"Eighth Brother, come with me to plead with Father Emperor!" Ninth Prince stood before Eighth Brother, who was dressed in ordinary clothes and packing his belongings with his personal guards. It turned out that besides stripping Eighth Prince of his title, Emperor Kangxi had also publicly berated him in front of so many outsiders, calling him the son of a lowly woman from the Imperial Household Department, unworthy of being a royal heir. He had ordered Eighth Prince to immediately pack his things, return to the capital alone, and reflect on his actions in seclusion. Kangxi, still mindful of the imperial family's reputation, hadn't mentioned the secret deeds of Eighth and Ninth Princes, but had instead publicly reprimanded him for thirty-eight crimes, effectively stripping him of his former glory.
"No need. Father Emperor is so angry with me, why should I go to him and annoy him?" Eighth Prince seemed to have lost all his energy.
"Brother Ba, don't be discouraged. Someone must have deliberately used that gyrfalcon to frame you," Ninth Master said anxiously.
“That gyrfalcon was just the fuse. Didn’t you hear about those thirty-eight charges? I can explain one or two, but how can I explain so many?” said Eighth Master.
"Then why are you packing your things now? If you're going to leave, it'll be tomorrow. It's very dangerous on the grasslands at night!" Ninth Master grabbed Eighth Master's arm, signaling the servants who were helping him pack to stop.
“Alright, it’s not too late to apologize to Father Emperor tomorrow before you leave!” the Eighth Prince suddenly said.
"Apologize?" Ninth Master looked at Eighth Master in surprise.
“No matter what, Father Emperor is still Father Emperor. As his son, shouldn’t I accept whatever he says?” said the Eighth Prince.
After Ninth Master came out of Eighth Master's tent, Eighth Master said to his personal servant, "Find me the oldest piece of everyday clothing tomorrow."
Ninth Prince was anxious and walked towards his own tent, but then he remembered that the gyrfalcon was a gift from Dohar to Eighth Prince, so he turned around and walked towards Prince Zhi's tent.
Meanwhile, Prince Zhi was holding a meeting with several of his trusted confidants in his tent.
"I didn't expect the Emperor to strip the Eighth Prince of all his power so easily?" The Prince of Zhi, who had been quite depressed, seemed to feel less so now. He had thought that after being granted the title of Prince of Heshuo, the position of Crown Prince would be a choice between the Third Prince, the Fourth Prince, and the Eighth Prince.
"Yes, the Emperor's thoughts are truly unpredictable. This Eighth Prince has suddenly been demoted from a popular candidate for Crown Prince to a bald prince," Da Hui said.
“This is good for our Prince. Now the Third Prince has been disliked by the Emperor, and the Eighth Prince has also been demoted by the Emperor. Only our Prince has been rewarded by the Emperor,” Mo Ergun said.
"Don't forget, there's a fourth prince in the capital! He's no ordinary man," Prince Zhi said, recalling the fourth prince.
"Fourth Prince?" Da Hui asked.
"It seems like the Fourth Prince is never noticed by the Emperor. He's always lukewarm around him, and the Emperor never takes him out," Mo Ergun said dismissively.
“Wrong. Although the Emperor rarely takes him out, you also know that the Emperor has twice appointed him as regent and entrusted him with important responsibilities on several occasions,” said Prince Zhi.
Just then, a servant announced from outside: "The Ninth Prince has arrived!"
Before the servants could lift the tent flap, Ninth Master lifted the tent flap himself and walked in.
“Prince Zhi, it was you, wasn’t it? You deliberately had Dohar give the gyrfalcon that had been tampered with!” Ninth Master pointed at Prince Zhi and said.
After exchanging a glance with Mo Ergun, Da Hui quickly retreated.
"Ninth Prince, what makes you think I did something wrong?!" the Prince Zhi said angrily.
"Isn't Dohar your son-in-law? He's the one who gave that gyrfalcon to myna bird," Ninth Master shouted.
"You, that gyrfalcon is wild and untamed; it might even attack someone." Prince Zhi hadn't actually instructed Dohar to do such a thing to his eighth brother. Speaking of which, the eighth prince had once been raised by Consort Hui, so he was naturally closer to him than to his other brothers.
"Hmph, what wouldn't you do for that position!" Ninth Master had never been raised by Consort Hui, so naturally he didn't trust his elder brother who always liked to show off.
"Believe it or not, it's up to you. I won't force you to believe it." Prince Zhi didn't hold back when he saw that Ninth Prince was speaking rudely.
When Ninth Prince saw that Prince Zhi refused to explain further, he became increasingly convinced that Prince Zhi had deliberately tampered with the gyrfalcon in order to get rid of Eighth Prince, his strongest rival for the position of Crown Prince.
"Do you think you can become the Crown Prince just by getting rid of Eighth Brother?" Ninth Prince said sarcastically. "I'm going to tell Father Emperor about your good deed!" Ninth Prince said angrily.
"My good news? What good news?" Prince Zhi stared at Ninth Prince in surprise.
"Hmph, do I need to remind you of the good deeds you've done? With a character like yours, do you even deserve to be crown prince? I guarantee that if Father Emperor knew of your despicable behavior, he would rather pass the throne to me than to you." After saying this, Ninth Prince turned to leave.
"Stop right there!" Prince Zhi's heart skipped a beat. He could tell from Ninth Prince's eyes that he must have some kind of leverage over him, otherwise he wouldn't have said such a thing.
"What, scared? If you're scared, then don't do such a thing!" Ninth Master said disdainfully.
“I am your elder brother, what are you saying, you have no manners at all,” said Prince Zhi.
"Hmph, I would never acknowledge a brother like you who uses such underhanded means to frame Eighth Brother," Ninth Master said indignantly.
“I absolutely did not frame the Eighth Prince. Explain yourself clearly. I will never refuse to help the Eighth Prince if I can,” said Prince Zhi.
"Alright, you said it yourself. Now you come with me to Father Emperor and explain things to Eighth Brother, asking him not to blame him. Many of those accusations are completely fabricated." Ninth Prince said, unwilling to give up.
“It’s not that I don’t want to help the Eighth Prince, but what he’s done this time is just too, too unforgivable. Father Emperor has already listed thirty-eight of his crimes. How can I plead for him?” said Prince Zhi.
"We can't just stay silent. Let's go talk to him; maybe we can persuade Father to change his mind. How can we not try and do justice to Eighth Brother!" Ninth Prince said resolutely. The Prince of Zhi stared blankly at Ninth Prince. He knew they had been close since childhood, but he hadn't expected them to be this close. At this moment, no one wanted to avoid the Eighth Prince. Father had listed thirty-eight crimes against him; who would dare to plead for him?
"What do you know? You're not trying to fool me, are you?" Prince Zhi decided to take a gamble.
"Heh, Big Brother, you still remember a woman, don't you! Princess Baoyue!" Ninth Master sneered.
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