"I know, but the Emperor is watching me right now. He's keeping me under house arrest. If I see the Ninth Prince, wouldn't that just give the Emperor an excuse to deal with me? Why can't he understand that?" the Eighth Prince said angrily.
The Eighth Prince's wife said, "I'm afraid that the Ninth Prince won't understand your thoughts. It would be bad if he harbored resentment towards you."
The Eighth Prince waved his hand and said, "I can't worry about that now."
In the palace, the Fourth Prince said to the chief eunuch, "Draft an imperial edict to send the Ninth Prince to Kulun to handle the foreign affairs."
The chief eunuch asked, "Your Majesty, the Ninth Prince has always harbored disloyalty towards you. Why was he sent to handle matters this time?"
Fourth Master said, "Ninth Brother is Eighth Brother's most powerful helper. If we want to get rid of Eighth Brother, we have to remove his wings one by one."
The head eunuch suddenly realized and said, "Your Majesty is wise. This servant will go and do it right away."
After he left, the Fourth Prince muttered to himself, "Eighth Prince, in front of me, you will always be the loser. Ninth Prince, I have been too lenient with you all these years. After the matter of the Eighth Prince is settled, you will be next."
The servant walked to the gate of the mansion, bowed to the Ninth Prince, and said, "Ninth Prince, the Prince asked me to tell you that he will not see you. He hopes you will go back quickly and take care of yourself."
Upon hearing the servant's report that Eighth Master was refusing to see him, Ninth Master was puzzled and asked, "Why won't Eighth Brother see me?"
The servant replied, "This servant doesn't know either."
The Ninth Prince was furious and turned to leave.
But when Ninth Master returned to his residence, the eunuchs from the palace had already been waiting for half an hour.
Upon seeing the Ninth Prince return, the eunuch shouted, "Everyone in the Ninth Prince's residence, receive the imperial decree!" The Ninth Prince, along with his wife and concubines, knelt down. The Ninth Prince's heart pounded, and he inwardly cried out in alarm. He said, "This humble subject receives the decree." Had the Emperor already learned of his visit to the Eighth Prince? The Ninth Prince knelt to receive the decree, and the eunuch read it aloud, "By the mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees..." The Ninth Prince listened for a while; the Emperor hadn't punished him. The decree merely ordered him to immediately leave the capital for Kulun to handle matters concerning the tribes.
After reading the imperial edict, the eunuch said, "Your Highness, please rise and receive the decree."
Ninth Prince snapped out of his thoughts: "Your humble servant accepts the decree."
After the eunuch left, Ninth Prince's wife approached him and asked, "Your Highness, I've heard about the Eighth Prince. The Emperor has placed him under house arrest and sent you away from the capital on business. What is the reason for this?"
The Ninth Prince said, "It seems that the Emperor is determined to eliminate us this time. Eighth Brother is involved in a murder case, and he wants me to leave the capital. Eighth Brother is isolated and helpless, so it will be easy for him to take action against him now."
Ninth Princess Consort then asked, "Will this matter affect us?"
The Ninth Prince said, "It won't have any immediate impact, but over the years, I've openly and secretly supported Eighth Brother and Fourth Brother in their opposition. Do you think he'll let me off the hook? He just doesn't have any leverage right now. If he deals with Eighth Brother, then it'll be my turn!"
"Then what should we do?" Ninth Princess Consort asked anxiously.
“I have no choice now. I went to my eighth brother’s residence, but he wouldn’t see me. And now the Emperor wants me to leave the capital. If I don’t go, it will be disobeying the imperial decree. If I go, I don’t know if I will be able to come back,” said the Ninth Prince.
Then he said to Steward Zhang, "Go to the Eighth Prince's residence and tell Eighth Prince that the Emperor has ordered me to leave the capital."
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