Chapter 97: Prince Zhi Leads the Troops

In May of the 43rd year of the reign of Emperor Kangxi, there was a severe drought in Shandong.

At the morning court, Kangxi took out an urgent memorial sent over a distance of 800 miles. It was written by Jiang Liwei, the governor of Shandong Province, saying that due to successive years of drought, the fields had no harvest. Although the court had issued disaster relief funds continuously, it was still a drop in the bucket.

Now, there has been a rebellion among the unruly people in the three counties under the jurisdiction of Shandong, and Jiang Liwei asked for instructions on how to quell the rebellion.

After Liang Jiugong finished reading the memorial, His Highness' ministers began to whisper to each other.

Everyone knows that Shandong has been in a difficult situation in the past two years. The poor mountains and bad waters have produced unruly people, a mob of hungry farmers. It is really incompetent that Jiang Liwei is still so restrained.

"What do you think, gentlemen?" Kangxi asked in a deep voice.

The Crown Prince and the Prince of Zhi both stepped out and said, "Your sons are willing to go."

This incident was exactly the same as the previous flood disaster. The emperor was indeed worried about the prince going out, fearing that something unexpected would happen and get him involved, so he approved Prince Zhi's request.

Prince Zhi glanced at the Crown Prince nonchalantly. As long as he could get enough military merits, he could ask the Emperor to restore his mother's position. A Crown Prince whose claws had been cut off in the palace was nothing to be afraid of.

Suo Etu couldn't bear to see Mingzhu so proud, and suddenly thought of something: "Your Majesty, the Tenth Prince is brave and good at fighting. Why don't you go with Prince Zhi this time so that they can take care of each other."

After the Wen Yunxuan incident, anyone with a discerning eye could see that the Tenth Prince was the Fourth Beile's man, and the Fourth Beile had always been a descendant of the Crown Prince. Soltu wanted to get one person in whenever he could, and besides, the Tenth Prince's temperament was enough to give Prince Zhi a headache.

When Kangxi saw that the prince was silent, he glanced at Yin and suddenly became furious.

This evil boy was standing behind Old Nine, swaying and looking like he was about to fall asleep. How disgraceful!

"Old Ten!"

Yinzhen had already reached out and pinched Yin's thigh, and Yin heard Kangxi calling him in a daze.

Yin looked up and saw that his ninth brother turned around and tried to blink to signal him, but he really didn't understand what his ninth brother meant. When he heard the angry voice of the emperor, he immediately knelt on the ground reflexively: "Father Emperor, I know I was wrong, please don't get angry and hurt yourself."

There was a sudden silence in the court for a few seconds, and then someone couldn't help but sneer.

Kangxi threw the inkstone at Yin's feet and said, "You are wrong. What's wrong with you?"

"I don't know." Yin smiled innocently, "But since you are so angry, it must be my fault."

Kangxi was unwilling to be laughed at by his ministers: "You followed the Prince of Zhi to quell the rebellion, and stopped hanging around in front of me. This is your contribution. Get out of here now."

"Your son obeys your order." Yin didn't understand what it meant, but he was obedient. Seeing his fourth brother nod at him, he immediately agreed.

The Prince of Zhi’s frown was so severe that a fly could be pinched to death. The Crown Prince pushed the Tenth Prince over to him in an attempt to claim credit. But can he do the Tenth Prince?

Could it be that I am shortsighted? Prince Zhi thought uncertainly. He had to observe for a while.

******
After the court session, Mingzhu went to the Prince of Zhi's residence, and the two discussed strategies to quell the rebellion.

"Prince, the Tenth Prince might be a variable, why don't we..." Mingzhu came up with an idea. As long as he couldn't set out on the auspicious day, it could be done by giving him some medicine.

"Don't rush." ​​Prince Zhi shook his head. "If it was before, it would be fine. Now the fourth brother is protecting him, it's not easy to do anything." "The last family that was beaten half to death by the fourth brother was the Tong family. There is no need for the Nalan family to confront him." Prince Zhi saw clearly that the fourth brother was cruel and ruthless, but he still had principles. If he didn't take the initiative to provoke him, they could live in peace.

"It's just a merit. It won't hurt to give some soup to Tenth Brother. When he follows me to Shandong, Fourth Brother won't be there to guide him. He will be at my mercy."

Mingzhu thought about it and felt that Prince Zhi was thoughtful.

The same scene also happened in Yuqing Palace.

Suo Etu was somewhat helpless: "This is a job of leading troops. Prince Zhi has already made military achievements. If he continues like this, he will soon be crowned a prince."

The prince was wearing a moon-white suit, and he looked much thinner than when the princess was gone. He smiled at Suo Etu and said, "Grandpa, the emperor will not let me out of his sight. If not my eldest brother, then someone else."

"The Emperor values ​​His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

The prince lowered his head, his eyes hidden under his eyelashes, his expression could not be seen clearly, and he exuded a gloomy aura: "Grandpa, I have to tell you from the bottom of my heart. The emperor's treatment of me has long been not as good as before. Now my brothers are all grown up. After their weddings, they have entered the six ministries to deal with court affairs. Only I am trapped in the siege."

"Although the Emperor allowed me to read the memorials of the past years and participate in the political affairs, I have no real power and cannot make friends with the ministers. Fortunately, I have the support of my grandfather. Now the Emperor has appointed a girl from the Tong family who is from who knows how many generations to be the Crown Princess to me. I don't know whether I am more important or the Tong family is more favored by the Emperor."

Soetu watched the prince grow up, and saw with his own eyes that a high-spirited and elegant young man now became paranoid and dark. Although he did not ask how the former crown princess died, he knew that it was related to the person in front of him.

"Given your status, the Crown Princess's family background is just icing on the cake. As a servant, good health is the most important thing. As long as the Emperor sees his grandson, it will be a blessing for the Eastern Palace."

"Thanks for your good words." The prince nodded, "You pushed the tenth prince out, I'm afraid he is not capable of restraining the eldest prince."

Suo Etu stroked his beard and smiled: "Maybe it will work wonders, just wait and see."

******
Four Princes' Mansion
When Yinzhen came back with his two younger brothers, Yihuan personally ordered a table full of delicious food to be prepared for them. She kept Honghui and called Hongyun over so that the two men could dine together.

Hongyun saw his two uncles less often and felt a little restrained, following Honghui like a little tail.

Yinzhen was not so warm to Hongyun. He just gave him a gift and sat down to drink.

Yin treated everyone equally and talked to Hongyun for a long time.

The wine and food were all served, and Yin was a little nervous. He already knew what he was going to do after the court session, but he just felt it was ridiculous. Shouldn't his fourth brother go in person for such a serious matter?

"Fourth brother, why don't I go and report back to the Emperor, and you go in my place."

"Nonsense!" Yinzhen glanced at him, "I have some things to do in the mansion recently, so you can go and fill in your resume and put aside the ridiculous things that happened to you."

Yin looked at Honghui and Hongyun sheepishly and said, "My nephews are here, please save some face for me."

Yinzhen glanced at Honghui and saw that he looked ruddy and energetic as usual, so he felt relieved: "Tenth brother, you have to listen to your elder brother in this quelling of the rebellion."

"The local government has not suppressed it. This matter is not simple. You should not get involved." Yinzhen continued.

"Remember, save your life first, then talk about other things."