"Jiugong, what time is it?" Kangxi opened his eyes. They had stopped at the foot of a mountain and would be arriving in Zhengzhou in a few more days.
"Your Majesty, it's just past the hour of Yin. It's still early, you should rest a little longer." Liang Jiugong was dozing on a chair outside Kangxi's bed. He was older than Kangxi, yet he could still stay up like this, truly a man of iron constitution. Actually, his apprentice Xiao Quanzi had been keeping watch for the first half of the night, and he would usually wake up around midnight to relieve Xiao Quanzi.
"Yesterday, Consort Hui said she would accompany me to visit Jiming Mountain in this area today. You will come with me. Go and summon the Eighth Prince and the Thirteenth Prince. Be careful to avoid having any people around," Kangxi said. These days, he had Consort Hui accompany him to the imperial tent every day, but he never let her stay overnight.
"Yes, sir!" After Liang Jiugong left, he ordered a young eunuch to go in and help Kangxi wash his face and change his clothes.
When Liang Jiugong arrived at the Eighth Prince's place, the latter, though not yet awake, had already woken up. Upon hearing Liang Jiugong's message, he immediately dressed and came out. The Thirteenth Prince, seemingly knowing that Kangxi wanted to summon him, rose at dawn and waited in his tent, staring blankly at Luo Ge's profile. Keeping her by his side was truly a mistreatment of her. To avoid being seen, Luo Ge rarely left the carriage or tent. Even when she was forced to appear in public, she mostly covered her face with a thin garment, afraid of being recognized by acquaintances.
The two princes arrived before Kangxi one after the other, and the latter was already dressed and sitting upright on the bed.
"Your sons greet Father Emperor!" The two princes bowed and then stood respectfully to one side, waiting for Kangxi to speak.
"Eighth Prince, I will be taking Consort Hui to Jiming Mountain for a visit today. You all wait here. After I leave, you must take five hundred men and hide behind me so that no one can find out," Kangxi said.
"Yes, Father Emperor, your son is ready." The Eighth Prince said to Kangxi. He and the Thirteenth Prince had secretly heard about Kangxi's arrangements a few days ago, so they naturally knew what Kangxi intended to do.
"Father, why don't we arrest Cao Peining first? Torture her severely and she'll surely reveal the whereabouts of those remaining accomplices. Father, why risk your life?" Ever since the Thirteenth Prince learned of Kangxi's suspicions, he couldn't wait to arrest this "WeChat agent" hiding beside his father.
"Thirteenth, when will you change your temperament and learn to be more composed? I want to see what they're really up to. One Cao Peining is nothing to fear, but I want to see if the Cao family, who have been entrenched in Jiangnan for over a decade, have truly deceived me for so long," Kangxi said calmly. However, only Liang Jiugong knew that the emperor's wrath hidden beneath this calm was capable of wiping out an entire family and thousands of lives in an instant.
"Your subject understands." The Thirteenth Prince nodded upon hearing Kangxi's arrangements and then fell silent.
After hearing Kangxi's arrangements, the two princes followed Liang Jiugong out. Kangxi had actually been suffering from a headache for some time, often lasting for a long time. He seemed a little worried that his headache would flare up when he went to visit Jiming Mountain with Cao Peining.
"Liang Jiugong, am I getting old?" After seeing Liang Jiugong turn back, Kangxi raised his hand to massage his temples and said with his eyes closed.
"Your Majesty is still in the prime of life, how can you say you're old? This servant is still in good health, no worse than those young people," Liang Jiugong replied with an embarrassed smile.
"Old man, you're just trying to fool me! If I weren't old, why are my eyes getting worse and worse? And this brain of mine, it torments me every day," Kangxi said with annoyance.
He knew that he had been reading countless memorials every day, which had strained his eyes. But his ancestors had conquered the country and chosen him as its guardian, so he dared not be lazy and could not slack off for even a day.
"Your Majesty, why not issue a public notice to summon renowned physicians from across the land to the capital? I have heard that itinerant doctors in the countryside are often hidden masters, capable of treating ailments that even the imperial physicians cannot," Liang Jiugong suggested.
"Old man, you're getting senile. Isn't that tantamount to telling the world that their emperor is old and deposed? Isn't that giving some disloyal people an opportunity to rise up and rebel?" Kangxi scolded.
"This servant is confused, please calm down, Your Majesty. We can't search openly, but we can search secretly. Your Majesty can order the princes to search for famous doctors for you among the common people, so that we can avoid being noticed." Liang Jiugong originally wanted to say that the Fourth Prince was the right candidate, but after thinking about it, he held back the words after they had been on his mind.
“What you said isn’t impossible. But let me think about it some more.” Kangxi glanced sideways at the sliver of light shining through the tent flap. “It’s dawn. Today I will have a good tour of Jiming Mountain.”
At Chenshi (7-9 AM), Consort Hui, dressed in splendid attire, came to Kangxi's side to serve him breakfast. Liang Jiugong watched all this and silently dismissed all the servants to give them space.
"Peining, are you the eldest daughter of the Cao family?" Kangxi suddenly placed an egg next to Consort Cao.
"Really, why does Your Majesty ask about this?" Consort Cao picked up the egg and used her delicate hand, which was about the same size as the egg white in her hand, to peel off the shell little by little.
"I would like to know about Pei Ning. It's been more than half a year since you entered the palace. I wonder if you miss your family? I can grant your family permission to come to the capital to visit you," Kangxi said with concern.
"After entering the palace, I did miss my family somewhat, but as His Majesty's consort, my duty is to take care of His Majesty, and everything is for His Majesty's sake. Your Majesty must not break this precedent for me; only the Empress Consort may invite family members into the palace to visit." Consort Hui's eyes narrowed slightly, and then she continued.
"Pei Ning has done very well along the way, so a little reward is nothing. Eat quickly, and after you finish, come with me to visit Jiming Mountain," Kangxi said. Jiming Mountain was a relatively famous mountain in this area, and their encampment was located at its foot. It is said that there is a valley on this mountain where one can hear a sound like a rooster crowing, hence the name "Jiming Mountain" (Rooster Crowing Mountain).
"Then I thank Your Majesty for your great kindness." Consort Hui picked up some seaweed and put it into Kangxi's bowl.
Liang Jiugong watched them silently. To outsiders, it seemed that Consort Hui was Kangxi's most favored concubine at the moment, but little did they know that the two of them had their own thoughts. Kangxi wanted to find out what Consort Hui was hiding behind her, while Consort Hui was determined to finish the task her father had entrusted to her so that she could rekindle her romance with her beloved.
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