Yinzhen smiled, took a sip of tea, and slowly said, "You should know that your father, the Emperor, has no interest in handling state affairs. He has been the Crown Prince since birth, and his journey has been fraught with peril. Reaching this point is already a perfect achievement. Even so, in his heart, he is still the one who enjoys traveling and sitting in the shade of trees, rather than burying himself in piles of memorials."
Hongxi listened silently to these words. He naturally understood what his fourth uncle meant, but...
"Fourth Uncle, Father Emperor used to have to be careful about his relationship with Grandfather Emperor, so his life wasn't very leisurely. Now that he's the Emperor, can't we just go along with whatever he wants?"
Yinzhen shook his head with a wry smile, but ultimately did not say anything more about it, and instead changed the subject.
"I heard on the way here that Hongjin got into trouble?"
Hongxi smiled wryly and recounted the story. Yinzhen laughed heartily after hearing it.
"You are even more ruthless than your father, the Emperor."
Hongxi scratched his head sheepishly, "If we don't teach him a lesson this time, who knows what trouble he might cause in the future."
"By the way," Hongxi took a sip of tea and suddenly asked, "I heard that Fourth Uncle threw Hongzhou into Fourteenth Uncle's military camp?"
Yinzhen nodded, then shook his head helplessly as he thought of his unruly son.
“That kid is too naughty and really hard to discipline, so I’ll just leave him to your fourteenth uncle to manage.”
Hongxi saw that Yinzhen's expression was no longer as furrowed as before when he mentioned his fourteenth uncle, and he was secretly happy.
Since the Fourteenth Uncle's wedding, the relationship between the Fourth Uncle and the Fourteenth Uncle has eased considerably. At least on the surface, they no longer appear to be at odds. It is said that the two wives have a good relationship in private, which must be due to the instructions of their respective masters.
“I think Hongli has grown a lot over the years. He is not only more open-minded, but also smiles more often. It seems that he is very happy to be with his Ninth Uncle.”
At the beginning of this year, Hongli was assigned to handle matters related to overseas trade with Yinzhen.
The main reason was that Hongli was quick-witted and full of clever ideas. In addition, the child was extremely intelligent and eager to learn. Whether it was learning foreign languages or mastering the affairs of other countries overseas, he could often amaze Yinzhen.
Last month, Yinzhen was even sent to Haven to inspect trade under the name of trade envoy. It is estimated that he will not be able to return for several years.
When this son was mentioned, Yinzhen's expression changed.
When he confessed to Yinreng earlier, he thought Yinreng would find a pretext to execute Hongli.
However, the result was that Yinreng merely raised Hongli through a form of power-based house arrest, and then, based on Hongli's ability to know many things after his second life, he assigned him to Yintang.
In this way, he could preserve his brotherly bond with Yinzhen without worrying that Hongli would use his foresight to do anything detrimental to the royal family.
Yinzhen admired Yinreng's magnanimity and intelligence.
It was for this reason that after returning to his residence, he had a long talk with Hongli that lasted all night, leaving it to Hongli to choose which path to take in the future.
A few days later, Hongli accidentally caught a cold.
After recovering from his illness, his eyes were no longer filled with scheming and plotting; instead, they were filled with the innocence and cuteness that a child of his age should have.
Yinzhen no longer wanted to investigate further, taking it all as Hongli's own choice.
On the contrary, Hongshi, who had always been a bit silly, became more reliable after getting vaccinated against smallpox and falling seriously ill.
He has become more composed in his actions and no longer speaks as thoughtlessly as before.
"Fourth Uncle, I want to arrange for Hongshi to work in the Ministry of Rites. It will be good for him to get some experience during the palace banquet at the end of the year."
Yinzhen smiled and nodded, "Then I will thank Hongxi on behalf of Hongshi."
Being able to organize a palace banquet so soon after entering officialdom is a great honor.
After some casual conversation, Hongxi personally escorted Yinzhen away from the palace, and then they turned to stand under a tree.
I originally wanted to check if the little guy was still crying, but I found that the heartless little rascal was actually giggling happily.
You could hear his laughter from a great distance, but I had no idea what was so funny.
When he got closer, he saw the little guy sitting on a tree eating a chicken leg, with a little eunuch under the tree asking him from time to time if he wanted some water.
Hongxi's face was full of black lines.
What's the meaning?
Is this a picnic?
Seeing that his master's expression was not right, Zhang Quan coughed lightly. The group of people under the tree immediately looked over, and when they saw Hongxi walking over with an unfriendly expression, they all lowered their heads.
Sitting in the tree, Hong Jin subconsciously tried to hide his chicken leg. Perhaps his movement was a bit too big, because he accidentally fell headfirst down.
Amid the exclamations of the palace maids and eunuchs, Hongxi strode over and caught the little boy in his arms.
"Hehe, brother is so amazing." Hong Jin seemed oblivious to the danger, hugging Hong Xi's neck and chuckling, which made Hong Xi so angry that he started spanking Hong Xi's bottom.
Hong Jin never expected that Hong Xi could hit him, and he cried out in panic. The eunuchs and maids around him all lowered their heads and dared not breathe.
Hongxi only stopped when he was tired of beating the child. He then carried the little boy, whose eyes were red from crying, back to Yuqing Palace and handed him over to Qingqing.
"Give this brat a good talking to." With that, he went to the front yard.
Qingqing shook her head helplessly.
The little brat has already been beaten up like this, how much more discipline do you need to give him?
So, the uncle and sister-in-law stared at each other, and finally Hongjin chuckled, and Qingqing breathed a sigh of relief.
When Yinreng went on his trip, he took half of the court officials with him.
During the New Year's Eve palace banquet, Hongxi rarely saw a desolate scene in the main hall.
Today's palace banquet was organized by Qingqing, and it was the first time she had ever organized such a grand banquet.
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