Chapter 74 Brothers on the Road
When Prince Zhi received the news, he went to the palace immediately. He felt very sad when he saw that his mother looked ten years older.

"Mother, what's going on? Why would the Emperor suddenly impose such a severe punishment?" Yinzhi was extremely filial to his mother and was deeply worried.

Huipin wrapped herself in a cloak and looked at the much more desolate Yanxi Palace with a sneer: "It's just taking advantage of the situation."

"Did you really do something to Empress Xiaochengren?" Yinzhi had roughly figured out what was going on on the way, and now asked cautiously.

Huipin looked at Prince Zhi and said, "The past cannot be retrieved. Let me ask you, did you kill the Crown Princess?"

Prince Zhi was silent for a while. "My eighth brother gave me the idea that if Yuqing Palace had a legitimate son, it would be like adding wings to a tiger. Now that both sides are hurt, it is naturally very good."

"You used people from my palace?"

"This... is an emergency measure. We temporarily transferred the people from Mother's place."

"Now that you are a prince, you don't need me anymore." Huipin was furious. She slammed the table and continued, "You don't need to tell me what you did. Old Eighth only said a few nice words to you and you gave him the handle."

"Mother, could this matter be related to today?" Prince Zhi was a little puzzled.

Huipin was somewhat bored: "With all the new and old hatreds added together, the emperor is now most displeased with me. You don't need to beg for me in front of the emperor, just do nothing."

"As long as you are fine, I won't really fall." Huipin said solemnly, "Stay away from Lao Ba, he is cruel and ruthless, don't let him use you as a gun."

"Mother, the Eighth Prince is only capable of these little cleverness. With his family background, he would not dare to rely on you and your son, let alone achieve anything!" The Prince of Zhi never took the Eighth Prince seriously. He was just his little follower, and he would praise him whenever he was in a good mood.

"Yinzhi!" Huipin finally spoke angrily, "When will you change your arrogant and conceited personality! Just because others call you the Great Thousand Years Old, do you think you can really stand shoulder to shoulder with the Crown Prince?"

"Don't underestimate anyone, especially since he is a prince, an ambitious prince!"

The Prince of Zhi was scolded harshly, but considering that his mother was being punished, he did not refute anything, but his face showed a hint of disapproval.

Huipin understood what Yinzhi was thinking at a glance, shook her head and waved her hand: "Go away, don't come to see me recently, remember what mother said at the critical moment, beware of the Eighth Brother."

Prince Zhi saw with his own eyes that Concubine Hui was not seriously injured, and felt relieved. On his way back to the palace, he met the Crown Prince standing in the wind.

The corners of Yinreng's eyes were still red and his eyeballs were full of bloodshot. He was waiting for Prince Zhi.

"Brother, I envied you very much when I was a child." The prince spoke softly and waved his hand to signal the eunuchs to disperse. He wanted to have some private words with the Prince of Zhi.

"You all have mothers. Even though the fourth son was separated from his mother, I have personally seen several times when Concubine De waited on the way to the upper study just to give him the snacks she made herself."

"I'm the only one who didn't." The prince suddenly raised his voice, "I thought before that it might be because my mother and I were not destined to be together, but now I find that someone did it on purpose. Big brother, if you were me, what would you do?"

The Prince of Zhi replied stiffly: "I am a coarse man and I don't understand what the prince is saying."

"You wouldn't turn a deaf ear to the matter of the Fourth Master's wife, would you? The imperial physician surnamed Ma is still in the Ministry of Punishment. The Fourth Master's wife gave birth to a daughter two months ago, and it was a difficult birth!"

"The Queen Mother also had a difficult birth!"

"Giving birth to a woman is such a sacred thing, but some filthy people have defiled the process!"

Seeing that the prince was getting crazier and crazier, Prince Zhi interrupted him and asked, "What exactly do you want to say, prince?"

"Brother, from now on you are just the Prince of Zhi in my heart. Let's take care of ourselves." After saying that, the prince laughed and turned away.

Prince Zhi was stunned for a moment, and suddenly his mind flashed back to the scene when the two of them climbed a tree to steal bird eggs when they were young and were punished by the Emperor. It seemed as if it happened just yesterday, but also as if it was something that happened in his previous life.

"I respectfully send off His Royal Highness the Crown Prince." Each of them was just for their mother. Prince Zhi looked up, and his heart was settled. As the eldest son of a concubine, he and the Crown Prince were finally on opposite sides. After hearing the brothers' story, Kangxi closed his eyes for a long time, and suddenly whispered: "Baocheng, this is dissatisfaction with my treatment."

Liang Jiugong lowered his head and dared not speak.

"What time is it? Is it almost time to get out of school?" Kangxi suddenly asked.

"To reply to the Emperor, there is still half an hour left."

"It is said that Hong Xi and Hong Jin will come to have dinner with me."

"Yes."

"By the way, bring Honghui's homework over."

"Yes." Liang Jiugong understood. This was probably what the emperor wanted to do most.

******
In the study, a group of the emperor's grandchildren and princes looked at the two brothers who followed the eunuch with envy.

Someone said sourly: "The last time I met the Emperor was on his birthday. I don't know if he has gained weight or lost weight."

Someone immediately responded, "That's easy. Honghui also sees the emperor often."

"That's not right. Why hasn't Honghui gone to the Yangxin Palace recently?"

"I'm afraid it may have angered the Emperor."

Honghui packed up his writing brush, ink, paper, and books and patted his small shoulder bag. These were all sewn by his mother herself, and Honghui cherished them very much.

"Father is still waiting for me at the door, so I'll take my leave first. I will convey your uncles' concern for the Royal Law to you verbally, don't worry, I promise to fulfill your wishes." Honghui ignored the sour words of his uncles. He could only talk about them anyway, because there was still Fourteenth Uncle. Tomorrow, they would all be covered in bruises and swollen faces, all because of the beatings from Fourteenth Uncle.

"Honghui, wait for me, let's go together." Hongqing quickly crumpled the rice paper into a ball and stuffed it into the bag, then took two quick steps to catch up.

The two children walked hand in hand in front. Hong Qing looked at Hong Hui several times. Seeing that he looked normal, he asked, "Hong Hui, aren't you jealous?"

"what?"

"Hongxi and Hongjin, didn't you see the smug look in their eyes when they followed the eunuch?"

"Brother Hongqing, were you jealous of me before?"

Hong Qing lowered his head somewhat guiltily, and raised his little finger to indicate: "A little bit."

Honghui drooped his shoulders in frustration: "I regard brother Hongqing as my best friend, but I didn't expect you to miss me so much. Honghui is so sad."

"Hey, hey, hey, don't, I tell you, it's because my father kept saying this and that about you that I had this idea." Hong Qing saw that Hong Hui was really sad, scratching his ears and cheeks, talking incoherently, and his face was red. He pulled Hong Hui's arm and shook it, "Good brother, brother will accompany you for a while, okay?"

"Okay, I forgive you." Honghui said reluctantly, and the two walked away hand in hand again.

The two were picked up by their respective fathers. Honghui was a little depressed along the way. After dinner, Honghui looked at his sister and leaned against Yihuan with some dependence. Before leaving, Yinzhen gave Yihuan a look and went back to the front yard to handle official business.

He had long noticed that Honghui was worried. As for the brat's behavior of going to his mother for something without telling him, Yinzhen said that he had eaten two more mouthfuls of vinegar at dinner, which was really sour.

"What's wrong, Honghui? Talk to mother." Yihuan also noticed that Honghui was not as lively as before, so she signaled everyone in the room to leave, leaving Liuliu alone to laugh foolishly.

"Mother, the emperor has only summoned brother Hongxi and brother Hongjin recently. Doesn't he like Honghui anymore?" The questions that had been churning in his mind these days came out of his mouth. After Honghui finished speaking, his eyes were a little red, and he was obviously sad.