Plots both inside and outside
When Emperor Kangxi was about to travel, the imperial family in Beijing fought tooth and nail for a spot on the trip. Those who wanted to show off their talents in front of the emperor naturally put in their best efforts. Everyone knew the emperor was going to make some moves, so who wouldn't want to take this opportunity to earn some fame?
Even those indifferent to fame and fortune wanted to take this opportunity to get some fresh air outside the capital. Bannermen these days seemed to have a glamorous life, but their lives were also miserable, as they were kept captive by the imperial court. Those outside the banners could get a travel permit and perhaps even go on a trip (though such people were few and far between), while those within the banners had to stay cooped up in one place day after day.
So whenever the emperor was about to go on a tour, many people would come and ask relatives and friends to get a spot to go with him and see the world.
Finally, the list was finalized, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Those who could accompany the emperor were naturally overjoyed, and those who couldn't were also relieved. At least they were freed from being pestered by so many people - the number of places was limited, so who could get it?
Now the dust has settled.
Kangxi's original intention was to meet Mongolia, consolidate the foundation of the Manchu-Mongol alliance, and prepare for the complete destruction of Galdan. Bringing his precious grandson with him to show off would be a good way to show that the country would continue to have a successor. Kangxi was not too excited yet. He remembered that the survival rate of children was not high in those days, and the fat boy was not yet one year old and was not suitable for long-distance travel.
Originally, it would have been a good idea to have the Crown Prince and his wife accompany him. The Qing Dynasty had been without a Queen Mother for many years, with only an unreliable old lady to keep things going. It would have been nice to have a Crown Princess come along to practice some diplomacy. Kangxi also wanted Yinreng to go along. After all, it would have been a waste of such a satisfying Crown Prince to not show him off.
Now, a little fat boy, a national treasure, has suddenly appeared, forcibly confining his parents to the Forbidden City, barring them from leaving. The Crown Prince and his wife were nowhere to be found in Kangxi's entourage. Instead, he brought along the eldest, third, fourth, fifth, eighth, and ninth sons, leaving the clumsy seventh son to keep the Crown Prince company. Ugh, there were also a bunch of minors.
Yinreng was scratching his head. On the one hand, Kangxi's decision to keep him while he was away was a sign of trust and affirmation. On the other hand, it also meant that his time with Kangxi was over. Before leaving, Kangxi had a long talk with him. In addition to giving him some instructions, he also told Yinreng, "You'll be back in November."
Will be back in November...
"He won't be back until November!" Yinreng complained to Shujia, "Four months. How many days has Khan Ama spent in Beijing this year?"
Shujia had never seen Yinreng so active. When the two of them were together, Yinreng was not as reserved as he was outside, but he was also quite steady. Now, he seemed as if he had a spring installed in his body.
"Khan Ama had a major event in the first half of the year. In the second half, as you said, we will ally with Mongolia to eliminate Galdan."
"Then there's no need to bring the boss along all the time, right?"
It turns out that this is the source of his dissatisfaction! "You're not just taking him with you, aren't you taking the third and fourth brothers with you as well?"
"The third and fourth brothers won't throw black bricks at me!"
This is indeed a problem. Poor communication can easily lead to misunderstandings. A typical misunderstanding between a father and son might be resolved with a few scoldings from the son and an explanation. A father with a more aggressive temper might just give him a beating and call it a day. But in the case of the Royal Family, a single word from the father could smack his son beyond recognition. The consequences are indeed quite severe.
"Writing more letters is better than nothing. As far as I'm concerned, my sister-in-law is due in September or October. Then... I can ask Khan Ama for permission to ask my brother to come back."
Yinreng said, "It's obvious that the boss can't tolerate me anymore, but the old man still wants to be friendly and respectful to his brothers. I don't know what he's thinking."
"As parents, we always want our children to live in harmony. We should do whatever the old man wants. If it doesn't work, it's not our fault. Khan Ama is the wisest, how could he not see it?"
Yinreng was a little impatient with this topic: "Whether they can see it or not, that's it. It's like this every time. Even if the eldest brother did something wrong, Khan Ama refused to punish him severely and asked me to go easy on him."
Shujia didn't know if Yinreng was upset by her "admonition," so she immediately shut up. But over the past few days, she had at least figured out one thing: whenever Yinzhi was mentioned, he would always feel uncomfortable unless he was in trouble. Perhaps it was both, Shujia concluded. Kangxi couldn't be blamed. Yinreng was his son, and so was Yinzhi. Yinreng and Yinzhi were already enemies, but to Kangxi, they were both sons.
Shujia decided not to continue this topic and would remind Yinreng in two days to think of a way to deal with Yinzhi. After the war, Yinzhi would probably be granted a knighthood. Yinzhi's age was there, and even without this war, he was old enough to be granted a knighthood.
Once granted the title, he would have to move out of the palace. At that point, Yinzhi would have been free to do whatever he wanted, with money, connections, and locations at his disposal, making it very convenient for him to seize power. Meanwhile, Yinreng would have to continue living next door to the Fengxian Hall, southeast of the Qianqing Palace, under the watchful eyes of his ancestors and the emperor. How inconvenient!
Couldn't we take advantage of this time, while Kangxi and Yinzhi are away from the palace, with the first wife about to give birth and Concubine Hui still overseeing palace affairs... to plant someone in the Gandongtou Office? That would give us a source of information. It's a shame she got pregnant so soon after getting married, and then had to be watched closely by all parties to ensure her safety, leaving her no time to build her own power.
Shujia was very disappointed.
Two days later, she finally got the chance to talk to Yinreng about this. After receiving Kangxi's letter describing the scenery along the way, Yinreng returned to Shujia and sighed deeply. He then grabbed his son's chubby feet and made him make two footprints on a piece of paper: "It would be nice if I could leave a few footprints next to Khan Ama now."
Shujia laughed and took the little fat boy aside. She watched Hongxiu fetch some warm water and Fang carefully put a handkerchief on the fat boy's round feet. "If you're not satisfied, take off your socks and print your feet."
Yinreng almost rolled his eyes. Shujia saw that he wanted to say something, so she said to Fang: "Take the prince away. It's time for him to sleep."
After sending the others away, the two continued their previous conversation. Yinreng said, "I've been stuck in the palace for so long that my bones are almost rusted." Shujia said, "I see you're sitting pretty securely. It's because the Khan Ama trusts you and has entrusted the family to you. What else do you have to complain about?"
Yinreng said boredly, "You are a woman, you don't understand this."
Shujia was angry: "Why don't I understand? Isn't it just looking at the four directions of the sky and the four directions of the earth, and feeling that a good man should have ambitions in all directions? I also want to come out and take a look. It's been a long time since I saw the sky without corners..."
The couple sighed, and Shujia said, "It's really boring to talk about this. The child is young now, and I can't leave. Oh, there's something I should discuss with you."
"?" Yinreng looked questioningly.
Shujia said, "I think that historically, princes have generally been granted their first titles around the age of twenty, including uncles and earls. Now that there's a war going on, and next year's major events are set, I'm afraid we'll have to establish mansions and sanctuaries for these brothers... Shouldn't we prepare gifts for their housewarmings to avoid panic later? Establishing a mansion is different from moving to a new palace, and there are also gifts for conferring titles to prepare. We've never prepared such gifts before, so we'd better get started soon."
Yinreng hadn't anticipated this. His fingers, twirling their rosary beads, paused, and he gave Shujia a deep look before averting his eyes. Shujia finished, her heart aching. Her words were based entirely on a combination of spoilers and local common sense. She knew there was a Lama Temple in Beijing, a former residence for the emperor, meaning the princes would eventually move outside the palace. And local common sense told her the princes were approaching the age for nobility. Combining these two factors, she arrived at this conclusion.
If it’s not right, it’s not far off either!
Yinreng reacted immediately and knew that Shujia was right. He thought to himself, she is right and has a far-sighted vision, but... this kind of speculation is actually for the purpose of "preparing the gifts on time and not being in a hurry when the time comes", which really makes His Royal Highness the Crown Prince speechless.
No one in his Chancellery mentioned this to him, and Soetu had never mentioned it either. After all this time, it turned out that the Crown Princess had thought of this because she was preparing for a social event. Yinreng felt both amused and annoyed.
However, Yinreng immediately put aside this embarrassing feeling and quickly thought that the eldest brother was going to move out and who knew where in the world he was plotting some conspiracy. This feeling was too bad! Yinreng began to think that if he didn't have a legitimate reason to stop the conferment of the title, Kangxi would not agree.
Shujia pretended not to notice Yinreng's serious expression and continued, "Well, this matter has to happen outside, and I have to send gifts to several families. I'm afraid they will think too much. If I send gifts, they won't like it, and I have to be on guard. So, the gift has to be more expensive."
Yinreng raised his head suddenly and saw Shujia still nagging: "I think the Imperial Household Department will provide the house and furniture, only the decorations..."
Yinreng raised the corner of his lips. "Then, we have to... send a spy over there?" "We can't just send it openly. Wouldn't it be foolish to tell the boss, 'I'm sending you a spy?'" "No! We have to send it openly. That way, we can attract attention. And with a few real spies working in the background, we can accomplish our goal."
After making up his mind, Yinreng's first instinct was to ask Soetu to handle the matter. Then he thought, this was a serious matter. With Soetu's increasingly dim mind, he wasn't as accurate as the Crown Princess, and he was worried he wouldn't be able to handle it. Who should he ask? The eldest son's title required him to be enfeoffed to a banner, and his subordinates' bondservants would also have to serve in the palace. This was the easiest target. He could find a clever bondservant, gain leverage, and either show favor or bribe him into becoming his own. The question was: which banner would the eldest son be enfeoffed to? Without knowing which banner, he wouldn't know which banner's bondservant would be assigned to the palace, and thus, he wouldn't have any way to place someone there.
Yinreng was stumped.
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While the Crown Prince and his wife were plotting against the eldest prince, the eldest prince was also busy, acting like a filial son in front of Emperor Kangxi and a good brother to his younger brothers. When Emperor Kangxi didn't allow him to be around, he would look for opportunities to talk to the third, fourth, and fifth brothers one by one.
The third brother was both angry and amused. Did the eldest brother think everyone was a fool? Before he was ten, Yinzhi was very grateful for the kindness shown by his two brothers. He was sent out of the palace to be raised, and when he was brought back, he didn't even recognize his biological father, Kangxi. He even cried when Kangxi hugged him. This was the living condition in the palace.
At this time, Yinzhi felt warm at the kindness shown by his peers. Later, as he read more and spent more time in the palace, he gradually came to his senses. Yes, which prince didn't envy and hate the crown prince? However, the crown prince was the future emperor, so there was no need to be so foolish as to oppose him, right?
On his first day back in the palace, Concubine Rong told him, "Just smile when you talk to everyone. Be respectful to the Crown Prince and courteous to the eldest prince. As for what they say, just agree to it, but you don't have to follow it. You don't have to understand what I say now, just remember it and do what I say. One day, you will understand."
Now he felt that he had seen everything clearly, so he was particularly displeased with the eldest son. He heard the eldest prince say to the fifth son: "You are a lucky one, you already have a son. I only hope that I can have a son... Speaking of which, the Imperial Household Department is really a piece of shit. They treat the same grandson of the emperor in different ways..." He was saying that the hundredth day celebration of the fifth prince and the eldest son of the concubine was not as grand as that of the third prince of the Yuqing Palace.
Although the Fifth Prince was less involved in power struggles than his brothers, he wasn't stupid after all. He honestly said, "There's a difference between legitimate and illegitimate children. The country has its own system." That's right. He's a illegitimate son, while the fat boy in Yuqing Palace is a legitimate son. Since childhood, the Crown Prince has had an extra two pounds of meat every day than the eldest prince. Why is he complaining now? If you're dissatisfied, don't blame my son. If it gets out, people will think I'm dissatisfied.
Yinzhi thought to himself, "Old Fifth, are you stupid? It turns out you didn't learn Chinese well enough to understand the meaning!" His eyes darted around.
Yinzhi was getting a little impatient. If he continued talking, he might get dragged into this mess. He also looked around, hoping to change the subject. Coincidentally, Yinzhen was sitting right next to him. He was the most talkative, and his teacher had once said, "A prince should be dignified and not show his emotions on his face."
But at this moment, the fourth brother sat upright, his face as serious as if he was sent by Khan Ama to offer sacrifices, and he said nothing.
"Fuck! Aren't you the talkative one? I'm using your specialty right now, and you're silent again!" The third brother winked so hard that his eyes almost cramped, and he almost got noticed by Yinzhi, but Yinzhen just didn't respond.
Yinzhi: ...If I give you a look again, I'll get a stye!
Yinzhi took the field personally with tears in his eyes and began to show off his knowledge, reciting the etiquette system and what kind of things were used at each level. Finally, he succeeded in making the fifth brother's eyes look like mosquito coils and a cross suddenly appeared on the eldest brother's forehead. This brothers' gathering came to an end.
Yinzhi was quite helpless. Of his brothers, the third brother, in his impression, had always been a bookworm. No matter what you said to him, he would ask, "Where is that from?" How stupid! (Third brother: How else can I clear myself? If I get involved with you, I will offend the crown prince. I am not that unlucky eighth brother who had the misfortune of being raised by your mother.)
As for the fourth child, he had always had a strange temper and was never willing to talk to anyone who didn't agree with him. The fifth child... his language skills... his thinking ability, it's better not to mention it. The eighth child had always been raised by Concubine Hui, so there was no need for him to waste his breath. Swallowing his saliva, looking at the fat face of the ninth child who was almost asleep, Yinzhi finally said, "I still have to go inspect the camp, so I won't sit here for long."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, especially Yinzhi, the more normal person at the party.
It’s too early to be happy!
At night, Yinzhi looked at Yinzhi's smirking face and wished he could beat him until his face was covered in blood!
Kangxi was an emperor who loved family happiness and would gather his sons together whenever he had time. Having just left Beijing, he was in high spirits and invited them all to have a late-night snack and chat.
Among all the sons, besides the crown prince, the one Kangxi was closest to was the eldest prince. Yinzhi also tried his best to show off. Kangxi asked them, "What did you do just now?" He was the first to answer, "We were talking together."
"Oh? What did you say?"
"Speaking of childhood, about my third brother's Haha beads, there was a time..."
"Is it Semin?" Kangxi had a very good memory. He could remember both good and bad things, so one had to be careful when speaking in front of him.
"Exactly. Khan Ama still remembers him? He was born funny, not as handsome as the prince's Hahazhuzi..."
Yinzhi couldn't sit still any longer. Today was definitely his unlucky day, as he was always being dragged into everything. He heard Yinzhi hint that Dezhu was handsome and favored by the Crown Prince, who liked to take him with him wherever he went. "The Crown Prince knows how to discipline people. He's much more pleasing to the eye than my third brother."
Kangxi was pleased that his eldest prince had a good relationship with the crown prince. When he heard Yinzhi praising Yinreng, he also perked up his attention and said with great envy: "Khan Ama is so partial. My son also wants such a neat person to be with him every day..."
Kangxi took notice. After the snack, he dismissed the others and left Yinzhi to talk. Yinzhi would not miss such a good opportunity. When it comes to flirting, it's not about how you say it, but whether the other party is willing to take it seriously. No matter how much he hates it, Yinzhi has to admit that Kangxi attaches great importance to the prince. If the prince makes any bad moves, Kangxi will be the most nervous.
So Yinzhi hinted to Kangxi that the people around Yinreng were indulging Yinreng in every way, and even said: "Those servants are obedient to the prince and no one advises him." After saying that, he looked at Kangxi with an expression of 'Oh, look, I let the cat out of the bag'.
Kangxi immediately conducted a thorough interrogation, one diligent, the other eager to confess. Yinzhi even defended Yinreng, saying, "The Crown Prince is young, after all, and he's envious of young women... It's all the servants' fault. That Eunuch Cui, the one who could have personally provided the ladder when the Crown Prince wanted to climb the wall, had no idea it was dangerous to advise the Crown Prince." Hey, how many of Yuqing Palace's confidants will be killed now? Khan Ama's actions are far better than my own.
Kangxi's brows were furrowed tightly, and Yinzhi's heart was filled with joy. But when Kangxi impatiently dismissed him, he saw Kangxi summoning another person into the tent. He took a closer look and saw Hailason. This was going to be fun!
Yinzhi dared to complain, and he was well prepared. He kept watching the prince, looking for faults in him, but he could not find any. It must be said that the prince's high standards and high treatment were given by Kangxi, and there was no way to argue with him.
The only thing he could make a fuss about was his private life. His temper was bad, and even though the Crown Prince was a bit harsh on his servants, Kangxi didn't mind. Finally, he seemed to be showing some signs of pleasure-seeking, but the Crown Princess arrived and quenched them. If he didn't act now, once the man who married his wife was tamed by her, it would be difficult to act in this regard!
Yinzhi had heard some rumors about Yinreng, but they were just rumors. Rumors don't need hard evidence to support them. Moreover, Yinzhi knew that Yinreng wasn't entirely blameless. He had a bunch of beautiful young men around him, and Eunuch Cui was using the crown prince's title to bully others. These were all proven upon investigation. Given how much Kangxi valued the crown prince (even if he didn't want to admit it), it would have been easy for Kangxi to imagine things, and his impression of Yinreng plummeted. Yinzhi really didn't believe Yinreng could hold it in. His two concubines were effectively exiled, and his first wife was pregnant and had given birth, yet he didn't take on another concubine. He must have had other ways to relieve his stress. Yinzhi smiled obscenely.
As for Hailason, he had been the Minister of the Imperial Household Department since the fifth year of the Kangxi reign. He had worked with Mingzhu for a while and had a good relationship with him. At least he wasn't one of the prince's supporters. If Kangxi questioned him, he would definitely not conceal anything on behalf of the crown prince. Wouldn't that be a lot of fun? How could I have been so stupid before? Why didn't I think of this? Someone with corrupt personal ethics cannot be the crown prince...
That night, Yinzhi was so happy that he could still laugh while biting the quilt when he fell asleep.
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