Chapter 37 It's Good to Be a Little Dumb: What was originally a perfectly good sentence was twisted into something profound by the Crown Prince. Yu Lang dared not respond to this, only…
What was originally a perfectly good sentence was rendered with profound meaning by the Crown Prince. Yu Lang dared not respond, and could only lower his head and pretend to be a block of wood.
Yesterday was the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the palace held a banquet. Yulang happened to be on leave and didn't have to go to the palace, and no one in his family was qualified to attend the banquet. It wasn't until this morning that he heard that the First Prince had drunk too much at the banquet and was scolded by His Majesty for being unruly and disrespectful.
The eldest prince has been quite prominent these past two years. Last year, when he campaigned against Galdan, Yulang, as a captain of the Plain Yellow Banner, also went on the expedition. Although he was not with the eldest prince, his reputation for bravery in battle was still heard every few days.
Once on the battlefield, it doesn't matter who is a prince or a nobleman. In the army, only military orders are absolute. As a Zuo Ling (military commander), Yu Lang only obeys the orders of his own banner's commander. Even if the Heavenly King himself came, no one else could leave their post without permission.
On the battlefield, where life and death are directly confronted, no matter how noble the eldest prince was, he could not compare to the admirable Vice General Yinzhi in his bravery in fighting the enemy and his skillful command of troops. Yinzhi's current prestige as the Grand Prince was earned through his own efforts; no one can argue with him.
Yinzhi was the first son raised by Emperor Kangxi. Consort Hui entered the palace in the eighth year of Kangxi's reign, only two years later than Consort Rong. Kangxi was not a cold-hearted person. Although Consort Hui had not served him in that way in recent years, they had been together for over twenty years. Even an object would have feelings for someone, let alone a person.
In the past two years, everyone in the court has felt that His Majesty's promotion of the First Prince is to check the Crown Prince and prevent the Songgotu faction from becoming too powerful. However, only those involved can tell whether some things are genuine or not.
Yinzhi wasn't a fool. He could see clearly whether his father truly loved him as a son or merely used him as a whetstone for the crown prince.
Everything has two sides. If His Majesty had truly made it clear that he intended to use the eldest prince as a weapon, Yinzhi might not have developed any ambitions. However, over the years, Kangxi had treated his eldest son Yinzhi very well, and had publicly praised him more than once for his exceptional talent in both literature and martial arts, and for his elegant demeanor.
Last year, during the campaign against Galdan, Emperor Kangxi personally handed over Yinzhi to Prince Yu, Fuquan, and appointed him as a deputy general. Even if a large part of his intention was to support a future emperor, at least a small part was Emperor Kangxi's genuine affection for his eldest son.
In addition, after Yinzhi got married three years ago, he did not move out of the palace and still lives in the courtyard of the Fifth Palace in Gandong with his first wife.
As trees grow tall, branches spread; as sons grow up, families separate. Yinzhi is already twenty years old this year (by the traditional Chinese age reckoning). His first wife has given birth to three princesses since she married into the family. If this were an ordinary family, they would have already separated their eldest son and let him live separately.
The Qianqing Palace never mentioned this matter. When the Imperial Household Department inquired, they said there was no precedent for it. How much stuff and money should Yinzhi take with him when he left the palace, and what the size of the prince's residence should be, were all things that the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Household Department had to discuss slowly and couldn't be rushed.
Before her death, Empress Xiaoyi had always ruled the harem as a Noble Consort. She was capable of managing the affairs of the harem, but she was always very careful and cautious when interfering in the affairs of the court and the princes.
If she didn't speak up, Consort Hui would even less likely to. No one in the inner palace mentioned it, so naturally, the Mingzhu faction from the previous dynasty wouldn't either. Suo'etu wanted to privately discuss this matter with a few censors, but the Crown Prince kept suppressing his advances.
Having grown up in the Emperor's presence, the Crown Prince knew better than anyone that his father valued brotherly affection and respect. Even though he was the Crown Prince and the heir apparent, there was a fundamental distinction between him and his brothers as ruler and subject.
He's still so young. If he's in a hurry to separate his elder brother from the palace now, what will happen when the emperor grows old and the crown prince is in his prime? How will he, as the crown prince, treat his father on the throne? At that time, he won't be able to dispel his father's concerns and suspicions with just a few words of explanation.
No one mentioned it, and the eldest prince continued to live in the palace. As the eldest prince, whose mother was the head of the four consorts, he had already given birth to three princesses before the crown prince. Seeing that the first wife was still taking her pulse every day, it seemed that she was determined to have a son before Yinreng married the crown princess.
Each and every one of these matters, when examined individually, was not of paramount importance; however, when put together, they became the most instigating factor to sow discord. Yinzhi was inevitably provoked, and in the past year or two, his influence grew stronger, and his attitude towards Crown Prince Yinreng became increasingly subtle.
However, the emperor is the emperor. It's not a problem if his eldest son has such thoughts, but these thoughts must be just right—neither too much nor too little.
Seeing that Yinzhi and Mingzhu's group were becoming increasingly unscrupulous in their actions, Kangxi took the opportunity of feeling sorry for his son, the Crown Prince, to put the selection of a Crown Princess back on the agenda.
The Crown Princess will likely become the Empress. Regardless of who is ultimately chosen, sending this signal indicates that the Emperor still prioritizes the Crown Prince. As for how hard the First Prince works, or whether he can produce a grandson before Yinreng, does it really matter?
After happily shouting for over a year, all he heard about was the title of "Great Prince Yinzhi" when he went outside. Then, he was stunned by the unexpected slap from the old man. It seemed that the old man really thought his eldest son was a fool.
Feeling uneasy, at the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, he saw the Crown Prince's seat set up separately on the east side of the throne, and then looked back at Yinzhi and Yinzhen sitting behind him, and his younger brothers who were still very young. The bitterness in Yinzhi's heart surged straight to the tip of his heart.
When he was a child, there were only two princes in the palace, himself and the Crown Prince. Yinzhi didn't feel that he was any different from the Crown Prince. He was Baoqing, the eldest son of the Emperor, and just hearing the name, he knew how much the Emperor expected and hoped for him.
As he grew older, although he knew there was a distinction between ruler and subject between himself and the Crown Prince, the Crown Prince was younger than him, so he was always confined to either the Qianqing Palace or the Yuqing Palace.
On the contrary, he, as the eldest prince, was always walking outside the palace, and sometimes he could even do some insignificant and unimportant errands for his father, the emperor. The indescribable sense of satisfaction he felt was even more indescribable.
The higher you're lifted up, the harder you fall. Looking back at his third brother, who was calmly eating his food without saying a word, and his fourth brother, who was only fourteen years old but already had a stern face and acted mature all day long, Yinzhi couldn't find a brother to talk to.
Looking at the fifth and seventh princes sitting further back, one speaking Mongolian and the other Chinese, muttering amongst themselves without making a clear distinction despite sweating profusely, Yinzhi felt a chill in his heart. It turned out that he was no different from these brothers; the only difference was that his father and the crown prince had always been the emperor.
He was seething with anger, unable to vent or swallow it down. Not long after the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet began, the First Prince got drunk. He became rude and insolent, even when Mingzhu, who always supported the First Prince, came forward to offer him a toast, Yinzhi subtly and dismissively rebuffed her.
Yu Lang hadn't had a chance to ask the eldest prince in detail this morning how badly he had been scolded, but seeing the crown prince asking both his son and father, Yu Lang could guess what the crown prince was thinking.
The eldest prince is at the height of his power, and now that the emperor has finally given him a chance to reprimand him, everyone would hesitate about whether to seize the opportunity to further demote him.
This is the Crown Prince's own business, and it's not my place as a second-class guard who just entered Yuqing Palace to interfere. He also doesn't think that the Crown Prince, who has been the heir apparent for so many years, would make the wrong choice on such a small matter.
He had deliberately allowed himself to fall asleep due to his habit, because of another matter he was unsure about. Having managed to gloss over this, Yu Lang breathed a sigh of relief.
When Yu Lang encountered Geng E outside, he knew without Geng E's words that he had returned from the Qianqing Palace. Just by looking at his dark complexion, Yu Lang could guess that Geng E had encountered some trouble.
It was a major incident, so major that Geng'e, who was clearly sent by His Majesty to the Crown Prince to serve as His Majesty's ears and eyes, refused to serve as a personal guard in Jide Hall.
Would a nobody like me dare to be so clever? The fact that he didn't come in shows he didn't know his place; he was trying to avoid offending either side. I'm different from him. I'm surnamed Hesheli, and that's his only path.
Geng'e is only concerned with hiding himself, but what about the Emperor's eyes and ears? Now that I have taken Geng'e's place, the Qianqing Palace will definitely summon me sooner or later. When that time comes, I need to be careful about what I say and what I don't say.
These past few days, the Crown Prince has met with whom and said what. Even if I don't say anything, the other guards already know most of it. I have no need to hide it from him, nor can I hide it from him.
But the deeper truths cannot be spoken. It's better to remain silent than to say nothing at all. It's best to remain oblivious and not understand. Sometimes, being a little foolish isn't a bad thing; there are plenty of smart people in the world. What I need to do is guard my heart and mouth, and make sure my master can see my usefulness and benefits.
"I was just asking casually, so you don't need to be so honest and reveal everything. Be more careful when you're out in the future, or someone will bully you."
Yu Lang is right. How could a father and son fall apart over such a trivial matter? No matter how arrogant the eldest son is, he is still the eldest brother. The Emperor might be angry that he is so fickle and easily swayed by that old fox Mingzhu to the point of daring to dream of anything, but he certainly wouldn't just abandon this son like that.
Saying anything more would be futile, so it was better to say nothing. He had to endure, he had to be patient. In this palace, he was truly alone, without his mother, the Empress Dowager. If he made even the slightest mistake, there wouldn't be anyone to plead for him.
The Crown Prince waved his hand, no longer mentioning the matter. He wanted to get up and leave, but suddenly didn't know where to go. Glancing at the booklet on the desk, he simply walked back behind the desk and sat down, casually saying to Yu Lang.
"Lord Yu, you've done a fine job. How long have you been in my Yuqing Palace? The people around me have all gotten quite bulging in their pockets."
“My lord, why are you making fun of me? He Yuzhu was also making fun of this matter when we were outside the palace just now.”
Shen Wanqing said she didn't have much money on her, but when she left this morning, she had prepared just the right amount. She even divided it into several purses, which Yulang counted and found matched the amount of the eunuchs in charge of Yuqing Palace that he had told her before.
“This servant is foolish. My family was afraid that I would do something wrong in the palace, so they prepared extra silver for me just in case.”
"What family?" Yinreng only needed to glance at Yulang's unconsciously shy and embarrassed expression to know that the money must have been prepared by his wife.
"Your in-laws' surname is Shen, right?"
"Replying to Your Highness, my surname is Shen, and I am also from the Plain Yellow Banner. I currently serve in the Ministry of Revenue as a secretary in the Fujian Provincial Department of Personnel."
"General Shi Wenbing of Fuzhou will be going to the capital to report on his duties in a while. I remember that Shen Hongshi was the prefect of Fuzhou. When General Shi returns to the capital, there will be some things I can't attend to. You will have to think of things for me."
"Yes, Your Majesty. I haven't had time to visit my father-in-law's family this Mid-Autumn Festival. Now that I've been given this opportunity by Your Majesty, I'll go and stay for a couple of days."
"I won't care or ask how things are arranged. You can handle it when the time comes."
"Your servant obeys the decree."
Yinreng's fingers brushed over the opened booklet, on which was written the birth date and time of Shi Wenbing's daughter, Shi Shi.
This was given to him by his father after the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet. It had only been seven or eight days since the news of the selection of the Crown Princess was announced. It was so quick that Shi was selected from among the various noble families. If he didn't have his eye on her long ago, Yinreng would never believe it.
His Crown Princess was most likely a daughter of the Shi family, but as long as his father didn't make it clear, he had to pretend he knew nothing. As for the name card, whether it was given or not, it didn't matter; as long as it wasn't announced to the world, it was as if it never existed.
Shi Wenbing was a member of the Plain White Banner. He inherited the title of Third-Class Earl and served as the Governor-General of Jiangnan in his early years, commanding the garrisoned banner troops in the Jiangnan region. Later, he was transferred to the position of General of Fuzhou, in charge of military affairs in the Fuzhou area. The Shi family could be considered the pillar of stability in the entire southeast region.
The fact that such a person suddenly returned to the capital to report on his duties was already a major event. Now that the Crown Prince has taken the initiative to mention using the Shen family to make contact with Shi Wenbing, it is definitely not a simple 'connection'.
Yu Lang returned to his rightful place and began to carefully sort out the relationships in his mind. When he finally finished, he couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth. His second uncle had really made the right choice in choosing this marriage for him.
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It's finally Friday! Only one update today, so I'm going to bed early. I'll post two updates tomorrow, Saturday.
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