In October, Dongyang experienced an extremely rare drought, which not only reduced or even destroyed crop yields, but also forced people to seek alternative foods to survive, such as gathering wild plants like elm bark and fern roots to stave off hunger.
To alleviate the disaster, Emperor Kangxi quickly dispatched relief grain and called on local people to dig wells to obtain water.
"Fourth Brother, the grain we've distributed is fine for now, but the drought is affecting such a wide area that we need to think of other solutions."
Yinzhen rubbed his tired eyes.
He was well aware of the dire situation, but most of the grain in the national treasury had already been transported to the front lines, and the soldiers at the front could not be allowed to fight on an empty stomach.
Thinking of this, Yinzhen angrily picked up the brush washer on the desk and threw it on the ground, but Yinxiang stopped him.
"Fourth Brother, please calm down. This was a gift from Father Emperor last year."
"I really don't know what these local officials are doing. They should have reported the signs as soon as they appeared, but they waited until the disaster was severe before reporting it!"
Yinxiang felt that this matter was not so simple.
"Fourth Brother, do you think this is a trap set by Eighth Brother and Ninth Brother? They deliberately suppressed it and then deliberately reported it all at once at this time."
Upon hearing this, Yinzhen's expression changed:
"If they truly regard the lives of ordinary people as worthless, then they are truly courting death."
Yinzhen then sent people to investigate secretly, but this time Yinxiang guessed wrong; the matter was indeed unrelated to Yinsi and Yintang.
Afterwards, Yinzhen and Yinxiang, along with some ministers, petitioned the emperor to allocate grain from other places, which finally resolved the disaster.
In late October, Emperor Kangxi issued an edict summoning General Yinzhen, the Grand General Who Pacifies the Far East, to the capital.
"Fourth Brother, I heard that Fourteenth Brother has already set off and will be heading to the capital soon."
“I know about this matter, there’s no need to worry about it too much. This time, the fourteenth brother has come to the capital and will probably stay there. We just need to keep an eye on his interactions with the eighth and ninth brothers.”
Yinzhen now has the support of most of the court, and even if the Fourteenth Prince wanted to, he probably wouldn't have much power.
However, there is someone in the palace whom he needs to be wary of.
Thinking of this, Yinzhen went to find his wife that night.
"Fourteenth Brother is already on his way back to the capital. Tomorrow, send a letter to the palace to pay your respects to Mother. Do you know what to do?"
"Don't worry, my lord, I understand."
The princess was never a fool; if she had been a man, she might have accomplished something great.
Unfortunately, fate gave her a female body.
She had always done a good job of probing Consort De's intentions when she entered the palace.
The next day, the Fujin sent out a letter early in the morning, but by the afternoon, she had not received a reply from the Consort De.
"Your Highness, do you think Consort De is intentionally avoiding us?"
Wang Mama, who served the Fujin, was arranged by Yinzhen to be by her side and was deeply trusted by the Fujin.
Hearing what Granny Wang said, the Fujin also became suspicious.
Consort De had never thought highly of the Prince, and consequently, she had always been hypocritical towards her and the Prince Yong's mansion.
When the rank was restored, most people thought that the emperor was doing it out of consideration for the Fourteenth Prince, and even Consort De herself thought so.
But she knew that the emperor was mostly doing it out of respect for his own prince.
During that period, the prince did no less than the fourteenth prince.
It wasn't until evening that the princess received a reply from the palace, saying that she should go to the palace early the next morning.
The princess was finally relieved.
"Go and find the satin that the prince sent a while ago. Choose some with bright but not glaring colors. Also, I remember there was a nice jade bracelet in my dowry. Find that too."
“Madam, you have many precious items in your private treasury that were sent by the prince. Why bother with your own dowry?”
“What do you know? Mother always talks about how filial Fourteenth Brother is, sending all sorts of nice things to the palace. Now that Fourteenth Brother is about to return to the capital, he will inevitably hear these things again. Rather than that, we should make preparations in advance.”
With such generous gifts arriving, Consort De's expression was at least somewhat acceptable.
"The fourth prince seems to be quite busy lately, and hasn't come to the palace to pay his respects to me for quite some time."
"Replying to Mother, His Highness has indeed been quite busy lately with disaster relief efforts. That's why he specially prepared a gift for his daughter-in-law to present to you in the palace."
Consort De glanced at the items on the table, nodded slightly, and instructed the servant to accept them.
"I heard that Consort Nian of the Fourth Prince's household is pregnant?"
"Yes, Mother."
"Among the Emperor's adult children, the fourth prince's children are rather few. You should also advise the fourth prince."
"Daughter-in-law, please remember this."
The two had very little in common and could only talk about the child.
However, Ulanara still managed to glean some clues from Consort De.
Before noon, the princess returned to Prince Yong's residence.
"Granny, please send a message to Gao Wuyong and tell him that I have invited the Prince to my place for a banquet tonight."
"Yes, this old servant will go right away."
That evening, Yinzhen arrived as promised.
The princess consort had all the servants stand outside the door, leaving only herself and Yinzhen inside.
"Your Majesty, as you predicted, Father Emperor's summons of the Fourteenth Prince back to the capital this time indeed indicates that he has no intention of letting him return."
"Has Mother revealed Father Emperor's next plans?"
The princess shook her head:
"Mother didn't talk much about the Fourteenth Brother. However, I could tell that Mother seemed somewhat dissatisfied with Father, but I couldn't find out why."
Upon hearing what his wife said, Yinzhen also became suspicious.
He wondered if the Emperor really favored the fourteenth prince.
"Has Mother ever mentioned Father Emperor to you?"
The princess shook her head, then suddenly remembered something:
"Mother seems to have mentioned that Father Emperor plans to go hunting in Nanyuan next year."
Upon hearing this, Yinzhen seemed to be deep in thought.
"You've had a hard day. Get some rest. I'm going back to my study now."
"Your Highness, wait!"
Yinzhen turned around in surprise.
"What's wrong? Is there something else?"
The princess stepped forward, smoothed out the wrinkles on Yinzhen's clothes, and then said:
"The weather is getting colder, so you should get some rest as well. Don't let work harm your health."
Yinzhen patted his wife's hand and then left.
At the end of the year, everyone was happily preparing for the New Year, and the palace also gave the children a long-awaited holiday because of the New Year.
"Princess, didn't the Prince say that the young prince would be back today? Why haven't we seen him yet?"
"Who knows where that kid has run off to again. He's always so irresponsible, I don't know who he takes after."
Just then, a somewhat hoarse voice came from the doorway:
"Born by Mother, naturally they resemble Mother the most!"
"You're just saying nice things to fool me."
Hongzhou had his servants lay out all the things he had brought back on the table, and then he couldn't wait to introduce them to his mother.
"Mother, come and see, these are all gifts from your son. Take a look and see if you like them."
Geng Youran looked around and saw Western clocks, jade ruyi, jade hairpins, and fine silks.
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