Highly recommended:

The banquet for the Winter Solstice began. Emperor Kangxi, the Empress Dowager, and Consort Tong sat on the throne of the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince and his sons sat on the lower left, while the princes of the imperial clan led their officials to sit on the lower right.

However, Consort Tong issued a special decree to prepare meals suitable for pregnant women for the imperial concubines, primary wives, and secondary wives who were pregnant; the rest of the women received the same meals.

Qingyan looked at the Winter Solstice meal, which was similar to the meals on other days, with more stews and very few green vegetables.

"Little darling, eat just a little. You can eat more when we get back to the Old Summer Palace!" Yin said softly.

The twins were carried by Li Dequan to Kangxi's side. Kangxi held Yiken'e, while Consort Tong fed Hutulifengsheng Zhalafen. Both of them had smiles on their faces.

"Fourth Prince, is it alright for the Emperor to be paying so much attention to the two children?" Qingyan noticed the unfriendly looks from many people opposite her, and she was very worried.

Yin smiled slightly: "If Father Emperor doesn't take this seriously, the children's safety will be in question."

As soon as he finished speaking, Qingyan looked in the direction of the Empress Dowager. The Empress Dowager beckoned to Fifth Master, asking him to bring his youngest daughter over.

“Your Majesty, the twins are of the legitimate line, while the fifth prince’s child was born to a concubine. Even if it is registered under the name of the fifth prince’s wife, it cannot change the fact that she is a lady of noble birth,” Kangxi said directly.

The Empress Dowager's face instantly turned ugly. She wanted to hold Hutuli Fengsheng Zhalafen, but Kangxi blocked her with his hand and handed her directly to Consort Tong.

She could only watch helplessly as the Mongol leaders and their wives who came to pay homage understood Kangxi's meaning; the Empress Dowager was clearly under Kangxi's control.

"Look, even the Empress Dowager can plead for us!" The wife of the Prince of Khorchin was stunned. Their trip to the capital was to ask for a marriage for their heir.

Last year, the prince kept writing memorials to Emperor Kangxi to clarify that there were no eligible princesses in the imperial family, but there were eligible princesses in the imperial clan. These princesses were mostly daughters of concubines. Emperor Kangxi emphasized the difference between legitimate and illegitimate daughters today.

The Crown Prince glanced at his brothers with great pride. Yin Yi paid no attention to Yin's boasting. Prince Yu and the others saw it and remembered it.

"The Crown Prince doesn't look too good!" Qingyan said, moving closer to Yin.

Yin glanced at the Crown Prince and saw him looking up smugly. Yin felt utterly disdainful of the Crown Prince's thoughts.

Before the winter solstice, Emperor Kangxi went to offer sacrifices to Heaven without taking the crown prince with him, which was very unusual.

"Fourth Prince, Father Emperor didn't bring the Crown Prince to the Heaven-worshiping ceremony. Right now, that one is still gloating." Yin Zhi sneered.

Yin asked in confusion, "Really?! Third Brother, I haven't been in the capital, so I really didn't know!"

Ten days before the winter solstice every year, Emperor Kangxi would go to the Temple of Heaven to offer sacrifices. Ever since the year he conferred the title of Crown Prince, Emperor Kangxi had always brought the Crown Prince with him to the Heaven-worshiping ceremony. This year's unusual behavior left everyone puzzled.

"Fourth Prince, the Crown Prince has been confined to Yuqing Palace." Yin Zhi's face revealed a hint of disdain.

Upon hearing Yinzhi's complaint, Yinqi quickly looked in Yinzhi's direction.

"Fourth Brother, has things stabilized at the military ports in Guangdong and Guangxi?" Yinqi, who was under house arrest, reflected on his actions in his study and realized that he had gone too far.

Yin glanced at Yinqi's face; it looked very rosy, and he seemed to be in much better spirits than when they last met.

"Not yet. We need to prepare for winter. We'll have to go back and start preparing right after the winter solstice," Yin said, shaking his head.

Having just taken over the naval ports in Guangdong and Guangxi, there are many details that need further improvement and standardization.

Many soldiers were not used to the discipline of Yin and others, so Yin personally screened and sent away a large number of those who did not obey orders.

"What about those businessmen?!" After returning to the capital, Yinqi had been preoccupied with the issue of usury.

Yinqi disliked lending money and even tried to dissuade him, but the Ninth Prince was always a worry, and with the Eighth Prince egging him on, Yinqi finally gave in.

"Family destroyed, people killed!" Yin took a sip of wine and said softly.

Yinqi frowned, his mind racing with thoughts of fighting back; those people had suffered undeserved misfortune.

"Fourth Sister-in-law, do you have a way to make amends?" Yinqi reflected on his mistake and quickly tried to find a way to remedy the situation.

“No, when we got there, those people were already surrounding the naval port, so we could only try to avoid it. Some families have already returned to their hometowns, seeing that those people are in a bad situation.” Qingyan shook his head helplessly.

The Yuelai Inn sent people to track him down and then invited him to become the manager of Linglong Pavilion as a form of compensation.

"Fourth Sister-in-law, if you can offer compensation, or if you need my help, you can just tell me!" Yinqi said directly, "Fourth Brother, I am truly repentant."

Under the Empress Dowager's guidance, Yinqi was kinder at heart than Yinzhi, but he was easily influenced.

After returning to the capital, Yinqi separated from Yinsi and Yin and gradually came to his senses. He realized that he had done many wrong things, which had caused many families to be destroyed.

"Fifth brother, it's good that you know how to repent!" Yin Zhi had also heard about their actions in Guangdong and Guangxi, and advised them lightly.

Qingyan secretly despised Yinzhi. When it came to matters of principle, Yinzhi was very good at putting on a show. As long as his own interests were not involved, he would always stand on the side of the prince.

"Let's not talk about this anymore, it's such a downer!" Yin Zhi changed the subject directly, making Yin Qi very embarrassed.

While the three were chatting, Qingyan looked at Yinsi and Yin. They would occasionally talk to the tenth prince. Yinsi was a funny guy, and he started eating heartily, as if nothing had happened and that as long as he could eat and drink well, that was enough.

After the banquet, everyone harbored their own thoughts. When Qingyan returned to Yuanmingyuan and ate a late-night snack, he immediately began to complain to Yin.

"It seems that Eighth Master and Ninth Master want to repair their relationship with Tenth Master!" Qingyan and Yin said.

"Definitely. The Tenth Prince was left at the naval port by Father Emperor, so they need some military power." Yin did not tell Qingyan that even the Niohuru family was no longer by their side.

On the day the tenth prince returned to Beijing, he made a special trip to the Niohuru clan and had a meal with all the heads of the clan.

From that time on, no one in the family ever went to the two men's residence again. Yinsi and Yin knew in their hearts that Ebilun's lineage would no longer support him.

Before the winter solstice, Emperor Kangxi ordered that their confinement be lifted, and they invited Aling'a to a banquet, but were politely refused.

"Aling'a is a clever man. He has always maintained a good relationship with the tenth prince, which is also for the better of the family." Aling'a is pragmatic, so after Ebilun's death, Aling'a became the de facto patriarch of the Niohuru clan.

As Qingyan listened to Yin's introduction, he gained a completely new understanding of the Niohuru clan, which was no longer the powerful minister of the Eighth Prince's faction in history.

"A-Ling'a is a capable minister. If we can get the Tenth Prince to bring him over, it would definitely be a good choice." Yin had a high opinion of this person.