As dawn broke, Kangxi's courtyard was already bustling with activity. Just moments before, two young Su Las had been beaten to death by Li Dequan.
The servants on duty became cautious, fearing they might anger Emperor Kangxi and lose their lives.
Yin walked into the courtyard. Seeing the red-stained bluestone bricks, he understood that Kangxi must have discovered Yin Zhi's behavior.
Inside the main hall, Yin, Yinqi, Yinxiang, and Yin had already arrived. As Yin walked in, his four younger brothers quickly greeted him.
"Fourth Brother, what's wrong with Father?" Yin asked in a low voice.
When he arrived, he witnessed the scene of the servant being beaten to death, which piqued his curiosity.
"Ask what you should ask, and don't ask what you shouldn't ask!" Yin advised directly, seeing the fourteenth prince's curious expression.
After he finished speaking, Yin immediately fell silent. He had been spoiled by Yin too much lately, so he had become somewhat arrogant.
"Big brother is right, Fourteenth Brother. No matter what happens today, don't act impulsively. Stand obediently in the line. Thirteenth Brother, you do the same," Yin said, looking at his two younger brothers.
Yinxiang and Yin exchanged a glance, and Yinxiang could see a hint of worry in each other's eyes.
The brothers must have run into trouble. Now, all they can do is wait and see how things develop, and try to plead for their brothers' safety.
Before long, all the princes except Yinzhi arrived, and Emperor Kangxi even came with Consort Tong.
At this moment, Qingyan was holding a small bronze mirror, looking at the situation in Kangxi's courtyard. She saw that the princes were all completely confused.
Yin understood a little bit, but he also felt that the idea was somewhat absurd.
"Imperial Physician Yuan, please tell them about the diagnosis you gave Yinzhi." Yinzhi noticed that Kangxi had indeed aged a bit.
His children are all the pride of heaven, yet they have fallen into this trap.
Imperial Physician Yuan also told Yinzhi about his physical condition and his opium addiction.
Bang!
The crown prince smashed the table this time. His brothers might fight for the position, but none of them would be so ruthless next time.
"Father, I would like to ask, who gave these things to the Third Prince?" The Crown Prince stood up, bowed to Emperor Kangxi, and asked.
"Baocheng, please sit down. Imperial Physician Yuan, please continue." Kangxi wanted to hear how to proceed if Yinzhi were to be treated.
"It is extremely painful to quit. So far, only a very small number of people have been able to break this addiction," said Imperial Physician Yuan regretfully.
Emperor Kangxi's heart skipped a beat. Was his child destined to live like this for the rest of his life?
To be honest, Kangxi was very unwilling to accept this, feeling that he could not let go of the person he had been scheming against.
"Father, we've been living in the palace all this time, so how did we get these things?" Yin asked curiously.
"It must have been sent by someone below." Kangxi was also waiting for Tulichen's investigation results.
Soon, Tulichen walked in from outside, looked at Kangxi, and bowed directly.
"Your Majesty, the investigation has been completed. Here are the details." Tu Lichen respectfully handed the black folded document to Li Dequan.
After Kangxi took the memorial, he quickly opened it and, upon reading its contents, his anger became apparent.
"All of you, show this to me!" Kangxi slammed the memorial onto the imperial table.
Yin Zhi is truly pathetic; for a woman, he actually…
Qingyan held a small bronze mirror and looked at the contents of it from behind Yin.
The few things that happened between Yinzhi and Xilian should have all occurred in the last ten days. She also felt that the opium extracted from poppies was too powerful.
“At this moment, Yinzhi is completely out of the running. The previous struggle for the throne among the nine princes may not be possible now,” Qingyan said with a cold laugh.
As noon approached, Qingyan sat in her study, copying Buddhist scriptures for the Buddha's Birthday. Yin walked in from outside, and she noticed that his everyday clothes were soaked with cold sweat.
"Su Peisheng, why aren't you changing my clothes right now!" Qingyan scolded directly.
Su Peisheng's life wasn't easy either. Xiao Zhuzi, who was by Third Master's side, had been beaten to death. Li Dequan looked at them coldly, even making them feel a sense of the training discipline from back then.
"You are all now by my side, so I shouldn't be scolding you. This is what happened to Xiaozhu for failing to take good care of her master." Li Dequan looked at the eunuchs standing below and said coldly, "If any prince is found to have been plotted against and you haven't taken good care of him, your fate will be even worse than Xiaozhu's."
These few words made Su Peisheng feel his legs go weak. Kangxi must have been really angry to send Li Dequan to reprimand everyone.
“This servant has woken up,” Su Peisheng quickly said.
At this moment, Su Peisheng started to panic; something was definitely going to go wrong.
Inside the study, Qingyan noticed that Su Peisheng had lost his usual quick wit, so she told him to stand outside while she personally dressed Yin Huanxi.
"Su Peisheng should have been reprimanded as well. Li Dequan hasn't been by Father Emperor's side for a while," Yin said softly.
"Fourth Brother, you haven't been kneeling here ever since you left, have you?" Qingyan noticed that Yin's walking posture was a bit strange, indicating that he had been kneeling for a long time.
well……
Yin sighed. They had pleaded for Yin Zhi, but this was only for Kangxi's benefit. In reality, they were also somewhat sympathetic.
"Well, to be honest, I'm also very uncomfortable. No matter what Third Brother did to us, you have to understand that this matter has crossed the line." Yin looked at the scenery in the distance, feeling a mess in his mind.
After arriving, Yin felt that everything was going wrong and he felt terrible.
"Fourth Prince, you can't make decisions for the Third Prince either. He took a fancy to Xi Lian and used such means to win favor from her. I think this woman is really something else," Qingyan said with great regret.
Pfft!
Yin laughed. Qingyan was right. Xilian must have tried every means to win favor, but failed. In the end, she came up with this clumsy method.
"All males aged 15 and above of Xilian's nine clans shall be beheaded; girls under 15 shall be sent to the Xin Zhe Ku (a place for female laborers); and girls over 15 shall be sold into the Jiao Fang (a place for female entertainers)." Yin announced his final decision.
"Li Xu... is he going to be beheaded too?" Qingyan suddenly remembered that the woman was related to Li Xu.
"That's right!" Yin finally breathed a sigh of relief. After returning to Jiangnan, he no longer needed to be on guard against anyone plotting against him.
"What about the Cao family?" Qingyan remembered that the Cao family and your family should be related by marriage.
"Hehe, it didn't move!" Yin said helplessly.
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