The swansong of the swansong

Chapter 84 The Third Brother Deserves His Bad Luck
"Khan Ama, if it wasn't for Third Brother's fault, no one would have the guts to slander him. If Third Brother really forced someone to death, I can help cover it up for him, but Third Brother doesn't control his subordinates well, so he must be demoted."

Demotion is Yinyou's bottom line, there is no room for negotiation.

"It's up to you." Kangxi thought about it and thought, surrender first and then reinstate, what's the difficulty, so he agreed to Yinyou's request.

Haha, a human life was lost, and there was not even a chance to seek justice. This is the cannibalistic Qing Dynasty.

"I'll take my leave!"

Looking at Yinyou's back, Wei Zhu blinked and wondered in his heart how he could do him a favor so that he could lend a helping hand in the future.

If you often walk by the river, how can you avoid getting your shoes wet?

When Yinyou rushed to Prince Cheng's mansion, Prince Zhuang not only did not investigate the scene, but sat in the main room with the third brother, drinking tea and chatting, and they were having a very pleasant conversation.

These days, who is dumber than who?
As long as Kangxi did not express his opinion, Prince Zhuang, the puppet on the strings, would never step out of line.

When Prince Zhuang saw Yinyu arrive, he asked him, "What did the emperor order?"

If Yinyou was not a seasoned official, he would have easily fallen into Prince Zhuang's language trap.

"Uncle Zhuang, I went to the Imperial Household Department of the Palace of Tranquil Longevity. Those brainless dogs burned another batch of imperial porcelain, which is a huge waste." Yinyu calmly resolved Prince Zhuang's attempt to make excuses.

What Yinyou meant was that Kangxi had sent him to the Imperial Household Department in the Hall of Mental Cultivation to do other things that had nothing to do with this case.

The whole thing was manipulated by Kangxi behind the scenes. However, whoever dares to bring Kangxi to the stage, hehe, Qing will be severely punished!

If things in the palace are not weighed, they may not be worth half an ounce. But if they are weighed, they are out of control.

Prince Zhuang originally thought that since Yinyou's hair had not even fully grown, it would be easy to drag him into the water and everyone would share the responsibility.

Since Kangxi's own son is involved, there is still room for maneuver even if Prince Zhuang handles the matter not to the emperor's liking.

Unexpectedly, Yinyou was as insidious and cunning as a thousand-year-old fox demon, and Prince Zhuang could not find any flaws in him.

However, Prince Zhuang is no ordinary person as he can become the clan leader.

Liu Chang, the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, who had just arrived on the orders of the emperor, had just paid his respects when Prince Zhuang said, "Liu Jingzhao, the investigation of the scene is now in your hands. You must check it carefully and not miss anything. Do you understand?"

Yinyou, who was sitting next to him, secretly found it funny. In the privileged food chain of the Qing Dynasty, big fish eat small fish, and small fish eat shrimps. This is an inevitable rule.

Liu Chang was no fool. He immediately evaded the question, saying, "Prince Zhuang, Third Master, Fifteenth Master, the Emperor's decree ordered the Ministry of Justice to investigate the scene together. How dare I destroy the scene without authorization?"

When the people from the Ministry of Justice arrived, the leader of the team, the Left Vice Minister Zhang Zhongyong, said confidently: "The decree states that the Ministry of Justice is only involved in the investigation, not the main government office."

However, now that everyone is here, it’s impossible not to investigate the scene, right?
Prince Zhuang frowned and said coldly, "No matter who is in the meeting or who is in charge, you can't ask me to go and investigate in person, right?"

Under such pressure, people from the Ministry of Justice and Shuntian Prefecture went together.

After more than two hours of investigation, the Ministry of Justice and Shuntian Prefecture argued many times and finally reached a consensus.

The deceased was very pretty, just 18 years old, and had indeed hanged herself to death. However, not only was she deflowered, she was also pregnant.

What is even more horrifying is that the deceased’s body was covered with bruises and bruises.

Even if they were not coroners, everyone present could guess that the deceased had often suffered inhuman abuse before his death.

The Ministry of Justice and Shuntian Prefecture are not the dark and gloomy Ministry of Clan Affairs. The scenes they inspect must stand the test of time.

However, the third brother was not at all flustered. He said seriously: "Just do your job impartially. Do what you need to do. I will do my best to cooperate."

He is Kangxi's biological son and is in charge of the important task of editing books. What's so scary about that?

Seeing that the third brother had completely given up, Prince Zhuang's head was buzzing.

In this matter, if it was said that the third prince himself did the evil, Prince Zhuang and Yinyou would not believe it.

However, according to Prince Zhuang's private speculation, he is most likely to have an inseparable relationship with the third son's wife, Dong E.

Because the third son currently has two sons. The eldest son, Hongsheng, is only eight years old, and the second son, Hongjing, is only three years old. They have not even fully grown yet.

Because Yinyou had convened the three departments for a long time, held coordination meetings and issued meeting minutes, his views were more profound.

It was either done by his wife's relatives or by the third brother's trusted subordinates.

In this day and age, it is not easy to cultivate a trusted subordinate. After weighing the pros and cons, it is only natural for the third brother to choose to protect him.

To be honest, if the deceased was not a palace maid registered in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, it would be impossible to hide it from Kangxi, and the third brother would not have sent someone to notify the Ministry of Clan Affairs.

The registered palace maids and eunuchs were all from the Imperial Household Department, that is, Kangxi's people.

They want to see the person alive or the body dead. This is a strict palace rule and is not a joke.

The sophistication of palace rules requires careful study to understand their mysteries.

Now, the case is basically clear, it was indeed suicide. But whose child is in her belly? This is even more deadly than the palace maid's suicide.

In theory, palace maids were also considered women that Kangxi could enjoy at will, for example, Consort De and Consort Liang, who were of poor origin.

Now, the deceased's belly has inexplicably grown. If the identity of the wild man is not found out, who dares to face Kangxi's wrath?

It was just a coincidence that just when Prince Zhuang ordered a detailed investigation, the man who had committed the crime came forward and surrendered himself.

The wild man, named Na Wu, was a gardener in the mansion of the third brother. He admitted that he had committed adultery with the deceased. However, after the deceased's belly became bigger, he sought medicine from a quack doctor to induce abortion. Unexpectedly, he spent a lot of money, but the fetus was not aborted, and the belly became bigger day by day.

Seeing that the truth could no longer be hidden, the deceased simply hanged himself to avoid bringing disaster to his family.

As long as someone from the Imperial Household Department committed suicide out of fear of punishment, the palace would not allow further investigation, let alone implicate their family members.

This is brilliant psychology.

In a nutshell, as long as the emperor has a bottom line in doing things, the eunuchs and palace maids will not do anything desperate.

Kangxi often reminded his princes of the profound lesson learned by the former Ming Emperor Jiajing, who was almost strangled to death by a palace maid.

Objectively speaking, the Qing Dynasty was the best student of the Ming Dynasty and fully learned many lessons from the Ming Dynasty's demise.

With all the witnesses and material evidences, Prince Zhuang took the opportunity to withdraw his troops and went to see Kangxi with Yinyou.

Kangxi pretended to listen to Prince Zhuang's report, but in fact, he was staring at Yinyou without any expression.

This little bastard in front of me must have anticipated the current situation a long time ago, right?

Where did he learn these tricks? Kangxi was puzzled.

Kangxi knew Yinyou's personal experience as clearly as reading the lines on the palm of his hand.

To be frank, what is the difference between Yinyou's personal experience before he went to the Ministry of Revenue to be an assistant prince and the snow-white rice paper?

"Brother Prince Zhuang, since this is the case, what do you think?" Kangxi did not make things difficult for Yinyou, but instead directed his criticism at Prince Zhuang.

Prince Zhuang gritted his teeth and suggested, "Your Majesty, I think that this servant is really abominable. He should be beaten with a hundred sticks and then exiled to Ningguta to be a slave to the armored men."

Yinyou understood as soon as he heard it. Hey, even if an iron man was beaten a hundred times, it would be impossible for him to reach Ningguta alive. He would have died halfway.

"I agree to your request, my brother." Kangxi took the opportunity to put all the responsibility on Prince Zhuang.

Prince Zhuang secretly breathed a sigh of relief and quickly knelt down to receive the imperial edict.

Even though Prince Zhuang clearly knew that the so-called cunning slave was just a scapegoat pulled out by the third brother, but now was the best outcome of not offending either of them.

If the gods in heaven cause trouble, shouldn't the little ghosts be beheaded?
In Journey to the West, did Monkey King ever kill any of the real gods or monsters raised by the Buddha using his golden cudgel?

Prince Zhuang left the Qianqing Palace with satisfaction, but Yinyou was kept by Kangxi.

"Tell me, what do you really think?" Kangxi asked Yinyou indifferently.

Yinyu had already heard Kangxi's subtext, but he pretended to be stupid and said, "My Lord, today's experience at my third brother's house has opened my eyes. Alas, there are so many things I need to learn."

After all, Kangxi was reluctant to punish the third brother, and tried to exonerate him in roundabout ways.

Yinyou was just lying down and patiently accompanying Kangxi in circles, so what was wrong with that?

"Do you really want to force me to demote the third brother's title?" Kangxi glared at Yinyou and questioned him unhappily.

Yinyu deliberately spread his hands and whispered, "Khan Ama, the mess in my third brother's house can be hidden from outsiders, but it can never be hidden from those dog servants in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. People in the palace died inexplicably, without even a proper explanation. To be honest, with everyone in danger, I am really afraid that my third brother will suffer a great loss in the future!"

A word to wake up the dreamer!

Kangxi suddenly realized that one should not mistreat the people around him, which was the principle he taught to Yinyou.

"Come here, call Zhang Tingyu."

Zhang Tingyu arrived soon and was not surprised at all to see Yinyou also in the room.

Given Yinyou's unfathomable Taoism, it would be strange if he wasn't in this room!

"Hengchen, draft the edict. The emperor's third son, Prince Cheng, Yinzhi, does not discipline his subordinates strictly... He is demoted to the rank of Beile." When Kangxi was orally reciting the edict, Zhang Tingyu's heart was in turmoil.

Zhang Tingyu was so smart that after a little thought, he guessed that it was Yinyou who had deceived the third son.

What a powerful Fifteenth Master, he actually has such an influence on the current emperor!

After the third brother got his retribution, Yinwei returned to the signing room of the Imperial Household Department with light steps.

Yinyou picked up the teacup, took a sip, and couldn't help but smile, "Thirteenth brother, I've vented your anger for you, don't you feel good?"

No matter how smart Kangxi was, he could never have expected that Yinyou would risk offending the third brother just to let the thirteenth brother vent his anger.

To be honest, Old Thirteen has been feeling suffocated in the chest and his fists are itching!
It’s a pity that the third brother was not only a prince, but also used the palace’s treasury to compile one voluminous book after another.

Given the chivalrous heart of the Thirteenth Prince, there was no need for Yinyou to get too close to him.

If Yinyou and the Thirteenth Prince have a very good relationship, the Fourth Prince will not say anything for the time being.

However, the future Emperor Yongzheng will definitely have his own opinions.

So, Yinyou only needs to help the Thirteenth Prince vent his anger at the right time!

In the government, tacit mutual respect is far better than openly close relationships.

PS: I will update 10000 words first, this is the second update, and there is one more update. The monthly votes have exceeded 5500, and I will risk my life to write two more updates!
(End of this chapter)