"Damn it! What a bunch of good-for-nothings~~" After the butler brought him the note sent by carrier pigeon, Ninth Master smashed several teacups in a row.
"The fourth brother's life is never easy to take, so don't worry too much about it." A person sitting on a sandalwood high-backed chair in another part of the secret room raised his long, white hand and touched the Buddha's Eye in his hand.
"Eighth Brother, what do you think would happen if they found out what we did in Yangzhou?" Ninth Master's usual jovial expression was completely different. He was no longer the Peach Blossom Ninth who only knew how to indulge in the fragrance of gentle women and spend his days applying makeup.
That's right, it was just a cover-up.
He, Aisin-Gioro Yintang, was no mere figurehead. To cultivate his own power, he outwardly enjoyed business, and was the behind-the-scenes owner of many shops in the capital. Thanks to his mother, Consort Guoluo, the Ninth Prince was very wealthy. Aside from his Ninth Prince's stipend, his possessions were in no way inferior to those in the palace; this was something a prince could never afford on his own. The Ninth Prince not only operated underground banks and casinos in the capital, but also in major cities throughout the country. He amassed enormous wealth from these establishments, large and small, all for one purpose: to cultivate relationships with local officials for the Eighth Prince.
Indeed, the person sitting in the dark corner who remained unusually calm and never showed any anger was the Eighth Prince. At this moment, his face was shrouded in darkness, making it impossible to see his expression.
On the surface, he, Aisin Gioro Yinzhi, known as the Eighth Prince, was extremely popular, gentle, and kind. Yes, this was also a facade, but he had perfected it to such an extent that it was now ingrained in his very being, impossible to remove. The Eighth Prince was born into the lowly household of Wei, a lowly maid in the Imperial Household Department. His extremely lowly maternal family exposed him to the harsh realities of human nature from a young age. The sycophantic servants in the palace, seeing his mother's high rank and his own lack of power, naturally disregarded him. Although Emperor Kangxi entrusted him to Consort Hui's care, Consort Hui already had the First Prince and wouldn't care for a child who wasn't her own. Wei relied on Consort Hui, but he refused to rely on the First Prince. Therefore, the Eighth Prince was exceptionally kind from a young age; no one had ever seen him lose his temper, and he was always exceptionally good to the servants who served him. Because one day, he will stand in that highest position and look down on all those who once looked down on him, including the Fourth Prince, Yinzhen.
The Ninth Prince himself wasn't particularly interested in the position; he only wanted to be a carefree prince. However, he disapproved of the Crown Prince's weakness and arrogance, looked down on the First Prince's domineering manner, and despised the Fourth Prince's cold-heartedness. He seemed to be the best supporter sent by heaven for the Eighth Prince. With the Eighth Prince's strategic planning and astonishing wealth, he had already gained widespread support; both inside and outside the court, his supporters even surpassed those of the Crown Prince.
“Investigate? I believe he won’t find out. Even if he does, it has nothing to do with us. Ninth Brother, you know I never associate with their subordinates. The money you give them all goes through that channel. If they want to turn around and bite us, they probably won’t find a way to do it.” Eighth Master walked to Ninth Brother’s side and patted him on the shoulder.
“Eighth Brother, I, Ninth Prince, admire you the most. When I gave those lackeys money back then, they accepted it very readily. Otherwise, how could they possibly have paid back that debt?” Ninth Prince said.
"Hmph, greed knows no bounds. I deliberately let these people borrow money from the court, until they couldn't repay it at all, then they had no choice but to obey." The Eighth Prince revealed a sinister smile. Even the Ninth Prince, who knew him so well, rarely saw him smile like this. His extremely handsome face appeared somewhat unbalanced because of his icy expression.
“Eighth Brother, we have these people firmly under our control, and that matter is almost finished. When is it time to give Second Brother some trouble?” Ninth Master asked.
"No rush, we have to wait for the right opportunity. Otherwise, you know Father's temperament. His tolerance for the Second Prince is beyond our imagination." The Eighth Prince said this with some resentment.
"Hmph, isn't he just someone who crawled out of the late Empress's belly? How can he compare to you, Eighth Brother? Father Emperor was wise all his life, yet he made a mistake on this matter." Ninth Prince looked at the Crown Prince with disdain.
“Perhaps we don’t need to shake the Crown Prince’s position; someone will naturally challenge it. For example, Prince Zhi?” the Eighth Prince said.
“By then, if we exert a little more effort, this big tree of his will probably fall,” the Ninth Prince said with a smile.
"That's right, we can't be open about it. In the open, it has to be Prince Zhi competing with him, understand? Right now, our most crucial point is still with the Fourth Prince. He's always been cunning, and we absolutely can't let him discover anything!"
"Sigh, if we can get rid of him this time, we'll have one less major threat in the future," the Ninth Prince said, still unwilling to give up. "Should we send another group of people over?"
"No, this kind of thing can only happen once, not twice. Otherwise, it'll be easy to give ourselves away. Let's just say that the fourth prince wasn't meant to die this time," the Eighth Prince said in a deep voice. Among his brothers, the one he feared the most was the fourth prince. He didn't care about the eldest prince or the crown prince, but this fourth prince, who had been sent by Kangxi to Empress Niohuru, was the only one who made him feel like he had a fishbone stuck in his throat.
"What should we do then? Just let them investigate like this?" Old Nine said resentfully. Why did things always become so complicated when it came to Old Four?
"Don't worry, he won't find anything. Those people are more anxious than we are; they will definitely not let him find anything," said Eighth Master.
"Eighth Brother, I have something here that might bring some bad luck to Fourth Brother~" Ninth Brother revealed a smile that seemed to be looking forward to a good show.
"What?" the Eighth Prince asked the Ninth Prince in confusion.
"My men saw something at the Fourth Prince's residence. Hehe, to be honest, I really hope this matter can come to fruition. It would be good to give our good Fourth Brother a piece of his mind." The Ninth Prince chuckled at the thought.
"Stop keeping me in suspense, just tell me," the Eighth Prince said, slightly impatiently.
“One of my servants saw someone, and that person is the personal maid of Princess Yan Yu in his household. Guess what Princess Yan Yu is doing?” the Ninth Prince said. It turned out that one of the Ninth Prince's personal servants recognized Fang Yun. Once, he went out of the manor to do something for the Ninth Prince and unexpectedly saw Fang Yun on the street. He originally wanted to go up and say something, since they had grown up together.
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