Chapter 102
When Kangxi saw the prince, he still did not look happy, but at least he finished the meal peacefully.
After dinner, Yinzuo followed the prince back to his courtyard.
When he saw the bruises on the prince's knees, Yinzuo took a breath in disapproval and said, "Brother Prince, aren't you asking for trouble?"
The prince himself did not think that he had done anything stupid. He just kept talking about that and he had to insist on his own opinion.
The prince said: "I will make my attitude clear to the Emperor."
Yinzuo: "Is this how you express your attitude? Don't your legs hurt?"
Seeing Yinzuo frowning, the prince smiled and said, "Thank you, Sixth Brother. Otherwise, I might still be kneeling now."
Yinzuo snorted and said, "You still kneel even though you know it."
Yinzuo looked over at the crown prince and said, "I am just trying to persuade him and give the emperor a way out."
The prince gave Yinzuo another grateful smile and said, "I didn't mean to make the emperor angry. Fortunately, you helped to mediate. The emperor looked much calmer."
Yinzuo: "It's nothing." He touched his nose guiltily, his eyes wandered for a moment, and said: "I was just talking about Prince Brother, ahem, I seem to have lost track of what I was saying to the Emperor."
The prince looked puzzled.
Yinzuo's anger faded, and he said, "When the Emperor scolded you for being ignorant, I told you that the Crown Prince was well raised by the Emperor, so he had confidence and grew up smoothly. It's normal for such children to be aggressive and courageous."
"It's not good to be raised to be timid."
"Then the Emperor said that he would not spoil you anymore and that the prince should not have things go his way too easily."
"Said you should grow up."
Prince: “…”
Yin Zuo said carefully: "It doesn't sound good to me. I don't feel good. Brother Crown Prince, have I harmed you?"
The prince took a breath, adjusted his expression, and said to Yinzuo in a reassuring voice, "It's okay."
"The Emperor is not someone who can be influenced by a few words. This has nothing to do with you."
Yinzuo diligently rubbed medicine on the prince.
The prince's medicine has not yet been administered, and the eldest prince and the eighth prince come to visit.
The prince no longer cared about the medicine he was taking. He rolled down his trouser legs and straightened his robe. In a moment, he turned into the dignified and graceful Crown Prince again.
There was no sign of anything unusual even in the way he walked. Yinzuo looked at the prince's knees, worried that the ointment on his legs had stuck to his clothes.
The eldest prince and the eighth prince came to visit and explained that they did not know that the prince was punished to kneel, otherwise they would have gone to plead with the emperor.
The prince did not explain that it was not Kangxi who punished him to kneel, but that he knelt on his own initiative. He just smiled falsely, criticizing the two in his heart and thinking that it would be better if he continued to pretend that he didn't know.
It would be strange if the eldest brother would be kind enough to plead for him, and it's good enough that he doesn't add fuel to the fire. As for the smiling fox, the eighth brother is extremely cunning and always follows behind the eldest brother and never stands out.
The prince sat down calmly, as if nothing had happened, and said, "I just knelt for a while, it's okay, it doesn't matter."
The Eighth Prince smiled and said, "The Crown Prince is fine, I am relieved."
The eldest prince said, "Only you, the Crown Prince, can always contradict our Emperor Father, and you're fine after doing so." When the eldest prince said this, he couldn't help but reveal a sour tone in his voice.
The eldest prince looked at Yinzuo as he spoke. He knew that this was Yinzuo's plea, which made the eldest prince sigh in his heart.
After so many years, there is no true brotherly friendship between the eldest prince and the crown prince. Instead, there are frequent competitions in the court. Of course, the crown prince has a higher status, and the eldest prince is in a weaker position.
However, the eldest prince had also been accumulating strength, especially during his two expeditions. Many military generals and officials had a good impression of this brave and combative eldest prince.
In the past two years, the rift and dispute between Kangxi and the crown prince have given encouragement to the eldest prince's faction.
So deep down, the eldest prince naturally wants the quarrel between the crown prince and Kangxi to be as intense as possible.
Therefore, it is inevitable that the eldest prince would have complicated feelings when facing Yinzuo.
Not only the eldest prince, but also the eighth prince was the same, but he was more impressed by Yinzuo's influence on Kangxi.
The prince was not in the mood to face the Eldest Prince and the Eighth Prince who were insincere at the moment. Without saying a few words, he ordered them to leave.
Yinzuo also came out with the two of them.
After coming out, the eldest prince said to Yinzuo: "You are not afraid of our emperor. He is angry and you dare to rush into the muzzle of a gun."
"Neither you nor the prince are afraid."
However, it is a good thing that the prince is not afraid. If he is so arrogant, he will fall sooner or later.
Yinzuo turned his head and looked at the eldest prince: "If you make the emperor angry, I will also help you to talk to the emperor."
However, Yinzuo shook his head and said, "But it's better not to make the emperor angry. Otherwise, it will be very difficult for the emperor if so many sons piss him off."
The eldest prince sneered: "Except for the prince, oh, yes, and you, there are few who dare to seduce my father."
Yin Zuo: "This kind of angry thing is not a good thing. Do you want to be sour too, big brother?"
The Eighth Prince laughed aside.
.
Yinzuo looked for Kangxi twice, and Kangxi finally made time to accept Yinzuo's invitation to go out for fun.
The Crown Prince, the eldest prince and the eighth prince were also there.
Yinzuo said: "We haven't been out together for a long time. Now that we are out, let's change our minds. Today we just want to eat, drink and have fun."
Drink tea, listen to books, listen to Yangzhou folk songs, go boating on the lake, enjoy the scenery and chat, and cultivate family feelings.
Anyway, while we were having fun, no one talked about anything unhappy.
After walking around outside for a whole day, the sky was not nice at the end and it started to drizzle. However, Yangzhou in the drizzle is also a unique scenery.
The family returned happily, and Yinzuo even said to Kangxi: "Father, you don't know, I was worried that you would arrange a diary for us to see in Yangzhou for one day."
Kangxi gave him a cold look.
Yinzuo ignored Kangxi's rolling eyes and said happily, "Hey, the emperor is not that bad."
Kangxi was very angry with this kid. Where did he come up with the conclusion that he was too much? Kangxi didn't think he was too much towards the crown prince and the others, and even less towards Yinzuo.
Kangxi said to Yinzuo: "If you continue talking, I think you want me to make another order now."
Yinzuo clapped his lips.
Today, when they went out to play, the prince also talked to Kangxi and, at Yinzo's suggestion, bought some snacks for Kangxi, which Kangxi also tried out of respect.
It seemed that the father and son had a quarrel, but now they are back to normal.
Yinzuo also felt relieved.
As for what Kangxi had said at the beginning about the bad effects of letting the prince grow up, Yinzuo was lucky enough to think that maybe it was just a casual remark.
The dispute between the crown prince and Kangxi seemed to have passed peacefully.
But in fact, this is not the case. The dispute a few days ago itself was not a big deal, but the key is that Kangxi did not deliberately conceal it.
The prince's sharpness touched the interests of a large number of people. Behind every salt merchant and corrupt official there was more than one of them, and the branches and limbs spread out, forming a big network.
But not all of these people were afraid of the prince, and didn't the prince still have Kangxi above him? Everyone was more concerned about Kangxi's attitude. Kangxi's rebuke of the prince and Kangxi's dissatisfaction with the prince would give them some kind of signal.
So, the prince, who had had a basically smooth life since childhood, received many memorials impeaching him, as many as snowflakes.
The prince's staff saw this and couldn't help but feel regretful. They said to the prince, "Perhaps your Highness really acted too radically this time."
The prince said: "Don't you know that I will offend many people?"
As he spoke, he lowered his voice, frowned, and said, "But I still didn't expect it to be so shocking."
But the prince still insisted that this was not a dinner party, and it certainly could not be a one-size-fits-all situation. As the crown prince, he had a strong sense of ownership of the country, and he could not bear to see such a great country being eaten away by so many parasites.
The more he realizes that those interest groups are deeply rooted, the more the prince, who has not yet been beaten by society, feels that if drastic measures had been taken earlier, the current dire situation would not have occurred.
Another aide said worriedly, "Although they are all despicable villains, many ants can kill an elephant. This time, too many people will be dissatisfied with Your Highness." If His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wants to expose other people's faults, those people will dare to overthrow the Crown Prince's honorable position.
The first scholar-like man in blue clothes managed to calm down and said, "It mainly depends on the emperor's wisdom. As long as the emperor knows that the crown prince is loyal to the Qing Dynasty, and the others are just greedy villains who framed the crown prince, that is enough."
Another aide with a sad face said: "The key is that the emperor's attitude is ambiguous." This is the most important point. If the emperor clearly supports protecting the prince, the current situation would never occur.
The man in blue who looked like a scholar said, "Now, Your Highness must not change your attitude, otherwise it will seem like you are afraid of them." He lost his dignity and composure.
As they continued to move south, the memorials impeaching the prince continued.
Even Yinzuo, who didn't care about state affairs, knew that the prince had been impeached by many people.
The scenery by the river was not very good. Yinzuo hung his head and went back to the cabin to look for the prince. He felt guilty. He asked the prince, "Brother Prince, have you been bullied by so many people?"
The prince said it lightly: "If you want to do something, you are bound to offend people."
Yin Zuo said carefully: "Isn't the Emperor's father protecting the Crown Prince?"
"Is this what the Emperor said about letting the Crown Prince grow up?"
The prince paused. He had been worrying about the matter itself these days, as well as the fact that the emperor's father was expressing his dissatisfaction with him, which made him anxious and depressed. He did not think of what he had heard before.
In fact, if the emperor just wanted to temper him, he would feel better.
But the prince was not sure, and he was worried that the emperor was really dissatisfied with him and did not hide it to the outside world.
As soon as the Emperor's attitude changed, he subtly felt the difference in his situation in just ten days. His glory as the prince was completely based on the Emperor's appreciation.
The prince has never understood as clearly as he has in recent days that as long as his royal father changes his attitude, his current glory and power are actually nothing but castles in the air. This actually makes the prince frustrated and unwilling.
Yin Zuo asked the prince worriedly, "Is my brother the prince okay?"
Then he complained, "He's still growing. I think he's getting thinner. I asked the people around the prince and they said that the prince has lost his appetite."
The prince came back to his senses and said, "It's okay, I can still handle it."
(End of this chapter)
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