“Mother, I’m not a three-year-old child anymore. If I always stay under your protection and don’t experience anything, how can I grow into a man you can rely on?” Yinli said firmly.
Looking at her son, who had grown into a tall and strong man, Consort Chen was still worried. She said, "But you've never been out before. How could you do something like this from the start? I'm even worried that your fourth brother deliberately set you up for this."
Yinli looked at his mother and asked in confusion, "Mother, are you saying that Fourth Brother deliberately sent me to do this?"
“Exactly! You have been favored by your Imperial Father for the past few years. Now, who can compare to him? I am afraid that he is resentful because he sees how much your Imperial Father loves you, and he might deliberately try to harm you.” Consort Chen finally voiced her concerns.
“Mother! I believe Fourth Brother wouldn’t have such thoughts. The Fourth Brother I know isn’t such a narrow-minded and selfish person. He works hard for the Qing Dynasty every day and really needs help. As his brother, it wouldn’t be proper for me to not help him and to doubt him. Precisely because Father has always loved me, I can’t rely on his love and not grow up. Mother, one day, Seventeen will grow into a towering tree that you can rely on.” Yinli said.
Consort Chen failed to persuade Yinli because she discovered that Yinli had somehow come to trust his fourth brother, who was never close to him, to the point that he wouldn't listen to a single word she said.
The Fourth Prince finally persuaded the cabinet ministers, and then he hurriedly went to Changchun Garden to report to Emperor Kangxi about sending the Seventeenth Prince to provide disaster relief.
"You're sending the seventeenth prince?" Kangxi asked, slightly surprised, after hearing the fourth prince's report.
"Yes, Father Emperor. Your son has received urgent reports from the southwestern prefectures. The snow disaster is very serious, and the court urgently needs to send people to provide disaster relief. If we continue as before, simply allocating funds will result in almost nothing reaching the disaster victims." The Fourth Prince said with a frown.
Emperor Kangxi knew how greedy those people were, and that all the silver allocated in the past had ended up in their pockets. He knew about this and had punished them, but it was to no avail.
"Seventeenth Prince has no experience in handling affairs. Are you sure you want him to go?" Kangxi couldn't understand why the Fourth Prince would suddenly push Seventeenth Prince forward.
"Father, do you still remember my first job? I was only fourteen years old then!" the Fourth Prince said with a smile.
"Hehe, I remember you did very well back then!" Kangxi laughed. "You went to those people's homes personally, talking to them one by one, and eventually you persuaded them all."
"So Seventeenth Prince is definitely capable too. If we keep him by our side forever, he will never grow up. Seventeenth Prince seems smart and capable. We should give him more opportunities to gain experience so that he can work for Father Emperor. Your Majesty, I will send people to secretly protect Seventeenth Prince's safety," said the Fourth Prince.
After listening to the Fourth Prince's words, Kangxi nodded and said, "Yinli is indeed very intelligent. If you cultivate him properly, he will be a great asset. Since you have thought this through so thoroughly, I agree. However, you must ensure his safety!"
With Emperor Kangxi's approval, the Fourth Prince officially appointed the Seventeenth Prince as Imperial Commissioner to oversee disaster relief efforts in the southwestern prefectures.
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