Changning still didn't give up on educating him, and continued, "Your third mistake was playing with the slingshot carelessly. Your older brothers and sisters like playing with slingshots, and you find it novel and interesting, so you want to try it too, which I understand. But they specifically choose secluded places to play with their slingshots, but what about you?"
Not only did you shoot birds, but you also shot people, specifically targeting them. This is a mistake your mother absolutely cannot tolerate. You are treating human life as a joke, as worthless.
If servants do wrong, you can enforce the law impartially like Mother and deal with them according to palace rules, but you absolutely cannot harm them just to satisfy your own entertainment.
Hongchen, you are a prince, you have supreme power, and you have countless servants at your disposal, but you must also remember that those in high positions must have a benevolent heart. Just look at how your third brother acts.”
At this point, Hongchen was completely convinced, his head bowed like a quail.
When the Empress was instructing her son, Consort Shu dared not interrupt, but secretly praised her in her heart.
She truly deserves to be called the Empress, the mother of the nation!
With such a virtuous empress, how could the Qing Dynasty not prosper?
After being severely reprimanded by Changning, Hongchen was punished with twenty large characters and a self-criticism before he was allowed to go and wash up.
Seeing Consort Shu's full of praise, Changning smiled as well: "You flatter me, sister. Hongchen is too naughty. If we don't keep a close eye on him now, who knows what might happen in the future?"
Consort Shu quickly shook her head: "What are you saying? Your Majesty has the heart of a loving mother. Parents who love their children plan far ahead for them. Although I have no children of my own, I know that raising children is the most difficult thing. Today, Your Majesty handled things very well."
Changning sighed, "I just hope he can really learn from this lesson."
Consort Shu felt that it was all those servants' fault for ruining things. How could the perfectly good Sixth Prince know where to go for fun? They were even worse than those shallow-minded scoundrels who only knew how to please their master and forgot their proper place.
Changning thought the same way and made up her mind to thoroughly screen the people around the child again.
Although Yinzhen had already ascended the throne, there were still some people with ulterior motives.
Just like last time, when the Eighth Prince's wife, Lady Guoluo, bribed several fortune tellers in an attempt to tarnish Yinzhen's throne, Yinzhen no longer tolerated her. This time, he directly ordered that her family's property be confiscated and that she be put to death.
The Eighth Prince was renamed Aqina, and the Ninth Prince was renamed Seshehei. Yinzhen had already decided to imprison them in the Imperial Clan Court until they died.
Such a person, who is ungrateful for the Emperor's favor, will only bring trouble if kept around.
Yinzhen was even more afraid that if the Eighth Prince's wife were kept alive, she might bewitch his son in the future and influence his next generation. By then, there would be no way to undo the mistake. So he decided to get rid of her and end the matter once and for all.
The Eighth Prince's wife bribed a fortune teller, and all the families and officials involved were executed.
This also allowed the court officials to witness the methods of the new emperor, who was not to be trifled with.
Therefore, the implementation of the new policies by Yinzhen went much more smoothly than before.
After ascending the throne, Yinzhen bestowed the title of Prince Yi upon his thirteenth brother, the title of Prince Heng upon his fifth brother, the title of Prince Chun upon his seventh brother, and the title of Prince Duan upon his fourteenth brother.
This moved the thirteenth brother to tears, and he wrote a lengthy letter of thanks of no less than fifty or sixty thousand words. Yinzhen was deeply moved when he read it and brought it back to share with Changning that night, marveling at the deep brotherly affection.
Changning felt a bit of a toothache watching this. For a grown man to say such touching words was really painful. However, seeing how much Yinzhen enjoyed it, he decided not to mock him.
After so many years of getting along, Changning finally understood.
Yinzhen was someone who was particularly prone to immersive experiences.
Once you put yourself in the role of a good older brother, your brotherly love overflows, and you wish you could share all the wealth and glory in the world with your good younger brother, treating your thirteenth brother like the executive vice emperor.
This made Thirteen even more fearful and moved, wishing he could prostrate himself and serve the emperor like a beast of burden to repay his kindness.
Seeing that Yinzhen and his thirteenth brother were constantly strengthening their brotherly bond, Changning couldn't help but bring up Hongchen's matter, hoping to take this opportunity to bring the brothers closer together.
Hongyan and Hongzhao were of similar age and used to be closer.
Hongmin and Hongchen are twins who are inseparable. This time, when Hongchen got into trouble, Hongmin didn't do anything to look for him, which suggests that they must have had some disagreements.
As a dutiful mother, Changning naturally wanted to strengthen their relationship.
So before going to bed that night, Changning specifically called Hongmin to her side and whispered, "Hongmin, did you know that Hongchen secretly skipped class today?"
Hongmin nodded slightly, but did not speak.
Changning felt something was off: "Why didn't Hongmin stop him? Why didn't he tell Mother?"
Hongmin pouted, then suddenly became a little angry: "I tried to persuade him! He wouldn't listen at all! He even called me a little scholar! All he does is read pedantic books all day! Mother, I don't like Hongchen anymore, I don't like Sixth Brother anymore!"
Changning was truly shocked this time. How could her two sons have such a conflict? She had no idea!
"Good son, don't be angry. Come, tell your mother what happened. If it's your sixth brother's fault, your mother will definitely punish him!"
Hongmin then began to recount the events in detail.
It turned out that because Hongmin and Hongchen were young and had just started school, their teachers didn't have many requirements for them, mainly focusing on the three princes in front of them. They only needed to make some simple requests of the two of them.
Hongmin is a strong-willed and book-loving boy who wants to improve his handwriting and learn principles so that he can be as capable as his third brother in the future.
Who knew that Hongchen seemed to have nails stuck to his butt during class and couldn't sit still at all. He started causing trouble, either chatting with his own little bead, writing notes, gossiping, or throwing ink at Hongmin, which annoyed Hongmin to no end.
That's not all. I don't know who told me today, but there are flocks of birds flying south in the Imperial Garden. It's quite a sight.
Hongchen had an idea. He had always watched his older brothers and sisters play with slingshots, so he begged his third brother to make him a small slingshot made of cowhide. He was eager to try it out, so today he planned to skip class and go to the Imperial Garden.
He was afraid of being punished, so he wanted to take his fifth brother, Hongmin, with him.
The two of them were inseparable and always did everything together, but this time Hongmin refused, saying that he wanted to study, write calligraphy, and complete his father's homework.
Hongchen felt that he was being mocked for his lack of learning and skills, so he retorted that he only knew how to read pedantic books and would only end up like his third uncle, with no future.
These words angered Hongmin so much that he never wanted to talk to him again.
Hongchen then secretly ran off to play.
Hongmin originally wanted to tell his mother, but he was angered by Hongchen and wanted to see him get scolded so he could vent his anger, which led to this outcome.
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