The swansong of the swansong

Chapter 12 Timely Rain

Yinyou knew in his heart that Yinreng had studied with many famous teachers since he was young, and although he could not say that he was well-versed in the classics, he was at least well-read.

In terms of academic level alone, Yinreng is more than ten times better than Yinyou!
Objectively speaking, Yinreng was deposed twice not because he really wanted to rebel, but because he had not reached the point of being intolerable in the face of Kangxi's continuous suppression and had to endure it.

"Your Highness, no matter what you think, I am sincerely thinking about you." Yinyu was too lazy to look at the prince's face and said calmly, "Khan Ama has repeatedly warned us that we must be close and friendly with each other. However, Wu Desheng, a mere eunuch, dared to show his disdain to me. If gossip spreads out, who knows what will happen."

"Besides, my humble servant and sixteenth brother would be inconspicuous even if thrown into a crowd of people." Yinyou knew better than anyone that Yinreng was an extremely smart guy.

Yinreng must have understood the subtext that Yinyou deliberately did not say.

Three years ago, in the 42nd year of Emperor Kangxi's reign, Soetu, who was able to call the shots in the court, was killed inexplicably on a trumped-up charge by Emperor Kangxi.

It is no exaggeration to say that Soetu's death was equivalent to cutting off Yinreng's arms, and it also represented that the contradiction between Yinreng and Kangxi, the emperor and his minister, and the father and son, was gradually becoming irreconcilable!

Yinyou's meaning was actually very clear. He and the Sixteenth Prince were both born to Han women, and they had no power, no influence, and no favor, so they posed no threat to Yinreng.

If so, if Yinreng was too cruel to Yinwei and humiliated him too much, he would be easily exploited by the Eighth Brother and others.

This is the most important thing that Yinyu hinted to Yinreng!
Times have changed. Without Soetu's protection, Yinreng was like an eagle with a broken wing. He was seriously injured and lost his mind.

"According to what you said, since you have embarrassed me, I should be grateful to you?" Yinreng's tone was quite unfriendly.

Yinyu saw that the Sixteenth Prince had opened his mouth, and knew something was wrong, so he quickly got ahead of the Sixteenth Prince and said, "To be honest, I slapped Wu Desheng at this time, which was not only not wrong, but also meritorious."

There is actually no unified standard for evaluating merits and demerits.

However, when the fourth prince was kicked unconscious, Yinyou punished Wu Desheng in public. How would Kangxi feel if he knew about this?
"Pa!" Yinreng was furious. He raised his hand and picked up the horse whip, and lashed it viciously on the apricot-yellow table. "Humph, do you think I'm a fool?"

After all, the Sixteenth Prince was young and had never seen a big scene. He was really frightened and couldn't help but shrink behind Yinyou.

Yinyou knew that the number of princes and ministers who had been whipped by Yinreng was so countless.

Why was it that as soon as the Eighth Prince raised the flag of the Eighth Prince's Party, Manchu nobles and important officials all flocked to him?
In fact, quite a few people did not truly support the Eighth Prince, but just wanted to dethrone Crown Prince Yinreng.

As Kangxi's reign lasted for more than forty-five years, under his accumulated prestige, no one dared to directly challenge the supreme imperial power.

However, this did not affect the Manchu royal family and nobles, who used the Eighth Prince to weaken Kangxi's authority in disguise.

"Your Highness, my sixteenth brother and I have no sect or affiliation, and we are not willing to be used as guns by anyone. Please understand!" Yinyu protected the sixteenth brother behind him and shouted fearlessly.

"Shaku (bastard)!" Yinreng rolled his eyes in anger. He stood up suddenly, holding a horsewhip in his hand, and approached Yinyou step by step from a superior position.

"Uncle Fifteen, Uncle Sixteen, hurry up, hurry up!"

At this critical moment, suddenly a woman in Manchu clothing, stepping on the bottom of the flower pot, stood in front of Yinyou and the Sixteenth Prince like lightning.

Yinyu secretly breathed a sigh of relief. The Crown Princess Guaerjia finally came out to save him.

Even the treacherous minister Qin Hui still had three or five good friends, let alone the Crown Prince Yinreng?

Zhu Chongba, the former Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, was extremely cruel and ruthless. However, Empress Ma and Crown Prince Zhu Biao were able to persuade him.

After Kangxi's 40th year, Concubine De also had a certain influence on Kangxi in his later years.

The Eighth Lady was also known to be henpecked. It was Kangxi himself who gave the Eighth Lady the reputation of being a fierce woman.

Yinreng became so angry that he didn't even recognize his relatives. He even kicked his most loyal henchman, Lao Si, unconscious. What about a mere Yinyou?
However, after Suo Etu's death, Yinreng needed the Crown Princess's maternal family, the Guaerjia clan, more than before. The Crown Princess's Guaerjia clan, whose Han surname was Shi, had an extremely prominent family background.

His great-grandfather Shi Tingzhu was a member of the Han army of the Plain White Banner. He served as Gushan Ezhen of the Bordered Red Banner, General Zhenhai, Minister of War, and first-class earl, and inherited the title of third-class earl.

His grandfather, Heshuo Efu Shi Huashan, served as General of Annan, General of Pingkou and General of Dingnan.

The prince's father-in-law, Shi Wenbing, had served in important positions such as General of Fuzhou and Commander-in-Chief of the Han Army of the Plain White Banner.

More importantly, the Crown Princess’ second brother-in-law is the current Prince Yu, Baotai.

The previous Prince Yu, Fuquan, was both Kangxi's elder brother and a key member of the Eighth Prince's Party.

However, the current Prince Yu Baotai also enjoyed Kangxi's trust. Influenced by his wife, he became very close to the crown prince.

In addition, the Crown Princess’ biological mother is the great-granddaughter of Prince Li Daishan.

Among the eight hereditary princes today, Prince Li’s family occupies three places. Therefore, Prince Li’s family has a significant influence in the royal family.

With the Crown Princess blocking the way in front, Yinyou grabbed the Sixteenth Prince's arm without saying a word and ran out of the palace.

Thanks to Kangxi's emphasis on education, Yinyou was very clear about the principle of being beaten with a small stick and being beaten with a big stick.

After all, Yinyu and the Sixteenth Prince were Kangxi's biological sons. No matter how angry Yinreng was, he didn't dare to go too far.

Kangxi was not dead yet, but Yinreng beat three princes in a row within a few days. If Kangxi died, wouldn't all his sons die?

After Yinyou escaped from the Eastern Palace, pulling the Sixteenth Prince, he slowed down when he saw that there were no pursuers behind him.

Old Sixteen wiped his sweat and panted as he said, "It was a close call. I almost got whipped."

Yinyu couldn't help laughing and said, "My silly brother, if the two of us were really whipped, Big Brother would definitely be so happy that he couldn't stop grinning."

This was a bit confusing. The Sixteenth Prince pondered over it for a long time before he understood what Yinyou meant.

"Well, it can't be that necessary, just because of us two insignificant little princes?" The Sixteenth Prince didn't believe at all that Kangxi would depose the Crown Prince just because the two of them were whipped.

Although the Sixteenth Prince was very smart, he was still young after all. Yinyou was too lazy to explain more and took him back to the prince's residence.

A few days later, the Sixteenth Prince came back from eating at the Fourth Prince's place and said to Yinyu in high spirits, "Brother, the Fourth Sister-in-law prepared a lot of delicious food, and we couldn't finish it all."

Yinyu drank a sip of tea and asked Old Sixteen with a smile: "You can't finish it, so bring the leftovers to me?"

Old Sixteen pointed at the five-layer red lacquer food box on the ground and said with a smile, "Originally, I thought it was troublesome and didn't want to bring it. But Fourth Sister-in-law said that if I brought it back, you could eat it together, so I agreed."

Yinyou understood as soon as he heard it. The fact that he and the Sixteenth Prince almost got whipped aroused the Fourth Prince's sympathy for the same suffering.

Nowadays, if people are in similar situations, it is easy to resonate with each other.

Having said that, the fourth brother knew everything, and Kangxi, who must be keeping a close eye on the crown prince, was it possible that he didn’t know?
However, the situation in the palace was like a small stone falling into the Mariana Trench, without any ripples.

The fact that Kangxi did not make any statement did not mean that the matter would be let go so easily.

(End of this chapter)