Chapter 156: Because of the Eighth Sister-in-law? Yinzhen left the house and didn't know for a while...
After Yinzhen left the house, he didn't know where to go for a while. He had just returned from Bage's house and couldn't go there again.
After thinking for a while, he turned and walked towards Yin'e's mansion.
"Master, the Ninth Prince is here."
Yin'e was visiting his pregnant concubine. He frowned slightly when he heard the servant's report and stood up, saying, "Master is leaving."
When they reached the front courtyard's flower hall, Yin'e had already sat down with his horse and sword in hand. Seeing that he looked uneasy, Yin'e dismissed the servants and walked over to sit down. "What's wrong?"
Yinzhen tilted his head to look at him: "Did your wife tell you?"
"What?" Yin'e was puzzled. He and Borjigit didn't get along well and rarely chatted. Their relationship was almost like living together. Although it was far from being an equal, there was no conflict either.
Yinzhen also knew about this situation.
"She hasn't told me anything recently." Yin'e said.
Yinzhen slapped his thigh in displeasure. "I think she didn't dare tell you! On Hongming's first birthday, your wife and the fourth sister-in-law teamed up to embarrass the eighth sister-in-law, mocking her for not being able to have children! Do you know how embarrassed the eighth sister-in-law was in public?"
Yin'e frowned. "Where did you hear this? It's too outrageous. My wife can't even speak Mandarin properly, and there's no way Fourth Sister-in-law is the kind of person you're talking about."
"That's what Eighth Sister-in-law said herself!" Yinzhen complained. "Could Eighth Sister-in-law lie? She's embarrassing herself like this!"
"That's hard to say." Yin'e said with a puzzled look.
Yin'er's expression changed: "Old Ten, what do you mean?"
Yin'e lowered his eyelids. "I didn't mean anything, I just thought it was impossible. Fifth sister-in-law was also present, and Fourth sister-in-law has a good relationship with her. If she really mocked me like this, wouldn't that also include Fifth sister-in-law?"
Yin'er's chest heaved up and down, but he didn't know how to refute.
There was silence in the room for a long time before Yinzhen began to speak: "Tenth Master, do you have any ideas?"
"What can I think?" Yin'e said noncommittally, "Everyone knows that I'm a complete idiot."
Yinzhen stared at him with a sharp gaze: "Don't fool me, we have been brothers for so many years, don't I know you? Ever since you left the palace, I asked you to go to Big Brother's house, but you always made excuses. It's good enough if you can go once out of three times. After the New Year this year, you simply don't want to pay attention to me. When I come to see you, you are either not there or you are busy."
"As for your business, go find Fourth Brother."
Yin'e remained silent, playing with the jade pendant around his waist.
Yinzhen lost his temper and pressed, "What are you thinking? Eldest brother is on the rise, and Eighth brother was also raised by Hui'e Niang, so he has natural advantages. Fourth brother, on the other hand, is obsessed with love and has only a sister-in-law to support. He has no ambition at all. What good will it bring to you to follow him?"
"I don't want any benefits." Yin'e looked up at him calmly, "Since I've married Borjigit, no matter what the future holds, my life won't be difficult. So why bother?"
"You can't think like that!" Yinzhen leaned forward and lowered his voice, like a good brother who was thinking about his younger brother. "With real power and without real power, life is completely different. Just look at Uncle Yu and Uncle Gong. Don't you understand? Without real power, you can't even protect your own children."
Yin'e remained unmoved: "You don't have to say anything, I have my own plans."
"What plans do you have!" Yin'er said anxiously, "Fourth Brother is the coldest and most heartless person. Have you ever seen him treat anyone well in these years? Even Fourteenth Brother, his own brother, he never treated him kindly. How much good can you expect from him if you get close to him? Eighth Brother is different. He is the most enthusiastic person. If there is anything you need, he will help you before you even ask him. He has been very good to us over the years. Isn't it better to follow Eighth Brother than Fourth Brother?"
Yin'e didn't waver at all: "I don't want to follow anyone."
"Why are you so stubborn?" Yinzhen stood up and walked around the room in circles, saying with a look of disappointment, "Now is not the time of the late emperor. There are few princes, and even if Uncle Gong is not favored, he is living a good life. We have quite a few brothers, and we are already ranked twenty! If we don't try to appear in front of the emperor more often, we will only be forgotten. Just look at Thirteenth. The emperor always takes him with him when he travels. Now his family is much more lively than ours. Are you willing to be suppressed by your younger brother like this? Even if you are willing, you have to think about it. If we continue to be forgotten like this, my children's future will be worse than Uncle Gong's descendants!"
"If not for yourself, you have to think about the children! How long can the little money we had to settle down when we left the palace last? When your niece gets married, how much dowry can you give her?" Yin'er was so earnest that he wanted to break down everything and tell it to Yin'e.
He was so anxious that he jumped up and down, but Yin'e remained indifferent.
When he was about to wear out his lips, Yin'e broke his defense with a word.
"What you said is all right, but why did you choose to follow Bage and support Big Brother instead of that person? Is it really because of Bage, or... because of Bage's wife?"
Yin'e was dumbfounded. His face first turned pale, then gradually flushed. "You...what nonsense are you talking about..." He gradually regained his confidence. "How can you say such things? I'll let it go, but how dare you slander my Eighth Sister-in-law! She's just a woman. How can she live if she spreads such words? Yin'e, when did you become so cruel?!"
Yin'e's face darkened. "You know what I'm talking about, so there's no need to quibble. It's just the two of us here. Considering the friendship we've had for so many years, as your younger brother, I'm going to advise you. There are some things you shouldn't even think about. You already have a wife and a child, so you should know what's more important. Don't sacrifice innocent people for some unwarranted wishful thinking."
"How dare you!" Yin'e flew into a rage. "I advised you out of kindness, but not only did you not appreciate it, you even accused me of something! Yin'e, Yin'e, you're so disappointing! When did you learn to use such dirty tricks against women?"
"Since you are so unkind, don't blame me for being unjust. We are brothers, and we are going to part ways today!"
Yinzhen turned away in anger.
Yin'e sat still and said coldly, "No need to see me off!"
Yinzhen paused for a moment imperceptibly, then strode away as if he hadn't noticed.
Yin'e sat there for a long time, his shoulders slumped, he sighed softly, and stood up and slowly walked out of the room. He looked up at the bright sunshine, and he was still the same bad-tempered, unlearned, and incompetent Tenth Master.
No one else knew about the breakup between the ninety-two people. When Yinsi asked about it, Yin'er just said with a smile, "He was busy having children with his wife."
Yinsi could understand that the Tenth Prince still had no legitimate son, but he was just worried: "Your Eighth Sister-in-law has been unable to eat these days and is very unhappy. I really don't know what to do."
After a moment of silence, Yin'er didn't offer Yinsi any advice or comfort Baya as he usually did. Instead, he said, "Eighth Sister-in-law is like this because of the child. In fact, if you ask me, the matter of the child is not that simple. Just let someone else give birth to one and put it in Eighth Sister-in-law's name."
"You don't understand, Baya won't agree." Yinsi shook his head, obviously disagreeing with the proposal.
Yinzhen suppressed his inexplicable irritability and said, "That won't work. Otherwise, Eighth Brother, you can adopt a daughter and let Eighth Sister-in-law raise her first. Don't people always say that flowers bloom before fruits, and sisters lead brothers to form a string."
"That's a good idea," Yinsi pondered. "He Zhuo has a young daughter, and Baya likes her very much. Why not take her?"
Yinsi immediately went to He Chao to discuss the matter.
Yinzhen looked at his back as he left in a hurry, feeling a little distraught for a moment, and returned home in a daze.
He was about to go to the main courtyard, but was stopped: "Forgive me, my lord, but Fu Jin said she has been feeling unwell these past few days. Please go somewhere else to rest."
After standing there for a while with a moody expression, Yinzhen turned away.
Humph! If you don’t want to see me, I don’t want to see you either!
Yinsi kept the adoption of a daughter very low-key and did not hold a banquet for the public. Qi Buchen only found out about it after hearing the hustle and bustle in the mansion through the wall and sending someone to inquire.
Even if you know it, pretend you don’t know. Saving a gift is saving a gift.
…
"This job is really impossible!"
After entering the study, he sent the servants away, leaving only Qi Buchen behind, and then Yinzhen threw the account book to vent his anger.
It was the first time that Qi Buchen saw him so openly angry. He was a little surprised: "What's wrong with the errand?"
Yinzhen lay down on the couch with his head raised in frustration. "The Emperor issued an edict today, forgiving the Eight Banner officers and soldiers of nearly four million taels of unpaid silver loans!"
Qi Buchen was stunned. You know, the tax silver calculated last year was only over 30 million taels. Now, almost one-tenth of it was given away? Master Kang was really generous!
After he was very generous, it was difficult for Yinzhen to collect the debt. Over the past year, Yinzhen had risked his reputation and had finally managed to eliminate the impact of Kangxi's original exemption of 700,000 taels of loan silver and get back hundreds of thousands of taels of debt. He was planning to make further efforts, but was suddenly hit hard.
How can we press them next? Huh? Those who didn't want to pay back in the first place, seeing such a great hope, shamelessly wait for Kangxi to forgive their debts again!
Whoever pays back first will suffer the loss!
No one can afford such a loss!
What can anyone say about this? Qi Buchen could only help to soothe his chest and tell him not to get too angry.
"Nothing has happened, why are you suddenly forgiving the debt?" Qi Buchen couldn't understand. If there had been a major disaster and everyone couldn't make ends meet, it would be understandable that you forgave the debt. But why did you do this for no reason?
Yinzhen took a deep breath for a long time before expelling the pent-up anger in his chest. He said with a gloomy expression, "The Emperor is showing me kindness."
"Ah?" Qi Buchen didn't understand the logical relationship.
Yinzhen did not explain. The emperor was old and wanted to depose the crown prince, but was afraid that no one would support him. He showed favor to show everyone that the country still belonged to him and only he could give them what they wanted. Don't think about the crown prince or the great prince. Supporting him is the right thing to do.
Of course, these are just Yinzhen’s own guesses. No one knows whether Kangxi really thought so.
But the desire to depose the crown prince has become a consensus that everyone is increasingly agreeing on.
The prince himself knew that since Soetu's death, the officials who supported him had been demoted or punished, and the number of talented people was dwindling. When facing the attacks from Yinzhen's party in the court, he became increasingly stretched and unable to cope.
The Spring Festival of the forty-fifth year was a bit dull. Concubine De was sick for some reason and stayed indoors, not even attending the annual banquet. On the contrary, Concubine Liang shook off her usual low-key demeanor and wore an ochre palace dress. Although she was not as fresh as the young concubines, she still had a charm.
Qi Buchen looked at her coldly. This outfit was probably not Liangpin's own idea, because she looked quite restrained and not generous enough.
Then look at Concubine Hui who keeps holding Concubine Liang, and guess what signal she is sending.
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