Chapter 28

  The sky had not yet a thread of bright color, the city was still in half asleep, the main hall of the Palace of Heavenly Purity was already packed with officials. Today's morning court, the emperor's mood seemed to be bad, so even if there were things to report, the officials would carefully consider them before reporting. But unexpectedly, the emperor's expression looked worse and worse.

  Kangxi originally waited to see Yu Chenglong's memorial about Guo Shilong, but unexpectedly Yu Chenglong didn't even submit it. None of the officials in the court mentioned Guo Shilong's case, nor did anyone speak up for Yin Zhen. The reports that came in were all trivial matters. If no one in the court dared to oppose corrupt officials, what kind of court would this be? In comparison, Yin Zhen's character suddenly became extremely valuable. The emperor had been holding back his temper all morning and finally lost it.

  "These are all trivial matters that don't affect the overall situation, what's the point of bringing them up to me? Guo Shilong obviously has some problems, yet you people are all rushing to defend him and not a single one of you is speaking out! What's the use of having you big ministers if you're not even as useful as one of my sons?"

  Kangxi was very temperamental, the more the courtiers were like this, the more Kangxi wanted to be that way, they didn't participate in Guang Shilong's affairs, but Kangxi insisted on investigating Guang Shilong, and once he started, he would not let up!

  "Bring out the Fourth Prince from the Imperial Clan Court! The case of Guo Shilong will be handled by him! I merely praised Guo Shilong a few times, if he is all talk and no action, I will severely punish him!"

  Cheng Long was still running around below coordinating with officials, and didn't expect that before he could make another report, the Emperor had already agreed to investigate Guo Shi-long.

  The emperor's temper is increasingly unpredictable, and all people can do is loudly proclaim the emperor's wisdom.

  After the morning court, Kangxi detained the Crown Prince for a while. In the Xiweng Pavilion, Kangxi sat on the kang and flipped through the memorials, asking the Crown Prince who was standing beside him: "What do you think about Yin Zhen's case?"

  The Emperor praised Yongzheng in front of the heavy ministers, and Yongzheng was already halfway through his first major achievement. The Crown Prince couldn't help but feel a certain taste in his heart, and he carefully said: "After all, it was a bit rash, there was no evidence to dare speak out, fortunately, the Holy Father is wise."

  Kangxi looked at the crown prince, and after a while handed him a memorial: "Take a look, this is a memorial that Yin Zhen sent later. He didn't speak nonsense."

  The crown prince hastily took it in his hands, only glanced at it roughly and was already speechless, his expression also becoming awkward. Not only was there evidence, but it had been carefully prepared as well. Then the words he said just now were actually slapping himself in the face.

  "Yongzheng has always been on good terms with you, I originally wanted to release him yesterday, but I also want to temper him a bit more. After my hundred years are over, he will be your sharp sword. Treat him well now, this is the time for you to show him kindness."

  The crown prince was taken aback and hastily knelt down: "May His Majesty live a long life of one hundred years."

  Kangxi smiled: "Don't talk about these empty things, just remember what I said and go busy yourself."

  "Yes, I will withdraw."

  The Crown Prince left the Qianqing Palace, on one hand happy for Kangxi's future plans, on the other hand thinking deeply. Was the memorial sent by Yongzheng later the same as the one given to the Emperor when Empress Dowager Chongqing saw him yesterday? Did the Emperor say he wanted to pardon Yongzheng yesterday because of this Empress Dowager?

  After staying in the Zongren Mansion for two days, Yongzheng's spirit was still good. His head and face were clean-shaven, and he wore a dark blue long shirt with a subtle pattern. He looked somewhat slender and elegant. When he saw Quan Pei, he revealed a warm smile and walked forward to hold her hand: "Father won't trouble you anymore."

  Wei Ting smiled shallowly: "I didn't do anything."

  Behind them, three concubines followed, surrounding Yongzheng as he entered the upper house. The hot water for washing had been prepared earlier, and Song Shi and Nalan Mingyue attended to Yongzheng's ablutions and change of clothes. Li Shi waited outside with Quan Pei and others. When Yongzheng came out, he changed into casual home attire, and it was also time for lunch. They sat together to eat, still served by Nalan Mingyue and Song Shi. Li Shi, being pregnant, had the privilege of sitting at a small table on the side, eating with them.

  The concubines in the upper house always had their heads bowed and didn't dare to speak loudly, but Nalan Mingyue was not used to it and almost felt suffocated. Occasionally, she would cast her clear and lively gaze at Yongzheng, but he was either eating or looking at Empress Fu, seemingly forgetting the existence of the concubines. Her heart tightened, and the chopsticks that were picking up food poked a piece of goose meat out of the plate, something that had never happened before. She herself was startled: "It's all the fault of these slaves!"

  Yin Zhen continued eating, Quan Pei put down her chopsticks and looked up at Nalan Mingyue: "You can go down with Song Shi to eat on your own, no need to serve here."

  Song Shi had already made a bow and was slowly backing away, while Nalan Mingyue was hesitant to speak up and could only follow suit with a gloomy expression. In the courtyard, they ran into Song Shi, who kindly offered some advice to Nalan Mingyue: "Madam is never one to arbitrarily blame others, as long as you don't make mistakes or violate etiquette, she will always be tolerant of us. She just likes cleanliness and dislikes noise, so sister, just pay attention to this."

  Song Shi was kind, but Nalan Mingyue no longer believed the words of the people in this courtyard. They all looked gentle on the surface, but were actually waiting to see her make a fool of herself. She smiled sweetly and grasped Song Shi's arm: "It's still sister who is good, if you hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known either."

  Song Shi just wanted to let Quan Pei know that she was a decent and quiet person, as for whether Nalan Mingyue believed her or not, or whether she was grateful or not, it wasn't something she cared about. She just smiled faintly: "I'll go take a look at the back garden." And then parted ways with Nalan Mingyue.

  As soon as Nalan Mingyue mentioned the big sister living in the side house, she couldn't help but think of Wu Ruoxue who was about to enter the mansion. The front houses were all filled up, and after entering, Wu Ruoxue could only live in the side house at the back, where except for a big sister, everyone else was a servant. Only then did a hint of a smile appear on her lips, and her superior status over Wu Ruoxue had been determined from the very beginning.

  Only Li remained, and she hastily ate a few mouthfuls before getting up to leave. Yongzheng looked her up and down and asked a few questions: "How has your body been the past two days?"

  Although Li was delighted in her heart, she still spoke cautiously: "The mistress is very considerate of me, I'm doing well."

  Yin Zhen nodded slightly and waved his hand for her to leave.

  Only Yongzheng and Quan Pei were left in the house, and Yongzheng's expression was no longer as cold as when outsiders were present. It seemed that he had buried all his thoughts deep in his heart, and he rinsed his mouth and sat down with Quan Pei on the couch to drink tea and digest their food. Unconsciously, they started talking about what had happened over the past few days.

  "As soon as I came out of the Zongren House, everyone knew."

  "What does Grandfather know?"

  "You had Mr. Qing stop Yu Chenglong and also went to your father-in-law's house, not even giving me a chance to plead on their behalf, then you personally submitted the memorial to the Emperor."

  "From what I can gather, it seems like you're up to no good?"

  Yin Zan smiled and pulled Quan Pei's hand: "Tell me what you think, why didn't you ask them to plead for me, but the Emperor not only released me, but also asked me to investigate Guo Shi Long?"

  Quan Pei half-reclined on the embroidered pillow with peony patterns: "The Emperor dislikes it when others oppose him strongly, so even if he knows that Guo Shilong is guilty, but someone has just praised him and yet there are people who impeach him, he will definitely be angry. But if all of you officials do not impeach such a guilty official, what do you think the Emperor's thoughts would be?"

  "The Emperor naturally was also anxious, no one dared to impeach the guilty minister, would the Great Qing not be in chaos?"

  "So, at this time, the emperor became even more precious, and when he got angry, not only did he let me go, but also ordered me to investigate Guo Shilong, saying that if there was any crime, he would not tolerate it."

  Quan Pei smiled and nodded at Yongzheng's shoulder, Yongzheng smiled and lay down beside Quan Pei: "You say how you're so smart?" He said in a low voice again: "Even the Emperor Father is calculated."

  "It just so happens."

  Is there such a coincidence?

  It wasn't long before Yongzheng fell asleep, his breathing slowing down. Wei Bao covered him with a quilt and, without realizing it, began to pat his back gently, as if coaxing a child to sleep. The weather was gradually turning cold, and the windows were pasted with thick paper, making it difficult to see outside clearly. But one could imagine that autumn was fading away, and winter's chill was slowly approaching...

  The Empress Dowager was getting on in years, and the warm pavilion of Cining Palace had already lit up the hot kang. The palace maid knelt on the footstool to massage the Empress Dowager's legs, who leaned against the headrest and spoke with Yang Qing: "......Take advantage of the warm weather to set up a play in Shufangzhai, invite those imperial consorts and noblewomen to watch the lively show. Once it snows and the weather gets cold, I won't like going out for walks anymore."

  "I understand, I'll start making arrangements in two days."

  Yang Qing also understood that Empress Dowager was determined to kill Duke Pei.

  The empress dowager seemed to think of something, and smiled with narrowed eyes: "My ninth princess has made so many new-style pastries for me, you also tell the ninth princess that next time make some for everyone to try, it's good to let others know my ninth daughter is good."

  The empress dowager was really fond of the ninth princess, and even when watching a play, she didn't forget to praise the ninth princess.

  He hastily responded with a yes and secretly thought about how he could make the Ninth Princess happy.

  The day Wu Ruoxi entered the house, the weather was not bad, but because of Guo Shilong's case, he seemed busy and careless. He didn't return to the courtyard until late afternoon, when he hastily changed into a festive outfit. His brothers had also arrived, bringing many gifts from others to celebrate.

  Once he had real power, the wind direction below also changed, fearing being implicated, those who saw that Yongzheng had a future all took the opportunity to curry favor with him.

  Yin Zheng's face showed a difficult expression, and the eldest brother smiled and said: "Don't make it hard for us brothers to do things. The lower officials still think that our relationship as brothers is not good, and they laugh at us for not being able to do such small things?"

  Yin Zhen was somewhat hesitant, and Su Peisheng stepped forward and asked: "Madam, are these things also registered and recorded?"

  Register and make a record, so that there will be an opportunity to return it later, which is equivalent to two not owing each other. He then said to the eldest brother: "Trouble big brother, but in the future, don't take these people with you again. It's just a princess entering the door, really...".

  "Ha! You're being too cautious and timid. Later on, you'll come to know that such things are numerous!"

  When you really hold power and have a say in things, there are still many people who will flatter you, but this is just the beginning...