Hongzhou always did things as he pleased, and Hongli was worried that he would act recklessly, so he asked him what his plans were.
Hongzhou stepped forward and whispered a few words. Hongli frowned immediately, "Isn't this a bit inappropriate?"
Hongzhou said confidently, "As long as Your Majesty is willing to cooperate, leave the rest to me. It will definitely be done! Your Majesty, you must trust me!"
There was no other way at the moment. After hesitating for a moment, Hongli finally nodded and decided to let the fifth prince give it a try.
The two brothers proceeded according to plan. Two days later, Hongzhou went to Cining Palace to pay his respects to the Empress Dowager.
Just then, the Empress Dowager was about to drink her medicine. Hongzhou immediately took the bowl from the nanny and personally fed her, asking, "Your Majesty, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
The Empress Dowager sighed, "It's all because of your brother, the Emperor. These past two days, my head has been throbbing, I'm so agitated, and I can't sleep well."
Hongzhou kindly advised, "Anger harms the liver, so you must take care of your health. Now you are the Empress Dowager, and all the good things in the world are waiting for you to enjoy!"
As he spoke, Hongzhou took out an item and said it was to be presented to the Empress Dowager.
The Empress Dowager looked at it with curiosity, "What is this? A telescope?"
But the telescope has two mirrors! What is this monocular thing?
Hongzhou instructed the Empress Dowager to look into the mirror with her left eye, then close her right eye and carefully observe the image in the mirror.
The Empress Dowager was astonished to find that the mirror was colorful and the patterns were very beautiful. Then Hongzhou taught her to turn it gently. As soon as she turned it, she was surprised to find that the patterns and colors changed, and each turn revealed a different shape.
The Empress Dowager was pleasantly surprised and praised, "This is truly a wonderful thing. What's so special about it? I've never seen anything like it before."
In fact, Hongzhou had never seen it either. It was his wife who had made it. However, his wife had told him not to tell anyone, so he didn't say anything. He only said that he got it from a merchant and that it was called "Kaleidoscope".
Holding the kaleidoscope, the Empress Dowager couldn't help but sigh repeatedly, "You are more thoughtful than Hongli. He only knows how to upset me, but you know how to make me happy. You are such a good child."
"Your Majesty is busy with countless affairs of state, while I am free and enjoy seeking out new and interesting things. Since he is too busy to accompany you, I will keep you company."
The Empress Dowager did not believe such an excuse. "How could he be busy? Whenever he has free time, he goes to Jingren Palace and does not want to talk to me at all."
Hongzhou feigned difficulty and said, "There are some things I'm unsure whether I should say or not..."
Guessing a certain possibility, the Empress Dowager's expression suddenly changed. "If you've come to speak well of the Emperor and act as an intermediary, then forget it! I don't want to hear any of that."
"How could that be!" Hongzhou immediately denied. "I dare not interfere in my brother's family affairs. What I really want to say is that my brother has been seriously ill recently. He has had a fever for several days, which has been recurring and has not subsided. The imperial physician told him to rest, but he still wants to read memorials while lying in his tent. No matter how we try to persuade him, he will not listen."
Is it that serious? Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager immediately became anxious. "The Emperor is ill, how come no one informed me of this?"
"The imperial physician said that His Majesty is overthinking. His Majesty was afraid that you would worry, so he told no one to say anything, and even instructed me not to say anything. But I'm the kind of person who can't keep things to myself, so I couldn't help but tell you. Your Majesty, please don't betray me. Please don't say that I told you, otherwise my brother will definitely scold me."
Hongzhou was adept at acting, and his performance was so convincing that the Empress Dowager believed him and did not suspect anything. However, she became increasingly anxious, thinking, "I am his closest relative! He is ill but he has kept it from me. Does he treat me like an outsider?"
Seeing that the Empress Dowager had taken it seriously, Hongzhou sighed and continued:
"My brother has always been very independent. He is used to bearing everything on his own and is unwilling to tell others about his troubles. In fact, he is in a very difficult situation right now. Zhang Tingyu is the number one Han official, and his disciples are all over the court. My brother has to rely on him, but he doesn't really trust him."
The Emperor's favoritism towards the Su brothers and his elevation of the Su family's status were not simply a matter of doting on Consort Chun; this was merely a facade. His true aim was to cultivate young Han officials to counterbalance Zhang Tingyu and gradually reclaim power from the Zhang family.
So that's what Hongli was planning? The Empress Dowager suddenly realized that she had been short-sighted. "So, it turns out that I've misunderstood the Emperor?"
“That’s right!” Hongzhou sighed with a smile. “Father has carefully nurtured my elder brother for so many years. My elder brother has the country on his mind. How could he really do something foolish because of a beautiful woman?”
The Empress Dowager was skeptical, feeling that something was amiss. "He should have explained it to me beforehand."
Knowing that the Empress Dowager would become suspicious, Hongzhou took the opportunity to explain: "If you had made it clear beforehand, you wouldn't have argued with him. If you had readily agreed, that old fox Zhang Tingyu would have become suspicious. That's why Your Majesty didn't say it outright, but went with the flow and put on a show for Zhang Tingyu. However, Your Majesty didn't expect that your delay in responding would ruin his plan."
After hearing the Fifth Prince recount the truth, the Empress Dowager's cold and hard heart gradually softened. "I understand. I will consider this carefully."
Whether to agree or not, the Empress Dowager did not make it clear, but Hongzhou felt that there should be a plan.
As soon as Hongzhou took his leave, the Empress Dowager couldn't sit still any longer and simply set off for the Hall of Mental Cultivation to visit the Emperor.
At that moment, Hongli was leaning against the curtain reading memorials when the Empress Dowager suddenly entered. He immediately put down the memorials he was holding, stuffed them under his pillow, and feigned surprise, saying:
"Your Majesty? Why are you here? Why didn't anyone inform you?"
"It was I who forbade them to report this. If I had informed them beforehand, you would have immediately lay down and pretended to be resting."
Hongli coughed lightly, thinking to himself: "Your Majesty, you've guessed wrong. I was actually resting, just pretending to read the memorials."
Before Hongli could respond, the Empress Dowager scolded him, "Since you are ill, you should follow the doctor's advice and rest properly. No matter how much medicine you drink, you will not recover from the mental and physical strain of reading memorials."
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