Chapter 188 Taking advantage of the opportunity
Jiu Beile was an outlier among the princes. While others were trying their best to get jobs, he was making money. Others' retainers were students taking the imperial examinations, but his retainers were basically shopkeepers who were very good at doing business.

Shen Ming claimed to be the Ninth Prince's man, but Kangxi was not angry. He still remembered that the sister that Huo Da Ying had always been thinking about was once the Ninth Prince's concubine. Now another of the Ninth Prince's followers had appeared, which was "normal".

"Call the Ninth Prince." Kangxi did not ask any further questions.

Yinzhen came very quickly. He looked hurried. If you looked closely, you could see that the buttons on his clothes were all wrongly fastened. "I, your son, pay my respects to the Emperor. I wonder why the Emperor called me here so late at night?"

"Do you know this person?" Kangxi motioned to Liang Jiugong to bring him a stool. Lao Jiu had been in poor health since his serious illness and looked even thinner than himself.

Yinzhen sat on one-third of the stool and took a closer look at the kneeling man: "In reply to your Majesty, this man looks familiar to me. He seems to be the owner of a store. Or maybe I made a mistake."

"You are not mistaken. His name is Shen Ming. He disguised himself as a eunuch in the middle of the night today and conspired with Huo to kill me. Are you aware of this?"

Yinzhen was stunned by these straightforward words. After a while, he rolled off the stool and knelt down: "Father, I am innocent."

"I admit that I helped send Miss Huo to the palace. You must have known that her sister unfortunately passed away. The only thing she missed before she died was her sister. In order to let Ying'er go with peace of mind, I met Miss Huo's request."

"Since Huo agreed to enter the palace, I have not contacted her again. This can all be checked, Father Royal."

"As for Shen Ming, I really don't have much impression of him. Father Royal, you know that I like doing business and I have at least 800 shop owners under my command. He is using my name to frame me, Father Royal!"

"Cough, cough, cough!" When he got emotional, Yinzhen kept coughing, and finally he spat out a mouthful of blood and fainted at Kangxi's feet.

"Ninth Brother!" Kangxi did not expect that his son's health was so poor, so he quickly summoned the imperial physician.

The imperial physicians of the Imperial Medical Bureau originally thought they could sleep well tonight, but they were invited to the Yangxin Palace again. When they saw that they were there to treat the Ninth Prince, they felt relieved.

When the imperial physician took the patient's pulse, his eyelids twitched. They looked at each other and felt terrible.

It was obvious that the Ninth Prince's body had been severely damaged and he was seriously deficient. They had just come into contact with the medicine that could cause this disease, which was the opium paste that Kangxi could not quit taking now.

They were worrying about how to tell Kangxi when Yinzhen woke up. He grabbed the hand of a nearby imperial physician and held it tightly. He used all his strength to make a sound from his throat: "If you don't want to die, shut up!"

After saying this, Yinzhen fell into coma again.

The imperial doctors reached a consensus in a short period of time that the Ninth Prince's illness must be kept secret. Even if they lost their lives, they would still have a large family standing behind them.

Besides, the Ninth Prince's illness had always been treated by the Imperial Hospital, although Doctor Jiang had always prescribed medicine himself and never asked anyone else to do it. But the Imperial Hospital would rise and fall together, and if the Emperor thought that they knew about it but didn't report it, or even deliberately concealed it, they would all have to die.

After all, the emperor's mood has been too unstable recently.

******
During the time when Yinzhen fainted, the spy sent by Kangxi to investigate the Huo sisters and Shen Ming came back. He looked at the thin pieces of paper, the words on which he had memorized by heart. His breathing gradually became heavier and his eyes closed, as if he was holding back something.

But he really couldn't help it. With a flick of his sleeve, Kangxi knocked over the neatly arranged memorials, writing materials, ink and tea on the table, and all of them mixed together and overturned on the ground.

Kangxi tore up the paper in his hand and said, "Liang Jiugong, lock up these two people in the Ministry of Punishment and make them speak. Also, lock up the eighth brother in the Ministry of Clan Affairs and have Prince Yu and Prince Yong guard him. He will be tried again on another day!" After not resting for a whole night, Kangxi's spirit had reached its limit. He forced himself to suppress the urge to slaughter everyone in the Hall of Mental Cultivation and canceled the next day's morning court, wanting to rest as soon as possible to regain his sanity.

But the more people want to sleep, the more awake they become. Veins bulged on Kangxi's forehead, and every time he closed his eyes he would think of what the spies had found out, and he felt extremely irritated.

"Liang Jiugong, pass on my decree. Concubine Liang is of humble birth, without moral integrity and incompetence. She shall be stripped of her title and demoted to the rank of a concubine." Kangxi directed his anger towards the harem, and only then did he feel better.

After reciting a thousand numbers in his mind, Kangxi stood up again and said, "Liang Jiugong, summon the crown prince and Hongzhao to the audience!"

"Yes." Liang Jiugong remained in a state of high tension the whole night. He didn't know what the spies had found out, but seeing that the Ninth Prince was safe and sound, the Eighth Prince was arrested, and Concubine Liang was demoted, it seemed that the Emperor had almost convicted the Eighth Prince without even a trial.

An angry emperor is already difficult to serve, let alone an angry emperor whose emotions are extremely unstable due to the use of drugs to control his emotions.

The prince was not asleep at this time. After all, there was such a big commotion in the Yangxin Palace and he was also living in the palace. If he was unaware of anything, then he, the prince, could be dismissed directly.

He didn't expect that one of his brothers was so cruel that he would directly attack the emperor, but this was a great opportunity for him.

Thinking about what Lin said about the "second time the crown prince was deposed", Yinreng's heartbeat quickened sharply, and it seemed as if two paths appeared before him.

One leads to the emperor's throne, and the other leads to a bottomless abyss.

Even a fool would know how to choose. The prince clenched his fists and made up his mind.

Hong Zhao was naturally still asleep at this time. The prince picked up his son and went to the Yangxin Palace as ordered.

He seemed not to notice the scar on Liang Jiugong's forehead. "Eunuch Liang, I wonder why the emperor wants to see Hongzhao. He takes a lot of naps and has never woken up at this time. I didn't dare to wake him up, for fear that the child's crying would upset the emperor."

"Your Highness, it is best to be careful." Liang Jiugong didn't know what the emperor was thinking, so he just added a few words.

Kangxi looked at his grandson who was sleeping soundly, and his mood improved a lot. He sat in front of the chess and card and pinched a black piece: "I suddenly feel addicted to chess. Come and play a game with me."

"Your son obeys your command." The prince placed Hongzhao next to the two of them, covered him with a small quilt, and then held the white pieces and waited for Kangxi to make his move.

"Looking at how Hongzhao has grown up, I really feel old." Kangxi sighed, "The children have grown up and are beginning to take my place."

The prince looked at the emperor with some doubts: "Father, you are in your prime and you can still watch Hong Zhao get married and have children. I am willing to be the prince for another 20 years."

"Hahaha." Kangxi laughed out loud. He looked at his most beloved son through the dim light, and there was not much tenderness in his eyes.

"Maybe you think so, but your brothers don't think so." Kangxi closed his eyes, then opened them suddenly, and defeated the general.

"I am not only your father, but also the emperor. Anyone who dares to defy the imperial power and be disrespectful to the emperor should be killed!" Kangxi's calm words revealed an unquestionable murderous intent.

The prince thought for a moment and knelt down to express his loyalty: "Father, I will always be your sharpest spear and strongest shield. For the sake of the Qing Dynasty and for me, please take good care of yourself!"