The Fourth Prince looked at the letters one by one, but by the end, he was too lazy to open them all. Basically, the people who sent the letters were all officials who owed money to the imperial court. They came to visit the Fourth Prince with only one purpose: to beg him to show leniency and let them off this time.
Hmph, how outrageous! These people live off the salaries given by the court every day, and yet they still ask the court for money. Instead of being grateful for the emperor's favor, they treat the national treasury as a cash cow to squeeze every last drop of profit. The amount of money they borrow is truly outrageous.
Among these people were high-ranking officials of the second rank and even the first rank. Fourth Master really didn't expect that even Zhang Tingyu had borrowed money, and Li Guangdi, these loyal ministers who were extremely loyal to the emperor, had also borrowed money from the national treasury.
Fourth Master closed his eyes and leaned back in his armchair, deep in thought about how to get the silver back. To accomplish this, he had to make an example of someone.
The agents investigating the Crown Prince's private assets have already been dispatched. Once they have some leads, they should be more confident in forcing the Crown Prince to return the money. Only when the Crown Prince begins returning funds to the national treasury will those who are currently observing take sides. Their reluctance to return the money now is not entirely due to a lack of funds, but rather because they are waiting to see what happens.
Fourth Master sighed, when suddenly Su Peisheng's voice rang out from outside, "Master, Thirteenth Master is here!"
Without a second thought, the Fourth Prince said to the people waiting outside, "Have him come over quickly. From now on, when the Thirteenth Prince comes, don't announce him beforehand, just let him in!"
Before long, the Thirteenth Prince, Yinxiang, pushed open the half-closed wooden door and saw the Fourth Prince lying back in the armchair. He called out, "Fourth Brother!"
"They're here, Thirteenth Master. Look, I just sent out the official letter demanding payment, and they're all trying to pull strings. They're really clueless. These people only know how to borrow, don't they know that borrowed things have to be repaid someday?" Fourth Master was completely uninhibited in front of Thirteenth Master, saying whatever he wanted.
"Fourth Brother, I've come to return the money!" Thirteenth Master said with a smile.
Upon hearing this, the Fourth Prince suddenly sprang to his feet, looked at Yinxiang, and waved his hand, saying, "Thirteenth Prince, I wasn't talking about you just now, don't take it to heart. The amount of silver you owe isn't very large, you can pay it back slowly."
Yinxiang smiled, took out a piece of paper from his sleeve, something like a banknote, and handed it to the Fourth Prince, saying, "Here, don't blame me for not supporting you, Fourth Brother. This banknote is the money I'm repaying for the loans I made from the court over the past few years."
Fourth Prince had no idea that Thirteenth Prince had come for this matter. If he had known, he wouldn't have said those things earlier. Now, seeing Yinxiang hand over the silver notes, he felt somewhat embarrassed.
"Thirteenth Brother, you can take it back. I'll make up for the money you owe." Fourth Prince knew that the Thirteenth Prince had never received any proper official position from Kangxi, so his monthly salary was still that of a prince. In addition, he had not received any rewards from Kangxi, such as the Fourth Prince's estate. He lived on his monthly salary all year round. In addition, he couldn't neglect the affairs of the Twelfth and Thirteenth Princesses, so he naturally had to make some preparations for his two younger sisters' future dowries.
"How can that be? I borrowed the money, how can I let Fourth Brother pay it back?" Although Thirteenth Master was a bit poor, he still had his pride. Although Fourth Master had always treated him well, he couldn't let Fourth Master take on this responsibility.
“You don’t own any estates, and you rely entirely on your monthly salary to cover the expenses of the entire household, so it must be quite tight. It’s only natural to occasionally borrow some money from the imperial court. Besides, just consider this a little bit of brotherly affection I’m doing for Twelfth and Thirteenth Princes. You should know that they are also my sisters.” Fourth Prince knew that the entire Thirteenth Prince’s household depended on his meager monthly salary for their livelihood.
The Thirteenth Prince's eyes immediately welled up with tears; as the saying goes, even a hero can be driven to desperation by a mere penny. He had been somewhat bewildered when he first learned that the Fourth Prince was going to begin collecting the silver owed to everyone by Emperor Kangxi over the years.
But the Thirteenth Prince knew that the Fourth Prince might not even ask him for money; perhaps he would just try to take matters into his own hands first. Although the Fourth Prince had official duties and estates, he sometimes faced financial difficulties when traveling, and there were times when he couldn't make it back. How much more so for the Thirteenth Prince!
Thirteenth Prince raised his hand and bowed to Fourth Prince, then Fourth Prince said, "Thank you for your timely help, Fourth Brother. But I have another request, and I ask that you grant it."
Fourth Master had always been fond of Thirteenth Master, and he knew she wouldn't ask for anything beyond his means, so he smiled and said, "Speak, what is it you want?"
The Thirteenth Prince said solemnly, "Father Emperor sent Fourth Brother to various places to recover the debts this time. I am really worried about him and want to go with him."
The Fourth Prince emerged from his desk, walked to the Thirteenth Prince's side, and hurriedly said, "Yinxiang, have you thought this through? This time, I'm going to offend people, and I might even encounter danger. Moreover, it's a thankless task. Are you really willing to go with me on this mission?"
The Thirteenth Prince said, "Fourth Brother, have you forgotten the vow that Yinxiang made to you before? No matter what you do, Yinxiang will always support you!"
Looking at the Thirteenth Prince, the Fourth Prince recalled their time together at Yonghe Palace. He himself was only eleven or twelve years old then, while the Thirteenth Prince was only seven or eight when he was sent there. Suddenly, he lost his mother and came to an unfamiliar environment. At that time, Consort De had just given birth to the Fourteenth Prince and had very little time to take care of the Fourth Prince and the Thirteenth Prince. Therefore, the Thirteenth Prince was basically raised by the Fourth Prince.
I remember once, the nanny serving Yinxiang secretly reduced his allowance. Because he was a prince living under someone else's roof and without a mother, some sycophantic servants became emboldened and tried every means to skim money from these princes. The Thirteenth Prince was frequently cheated by the nannies and eunuchs assigned by Consort De. Being young, he knew but feared that speaking out would cause trouble for Consort De, so he kept quiet. Later, somehow, the Fourth Prince found out about this. He summoned the nanny who had reduced the Thirteenth Prince's allowance and questioned her directly. The nanny vehemently denied it, but under the Fourth Prince's relentless questioning, she finally confessed. The Fourth Prince immediately summoned the eunuch in charge of enforcement at Yonghe Palace and ordered him to have the nanny flogged thirty times. After this incident, the servants serving the Thirteenth Prince never dared to be negligent again.
From then on, no one dared to arbitrarily deduct anything from Yinxiang's belongings, and his days at Yonghe Palace gradually became filled with smiles.
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