This was what Ulanara told her through a nail she had placed in the palace: of the three children in Prince Yong's mansion, the emperor's favorite was not the eldest son Hongshi, but the second son Hongli, and even Hongzhou was ranked ahead of Hongshi.
Being in the royal family, the children, especially the princes, tend to mature earlier. Hongshi, in particular, experienced a lot of complicated things in his childhood, so his mind became increasingly heavy.
When Hongli and Hongzhou first entered the palace, they were only six years old. Hongshi felt only joy and affection for his two younger brothers.
But as time went by and the children grew up, Hongli, being the most diligent of the three, naturally won the emperor's favor, while Hongshi, the eldest son of Prince Yong, was gradually neglected.
Hongshi gradually stopped associating with his two younger brothers and instead became closer to the children of Yinsi and Yintang, which was the real reason why Yinzhen was anxious.
On this day, Hongshi took a day off and came to pay his respects to Li Jingshu. Li Jingshu did not mention the wedding or ask about his studies, but only asked about some trivial matters in his life, which made Hongshi feel somewhat at a loss.
When Hongwang mentioned this to him, Hongwang only mocked him because he was an unvalued illegitimate son and was no longer even considered a crown prince.
The two even got into a fight over that one sentence.
“Tell me, why did you fight with Hongwang?”
After learning about this incident, Yinzhen went to the palace to bring Hongshi back to his residence and questioned him about the real reason for the fight.
For some reason, Hongshi changed his usual submissive nature and remained silent no matter what his father asked.
Hongshi's attitude greatly angered Yinzhen:
"Gao Wuyong, bring me my riding whip."
"Sir, my brother is still young, you see..."
Yinzhen glared at Gao Wuyong, who dared not speak again and quickly retrieved Yinzhen's riding whip.
"Father will ask you one last time, why did you fight with Hongwang?"
Hongshi kept his head down and remained silent.
Then Yinzhen's whip fell heavily and relentlessly on Hongshi's body like hailstones.
The sound of the whip made the servants outside the door tremble.
Gao Wuyong quietly moved outside the door:
"You brat, hurry up and go fetch Master Li! Do you really want to watch your brother get beaten to death?!"
"Yes, yes, Master Li. Thank you, Eunuch Gao, this servant will go right away!"
In addition to inviting Consort Li, Gao Wuyong also secretly sent several eunuchs to deliver messages to Consort Li and Consort Nian.
"Consort, you must go and see! The Prince is furious in his study and is whipping Prince Hongshi with a horsewhip!"
Upon hearing this, Li Jingshu instantly pierced her finger with the needle in her hand.
"Secondary Consort!"
"Quickly, go to the Prince's study!"
Upon hearing the news, the Fujin (Prince's wife) and the Nian Ce Fujin (Secondary Prince's wife) also rushed to Yinzhen's study.
"My lord! Please stop hitting him! No matter what the reason, it is my fault as his mother for failing to raise him properly. Please, Your Highness, have mercy!"
"Jing Shu, move aside!"
"My lord, I beg you! If this continues, Hongshi will be crippled even if he doesn't die!"
Yinzhen took a few steps back, panting heavily:
"You know you've failed to raise your son properly! Look at what you've spoiled him into! He actually dared to openly fight with Hongwang from the Eighth Prince's family in the palace! Hongli and Hongzhou were right there. Is this the kind of example he, as an older brother, is setting for his younger brother?"
"My lord, I was wrong. I believe Hongshi also knows he was wrong."
Li Jingshu crawled up to Yinzhen, grabbed his boots, and pleaded:
"My lord, Hongshi is my only child. I promise I will discipline him more strictly from now on. Please, my lord, stop hitting him. For the sake of my only child, please show mercy and spare Hongshi!"
Yinzhen rubbed his eyes wearily. At this moment, Ulanara and Nian Yunrong also arrived. They were startled when they entered the room and saw the battered and bruised Hongshi.
"Sir, Hongshi is still just a child. Hitting him like this will hurt his feelings."
"Master, stop hitting him. Hongshi won't be able to take it if you keep hitting him."
Ulanara and Nian Yunrong helped Li Jingshu plead with Yinzhen, so Yinzhen had Hongshi carried to Li Jingshu and invited the imperial physician to treat Hongshi's injuries.
Hearing Hongshi's wailing as he applied medicine inside, Li Jingshu cried uncontrollably in the outer room.
"Sister, don't cry. In any case, the prince has calmed down for now. After a while, perhaps he won't hold it against you. Hongshi is injured and needs your care."
Li Jingshu sobbed:
“Eunuch Gao just told me that the prince is so angry because Hongshi got into a fight in the palace. But I don’t understand, it was just a fight, why did the prince have to beat my Hongshi like this?”
Ulanara sighed:
"Sister, if I may ask, haven't you noticed anything unusual about Hongshi lately?"
Li Jingshu paused for a moment, then said:
“I do feel that Hongshi is a little different. He seems to have more on his mind and doesn’t talk much anymore, but what’s wrong with that?”
"The one who fought with Hongshi was Hongwang from the Eighth Prince's residence."
Nian Yunrong spoke from the side.
Upon hearing the name of the Eighth Prince, Li Jingshu could roughly guess who it was.
The Eighth Prince has always been at odds with the Prince, and the fact that Hongshi and Hongwang are close to each other has already displeased the Prince. This time, the fight in the palace, which the Emperor reportedly knows about, makes the Prince's anger understandable.
Yinzhen sat in the now quiet study, having regained his usual composure.
He was angry not because Hongshi had fought, but because of Hongshi's lack of ambition. Although the Emperor had not yet announced the appointment of an heir, Yinzhen still held high hopes for Hongshi.
So what if he's an illegitimate son? He's still an illegitimate son, and for him, ability is the most important thing.
However, Hongshi's recent performance has been so disappointing that he has made up his mind to use this method to help Hongshi grow.
Hongshi wasn't the only one who got beaten up; Yinzhi's son, Hongwang, also did.
However, Yinzhi had few children, and he always doted on this son. With Lady Zhang intervening, he couldn't bring himself to be harsh and only punished him by making him face the wall in repentance.
That evening, Geng Youran and the others learned of Hongshi's injury and quickly took Qianxue to Li Jingshu's place.
"Sister, how is Hongshi?"
"The imperial physician has given him the medicine and he has fallen asleep. However, the prince's beating was too severe; Hongshi will need at least ten days to half a month to recover."
"Sister, don't be too sad. The prince must be furious. Try to persuade him properly later, and maybe everything will be alright."
Li Jingshu nodded with a wry smile.
Back in the courtyard, Qianxue recounted the information she had gathered from others.
"Princess, Prince Hongshi is really badly injured this time. I heard he even fainted."
Geng Youran sighed:
"Why bother? Hongshi is a sensitive child who is prone to overthinking. If he can recover after this beating, that's fine. But if he can't get over it, he might cause trouble in the future."
"Princess, are you missing Prince Hongzhou?"
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