"It's nothing, I just can't stand the third brother's smug face," said the fourth master.
Lanqin was exasperated, but she could understand the Fourth Prince's frustration. The Third Prince had only compiled a few books for Emperor Kangxi, yet he had gained the Emperor's favor, while the Fourth Prince, in his efforts to collect outstanding debts for the court, had offended officials of all ranks; later, to procure military provisions, he personally traveled south, tirelessly running around, and even survived an assassination attempt by an unknown assailant. Yet Kangxi seemed to ignore all this, offering neither rewards nor praise to the Fourth Prince.
At least to outsiders, the Fourth Prince was a cold and aloof prince, while the Third Prince and the Eighth Prince had excellent reputations among the officials.
Since the Crown Prince was deposed, various factions in the court began to scheme for their own interests. Some supported Prince Zhi, because he was Kangxi's eldest son and had distinguished military achievements, giving him considerable prestige in the army; some supported the Third Prince, because they felt he was kind and had excellent literary talent, making him popular among civil officials; and others supported the Eighth Prince, naturally praising his courteous and approachable manner. The Fourth Prince, however, received no explicit support.
A few days later, Lanqin heard from the Fourth Prince that the Third Prince had been summoned to the palace by Emperor Kangxi, and then the large stone lion at the entrance of Changchun Garden was dragged away. Immediately afterwards, news spread from the palace that the Third Prince had been confined to his residence by Emperor Kangxi and was forbidden from entering the court again.
Upon hearing this, Lanqin knew that Third Master probably had no hope. Daring to visit the gate of the garden bestowed by Old Kang, where only a free emperor could use a nine-striped lion, was simply courting death!
As it turns out, not acting recklessly will not lead to death, but acting recklessly will certainly lead to death!
The Third Prince's residence suddenly became deserted. Court officials who had previously favored him dared not approach him now. Those who had attended his lively birthday banquet just days before—who would come to see him now?
The Third Prince was drinking dejectedly in Madam Tian's room. As soon as he returned from the palace, he ran to his wife's room and scolded her for an hour before finally coming to Madam Tian, panting.
"Your Highness, please don't be angry. Getting angry will only harm your health. Father Emperor is probably just in a bad mood. Once this period passes, he might allow you to go to court." The spy that Madam Tian had planted among the Third Prince's wives had secretly told her about the situation in the Third Prince's wife's room.
"What a stupid woman! She's more trouble than she's worth. How could the master have married such a brainless primary wife!" the Third Master said, still fuming.
Tian secretly suppressed her smugness and quickly brewed the Third Prince's favorite tea. She personally handed it to him and comforted him, saying, "The Princess Consort did it for Your Highness's sake, but the person in charge was so careless. How could he make such a mistake? Father Emperor scolded Your Highness very badly."
This wasn't consolation from Madam Tian; it was clearly instigation. The reason was simple: before the Third Prince's wife entered the household, Madam Tian managed the affairs of the Third Prince's residence. The stewards in various departments were all promoted by Madam Tian. But since the Third Prince's wife entered, her power of management naturally reverted to the primary wife. With the head changed, the servants naturally changed as well. The Third Prince's wife arranged for one of her cousins to work in the Third Prince's residence. This time, the pair of stone lions at the gate were procured by this cousin. He was actually trying to curry favor with the Third Prince, but he was far too audacious to dare to do so in this way. In fact, the Third Prince hadn't even noticed whether the stone lions had eight or nine spiral knots on their heads. Although the Third Prince's wife insisted she didn't know, the Third Prince refused to believe her. The cousin was immediately dragged out and beaten to death, and then he was subjected to a barrage of insults in the Third Prince's courtyard. The Third Prince's face was completely stripped away.
At this moment, the Third Prince's wife was crying her face off in her room. Just a few days ago, she had been enjoying immense prestige among the other princes' wives, but now she was a discarded wife. The Third Prince's current state indicated that he had completely severed all ties with her.
"Madam, please don't cry. Master is already with Madam Tian. Even if you cry until your voice is hoarse, he won't hear you," said Huirong, the Third Madam's personal maid. This Third Madam is indeed not very bright; she has never won the Third Master's favor. It's easy for people to gossip to bring in someone from their own family, and now they've brought in such a brainless cousin.
Hearing this, the Third Prince's wife became even more heartbroken. She had given birth to two princesses in a row, unlike Lady Tian who had given birth to two princes. Even in terms of her womb, she was far less fortunate than Lady Tian. Now, her own people had caused the Third Prince to suffer such a severe punishment from Emperor Kangxi, and she feared that her future would be even more uncertain.
"Madam, don't be too discouraged. There's still the Sixth Prince." Seeing that the Third Madam was crying even more sadly, Hui Rong immediately brought up her only son.
Sure enough, the Third Princess Consort immediately fell silent when she remembered she had a young son. How could she be out of favor? She still had a legitimate son!
Sure enough, the Third Master stopped entering the Fujin's courtyard and spent his days either at Tian's place or in the rooms of his young concubines and princesses, drinking, composing poetry, and painting.
Later, Lanqin specifically asked the Fourth Prince who had informed Kangxi about the stone lion. Normally, without someone specifically reporting it, Kangxi wouldn't have discovered it.
The Fourth Prince said he didn't know, but it certainly wasn't him; however, someone must have reported it to Emperor Kangxi. Lanqin recalled who had gone to celebrate the Third Prince's birthday that day. Finding out who had reported the Third Prince from among those people would be no easy task.
Naturally, the Third Prince was also curious. After being confined for a month, he finally understood that he had been accused. But no matter how hard the Third Prince racked his brains, he couldn't figure out who had gone to Emperor Kangxi to talk about the stone lion.
The Third Prince originally thought that Emperor Kangxi would release him after a while, but he waited for more than half a year without any good news.
Once, Lanqin found an opportunity to go out and visited Wang's shop, which specialized in making glassware. There, she unexpectedly ran into Consort Tian, who was also out. Consort Tian poured out her troubles to Lanqin, saying that the Third Master had been drinking heavily in the mansion all day long; the dashing and debonair Third Master of the past was gone. She was sometimes afraid to go out with him because he would beat people when drunk, even hitting the children.
Lanqin despised the Third Prince even more. He was a typical rich young master who, once he lost Kangxi's favor, had no ability whatsoever. He only knew how to drink and beat people in the mansion to relieve his boredom, and never thought about how to get out of his predicament.
Fortunately, Emperor Kangxi did not choose him; otherwise, if someone with such a personality had become emperor, the people would have suffered greatly!
Lanqin knew that the Third Prince had never recovered since then, so she could only offer a few words of comfort to Tian Shi, telling her not to have too much hope for the Third Prince, but she couldn't say anything else.
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