Yinzhen also had his own little schemes.

He wasn't out of his mind; rather, he believed that offending all the civil and military officials was acceptable, offending everyone in the world was acceptable, but offending his father, the Emperor, was the one thing he absolutely could not do.

Why?

Because no one else in the world has the power to choose the crown prince; only the Emperor, only he, has this power.

The collection of debts was proceeding in an orderly manner, and Yinzhen was getting busier and busier, which was much more troublesome than his research on growing vegetables.

Yinzhen and his brothers spent two days checking all the bills and then categorizing them according to the people's character and conduct.

He got his inspiration from Changning and first issued a notice that those who voluntarily repay within the first month would be exempt from interest.

If you make a payment after one month, you will have to pay a late fee, and the later you pay, the more late fees you will have to pay.

That evening, Yinzhen was very excited. This method really worked. He hugged Changning and kissed her again and again.

Changning was still a little embarrassed: "Stop kissing, stop kissing! What are you planning to do next?"

Yinzhen thought for a moment: "After this month, I plan to take down the tenth prince first. He is the emperor's son and has an exemplary role. If we take down this tough nut first, the Niohuru clan behind him will definitely make a move, and then it will be easier to take down the others."

Changning was somewhat worried: "I'm afraid he won't be able to pay back the money so easily."

Yinzhen was quite confident.

“He won’t listen to me, but if the fourteenth prince tries to persuade him, he might have a better chance. That reckless guy is good at dealing with the tenth prince.”

Speaking of his younger brother, the Fourteenth Prince, Yinzhen thought that he would have to go to the palace to pay his respects to his mother the next day, and that his mother must be helping him with this matter behind the scenes. Otherwise, given the Fourteenth Prince's stubborn nature, he certainly wouldn't have taken the initiative to ask.

He'll definitely put on airs first, waiting for me to come and invite him.

Yinzhen was right. That was exactly what the Fourteenth Prince had in mind all along.

Although he thought his fourth brother had lost his mind, they were brothers after all, and fathers and sons fought side by side. As the younger brother, he couldn't possibly abandon his older brother.

However, we can't help him so easily.

Fourteen has lived in his brother's shadow since childhood. He was overjoyed at the thought of finally having a chance to make his brother subservient.

To everyone's surprise, before Fourth Brother even arrived, Mother gave him a good scolding.

"You fool, you think it's fun to watch the fire from the sidelines? If you don't go and help now, what will others think of you?"

The fourteenth brother was still aggrieved and retorted, "I didn't say I wouldn't help him, so why can't Fourth Brother come to me for help?"

Consort De suppressed the urge to scold him and snorted coldly: "Stop putting on airs and hurry up and go. Don't you know your fourth brother's temperament? I'm afraid he'll want the money back before you even arrive."

These words were a wake-up call. His brother really was like that. Upon hearing this, Fourteenth Prince became anxious and immediately went to the Fourth Prince's residence.

Before leaving, I was wondering when my mother had become so fiery. Had she been eating too much chili pepper lately? Her temper had become so spicy.

Watching her youngest son's retreating figure, Consort De covered her forehead.

Originally, she was gentle and kind-hearted, understanding and compassionate, and Kangxi's confidante. In the harem, she was always kind to everyone and was never seen to raise her voice in anger.

However, Consort De discovered that speaking gently to someone like her youngest son was completely ineffective; he wouldn't listen. Sometimes, only a stern scolding would work.

However, how should I put it, ever since she had scolded her youngest son away a few times, Consort De had felt very satisfied.

Occasionally swearing at someone feels incredibly satisfying and makes me feel much more relaxed.

"Phew~" Consort De breathed a sigh of relief. The nanny beside her served her tea at the right time and said with a smile, "Your Majesty is still kind-hearted and wants the brothers to be of one mind."

"I don't know who the Fourteenth Prince got his personality from. He clearly likes the Fourth Prince, but he's always teasing him. He's so childish." Consort De sighed. "The Fourth Prince is the same. He clearly has feelings for the Fourteenth Prince, but he's too embarrassed to say it. These two brothers are like a gourd with its mouth sawed off."

The two gourd brothers' journey to collect their debts was relatively smooth and not too bumpy.

The situation with the other two brothers is a bit more complicated.

Originally, Yinzhen had time to personally teach his sons their lessons at home, but now he is extremely busy every day and can only entrust them to tutors.

However, he was still a very responsible father, and specially divided the teaching plans into different levels according to the three sons' abilities, so that the master could teach them.

Hong Hui, who was already somewhat inferior to Hong Yan, was about to break down when he saw that the level of the content taught by their master was different from that of Hong Yan.

Does Master also feel that he is inferior to Hongyan?

Honghui was unhappy, having heard that the content of this teaching was personally formulated by his father.

Ama must be disappointed in himself, and must feel that he is inferior to Hongyan in every way.

Overwhelmed with grief and sorrow, he went to Hongqing and poured out his heart.

The two boys, who already had maids in their rooms and were now practically adults, went together to a private room in the restaurant.

Hongqing poured him a full glass of wine first, and seeing that he was still hesitant to make a move, she sneered, "What are you afraid of? Fourth Uncle has been very busy lately. Do you think you can see him?"

Indeed, since Father was ordered to collect the arrears, he has not returned to the mansion for a long time, and has been eating and sleeping at the Ministry of Revenue.

Chun'e's mother would often pull a horse-drawn cart to deliver things to the Ministry of Revenue, either coal or mutton soup.

He wanted to suggest to his mother what to send as a token of her affection, but she refused. One person sending something was one thing, but two people sending something would be seen as a competition, making the Fourth Prince's household a laughingstock.

By then, who will care about the debt?

Honghui gave up on the idea. He felt somewhat defeated, and a vague feeling crept into his mind: his mother didn't love his father at all.

If it weren't for the contrast with his mother, Chun'e, he would have thought that Chun'e's mother embodied the demeanor of a legitimate wife, disdaining to compete for favor. However, Chun'e's mother clearly cared about her father, making the contrast even more obvious.

"What's wrong? Why the long face? Is it because of your brother again?" Hongqing tossed a peanut into her mouth.

Honghui stopped drinking, and he stopped forcing him to drink. After all, he knew that with Honghui's health, it was already a miracle that he hadn't died young.

Honghui sighed: "I think Father must be disappointed in me."

Hongqing patted his shoulder and comforted him, "You are, after all, the eldest son of the legitimate wife. Your fourth uncle is a man who values ​​rules, so don't scare yourself. What's that saying again? There's always a way out. Look at me, my father doesn't care about me anymore, and he doesn't beat me anymore. I'm living a very comfortable life."

Honghui looked at Hongqing's happy face and couldn't help but laugh and cry: "I don't know how Third Uncle changed his temperament. Don't make him angry."

“As long as I live, there’s no hope for my brother.” Hongqing took a big gulp of wine. “Everyone says my mother is ruthless, but if she weren’t as ruthless as her, my father might not be so biased.”