"Master, Eighth Master has arrived."
The eldest prince said, "Let him in." His words revealed a sense of laxity.
The Eighth Prince entered shortly afterward: "Greetings, Elder Brother."
The eldest prince said coldly, "No need to be so polite, sit down and let's talk!"
The Eighth Prince smiled and said, "Thank you, elder brother."
He was very respectful, and the First Prince was very satisfied with his respectful attitude. Although some people below thought he had ulterior motives, the First Prince did not believe it. The Eighth Prince was someone he had watched grow up, and he had a mother who was from the Xin Zhe Ku (a place for women in the Imperial Household Department), so his status was one level lower.
It can be said that the First Prince looked down on the Eighth Prince to some extent. Because he looked down on him, he was not wary of him. In the First Prince's eyes, the Eighth Prince was just someone who ran errands for him, and was only slightly better than an ordinary servant.
The Eighth Prince was very perceptive; how could he not see the First Prince's attitude? Did he care?
He cares.
But he couldn't show anything, and even had to continue to flatter him, because the higher he was held up, the more painful the fall would be.
First Prince: "Why did you come here?"
During the Lunar New Year, one should be quite busy.
The Eighth Prince explained why he had come: "Eldest brother, Father Emperor has been secretly searching for renowned doctors to treat my second brother, the Crown Prince. I have already received news that Father Emperor has found a doctor who can treat the Crown Prince."
The eldest prince was astonished upon hearing this: "Are you serious?"
The Eighth Prince said, "I only discovered it by accident, but I think it's very likely to be true."
Upon hearing this, the eldest prince fell silent. There were many people who did not want the crown prince to recover, and the eldest prince was definitely the most among them. How his feud with the crown prince started was impossible to trace back, but now, the two of them were in a life-or-death relationship. The struggle for the throne had reached a point where it was no longer something that could be given up so easily.
The eldest prince saw how much Emperor Kangxi doted on the crown prince. Even though the crown prince was now sickly, Emperor Kangxi did not mention deposing him. The crown prince had done so many disgraceful things before, yet Emperor Kangxi treated him leniently.
If the crown prince recovers, no one knows how the situation will turn out.
The eldest prince dared not take any risks; he had to nip any potential good in the bud for the crown prince.
The eldest prince remained silent for a long time before finally speaking: "Tell me the specifics of what happened."
Then the Eighth Prince got angry and started talking about his "discovery". The Eighth Prince's words were reasonable and well-founded, and the First Prince believed him to some extent, if not entirely.
After the Eighth Prince left, the First Prince summoned his trusted confidants to investigate the truth of the matter. Although he did not believe that the Eighth Prince would dare to lie to him, such matters could not be taken lightly.
At this moment, in the study of Prince Yong's residence.
"My lord, the Eighth Prince has bribed one of the First Prince's confidants. The First Prince is planning to have that confidant investigate the authenticity of the claim that the Crown Prince can be cured."
"Understood. Continue to observe and do not act rashly."
"yes."
Yinzhen waved his hand, and the man left silently.
Yinzhen did not think that the Eighth Prince would lose his composure. The Eighth Prince had done a good job in his duties in the past two years, but not as well as Yinzhen. Although he had secretly won people's hearts, as long as the First Prince's faction was still around, the Eighth Prince could not openly show his loyalty. In the court, he was still the First Prince's man.
He needs an opportunity to become independent.
The Eighth Prince knew that the Crown Prince was favored. If the First Prince did something irreversible to the Crown Prince and Kangxi found out, the Crown Prince would completely lose the chance to inherit the throne, and the First Prince would inevitably be disliked as well.
"Has the matter been investigated thoroughly?"
"Your Majesty, we have investigated and confirmed that what the Eighth Prince said is indeed true. His Majesty has indeed found a divine physician for the Crown Prince, who is said to be able to bring the dead back to life."
Upon hearing this, the eldest prince thought to himself, "A resurrection? That might not be true, but the medical book must be quite good. I absolutely cannot let the crown prince regain power."
Now that he has finally achieved this situation, everyone who goes out now will flatter him as "Your Majesty," allowing the Crown Prince to rise again, or he will fall.
However, the divine physician is said to be under strict surveillance, and it would be very difficult to take his life. Drugging the divine physician would certainly not work, and even if the eldest prince took direct action, he could not guarantee that he would not reveal any flaws.
After much deliberation, the eldest prince decided it would be better to start with the crown prince.
As long as the whole world knows that the crown prince is unworthy of his position, then what does it matter if the crown prince is good? Who will accept a crown prince who is not virtuous?
The things the Crown Prince did in private could be considered morally questionable, but Kangxi couldn't see them. Moreover, those things had already happened, and he had no evidence. So, if he wanted the Crown Prince to be morally questionable, he could only make the Crown Prince look bad in public.
Moreover, this "ugliness" must be so devastating that it would bring the crown prince to ruin.
The eldest prince consulted with his trusted confidants and came up with a plan to deal with the crown prince.
In the blink of an eye, about two months have passed since the New Year. This year, Emperor Kangxi suddenly had a whimsical idea to take the royal family to spring plowing on the day of the Dragon Raising its Head on the second day of the second lunar month.
The second day of the second lunar month is called the Dragon Raises Its Head. That day is also called the Spring Ploughing Festival or the Agricultural Festival. Just by looking at the name of the festival, you can tell that it is closely related to farming.
Emperor Kangxi wanted to experience the joys of farming, and his court officials and members of the imperial family naturally had to cooperate.
The eldest prince felt that his opportunity had come. On the second day of the second lunar month, all the court officials and members of the imperial family would be present. If the crown prince were to be involved in a scandal, he would surely be disqualified from the throne.
With that in mind, the eldest prince began making arrangements.
The eldest prince was a man of both roughness and meticulousness, but his rivals were even more careful. So, the eldest prince's seemingly thoughtful arrangements were actually full of loopholes. The fact that they were able to be implemented smoothly without Emperor Kangxi noticing anything was actually thanks to the "help" of his younger brothers, including the eighth prince.
Those who covet the throne all want to deal with the Crown Prince, but no one wants to be the first to take the lead. It's good that the First Prince is willing to step forward.
Yinzhen was aware of this as well. Although he did nothing, he also had no intention of protecting the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince harbored a lot of malice towards him, and he did not possess the virtue of repaying evil with kindness.
Therefore, the eldest prince's plan for the crown prince proceeded very smoothly.
On the second day of the second lunar month, those who need to participate start getting up before dawn.
Tong Cheng'er usually had nothing to do, and there weren't any troublesome people in the manor. She would usually sleep until the sun was high in the sky and wake up naturally. Getting up so early suddenly left her feeling dazed.
I felt a little more awake after washing up.
The family of three ate breakfast together and then took a carriage to the city gate tower.
We first gathered at the city gate, waited for Kangxi to arrive, and then went to the imperial estate together.
When Yinzhen and his entourage arrived, quite a few people had already come. Almost all the court officials and members of the imperial family were there. Yinzhen noticed that only a few of his brothers had not yet arrived.
After he arrived, everyone else arrived one after another. After waiting for about 15 minutes, Kangxi arrived with the Crown Prince and several high-ranking concubines from the harem.
Only after Emperor Kangxi arrived did they officially set off.
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