After the crown prince was deposed, the emperor was in a bad mood. The palace servants in the Hall of Mental Cultivation continued their life of fear and trembling in the borderlands. Everyone had developed the ability to walk silently in the dark without encountering any obstacles. Those who had not mastered the skill disappeared.

Just as news came from the palace that Kangxi had once again brought Hongzhao to his side to tease him, Prince Zhi could no longer bear it. He mobilized almost all the resources of himself and the Nalan clan and proposed to Kangxi that a crown prince be established.

Kangxi directly dismissed several of the most vocal officials during the morning court session, stripping them of all their titles and exiling them thousands of miles away as punishment, effectively silencing those who had submitted memorials advocating for the establishment of a crown prince.

"The matter of the Crown Prince is for the sake of the country, not an excuse for you people to fight for power and profit. Anyone who tries to persuade me to establish a Crown Prince is committing treason!" Kangxi made a decisive statement, directly shattering the Prince Zhi's ambition to rise to power. After the court session, the Prince Zhi looked rather dejected.

He was unwilling to give up and wanted to try again, so he went to the Hall of Mental Cultivation after the morning court session to wait.

There were many waiting seats. Many ministers had been summoned by Emperor Kangxi, while others, like Prince Zhi, had not received an imperial edict but wanted to try their luck, hoping that the emperor might have time.

As Prince Zhi sat down, he saw the Ninth Prince come out. He looked the Ninth Prince up and down, sizing him up as the most handsome of his brothers.

It had only been a month since I last saw Ninth Brother, and he had lost at least ten pounds. His chin was pointed, and he seemed to have applied some makeup to his face. Even so, it couldn't hide the dark circles under his eyes, as if he hadn't had a good rest in a long time.

He was wearing ordinary royal blue clothes, the bright color making his face appear even more ashen. Most importantly, his eyes...

The original Ninth Brother was vibrant and full of life, but now, the Prince Zhi can only see desolation and coldness in his eyes.

When his ninth brother glanced at him, Prince Zhi couldn't help but shrug, feeling somewhat uncomfortable.

"Greetings to Prince Zhi." The moment Yinzhen spoke, Prince Zhi was startled.

"Ninth Brother, what's wrong with your throat?"

Yinzhen touched his prominent Adam's apple: "The high fever damaged my voice. The imperial physician said it can recover slowly, which surprised you, elder brother."

"Your illness looks dangerous, you should go back and rest quickly." Prince Zhi thought of the clues he had found and had some guesses about the illness.

Yinzhen came to express his gratitude today. Even in the brief moment between deposing the crown prince, Kangxi did not forget to instruct Liang Jiugong to send him medicine. His deep love for his son was truly touching.

Kangxi never asked Yinzhen what illness he had. They just chatted casually. When Yinzhen saw that the emperor looked tired, he wisely left first. Before leaving, he saw a man dressed as a doctor waiting outside the palace. He found it strange. Judging from his clothes, the man seemed to be from the common people, not a newly recruited imperial physician from the Imperial Hospital.

He waited from noon until dark, but in the end, Liang Jiugong said he would not see him. Prince Zhi left the palace with his head hanging low.

******

When Yinzhen saw that Yintang had recovered to the state of a normal person, the once bright and passionate Ninth Brother was now lifeless and exuding a gloomy aura.

Quitting drugs is no easy feat, but as for other things, he'll take his time to recover. Yinzhen thought to himself as he led his men to a secret chamber.

Inside, a woman was being held. The moment Yinzhen saw her, veins bulged on his forehead. He rushed over and forcefully grabbed her neck, muttering, "Poisonous woman! Poisonous woman!"

"Ninth Brother, she is not Yan Ying'er, let go." Seeing that his Ninth Brother was so weak that he could not even cause any real harm to a weak woman, Yinzhen's hatred for the person behind the scenes intensified.

Yinzhen's eyes gradually cleared, and he looked the woman in pink up and down. She was indeed more mature than his former "beloved concubine".

"This is Yan Tao'er," Yinzhen explained to Yintang. "They are sisters."

“This woman was stolen from the Eighth Prince’s residence,” Yinzhen said bluntly. “The Eighth Prince’s concubine helped our people, which allowed them to bring her out without anyone noticing.”

"I haven't interrogated this person yet," Yinzhen said. "I'm leaving him to you."

Old Jiu has been suffering for so long, he needs to vent.

Yin Tang shook his head: "Fourth Brother, ask whatever you want. Just tell your brother the result. It doesn't matter if we don't have her statement."

"Fourth Brother, I was naive before, thinking... we were all brothers." Yinzhen chuckled self-deprecatingly, shaking his thin, bony arm. "Now that I've learned my lesson, Fourth Brother, rest assured, from now on, Eighth Brother and I will be sworn enemies!"

"He set a trap for the tenth prince, and he's also capable of underhanded tactics against Honghui. He might also be behind the fourth sister-in-law's affair. Fourth brother, we can't just sit here and wait to die; we must fight back!" Intense hatred flashed in Yinzhen's eyes.

Yinzhen patted him reassuringly and nodded to indicate that he understood.

******

Wanyan invited Yihua to go to a hot spring. Yihua, along with the eldest princess and Liuliu, went to her dowry estate to relax.

The eldest princess was playing in the water with Liu Liu, while Wanyan Shi and Yi Hua were lying by the hot spring enjoying a massage.

"Fourth Sister-in-law, this is someone sent by my sister-in-law from my maternal family. This is her massage skill." Wanyan gave a thumbs up.

Yi Hua wholeheartedly agreed; that strength was indeed that of a trained practitioner.

"Fourth Sister-in-law, you don't know yet, but the Fourteenth Prince has been having a really bad time lately." Yi Hua stared at Wan Yan's animated expression and thought the couple was quite amusing.

“My sister-in-law looks very happy,” Yi Hua said sincerely.

"Haha." Lady Wanyan laughed. "Our master somehow offended the Fourth Prince and has been getting a severe beating lately."

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