When Kangxi returned to the palace, it was already past the hour of Yin (3-5 AM). The Fourth Prince led his officials to wait on both sides of the white jade railing.
Emperor Kangxi instructed the Fourth Prince and a few ministers to wait at the Qianqing Palace, while everyone else was to return home and were exempt from paying their respects.
However, no one went home, because in two hours they would be going to court.
Upon hearing that the emperor had entered the palace, the women in the harem all rose to dress and adorn themselves. The concubines with sons, naturally, were most concerned about their sons' fate. Although they were the emperor's sons, they too needed to risk their lives for the Qing Dynasty to earn any reward.
Inside the Hall of Preserving Harmony, the ministers were all in their positions. Some of them already knew that the Crown Prince and the Thirteenth Prince were in trouble. To this day, no one had seen them. Everyone was speculating about why the Crown Prince and the Thirteenth Prince had both been secretly imprisoned somewhere by Emperor Kangxi.
Meanwhile, in the Qianqing Palace, Emperor Kangxi was already seated in his warm chamber. To his left stood the Third Prince, Fourth Prince, Fifth Prince, Seventh Prince, Eighth Prince, and Ninth Prince; to his right stood his trusted ministers, including Zhou Peigong, Li Guangdi, Sukesha, and Shabusa.
“Your Majesty, the Crown Prince has always valued filial piety and would not do such a treasonous thing. I believe that those assassins were definitely not the work of the Crown Prince,” Zhou Peigong said first.
On that day, about three hundred miles from the capital, a group of five hundred assassins in black attempted to assassinate Emperor Kangxi. Almost all of them perished under the blades of the three thousand guards. The Crown Prince had secretly fled his tent that day, and together with the Thirteenth Prince, went to summon his men to rescue the Emperor. However, Kangxi suspected the Crown Prince of plotting to assassinate his father and seize the throne. Although almost all the assassins in black were killed, the Crown Prince and the Thirteenth Prince were immediately captured by Kangxi and placed under guard. The Crown Prince's men, confused by the Emperor's arrest, confronted Kangxi's guards. Because the Crown Prince's men were all his trusted confidants in the army, Kangxi became even more suspicious of his intentions.
"Father, I don't believe the Crown Prince would do such a thing," the Fourth Prince said. He was more worried about the Thirteenth Prince, but at this moment he had to speak up for the Crown Prince to help clear the Thirteenth Prince's name. The reason Kangxi was so wary of the Thirteenth Prince was because he hadn't kept a close eye on the Crown Prince, and had even gone with him. Kangxi had labeled him a traitor and secretly imprisoned him as well.
Kangxi sat on the warm couch, listening to them speak, but he did not respond. Gradually, everyone pleaded for the Crown Prince, but only the Third Prince, the Fifth Prince, and others remained silent.
Finally, as the time for court was approaching, Kangxi said solemnly, "Go to the Hall of Preserving Harmony. I have already made up my mind."
Hearing Kangxi say this, the Fourth Prince felt a vague unease. How did the Thirteenth Prince get involved in the Crown Prince's affairs?
After leaving the Qianqing Palace, each person with their own thoughts went to their respective palace to wait for the time to attend the morning court session.
The Fourth Prince sat in his office at the Ministry of Works, pondering how the Crown Prince and the Thirteenth Prince could extricate themselves from their current predicament.
Meanwhile, the Eighth Prince and the Ninth Prince each returned to their mothers' palaces. This was the Eighth Prince's first time visiting Consort Liang at Xianfu Palace.
"Your Highness, the Eighth Prince has arrived!" The palace maid Lianxin ran happily into the small Buddhist hall of Xianfu Palace to report to Consort Liang, who was worshipping Buddha.
Consort Liang was dressed in a light apricot-colored qipao, with a headdress adorned with gold pearl flowers and jewelry made of tortoiseshell and pearls, giving her a simple and dignified appearance.
"Help me back!" Consort Liang smiled faintly, like the fragrance of osmanthus, and led Lianxin towards the main hall of Xianfu Palace.
"Your subject greets Mother!" The Eighth Prince immediately rose and curtsied as Consort Liang entered.
"Sit down quickly. If it weren't for your hard work, how could I have been promoted to the rank of Consort?" Consort Liang took the Eighth Prince's hand and carefully examined him. Only a mother would pay such attention to changes in her child, even the slightest ones.
“Mother, now that you are a concubine, you no longer need to be subservient to others.” The Eighth Prince said with some excitement, “I will make you an even more honorable woman in the future.”
Consort Liang looked at the Eighth Prince with loving eyes and sighed, "I only hope that you can be safe and sound. I don't ask for anything else."
The Eighth Prince said, “Mother, in this palace, even though we are all the Emperor’s children, some are born noble and some are born lowly. If we don’t strive to fight for ourselves, those who are trampled underfoot from birth will only be suppressed forever. Mother, I am not reconciled.”
Upon hearing this, Consort Liang felt a pang of sadness and hesitated before saying, "It's all my fault, Mother. My lowly status has caused you to be bullied since birth." As she spoke, tears welled up in her eyes.
The Eighth Prince sighed and said, "I wasn't talking about you, Mother. Don't overthink it, but I've figured it out now. Everything is something I can fight for. Mother, do you know that the Crown Prince and the Thirteenth Prince have been secretly imprisoned by Father?"
Consort Liang nodded with a mixture of doubt and timidity.
"Mother, if your son becomes the Crown Prince, will no one dare to disrespect you anymore?" A look of excitement shone in the Eighth Prince's eyes—a look that Consort Liang had never seen in his eyes before.
"You can't think like that. With your mother's status, how could you possibly become the crown prince? If you keep saying such things, what if someone overhears you?" Consort Liang looked uneasy, as if she was really afraid that someone would hear her and that it would be bad for her and her son.
"Mother, don't always feel that because of your lowly status, I can't do this or that. Does that mean I'll always be just the Eighth Prince?" The Eighth Prince was slightly displeased, not expecting Consort Liang to be so worried and timid. He hadn't come to listen to her worries, but rather to have her whisper in his ear. Although Consort Liang wasn't as beautiful as before, Emperor Kangxi would occasionally remember her beauty and sometimes stay to talk to her.
"Your mother is useless; I can't give you a noble maternal family to rely on. But ever since you were born, your mother has been extremely careful, afraid that someone would harm you. I humbled myself in Yanxi Palace, always smiling, just so you could grow up safely. Now that you've left the palace and established your own household, your mother worries less. But I still often worry that you'll be harmed. My child, whatever you want to do, your mother will support you. The proudest thing in my life is giving birth to you." Consort Liang knew that the Eighth Prince had always been mindful of others' opinions since childhood. Although he was raised under Consort Hui's care, those sycophantic servants were very opportunistic. Knowing that Consort Hui didn't genuinely protect the Eighth Prince, they often used various unspeakable methods to neglect him.
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