Chapter 201: Marrying me is unfair? Since the beginning of October, Kangxi...
Ever since Kangxi brought the Empress Dowager back from the frontier in early October, the Empress Dowager had been in low spirits and had even cancelled the simplest birthday celebrations.
I thought he was just tired from the journey and would be fine after some rest, but in November, he fell ill directly, and his condition became worse day by day. By mid-December, the Imperial Hospital hinted that the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Household Department had begun preparing for his funeral.
Kangxi's condition was not good either. He was exhausted from court affairs and sad for the Empress Dowager. Not long after, he fell ill. His legs and feet were so swollen that he could hardly walk. However, he became more and more stubborn as he grew older. He refused to rest and recuperate. Even if he had to be carried by others, he would not miss the court meetings and visits to the Empress Dowager every day.
Even beyond this, he brought up the issue of establishing a crown prince again, as if he was afraid that the court was not busy enough and he was not tired enough.
Fortunately, after so many years of training, the court officials and princes have become much more resilient regarding the issue of appointing a crown prince. In addition, given the Queen Mother's current condition, anyone who is not stupid knows that jumping out to argue at this time will not have a good result, so everyone unanimously laughed off the issue and wanted to send the Queen Mother away first.
Before the throne was sealed, the Empress Dowager passed away suddenly surrounded by her filial sons and grandsons. Kangxi was deeply saddened and cut off his clothes to express his grief. He also ordered to suspend the annual banquet.
The New Year's Eve of the 56th year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign was exceptionally quiet. The fireworks that filled the sky in previous years were nowhere to be seen, and the sounds of stringed instruments, singing and dancing had disappeared. In the main courtyard of Prince Yong's Mansion, the family huddled in the warm room, eating snacks and chatting. After midnight, Qi Buchen and Yinzhen gave each of the children a red envelope before sending them off to bed.
"I can sleep in tomorrow morning." Qi Buchen said with emotion as he lay in the warm quilt, "That's great."
Yinzhen lay in another bed and said speechlessly, "Who doesn't let you sleep in on weekdays?"
Qi Buchen turned sideways: "How can it be the same? How can it be called the New Year if you don't sleep in?" In her previous life, what she looked forward to most during the New Year was not the food, drinks and red envelopes, but being able to sleep until she woke up naturally without being scolded. Since she came here, the New Year has been the most tiring time for her. Not to mention sleeping until noon, it's not even as good as on weekdays. She has to get up at four or five in the morning every day to pack up and prepare to enter the palace. This year she doesn't have to do that.
Yinzhen also turned sideways to face her: "Then it seems that marrying me is really unfair to you. You haven't had a good year in all these years."
Qi Buchen smiled awkwardly and said, "Hehe, that's not the case."
Yinzhen suddenly reached out and touched her face: "Thank you for your hard work."
Qi Buchen was confused: "...Ah?"
Yinzhen laughed and pinched the tip of her nose: "Nothing."
Qi Buchen scratched her itchy nose and muttered, "This is baffling." But she quickly shifted her focus. "Tell me, once the seal is issued, how big a stir will this crown prince issue cause?"
Although she knew that Kangxi could live for at least another five years, others did not know. In the eyes of most people, Kangxi was already very old. If compared with other emperors, he was even very long-lived. At this age, it was normal for people to die, not to mention that Kangxi had been ill for more than two months.
What if she doesn't recover from this illness like the empress dowager did? Now that the Crown Prince has not been established, the situation will be very chaotic.
Therefore, it is better to decide on the reserve position as early as possible.
Yinzhen didn't respond to her words. He turned over and lay down, closed his eyes and said, "It has nothing to do with us. We will return to Yuanmingyuan after the fifth day. Go to sleep."
"Tsk." Qi Buchen curled his lips and reluctantly got into a sleeping position.
Fifty-seven years passed extremely quickly, and before he knew it, it was the day for the imperial court to issue official seals. Qi Buchen also returned to the Old Summer Palace with his luggage to plan the next round of trade with the East for the fleet that would return this year.
I happened to go to Yinzhen's study to look for information that day and found that he looked solemn.
"What's wrong?" Qi Buchen asked curiously.
Yinzhen sighed, "Just got the news. Zhu Tianbao and his entire family were executed, and the rest were imprisoned or exiled."
Although he knew the situation wouldn't be good, he didn't expect it to change so quickly. In less than half a month, Qi Buchen's expression became serious: "After the autumn?"
"Stand and chop."
Qi Buchen took a deep breath, there was no room for maneuver.
In the dim room, Hongxi sat alone, like a clay doll or wooden figurine, without a trace of life. There was no hope for his father. He realized this more clearly than anyone else, and at the same time, he felt how naive and ridiculous his thoughts in the past few years were.
Over the years, although Ama was imprisoned, he was always kept by Huang Mafa. Huang Mafa's attitude towards him did not change at all. He even praised his ability to others. This made him involuntarily have expectations in his heart. Perhaps, although Huang Mafa was disappointed with Ama, he was still quite optimistic about him?
Therefore, when the Queen brought up the issue of appointing a crown prince again at the end of last year, he could not help himself and secretly contacted his old subordinates who still supported Ama. He did not really expect to promote Ama in one go, but just wanted to test the Queen's attitude first and then try to make an effect later.
Zhu Tianbao was just a reviewer in the Hanlin Academy. He held a low position and his words carried little weight. He was also a clean official in the imperial examinations. On the one hand, his petition for restoration would not attract much attention. On the other hand, it would also be legitimate. After all, Confucianism has always supported the system of primogeniture.
Who would have known that after such a small test, the Emperor's reaction would be so drastic. Not only did he execute the entire Zhu family, but he also uprooted the few remaining members of the prince's old party.
Father had no hope, so how could I, as his son, still have hope? Hongxi was not a daydreamer.
After sitting there for an unknown amount of time, Hongxi finally moved his body and said in a hoarse voice, "Someone come here."
In Prince Yong's Mansion, Yang Heguang and Honghui were sitting and standing respectively.
"...It's confirmed that Song Bo is the person Wu Cunli has arranged to manage in the capital. Besides that private residence, he also has several other businesses in the city, including taverns and theaters. They vary in quality and cater to different types of people." Yang Heguang detailed them one by one. "...From the royal family to the eunuchs, he's got them all on his side, perhaps as many as a hundred people."
Honghui looked at the information Yang Heguang presented, his brows furrowed tightly. "...I remember the Emperor Mafa once praised Lord Wu as a 'good official'?"
Yang Heguang lowered his head and closed his eyes: "Yes, it was during the performance evaluation of the Ministry of Personnel last year."
Honghui didn't dare to say that his imperial law was bad, but he couldn't help but criticize in his heart, what a "good official"! Judging from the account book alone, this Lord Wu has spent no less than 100,000 silver dollars in the capital in the past few years.
——Among his uncles, perhaps only Uncle Nine has a family fortune of one hundred thousand?
My family doesn't count. My family is mainly supported by my mother who is capable. The whole family depends on her dowry.
"What is the connection between our family and this Lord Wu?" Honghui asked.
Yang Heguang actually asked Lin Changqing, "We haven't had much contact in recent years, but when you were young, the prince accompanied the emperor on his southern tour and had some interactions with Lord Wu. There are several master chefs at the mountain house, and the prince brought them back with him by borrowing the path of Lord Wu. However, when the earthquake occurred on the way to the southern tour, the prince spoke on behalf of Lord Wu, and the matter was settled long ago."
Honghui nodded slightly: "Didn't they find anyone from our house?" He just saw that there were people around his third uncle, eighth uncle, ninth uncle, and fourteenth uncle who were good friends with Song Bo.
Yang Heguang said: "Yes, but they were all handled by Eunuch Su and Eunuch Lin." After many times, they realized that Prince Yong's Mansion was difficult to deal with, so they no longer wasted their time.
Honghui nodded with satisfaction. At the same time, he was a little envious of the capable people around his father. And his mother also had many capable people under her. So he couldn't help but remind her: "When you have nothing to do, ask Su Peisheng and Lin Changqing for advice."
Of course Yang Heguang agreed.
Honghui asked again: "Where is Fashan?" At the moment, it seems unlikely that Fashan has any connection with Wu Cunli.
Yang Heguang hesitated for a moment before speaking, "I did send someone to follow Fashan, but besides coming to stop you, he was living a life of drunkenness in brothels. Not long after, he was put in a sack and beaten. He fell seriously ill and has been bedridden ever since. We haven't found any useful information."
Honghui frowned slightly: "He didn't come into contact with anyone?"
Yang Heguang frowned. "We met quite a few people, but most of them were in brothels. They were from all walks of life. Our people... our people are not familiar with those places. Some of them were lost, and some of them were found but didn't find anything."
Of course, Yang Heguang uses Honghui's confidants to do things, but firstly, Honghui is only a prince now and does not have many people at his disposal. Secondly, due to the prevailing atmosphere, Qi Buchen has higher requirements for the people around his son, for fear that he will be led astray. People are screened again and again and are often punished. Therefore, the people around Honghui are very tight-lipped. They dare not go to certain places at all, and it is inevitable that they are unfamiliar with each other.
"..." Honghui couldn't blame him and could only ask, "Where is the person who beat him?"
"A group of hooligans beat someone up and ran off. The Wucheng Army caught two of them. They said someone paid them to go, but they didn't know who the employer was, nor did they know the reason. They just said that Fashan had offended someone."
Honghui pinched his brows. It didn't mean that just because you were rich and powerful you could find out everything, especially in the north of the city where all kinds of people gathered. Even the Five Cities Military Department couldn't tell how many people there were.
"Keep watching."
Honghui's original intention was just to catch some rabbits while mowing the field and let his men practice their skills, but he didn't expect that it would give him an unexpected surprise.
Well, I can’t say happy either.
"Hongxi, Fourteenth, Longkodo?" Yinzhen's brows have been furrowed since Honghui mentioned these three names.
Honghui replied, "Yes, my son originally just had someone keep an eye on those houses, but who knew that last night he saw these people coming out of the same house one after another. Cousin Hongxi and Longkodo came out almost at the same time, but through different ceremonial gates. Fourteenth Uncle came out two quarters of an hour after them, and went through the same gate as Cousin Hongxi."
After a long moment of contemplation, Yinzhen said, "I understand. You don't need to worry about this anymore. Withdraw your men and make sure they don't leak the information."
Honghui replied, "Yes." Then he asked curiously, "Did cousin Hongxi ask Longkodo to intercede for the Zhu family?"
Yinzhen said expressionlessly: "Zhu Tianbao's head has fallen to the ground, what else can we say about love? Okay, go back."
Realizing that his father didn't want him to ask too much about this matter, Honghui shut up and left.
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