"What? He sold them all?" Eighth Master, dressed in a light brown brocade robe with black fox fur trim at the collar, sat in his study, wisps of white smoke rising from the purple clay teapot beside him.
"Yes, he's putting out medicinal herbs and tonics to sell, but we haven't found any antiques yet. Even my herbal medicine shop has received items he sold. My informant came back and reported that he took ten cartloads of goods and sent them to the national treasury." Ninth Master, dressed in a purple brocade robe with a qilin pattern and gray rabbit fur trim at the collar, was looking at Eighth Master with disbelief.
Eighth Master's handsome face was shrouded in an aura as cold as ice outside the window. A strange light shone in the depths of his eyes, but now it had dimmed like a stagnant pool devoid of life.
"Eighth Brother, I never expected this. Back then, we had everyone send gifts to him, hoping to encourage more people to do so, to put pressure on him and show Father Emperor how 'popular' Fourth Prince is now. But we never expected him to accept them all. If he hadn't accepted them, we could have said he was just seeking fame and fortune. Now that he has, we could have gone to Father Emperor and accused him of forming cliques and engaging in corrupt practices. But now he's sold all those gifts and put them all into the national treasury. Haven't we just done all the work for him and given him a good reputation?!" Ninth Master was already getting a little exasperated.
"Ninth Prince, from now on, let's not do anything like this again. Our Fourth Brother's heart is perhaps truly greater than ours. His heart is set on the Qing Dynasty," the Eighth Prince sighed. All his painstaking planning over the years had been overturned by a single sentence from Kangxi. Now, he was scheming to prevent the Fourth Prince from ascending to the throne, but the tide was unstoppable!
"Eighth Brother, is it too late for us to back down now?" A look of despair appeared in Ninth Master's eyes. He had never been afraid of anything before, but now he felt that his opponent was too terrifying.
“We have to accept it even if it’s too late. Otherwise, it’s like throwing an egg against a rock! Father is getting older, and the matter of establishing an heir is urgent. In my opinion, the only ones who can compete with him are his own brothers,” said the Eighth Prince.
"Fourteen?" Ninth Master asked, slightly surprised.
"Fourteenth Prince is no longer a child. He's reached the prime of his life. The little brat who used to follow us around is now a general who has earned military merits," said Eighth Prince.
“Father has been sending him to the Northwest battlefield to train these past few years. He hasn’t even returned yet, even after his primary wife gave birth. Now, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to see him,” said Ninth Prince.
"The congratulatory gift for the Fourteenth Prince's wife must be grand. Our Fourteenth Brother may be our lifeline in the future," said the Eighth Prince. "It would be more beneficial for us to support him to the throne than for the Fourth Prince."
“Of course. Fourteenth is very close to us. If I had to choose one, I would naturally choose Fourteenth,” said Ninth Master.
"Then what are we waiting for? Win over the Fourteenth Prince and push him up," said the Eighth Master.
"Good. By the way, news has come back that the men sent out to kill Zhou Zhenggang have succeeded!" Ninth Master said with a smile, "At least we didn't fail this time. Without him, that person is no longer important. He knows that if he dares to say a word, he will be executed by slow slicing."
Eighth Master nodded and said, "Alright, Heaven hasn't forsaken me!"
Meanwhile, the Fourth Prince had not yet received news that Zhou Zhenggang had been killed on the way. He was currently waiting outside Changchun Garden with that frightening list of gifts in hand, awaiting Kangxi's summons.
The wind in the first month of the lunar calendar was unusually cold. The Fourth Master was wearing a black fox fur cloak, and his hat was also trimmed with a ring of black fur, which trembled slightly in the breeze.
At this moment, a beautiful woman in palace attire walked out of the Hanjing Hall. She wore a magenta cotton shawl embroidered with peonies, and her hair was adorned with magenta pearl flowers. The white fur at her collar was blown by the cold wind, brushing against her face.
The gatekeeper eunuch bowed slightly to her. The woman had an oval face, large eyes, and was only about seventeen or eighteen years old—truly the kind of appearance Emperor Kangxi favored.
The Fourth Prince took a closer look and realized that this woman was one of Kangxi's newest favorite concubines, known as "Concubine Rui." This was because her name contained the character "Rui," and she was just like the heart of a flower, graceful and charming.
"Greetings to Prince Yong!" When Consort Rui saw the Fourth Prince standing on the platform outside Hanjing Hall, she raised her handkerchief and bowed.
"You're too polite, Consort Rui," the Fourth Prince said gently.
"Your Highness, please go inside quickly. I just heard His Majesty calling for Eunuch Liang to summon you," Bai Xinrui said, then bowed and left.
Before Fourth Master could say anything, Liang Jiugong's footsteps were already approaching.
When the Fourth Prince entered the Hanjing Hall, he saw Emperor Kangxi sitting on a heated couch. However, his legs were crossed, and he appeared to be meditating. This posture was familiar to the Fourth Prince; it was the same meditation posture of the Taoist priests he had seen at Wudang Mountain.
"Your subject greets Your Majesty!" the Fourth Prince immediately said.
"I heard that most of the officials in the capital sent you New Year's gifts?" Kangxi's voice was unreadable.
The Fourth Prince was slightly taken aback, and quickly said, "Your Majesty, yesterday many gift-givers suddenly came to my residence. They left the gifts and then left. I was in the palace all day yesterday and did not see them. I have ordered my servants to count and record all the gifts. Please review them, Your Majesty!"
"This is a gift from someone else, why are you showing it to me?" Kangxi said, still meditating.
"Your Majesty, I believe it was Your Majesty who instructed me to perform the ancestral rites on your behalf, which aroused the inappropriate thoughts of these opportunists. I deeply resent this and will resolutely refuse to accept their gifts. However, when I returned, those gifts were already in my residence. I was unwilling to return them all. Therefore, I took all the medicinal herbs that were sent and sold them for silver. As for the antiques and paintings that were difficult to appraise, I packed them into boxes and took them to the national treasury. In addition, the gift list contained a total of 80,000 taels of silver notes, plus the silver obtained from selling the medicinal herbs and tonics, totaling 150,000 taels. Please review this, Your Majesty!" The Fourth Prince spoke with a clear and resolute voice, each word extremely clear, making one truly believe that he was selfless and without personal motives.
Liang Jiugong, who had been standing to the side, was impressed by the Fourth Prince's handling of the matter. If this hadn't been handled properly, the Fourth Prince's standing in Kangxi's eyes might have been damaged.
"Good, very good. One of my sons can receive so many New Year's gifts. The value of those antiques and paintings is probably not even worth 150,000 taels of silver. Fourth son, you will suddenly receive a million taels of silver." Kangxi suddenly opened his eyes and said.
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