"How much longer is Father Emperor going to stay on Mount Wutai? He's been secretly meeting with high monks in the back mountains every day. It's been almost two months already, hasn't it?" The Fourteenth Prince's leg had healed, and he felt that if he stayed here any longer, he would definitely get sick from boredom.
"You've only been well for two days, and you're already starting to talk nonsense? How dare you interfere in Father's affairs!" The Fourth Prince glared fiercely at the Fourteenth Prince.
After Fourth Master rescued him from the porcupine trap, Fourteenth Master's feelings for Fourth Master improved considerably. He often came to Fourth Master's meditation room to joke and chat with him.
"Fourth Brother, how long is Father going to stay here? We've been here for almost two months already," the Tenth Prince said. Ever since their unauthorized hunting encounter, Emperor Kangxi had given them an order forbidding them from going hunting on their own again.
"Fourth Brother, let's go out for a stroll together. Tenth Brother, you told me that Xinxian County is quite interesting. It would be good for us to go to the county town and have a good treat!" Fourteenth Brother's injury has healed, but he hasn't had any chicken, duck, fish, or meat to eat.
“Alright, Fourth Brother, let’s go together. This time, the three of us won’t be separated, so there won’t be any danger.” Tenth Prince also wanted to go. At that time, Kangxi had asked him to buy some tonics for Fourteenth Prince, so he didn’t dare to wander around Xinxian County for long. It was an ancient county town, and there were quite a few merchants coming and going from the north and south.
Listening to the two of them talking back and forth, Fourth Master was actually tempted. They had been here for almost two months, and their daily supplies were almost used up. It was time to go down the mountain to resupply.
“Alright, but we must report to Father Emperor. We can only go out with Father Emperor's approval, otherwise forget it!” Fourth Prince said. Tenth Prince and Fourteenth Prince both nodded.
Emperor Kangxi and Xingchi practiced Buddhism in the back mountains, chanting scriptures with Emperor Shunzhi every day, then dining together, and in the evenings they would have long talks about the events of the past fifty years. After all, fifty years was a long time, so Kangxi wanted to start from the time Shunzhi left the palace, slowly and in detail telling Shunzhi about everything that had happened.
Every day, the Fourth Prince and his men relayed messages through Kangxi's personal guards. They had never actually seen Kangxi himself. This time, the Fourth Prince spoke to Guard Qin first, and then waited for him to report.
"I wonder how Father is doing. He's been staying in the back mountains for two months now and hasn't come out to see us. Every time something happens, we have to go through these guards to report it," Fourteenth Prince said with a hint of dissatisfaction.
“Father has his reasons,” the Fourth Prince said. He was almost certain that the high monk in the back mountain was Emperor Shunzhi. Otherwise, Emperor Kangxi wouldn’t have spent so much time in the back mountain.
After Qin, the guard, reported to Emperor Kangxi, Kangxi only instructed the fourth prince and his men to disguise themselves and not reveal their princely identities. They were allowed to stay in Xinxian County for one night before returning.
After receiving Kangxi's instructions, Fourth Prince and his men took some silver with them and went down the mountain.
It was quite a distance from the mountain temple to the county town. Fourth Master and his companions rode horses, so they arrived before dark. They went to a restaurant in the most bustling part of Xin County and ordered a fine meal. After more than two months of vegetarianism, they were all craving meat and fish.
"Fourth Brother, I've never been so hungry for meat before!" Tenth Master's mouth was practically watering. When Fourteenth Brother was injured, he could only watch him eat from the sidelines, at most gnawing on chicken necks and chicken feet.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get started!" Fourth Master laughed.
The three of them began to feast, completely disregarding their status as princes, since there were no outsiders present. They thoroughly enjoyed the food.
Meanwhile, in the guest rooms behind this restaurant, lived a group of five people. They spent their days discussing something in the room, but never allowed the waiter to go in and tidy up the room.
“Brother, we’ve already surveyed the area around the temple. The best way to assassinate that scoundrel of an emperor is to sneak down the cliff behind the mountain. He’s there.” A burly middle-aged man said to the man in the blue robe and straw hat.
"Is there any protection in the back mountain?" the man in the straw hat asked.
"There's not much people here, just an old monk and a few other monks of similar age. Ever since the emperor entered the temple, he's been having long talks with that old monk in the back mountain, I don't know what they're talking about!" the middle-aged man said. "The emperor's guards are all in the front temple, which gives us a great opportunity. If we can sneak into the back mountain tonight, kill those old monks, and then take the Tartar emperor with us, that would be perfect. There's a road leading out from the back mountain, we can go back through that road without anyone noticing."
The lean man said, "Niu Zi, don't oversimplify things. We need to plan everything carefully, otherwise we'll not only fail to kill the dog emperor, but we'll also get ourselves into trouble."
“Indeed, our lord has waited so long for this opportunity, and now that it has finally arrived, we must not miss it. We must take a good look at the map of the mountain temple and plan our escape route carefully. We must not fall into the hands of that dog emperor; I fear he will find our master through us,” said the mysterious man wearing a bamboo hat.
Meanwhile, Fourth Master and his companions had devoured the entire table of food, and were all so full they could barely move. Fourth Master, his stomach bulging as if it were about to burst, slumped into a chair and said, "Let's stay here tonight. I see the guest rooms of this restaurant are right behind us."
Fourteen nodded and said, "Good, the food and wine here are very good. I'll have another meal here tomorrow before going back."
After paying their bill, the three inquired with the innkeeper about the best theaters and teahouses in the area. They decided to listen to a performance and then enjoy some tea and snacks. Since Emperor Kangxi had allowed them to stay out all day, they planned to make the most of this rare holiday.
"Fourth Brother, where are we going?" Fourteenth Brother now likes to ask Fourth Master's opinion, whereas before he would think even half a sentence was too much.
"I heard there's a performance by the river, why don't we go see it?" The Fourth Prince rarely saw such a lively scene, having lived in the mountains for two months. He couldn't go out at night. It was pitch black all around, and at first he was a little unaccustomed to the quiet, but after a while, the only sound was the howling mountain wind. The Fourth Prince had never been so calm as he had been during this time. Normally, he was always pondering the meaning of every word Kangxi spoke, trying to decipher the emperor's intentions. But since moving into the mountains, the Fourth Prince, sitting cross-legged in meditation, gradually understood why it was necessary to go to the suburbs for quiet recuperation.
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