During dinner, Yin kept targeting Yin and Yin, making the atmosphere very unpleasant.
Yin's heart is now very complicated. Before leaving the capital, Suo'etu repeatedly advised Yin that he must get rid of Yiken'e on the way. Judging from the current situation, Yiken'e's papyrus will be a disaster.
With the arrival of Yiken'e, even Hongxi had to be relegated to a lower position. Ever since Yiken'e was brought to Emperor Kangxi's side, Hongxi's status in the palace has been declining.
"Shunxi, go and tell your uncle that I agree with his opinion." Yin thought to himself that for Hongxi's sake, he had no choice but to target Yiken'e.
That night, a carrier pigeon took flight. Erlu shot it down with an arrow less than fifteen minutes into its flight and took it to Fourth Master's villa.
"Master, the Crown Prince has sent a message to the capital." Erlu held evidence of the Crown Prince's communication with Suo'etu. Yin took the paper from Erlu's hand and opened the scroll on the carrier pigeon's leg.
Looking at the abbreviations above, his face darkened even more. This time, he absolutely could not let the Crown Prince go. They had already extended their evil hands to Yiken'e, his only legitimate son.
Qingyan walked from the inner chamber to the study. Seeing that Yin's expression was very bad, she tilted her head and glanced at it. When she saw the contents of the scroll, she was instantly stunned.
"Fourth Prince, is what's written here true?" Qingyan had always believed that he had done nothing wrong to Yuqing Palace, but he never expected that the Crown Prince and Crown Princess would repeatedly reach out to the Fourth Prince's residence.
Yin didn't want to admit it, but reality was right in front of him, forcing him to acknowledge his own soft heart.
"I knew these people were up to no good." Qiu Mi had almost killed Yin with a sneak attack, and now she was trying to frame Yi Ken'e.
Hongxi was kept by the Empress Dowager's side, but now that the Empress Dowager herself is in danger, the Crown Prince is ready to abandon her at any time.
Cold-blooded? Ruthless?
The Crown Prince has perfectly embodied these two words. Today, after they returned, Li Dequan hinted that Kangxi left the Crown Prince and Yinzhi out in the main hall all day, while he and Consort Tong spent the whole day playing with the twins in the garden.
Perhaps Kangxi's series of actions deeply provoked the Crown Prince, making him feel that Yiken'e had become a threat.
"Little darling, we need to take some precautions." Yin smiled coldly.
Originally, he thought that he should let the Crown Prince make the first move, and then he would retaliate, so that all the blame would fall on Yin.
He underestimated the Hesheli clan. Those people were blinded by their lust for power. Suo'etu, on the other hand, wanted to reach the top and become the person second only to the emperor in the Qing Dynasty.
"Instigated by Hesheli?!" Yin wouldn't put all the blame on himself; it seems it was Suo'etu's idea.
This scroll was even sent to Songgotu's residence. The fact that he was able to travel with carrier pigeons during his southern tour was probably to facilitate communication with Songgotu.
If Yin had continued to use the post stations to deliver letters, Kangxi would have been able to quickly track Yin's movements. No wonder it was so easy to guard against him.
“The Crown Prince has already taken the first step, and I have to think about whether I should push him to complete the last dozen or so steps.” The twins were kept by Kangxi’s side, and every move Yiken’e made was personally taught by Kangxi. The education he received was comparable only to that of the Crown Prince.
He frowned slightly, carefully considering where the Crown Prince might make his move. The servants around Yiken'e had basically all been replaced by Kangxi. Those people were all battle-hardened servants from the Dragon Guard and Phoenix Guard, and their loyalty was absolutely beyond doubt.
"Don't move for now." Qingyan noticed that there was another sentence on the back of the scroll, which was clearly directed at Yin.
She pointed to the words behind her with her right index finger, and Yin's face darkened even more.
Back then, when Yin was imprisoned, he kept wondering who had betrayed him. From what he could tell, those who betrayed him must have been very familiar with his patterns of action.
Now he fully understood that this was nothing more than Yin's self-inflicted injury. On the one hand, Yin had no hope at all, and Kangxi would feel more sorry for the Crown Prince. On the other hand, he would think that the princes were targeting the Crown Prince for the position of heir apparent. Comparing the two sides, the Crown Prince had not suffered any loss, and Kangxi would instead conclude that the Crown Prince was in a bad situation.
"Little darling, we're so glad we stopped this news, otherwise, every prince would be under surveillance." Yin couldn't forget what it was like back then. Every move of each prince, even every word they uttered among the women, was reported to Kangxi.
ah? !
Qingyan was stunned. Yin had killed two birds with one stone, but he had completely outmaneuvered Yin and the others.
"Should we tell our eldest brother to make preparations in advance?" Qingyan felt the scroll of paper was getting too hot to handle. They couldn't keep controlling the information and not tell anyone, could they?
Yin gave a wry smile. What good would his words do?
This is absolutely a royal scandal; brothers killing each other. Whoever speaks out will be in trouble.
"No, not a single word can be said." Yin was reassured that Eru would not let this matter be revealed.
Qingyan was somewhat worried; she couldn't bear to see Yin's family being schemed against.
"I can only hint to my elder brother to be more careful. I'll go and remind him. Little darling, there should be people watching over our villa as well. The Crown Prince has sent quite a few people. Yiken'e and the others are the safest with Father Emperor." Yin sighed.
Now, the Empress Dowager is locked in her room, and it is said that Su Mo'er has been serving her. Yin is also aware of the situation inside.
Imperial Physician Yuan has already made a move against the Empress Dowager; she has stepped on Kangxi's sore spot.
Qingyan felt that the struggles within the palace were becoming increasingly fierce. Could the appearance of Empress Dowager Tong be a trigger?
"Actually, I would prefer that Grandma return to the capital." Even if the officials knew that Empress Dowager Tong had gone into seclusion, as long as Emperor Kangxi was still alive, Empress Dowager Tong would be fine.
After all, Emperor Kangxi held absolute power, and no one could speak ill of him behind his back.
Why
"Si Si, when we go out, the Cao family has sent people to follow us." Qingyan noticed that when they went out, there were people watching the carriage. Those people should be servants of Cao Yin's family.
Yin nodded. Cao Yin was worried that they would go to places they shouldn't be. In the suburbs, there were some poor people who, under various pretexts, hoped to leave Kangxi with the impression of wealth.
"Cao Yin mentioned that one-tenth of the funds for the layout of the imperial palace came from local gentry and wealthy merchants, which was clearly an attempt to curry favor with them." Kangxi tacitly approved of this approach.
The tax reforms of recent years have brought considerable benefits to wealthy merchants, and in principle, it would be reasonable for them to give some of it back to Emperor Kangxi.
However, since there were the most salt merchants in the Jiangnan region, the recipients of their investments would be those salt merchants.
Qingyan understood Yin's concerns after hearing his hint.
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