In August of the same year, the Yellow River breached its banks at Wujiazhuang in Feng County, causing devastating floods and severe damage to the area.
At this time, due to years of military campaigns against the Three Feudatories, Taiwan, and the Dzungar Khanate, as well as the system of exploitation of agricultural peoples by nomadic peoples, tax revenue decreased. In addition, the amount of silver imported decreased significantly, and the problem of an empty treasury became increasingly serious.
Meanwhile, factional strife was brewing within the imperial court.
The Crown Prince and the Eighth Prince continued their power struggle within the court.
At this time, the Crown Prince's power was at its zenith, and Kangxi had already allowed him to participate in and handle daily affairs.
The Eighth Prince, Yinzhi, was mainly in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, the country's 'money bag'.
Yinzhi used a scheme to secretly exchange favors with the Crown Prince by abusing his power, while the Crown Prince was completely indifferent to the empty treasury and only cared about his own enjoyment.
Therefore, Emperor Kangxi entrusted the task of recovering the debts owed to the national treasury to Yinzhen.
However, because the Fourth Prince was too ruthless, he offended a large number of court officials and even bore the disgrace of indirectly causing the death of an old minister. He was directly criticized by Emperor Kangxi and almost lost his newly acquired title of Prince.
As a result, Yinzhen was depressed for many days.
"Sir, is it because the dishes from the kitchen tonight are not to your liking?"
That evening, after finishing his own business, Yinzhen came to Geng Youran's courtyard. He originally just wanted to have some tea, but when he saw Geng Youran leisurely reading a book at the table, he was furious. He immediately decided to stay overnight and deliberately made things difficult for Geng Youran by making her cook some dishes she had never eaten before.
Geng Youran had no idea what Yinzhen had eaten or hadn't eaten.
So I had someone prepare a mutton hot pot, and I also made some meatball skewers and seasoning sauces myself.
But seeing Yinzhen staring blankly at the steaming pot, she suddenly regretted it; why had she provoked this 'King of Hell'?
So I had no choice but to be bold and ask.
To everyone's surprise, Yinzhen was not angry at all. Instead, he ate all the dishes that Geng Youran had picked out for him.
Geng Youran was worried that Yinzhen would have indigestion, so she went to the small kitchen and brought out some hawthorn wine that had been brewed some time ago.
"My lord, please try this. This is hawthorn wine that I brewed a few days ago."
Geng Youran specially chose a glass bottle to put it in, and even put it in the ice chest for a while beforehand.
"Oh? I had no idea you could brew wine."
Geng Youran smiled. Originally, this was something she and Xinyi had tried brewing together, but unexpectedly it turned out to be a success. It tasted sweet and refreshing, and had a wonderful aroma.
Moreover, the process is not as difficult as that of grain-based liquor.
Simply peel and pit the cleaned hawthorns, then mash them into a paste.
Then add an appropriate amount of yeast and place it in a fermentation container.
The most important step is to select and control the appropriate fermentation temperature.
During the fermentation process, it is necessary to observe the changes in the hawthorn pulp regularly and stir it as needed. Once fermentation is complete, filter the hawthorn pulp to remove solid impurities, and you will get a clear hawthorn wine.
The wine that Geng Youran was giving to Yinzhen was wine that she had stored for about half a month.
The wine flavor isn't very strong; it's more of a sweet and sour taste from the hawthorn.
Yinzhen took a small bite, and it tasted quite good.
"I heard that you've been spending most of your time in the courtyard lately, except when you're paying your respects to the Princess Consort."
Geng Youran was too lazy to guess who the spy was, so she simply told the truth.
“Your Highness, I greet the Princess Consort to avoid being impolite. At other times, I'd rather do things I enjoy. Isn't it rare to be able to consistently do what you love and are willing to do?”
"yes……"
Upon hearing this, Yinzhen suddenly recalled his childhood.
At that time, I was still by Tong's side, but I would always hear about my biological mother.
She thought she had been taken away by her mother, Tong, and even argued with her because of it.
Later, he overheard his biological mother and wet nurse talking, and they were asking about the Emperor all the time, with none of it related to him.
At that moment, he realized that he was merely a bargaining chip for her to curry favor.
Knowing that Tong E'niang liked dogs, she specially sent him a pug as an apology to the little boy.
Later, he returned to his so-called biological mother's side, where all he heard every day was lectures and she never cared about his true preferences.
He gradually gave up his own preferences and began to learn what his father liked, because he knew that if he did what his father liked, he would be praised and his own mother would give him a smile.
Now that he has temporarily lost power, only Geng Gege's words can truly resonate with him.
That's enough. Having such a quiet and peaceful place is enough.
"Your Highness, Your Highness?"
Yinzhen was so engrossed in his own world that he didn't hear Geng Youran's voice at all.
Geng Youran could only gently push Yinzhen's shoulder.
Suddenly, Yinzhen picked Geng Youran up in his arms.
What happened next was a natural progression. The next day, Geng Youran couldn't remember the embarrassing memory of the previous night. She only vaguely remembered that the Fourth Prince seemed to have told her to have a child.
Just then, Xinyi came in carrying a bowl of medicine.
"Princess, the medicine is here."
Geng Youran silently said "I'm sorry" in her heart, and then drank the medicine in one gulp.
Xinyi frowned as well. Although she had brewed it many times, she still found the medicine very unpleasant to smell.
"Xinyi, go and get that wooden box from the wardrobe."
"yes."
Xinyi skillfully opened the wardrobe, and at the far end was a small wooden box with only simple patterns.
"Here you go, Princess."
Geng Youran took the box Xinyi handed her, opened it, and glanced inside. It contained a portion of her own savings.
"Give this box to Xiao Anzi and have him deliver it to my mother, just like before. Remember, it must be delivered by him personally. My younger brother should be starting school soon, and there are many things that need to be taken care of. She'll need this."
"yes."
In the following years, Geng Youran and Wanru continued to take medication, and seeing that the two of them had not had children, the Fujin felt reassured and shared some power with them.
In terms of favoritism, Consort Li's family held absolute power.
Until Nian Gengyao appeared.
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