The swansong of the swansong

Chapter 40: Palm Lines
After the meal, while they were sitting together drinking tea, the fourth brother narrowed his eyes and said lightly: "You just took office, you are not quite used to it yet?"

Yinyou's heart was excited, hehe, the disguised interview was about to begin.

In the top Tianlong circle of the Qing Dynasty, if you stand in the right line, you can keep your wealth and prosperity. If you want to be reused, you must show your real ability.

Yinyu gently put down the teacup and bowed, saying, "I was very hungry just now and didn't have time to tell you. I drew a table on my own initiative and was just thinking of asking you, fourth brother, for some advice."

After saying that, Yinyu took out a booklet with detailed list of debts owed by officials of the Ministry of Revenue from his sleeve and handed it to the fourth brother with both hands.

The fourth brother opened the form booklet with suspicion, and when he took a closer look, he was stunned.

In the Qing Dynasty, the rules for formal writing were from right to left and from top to bottom.

However, the table drawn by Yinyou had the names and official titles on the left and the total amount of debt on the right.

There was no way around it. The table was read from right to left, and Yinyu himself found it extremely awkward to read.

If it was the boss, that reckless man, he would definitely not understand the weird drawings in the table.

However, the fourth brother is different. He is a recognized firefighter in the court.

In terms of experience in doing tough jobs, the fourth prince ranks second. Among all the princes, who dares to be first?

Although he was not quite used to it, after careful consideration, the fourth brother finally understood the meaning of the table.

The fourth brother suddenly raised his head, stared at Yinyu, and praised him seriously: "It's clear at a glance, just like observing the lines on the palm of your hand. It's amazing. I didn't realize before that you actually have such a great ability?"

"Fourth brother, I just like to think about things all day long. If I make any mistakes, please give me more advice." Yinyou was not stupid. He certainly did not dare to take credit for himself, so he deliberately kept a very humble attitude.

The more humble and polite you are in front of the fourth brother, the more advantages you will get.

On the contrary, the more proud and arrogant one is, the easier it is to fall flat on one's face. The arrogant Nian Gengyao is a typical example.

The fourth brother looked at Yinyou deeply and said, "Don't worry, it's your achievement, no one can take it away. I will report your achievement to Khan Ama during the imperial hearing tomorrow."

To be honest, Yinyou really didn't care about Kangxi's attention.

The reason is actually very simple. Kangxi has almost doted on the Eighteenth Prince to the sky. Yinyou can't compete for favor with his own brother, right?

Besides, no matter how much Kangxi favored Yinyou, it was impossible for him to pass the throne to him or make him the vice emperor.

The saying that both the palms and the backs of your hands are made of flesh is just talk; anyone who believes it is a fool!
"Fourth brother, I just want to help you do your job honestly and don't want to be in the limelight." Yinyu spoke his true feelings very frankly, "You also know that in the palace, except for you, no one looks down on me and the Sixteenth Old Man."

This is indeed the true truth.

In the palace, Yinyou and the Sixteenth Prince were both little princes who were like background boards. The Emperor didn't love them, the Crown Prince didn't treat them well, and they were only on good terms with the Fourth Prince.

The fourth brother stared at Yinyu's eyes and said deliberately: "You are still very young. Don't you know how important it is for Khan Ama to value you?"

Yinyu shook his head and said, "Fourth brother, it is enough for you to love me and Old Sixteen!"

The fourth brother didn't say anything for a long while. Suddenly, he raised his right hand, patted Yinyu's shoulder three times, and said, "Good brother, good brother!"

As the old saying goes, a man is willing to serve his children as a cow. Yinyou is such a dedicated fool!
Yinyu only wanted to concentrate on doing work for the fourth son and didn't want to please Kangxi. This alone was enough to move the fourth son.

After all, the fourth brother is still a lackey of Crown Prince Yinreng.

"It just so happens that Baifu has just given birth to a puppy, only half a month old. How about you take it home and raise it for fun?" The fourth brother regretted it as soon as he said it. Baifu and Zaohua were two dogs that the fourth brother raised personally, and he always loved them like treasures and treated them as his own children.

Yinyou knew that the introverted Fourth Brother was a well-known dog lover.

"Fourth brother, I live in the palace, so it's really inconvenient to keep a dog. What if it keeps barking in the middle of the night? Wouldn't that be asking for trouble?" Yinyu spread his hands and sighed deliberately, "Besides, a gentleman doesn't take away someone else's love. Others may not know, but I should know that Baifu sleeps at the foot of your bed every night."

The fourth brother secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but said, "Don't regret it, Baifu's seed is definitely not wrong."

Yinyou secretly found it funny. The fourth brother thought he was pretending to be very convincing, but in fact, his talkativeness just showed how difficult it was for him to let go.

When the fourth son was still a teenager, he was a typical chatterbox, and Kangxi disliked him to death, and criticized him in public many times.

From then on, the fourth brother became a taciturn person. No matter where he went, he always had a stern face, looking like a creditor who kept people at a distance.

Yinyou drank his fill of tea and rested his feet at the fourth brother's place. Seeing that it was getting late, he stood up and said goodbye.

The cloud board for the evening court had been ringing for a long time, and the sky was already dark.

However, the entire courtyard of the clearing house was still quiet, and there was no sound of noisy footsteps from the large group of people leaving the yamen.

Yinyou picked up the teacup and couldn't help but smile. A person's reputation is like the shadow of a tree. The fourth brother's bad reputation of not recognizing his relatives has a surprisingly good deterrent effect.

To be honest, for Yinyou, an old bureaucrat, the fourth brother's approach was indeed a bit harsh. No wonder he has always had a bad reputation.

However, Lao Si's repeated emphasis on finishing the day's work on the same day is exactly in line with the basic principles of modern government affairs.

The imperial court maintains officials to ensure smooth operations.

It’s a pity that the officials of the six ministries do not have the high awareness to serve the common people.

The situation was difficult to get in, difficult to face, difficult to get things done, and the bad habits of taking bribes had long been irreversible under the so-called leniency and indulgence of Kangxi.

As the assistant prince of the Ministry of Revenue, Yinyou was nominally the first deputy after the fourth prince.

In fact, due to the special importance of the Ministry of Revenue, the six officials in the Ministry of Revenue were all favored by the emperor. In other words, no one could touch them without Kangxi's approval.

In the Ministry of Revenue, no one dared to leave until the fourth brother left, and Yinyou was no exception.

When it was completely dark, Wu Lin came in and reported, "Sir, the Fourth Master has left the government office."

Yinyou nodded, then got up and went out, and met the fourth brother at the gate of the Ministry of Revenue.

After all, the fourth prince was the powerful beile in charge of the Ministry of Revenue. When Yinyou went out and returned home with him, he avoided the many restrictions and troubles of the night curfew.

It was so late, Yinyou definitely couldn't go to Chao Shou Hutong in the outer city, so he could only follow the fourth brother to his Beile Mansion.

In the inner and outer courtyards of the Beile Mansion, the fourth brother specially allocated a guest house for Yinyou's exclusive use.

After parting with the fourth brother, Yinyu just walked into the courtyard, but saw Chunji and the little maid, who were already waiting in front of the gate with lanterns in their hands.

Hehe, who said that the fourth brother is mean and ungrateful?
So, the fourth brother was worried that Yinyou would be lonely and bored at night, so he specially ordered someone to go to Chao Shou Hutong to fetch Chunji to serve him.

(End of this chapter)