Chapter 91 "Lord Tong's meaning is..."
"Does Lord Tong mean we should watch the Crown Prince make his move and then give Fourth Brother a push?"
Yinzhi asked with a half-smile.
Tong Guowei nodded: "If necessary, we can also help the Crown Prince and make the situation even more chaotic."
Thus, the charge of the Fourth Prince being incompetent and failing in his duties as regent was established.
It will be difficult to turn things around again in the future.
“Eighth Prince, you must not be soft-hearted at this time. The Fourth Prince is rising rapidly and is about to become our number one rival, even surpassing the Crown Prince. If we do not act now, things will get complicated later.”
If there was anything Tong Guowei was dissatisfied with about Yinzhi, it was that Yinzhi always held back against Yinzhen, and never managed to hit the nail on the head.
What's the point of such small-scale efforts?
“Of course, it’s time.” Yinzhi said calmly, “This time, Father Emperor has ordered me to assist Fourth Brother in overseeing the country, which will make many things much easier to handle.”
“But we need to have troops in our own hands,” Yinzhi said. “There aren’t many military generals left in the court these days.”
Tong Guowei said confidently, "Don't worry, Eighth Prince, the necessary preparations have already been made."
Yinzhi smiled and nodded: "I am naturally at ease with Lord Tong. If Longkodo can gain some military merits by accompanying Father Emperor on this expedition, he will surely become a fierce general in the future."
Tong Guowei was still somewhat satisfied when he mentioned Longkodo. In recent years, his son had become much more obedient and stopped causing trouble for no reason. He was following the path that Tong Guowei had laid out for him very smoothly.
"My son is rather mediocre when it comes to leading troops. It would be good enough if he could return without making any mistakes and be punished this time."
That's true. Longkodo didn't really make much progress in military strategy. It would be better for him to serve as an official in the court than to go out and lead troops.
Tong Guowei continued, "This old minister has heard that Consort Xuan's elder brother, Prince Darhan Bandi, has a close personal relationship with the Eighth Prince?"
“I grew up under my mother’s care, so naturally he is my maternal uncle,” Yinzhi said with a slight smile.
Every year during the Mulan Autumn Hunt, Yinzhen, Yinsi, and Yinxiang would gather with Ban Di. Even though these nephews were not his sister's biological children, Ban Di still loved them very much and often wrote letters and sent them gifts.
“That’s good. Although Mongolia is far away, when it comes to bravery in battle, the Mongolian cavalry is still the best,” Tong Guowei said. “Since the Eighth Prince is on good terms with the Prince, he can also reveal a little bit about it. Prince Darhan is in charge of the Left Wing Middle Banner of Khorchin, which is a considerable fighting force.”
That old bastard Tong Guowei really dares to dream big; he's already starting to plot against his mother's family.
"My fourth brother, thirteenth brother, and I all call him Uncle. He has always been impartial to us brothers. It would be difficult to get him involved."
"Besides, Lord Tong, don't forget that according to the imperial genealogy, Fourth Brother is the maternal uncle's biological nephew, while Thirteenth Brother and I are merely adopted sons," Yinzhi said slowly, opening his fan.
Tong Guowei disagreed: "How could the struggle for the throne be determined by blood ties, let alone those who are not related by blood?"
In a sense, Aling'a is also the Tenth Prince's maternal uncle, and now he is supporting the Eighth Prince.
Whether it's the Fourth Prince or the Eighth Prince, they were both raised by Consort Xuan. Neither of them ascending the throne would wrong Consort Xuan, so Bandi had nothing to say about it.
Yinzhi gave Tong Guowei a few noncommittal replies and then saw him off.
After seeing Tong Guowei off, Xiao Shunzi came in and said, "Master, Lord Tong has been seen off."
"It seems that Your Highness has been too lenient in your dealings all these years, which has emboldened Tong Guowei to take advantage of you," Yinzhi said calmly.
Xiao Shunzi lowered his head and remained silent.
"Alright, let's go find Fourth Brother." Yinzhi stood up, his already slender figure now that of a refined gentleman.
When Yinsi arrived at Yinzhen's place, Wenshan had just left.
When Lady Fucha saw that Yinzhi had arrived, she quickly ordered people to serve him fruits and melons.
"Eighth Prince doesn't like grapes, so replace them with honeydew melons. Go and fetch some frozen fruit." Empress Fucha whispered to the palace maid as she withdrew, leaving the two brothers alone.
Yinzhi waved his fan and said, "Fourth Sister-in-law is so thoughtful. She remembers all of our preferences and Mother's preferences clearly."
"How has Fourth Sister-in-law been feeling lately? Is she alright?"
Yinzhen nodded and poured Yinsi a cup of tea.
“Your mother just asked me about it, and you’re nagging again.”
"Ah, Mother just left?" Yinzhi was stunned. He should have known better than to argue with that old man Tong Guowei for so long. He would have been better off talking to his fourth brother with his mother.
Seeing his expression, Yinzhen snorted: "Didn't you just go to Mother's for a free meal this morning? Don't act like you haven't seen Mother in a long time."
Yinzhi chuckled: "But it's been too long since I've seen Fourth Brother at Mother's place."
"You've been incredibly busy lately, haven't you?"
Yinzhen looked up at him and said, "Half of it is thanks to you."
Yinzhi touched his nose guiltily: "They're just minor squabbles, we have to put on a show."
He can't keep coexisting peacefully with his fourth brother forever. The situation is becoming increasingly clear: the crown prince is beyond saving, and his fourth brother has become his biggest rival.
Yinzhi relayed to Yinzhen exactly what Tong Guowei had said to him earlier.
"I can't be of any help this time, Fourth Brother, you'd better pray for yourself," Yinzhi said coolly.
The Crown Prince seems to be in the most danger this time, but in reality, it is Yinzhen who is being targeted by multiple forces.
Not only was Suo'etu thinking of going all the way, but Tong Guowei was also eyeing the situation and preparing to wipe them all out in one fell swoop.
This was even after Yinzhi had taken on a significant portion of the firepower for him.
A few days ago, Wen Shan asked Yin Si if Yin Zhen and Yin Si stood together, wouldn't that reduce the trouble with people like Tong Guowei? Wouldn't it be easier for the brothers to work together to deal with Suo'etu?
Yinzhi told Wenshan that if he and his fourth brother hadn't been acting independently on the surface, this situation would have happened long ago when the Crown Prince was first confined because of Princess Yundai, and Suo'etu would have definitely acted desperately much earlier.
Moreover, Kangxi would not protect Yinzhen like he does now.
Moreover, Wen Shan might also be implicated. In Kangxi's eyes, Wen Shan would become restless and have raised two sons who were both ambitious and determined to join forces to eliminate the Crown Prince.
Now, his confrontation with his fourth brother has not only diverted the attention of the previously stronger Suo'etu and the Crown Prince, but has also made Wen Shan's image in Kangxi's eyes that of a miserable mother who cannot control her two sons' infighting.
Yinzhen showed no fear whatsoever.
"This day will come sooner or later. We'll deal with whatever comes our way."
They and Yinxiang had already gone through these things many times, and there were basically no loopholes, so they only exchanged information about the current situation and then stopped talking about it.
"Why haven't I seen my thirteenth brother much lately?" Yinzhen suddenly remembered a younger brother who hadn't appeared in front of him for some time.
Yinzhi waved his hand: "I'm with Consort Min and my fifth sister and the others."
Yinzhen chuckled: "Thirteenth Brother, you're not still worried that Fifth Sister will bully your two younger sisters, are you?"
"No, I think he's having too much fun to remember his homeland." Yinzhi said, resting his chin on his hand. "It would be good to find him something to do so he won't be bothering his mother all day with eating and playing."
As they were talking, Fuqi slowly walked in, rubbed against Yinzhen, and then lay down at Yinzhen's feet.
Yinzhi squatted down and touched her a few times: "Looks like Fuqi has gotten a little fatter."
Laifu was still being cared for by Wenshan. After Fuqi left, he experienced a brief period of separation anxiety. Later, Yinzhi would often bring Laifu to play with Fuqi. However, Fuqi gradually became too tired to play and Yinzhi was busy during this time, so he didn't bring Fufu over much.
“Fuqi is fourteen years old this year. I still remember when it first came to Xianfu Palace, it was just a tiny little thing,” Yinzhi sighed.
At that time, he was only a newborn and he despised the dog that his fourth brother raised, which only wagged its tail and scurried around for food and water. Later, when Fuqi gave birth to Laifu, he inexplicably developed a liking for raising dogs.
Yinzhen was also filled with emotion, realizing that fourteen years had passed in the blink of an eye.
They grew up, and Fuqi and Laifu also grew old.
Fuqi fell asleep peacefully at Yinzhen's feet, and Yinsi didn't tease it anymore. The two of them spoke much softer.
"By the way, Tian Wenjing has been transferred to the position of Prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture and will be arriving in the capital soon," Yinzhi suddenly said.
Since Yinzhi was in charge of the Ministry of Personnel, he naturally received the news earlier than Yinzhen.
The original Prefect of Jingzhao was a man of the First Prince and a great contributor to the capture of Lady Wang and her denunciation of the Crown Prince. However, not long after, Kangxi found a pretext to settle scores with him.
The Prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture was in charge of all matters, big and small, in the capital. Emperor Kangxi was not comfortable with such a person sitting in this position, so after much deliberation, he selected Tian Wenjing, who had an excellent record in recent years, to fill the vacancy.
The last time he met Tian Wenjing was when Yinzhen and Yinsi acted as matchmakers for him, which was almost two years ago.
Yinzhi said, "I heard that Tian Wenjing's wife is pregnant now, so it seems that he is living a good life."
Dai Zi also cared deeply for her daughter, and often asked about her when she met with Yinzhen and Yinsi. Now that Tian Wenjing had been transferred back to the capital, it could ease Dai Zi's longing for her daughter.
"By the way, it's quite a coincidence, Ortai will also be transferred to Qinghai in a few days."
Ortai originally planned to give up his studies and become a third-class guard in the palace to supplement the family income after his father, Ebai, passed away. However, Yinzhen and Yinsi could not bear to see him bury his talents for so many years, so they secretly helped him to continue taking the imperial examinations. Last year, he passed the imperial examination and was sent to Qinghai to take up a post.
"It's a pity these two can't meet, otherwise they would surely feel like they've known each other for ages," Yinzhen said.
Yinzhi thought that the two men's temperaments were indeed compatible.
"We'll meet again someday; they still have much to learn," Yinzhi said with a smile.
Although they were all pillars of the court, they still needed to be polished. Therefore, Yinzhen and the others did not provide excessive support to these people, lest they accidentally nurture a good-for-nothing.
"In a few days, another person will be coming to the capital. Fourth Brother, you and Thirteenth Brother should be interested."
Yinzhen raised his head and slightly raised an eyebrow: "Who?"
"Yue Shenglong's son, Yue Zhongqi."
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