A few days later, Dong Eshi was reminded by the noble ladies that the Third Prince went to court with his concubine, while the other princes all went with their primary wives. She was the only exception among her sisters-in-law.

The ladies-in-waiting came over to inquire, and Dong E greeted them with a smile.

"Go and invite the Fourth Princess Consort over!" Dong Eshi summoned her maid to inform Qingyan to come over.

"Madam, the Prince's residence has been closed to the public recently and is not receiving any visitors!" the maidservant hurriedly said.

People from all the mansions wanted to see the Fourth Prince's wife, whom Consort Tong liked the most. They would often reveal some information. Ministers with daughters in the imperial concubine selection were worried about their daughters' future.

A large crowd had gathered at the entrance of the Fourth Prince's residence. These were maids sent by various families to deliver invitations, hoping that the Fourth Prince's wife would reply. Unfortunately, most of the invitations delivered in the past few days had been rejected.

"Fourth Prince, is this alright?" Qingyan was a little uneasy. These ladies-in-waiting were basically the direct descendants of the eight major surnames. If he refused them all, would it have a bad influence on Yin?

In fact, Qingyan had thought a lot about it and hoped to help Yin indirectly. What she could do was to engage in diplomacy as the wife of the emperor.

These are the women he wanted to maintain relationships with, but now he's directly refusing them.

"Don't overthink it, you don't need to try to please him." In his previous life, Yin was a lone minister who rose to his position without any external help. This time, with Xiao Guai and the help of Fei Yanggu and his two sons, he has a lot more to do.

Little Guai sat on the soft couch, pouting her little mouth and glaring at him with dissatisfaction.

On the kang table between the two of them was a chessboard. Qingyan had just learned to play chess in the past two days. She had only learned the basics and her skills were not good. However, she liked to find people to play chess with. As soon as Sulan and the others heard that Xiaoguai wanted to find someone to play chess with, they all hid away. Xiaoguai's chess playing was really a headache.

"Fourth, wait, don't take this step!" Qingyan pouted unhappily, even though she was about to win.

Yin took a sip of tea and let Xiao Guai take back her move. She definitely couldn't take back her move in front of others.

"Little darling, you're not allowed to play chess with others anymore!" Yin looked at Little darling's chess skills and couldn't help but feel a headache. This girl was fine with Gomoku, but how did she become like this when it came to Go?

Ugh!

Qingyan, is my chess skill really that bad?

"Hmph, neither Su Lan nor Su Shu said anything, so why are you asking so many questions?" Qing Yan pouted, since Su Lan and the others hadn't even said anything to her yet.

"It's hard to say, they're just coaxing you into playing chess!" Yin shook his head helplessly.

Fortunately, Kangxi decided that the appointment of several consorts was just a formality; otherwise, Xiao Guai would have needed to spend some time scheming to secure her position as the fourth consort.

"Hmph!" Qingyan turned her head away, turning her little head to the other side.

Yin smiled. This girl just wouldn't admit defeat. Her chess skills weren't good, but she still wanted to win.

"Little darling, why don't you go play Gomoku with them?" Yin said helplessly.

At first, Qingyan played Go with her mother, and she even beat her father, the Emperor. Later, after the little girl learned Go, she started dragging people to play. Every time she played Go with Qingyan, those who played with her would complain that her sportsmanship was worrying.

"Am I bored?" Yin has more and more things to do, so Qingyan often only gets to see Yin once while he's sleeping.

Qingyan pouted her little lips and stared innocently into her eyes.

"Let's hire a theatrical troupe for the mansion as well." Qingyan didn't particularly enjoy watching plays, but she loved reading the scripts. Every month, Yin would have the Shengping Department give Qingyan some scripts. Many of the ladies found it strange that the Fourth Prince Consort needed so many scripts since she didn't like watching plays.

Qingyan shook her head, determined not to support an opera troupe; at the very least, she would not allow anyone to have the opportunity to attack Yin.

As the Eight Banners entered the pass, the descendants of those powerful families became increasingly unruly. In the capital, many unspoken stories circulated about the relationship between masters and actors. If even the slightest hint of these flaws were involved, one's reputation would be ruined.

"Little Darling?!" Yin asked in surprise.

"Haven't you heard the rumors in the capital? Some princes from the imperial family have been dragged into this, about the master and the actor?" Qingyan stared wide-eyed at the bewildered Yin, while her heart was bursting with joy.

She always told gossip that he didn't know, and every time she started, Yin could quickly pick up on the story.

"Nonsense!"

Yin glared at her. How could she say such things so casually?

No one from the Imperial Clan Court said anything. Rumors are just rumors. No matter how fiercely the people spread them, the imperial family will not pay attention. Since the Imperial Clan Court and the censors did not mention it to Kangxi, the Emperor will turn a blind eye.

Yin felt uneasy, but he couldn't bring up Kangxi.

By the time of the Yongzheng Emperor, these problems would have become even more serious. When he personally issued decrees to deal with them, he would have touched upon the interests of powerful and influential people. This is related to the fact that the Qing Dynasty left behind so much infamy in history.

Most importantly, these problems will shake the very foundation of the Eight Banners, and by then, no matter how hard we try, it will be too late.

"Fourth Prince, did I say something wrong?" Qingyan asked, looking at Yin.

Yin smiled bitterly. Qingyan's words were also correct. However, the Emperor valued the reputation of the imperial clan the most. Besides, the few princes who entered the pass still had great power, unlike before when he had been weakened by Kangxi. Now, if Kangxi made trouble and ordered those princes to make things difficult for him, it would definitely be detrimental to the royal family.

"Little darling, things need to be dealt with one by one. Just like you can't get fat overnight!" Yin said, looking at Little darling.

Yin reached out and pinched her little nose, and Qingyan reached out and slapped her.

"continue!"

Qingyan uttered two words, pondering where to place the next piece on the chessboard. She had no way out; Yin's black pieces were driving her crazy.

snort!

"I'm not playing anymore!" Qingyan scrambled the chessboard into a mess, leaving Yin speechless.

"Little darling, let's play Connect Four." Yin separated the black and white pieces.

Qingyan glanced at him sideways. Now he knew how to coax her, but it was too late!

Yin couldn't help but laugh when he saw the little girl's proud and arrogant look.

"Little darling, what do you want to do?" Yin smiled, stood up, walked behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist, rested his chin on her shoulder, and his deep voice reached her ears.

Pfft!

Qingyan completely lost her composure. No matter how angry Qingyan was, she would still smile slightly at his deep voice.

"Four! Four!" Qingyan exploded, "Can't we stop making that sound?"

Qingyan has absolutely no resistance to deep bass voices, and Yin seems to have found a way to use this, often speaking in that voice.

"If you can't argue with me, then this is it!"

Qingyan pouted, refusing to discuss the practical issues. (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for it on Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)