"No!" came the woman's heart-wrenching scream.
It turned out that Lady Guarjia sensed something was wrong and came to check, but she never expected to see her husband trying to commit suicide.
Using all her strength, Guarjia used the physical abilities she had developed from riding horses and shooting arrows at home in her youth to run towards Yinreng, trying to stop him.
Upon hearing his wife's voice, Yinreng's hand involuntarily paused for a moment, but his mind was made up, and he raised his hand without hesitation.
*Thud!* The muffled groan of a sword piercing flesh.
"Master, Madam, you..." Zhang De was completely dumbfounded. From the master's attempt to commit suicide to the Madam's outburst in saving people, what he experienced today was comparable to what he had experienced in the past forty years.
He was a little stunned, but quickly recovered and shouted, "Quickly summon the imperial physician!"
Having lost its master's grasp, the sword fell to the ground due to gravity.
"Fujin, you, how could you..." Yinreng released his sword, put one arm around Guarjia Shi, and pressed the other hand against her bleeding wound. He wanted to say something, but a thousand words could not be condensed into a complete sentence.
Stroking her husband's face, Guarjia forgot her status and only wanted to be an ordinary wife.
"My lord, please don't worry, I'm afraid I have to go. You must pull yourself together. Everyone in Yuqing Palace relies on you. You are the pillar of the palace, you cannot fall..."
He kept muttering to himself, but Yinreng didn't find it annoying at all. He listened quietly, occasionally chiming in, but he was anxiously wondering why the imperial physician hadn't arrived yet.
Finally, the imperial physician arrived. Zhang De hesitated, wanting the master to put his wife down and go inside so the physician could examine her.
Yinreng then realized something was wrong. She picked up Lady Guarjia and carried her inside to have the imperial physician examine her.
Because Guarjia was a woman, the imperial physicians could only take her pulse; the specific injuries had to be examined by a female physician.
The others temporarily withdrew from the doorway. At this moment, Zhang Decai remembered that his master's hand was also injured, so he quickly asked the imperial physician to take a look.
Chaos erupted at Yuqing Palace, with both the male and female masters suffering serious injuries, causing some panic among the palace maids and eunuchs.
...
"What? Yinreng is injured!" Upon hearing this news from Li Dequan, Kangxi was so agitated that he suddenly stood up, his chest aching terribly.
"Quickly, quickly, go and see! How could Yinreng be injured out of the blue?"
Although Emperor Kangxi has mixed feelings about this son, he is, after all, the child he raised from childhood and has devoted a lot of effort to. Upon hearing that his son is injured, Emperor Kangxi cannot help but worry about his son's condition.
In March of the 48th year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, the emperor planned to reinstate the crown prince, but the deposed crown prince attempted suicide in the Yuqing Palace, which did not succeed.
The deposed Crown Princess Guarjia bravely saved her husband, but was stabbed in the chest with a sword. Fortunately, the imperial physician arrived in time, and the deposed Crown Princess was unharmed.
However, the deposed crown prince was so badly injured when he used his hand to hold the sword that he stabbed himself in the palm, leaving his right hand crippled and unable to write normally ever since.
The deposed crown prince had an ailment in his right hand, which dashed Kangxi's hopes of reinstating him. Perhaps this son was no longer a threat, or perhaps his suicide rekindled Kangxi's long-dormant paternal love.
After this incident, Kangxi's attitude towards Yinreng returned to what it was before.
However, because this news was kept secret within Yuqing Palace, neither the concubines in the harem nor the princes and ministers outside the palace knew about it.
A few days later, Prince Zhi, Yinzhi, openly opposed the reinstatement of the crown prince in court and proposed the Eighth Prince, Yinsi, to Emperor Kangxi, arguing that "the diviner Zhang Mingde once predicted that Yinsi would be very noble." He also said that he would kill Yinreng in place of his father.
Yinzhen was wholeheartedly on behalf of his second brother. Upon hearing his eldest brother say such things, he quickly spoke up to stop him and pleaded with Emperor Kangxi to forgive his two brothers.
Emperor Kangxi was extremely disheartened and severely reprimanded Yinzhi. He also became very wary of Yinsi, but his opinion of the fourth prince changed considerably.
This son usually has the coldest face, but he is the kindest and purest in heart.
At this time, the Third Prince, Yinzhi, exposed in court that the First Prince had used witchcraft to harm Yinreng.
Emperor Kangxi was already in a bad mood, and he was very annoyed to hear Yinzhi ruthlessly expose his brother.
In April, Emperor Kangxi issued an edict to abolish the title of Prince Zhi of the First Rank of Prince Yinzhi and confine him to his residence, forbidding him from leaving.
Prince Cheng was demoted to Beizi and confined to his quarters for three months, also forbidden from leaving the palace.
He also issued another decree to bestow the title of Prince Li upon the deposed Crown Prince Yinreng, granting him a residence outside the palace. He was to move out of Yuqing Palace after the Imperial Household Department had completed the construction of the residence.
A fierce battle for the throne has temporarily come to a halt.
With his eldest, second, and third sons all withdrawing from the competition, Kangxi began to reconsider his choice.
In May, Emperor Kangxi issued another decree, bestowing titles upon his princes.
The fourth prince, Yinzhen, was granted the title of Prince Yong of the First Rank; the fifth prince, Yinqi, was granted the title of Prince Heng of the First Rank; the seventh prince, Yinyou, and the tenth prince, Yinxi, were granted the title of Prince of the Second Rank; and the ninth prince, Yintang, the twelfth prince, Yintao, and the fourteenth prince, Yinzhen, were granted the title of Prince Beizi.
As for the Eighth Prince, he was disliked by Emperor Kangxi because of Yinzhi's recommendation at the time, so he was not promoted this time.
The Emperor has been on the throne for forty-eight years, and this is the second time he has enfeoffed his sons. The last time he was enfeoffed was in the thirty-seventh year, and eleven years have passed since then.
At this particular juncture, Emperor Kangxi once again bestowed titles upon his princes, sparking much discussion both inside and outside the court. Everyone was secretly speculating about the emperor's intentions and trying to figure out which prince he favored most.
At this time, Yinzhen had not yet developed the ambition to seize the throne. After the Yuqing Palace was unsealed, he made a special trip to visit his second brother to find out what had happened.
Looking at his younger brother, who was already an adult and had a tall and straight figure, Yinreng was deeply moved. This younger brother had always followed him without any disloyalty and would speak frankly to advise him when he did something wrong, without any regard for others. He was a truly sincere person.
Unfortunately, I was blinded by desire and made many mistakes. There's no going back, and I can no longer be a qualified prince.
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