The Fourth Prince suddenly opened his eyes, looked at the words on the Xuan paper, and read them one by one: "The sons and grandsons of Prince Li, son of the Taizu Emperor, are all safe and sound. If you can remain steadfast after my death, I will pass away peacefully. Prince Yong, the fourth son of the Emperor, Yinzhen, is of noble character and closely resembles me. He will surely be able to inherit the throne. He is hereby appointed to succeed me and ascend the throne as Emperor. He shall immediately follow the rites, observe mourning for twenty-seven days, and then announce the removal of mourning before the emperor is removed, so that all within and outside the court may know."
"Haha, Your Highness, it really is you! It really is you! This servant was right!" Longkodo clapped his hands in celebration, tears streaming down his face. Liang Jiugong also heard the contents of the edict and sighed peacefully. He knew that Kangxi had already placed the edict of succession behind that plaque, but he didn't know who it belonged to. Now that the Fourth Prince had read out Kangxi's edict, the matter that had been weighing on his mind was finally settled, and it really was the person he had predicted, so he too wept with joy.
The Fourth Prince couldn't help but read the edict carefully again. It turned out that the edict written by Emperor Kangxi started by talking about his life as an emperor, summarized the history of China, and finally concluded that the Qing Dynasty was in accordance with the Mandate of Heaven and inherited the Ming system. He said that his successors should be respectful and careful, and should do their best to fulfill their responsibilities to the people of the world.
Finally, Kangxi mentioned that among all his sons, his fourth son resembled him the most, bringing tears to the prince's eyes. This statement was more meaningful than any praise. Kangxi was a man of great talent and ambition, possessing an exceptional memory from a young age, and became a wise and benevolent ruler. He had more than twenty sons, but none could be said to have surpassed him. Now, hearing Kangxi's words, the fourth prince felt that his years of hard work had not been in vain; his father, the Emperor, had seen it all.
"Alright, Your Highness, we now know the Emperor's intentions. All we need to do now is maintain the current status quo." Longkodo finally felt relieved.
Fourth Master nodded and immediately rolled up the imperial edict in the same way as before, putting it back into the brocade box. Liang Jiugong had already set out the chair and stool again, so that Fourth Master could put the brocade box back.
The Fourth Prince deftly placed the brocade box back behind the plaque, then came down and said to Liang Jiugong, "Eunuch, now that we know the contents of the edict, let's pretend this never happened. You stay here in the Qianqing Palace and don't let anyone near this brocade box."
"Yes, this servant will certainly protect this brocade box well," Liang Jiugong said.
Longkodo and the Fourth Prince took a few books by Emperor Kangxi and left the Qianqing Palace. They walked one after the other towards the South Fifth Palace. Only when they reached the outer wall of the Qianqing Palace did the two of them breathe a sigh of relief.
"Uncle, this matter must never be mentioned again. What we need to do now is guard against the Fourteenth Prince's attempt to seize power. I want Nian Gengyao to secretly send some troops to protect the capital. I'm trying my best to keep it from Father Emperor. But we still need to take the necessary precautions, otherwise, if anything goes wrong, it will be a terrible thing," said the Fourth Prince.
"Yes, yes, Your Highness is absolutely right. This servant will go back now and carefully consider how to report the Fourteenth Prince's matter to the Emperor. However, he is not in the capital, and if I speak directly to the Emperor, I fear it will arouse his suspicion." Longkodo said, "It would be best to have direct evidence to prove that he is preparing to rebel."
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