On weekdays, except for the fifth and ninth princes who were born of the same mother, the other princes also had good intentions towards the eleventh prince. On Yinzhen's sixth birthday, the fourth prince brought a fluffy little rabbit from the cat and dog room and personally designed a few small clothes as a birthday gift for his younger brother.
Just as Yinzhen gave people the impression, he was fair, tender, sweet, soft, innocent and kind, and he was truly a unique seedling in a thousand miles. He grew up in the big dye vat of the royal family, but he remained untainted by the mud, which was simply too rare.
But ever since the truth of the assassination came to light, the brothers' eyes started to look at Yinzhen strangely.
It is said that one should not judge a person by his appearance. Xiao Eleven actually used a bag of chili powder to deal with the malicious assassin!
At first, the brothers were angry and distressed, and one after another asked about his well-being. Some volunteered to arrest Longkodo, and some secretly swore that they would wipe out the Tiandihui in the future to avenge Xiaoyi.
Then, rumors were more ferocious than tigers. Someone spread the news, and they swore as if they had seen it with their own eyes, saying that the traitor Longkodo really underestimated the eleventh prince.
The eleventh prince had a pair of eyes that could distinguish loyalty from treachery. He only needed to glare at them and a large number of assassins would fall to the ground. He only used chili powder because he carried it with him as a personal preference and didn't want to see their dirty eyes.
No matter how slow-witted Yinzhen was, he gradually discovered that the palace servants around him looked at him with deep awe in their eyes.
One day, when he was walking on the palace road, he saw a young eunuch acting suspiciously. He only looked at him with his eyes wide open. Unexpectedly, the young eunuch knelt down with a plop, holding up the package in his hand, and cried bitterly: "Eleventh Prince, please spare my life! I was blinded by greed and stole the master's gold hairpin and sold it. I know I was wrong, please spare my life, Eleventh Prince!"
Yinzhen: “…”
With the rafters coming out, people believed the rumors even more. Even the Ninth Prince began to ponder. During the meal, he kept staring at his younger brother's eyes, then nudged the Tenth Prince and whispered worriedly, "I know that Little Eleven is very insightful, but there is also a saying that goes, 'Extreme wisdom leads to harm. Could it be that in his previous life, he saw through the loyalty and treachery of human hearts and couldn't stand the filth of the world, so God wanted to take back my brother?"
The Tenth Prince was about to refute after hearing this, but the more he thought about it, the more he felt it made sense. He immediately became serious in his attitude towards Yinzhen and spoke carefully.
For example, originally: "What's so good about this book? Come on, Brother Shi will take you to catch crickets."
Now he changed his tone: "Reading is good! I never get tired of reading books by sages, and Brother Shi also likes them. Come, let's read together..."
I tried my best to avoid being a dirty person, with pepper powder sprinkled on my eyes, and I was just one step away from blurting out the word "you".
Yinzhen was completely confused, and suddenly, a wave of gift-giving swept the palace.
The reason was that the prince had just got two imperial chefs, who were very good at cooking Sichuan and Hunan dishes, and they were sent to the kitchen of Qianxi Wusuo. The eldest prince was not to be outdone, so he asked someone to buy a cart of peppers, grind them into powder, put them in a small brocade bag, and put 180 of them in it and gave them to the eleventh brother, saying that one was for seasoning and the other was for playing with.
The elder brothers had spoken, so the younger brothers naturally couldn't fall behind. The third brother improvised a picture of a pepper harvest, the fourth brother gave a pepper jade carving, and then there was a screen embroidered with peppers, a pepper-shaped pillow...
Yinzhen finally couldn't stand it anymore, sobbing and looking for the emperor's father and Yikun Palace's mother, wiping away tears, "I love the new and hate the old, hiccups, I don't like chili anymore."
Yunxiu had a hard time trying to hold back her laughter, but Kangxi was extremely distressed. It would have been fine with the other sons, but the eldest son was really outrageous, so he summoned the eldest prince and scolded him, and asked the imperial kitchen to make the "red pill" invented by Concubine Yi for him to eat.
The eldest prince could not disobey the emperor's order, so he carefully tasted it. An indescribable feeling rushed from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, and his face immediately turned red and green, a variety of colors.
"Emperor... clam... tea..."
This is not the end yet, the heavy responsibility of refuting the rumors falls firmly on him.
After returning to the prince's residence, the first wife saw his dazed look and laughed angrily: "You didn't even discuss the gift with me. You even bought a whole cart of it. Why didn't you keep it for yourself? Even bathing is fine!"
After saying that, he sneered, slammed the curtain and went into the inner room.
On the other side, the prince sighed and said to his wife, "With his condition, our emperor father put him in the vanguard army during the recent expedition to Junggar and asked Lord Yu to take good care of him." It's good that he was not captured alive.
Jingchu said gently: "Brother is proficient in martial arts, so it is natural for the emperor to have high expectations of him."
The emperor had crushed his ambition to seize the throne, so he could use him with confidence and even entrust him with his long-lost trust. This was also a blessing in disguise.
Thinking of this, Jingchu's voice became gentler: "Didn't you also want to give me chili powder? But you didn't have the courage to buy a whole truckload. If I hadn't stopped you, you would have been scolded today..."
The prince coughed and stopped talking.
******
The rebellion slowly came to an end. Longkodo was sentenced to death by slicing, Soetu and several remnants of the Tiandihui were beheaded in the autumn, and the accomplice Gelfen and his accomplices were convicted with them.
The rest of the male members and their families were exiled to Ningguta, and the ministers who were involved with Suo Etu were demoted or imprisoned. The Suo Party that used to compete with Mingzhu disappeared, and the most powerful branch of the Hesheli clan no longer existed. One urgent imperial edict after another was sent to the Northwest Camp. The court had been changing recently, but it did not affect the prince at all.
The ministers vaguely sensed that His Majesty did not seem to have any estrangement with the Crown Prince. The royalists were relieved at once, after all, only when the crown prince was secure could the Qing Dynasty be secure.
It's not like no one had thought about it. Mingzhu and other officials still had their hopes on the eldest prince, and they were keenly aware that the prince was in an unprecedented period of weakness.
Even though the prince had married and participated in government affairs, they had never heard of him having close contacts with any important officials.
In addition to assisting the six ministries and completing tasks assigned by the emperor, the prince would stay in Yuqing Palace or spend time with his brothers whenever he had free time. The only real power was the Zhanshi Mansion, but most of the people in the Zhanshi Mansion were great scholars or young officials of the fifth or sixth rank. What use was there
They are ready to make a move.
But before he could make any arrangements, Kangxi selected the sons of officials from various families to serve the prince, both officials and civilians, under the pretext of training their abilities. The Manchu Eight Banners included the Fucha family, the Niuhuru family, and even the Nara family, and the Han ministers and Han army banners were no exception.
This is good. Mingzhu almost vomited blood. The emperor's intention was clear, how could she fight back
It was a warning, but also a way out for the Nara family. If they didn't know what was good for them, they would end up like Suo Etu!
Although she was unwilling, Mingzhu sighed deeply, but she had to be grateful for the emperor's kindness.
Having been idle at home for a long time, Kangxi recently awarded him a sinecure. Glancing at the palace from a distance, Mingzhu shook his head and finally said, "Looking at the prince's behavior... he has seen the 'degree' of being the crown prince. The disciple is worse than the master, but the eldest prince is far inferior."
What followed was the urgent news that the leader of the Dzungar Khanate in western Desert was extremely rampant and had sent troops to wipe out a small tribe protected by the imperial court. Chaos had already occurred on the northwestern border and the army’s expedition was imminent.
At this critical juncture, the emperor personally led the army to destroy Galdan, and left the crown prince in the capital to supervise the country.
…
The imperial court and the imperial harem were in an uproar. Since ancient times, the emperor did not sit in the hall, but because of Kangxi's great majesty, the letters of advice and remonstrance came like snowflakes, and the words used were all euphemistic.
The concubines in the harem were led by Concubine Rong, who asked to see the Grand Empress Dowager of the Cining Palace and the Ningshou Palace. The Empress Dowagers never intervened in matters, and the Grand Empress Dowager was old, so she became tired after listening to a few words, waved her hand and asked them to leave, saying that she knew what was going on.
The concubine had no choice but to bow and leave.
The old ancestor has always been unable to get over the emperor. When they had disagreements on the Three Feudatories, only the emperor insisted on reducing the feudal system, and the old ancestor finally compromised. They were like this when they were young and energetic, and there was no reason to stop them now. They looked at each other and went to the Yikun Palace together.
Yunxiu didn't pay her respects today, and she was sleeping soundly when she heard a series of disturbing reports. She raised her eyelids and frowned, saying, "Reply to them truthfully... Just say that I haven't gotten up yet and I won't see you."
Ruizhu whispered, "Your Highness, Concubine Rong is here too."
Concubine Rong lived in seclusion, devoted herself to worshipping Buddha, and never liked to get involved in these "mundane affairs". Yun Xiu narrowed her eyes and suddenly became sober.
Yes, the Third Prince is still old enough to study in the study room, and it is not reasonable for him to go with the army. If he leads the army in person, the Emperor will see the bravery of the First Prince, and will be even more concerned about the hard work of the Crown Prince as the Regent. As for her Yinzhi, there will be no benefit at all.
Are you upset and losing your temper
She smiled and said, "Wash and change clothes."
The cup of tea heated up and then cooled down, and Concubine Yi finally arrived late.
Anpin and the others were a little agitated, but Rongfei showed no impatience at all and said kindly, "I pay my respects to the Imperial Concubine Yi."
"No need to be polite, I just got up late." Yun Xiu also smiled warmly and exchanged a few words with him, "I wonder what you want to see me about?"
Rong Fei whispered softly about the emperor's personal expedition: "Now only your majesty can persuade the emperor, I dare to ask your majesty..."
Before she finished her words, Yun Xiu interrupted her with a raised eyebrow.
"I have never been involved in government affairs. You can go to the Qianqing Palace to see the emperor in person. If someone scolds me for being a hen crowing at dawn again, will you explain it for me?":,,.