"I've been on the throne for three years, and things have only just begun to settle down a bit, yet those people can't stand to see me doing well, and they've instigated Hongshi to cause trouble for me like this." Yinzhen's brows were heavy; perhaps unwilling to hate his own son, he transferred that affection to his other brothers, "What a fine son the Eighth Prince raised..."
"The Third Prince was just temporarily blinded by greed. He probably had some affection for Hongwang and the other children from before. What does a child like him know?" Qian Shengyan could only offer this excuse to comfort Yinzhen.
Yinzhen sighed deeply, took Qian Shengyan's hand, and closed his eyes. He was by nature good at suppressing his emotions and rarely showed his joy or anger on his face. Today, he was so angry with Hongshi that he hit him a few times.
Now that he had calmed down, Yinzhen held Qian Shengyan's slender fingers, closed his eyes and thought for a moment, then suddenly called out to Su Peisheng: "Go and seal off Hongshi's courtyard, and search through everything in his room to see if there is anything that is not permitted in the palace."
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Su Peisheng replied in a low voice, but he turned back shortly after leaving. "Your Majesty, the Empress has arrived."
"What is she doing here?" Yinzhen was very annoyed. "Ignore her. Go search Hongshi's courtyard, and hurry up."
"Yes, sir!" Su Peisheng dared not disobey the order, and quickly walked out while bowing.
While Yinzhen could ignore it, Qian Shengyan couldn't simply leave the Empress unattended in Yongshou Palace. She smiled and fed Yinzhen a bite of rose petal pastry: "Should I go see the Empress?"
“It’s so late, if we don’t go, let—” Yinzhen’s eyes swept around the room, “Qingxue, go and invite the Empress back. We can talk about it tomorrow.”
"Yes." Qingxue curtsied and left. Qian Shengyan sighed helplessly, "Your Majesty..."
"Hmm?" Yinzhen continued to squeeze her palm with his eyes closed. Qian Shengyan felt a little ticklish and wanted to dodge, but Yinzhen held her even tighter. "Stay with me for a while."
Qian Shengyan didn't say anything in the end, and just stayed with Yinzhen until Su Peisheng returned.
Su Peisheng indeed brought back a lot of things, as well as the latest news about Hongshi: "The Third Prince seems to be ill. He has a high fever and is lying in bed unable to get up."
"Hmph." Yinzhen didn't even ask if the imperial physician had been summoned, but only asked Su Peisheng, "What did they find out?"
Su Peisheng: ...
He wiped the sweat from his brow, first giving Qian Shengyan a distress signal, then tremblingly calling out the two women: "In the Third Prince's study, there are two young eunuchs serving him, who are actually women..."
Qian Shengyan: ...
Yinzhen glared at him, and Su Peisheng immediately knelt down: "This servant asked, one is Run'er who came from Zhongcui Palace, and the other is, is Ziyu, the dowry maid of the Third Prince Consort."
"The Fujin's dowry maids?" Qian Shengyan exclaimed. "Wasn't it said that two maids and a nanny all died for their mistress?"
"This...this servant also inquired, and the maid said there were doubts about the cause of the Princess Consort's death, and she wanted to see His Majesty to explain..." Su Peisheng glanced at Yinzhen, and seeing that he didn't react, he knew this wasn't the time to talk about this. He hesitated for a moment, then continued, "Miss Ziyu also...also found a bottle of forbidden medicine in the Third Prince's clothes and gave it to this servant..."
"Where's the medicine?" Yinzhen asked coldly. Su Peisheng didn't dare to delay and quickly brought over the medicine bottle.
"Summon a royal physician." Yinzhen didn't answer, but only glanced at it before coldly ordering, then paused and added, "Summon Royal Physician Zhou."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Su Peisheng went out to deliver the decree, and upon returning, he spoke of the key points.
He really didn't want to repay these favors with his own words, but he had no choice; the Emperor had specifically assigned him to investigate, which was a sign of trust. He sighed inwardly and said, "Furthermore, several letters between the Third Prince and Prince Hongwang were also found in the Third Prince's study..."
"How many letters?" Yinzhen repeated.
“Four letters from Prince Hongwang, one letter from Prince Hongzheng, and several gifts have all been brought by this servant.” Su Peisheng was always thorough in his work. As he spoke, he waved for someone to bring over a tray. “There are also two replies from the Third Prince. They haven’t been sent yet due to time constraints, so this servant brought them back as well.”
After that, the room fell silent, with only the sound of Yinzhen turning the pages of paper remaining.
He read it quickly, but then read it again. Finally, after reading Hongshi's two letters, he couldn't help but sneer: "Such intimate brotherhood with others, truly..."
Before he could finish speaking, he shook his head. Looking at the gifts again, he didn't think they were particularly valuable. However, besides these, it was also evident from the letters that Hongwang and others would send Hongshi silver notes on a regular basis, which Hongshi accepted without question.
With tens of thousands of taels of real gold and silver, even ordinary friends would become like brothers. Moreover, Hongwang and Hongshi had a bond from their time together in the Eight Great Hutongs, so the two became even closer.
“He’s not even this friendly to his own brother, and he complains that my monthly allowance is too little… Fine, I’m not worthy to be his father.” Yinzhen said, his gaze falling on Hongshi’s last reply to Hongwang:
“Brother Hongwang, don’t worry. Your Eighth Uncle is the esteemed Eighth Prince, praised by all. Everyone knows of his wisdom and virtue. Furthermore, judging from his conduct, he is truly an invaluable pillar of the Qing Dynasty… Among all the imperial uncles, the most talented and decisive is undoubtedly your Eighth Uncle…”
"Yinsi is so good, does Hongshi only wish he were his son?" Yinzhen sneered repeatedly. It was originally said in anger, but the more he thought about it, the more he felt that it made sense. "Hmph, hahaha, Hongshi, I am indeed not worthy to be his father!"
"Your Majesty!" Qian Shengyan was startled by his somewhat deranged appearance and quickly knelt down. She wanted to say something, but Yinzhen shook his head and interrupted her: "Yanyan, there is no need to say more. I have already made a decision on this matter."
He paused for a moment, then added, "I will issue the decree again tomorrow when I return to the Hall of Mental Cultivation. It is not appropriate to do it here with you."
"Your Majesty..." Qian Shengyan bit her lip, realizing for the first time that the few lines in the history book were actually such a thrilling event.
"My mind is made up, there's no need to persuade me further." Yinzhen waved his hand, then looked at Su Peisheng, "What's going on with the Third Prince's wife?"
...After the sentencing hearing for Hongshi was over, most of the night had passed. During this time, someone from the Ulanara clan came again, saying that the Third Prince had a persistent high fever and was seriously ill, but Yinzhen ignored it. Perhaps Changchun Palace was also hesitant and did not dare to invite the imperial physician, so they just let Hongshi burn the fever until dawn.
After a night of calming down, Yinzhen's rage finally subsided somewhat. He went to court as usual, and after returning to the Hall of Mental Cultivation, he was still pondering how to write the imperial edict to deal with Hongshi when someone came to report that Wanxia from Chengqian Palace was requesting an audience.
Just as Yinzhen announced the evening glow, there was another sound outside. He had only asked one question when Jinzhong stumbled in, kneeling on the ground with tears streaming down his face, frantically kowtowing to Yinzhen: "Your Majesty, please save the Third Prince! Your Majesty, please save the Third Prince!"
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