Consort De was well aware of the intentions of the Fourteenth Prince and Lady Wanyan, and felt somewhat troubled. Previously, the Fourteenth Prince had never shown any such intentions, which was why he was so favored by Consort De. But now he was an adult, and his thoughts were beginning to surface. With a consort constantly pushing things along, his ambitions were likely growing ever larger.
Consort De was worried. If her two sons were to become soldiers in the future, which side would she, as their mother, be on?
Consort De glanced at Wanyan a few times, thinking it might be good to give the Fourteenth Prince a warning, and said, "Let him stay in the mansion if he wants to, so that no one sees him. I'll go and sound him out to the Emperor."
When Wanyan saw that Consort De had indeed agreed, she quickly said a few more kind words to the Fourteenth Prince before leaving satisfied.
Consort De sat in her main seat, pondering how to tell Emperor Kangxi about this matter. Her youngest son was too willful; as the commander-in-chief of an army, leaving without permission was a capital offense!
"De Rong, go to the Qianqing Palace!" After resting her head and closing her eyes for a while, Consort De immediately said to the old nanny who was standing beside her.
Emperor Kangxi was quite surprised that Consort De had returned, but naturally he still allowed her to enter.
He knew that Consort De must have something important to tell him, otherwise she wouldn't have come to see him like this.
"Is there something wrong?" Kangxi asked directly as Consort De entered.
Consort De looked around and said to Liang Jiugong, "You may all leave now. I have a few words to say to the Emperor."
Liang Jiugong then waved his whisk at the palace maids standing in the corner, dismissing them all, but he remained standing in the same spot. Seeing this, Consort De was about to call Liang Jiugong out as well, but then she heard Kangxi say, "Is there anything that can't be said in front of him? Just say it."
Consort De then stopped talking and said to Emperor Kangxi, "The fourteenth child has been writing to me, saying that he is very concerned about Your Majesty's health."
When Consort De said that he was fourteen, Emperor Kangxi said, "Yinzhen is a filial son. A few days ago, his wife sent him some ginseng slices. Tell him not to worry about me. I have imperial physicians here. Let him guard the northwest border well. The Red Bear people are restless these days, so we must not be careless."
Upon hearing Kangxi's words, Consort De dared not reveal that the Fourteenth Prince had secretly returned.
"So, is this the matter?" Kangxi felt that Consort De's return must have been something important, so it was puzzling that she was only talking about the letter from the Fourteenth Prince. Liang Jiugong shared the same thought as Kangxi. He was also puzzled as to why the usually composed Consort De would do something so inappropriate.
Consort De glanced at Emperor Kangxi, pondered for a moment, then stood up, curtsied to him, and said, "Your Majesty, I would like to first apologize on behalf of the Fourteenth Prince. Please punish me."
Emperor Kangxi looked at Consort De in surprise, and even Liang Jiugong, who was standing to the side, did not know what Consort De was doing.
"What exactly happened to the Fourteenth Prince?" Kangxi sensed something and asked with a stern face.
"Your Majesty, please punish him. The Fourteenth Prince, out of concern for Your Majesty, returned to the capital without being summoned. But please, Your Majesty, consider that he only had the heart of a loving son and punish him leniently." When Consort De said these words, she was not confident.
It was quiet; the only sound was the melting of ice in a basin in the corner of the room.
Upon hearing this, Emperor Kangxi did not immediately lose his temper, but instead made Consort De quite nervous.
"Where is he?" Kangxi asked, his tone neither angry nor pleased.
"They should be at the Fourteenth Prince's residence," Consort De's voice was barely audible.
"Send him back immediately! Make sure no one sees him. If someone sees him and reports it to the emperor, then I will have no choice but to punish him," Kangxi said calmly.
Consort De looked up at Kangxi in surprise. She hadn't expected that he wouldn't even see her, nor did he get angry. It was clear that he still loved the Fourteenth Prince, but he simply refused to see him.
Consort De knew that saying more would be of no use, and that Kangxi's decision to let the Fourteenth Prince return before anyone noticed was already an extraordinary act of mercy.
After leaving the Qianqing Palace, Consort De still felt a little unreal and looked back at the gate of the Qianqing Palace.
"Your Majesty, it's already very good that the Emperor isn't punishing the Fourteenth Prince," Granny De advised from the side.
"Sigh, let's go!" Consort De sighed.
When Consort De sent someone to convey Kangxi's message to the Fourteenth Prince's residence, the Fourteenth Prince was so angry that he stood there stunned. After dismissing the messenger, Lady Wanyan said, "In the past, the prince could stay in the palace for a long time without anyone saying anything, and Mother was happy with him. Now Mother is getting nicer and nicer to Fourth Brother, but Father Emperor won't even see him. Could it be that Father Emperor has already chosen your Fourth Brother?"
"Shut up!" Fourteen interrupted Wanyan Shi irritably, and like a child abandoned by his parents, he threw Wanyan Shi aside and stormed off.
Night quickly fell, and the Fourteenth Prince led a horse out of the stable. Without saying a word to anyone, he mounted the horse alone and galloped towards the Forbidden City.
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