?"

"Your Majesty, part of Lord Chen's family is in the capital, and the other part is in Anhui."

Emperor Kangxi issued an order: "Chen Wenqi neglected his duties. All officials in his three clans shall be dismissed, and both men and women shall be exiled to Ningguta. His descendants shall be barred from taking the imperial examinations and entering officialdom for the next three generations."

This punishment is so severe that it's no exaggeration to say it's like killing someone and crushing their spirit.

Dismissal and exile effectively cut off any future possibility of the Chen family's prosperity.

Those below were also somewhat terrified: "Your Majesty is wise."

The punishment has been imposed, but the Yellow River breach cannot be ignored.

The most urgent tasks now are to treat and comfort the disaster victims, and to rebuild the river embankment.

Thinking about this, Kangxi had an idea and sent someone to summon Yinzhen and the Eighth Prince.

Both of them had already received news of the Yellow River breach in Anhui, and they had their own plans in mind when they were summoned.

"I have summoned you here to entrust you with something."

The two said in unison, "Father, just give the order."

Emperor Kangxi: "The Yellow River has breached its banks in Anhui, causing widespread displacement of the people. I am sending you two with relief funds and grain to Anhui to provide disaster relief."

Yinzhen and the Eighth Prince: "Your subject obeys the decree."

Kangxi further refined their division of labor. Yinzhen was mainly responsible for investigating local officials in Anhui, ensuring that disaster relief funds and grains were used for the benefit of the people, and finally, for overseeing the reconstruction of the river embankment.

His position at the Ministry of Works was relatively convenient.

The Eighth Prince was mainly responsible for implementing the disaster relief funds and grains, distributing the relief funds in person to let the people know that the court had not abandoned them.

The two had different tasks, and in terms of difficulty, Yinzhen's task of rebuilding the river embankment was more challenging, as it was a large-scale project.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!