Chapter 108 The Joys of the Countryside When Thirteenth Master arrived at the estate, he saw him four...
When Thirteenth Master arrived at the estate, he saw his Fourth Brother wearing a large straw hat, bent over and busy in the fields. Ever since the matter of recovering the debts was roughly put on hold last year, Fourth Master had moved his whole family to the estate. They returned to the capital during the New Year holidays, but once the Lantern Festival was over, the family left again.
Thirteenth Master lifted his robe and stepped down from the ground, calling out loudly, "Fourth Brother!"
Fourth Master straightened up, put the hoe aside, and walked towards Thirteen, brushing the dirt off his clothes as he went. The two of them came out of the field one after the other and sat down in the shed that had been set up nearby.
Thirteenth Master laughed and said, "Fourth Brother, you really look like an old farmer from the countryside."
Fourth Master chuckled, then looked up at the boundless fields and sighed, "Sow a single grain in spring, reap ten thousand in autumn. Tilling the fields is a leisurely and contented life, far better than singing and dancing."
Thirteen lowered his eyes, thinking that he didn't believe Fourth Master really wanted to be stuck in the fields; he was just making it clear that he was unhappy and trying to show off to the Emperor. He said softly, "Fourth Brother is enjoying a peaceful life in the countryside; I'm so envious of him." He then sighed, "Fourth Brother doesn't know how difficult my job is since he's not in the capital."
Fourth Master looked at him with a half-smile and said, "Thirteenth Brother, you wouldn't come here without a reason."
The Thirteenth Prince tacitly agreed, comforting him, "It's not just me who's thinking about Fourth Brother; the Emperor is also concerned about you." Didn't you see that after the New Year, Consort De appointed two princesses to serve in the palace? The Emperor must have been involved; it's clear he's intentionally trying to appease you. However, unexpectedly, the Fourth Prince didn't take the Emperor's advice, taking leave as needed and going to his estate as required. Thinking about this, the Thirteenth Prince admired the Fourth Prince greatly: truly worthy of being a prince, he really has that kind of confidence.
The Fourth Prince knew what the Thirteenth Prince was up to from the moment he arrived. He had originally intended to wait and see, but he couldn't help himself and asked, "What's wrong? Has something happened at the Ministry of Revenue again?"
The Thirteenth Prince nodded hastily, "It seems like we're repeating the same mistakes." Although his influence in the Ministry of Revenue had expanded after the matter of recovering the arrears, the Eighth Prince had taken back the reins of power as soon as he returned. Indeed, the Eighth Prince was his elder brother, and his title was that of a Prince of the Second Rank, so his words carried more weight than those of a mere Prince of the Third Rank. The Thirteenth Prince had no choice but to inform the Crown Prince, who then sent him to ask the Fourth Prince to intervene.
Fourth Master picked up a glass of water and sipped it slowly, asking him unhurriedly, "Is this your idea that led you to come here?"
Thirteenth Prince laughed and quickly brought up the title of Crown Prince, "Firstly, I had no other choice but to borrow the title of Fourth Brother, a prince. Secondly, it was also the Crown Prince's idea to have me visit you three times to invite you to come out of seclusion."
The Crown Prince clearly wanted to tighten the loopholes for officials to borrow money, preventing just anyone from borrowing from the Ministry of Revenue under any pretext. However, only he and the Fourth Prince had ever managed affairs within the Ministry of Revenue, and he alone didn't have enough influence. That's why the Crown Prince asked him to invite the Fourth Prince, hoping the two brothers could work together to plug this gap.
The Thirteenth Prince recalled his conversation with the Crown Prince that day. The Crown Prince, upon hearing his report, remained composed for a long time before saying, "Your fourth brother has suffered injustice, but he still cares about the court. When you see him at the estate and tell him what you said, he'll probably lose his composure." He then chuckled and added, "A bowstring needs to be stretched a little to release its full force, but if stretched too long, it will break. Tell your fourth brother, too much of a good thing is bad."
The logic behind this was so simple that the Thirteenth Prince readily nodded in agreement. In truth, he shared the same thought. Who was sitting there? It was the Emperor, his father. It was one thing to harbor thoughts of disrespect towards the Emperor for a moment, but if it went on for too long, the Emperor might think he was ungrateful.
Upon hearing the Crown Prince's name, the Fourth Prince immediately became serious, and after a moment, he slowly let out a sigh of relief: "Alright, I understand."
That's it? The Thirteenth Prince was getting anxious because he hadn't received a definite answer. "Fourth Brother..." He wanted to say a few more words of advice, but Su Peisheng came over and said, "Your Highness, the Fourteenth Prince has arrived, and he has brought the prince from Yuqing Palace with him!"
Upon hearing this, the Thirteenth Prince's eyes lit up.
Sure enough, it wasn't long before the Fourteenth Prince arrived with Hongxi and the others. Upon reaching the shed, Hongxi led Hongjin and Hongyan to bow and say, "Nephew greets Fourth Uncle."
The Fourth Prince was overjoyed to see the grown-up princes. He ordered long benches to be brought for them to sit on, and then asked with concern, "Why have the princes come here?"
Hongxi answered in a serious tone, "I heard that my fourth uncle was personally farming, so my father said that agriculture is the foundation of the country, and that's why he asked me to bring my brothers here to observe."
Fourth Master agreed emphatically, then stood up and personally led them to the fields, even picking up a hoe to demonstrate how to hoe. After hoeing for a while, Fourth Master, seeing that the sun was rising, told them to go back to the manor for a meal and rest.
In the afternoon, the Fourth Prince asked the Thirteenth Prince and the servants of the mansion to take them for a walk outside, and also called Hongshi out to accompany them.
Hongyan smiled when he saw Hongshi. After a few months, seeing that he seemed to have recovered from the shock, he said softly, "Your estate is really big." He had never seen such a large piece of land before!
Hongshi whispered to him, "There's a lawn not far away. We'll go catch grasshoppers there in a bit. They're all small grasshoppers, bright green and smaller than a fingernail." As he said this, they walked out, followed by a large group of eunuchs and guards.
After the princes left, the Fourth Prince remembered the Fourteenth Prince. He'd been somewhat annoyed with the Fourteenth Prince ever since he arrived. Surprisingly, the Fourteenth Prince hadn't lost his temper despite being left hanging. The Fourth Prince looked at him with some newfound respect, but still asked with a hint of reproach, "Why did you bring the princes from Yuqing Palace?" There were four princes in Yuqing Palace, and three of them were already grown up. What if something went wrong? How would he explain it to the Crown Prince?
The Fourteenth Prince knew his brother would ask this question, and he had already prepared his answer: "It's not that I wanted to bring them here, but that the Crown Prince asked me to bring them." How could he refuse when the Crown Prince had said so? Besides, as long as he brought enough people, he wasn't afraid of anything going wrong.
The Fourth Prince was taken aback, then shook his head with a smile after a moment, thinking that it wasn't enough for the Crown Prince to have the Thirteenth Prince urge him, so he also had the Fourteenth Prince bring the princes from Yuqing Palace to urge him.
When the Fourteenth Prince saw his brother suddenly laugh, he laughed along and took the opportunity to tell him some good news: "The Emperor has granted me permission to go to the Miyun Camp, and I will take up my post in a couple of days."
This surprised Fourth Master, who asked repeatedly, "Really?"
The Fourteenth Prince nodded confidently and replied, "This morning, Father Emperor summoned me to the Qianqing Palace. After thanking him, I went to the back to see Mother, and then I saw the Crown Prince." Then the Crown Prince asked him to bring out the three princes from the Yuqing Palace.
“Mother told me to come and bring you good news,” Fourteen continued, “and also said that my brother and I should help each other.”
Seeing that his answer was straightforward and without a trace of anger, and knowing that it was the Emperor and Consort De's intention, the Fourth Prince breathed a sigh of relief. The Emperor had given him another way out, and even the concubines in the palace took this opportunity to persuade him to submit to the Emperor.
After a while, the Fourth Prince came to his senses and instructed the Fourteenth Prince: "It seems that your efforts over the past few years have not been in vain. But when you get to the Miyun camp, don't lose your temper as a prince."
Fourteen nodded in agreement: "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing." He thought that he had finally gotten the Emperor to agree, so he had to seize this opportunity. Therefore, no matter how tough the military camp was, he wouldn't complain.
The Fourth Prince looked up at him, leaving the Fourteenth Prince completely bewildered. After a long while, the Fourth Prince sighed, "It seems you have indeed become much more composed. If it were before, you would have been swaggering around like a bird in the sky. If I said a few words to you, your temper would have grown like bamboo shoots after the rain, and you would have been a handful of people in no time."
Fourteen choked on his words. To be honest, he felt incredibly guilty whenever he saw Fourth Master. For the past few months, he'd been constantly thinking about Honghui. He wondered if Honghui could have been saved if he had gone earlier with his men. But there were no "what ifs." His brother's eldest son was gone, and his fourth sister-in-law had gone to a life of vegetarianism and chanting Buddhist prayers. Fortunately, Hongshi was only injured and still alive; otherwise, he would have been consumed by guilt.
That's why the Fourteenth Prince has such a good temper with the Fourth Prince; no matter what, he didn't take it to heart. However, since the Fourth Prince was talking about his feelings, he still wanted to retort, and finally muttered, "Is it really that exaggerated?"
Fourth Master chuckled, "Alright, I won't spoil your fun now that something's happened." He raised his head and said, "Go out and see your nephews, see where they're going and what they're playing."
The Fourteenth Prince didn't argue with him, and replied, "Maybe they're catching bugs outside." With that, he went out.
After the Fourteenth Prince left, only the Fourth Prince remained in the room. He sat in a chair and slowly squinted at the sun outside.
Is Lao Ba playing the good guy again?
He couldn't help but scoff. There's a saying that those involved are often confused, while bystanders see things clearly. These past few months, as he's been relaxing at the estate, he's actually come to some interesting insights.
The Emperor clearly intended to bestow favors upon his subjects, so he immediately halted the collection of outstanding debts when things went awry. However, the Emperor also didn't want the Ministry of Revenue to extend its lending too much; firstly, the national treasury couldn't sustain it, and secondly, favors had to be exercised appropriately. When someone like the Eighth Prince uses an opportunity to curry favor, opening doors of convenience regardless of legitimate reasons, is this favor truly bestowed by the Emperor or by the Eighth Prince? There's a saying: "A local official is more powerful than a distant one."
However, he wasn't in a hurry to step forward. He had suffered such a great injustice before, even losing his son in the process, so he needed to be invited by the Emperor a couple more times before he would leave. Otherwise, if he just went straight for the Emperor, who would take him seriously? He wasn't some spineless, subservient lackey.
Now that the Emperor and the Crown Prince have provided him with a way out, he can no longer stay cooped up on the estate.
The Fourth Prince had made up his mind. He would spend the next few days planting the few acres of land outside, and then lead his men back to the capital. However, before returning, he still needed to inquire about the Thirteenth Ministry of Revenue.
Ha, it's true he's no longer involved in recovering outstanding debts, but he can still get the loans disbursed by the Ministry of Revenue. As for those who want to embezzle public funds, he'll impeach them one by one, two by two. He'll make sure to slap their ugly faces until they're swollen with official documents!
In this way, he could be considered to have lived up to the Crown Prince's expectations. Furthermore, by provoking everyone else, the Emperor's favor could be bestowed upon him.
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