Does Yinzhen want to go? Of course not!
However, unable to resist Yinzhen's "enthusiastic invitation," Tulichen personally and respectfully helped Yinti onto the carriage.
Yinzhen was initially very angry, but when he saw that it was Qian Shengyan who got into the carriage, his expression changed, and he even said in a sarcastic tone, "Fourth Brother is really generous. It's quite nice to treat you like this."
Qingxue, who got into the carriage, couldn't help but roll her eyes. This Fourteenth Prince was really something. He could never win an argument with the Prince, and he always had to start trouble first.
After everyone was seated, Yinzhen was just about to provoke Qian Shengyan when the curtain was lifted and Yinzhen also boarded the carriage.
Yinzhen: ...
After getting into the carriage, Yinzhen sat directly next to Qian Shengyan. He first shook her hand to make sure she was neither too cold nor too hot, then frowned and looked at Yinti: "Why have you become so unreliable these days?"
"What's wrong with me!" Yinzhen protested.
Yinzhen had a headache: "Father didn't take you with him on this trip to Rehe. Even if there's no one in the capital to keep you in check, you shouldn't be so presumptuous..."
"What's wrong! What's wrong with me!" Yinzhen truly didn't understand. "You're getting more and more outrageous. What did I do to deserve such insolence?"
"You...you should reflect on your own actions!" Yinzhen said angrily.
Yinzhen was also unconvinced and glared at him like a fighting rooster.
Qian Shengyan: ...
It's so frustrating that these two brothers can't seem to connect after talking for so long!
She asked helplessly, "The one who was with the Fourteenth Prince just now was...?"
“It’s our Eighth Brother, don’t you know him? He has a great reputation among the people, and he’s a really good person. No wonder everyone calls him the Eighth Wise Prince!” Yinzhen’s little mouth opened and opened, saying all the things that Yinzhen didn’t want to hear.
Seeing that Yinzhen was about to retort again, Qian Shengyan quickly said, "Oh, I have heard of that... Your Highness, I don't understand these things, but why does this Eighth Prince seem a bit... stupid?"
"What did you say?" Yinzhen jumped up first, staring at Qian Shengyan with wide eyes in disbelief. "Ignorant woman, how dare you say that Eighth Brother is stupid? You!"
"What, can't I say it?" Qian Shengyan was genuinely puzzled. "If I know correctly, during the great conferment of titles in the 48th year of Kangxi's reign, there were only three Princes of the First Rank and two Princes of the Second Rank. The Eighth Prince is no longer even a Beile. Why can he call himself a king?"
"This..." Yinzhen was speechless, but still tried to defend himself, "This is not self-proclaimed, it's what others said..."
“If he was unwilling, why didn’t you stop him and let others address him like that?” Qian Shengyan tilted her head. “If he is truly virtuous and capable, why is he repeatedly reprimanded by the Emperor, and why is he demoted while others are promoted?”
Yinzhen was truly speechless.
Qian Shengyan sighed: "Everyone says that the Emperor's heart is unpredictable, but does the Fourteenth Prince not care about his genuine likes and dislikes?"
After she finished speaking, Yinzhen was not only speechless, but also broke out in a cold sweat.
He stared at Qian Shengyan, dumbfounded, before turning to Yinzhen as if he had come to his senses: "Fourth Brother, you're amazing! You've taught your little sister-in-law to be so intelligent, it's truly..."
Yinzhen's face was full of self-satisfaction, but he only smiled faintly and did not say anything.
Qian Shengyan knew that these words were probably meant to serve as a warning to Yinzhen. She smiled and said no more. The carload of people drove back to the Yongqin Prince's Mansion in silence.
Originally forced to come, but having already arrived, Yinzhen genuinely settled in. Because of his presence, Yinzhen could only briefly visit Qian Shengyan and the children each day before returning to the main courtyard. Thus, on the thirteenth of August, with the banquet to be held in the palace approaching, Yinzhen reluctantly returned, and then—took away the two beauties that Kangxi had bestowed upon Yinzhen.
Qian Shengyan was utterly stunned when she heard this.
This is... this is too bold! The younger brother can take away someone his older brother used without any hesitation.
Although she knew that people outside the Great Wall didn't care too much about these things, Qian Shengyan still found it hard to accept, so much so that after Yinzhen came, she revealed some of this information.
After understanding, Yinzhen was truly at a loss for words, both laughing and crying.
He helplessly pinched Qian Shengyan's chin: "You, you... those two were both innocent before the Fourteenth Prince, otherwise would the Fourteenth Prince have agreed? He's a very particular person..."
"A virgin?" Qian Shengyan was shocked. "Master...Master, you're not...you're not..."
"Heh, do you think I'm that kind of person?" Yinzhen sneered a few times, pinching Qian Shengyan's chin and shaking it. "But you, you're quite good at giving me surprises."
Qian Shengyan: ?
Seeing her blank expression, as if she had completely forgotten what happened in the carriage a few days ago, Yinzhen helplessly reminded her: "How do you know how many princes there are in the court, and how do you know that Eighth Brother was reprimanded?"
"...My lord, I've lived with you for several years now, how could I not know these common sense things?" Qian Shengyan changed the subject. "As for the Eighth Prince, I mainly see that you dislike him very much. I suppose someone you dislike can't be a good person, and the Emperor naturally won't like him either."
After saying that, she muttered to herself, "They've already bypassed the Eighth Prince and given titles to the Ninth and Tenth Princes. It's impossible that the Emperor really likes the Eighth Prince that much."
Upon hearing this, Yinzhen nodded, but after laughing, he felt a pang of regret: "Fourteenth Brother has grown up in vain, yet he is not as insightful as my daughter Yanyan."
Qian Shengyan: ...
Why do I suddenly feel a little bit disgusted by this name...?
However, it was clear that Yinzhen liked that Qian Shengyan could talk to him about the affairs of the previous dynasty. After that day, Yinzhen would occasionally talk to Qian Shengyan about some matters of the court. After returning from the palace banquet on the fifteenth of August, Yinzhen was in a great mood and opened the storeroom to reward everyone in the mansion.
Because Emperor Kangxi wanted his family to be reunited, there was no distinction between men and women at this banquet. Only the princes and their wives were invited to the palace to dine together. After distributing the rewards, Yinzhen could hardly wait to come to Dongyou Courtyard. He couldn't help but tell Qian Shengyan about the banquet with a smile on his face.
It was just that the Eighth Prince Yinzhi was given the cold shoulder by the Fourteenth Prince Yinti, which left Yinzhi somewhat bewildered. Yet, Yinzhen spoke of it with great enthusiasm, even using nearly three hundred words to describe Yinzhi's embarrassment at the time.
Qian Shengyan was speechless, but she also felt that given Yinzhen's temperament—loving someone to the point of wanting them to live and hating them to the point of wanting them to die—it was perfectly normal that he hadn't done anything good during his thirteen years on the throne.
"It's a good thing you woke him up that day, otherwise, if he had been allowed to mingle with the Eighth Prince, he would have ended up in trouble sooner or later," Yinzhen sighed in the end.
Qian Shengyan's heart stirred, and she suddenly remembered a major event that had happened that year.
She sidled up to Yinzhen's side and asked cautiously, "Your Majesty, isn't His Majesty going hunting in Rehe in November? Will you be going too?"
She had originally intended to try and persuade Yinzhen to stay away from that troublesome place, no matter what, but unexpectedly, Yinzhen shook his head first.
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