Emperor Kangxi, as the great-grandfather, secretly bestowed the name Yonghu upon the child.
In May, the little prince turned one month old, and the celebration was very grand. Prince Li and his wife, Lady Guarjia, also came.
He and his wife only had one daughter, and they also doted on their fourth brother's grandson.
A month after the full moon celebration, in May, the second princess of the household got married.
Then in September, the Second Prince married a woman from the Wanyan clan, and in October the Third Prince married a woman from the Borjigit clan.
Busy from the beginning of the year to the end, the Fujin, who managed the affairs of the household, was exhausted, but Yunyi, who was getting married, was not so tired.
Fifty-two years passed quietly, and Kangxi was already a sixty-year-old man. In ancient times, this age was considered very long-lived and old.
Out of concern for Kangxi's health, the court officials were very anxious about the decision on the successor.
On this day, during court proceedings, a group of court officials, led by the Emperor's father-in-law Tong Guowei, Grand Secretary Li Guangdi, and Ma Qi, submitted memorials, earnestly requesting the Emperor to determine the Crown Prince as soon as possible.
Emperor Kangxi was extremely annoyed by this, and wanting to test his court officials, he asked them to recommend a new crown prince.
The result was that most of the ministers in the court proposed to make the Eighth Prince the Crown Prince.
Emperor Kangxi was displeased by this and became even more suspicious of Yinzhi, believing that Yinzhi was forming cliques and plotting to seize the position of crown prince.
He then refuted the court officials who recommended Yinzhi as the crown prince, and publicly stated that Yinzhi had colluded with his cronies and harbored rebellious intentions, and therefore could not be made crown prince.
The important officials who recommended Yinzhi, such as Ma Qi and Tong Guowei, were punished.
Worried about the succession, in June of the fifty-third year of his reign, Emperor Kangxi decided to go out for a stroll to clear his mind, so he ordered an inspection tour of Rehe.
On this trip, Emperor Kangxi brought his second son, Yinreng; his third son, Yinqi; his eighth son, Yinsi; his tenth son, Yinxi; his twelfth son, Yintao; his fifteenth son, Yinwu; his sixteenth son, Yinlu; and his seventeenth son, Yinli.
The fourth prince, Prince Yong, Yinzhen, was dispatched by him to Jiangnan to promote the new rice varieties.
Yinzhen did not go alone; he also brought his eldest son Hongyao, second son Hongxuan, third son Hongjing, and sixth son Hongye.
After selecting his sons, he realized that all of them were born to Lady Song and he was afraid that Lady Li would say something unpleasant. After much consideration, Yinzhen also brought along Hongshi, who was only twelve years old.
During Emperor Kangxi's inspection tour, because this year marked the third anniversary of Consort Liang's death, Yinzhi left halfway to pay his respects to his mother, Consort Liang.
After paying his respects to Consort Liang, Yinzhi sent a eunuch to pay his respects to Emperor Kangxi at his temporary residence and to inform Emperor Kangxi that he would be waiting for the emperor at the hot springs to return to the capital together.
At the same time, Yinzhi also sent a eunuch to deliver two carefully selected falcons, gyrfalcons, to Kangxi.
It was these two gyrfalcons that completely deprived the Eighth Prince, Yinzhi, of any chance of ascending to the throne.
The "Eagle Killing Incident" occurred in November of the 53rd year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign.
On the day Yinzhi presented the gyrfalcon, Kangxi later claimed that he saw two dead eagles, which he believed was a curse from Yinzhi, who wished for his quick death.
Enraged, Kangxi summoned his sons who were by his side. He told them about Yinzhi sending him a dead eagle and rebuked Yinzhi in front of them.
He also declared, "From this day forward, the bond between me and Yinzhi, father and son, is severed."
This means that Kangxi wanted to sever his father-son relationship with Yinzhi, and it also means that Yinzhi completely lost his right to inherit the throne.
Afterwards, Emperor Kangxi issued an edict ordering the Imperial Household Department to stop all living expenses at Yinzhi's residence, demonstrating his decision to sever his father-son relationship with Yinzhi.
Yinzhi was deeply distressed by this and even fell seriously ill, nearly dying from the disease.
Seeing that the Eighth Prince, whom they supported, had no hope of ascending the throne, the court officials ordered them to switch sides. The Eighth Prince's mansion, which used to be bustling with visitors, is now deserted and no one cares about it.
Even after the Eighth Prince suffered a serious illness, things were still in turmoil, and he was preparing to fully support his Fourteenth Brother's ascension to the throne.
Hongyao had been keeping a close eye on his eighth uncle in private. He knew that his uncle would not give up easily and had anticipated what he would do next, so he spoke to his grandmother in the palace in advance.
After learning about the Eighth Prince's situation, Consort De immediately summoned her youngest son and strictly forbade him from having any further contact with the Eighth Prince, which Yinzhen naturally refused to do.
Consort De already disliked the Eighth Prince, and now seeing how he had completely bewitched her youngest son, she hated him even more.
Then she remembered what her grandson had said before and realized he was right. For the sake of her youngest son, Consort De had no choice but to threaten suicide to keep him away from the scourge that was the Eighth Prince.
Although Yinzhen was somewhat temperamental and rebellious, he still respected his mother. When his mother used this method to force him, he had no choice but to agree.
Soon, the Eighth Prince Yinzhi discovered that his Fourteenth Brother, who used to follow him around like a shadow, had not contacted him for a long time.
Even when he went to his younger brother's house, he was turned away at the door.
This unusual behavior made him uneasy. Recalling that Consort De had met with his son some time ago, he knew that Consort De must have said something behind his back.
The Eighth Prince was fine, but the impulsive Ninth Prince wanted to confront the Fourteenth Prince, but was stopped by the Tenth Prince.
The three princes could only plan for the future.
He was still thinking about doing something underhanded, but he never expected that a bombshell would be dropped at the very beginning of the 54th year of Kangxi's reign.
Emperor Kangxi issued an edict appointing his fourth son, Prince Yong (Yinzhen), as Crown Prince and granting him residence in Yuqing Palace.
Last year, Emperor Kangxi was troubled by the issue of succession. After the incident of killing the eagle, he realized how inappropriate it was to have no successor. Therefore, at the beginning of the year, without revealing any information, he directly issued an imperial edict to appoint the crown prince.
Of course, while others were unaware of this, Yinreng was aware of it.
In the fifty-fourth year, Princess Guarjia, wife of Prince Li, fell seriously ill. Because she had taken a sword for Yinreng years ago, her health had not been good in recent years.
Now, her body has finally reached the point of exhaustion, and the imperial physicians all shook their heads, saying there was nothing they could do.
Prince Li was so distressed that he couldn't sleep all night and stayed by his wife's bedside. Despite his high status as a prince, he personally took care of his seriously ill wife.
Unfortunately, Guarjia eventually succumbed to her illness and passed away.
After his wife left, Yinreng fell seriously ill and his health did not improve for a long time.
This terrified Emperor Kangxi, who was in charge of the family. He first ordered that Prince Li's wife be buried according to the standards for a crown princess, and then ordered the Imperial Medical Academy to provide Prince Li with proper treatment, fearing that his son might not survive...
Perhaps it was Yinreng's serious illness that reminded him of the long talk he had with Yinreng years ago.
After Yinreng finally recovered from his illness, it seemed that Kangxi had come to a realization after this incident.
In October of the fifty-fourth year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, when Yinzhen was thirty-seven years old, the emperor issued an edict to abdicate.
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