Hearing the affirmative answer, Ulanara was relieved and continued writing.
In contrast, Yunhui was furious when she returned to her room.
"Do they all think I'm a fool? They're just jealous because the prince dotes on me. Humph, they think I want to see their fake faces? How ridiculous."
Green Shade brought in the medicine and handed it to her master:
"Princess, the imperial physician said you mustn't get angry. Besides, with the prince's favor, why should you care about others?"
After enduring the nausea, Yunhui drank the medicine, rinsed her mouth with tea leaves, and said:
"What do you know? If you don't show affection to others or compare it to others, how can it be considered affection?"
Green Field helped her back to bed and lay down.
"Princess, you should rest well and not think so much. The Prince might come over tonight, so you need to conserve your energy, don't you?"
After being persuaded by Luyin, Yunhui finally fell asleep.
While these people were scheming against each other over these matters in the backyard, a heated argument was also taking place in Changchun Garden, where Emperor Kangxi was staying.
The reason is that Lhazang Khan had reported the battle situation to the Qing court twice, in July and August of the 56th year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, and requested assistance, but the Kangxi Emperor only received the report today.
"The people support you, and this is how you do things! I only received the battle reports from last July and August today!"
"Your Majesty, please calm down! Tibet is far from the capital, and Tsewang Arabtan has occupied Lhasa. It is only natural that we received Lhazang Khan's memorial at this time."
Kangxi realized that he had indeed been a bit anxious just now, and after calming down, he said:
"Then tell me, what good solutions do you have for Lhazang Khan's request for help?"
"Your Majesty, now that Tsewang Arabtan has occupied Lhasa, why don't we find a suitable opportunity to negotiate with him?"
"negotiation?"
Although it was only two short words, everyone could hear the murderous intent hidden within them.
The minister who made the suggestion shuddered, but forced himself to continue speaking despite his fear:
"Your Majesty, in recent years we have been adjusting our coastal and border defenses, and the national treasury has been gradually shrinking. I believe that now is not the right time to send troops. We can use negotiations to buy time and wait until we are fully prepared before launching our attack."
"Lord Sun, aren't you afraid that the spirits of countless soldiers will come haunting you in the middle of the night for saying such things!"
Yinxiang couldn't stand it and retorted before Lord Sun could finish speaking.
"Father, I think Lord Sun's idea is inappropriate, and I believe now is the time to send troops."
"Oh? Tell me about it."
"Your Majesty, the Dzungar Khanate, under the leadership of Tsewang Arabtan, is constantly expanding its sphere of influence, posing a serious threat to the border security of our Great Qing Dynasty. Your Majesty believes that if the threat of the Dzungar Khanate is not eliminated, the borders of the Qing Dynasty will never have peace."
As soon as Yinxiang finished speaking, many ministers around him echoed his opinion, while Lord Sun had already retreated back into the crowd.
After careful consideration, Emperor Kangxi decided to send his guard, Sereng, and Qinghai soldiers to rescue Tibet. However, to everyone's surprise, the rescue operation failed.
Upon seeing the battle reports from the front lines, Kangxi became so angry that he fainted.
It was already midnight when Yinzhen and the others received the news.
"Eunuch Liang, how is Father Emperor?"
The princes, led by the Third Prince, waited outside Kangxi's residence for a long time before Liang Jiugong finally came out.
"Your Highnesses, the imperial physician said that His Majesty fainted due to a sudden surge of anger. However, he is now fine. The imperial physician has already administered acupuncture to His Majesty, and he will recover in a few days."
Everyone was relieved.
The next day, Yinzhen and the others learned the reason why their father was so angry.
"This Sereng has been following Father Emperor for quite some time now, how come he's still the same? He actually let the generals fight each other in battle because of Erlunte's disagreement on strategic decisions. Is he a pig?"
It was rare for Yinzhen to lose his temper like this.
Yinxiang advised from the side:
"Fourth Brother, the failure in the first battle cannot be entirely blamed on Seleng."
“Thirteenth brother, what time is it? You’re still speaking up for him.”
“Fourth Brother, it’s not that I’m speaking up for Seleng. Our military expedition this time was indeed a bit rushed. When I proposed sending troops in court, I thought Father would send Fourteenth Brother, but Father actually thought that the Dzungar army was exhausted and not many in number, so there was no need for Fourteenth Brother to send troops.”
Yinzhen had calmed down by now and analyzed the reasons for the defeat in the first battle with Yinxiang.
“What you say is indeed reasonable. Tibet has a complex terrain, with high mountains and steep ridges, crisscrossing rivers, and a harsh climate, which brings great difficulties to the army’s mobility and combat. The troops in Sereng lack effective supplies and it is difficult for them to sustain a long battle.”
Yinxiang nodded, then continued:
"Fourth Brother, do you think we should submit another memorial to Father Emperor, asking him to send troops again?"
"Of course we should. Our Great Qing Dynasty never acts like a spineless coward."
Seeing Yinzhen's firm stance, Yinxiang finally felt relieved. But he was immediately met with a cold shower from Yinzhen:
"We need to send troops, but not now. Right now, Dzungardan's morale is high and his troops are strong and well-equipped. It will take time to transport our supplies there, and we also need to rethink our tactics and the deployment of generals."
After discussing it for several days, the two finally decided to go to Changchun Garden to explain their considerations to the Emperor.
Emperor Kangxi accepted the advice of the two men and decided to hold back for the time being.
In March of the same year, Emperor Kangxi dismissed another batch of officials on the grounds of poor performance, corruption, and abuse of power.
"Brother Ba, do you think Father has discovered something?"
What do you mean?
The Tenth Prince said anxiously:
"Of course it's about the seven officials, including Cong Shu, being dismissed from their posts."
The Eighth Prince calmly picked up his teacup, seemingly having known all along that his father, the Emperor, would do this. This fact was noticed by Yinzhen.
"Myth brother, did you already know about this?"
Yinzhi said calmly:
“I knew about it a long time ago, and I was the one who reported these people to Father Emperor.”
Yinzhen stood up, somewhat annoyed:
"Brother Ba, do you know how much effort and money I've put into cultivating and placing these people? Now you just casually say 'I know,' how am I supposed to face the consequences?"
“Ninth Brother, you should be the one asking this. These people have become increasingly greedy and insatiable because of your patronage. They are oppressing the local people. If I hadn’t reported them, would you have waited for Father to send Fourth Brother to deal with them?”
"How can you be so sure that Father Emperor will let Fourth Brother handle this matter!"
Seeing that the two were about to start arguing, the Tenth Prince quickly stepped in to stop them:
"Stop arguing, stop arguing. Ninth Brother, why is your temper like mine now? You explode at the slightest provocation. You weren't like this before."
Yinzhen suppressed his anger and sat down to the side without saying a word.
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