The next day, the Fourth Prince naturally rushed back to the palace to procure provisions. Emperor Kangxi had already sent letter after letter urging for military supplies. The Fourth Prince hadn't slept well all night, carefully considering Lanqin's idea and coming up with many supplementary solutions. Therefore, he hurriedly returned early the next morning to handle the matter.
The Fourth Prince arrived at the palace gates almost at dawn. Upon entering the palace, seeing that it was not yet time for the Crown Prince to hold court, he went directly to Yuqing Palace.
The Forbidden City is quiet in the early morning. The surrounding palaces are all silent. Occasionally, you can see a few eunuchs sweeping the floor or a night patrol pulling a cart carrying incense.
The Fourth Prince came to Yuqing Palace alone. He had just walked briskly along the long palace road when he thought the Crown Prince should be up, so he was in a hurry to see him.
Fourth Master walked very fast, because he hardly encountered anyone along the way, so he simply sped up and walked forward, recalling his conversation with Lanqin last night and that blush-inducing moment of their spring night.
Ouch!
As the Fourth Prince approached a bend in the road, he bumped into someone. Since both were walking quickly, the collision was quite forceful. The Fourth Prince felt a blow to his chest, and the other man felt the same. When they recognized each other, both were visibly surprised. The man was accompanied by a young eunuch, who, seeing the two staring at each other, quickly said, "This servant greets Your Highness, Fourth Prince. Your Highness, now that Your Highness is here, there's no need to worry too much about the military provisions."
The Crown Prince quickly put on a smile and said, "Fourth Brother, you've arrived very early. I knew you were always diligent. I received Father's letter, ordering us to quickly gather grain and transport it over. The grain you transported a few days ago has already arrived in Inner Mongolia."
The Fourth Prince composed himself, his expression turning serious. “Your Highness, I have already devised a plan to obtain the remaining 50,000 dan of grain. I was just about to go to Yuqing Palace to report this to Your Highness.”
The Crown Prince was taken aback, then quickly said, "Alright, let's go to the side hall of the Hall of Preserving Harmony to talk. The ministers should be here soon."
The Fourth Prince nodded and stepped aside to let the Crown Prince go first. The Crown Prince smiled, patted the Fourth Prince's shoulder, and then walked past him. The Fourth Prince then followed closely behind.
The two arrived at the Hall of Preserving Harmony, but since it was not yet time for court, the ministers had not yet arrived. The Crown Prince and the Fourth Prince then sat down in a side hall of the Hall of Preserving Harmony.
The eunuchs and palace maids in the row of imperial tea rooms behind the Hall of Preserving Harmony had already gotten up. Xiao Bao from the Crown Prince's office told them to quickly make tea, while he himself went to prepare breakfast.
The imperial tea server was a group of palace maids, all of them pretty and delicate, some even having won the Emperor's favor. However, once Kangxi had his way with her, he would set her aside, and nothing more would happen. Not every palace maid had the good fortune of Consort De. That was when Kangxi was still passionate and still believed in romance. Now, he was over fifty, and young women were truly just playthings to him.
The Fourth Prince stared straight at the Crown Prince, having already told him about Lanqin's idea. The Crown Prince was taken aback, and the two began to consider the details.
"You may all leave. There's no need to serve you here," the Crown Prince said to the two palace maids who had served tea.
After they had all left, the Crown Prince picked up his teacup, smoothed the floating tea leaves, and said, "Fourth Brother, we still need to report this matter to Father. After all, it's unprecedented for a merchant's son to be allowed to enter officialdom."
The Fourth Prince frowned and nodded, saying, "Then please have the Crown Prince write a memorial to Father Emperor as soon as possible. The army is far away and there is a shortage of supplies, which is really not a good thing."
The Crown Prince nodded and smiled, "Fourth Brother has always been impatient. When they come to court later, I will bring this up with them and see how the officials react."
Half an hour later, the Crown Prince began his court session, with the Fourth Prince standing below, and officials from all departments also present.
The Crown Prince then brought up the idea of raising grain that the Fourth Prince had mentioned to him. Unexpectedly, the idea was passed almost without any obstacles. None of the officials objected to donating grain; in fact, they all shouted that they would actively cooperate.
The crown prince was surprised that these people agreed to the idea so readily. He then went on to mention collecting grain from wealthy households. At this point, some officials fell silent, some objected, and some agreed. The division lay in their attitudes towards the wealthy households.
The Crown Prince glanced at the Fourth Prince and, seeing his furrowed brows, unconsciously revealed a slight smile.
After the court session ended, the Crown Prince ordered the clerk who was in charge of writing letters to Emperor Kangxi to stay behind, while everyone else left. The Fourth Prince hurried back to the Ministry of Revenue to begin registering the number of officials who donated grain.
The whole day passed in this flurry of activity, and Fourth Master was still busy at the Ministry of Revenue. Lunch was also brought by Su Peisheng from the kitchen, and he quickly ate a little.
The Fourth Prince and several officials from the Ministry of Revenue worked all day, checking the lists of officials in the capital and surrounding suburbs. When they saw the number, they were immediately excited. After calculating the amount of grain each official was required to donate, they realized it was not far from 50,000 dan of grain.
As dusk approached, a palace servant from Consort De's side came over and told Su Peisheng, who was waiting in the Ministry of Revenue courtyard, that Consort De wanted to invite the Fourth Prince to dinner that evening, and then left.
Su Peisheng kept this in mind, and would occasionally walk to the door of the room where the Fourth Master was to look inside. He saw that the Fourth Master and the other adults were always busy working, and no one dared to go in to talk about having a meal.
By the time Fourth Prince and his men had finished their work, it was already 7 PM. Su Peisheng was anxious. If he didn't convey Consort De's words, would he still be able to serve Fourth Prince in the future?
So, Su Peisheng saw an opportunity, tiptoed into the room, and saw Fourth Master glance at him and say, "What is it?"
Upon seeing the Fourth Master's slightly gloomy face, Su Peisheng knew it was not the right time to disturb him, as he was fully engaged in his work.
Su Peisheng quickly went to the Fourth Prince's side, whispered the message that Consort De had sent, and then immediately lowered his head to await the Fourth Prince's instructions.
"Very well. Let's go." Fourth Master stood up and stretched his aching back, then said to the other officials, "That's all for today, gentlemen. We'll continue tomorrow."
Those men glanced at Su Peisheng as if they had been granted a pardon. It was clear that they had all been forced to work hard all day by the Fourth Master. Since the Fourth Master didn't rest, they felt embarrassed and dared not rest themselves.
The group quickly stood up, exchanged a few pleasantries with Fourth Master, and then left the room one by one.
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