The swansong of the swansong

Chapter 104: Position yourself correctly

Kangxi really rewarded Yinyou with ten taels of silver, and he accepted it without hesitation.

They are father and son, and with Concubine Mi and the Eighteenth Prince protecting them, what is Yinyou afraid of?

The present Kangxi lacks nothing except the happiness of family life without any selfish thoughts!
The leaders of each banner and the Council of Princes and Ministers during the Kangxi reign still held considerable power, enough to restrain the supreme imperial power.

After the establishment of the Grand Council, which was responsible for listening to imperial orders on their knees, Emperor Qianlong came into power, a freak who lived to be eighty-nine years old and stayed in power for sixty-three years. As a result, the princes and nobles who were the leaders of the five banners gradually withdrew from the stage of history.

The enthronement of Huang Taiji, Shunzhi and Kangxi were all the result of collective compromise among the Manchu banner leaders and princes.

When it came time for Qianlong to enthronize Jiaqing and Daoguang to enthronize Xianfeng, haha, all those black cat princes stood aside and had no say at all.

At that time, the atmosphere of family reunion was very strong.

So, Kangxi took Concubine Mi with him and listened to "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" for an hour with great gusto.

Perhaps it was because he enjoyed the family affection that was once out of reach. Before leaving, Kangxi earnestly warned Yinyu: "Your tenth brother and his friends are not even Beizi, let alone any other officials. Alas, I can't favor you too much, understand?"

"Thank you, Khan, for your grace." Yinyu was indeed touched. After all, Kangxi letting him be in charge of the Ministry of War was already an extraordinary favor.

You should know that in history, the prince who was in charge of the Ministry of War was actually the Fourteenth Prince when he reached adulthood.

The next day, after finishing his shift, Yinyu rode back to the villa on horseback.

Because Yinyou became the emperor of the Ministry of War, the officials of the Ministry of War, in accordance with the court's practice, requested an imperial decree to transfer a Green Camp general and more than a hundred Goshakha to Yinyou.

According to the Green Camp regulations of the imperial court, the governors-general of various places directly supervise the deputy generals of the central army of the governor's banner, and the governor directly supervises the lieutenant generals of the central army of the governor's banner.

When it came to Yinyou, he became a Goshaha at the direct-command level.

If the prince who is in charge of the Ministry of War gets beaten up when he goes out, the officials in the Ministry of War will either step down collectively and eat sweet potatoes at best, or be in trouble if the situation gets worse!

Coincidentally, the commander-in-chief of the Green Camp assigned to Yinyu by the Ministry of War was none other than Yinyu's old acquaintance, Shi Shipi, the former commander-in-chief of the Tongzhou Camp.

As soon as Yinyou saw Shi Shipiu, he knew that Kangxi's imperial mentality had prevailed after all, and he both valued and was wary of him.

Surrounded by the Goshahas, Yinyou returned smoothly to the gate of the villa.

Nian Gengyao, who was sitting on a long bench at the gatehouse entrance, quickly stood up and came forward.

"Your servant Nian Gengyao wishes you the best of luck, Master Fifteen."

This time, Nian Gengyao finally put himself in the right position and buried his arrogance deep in his heart.

Even though Nian Gengyao rose to power extremely quickly, he was nothing compared to Yinyou.

Yinyou never made friends with important officials in the court, but Nian Gengyao was an exception.

Because Nian Gengyao's biological sister was Yinyou's woman.

With this cover of nepotism, Yinyou could interact with Nian Gengyao with confidence.

Nian Gengyao really brought five thousand taels of silver and opened several large silver boxes in front of Shi Shipiu.

"Fifteenth Master, my father has ordered me to tell you that from now on, we will offer you five thousand taels of silver every year as a tribute." After Nian Gengyao said this, not to mention Yinyou, even Shi Shipiu who was watching coldly at the side could see that the entire Nian family attached great importance to Nian Guanyin.

Since Nian Xialing took the initiative to extend the olive branch, Yinyu was not a stingy person, and immediately ordered, "Please ask Guanyin to come out and ask her to entertain Brother Haolianggong for me."

Nian Guanyin was not even a concubine, at best she was just a maid who warmed the bed.

After saying this, Yinyou stood up and left, leaving space for the Nian brothers and sisters to have a private conversation.

Seeing Yinyou leave, Shi Shipiu bowed to Nian Gengyao and said, "Brother Lianggong, I have official business to attend to. I'll excuse you now!"

Unexpectedly, Nian Gengyao glanced at Shi Shibiao and asked contemptuously: "Who is your brother Liang Gong? Don't be so self-indulgent!"

Shi Shipiu was so angry that his lungs almost exploded. His square face turned black and purple.

No matter what, he was still a general with the rank of admiral. How could he be looked down upon by Nian Gengyao like this?
"Hmph!" Shi Shipiu stomped his feet fiercely and walked away on the spot, no longer wanting to bother with Nian Gengyao, this arrogant idiot.

Alas, this completely meaningless grudge is so unfair!

However, Nian Gengyao didn't care at all. As long as Jian was in the emperor's heart, what was he afraid of?
As soon as the brother and sister met, Nian Gengyao couldn't wait to ask Nian Guanyin: "How does he treat you?"

This question is of vital importance to the Nian family and is also the issue that Nian Xialing is most concerned about.

Nian Xialing is not a madman like Nian Gengyao.

Even though Nian Gengyao was ordered to commit suicide, Nian Xialing was only stripped of the honorary title of Taifu, and miraculously retained the title of first-class duke.

It is worth mentioning that after Nian Xialing died of illness, Yongzheng actually awarded him the honorary title of Taifu.

In a nutshell, Nian Xialing is a shrewd and cunning fox demon.

Nian Guanyin said shyly, "Second brother, my master treats me very well. No one in the Beizi Mansion dares to look down on me."

Nian Gengyao was relieved immediately and asked about the details of the relationship between Nian Guanyin and Yinyu. "Second brother, I almost forgot to tell you that I gave my younger sister a nickname, Guanyin."

As they were close brothers and sisters, Nian Guanyin hesitated for a moment and then told him about it.

After hearing this, Nian Gengyao gently patted his palm with his folding fan and said with a smile: "According to your words, I am really relieved."

Yinyou specially invited Nian Gengyao to stay for dinner, and the banquet was held in the rockery pavilion in the back garden.

When Nian Gengyao entered the pavilion, he was surprised to see that the stone table was filled with his favorite dishes, especially the dish of stir-fried pork, which particularly caught his eye.

Normally, this stir-fried pork is just home-cooked pork, nothing special.

However, the chefs of the Nian Mansion had a whole set of special processing procedures: first, they selected fat pigs with plump bodies and smart looks from the herd, raised them for several months, fed them with all kinds of fine feed, and then slaughtered them after they grew fat and strong.

This moment is the best time for Nian Gengyao to taste the stir-fried pork.

With Nian Gengyao's shrewdness, until this moment he was finally convinced that Nian Guanyin was indeed very favored!

The logic is not complicated. If Yinyou didn't like Nian Guanyin, he would not have known that Nian Gengyao liked to eat stir-fried pork, let alone raised the pigs in advance.

During the banquet, Nian Gengyao thought that Yinyou would say many words to win him over, or even make a wish.

Who would have thought that Yinyu never mentioned anything about winning over Nian Gengyao, and simply treated Nian Gengyao as the brother of his favorite concubine.

Yinyou toasted him frequently, and Nian Gengyao was also a generous man, so he drank the glass dry without hesitation.

After more than a dozen rounds of wine and dozens of dishes, Nian Gengyao's face was red from drinking and he was a little drunk, so he lost control of his mouth.

"Master Fifteen, to be honest, there are many famous families who are waiting for my eldest sister to be demoted..."

Yinyou secretly found it funny that Nian Gengyao not only had no tolerance for drinking, but also had a huge mouth.

How can I allow my own sister's reputation to be damaged in the slightest?
Oh, your sister had been favored by many families before she came to me. Aren’t you afraid that I would misunderstand her and think she is not faithful to my husband?
Under the strict ethics, many women were forced to death if their reputation was tarnished.

Alas, some of them committed suicide by hanging themselves, while others were drowned in a pond by their cruel parents.

This is because the whole society is extremely harsh on the issue of women's chastity, and it is easy to implicate all the women in the family, and their reputation will be damaged!

It is difficult for unmarried women to find a good husband. Married women cannot hold their heads up high in their husband’s family.

It’s better to die than to bring harm to everyone!

After all, Yinyou is the soul of a modern man, and he was the one who destroyed Nian Guanyin with his own hands, so naturally he would not care about Nian Gengyao's nonsense.

Why not try replacing him with a native feudal bureaucrat?
After Nian Gengyao was drunk and fell under the stone table, Yinyu had already arranged a guest room in the outer courtyard, so he ordered people to help him over to rest.

After Nian Gengyao was carried out for a few steps, he suddenly turned around and said drunkenly, "I...I...uh...I have never been drunk before, but this time I fell into your hands. I don't accept it. I really don't accept it."

Yinyu smiled and said, "Brother, do you really need me to take action myself?"
Hehe, your Fourth Master’s Ecstasy Soup is a secret magical soup that can captivate the soul!

After Yinyou returned to his room, he hugged Nian Guanyin and took a bath together.

"Master, my second brother doesn't get drunk easily. But once he drinks too much, he will talk nonsense. If he has offended me, I hope you will forgive me."

Yinyu bit Nian Guanyin's delicate earlobe and said deliberately: "You are right. After he got drunk, he said a lot of treasonous lies."

"Ah..." Nian Guanyin was also a talented woman who was well-read in poetry and literature. She knew the weight of the four words "treason" and was so anxious that she burst into tears on the spot, "What should I do?"

At this time, Yinyu showed an evil smile and whispered: "Whether I can shut up Youyou depends on your performance!"

So, among the eighteen moves that Yinyou was proficient in, he taught Nian Guanyin one more: The Drunken Concubine!

The next morning, after Nian Gengyao sobered up, he washed up and had breakfast alone in his own guest house.

As for Yinyou, he did not show up.

No matter how much Yinyu doted on Nian Guanyin, in terms of etiquette, Nian Gengyao was not Yinyu's brother-in-law.

Only the parents, brothers and sisters of the principal wife and the concubine were Yinyou's real relatives.

For example, Crown Princess Guaerjia was the legitimate sister-in-law of Yinyou.

The Fourth Lady was both Yinyou's sister-in-law and his cousin.

To be honest, Nian Xialing, this old fox, dared to bet on Yinyou, so he must have understood a lot of important things.

It’s just that Nian Xialing kept it in his heart and didn’t tell Nian Gengyao.

Any large and prosperous family that wants to survive for a hundred years or even a thousand years cannot put all its eggs in one basket.

It’s a pity that Nian Gengyao didn’t understand this wise saying!

PS: Here comes the second update. I am working hard to write the extra update in the early morning. I hope the votes will come again. Morale should be boosted rather than let down!
(End of this chapter)