At noon, a white banner was hung at the entrance of the second courtyard on the right side of the Court of Colonial Affairs. Asgen looked much older; during the New Year period, his own son had actually offended Emperor Kangxi. (Three Inches of Human World)
"Asgen, go to the palace to plead guilty." The Right Wing Prince arrived immediately, dressed in plain clothes, his face somewhat pale, followed by the royal physician.
"Who is this...?" Asgen looked at the person behind the Right Wing Prince and felt something was off. Why had he never seen this person before?
"It was Imperial Physician Wang from the Imperial Medical Academy. I wanted him to examine Wu En's pulse, but who would have thought..." The Right Wing Prince was thankful that he had been delayed for a while at the entrance of Yinzhen's residence; otherwise, he would have returned just in time, which would have been really bad luck.
"Brother, please don't go in. The child has left, so it's better for you, as an elder, to stay away." Asgen knew the Right Prince's temperament well, and it was better to be direct than to leave the Right Prince with a grudge.
Although the royal physician did not examine Wu En's pulse, he did act as a coroner and found that the bumps on Wu En's body were very strange. They did not resemble infectious diseases such as chickenpox or varicella, but rather seemed to be a disease of the genitals.
"This servant asks Your Highness, has the young master gone to such a place?" The royal physician secretly cursed, for if the young master had indeed gone to a brothel, there must have been something unclean about him.
Later that evening, after the imperial physician Wang made his diagnosis, he dared not stay in the Court of Colonial Affairs and hurried towards Changchun Garden, as this matter was somewhat troublesome.
He went to see Emperor Kangxi that very night and explained the details of the Court of Colonial Affairs. Emperor Kangxi's expression turned very ugly.
"Tell me, what exactly happened?" Kangxi asked quickly, noticing the trembling body of Imperial Physician Wang.
Imperial Physician Wang dared not conceal anything and truthfully recounted the cause of Wu En's death. As soon as he finished speaking, Emperor Kangxi smashed the teacup in his hand.
Consort Tong heard the noise and came out of the side hall. Seeing that Kangxi's face was red, she anxiously scolded Imperial Physician Wang.
"Imperial Physician Wang, quickly take His Majesty's pulse," Consort Tong ordered, unaware of the situation.
"Your Highness, it is not appropriate for this servant to take your pulse now. I should ask Imperial Physician Yuan to come quickly." Imperial Physician Wang looked at Consort Tong and said helplessly, "Your Majesty, please take a deep breath and don't rush."
"Li Dequan, let the Fourth Prince and his wife enter the garden. Also, have Imperial Physician Yuan come over. And inform the Eldest Prince and his wife as well." Kangxi patted his chest, took the water cup from Consort Tong's hand, and took a sip.
At this time, Yinzhen and Qingyan had already gone to sleep. Su Peisheng was at the palace gate when he saw Li Dequan's hurried figure and quickly went to greet him.
"Anda, what brings you here today?" Su Peisheng asked very respectfully.
"Quickly, please help the Fourth Prince and his wife to get up." Li Dequan briefly relayed the orders from Emperor Kangxi and Consort Tong, then turned and hurried towards Yinti's villa.
After seeing Li Dequan off, Su Peisheng walked quickly to the palace gate.
"Sulan, go and wake up the master and the princess. Something has happened at Changchun Garden. They want the master and the princess to go there." Su Peisheng didn't inquire about the details carefully, to avoid being used by someone with ulterior motives.
Su Lan's eyes widened: "They're all asleep now, and you want me to wake them up?"
When Qingyan is fast asleep, she is very grumpy if she is woken up. Sulan has followed Qingyan for many years, so of course she knows about the princess's little quirk.
"There's no time. Anda said we have to hurry," Su Peisheng said in a low voice.
Yinzhen was awakened by the noise outside. A hoarse voice came from inside: "Su Peisheng, what happened?"
Qingyan nestled against his chest, covering her ears as if trying to act coquettishly.
"Little darling, news of Wu En's death may have reached Father. Do you want to go see a play?" Yinzhen whispered in her ear.
Qingyan opened her eyes, her gaze slightly weary. If this were the case, the princes and their wives would probably all be summoned. In reality, Emperor Kangxi and Consort Tong would likely reprimand them, but they probably had something to instruct them on.
"Sulan, come in and change your clothes!" Qingyan said helplessly.
After washing up, Qingyan changed into a light blue casual dress embroidered with gold thread and bamboo, wore a gold hairpin with butterfly and kingfisher feather tassels, and a teardrop-shaped cloisonné earring in each ear. She wore light blue flowerpot shoes with butterflies playing with flowers, and got into the carriage with Yinzhen.
Yinzhen looked at Qingyan, who was dressed in simple, elegant clothes, wearing very little jewelry, and with no makeup on her face.
"You're going to go like this?" Yinzhen thought of the other wives, who rarely went out without elaborate makeup.
"It's so late. Once you're done with your business, you'll definitely be coming back to sleep. I don't want to keep fussing over it." Qingyan slapped away the large hand that was touching her cheek.
Yinzhen chuckled. Qingyan was still the same as before; whenever she was pressed for time, she would never wear makeup and would always appear with a bare face.
At the entrance of Changchun Garden, Yinzhen saw Yinti's carriage. After the two got off the carriage, the First Princess and Qingyan moved closer together.
"My little darling, do you know what's going on today?" The First Princess Consort was woken up from her sleep, still looking completely bewildered.
Qingyan quickly shook her head. Yinzhen had instructed her in the carriage that things should not be said "randomly".
Emperor Kangxi and Consort Tong waited in the main hall, while Imperial Physician Wang knelt on the gold bricks. Imperial Physician Yuan quickly entered the hall and knelt down to take Emperor Kangxi's pulse.
After the group paid their respects, Emperor Kangxi waved his hand, signaling the four to take their seats.
"Imperial Physician Wang, please repeat yourself truthfully." Emperor Kangxi was truly ashamed to say these words.
The imperial physician explained the details, and Yinti and Yinzhen exchanged a glance. They only knew the general situation; this was the first time they had heard the specifics.
Consort Tong's face was completely bloodless, and Qingyan looked at her with concern.
The Mongolian women were the least likely to obey Consort Tong's orders. Occasionally, when they went to pay their respects, the banquet would be filled with the Mongolian wives' sarcastic remarks, and Consort Tong could only endure it in silence.
If Consort Tong were to follow Emperor Kangxi's instructions and summon the Mongol wives to Changchun Garden to give them a dressing down, the problem might become even more serious.
"Your Majesty, we need to think about how to minimize the impact of this situation." Consort Tong was very troubled. The Court of Colonial Affairs was in chaos. She sent people over to appease them, but the wives actually said that no matter how much money they offered, they would stay at the Yuelai Inn to prevent the spread of these venereal diseases.
Emperor Kangxi coughed a few times and gave instructions to his two sons, telling them to go to the Court of Colonial Affairs that very night.
"You two, eldest son's wife and fourth son's wife, accompany Yinti and Yinzhen. The women must be gathered together, and absolutely no one must know about these matters." Consort Tong looked at the nanny beside her and took the newly written imperial edict from her hand. "If anyone dares to cause trouble, open this imperial edict, and I will send several nannies with them."
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